Harlequin Heartwarming June 2021 Box Set

by Patricia Johns

  Right. Listen to her about the old folks’ home. Granny was nearing ninety, and it wouldn’t be terrible for her to have people around her who could take care of her. But she was a handful, and she knew how to push people’s buttons a little too well.

  Taryn pulled her hair out of the twist at the back of her head and texted her mother:

  I’ll drop by in the morning. Just got in from a long dinner and I’m wiped. Work is going well. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?

  Then she flicked the ringer off, tossed the phone onto the thick bed and reached for the zipper behind her back. She was exhausted, but she’d enjoyed herself. This was probably the most pleasant evening she’d had in the past year...besides one rather memorable evening with Noah.

  Strange how therapeutic it was to just be understood.

  * * *

  THE NEXT MORNING, Taryn grabbed a bagel and cup of tea in the dining room before heading out into the morning cool. Mountain Springs Resort was located on the far edge of Blue Lake, with the town of Mountain Springs proper on the other side. The drive to town around the lake was a leisurely one, and Taryn enjoyed the sparkle of the water that she could see through the tree line as she drove.

  Granny’s house was located on a quiet tree-lined street in the heart of Mountain Springs. A couple of houses had sprinklers going, including the house right next to Granny’s, and Taryn had to park on the street to avoid getting sprayed when she got out of the car. The house was quiet and still, though one window upstairs was open and a curtain fluttered out in the breeze.

  Would Granny even be up yet? Taryn hoped so. When Taryn was young and would visit her grandmother with her cousins, Granny had always been an early riser.

  Taryn got out of the car. She was wearing a pair of formfitting coral capris and a floral top. She had plans to go experience some of the walking trails at the resort later that morning.

  She headed up the walk toward Granny’s front door, the mist from the neighbor’s sprinkler giving her goose bumps. Before she could knock, however, the door opened, and Granny pushed open the screen.

  Granny was a slim old woman with white hair and veined hands. She moved tremulously, and she squinted at Taryn for a moment.

  “Come in, come in,” Granny said. “I wondered what was taking you so long to come and see your own grandmother. My goodness.” Granny paused and reached a tentative hand out toward Taryn’s belly. “And what have we here?”

  “A baby,” Taryn said with a deep breath.

  “I know that,” Granny replied. “I heard months ago. I was waiting for you to say something.”

  Right. Would this have been easier over the phone?

  Taryn licked her lips. “I’m sorry, Granny, I’ve had a lot going on.”

  “I’ll say. I’ve been told you don’t know who the father is,” Granny said.

  Taryn didn’t answer that. If Granny already knew the details, there was no point in rehashing it. She’d have already formed a few opinions, too.

  “Are you hungry?” Granny asked, and without waiting for an answer, she headed toward the kitchen. Taryn ambled through the familiar old house after her, glancing into the living room as she passed by.

  It was the same—almost. There were a few more school pictures on the bookshelf from Taryn’s cousins’ kids, and the couch was different, but it was in the same place in the room with the same faded imitation Persian rug on the floor in front of it. She followed her frail grandmother into the kitchen, where there was a steaming pot of tea on the table with one teacup ready. Granny went to the cupboard and pulled down a second cup, which trembled and tinkled against the saucer in her grip.

  “Can I help you with that?” Taryn asked, stepping forward.

  “No,” Granny said flatly. “I’m perfectly fine, and I will give you no excuse to go back and report to those vultures that I’m some feeble old woman in need of help. I’m fine.”

  Taryn stepped back and waited until her grandmother put the teacup on the table and gestured to a chair.

  “Don’t wait on ceremony. Sit down,” Granny said. “So, when are you due?”

  “Beginning of October,” Taryn said as she sat. She smoothed a hand over her belly, feeling her son squirm in reaction to her touch.

  “And you’re doing this alone?” Granny asked, raising her eyebrows.

  “Yes,” she replied.

  “Is that wise?” the old woman asked.

