A Moment in the Moonlight

by Kay Correll

  “None of it is your fault.”

  “I still feel bad for both of you.”

  “Know what would make me feel better?” He cocked his head.

  “No. What?”

  “A kiss.” He flashed her a boyish grin.

  “Oh, then. We want you to feel better.” She stood on tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss on his lips.

  His arms wrapped around her and he held her close. She rested her cheek against his chest, feeling his heartbeat. They stood like that for a long time, neither one of them wanting to break the connection.

  Chapter 26

  Nora climbed to the loft at Bookish Cafe the next day, looking for Annie. She found her sitting beside a window.

  “Since when do you knit?”

  “Since Nancy has been holding knitting classes here at Bookish Cafe. I find it rather soothing.”

  “What are you making?” Nora eyed the mint green square.

  “A baby blanket?”

  “For who?”

  “Well, I figure with both Beth and Jason just getting married, it won’t be long until you have some more grandchildren.” Annie grinned. “And at the speed I knit, it’s going to take me a while to get a couple of baby blankets finished.”

  Nora laughed and took a seat beside her. “That’s my Annie. Always prepared.”

  “So, what brings you to town?” Annie’s knitting needles stilled, and she grinned sheepishly. “I can’t talk and knit yet. Have to concentrate.”

  “Ah, so much to tell you.” She proceeded to tell Annie about the mess with Walt and Harrison’s mom and the sale. “So Harrison is filing an injunction to stop Walt, but I’m not sure if it will do any good. His mother is so distraught.”

  “Walt and the judge are good buddies. That’s not going to help much.”

  “Not without a lot of appeals.” She sighed.

  “Walt can never be trusted, can he?” Annie paused and looked at her closely. “And now you’re going to tell me that Harrison kissed you, aren’t you?”

  Nora laughed in surprise. “I wasn’t… but he did.”

  “Knew it.” A self-satisfied look crossed Annie’s face, then she frowned. “You’re still not all mixed up about your feelings for him, are you?”

  She sighed. “Pretty much. I mean, I enjoy spending time with him. I like him…”

  “You care about him. You’re falling for him,” Annie added.

  She grinned. “That, too. But it’s… complicated.”

  “Life always is.”

  “Oh, that reminds me. Complications. There’s more to the Walter story.”

  “What?” Annie’s eyes showed she knew Nora was deliberately changing the subject.

  “Gloria Edmonds is one of the buyers, too.”

  Annie set her knitting on the side table and jumped to her feet. “Gloria? I’m so tired of Gloria Edmonds. She’s always at the bottom of our troubles.”

  Nora stood and hugged her friend. “But at least the first time she made trouble for you, something good came out of it.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You became my very best lifelong friend.”

  Annie smiled and hugged her back. No matter how things got muddled in life, they’d always be there for each other.

  Harrison walked out of the lawyer’s office after meeting with him the next morning. Things didn’t look very promising. The lawyer was fairly certain a judge would overturn his mother’s signature and they could prove she was lied to and coerced. But if the letter Walt had held up in court, it might not matter if his mother signed or not. The lawyer made no promises but said he’d do some research.

  It was all so frustrating. How could it be legal for Walt to cheat his mother like this? And why would his grandfather have signed that letter giving Walt the right to decide if there was a disagreement? He sighed. Walt had probably tricked his grandfather, too. The man was not above doing anything when it came to preserving his own interests.

  He headed back to the lodge and ran into Nora and his mother.

  Nora smiled at him as soon as she saw him. A flutter of hope flickered through him. Just seeing her made him feel better.

  “We were just going to sit out on the porch and have some iced tea.” Nora held up a tray with a pitcher of tea and two glasses. “Want to join us?”

  “I do. Let me go grab another glass.” He hurried into the dining hall and grabbed a clean glass from the sideboard.

  “Hey, Harrison.” Jason walked out of the kitchen.

  “Hi.” He held up his glass. “Going to join Mom and Nora for some iced tea.”

