When she returned to the den, the baby happy in her arms, no one had moved. She settled the baby in her great-aunt’s lap and returned to her chair. “Where were we?”
“Sera, you can’t continue. What about Bella? This is her home.”
“Don’t you understand? I can’t take care of all of you—you, Hope, and you, Shawn, and the baby—and run a business. And despite Shawn being your son, you signed off, remember? Dad left his share to us.”
“So Shawn and I go to a home and Bella gets adopted.”
“Bella is Chance’s child, Hope. It’s his decision. And you’re not going to a home. The Hunters are selling their house, which isn’t far from Mrs. Hershberger’s. After we pay our bills, we’ll have enough for a down payment. You’ll be closer to your friends. You won’t be stuck out here in the country all by yourself. It’s not good, Aunt Hope. You need socialization.”
“So do you, Sera.”
“My offer’s still on the table, Sera.” Cy gave her a look.
She pressed her fingers to her eyes. “Let’s get this over with, Alex.”
“Just a minute. Shawn is more than a long-lost relative.” Max Kimmel stood, set his briefcase on the end table and opened the clasp. Pulling out an envelope, he glanced sharply at his son. “We can’t be throwing elderly people out of their home again, can we, son?”
Alex’s face reddened.
“You can’t sell Last Chance Farm, Sera.” Max pulled a crisp manila envelope from the briefcase and opened the flap. He peered in and carefully withdrew a yellowed sheet of lined paper. “You can’t sell Last Chance Farm, Sera, because you don’t own the property free and clear.” He laid the paper on the table in front of Sera.
“Sure I do. Aunt Hope signed off when we transferred the deed after my parents died. Chance and I own the farm. Free and clear.”
Max tucked his chin as if pondering her words. “Why don’t I read you this document? The ink is a bit faded.” He picked up the paper.
“I, Chance A. Callahan, do hereby transfer my ownership of Last Chance Farm to Shawn Murphy, as payment for debt incurred in a poker game on this day, the thirteenth of October, 1969.”
Max returned the paper carefully to the middle of the table. “So you see, Miss Callahan, the farm did not legally pass from your grandfather to your father because your grandfather didn’t own the property at the time of his death. Hope’s share belongs to you and your brother. But the share your father left you was invalid. Shawn shares equally in the ownership of this property. You cannot sell to Cyrus Carter.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
WHEN SHE RETURNED from her morning run, Alex’s well-traveled black leather carry-on sat by the kitchen door. Her heart skipped a beat. She heard his feet pounding down the stairs. A minute later he came from the hallway into the kitchen.
She turned her back just in time on the pretense of getting a cup of coffee.
“I was hoping I’d see you before I left.”
“Cup of coffee?” She waited, her back still toward him. Every sense in her body seemed to be tuned to his presence in the room.
“Sure.”
She grabbed an extra cup and poured the coffee. The room seemed to be getting smaller. Pasting a bright smile on her face, she turned and handed him the cup. “Why don’t we sit out on the porch?” The kitchen was definitely too small. Rocky and Lucky followed them out the door.
Avoiding the swing on the far side, Sera sat in one of the rocking chairs. Alex took the other and propped his feet on the porch railing. “I’m going to miss this.” He sipped his coffee and then sighed deep. Rocky settled between the two chairs. Alex let his hand drop down to scratch the big dog behind the ears. “I’ll miss Cujo, too.”
Sera smiled into her cup. “Once you’re back in the city you’ll forget all about us.”
“Hardly.”
She shivered.
“I’m sorry my father disrupted your plans.” Alex rocked slowly back and forth. “You have no idea how sorry.”
“You could’ve knocked me over with a feather when your dad read from that wrinkled piece of paper.”
“I can’t believe your grandfather would bet the farm in a poker game.”
“A high-stakes poker game. Like Aunt Hope always said, the men in this family are gamblers. If Shawn hadn’t stepped in and won, we wouldn’t be living here.”