  “Granny, this isn’t up for debate,” Taryn said, trying to keep her voice calm. “I’m almost forty, and I’m a grown woman. I’m not asking for advice or permission. I’m happy about this baby—I wanted a child so badly, and I’m not apologizing for him.”

  “I didn’t ask you to,” Granny replied. “I’m asking you to do the math.”

  “What math?” she asked with a sigh.

  “You’re forty—or you will be a couple of months. You’ll be almost sixty when that child graduates from high school, and nearly retirement age when he finishes college.”

  “Yes,” she replied with a sigh.

  “That’s expensive, my dear,” Granny said.

  “They all are,” she replied curtly. “There’s no going back now.”

  “You need a husband,” Granny said. “And you’re no spring chicken. This was downright stupid.”

  Her grandmother’s words sank beneath her defenses, and Taryn felt them as keenly as a knifepoint. Stupid. She wasn’t stupid; she was infinitely lucky! How many childless women dreamed of falling pregnant the way she had? She might have lost her marriage, but she’d gained her deepest desire to become a mother!

  Taryn pushed her chair back and rose to her feet. “Granny, this is why no one visits you,” Taryn said curtly, and she headed for the door. She wasn’t doing this. If Granny wanted to sit by herself, then let her. But with every step toward the door, her conscience was already stinging her for the sharp words.

  “Excuse me?” Her grandmother’s tremulous voice behind her made her stop. Taryn turned. “Are you that thin-skinned that me pointing out a few basic facts has you running out of here like a petulant teenager?”

  “My pregnancy wasn’t planned,” Taryn said. “What would you have me do?”

  “In my day we didn’t toss husbands out the door quite so quickly,” Granny said.

  “Glen was cheating!” Taryn snapped.

  “They all do!” her grandmother shot back.

  “And he was in love with another woman.” Taryn’s voice shook. “Deeply in love. He wanted her, not me. He’s the one who moved out.”

  “After you caught him,” Granny said. “He was happy to stay married until then.”

  Taryn stood in the narrow hallway, the scent of yesterday’s cooking in the air. But her mind was still spinning and catching up to what her grandmother had said...

  “Wait—” Taryn lowered her voice. “You said they all cheat. Granny, did Grandpa cheat on you?”

  “What?” Granny batted her hand through the air.

  Taryn shook her head. “You said in your day you didn’t toss husbands out quite so easily.”

  “We didn’t.”

  “Do they all cheat?” Taryn pressed.

  “Fine. Your grandfather...stepped out on me. That’s what we called it. But he always came back, and he always paid the bills.”

  Granny lifted her chin just a little, and the earlier confidence seemed to waver.

  “Oh...” Taryn’s heart gave a squeeze. Her grandfather had been a gruff old man, but he’d been kind. He used to let her watch him fix the car. He’d been unfaithful? That hurt...

  “Was I angry?” Granny asked. “Yes! Did I sometimes think about smothering him in his sleep? Of course! But I wasn’t foolish enough to toss aside a breadwinning man for my own ego. I had children to raise and feed, and I had my own old age to consider. We outlive them most of the time,
you might have figured out! If I’d kicked him out, do you think I’d be in this house today?”

  “Is that why you won’t leave this house?” Taryn asked. “You...earned it?”

  “It isn’t the house—it’s the town. Your grandfather moved us all over the place working in those mines, and when we came here after his back injury, I swore to heaven or anyone else who’d listen that this was my new hometown. But since you bring it up, maybe I did earn this house. Regardless, I’m not moving. Not out of this house and not out of this town. I intend to die here. You can come collect me then.”

  “That’s what we’re scared of,” Taryn replied.

  “What do any of you care where I die?” Granny asked. “As you so aptly pointed out, no one visits anymore. Where I die is my business.”

  “I’m here, aren’t I?” Taryn said.

  “I was under the impression you were on your way out, righteously indignant about something,” Granny replied.

