Mending the Widow's Heart

by Mia Ross

  “I’d imagine so.”

  Wary of letting her imagination take off with her common sense, Holly tried to calm her racing heart. “Do you really think I could make it work?”

  “Is it what you want?”

  “Yes,” she replied without hesitation. She was so accustomed to examining every decision she made in excruciating detail, and the delay often left her not deciding anything at all. Which, of course, meant that nothing ever changed.

  Until the day when Daphne called and asked for her help while recovering from her back injury. Holly had instantly agreed because there was nothing she wouldn’t do for the woman who’d been such a bright, exciting influence on her since she was a child. Even now, Holly knew that adjusting to her new role as Daphne Mills’s daughter was only a matter of time. Because when all was said and done, she loved Daphne to pieces and would find a way past the jarring revelation that had changed so much in an instant.

  “You sounded like your mom just now,” Sam told her, adding that slightly crooked grin she’d come to appreciate more and more. “I think there’s a lot of dreamer in you, whether you want to see it or not.”

  “I think you’re right,” she agreed, tapping empty cups with him. “But for now, I’m hungry. What did Ellie send us?”

  “One of everything that was ready,” he replied, motioning to the bag. “Ladies first.”

  “Meaning you snagged one on your way here,” she accused, pulling out a huge sample that appeared to be the size of an actual bear’s paw.

  He chuckled while he refilled their cups from the thermos. “Busted. But in my defense, they smelled too good to resist, and I was starving.”

  “You’re forgiven. This time,” she added, sending him a threatening look that only made him grin.

  As they finished off their meal, they talked through the logistics of college classes for Holly, what she was looking for in a school for Chase, and the extra touches the league wanted to put on the fields for next season. Everything, she noticed, but one topic that had suddenly become very sensitive.

  Where would Holly be starting this new life of hers? She knew from experience that summers in New England zipped by and turned into fall before she could blink. With Chase starting school in September, they had to be settled soon to give them time to acclimate to a new place and get her registered for the design classes she was so excited about.

  All that meant leaving Liberty Creek and the friends they’d both made here. And while Holly was confident that Daphne would support whatever choice she made, she suspected that leaving the mother she’d just discovered wouldn’t be easy for her to do. And then, she was stunned to hear a tiny voice whispering in the back of her mind.

  What about Sam?

  He’d come to mean so much to Chase, and Holly didn’t know how her son would react to leaving his tall buddy behind. Then in her next thought, she realized that she was going to miss him, too. Apparently, despite her best efforts to maintain a healthy distance from the former soldier, he’d come to mean more to her than she’d realized.

  That was going to make leaving Liberty Creek a lot tougher than she’d anticipated.

  * * *

  These kids were awesome.

  Sam had great memories of playing baseball when he was young, but nothing compared to watching Chase, Cody and their teammates in their very first organized game. For the kids with no prior experience, a coach set the ball on a pitching machine for them so they’d have a chance at getting a hit. But when his turn came around, Chase stepped to the plate and boldly asked for a live pitcher. And not just any of the dads standing along the sideline, either.

  “Sam can do it. He pitches to me all the time at home,” he announced as if it had never occurred to him to request anyone else.

  “I really just came to watch,” Sam hedged, wishing he was small enough to fade into the crowd. The fact that Holly was smothering a laugh didn’t escape him, and he wondered if this had been her idea.

  Before he could ask her about it, Chase turned hopeful eyes on him. “Please?”

  There was no vetoing that kind of plea, so Sam took the low mound and threw a few practice pitches before grooving one down the center of the plate. Chase hit a double into the outfield and then Cody cracked one over the center fielder’s head, driving them both around to score. After that, everyone on both teams decided to give live pitching a try.

  Unfortunately, most of them couldn’t hit a watermelon with their light metal bats, which left Sam piling up a lot of full counts and endless foul balls. Tiring as it was, though, he was surprised to discover that he was having a blast. The teams were coed, and he registered the fact that the girls sprinkled throughout the rosters were better at defense, while the boys excelled at offense.

  When he mentioned that to Holly, she tilted her head in a curious pose. “You’re right. I wonder why that is.”

  “Girls are smarter?” he suggested, getting a bright laugh in reply.

  “Are you trying to butter me up for something? Because I have to warn you, Chase has perfected that approach, so I’m pretty much immune.”

  “Nah, that’s Brian’s gig. If I want something, I’ll just tell you straight out.”

  It wasn’t like him to be so direct with a woman, and he cringed when he considered how that might sound to her. To his immense relief, she just smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  The smile reached into her eyes, making them sparkle like gems in the sunlight. Was it his imagination, or was there a warmth in them he hadn’t seen there before? Could it be that he’d finally found a woman who could accept him as he was, scars and all? While he had to admit that was possible, the idea prompted another question that was harder for him to answer.

  What was he going to do about it?

  With Daphne nearly back at full strength and the school year they’d discussed earlier fast approaching, Holly and Chase would be leaving town sooner rather than later. While Sam would love for them to stay longer, he’d never ask the young widow to put aside her dream of a fresh start to be with him. She’d sacrificed enough of her life to someone else, putting off what she wanted to take care of Brady.