“Yet he never said anything. Just let things go on as usual.”
“Shawn didn’t want to take the chance of exposing his mother’s secret and embarrassing her. But now everybody’s happy. Hope will see Last Chance Farm get awarded Century Farm designation from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Shawn is recognized as a Callahan. Thanks to all the money he saved over the years he was able to pay the taxes and the insurance. And my dear little brother gets to have his cake and eat it, too.” She wondered if Alex heard the bitterness in her voice.
“What a story.” Alex leaned forward and set his cup on the railing. “I should go.”
Sera looked down and bit her lip. The time had come. She felt Alex pass by, thinking he was going to fetch his bag, but he stopped in front of her. Gently he took the cup from her hands, placed it next to his and then pulled her from the rocker. She faced him.
“Sera, come to New York with me.”
Despite the pain in her chest, she laughed. “Money may not be an issue anymore, Alex, but Aunt Hope is still in her nineties, Shawn in his seventies and there’s a baby in the house.”
“The baby isn’t yours.”
“The baby is my niece. I have a responsibility to her.”
“Sera, I’m going to ask you one more time. Come to New York with me.”
She stared into pleading brown eyes, committing to memory the color, the laugh lines at the corners, the dimple in his left cheek when he smiled, and the way one lock of hair would flop onto his forehead when the wind blew. “Spending time with you this summer has meant so much to me, Alex, but—”
“You’re afraid to take the gamble. That’s what’s really going on, isn’t it?” Alex cupped her face with his hands. “You don’t have to stay anymore, Sera. You can finish what you started. Go back to school. Resume the career you wanted ten years ago. Get to know the city again...with me.”
She lay her head on his chest, shut her eyes and listened to the beating of his heart. He wrapped his arms around her and held tightly. He was right, of course. She couldn’t risk leaving everything she knew for the unknown. He began to kiss her, it was a long, slow kiss. When he pulled back, she said, “You kissed me that time.”
His smile was sad. “I did, didn’t I?”
He picked up his bag, walked down the steps and out to his car. Then he drove away without looking back, and for that she was grateful.
She went in the kitchen, refilled her cup and opted for the porch. There was little to do. The corn had been destroyed, most of the tomatoes and flowers were gone, so she just sat and rocked. Shawn would pay the fall taxes.
She didn’t know how much time had passed when she heard car tires on gravel. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought that Alex had returned. Would he insist she go with him? She smiled. What would she do if he did? She was entertaining the thought of how to answer him when the familiar black SUV pulled up to the gate. But Alex wasn’t in the driver’s seat. She stood and walked over to see who it was.
“Sera, you’ll never guess.” Katie jumped out from behind the wheel at the same time her mother emerged from the passenger seat.
“The wedding’s back on.” Babs waved her arms in the air as she came around the front of the vehicle. “Isn’t that wonderful? We’re having a barn wedding after all.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
“SO, HOW’S BELLA?” Chance Callahan swung his guitar over his shoulder and picked up his satchel.
> “She’s growing like a weed. She has four teeth, Chance.”
“She only had two when I left. What about Shawn and Hope? You could’ve knocked me over with a feather when you told me what happened. How are they handling things?”
With a wave at Scooby, busy renting out a car at his kiosk, Sera chuckled. “Pure chaos. Hope took Cousin Shawn to her quilt party with the church ladies and introduced him as her son.”
“You’re kidding.”
“She wanted to take Bella, but I wouldn’t let her. She’s too heavy for Hope to carry.”
Chance’s brow wrinkled. “She’s a baby.”
“She’s a growing baby, Chance.” Leaving the airport lobby, Sera held the door for her brother, guitar case in one hand and duffel bag in the other.
The parking lot wasn’t full. Sera had found a spot in the first row next to a late-model sports car.
“Let’s take that one.” Chance tilted his head toward the shiny silver vehicle as he opened his door.