  Taryn sighed. “You push buttons, Granny.”

  “You’re overly sensitive,” her grandmother said, but her tone had softened. “Come back and sit down. The tea is getting cold.”

  But this time, Granny looked over her shoulder a couple of times to make sure that Taryn was still following her back into the kitchen.

  “Tell me about Grandpa,” Taryn said, sitting down at the table once more.

  Granny poured some tea into Taryn’s cup, and then served herself. She nudged a bowl of sugar toward her, and it looked old and lumpy, so she declined and drank it plain. Granny did the same, and for a moment they sat in silence, looking out the back window at the overgrown lawn.

  “Your grandfather and I were born in a different time,” Granny said. “A divorced woman was a scandal. You just...put up with it.”

  “Did he love you?” Taryn asked.

  “In his own way,” Granny replied. “We were too busy making ends meet and stretching a penny to worry too much about other things. No one expected fireworks.”

  “I don’t believe that,” Taryn said.

  Granny shrugged faintly. “I stopped expecting fireworks. I adjusted my expectations. And that’s my advice to you—you can still make things work with your husband.”

  “We’re divorced,” Taryn said quietly. “It’s over, Granny. He’s moved in with the other woman. They’re...happy.”

  “Ah.” Granny nodded. “I’m sorry.”

  “I’m not sorry,” Taryn said quietly. “Was it hard? Yes. Did I think about smothering him with a pillow? Also yes.”

  Granny smiled at that. “Do you think you’ll be okay on your own?”

  “I’ll have one little boy,” Taryn said. “You had eight. It won’t be as hard for me.”

  “My houseful of boys...” Granny sighed. “And they were always hungry, always fighting and always needing something from me.”

  “I get to be a mother,” Taryn said. “I know the order this all happened is off, but I don’t exactly have a lot more time to have a baby. That clock is running out. And I’ve been trying for a decade. I’m not sorry at all. I’m very, very happy about this! I’m not going to worry about how it all works out. I’m just going to enjoy it!”

  “Can I give you some advice?” Granny asked.

  Taryn eyed her grandmother. She wasn’t sure that she did want that advice.

  “About raising boys, I mean,” her grandmother said.

  “Sure...”

  “If they can reach it with a stream of urine, they will pee on it,” Granny said soberly. “And that is no exaggeration. They will pee in corners, on trees, in toy boxes and in beds. They will pee into cupboards, into pots, into teacups and into pretty much anything that is even slightly concave, just to prove that they can.”

  Taryn laughed in surprise.

  “I’m not joking,” Granny said. “It will last much longer than you think it will, too. And then on the very day that you stop worrying about someone peeing on your begonias, that’s the day you start worrying about them getting someone pregnant.”

  Granny took a sip of tea and pressed her lips together. Her gaze turned inward, and she was silent for a few beats.

  “Oh...” Taryn rubbed her hand over her belly. Her son stretched toward her hand, and she felt that wave of love toward this little boy she knew inside and out, but hadn’t yet properly met.

  “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Granny said, and then nudged a bag of cookies across the table toward her. “Would you like a cookie?”

  * * *

  NOAH CAME BACK to his office after a meeting with the financial committee and tossed a file folder onto his desk. Angelina had been there, as well as the financial controller, and they’d been tackling some budget issues that needed to be sorted out before the next board meeting.

  How easy would Angelina find it to replace him if he got this job in Seattle? He hadn’t told her he’d applied for it. He figured if he got the job, he could talk to her then, but there was no reason to worry everyone if he wasn’t leaving.

  He pulled off his suit jacket and hung it behind the door, then loosened his tie. The problem was, he loved this job. He loved this resort, and the lake, and the town. But he couldn’t build a life here. Whatever future he’d envisioned in his hometown didn’t work anymore.

  Brody had been on his mind this morning, too. Dating Nevaeh was one thing, but marrying her? That hurt, and not because he thought that he’d be better for Nevaeh. He wouldn’t be. This hurt because Brody had done the one thing that undercut all their years of friendship—he’d swooped in on Nevaeh mere hours after she’d canceled the wedding. Hours!