  “Sounds good. Another sunny, warm fall day. We’re really lucky this year. Some years we’ve already had snow by now. Supposed to get that first snowfall any day now, though.”

  “Well, I’ll take these kinds of days.”

  “So—” Jason paused.

  “Yes?”

  “Well… I just wanted to say. I mean.” Jason sighed. “Look, I don’t want my mother getting hurt.”

  “I don’t want her getting hurt either.”

  “But… you’re leaving and she’s staying, and… like I said, I don’t want her hurt.”

  He stared at the man for a moment. The concern was clear in Jason’s eyes. “I don’t know where things are going with your mother, but I do care about her.”

  Jason nodded. “Just—be careful with her. Please. She’s already dealt with a lot in life. She doesn’t need any more pain.”

  “I hear you.” He nodded and turned to leave.

  “Just think about it.” Jason’s words followed him out of the dining hall.

  Chapter 27

  Linda knew she shouldn’t be eavesdropping, but she couldn’t help herself. She sat on a chair just around the corner from where Harrison, Nora, and another woman were sitting and talking, and she couldn’t help but overhear what they were talking about.

  “The lawyer said we’re going to have quite a battle with Walt, and it could get pretty expensive.”

  “I don’t care what it costs. I will not have my nephew lying and tricking me like that. I feel like a foolish old lady,” the woman said.

  Linda sat up straight. Her nephew was Walt? She must be Harrison’s mother, then. She was… Linda reached up, her hand over her heart, and closed her eyes. Emotions soared through her, and she swallowed, trying to gain control.

  “Well, if Walt’s letter says if the descendants disagree on the disposition of the property, then he gets to decide… well, we’ll lose. We’ll lose everything. The cabin, the property, and you’ll only get that laughable amount for your share, Mom.”

  “I feel like this is all my fault.” The woman—she must be Ellen—answered.

  Linda opened her eyes and took in a deep breath.

  It was time.

  She stood and slowly walked around the corner of the porch and up to the trio. “We should talk.”

  Harrison looked at her in surprise, his eyes narrowed. “What do you want?”

  “I—I would like you to listen to me for a few minutes. Please.”

  “Of course, dear. Sit.” Ellen motioned to a chair beside her.

  Harrison didn’t look nearly as agreeable.

  Nora stayed silent and sipped her tea, watching.

  She took a seat, rubbed her hands on her jeans and swallowed again. “I—well—”

  “Go ahead dear, take your time.” Ellen smiled encouragingly.

  Harrison scowled.

  “Vernon—your grandfather—” She looked at Harrison. “And your father—” She nodded at Ellen. “He grew up next door to my mother. He and Mom’s brother—my Uncle John—were best friends. Mom was ten years younger than them, tagging along, bothering them, and I think she always had a secret school-girl crush on your grandfather.”

  Harrison sat forward in his chair, a crease of concentration between his eyebrows.

  “About a year or so after your grandmother died, Mom and Uncle John were traveling through Colorado and stopped to see Verno
n. Check on him and see how he was doing. Uncle John went back home, and I guess my mother ended up staying in Sweet River Falls for a while. And, well, I guess they—my mom and Vernon—got… close.”

  Harrison sat his glass of tea down with a resounding thud. Ellen frowned.

  “Mom didn’t fully explain, but I think Vernon began to feel guilty like he was cheating on his wife—even though she was gone—or maybe he just wasn’t ready for a real relationship. He broke up with my mom. My mom was a very proud woman. When she found out she was pregnant, she didn’t tell Vernon. She decided to raise me alone. But then she met my dad… well, now I know he wasn’t really my father. They moved to a new city and told everyone I was his daughter. I was too young to know the difference. They never told me the truth. They both kept Mom’s secret for all those years.”

  Harrison looked like he didn’t believe her, and she couldn’t blame him. She could barely believe the story herself. Everything she believed about her life and her family had been a lie.