Sera tugged open the door of the truck. “Don’t I wish?” She turned the key and for a minute she thought the engine would catch first try, but it ground to a halt. She looked at her brother. “I need a battery.” The engine caught on a second try. She paid for parking and pulled out onto the road.
Chance took off his hat and laid it crown up between them. “Alex still around?”
She put on her turn signal, looked left, then right. “No. He did what he needed to.” She didn’t say how much she missed him, talking to him, having him around.
“Did you watch that interview online like I asked you to?”
“I haven’t had time.” Plus she didn’t really want to see how Alex had come across to others. “And it doesn’t matter anymore.”
When they arrived at the back gate of their house, Sera shut off the engine. “What do you think?”
Chance got out of the truck and looked around in awe. “This place looks amazing.”
She followed his gaze. The out-of-control shrubs around the base of the barn had been trimmed or removed. Mulch lined the foundation as did pots of sunflowers and zinnias. “The Valentines hired a landscaper. Can you believe the difference?”
Chance propped one arm on the hood of the truck and finally met her gaze. “So let’s see if I have this straight now. We’re not selling.”
“You and I only own half the farm, the half Hope signed over to us. Shawn owns the other half.”
“And he won’t agree to sell.”
“Apparently he’s saved every penny he’s ever earned so paying bills isn’t a problem at the moment. Although we shouldn’t drain his savings. The farm should still sustain itself somehow.”
Chance plopped his hat on his head and crossed his arms, looking at the farm as if he had never seen it before. “Maybe I should stay, Sera. Maybe it’s time for you to go out into the world.”
“You’re making me dizzy, bro. One minute you’re staying, the next you’re going.” But a flash of excitement shot through her. She thought of Alex’s request to go to the city with him. Could it be? Could it happen? But the flash was gone as quickly as it had begun, like fireworks in the night. Maybe he actually thought he could live here, but she knew she couldn’t count on him. “Is there a reason you’re thinking of staying?”
He shrugged and then bounced up the porch steps and disappeared into the kitchen.
When Sera entered the kitchen, Chance was inspecting the inside of the refrigerator. “Finally, you guys have some food.”
“Don’t even think about it. It’s all for the wedding.”
“Come on. They won’t miss one bite.” But he only withdrew the iced tea pitcher. Looking in the upper cupboard, he found a bag of chips. “Is Alex coming to the wedding tomorrow?”
“I don’t know.” Sera settled in the rocking chair.
“You need to know what kind of man he is.”
“I already know.”
“You’re looking through rose-colored glasses, sis. He throws old people out of their houses.”
She laughed. “He does not.”
“A couple years ago his company was putting in one of those theater shopping mall complexes down east. One old couple refused to sell. They wanted to stay in their home for the rest of their days. Sound familiar?”
She got a queasy feeling in her stomach. “It wasn’t his idea.”
“He was interviewed by Katie Valentine. He basically admitted to using eminent domain to evict them from their house, so his company could build their mall. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the home they went to couldn’t accommodate the husband, so they went to two different nursing homes.” He took a big bite. “All thanks to your new friend.”
“I know all about this, Chance.”
“Well, he didn’t appear to be such a great guy in the interview. The story went national.”
Alex’s explanation of what happened and the interview sounded like two different stories. No wonder Alex’s father was upset with his son. She rocked back and forth.
* * *
WITH HER MANY CONNECTIONS, Carrie had finagled an invitation to the wedding. When Alex refused to go, she asked Will to be her plus one. Since she was driving, Alex suggested they overnight at his parents’ home, knowing his mother would love the company. Although he wasn’t going to the wedding, after leaving on bad terms the last time, he was coming to town, hoping to make amends with his mom. It was time to clear the air with his father, too.
After an uneventful drive, they arrived at his parents’ place. As his friends grabbed their suitcases, he went in the house and stood in the entry. Everything was quiet. “Mom?”
“Up here, honey.”
He bounded up the stairs. His mother fluffed a sheet over the bed in the guest room. “Straighten that out, would you? I’m getting this room ready for Carrie. She and Will are with you, aren’t they?”
