by Jo McNally
They walked down the short hall to the kitchen, which really was lovely. Antiqued ivory cupboards, marble countertops, a large island as well as a cozy breakfast table for two by the side window. The upstairs was more Victorian frilliness, but functional and cozy, with three bedrooms and one bathroom. Lucy raised a brow at that.
“Yeah...luckily my house had been remodeled before I bought it, so I have a small master bath plus the other bathroom. But you do have a half bath downstairs, so no one has to come up here except you and—” she gave her a wink “—anyone else you want to invite.”
There would be no invitations offered to the upstairs bedrooms. Or to the house, for that matter. The place was nice enough—and cheap enough—to make a comfortable home base while she was figuring out her next step in Rendezvous Falls. But she had no plans for entertaining guests. Especially the guest Piper was referring to. Now that a few days had passed, that wild kiss in the woods seemed more and more like a mistake. She’d been just as willing a participant as Owen had been, but that didn’t mean it was a good idea. It just made things more confusing, and she was confused enough these days.
She told Piper she’d take the house, and Piper gave a little squeal of happiness.
“We’ll be neighbors!”
Piper went downstairs to call the home’s owners as Lucy continued to explore. The house would save her some money, and would also give her some distance from Owen. Less temptation. Having her own place to escape to would help set boundaries. And that’s just what she needed.
The truth was, she thought about Owen all the time. She looked forward to seeing him, which was a mistake. His time in Rendezvous Falls was almost up. And she wasn’t going to go home with him. It wasn’t fair to let him think she might. So...a little distance was good for both of them.
* * *
FOUR DAYS LATER, she was moved in. It wasn’t like it took much effort—just bundle up her clothes and walk down the sidewalk and into the sunny yellow house. The middle Sister. With all the curtains and shades opened, the place had less of a funeral home vibe in the daylight. The cooking supplies, dishes and glasses were a mismatched hodgepodge, but she’d never been one to care about that stuff anyway. The owners promised the Realtor would provide twenty-four-hours’ notice if a potential buyer wanted to come through, and she’d have at least thirty days to vacate if it sold. They were happy the place wasn’t sitting empty, and she had a haven all to herself. It was a win-win.
Telling Owen the day before hadn’t been easy. It’s not like she needed his permission, but she knew he might read a dozen different things into her moving into an entire house here in Rendezvous Falls. It was a big step...in the opposite direction of where Owen wanted her to go. He’d taken it well after his initial surprise. He’d simply blinked a few times, and repeated the words “a house?” a few times, then he’d shrugged, as if trying to appear casual about it. And failing.
“If that’s what you want, then I support your decision.”
That felt odd, coming from him. She’d appreciated the sentiment, but the sentence seemed rehearsed or something. Almost robotic, and definitely said without enthusiasm. Or sincerity. But he hadn’t said anymore about it. In fact, he’d offered to help her move, but she’d declined as gently as possible. She didn’t want him getting the wrong idea about them. She didn’t want to risk lowering her defenses. It would only hurt them both to start something, then have him leave.
Then he’d surprised her by taking her hand in his. “I called a VA clinic not too far from here. I’m going to try a group thing...talking...with guys who’ve seen what I’ve seen. Like you suggested. See? I’m listening. I’m trying.”
She’d pulled her hand back, but not before giving his fingers a tender squeeze. He’d called the VA. He was trying. She’d almost kissed him right then. The man still owned a big part of her heart. Hell...he owned all of it.
“I’m really glad to hear that. But I still need to figure me out before I figure us out. Does that make sense?”
He’d agreed, reluctantly. He’d made sure she knew she could call him if she needed anything repaired at the house, but she reminded him she had a landlord for that. He’d watched from the porch of the Taggart Inn when she’d started her yellow Volkswagen and pulled out of her parking spot with a wave to drive a few hundred feet to the yellow house that was waiting for her.
She put a pot of water on the stove. That was another advantage of living somewhere other than a bed-and-breakfast. She could cook her own food. Well...she glanced at the jar of prepared pasta sauce on the counter. She could heat up her own food, at least. Cooking had never been her strong suit, although Grandma had tried her best to teach her. Lucy was better at baking things than cooking meals. And even then, it was hit or miss. Her phone buzzed on the counter. She poured the pasta into the boiling water and grabbed it. Mom.
She’d reached a tentative truce with her father, who’d repeatedly reassured Lucy that he was doing just fine, but Mom had been much more challenging. One day she’d call trying to play loving mother and friend, and then the next she’d be accusing Lucy of being childish for “overreacting” and leaving. She could have let the call go to voice mail. But if she was really going to embrace this new and improved Lucy, she had to start facing challenges instead of running from them. She grabbed the phone just before the third ringtone ended.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Hi, sweetie!” Maybe today would be a good call. Mom’s voice was all singsong and cheery. “Kris told me you rented a house there in New York. She says you’re staying there for good, but I told her that was ridiculous. First, you’d have told me something like that. And second, you’d never go Yankee on us...right?”
Or maybe it wouldn’t be such a great call after all.