  She took another deep breath. “But when my Mom was on hospice, she gave me these papers. It was such a shock. The man I thought was my father—Barry—he wasn’t. He died a few years ago, then Mom died…” She swallowed. “It was just two months ago.” Tears rolled down her face, and she slashed at them with the side of her hand. She’d lost so many people in the last few years. So many deaths. So alone.

  Well, almost alone.

  She struggled to get back in control of her emotions. Ellen reached over and patted her hand. “Take your time.”

  Harrison sat in shock but still held a disbelieving look in his eyes.

  “Somewhere in there, Vernon came looking for my mom. But by then she was married to my father— to Barry. She told Vernon the truth about me. I do remember him coming to visit a few times, but not that he was my father. He was just this old friend of my mom’s that visited every now and again. I remember his laugh was deep and rumbled through the room. He had the kindest eyes, I remember that. They were the color of the ocean. But his eyes had the saddest look about them.”

  “That’s why you look familiar. I’ve met your mother once at the cabin. Her name was Patricia, wasn’t it?” Ellen leaned forward in her chair.

  Linda nodded. “Yes.” And even though she was mad at her mother for keeping this secret all these years, it felt good to be talking to someone who actually knew her mother. Her emotions rolled over her such that she had a hard time taking a breath.

  “You look just like her… except… you have my father’s eyes. And ocean blue is the exact way to describe them.” Ellen reached out and took Linda’s hands in hers. “So you’re my younger sister?”

  Linda held on tightly, glad to have the opportunity to share this story with someone. “Well, half-sister, and quite a bit younger, I’m afraid. I’m younger than your own son.”

  “Well, my parents were only eighteen when they had me. And mother died so young, when Harrison was just a young boy. I’m not surprised my father had a relationship with someone new. He would have only been about mid-forties then.” Ellen squeezed her hand. “He had such a tough time after mother died. I’m glad he had Patricia to turn to, but I’m sorry it’s taken us all this time to find you.”

  Harrison stood and glared at her. “And we’re supposed to take your word about all of this?” He walked to the railing, then paced back toward his chair.

  “No, I don’t suppose you are. But I have proof.”

  He turned around to stare at her. “Proof?”

  “Vernon added me to his will and gave a copy of it to my mother. It… he… well, he names me specifically. Mom gave me the documents before she died. I have the papers with me. I can show you.”

  “I believe you, dear.” Ellen squeezed her hand.

  “I’m going to need to see those papers.” Harrison sat down in his chair and stared at her.

  “I’ll be right back.” She got up and headed back to her cabin, trying to calm her rolling nerves and trying to get enough oxygen back into her lungs so she could think straight. She’d finally told someone else the truth. She had a half-sister. She pressed her hand against her belly. And her baby would have a family too… if they’d accept her and her child.

  “I don’t believe her. What a coincidence she turns up now.” Harrison jumped up from his seat he’d just taken.

  Nora watched as he paced up and down the worn boards of the porch. “She says she has proof. Why not wait to see what she brings you?”

  “I believe her.” Ellen sat still. “I think my father started to tell me the truth about all this one time. He mentioned he’d revised his will, but we got interrupted by Walt, and whatever he was going to tell me, it was obvious he didn’t want to share with him. He died soon after that.”

  “I’m having a hard time imagining Grandfather with someone other than Grandmother.”

  “He was desperately lonely after Mom died. So lonely. I certainly don’t judge him for wanting a friend or companion. And I could see how he might feel guilty like he was betraying Mom’s memory.”

  Nora could so empathize with the man. She glanced at Harrison knowing full well that her own guilt was what was standing between her and Harrison and any chance they had at… well, anything. Or even trying to figure what they had between them. Old Vernon Dobbs wasn’t the only one who got tangled up in memories and new feelings.

  “But why wouldn’t Grandfather tell us? Why keep a secret?”

  “Maybe since Patricia had married and her husband had taken Linda as his own. Maybe out of respect for that decision? Plus, he probably regretted he sent her away.”