  Then again, there were perfectly good elementary and high schools right here in Liberty Creek, and while he didn’t know much about interior design, he suspected that she could take those classes at the small college over in Waterford.

  Did he dare suggest that to her? What if he did, and she shot down the notion? Even more troubling, what if she decided it sounded good to her? If she put off her leaving and things didn’t work out between them, she and Chase would have to switch schools partway through the year, which was always more problematic for students compared to those who started at a school in the beginning of the year. The other alternative of her staying and things going great between them was appealing to him but didn’t seem all that likely. Like Brian resurrecting the family business, a successful relationship between Sam and Holly was dicey, at best.

  Sam was a hands-on kind of guy, and he took pride in building things to last. He wasn’t keen on taking that leap with Holly, only to have it all fall apart in a few months. And he was fairly certain she felt the same way. Not only for herself, but for Chase, who deserved a real father, not one who faded from his life because the guy wasn’t ready for that kind of responsibility.

  Looking around at the families gathered for the game, Sam couldn’t help noticing how happy they seemed. Parents wore the T-shirts of their children’s teams, shouting encouragement and pointing to where the current play was. Younger kids were playing along the sidelines, picking flowers and rolling in the grass while they munched on snacks.

  It looked nice to him, but he was standing at a distance from it all. He’d only just begun to feel comfortable in his own skin again, and he wasn’t sure about taking on anything more than he already had. For the
first time, it dawned on him that in allowing himself to get so close to the Andrewses, he was on the verge of doing something he tried very hard never to do: make a commitment he wasn’t sure he could keep.

  “Sam?”

  Holly’s voice dragged him from his brooding, and he gladly focused on her. “Yeah?”

  “The coach asked if you want to pitch another inning.” Worry dimmed those beautiful eyes, and she rubbed his arm in the comforting motion she’d used with him more times than he could recall. “Are you okay?”

  “Fine.”

  Stepping closer, she said, “Are you sure? You looked like you were somewhere else just now.”

  This woman could read him so well, it scared him sometimes. Knowing that she’d come by that skill nursing someone who’d finally given up made him sick inside. Worry had been an element of Holly’s life for so long, it seemed to have become part of who she was. She deserved better than that.

  And Sam wanted her to have it. So he plastered a smile on his face and forced a positive tone. “Never better.”

  He ignored her suspicious look and picked up his glove, waving it toward Chase’s coach. As he trotted toward the mound, Holly called out his name. Turning, he saw her holding up his vintage Red Sox cap. Apparently, he’d left it on the bench, and she came onto the field to return it to him.

  Standing on tiptoe so she could reach, she settled it on his head, smiling as she tapped the brim. “I thought you might want this to keep the sun out of your eyes.”

  “Thanks.”

  It was a simple thing, no big deal, he told himself as she went back to her spot on the sidelines and he continued to the mound. But the fact that she’d thought of what he wanted touched him in a way he’d never felt before, deep down in a place no other woman had ever found her way into. And that was when he knew.

  He’d gone and fallen in love with Holly Andrews.

  The kicker was that he couldn’t even tell her how he felt because knowing her she’d put aside her plans and stay in town so they could be together.

  Much as he wished things could be different, they weren’t. And in spite of how far he’d come, there was nothing he could do about it.

  * * *

  Sunday morning, Daphne was feeling so much better that Holly served their breakfast in the freshly painted dining room. The huge oval table felt odd with just the three of them, its deep cherry color polished to a mirror finish that would have passed muster in any mansion in the country. But once she added place settings and Oliver Chesterton’s most recent vase of flowers, it felt like any other meal she’d shared with her famous relative.

  “This is just beautiful, Holly,” her mother said, adding a warm smile while she poured real maple syrup onto her Belgian waffle. “And it smells wonderful, too.”

  “Good pancakes, Mom,” Chase chimed in, plopping a fresh one onto his plate. “Papa was right—this is the best syrup ever.”

  “Papa?” Daphne echoed curiously. “Who’s that?”

  “Cody’s grandpa. He said everyone calls him Papa, so I could, too. He’s really nice.”

  “Yes, he is. You’ve made a lot of friends here in Liberty Creek this summer. What are their plans for the fall?”

  While they chatted about his collection of new buddies, several expressions crossed Daphne’s face, alerting Holly to the fact that something important was going on behind those famed violet eyes. She couldn’t imagine what it might be, but she wasn’t surprised when her mom said, “Chase, I’d like some grown-up talk with your mother. Could you give us a few minutes?”

  She spoke to him as if he was an adult himself instead of eight, and Holly smothered a grin when he blinked in response. Clearly confused, he stared across the table at her, waiting for her to interpret. “It looks like you’re done, so why don’t you take your dishes into the kitchen and go get ready for church?”

  “Ohhh. Okay.” Standing, he carefully picked up his dishes and left the canyon of a dining room.