  Was Nevaeh right for breaking it off? Absolutely. If she wasn’t happy at the prospect of a childless marriage, then she’d done the right thing. But it was painful. He’d still thought they were planning a future together, and he’d already started writing the vows. He’d even called on their mutual friend Gabe, the one who was married with kids already, to help him out with some wedding-vow wording since he was the married expert. Was Gabe going to support Brody in this? Was there any loyalty left in those old friendships?

  Noah had lost his best buddy and his fiancée, all in one weekend. At first, he hadn’t known which one hurt more, but after a few months’ distance from it, he knew. Nevaeh had made a decision for her own happiness, and ended a two-year relationship. Brody had taken advantage of Noah’s lowest point and betrayed a thirty-year friendship. Brody won that one—he’d done more damage.

  And Brody had wanted his blessing. ...that thought still angered him. His blessing! He wanted Noah to say that this betrayal was fine—no biggie. Well, he couldn’t do it. He could wish Nevaeh well with anyone else—just not Brody.

  Whatever. That was life, and Seattle was starting to look really appealing.

  There was a tap on his door, and he turned to see Taryn standing there in a pair of capri pants and a soft, short-sleeved, floral-patterned shirt that hung down just below her collarbone, exposing the soft, creamy skin of her neck. Her hair was pulled back away from her face, and she stood there, hesitating at the doorway. She held a DSLR camera in one hand and had some sturdy running shoes on her feet.

  “Am I interrupting?” she asked.

  “No, not at all.” A lie, but his brooding wasn’t helping matters. It actually felt good to see her. “How are you?”

  “I’m fine. You look stressed-out.”

  “I am,” he admitted. “But that’s not your problem.”

  “I was hoping you’d point me in the direction of an easy trail,” Taryn said. “I want to take some pictures to use for the campaign, but I’m not up for any exhausting climbs in my state.”

  “That’s probably wise,” he said, and he paused. She’d be alone out there—easy trail or not, he didn’t feel right about sending her out by herself. “You want company?”

  “In dress pants and a
tie?” she asked.

  “I have some clothes to change into,” he said. “I don’t know if I want to send you up any trail alone right now. There are a couple that are easier to walk, but this is a pretty steep mountainside, regardless.”

  “I’m happy for the company,” she said. “Maybe I can take a few shots with you in them—you know, a human being enjoying the view.”

  He smiled at that. “We’ll see. I’ll meet you at the front doors in ten minutes.”

  Noah always kept a change of clothes at the office in case he wanted to hit the gym or something after work. He put on a pair of casual pants, a T-shirt and running shoes and headed out of his office. He poked his head into Angelina’s office on his way past.

  Angelina was at her desk, the end of a ballpoint pen stuck in her mouth as she frowned at a spreadsheet. She looked up when he cleared his throat.

  “Hey, boss,” he said. “Taryn wants to see the trails, so I’m going to show her what we’ve got. I have my phone on me. And don’t worry about the budget. I’ll stay late tonight and fine-tune it.”

  “Thank you,” Angelina said. “I’m not worried at all. And I appreciate you showing Taryn around. This ad campaign could bring us a lot of business if she’s able to find the right tone.”

  “No problem,” he said.

  Noah always got the work done, and maybe that shouldn’t be surprising. At least these days, he didn’t have anyone to distract him—no personal obligations. In fact, some evenings, he kind of liked staying at the office late when he could hear the guests enjoying the dining room or the fireside room, and he could watch the night fall outside his office window.

  That would be his fate tonight, it seemed, so he might as well enjoy the time on the trails with Taryn this morning.

  Noah grabbed some bottles of water and bug spray from behind the counter—they were there for staff use. He dropped them into his backpack. Taryn was waiting for him at the front doors, and they stepped out into the morning sunlight together.