  Linda came back around the corner of the porch. She walked up to Harrison and thrust the papers at him. “Here.”

  He took the papers and walked to the edge of the porch and slowly pored over them. Ellen patted the chair beside her, and Linda sat.

  Nora watched while Harrison scanned the pages. One after the next. She knew the exact moment that he believed Linda. She could see it in the set of his shoulders. He turned to Linda.

  “It appears that everything you said is true. There’s this letter from Grandfather—and I recognize his writing—along with his revised will. Everything notarized.” He walked over to her and dropped down beside her. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. I know all of this… nothing of this…” He let out a long breath. “I guess I just want to say, welcome to the family.”

  Tears ran down Linda’s face, and she didn’t try to hide them. Ellen took Linda’s hand in hers. “Yes, dear. You’re family now.”

  Harrison looked at Linda and gave her a wry smile. “Unfortunately, Walt also comes with this family.”

  Chapter 28

  Harrison looked at the petite woman sitting before him, trying to wipe away her tears. He rocked back on his heels. “I can’t imagine what a shock this must have been for you to find out all of this while… while your mother was dying.”

  “It was. I had so many emotions. Sadness, surprise, anger. I guess I still do.” She rested her hands in her lap as her tears subsided. “I’m sure it’s been just as big a shock to you.”

  He stood and went to lean on the railing. “I’m shocked, I admit. It’s kind of strange to have an aunt who’s younger than I am, but… well, nothing about the last few days has been normal.”

  “Well, I’m happy to have a sister after all these years.” His mother smiled, always gracious.

  He frowned. “This changes things quite a bit.”

  “What do you mean, dear?”

  “Well, Walt doesn’t have the final say on what happens to the property and the cabin. A sale would need all three of you to sign. And once we show the new will and Grandfather’s letter, there would need to be a new sale document.”

  Ellen jumped up. “You mean we might not lose the cabin?” She turned to Linda. “Oh, but maybe you’d want to sell?”

  Linda shook her head. “I had actually hoped to be able to spend some time there. Maybe get a feel for what Vernon was like.
I was shocked to hear the rumor in town that Walter was planning on selling the land.”

  “Not only the land… but they’re going to tear down that lovely cabin.” His mother’s eyes clouded. “But now… maybe we could stop him.”

  Harrison explained to Linda the whole story about Walt tricking his mother into signing and how he had a paper that said if the remaining descendants didn’t have a majority agreement, that Walt could decide on the sale.

  “But now we have three people who have inheritance rights to the land.” Linda looked out across the porch at the view of the lake. “And Walter wants to put up condos on the land and tear down the cabin?”

  “That’s his plan. And he’s cheated my mother out of a fair sale price, too.”

  “I’m not so sure I like this new nephew of mine.”

  “You’re in good company.” Harrison scowled.

  “Well, I know I’m new to the family, but I have no desire to sell the property or the cabin. I’d love to be able to come here to visit. Get to know the area where Vernon—my father—lived.” She turned to look at Ellen. “If that’s okay with you.”

  “That sounds wonderful to me. I’d like to come spend time at the cabin, too, and get to know you better.” His mother smiled, her eyes shining. “Who knew I could get an actual sister at this stage of my life?”

  “I think we should all go pay Walt a visit tomorrow.” Harrison laughed. “I’m thinking he’s going to be pretty surprised by this new turn of events.”

  Nora sat outside Harrison’s cabin again that evening after they’d all had a big dinner at the lodge. Linda had returned to her own cabin, and Ellen had retired to her bedroom. She sat beside Harrison as they sipped on some red wine.

  “It was quite a day, wasn’t it?” Nora could see how tired Harrison’s eyes looked.

  “It was.”

  “But now you’ll get to keep the land and the cabin. Ellen looked so pleased.”

  “She did look happy, didn’t she? I think the idea of losing the cabin was really distressing her.”