“Mom, I tried to tell you about the house the other day, but you hung up on me, remember?”
There was a pause. “I didn’t hang up on you. I said goodbye first, so it wasn’t a hangup. You were just asking so many questions about Jeff, and I didn’t want to talk about it.”
Lucy sighed, stirring the pasta. “You don’t want to talk about the guy you left my father for? A couple weeks ago you couldn’t wait to talk about the guy.”
“He’s part of my life, but I know that upsets you, Lucy. But don’t worry, your dad and I are being very civil about everything.”
“Mom, I love you both, and I’m doing my best to keep my distance, but God, you’re leaving Dad for another man. So yeah... I have questions.” She put the phone on speaker and set it on the counter while she searched for the colander she knew she’d seen somewhere. Ah, there it was. She set it in the sink and took the pot off the stove, speaking louder so her mother would hear her. “And yes, I rented a house. I’m cooking myself dinner in it right now. And yes, I might just become a Yankee on you, Momma. Because what y’all got going on down there is more than I can handle right now.”
She leaned away from the steam rising from the water she’d poured out.
“Lucy Higgins, you can handle more than you think. You’ve always been stronger than me.” Mom’s voice softened. “This isn’t a conversation for a phone call. Come home and talk to me in person.” Another pause. “Honey, I miss having you around to talk to. Come home and we’ll sit on my little balcony and drink wine together.”
“Your little balcony?”
“Oh...uh...yeah. I have an apartment now.”
Kris had told her their mother was going to leave the house—and their father—to move into an apartment. With her lover.
“You mean...we have an apartment. You’re with Jeff, right?”
“Yes.”
She poured the pasta back in the pan and added the sauce she’d heated in the microwave. She scooped some into a bowl, taking phone and bowl to the little kitchen table.
“Mom, I’m just sitting down to eat...”
“It sounds like
I’m not the only one setting up house with someone. I saw Vivian Locke yesterday at the grocery store.” Vivian was Owen’s aunt. Her daughter, Kelli, had been one of her bridesmaids. Lucy barely knew either of the women. It had been Faye Cooper who’d insisted on Kelli being in the wedding. Her mother went on. “She told me Owen still hasn’t come home. His mother is having an absolute fit about it. Is he still in New York? Is that why you bought a house?”
“I didn’t buy a house, I’m renting it. And Owen has nothing to do with it. He sure as hell isn’t living here.”
“He left New York? Where’d he go?”
“He’s still in town. I agreed to give him a month, but it’s almost up. And when it is, he’ll be back in Greensboro, running the family business.” She thought that was what she wanted. But it made her feel unexpectedly sad.
“Is that man still trying to win your heart? And you haven’t caved yet? Not even a little?” Lucy thought of that wild kiss in the woods.
“Not even a little.” Liar. “Mom, my dinner’s getting cold.”
Another pause.
“If you’re tempted...even just a little...to love Owen...” Her mother’s voice cracked. “Don’t let him get away. A chance at happiness...”
“Are you saying you were never happy with Dad? With us?”
“Oh, honey. Of course I was. I love you and Kris with all my heart—you’re my world.”
“And Dad?”
Silence. Then her mother let out a sigh big enough to sound like a gust of wind across the phone.
“We were...friends...when we married. High school sweethearts, but not the kind where we got all starry-eyed and knew we were soul mates. We were pals. We hung out in the same circles. I was a cheerleader. He played football. It made sense for us to date each other, and everyone seemed to expect it. We were homecoming king and queen. So... we got married after we graduated. And we started a family together. We made a life. We had some fun.” Lucy knew the story, of course, but had always viewed it through rosier glasses than what her mother was describing.
“You never loved him?” She pushed the bowl of pasta away, no longer hungry.
“I... I loved him, but not that Hollywood movie sort of love, you know? I cared about him. He was a terrific guy. He is a terrific guy. It sounds cliché but we just grew apart. We were roommates more than lovers, and that’s not a good thing for a marriage. But we had you girls and we both loved you and wanted the best for you. Always.”
“And then Krissie got sick.”
“That was hard. We were a gret team, so it brought us together that way. But your dad and I became...business partners. We managed the business of Kris’s treatment and recovery, and we never bothered to break out of that setup once she was better. Whatever personal connection we’d had between us had disappeared. We resented each other. We started living separate lives. Your dad played poker with the guys, and I... I started talking to Jeff at work, and then over coffee, and then over dinner. He was someone to talk to, and your father wasn’t there for me.” She rushed over her next words, as if she knew Lucy was about to have something to say about it. “And it wasn’t your father’s fault. But...it wasn’t all mine, either.” She hesitated. “We should have divorced years ago. We knew it was over, but we stayed together because it was easier. For you girls. And for us, because we didn’t have to deal with the logistics of selling the house and making new starts. We were lazy, I guess. Cowardly. But none of it was malicious.”
Her father kept insisting the same thing when he called. He didn’t hate her mother. He even understood why she’d found someone else. In fact, Dad had found a new...friend, too. As much as it stung as a daughter, her parents had a right to be happy.