“They’re downstairs.” He pulled the wrinkles out of the sheet. “Listen, I’m sorry about the last time I was here.”
“You need to fix things with your father.”
“I know.”
“And who knows, maybe in a few years you’ll want to come back to the area.” She smiled.
“I doubt he’ll ever forgive me for taking the job in New York after graduation.”
“Maybe the wedding will provide neutral ground. I’m excited to go tomorrow. Aren’t you?”
“I’m not going.”
She straightened. “Why not? Your friends are going.”
He helped her tuck the corners of the sheet and cover the bed with the handmade quilt. “I’m not invited,” he lied.
“It’s a barn wedding. One more won’t make a difference.” She fluffed the pillows and tossed them against the headboard. “Besides, don’t you want to see Sera?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
EVEN DURING THE DAY, the fairy-tale lights lent an air of mystery to the upper reaches of the old barn.
Sera wore the dress borrowed from Katie Valentine, a light blue-green sleeveless number with a long flowing skirt. As she ran her hand along the soft material, Sera felt like a princess.
Just a few weeks ago she thought she was out of options. Now possibilities were coming out of the woodwork. Was Kristen Rose right? Could she make money from the farm? When farming involved making hay and growing corn, or raising cattle like Cy, the odds were good she wouldn’t succeed. But events? Along with certified organic produce? That took planning. That she could do.
Cyrus Carter had proposed, and she actually might have considered marriage if Chance hadn’t appeared when he did. But now things were looking completely different. Shawn prevented her from selling, but her brother had given her an idea.
Chance was home. She had four streams of income and a reinstated scholarship of
fer. Cy had told her to take her time making up her mind, but she didn’t need any time. No to the marriage proposal and no to selling him the farm. At any price.
She shook off the thoughts for another time. The day of the wedding had arrived. Wendy, her mother, Babs, and maid of honor, Katie, were upstairs in Sera’s bedroom. Josh, his father, Brad, and Matt, the best man, were in the den. And Holly, Suzanna Campbell and Shelly, a recent graduate of a pastry school, were in the kitchen, preparing the hors d’oeuvres for the cocktail party before the reception.
The tables had been covered with white tablecloths and set up throughout the barn. Sera walked over to make sure the holes in the floor had been covered. She grimaced as she pictured guests falling through the floor. Definitely bad publicity for her first event. But the holes were firmly covered.
Mason jars filled with fall flowers and tiny votive candles decorated the tables. Chance’s guitar already waited for him on the corner stage. After the wedding, the guests would enjoy cocktails on the lawn while the caterers prepared the buffet.
She checked her watch, noting the time had come. The sun set in the west, a flowing ribbon of orange and pink across the far ridgeline, like a line of summer lipstick. Standing in the barn opening, her heart swelled with pride at the sight of the guests seated on benches between the barn and the arbor. Josh and Matt, a cowboy from Montana, stood next to the rose-covered trellis.
Sera decided to stay right where she was, the better to see the bride when she emerged from the kitchen. She was so engrossed in watching the back door that she didn’t pay attention to the figure coming toward her. “Sera.” Alex stood before her in a familiar gray suit, white shirt and apricot tie. “You look lovely.”
“So do you.” Her heart skipped a beat. “I didn’t think you were coming.”
“My mom talked me into it.” He motioned toward the house. “Here they come.”
The sight of the bridesmaid took Sera’s breath away. Launa Starr was a weather forecaster who had worked with Wendy in Miami. Dark, curly hair fell down her back, contrasting with the simple salmon pink gown. Katie followed, equally arresting in a dress of the same color, but in a different style. When Chief McAndrews’s seven-year-old daughter, Riley, emerged in a white dress with a pink bow, tossing rose petals on the runner, the crowd murmured in appreciation. Her smile was wide. Her fine blond hair was piled on top of her head with pink ribbons.
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