“Good. I’d better leave.” Ethan stepped out onto the veranda. “Enjoy painting your mystery family.”
“I will. See you later.”
Lifting his arm in a casual wave, Ethan left the house.
With a resigned sigh, Wyatt took a copy of an old photo off the wall and studied the woman and child. “Who are you?” he whispered.
And, not for the first time, he swore he heard the murmur of a voice drifting across the lake, telling him about another life in another time.
After they buried her grandma, Penny gave her family a hug and left the cemetery. She needed a few minutes on her own to process what had happened, to give herself time to breathe without someone saying they were sorry for her loss or telling her what a wonderful woman her grandmother had been.
There was only one place she wanted to be. Turning the car she’d rented toward Flathead Lake, she drove back to her grandmother’s house on Honeysuckle Lane.
When she saw the pretty two-story home, tears filled her eyes. Her granddad and grandma had spent a lot of time designing the house. It had everything they thought they’d ever need and, for many years, her grandma was happy here.
Turning off the ignition, Penny opened the car door and walked toward the lake. For her, the best part of the house was the view. It didn’t matter what time of the year she was here, each day was incredible. Today, the water was a deep, dark blue. Sunlight danced off the water lapping against the shore, sending sparkles of white light glittering along the surface.
She sat on the edge of the grassy bank. Lifting her face to the sun, she soaked in the warmth, trying to banish the icy chill that hadn’t left her since her grandma died.
Even after Diana, Katie, and Barbara arrived, she still wasn’t able to think about anything other than her grandma’s last few minutes with her. She knew she was in shock. She was grieving in a way she’d never experienced before, and the pain of her loss was almost too much to bear.
With a heavy heart, she watched a flock of birds duck and dive across the lake. She was amazed with their ability to read the air currents, to alter their course on a whim, and find food to fill their bellies.
In the distance, children shrieked with laughter, reminding her that life carried on regardless of what had happened.
She stood and, with one last look at the lake, walked toward her grandparents’ house.
Some of the shrub roses her grandma adored were in full bloom. Bright pink, stark white, and soft purple petals filled the garden to overflowing. Grandma would be so proud of how lovely they looked and of the scent that filled Penny’s lungs with the sweet fragrance of home.
Carefully, she picked a handful of flowers. She’d take them inside to her grandma’s favorite place, sit in her rocking chair, and enjoy what she’d taken for granted.
“Hey,” a man yelled. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Someone wasn’t happy. Penny looked over her shoulder. A tall man with dark hair was stalking toward her. She turned around, half-expecting a masked burglar to be hot-footing it out of her grandma’s house.
No one was there. He couldn’t possibly be yelling at her. She hadn’t done anything—
“Yeah, you. Stop picking the flowers. They don’t belong to you.”
Normally, she would have ignored the frown plastered across his face, the smoldering good looks that probably charmed the socks off every female he met. She would have politely explained why she was here and accepted his apology.
But not today. Something about the man annoyed the living daylights out of her. “I’m not a thief,” she yelled back.
“What do you call picking flowers that aren’t yours?” He stood a few feet away, glaring at her as if she was a criminal. “The owner of this property died a few days ago. You’ve got no right to be here.”
“I’ve got every right.” With an angry, pounding heart, she stepped closer to the stranger. Good grief. He was even more handsome up close. “It was my grandma who died. You’re yelling at your new neighbor.”
Wyatt stared at the woman. Deep brown hair the color of rich chocolate fell around her shoulders. Green eyes as bright and clear as a Leprechaun’s lucky jacket shot sparks of anger straight at him. It wasn’t until he looked at the flowers that he realized what he’d done.
The woman waved the roses under his nose. “You should make sure you know who you’re talking to before you accuse someone of being a thief.”
A handful of petals fluttered to the ground. He felt like he’d fallen into a fairytale and woken up in another universe.
He cleared his throat and tried to unfuddle his brain. “Sorry. I thought you were making the most of the lady who looks after the house not being here.”
The woman’s eyes narrowed. “You know my mom?”
He almost smiled. There was something about her that made him want to reach for his sketchpad and capture everything she didn’t want him to see. “I met Mabel and Allan Terry in the general store. I’m Wyatt. Wyatt Johnson. Your mom said she’s looking after the house for your grandmother.”
Slowly, she lifted her hand to his. “I’m Penny.”
She didn’t trust him, but at least she wasn’t tearing off his head and feeding it to the fish in the lake. “My friend told me your grandma died. I’m sorry for your loss.”
Whatever he thought he’d seen in her face disappeared. It was as if a metal door slammed shut, keeping him away from what she was thinking. “I saw you from my studio.” He said unnecessarily, pointing toward the house he was renting. “I thought I’d better say something in case you took every flower in the garden.”