“I know you heard us arguing,” her mom continued, “but honestly...that didn’t happen very often. The wedding had everyone on edge, and we were confronting the finality of a thirty-five-year marriage in the middle of it all, and we just...snapped. What you clearly didn’t hear was that we apologized to each other a few minutes later. You father and I don’t hate each other. We just don’t love each other, and we deserve a chance to be loved by someone. Your father deserves that as much as I do. And you deserve it, too.”
“Mom...” Lucy was surprised to feel damp tears on her cheeks. She’d been clinging to her anger at her parents so tightly that she’d never taken the time to see them as people who wanted...who deserved...to be loved.
“I’m just going to say one more thing before I go.” Mom sounded as if she was crying, too. “If I’d taken off on your father before our wedding day, he would not have chased me across the country to bring me home. If Owen is sincere in wanting you—so much so that he’s defied his family and stayed away from his job for almost a month now—then you have to at least think about your feelings for him. If you don’t love him anymore, fine. But if you’re punishing him for the mistakes your father and I made, or what Owen’s mother did to your wedding, or for whatever Owen went through in the military...” A pause. “Try to see things clearly before you do something you’ll regret. You’ve always been a puzzle to me. Equally responsible and impulsive. Don’t let your impulsive side push away the love of your life.”
“But what if he wants me to go to Greensboro to be his partner in life, like you and dad? Or what if he gives up his parents’ plans for him and then ends up regretting it? Resenting me?”
“Well, that’s what you need to figure out. But you can’t figure anything out if you’re not letting the man in.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“I’M HITTING A WALL, man.” Owen pulled a bag of mulch from the back of his Bronco, and Logan Taggart was right behind him, taking the last bag and following Logan to the front of Connie’s house.
Logan watched him slice open a bag. “Seriously? It’s only noon.”
“No, I don’t mean that kind of wall.” He spread the mulch and Logan grabbed the nearby rake and started spreading it. Over the past three weeks, he’d pulled out a lot of overgrown shrubbery and trimmed the ones that were left. He’d added new hydrangea plants on either side of the wide stairs leading to the front porch of the lakeside cottage. It was Victorian, but on a smaller and simpler scale than the big houses in town. There was gingerbread trim, but only in the corners of the porch and at the peak of the roof. Even the colors were more subtle than the so-called Painted Ladies of Rendezvous Falls. The house was a soft gray, with ivory and dark blue trim. Now that the foundation landscaping was back under control, the whole place looked neat and tidy.
“Then what wall did you hit?”
“With Lucy.”
Logan grunted. “Her moving out of the inn this week didn’t help your cause any, did it?”
“Nope.” They were both raking now, spreading the mulch evenly under the shrubs. He missed his breakfasts with Lucy. Missed bumping into her in the lobby, or sitting with her on the porch in the evenings. It was hard to follow Dr. Find-Love’s tip to stay in her orbit when her orbit had moved down the road. She clearly wanted space, and he wanted to give it to her, but still. “I told my folks I’d be here a month, and that’s almost up. I managed to get us from enemies to friends, but that next step just isn’t happening.”
Logan leaned on his rake and stared at Owen. The guy had spent years working on oil rigs, and he looked every massive inch like an oil rig worker. He tipped his head to the side. “Do you want to go back to Greensboro? I’ve seen at least three people walk over here this week and give you their numbers for landscaping work after seeing what you did with Connie’s place.”
“I already have a job waiting there. My dad wants to retire.” He hadn’t really heard his dad complaining about that as much as his mother had. “The plan has always been for me to take over when I was out of the Army.”
“Who’s been doing the work while you were in the Army?” Logan started picking up the empty mulch bags. They’d had a truckload of loose mu
lch delivered earlier in the week, but it hadn’t been quite enough, so Owen had enlisted Logan’s help to finish up.
“My cousin. And my parents, of course. But Lori’s been doing a great job. She’s the one who had the vision to expand into selling plants and trees and flowers and produce...it’s a whole different company than when I left it.”
“And do you want the job of running this whole new business that your cousin’s already running?”
“Nope.” He straightened, surprised at himself for saying that out loud. “I mean...uh...sure. It’s just going to be an adjustment, you know? I’m more of a hands-on guy.” He gestured at the work they were doing. “I like the actual work of landscaping. And hardscaping, too. I enjoyed building patios and retaining walls and stuff like that. Selling magnolia trees for other people to plant? Not so much. Same with tomato plants. I don’t know a beefsteak from a plum. It’s not my thing.” He shrugged. “But I guess it’s going to be.”
“Even if you end up doing it without Lucy?”
Shit.
“I don’t want that to happen. But like I said, I’ve hit a wall with her. She wants time, and it’s the one thing I’m running out of.”
“What does Dr. Find-Love say? Maybe it’s time for another grand gesture...although she already has a car now, thanks to you.”
“And the car almost backfired on me...no pun intended.”
Logan laughed. “Intended or not, that was funny. How do you figure?”
“She was uncomfortable with me going behind her back, not to mention secretly involving you and your sister.”
“But she liked the car, right?”