  Once she heard him banging around in the bathroom upstairs, she turned to her mother expectantly. “That should buy us about ten minutes. What’s up?”

  “I know you have to make your plans soon,” she started in immediately, telling Holly she’d been thinking about whatever she wanted to say for a while now. “I just want you to know that if you and Chase would enjoy staying here in Liberty Creek, you’re more than welcome to stay here. With me,” she added, as if she worried that the detail was necessary.

  Hesitating, Holly took a sip of her coffee before saying, “That’s very generous of you. Thank you for the offer.”

  “Oh, that’s just nonsense,” the diva spat, obviously offended. “We’ve known each other your entire life. There’s no need to be so polite with me, Peaches. If you want to stay, there’s plenty of space here for you both. If not, you’re just as welcome to leave. I know you’re anxious to be away from your old neighborhood, and I just wanted you to know you have an option other than moving to a strange place where you don’t know anyone.”

  There was more to it, Holly knew, but the stubborn woman was too proud to do anything even remotely like begging. Leaning closer, she murmured, “I’m sorry to make you angry, D. I haven’t made any decisions yet, even though I really should’ve by now.” Reaching out, she patted a manicured hand in the same gesture she’d received many times herself. “Maybe it’s because if we go, we’ll miss you, too.”

  In a heartbeat, tears flooded her mercurial mother’s eyes, accompanied by a hopeful look that would have broken a heart much softer than Holly’s. “Do you mean that?”

  “Absolutely. It was tough for me at first, finding out you’re my mother, wondering why things went the way they did. I hated not having a say in it, and being kept in the dark so long made me furious.” Hearing the edge on her tone, Holly took a moment to regain her composure to make sure she kept her voice down. “But once I got over the shock, I believed you when you said you did it out of love. You’ve never been anything but wonderful to me, and I love you to pieces. I still wish you could’ve been honest about everything sooner, but there’s no changing the past. All we can do is move forward the way we are and hope for the best.”

  “Does that mean you forgive me?”

  Did it? Holly wondered, rolling the question around in her mind. She didn’t want to knee-jerk something this important and discover later that she’d just been caught up in the dramatic moment and said something she couldn’t reverse later. Because her brain was useless in situations like this, she took a chance and let her heart speak for her. “Yes, I forgive you.”

  “Oh, I love the sound of that,” she said in a voice filled with genuine emotion. Covering Holly’s hand with hers, she added a grateful smile. “Thank you. I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but you have no idea how much it means to me to have it. I was beginning to wonder if my decision to keep the truth from you would haunt me forever.”

  The words struck a chord with Holly, and she frowned. “I don’t want that to happen with Chase.”

  “Then tell him, sooner rather than later. Trust me—it only gets harder the longer you wait.”

  Her advice echoed what Sam had advised her to do more than once, and Holly figured that if two people she admired felt the same way, she’d do well to listen. “I guess there’s no time like the present. Chase, come down here, please!”

  A few moments later, he came thundering down the front stairway, his white button-down shirt untucked and only one good shoe on. When she saw him, she couldn’t help laughing. “I could’ve waited until you were done getting dressed.”

  “You don’t yell much, so I thought it was important.”

  “It is.” Exchanging nervous looks with her mom, Holly focused back on him. “We have something to tell you. About our family.”

  Fear flooded his eyes, and he dropped into a chair. “Is
someone sick?”

  “No,” Holly reassured him instantly, feeling awful for bringing up the specter of Brady’s illness. Summoning all her patience, she knelt beside her son’s chair and tried to keep it simple. “A long time ago, Auntie D was planning to marry someone in England. His name was Ian, and you’ve seen pictures of him with his race car.”

  “Sure. What about him?”

  There was no easy way to explain it, so Holly opted for the direct approach. “Not long ago, I learned that he was my father. And Auntie D is my mother.”

  Understandably, Chase’s features twisted in confusion as his young mind attempted to wrap itself around a secret that had flustered her for weeks. Clearly seeking answers, he swung his gaze to the anxious woman at the head of the table. “So you’re my grandma?”

  “Yes, honey.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Holly understood that reaction all too well, but she thought it best to let Daphne answer in her own way. This was between her and Chase.

  “As your mother said,” she began hesitantly, “it was a long time ago. Ian and I were planning to get married, but he was killed in a racing accident before our wedding. I wanted my baby to have a real family, with a mother and father, and siblings to grow up with. I couldn’t give her those things, so my sister and I agreed that it was best if she and her husband adopt your mom and raise her.” Giving Holly a proud smile, she added, “I think they did a marvelous job.”

  Chase seemed totally lost, and he shook his head as if trying to sort out the puzzle she’d presented him. “Who are Gramma and Grampa?”

  “Your great-aunt and uncle,” Holly explained. “Aunt Cara and Aunt Julie are actually my cousins, so they’re your cousins, too.”

  While he chewed on that, he studied Daphne with an expression way too somber for someone his age. “You lied to Mom because you loved her?”

  She blinked in surprise, then let out a short laugh. “I never thought of it that way, but I guess that’s about the size of it.”