Penny looked at the roses she was holding. “They were Grandma’s favorite.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she straightened her shoulders and stood a little taller. “Thanks for looking after the garden.”
Before he told her again how sorry he was, she walked back to her grandma’s house. And for the first time in years, a spark of interest made him wish they’d spoken for longer.
Chapter 3
An hour after Penny arrived at her grandmother’s house, her sisters joined her. They were sitting in the living room, watching the boats on the lake, and talking about the man she’d met a short time ago.
“I can’t believe he didn’t recognize you,” Diana said indignantly. “It’s not as if this is the first time you’ve been to Sapphire Bay.”
Barbara sat in the chair beside Penny. “Why didn’t he ask who you were when he first saw you? It would have saved a lot of confusion.”
“I don’t think he’s been living in Sapphire Bay for very long. If he’s the same person Mom was talking about, he doesn’t know many people.”
Diana frowned. “That’s no reason to be rude, especially when Grandma has just died.”
Penny studied her sister’s face. Diana used to be the most relaxed, easy-going person in their family. But after a bitter divorce, her patience was as battered and bruised as her confidence. “He didn’t know I was related to Grandma.”
Diana’s green eyes connected with Penny’s. “I’m doing it again, aren’t I?”
“It’s okay,” she said softly. “Most people are more trustworthy than Derek.”
Barbara made a scoffing noise. “Charlie is more trustworthy than your slime ball ex-husband.”
Charlie, Diana’s happy-go-lucky Golden Labrador, pricked up his ears. His goofy smile and big brown eyes brought a smile to Penny’s face. “It’s okay, boy. We were just saying how wonderful you are.”
Diana rubbed Charlie’s floppy ears. “You’re right. I need to stop judging everyone by Derek’s low standards and enjoy being here.”
“How long are you staying?” Barbara asked.
Diana shrugged. “I thought I’d stay for a few months. The thought of going back to Cincinnati makes me feel sick.”
“Is Derek’s family still giving you a hard time?” The unguarded look Diana sent Penny was all the answer she needed. She held her sister’s hand and gentl
y squeezed her fingers. “It sounds as though Sapphire Bay is the best place for you and Charlie. What about you, Barbara?”
“I’ll head back to San Diego next week. I’ve got a ton of work to do and half my team are on vacation. What about you?”
For a few seconds, Penny said nothing. Even though she’d come to Sapphire Bay for a sad reason, she was enjoying being home with her family. But she had a promotion to work toward, a team who relied on her expertise. And if she didn’t sell all of the apartments, her career would go nowhere.
“I’d like to stay for longer, but I need to leave. We’ve got the meeting with grandma’s solicitor this afternoon. I’ll go to that, then leave tomorrow night.”
Diana’s eyes widened. “I thought you’d spend at least a week with us. Why do you have to leave so soon?”
“A lot of people are depending on me to sell the apartments in our latest project. I can’t stay any longer.”
“Yes, you can,” Barbara said. “Your grandma has just died. No one will complain if you stay here for a few more days. It might be the only time we’re together for a while.”
That thought alone made Penny’s heart sink. Her grandma’s death had made her realize just how important her family was to her.
“Don’t badger Penny,” Katie said as she breezed into their grandmother’s living room and flopped into the chair beside Diana. “She wants to be here as much as we all do. But she has other responsibilities.”
Barbara scowled at their youngest sister. “We all have things we need to do, but family should come first.”
“That’s easy to say when you earn a huge salary. We can’t all afford to take time off work.”
Penny grabbed the plate of cookies that were sitting on the table and held them in front of Barbara. Her sister’s quick temper always got the better of her around Katie. “The gingerbread cookies are delicious with the coffee. Mom and I made them yesterday.”
Reluctantly, Barbara took one of them. “So, when are you going home, Katie?”
“Tomorrow night. I can’t afford to take more days off work.”
When she wasn’t writing children’s books and trying to get published, Katie was a server in a family-owned restaurant. The pay wasn’t great but, combined with her tips, it was enough to pay the rent and utilities on her small apartment.
Before her sisters started bickering again, Penny offered them the plate of cookies. “What does everyone think about inheriting Grandma’s house?”
Diana looked at the framed photographs sitting on a chest of drawers, the vase of roses that Penny had picked from the garden. “I think it was really generous of her, but what are we going to do with it?”
Katie curled her feet under her. “It’s too big to sit here empty. Unless anyone needs somewhere to live?” She looked at Diana. “Charlie would enjoy staying here.”
“Before we decide what to do with the house we should wait until Grandma’s solicitor tells us we’ve inherited it. She might have something else written in her will.”
Penny frowned. “She definitely said she was leaving the house to us. I told her Mom and Dad would be disappointed, but she said they’d have more than enough money to buy their own house.”
Barbara bit into her cookie. “I’m with Diana. We’re seeing Grandma’s solicitor in a few hours. We can make more plans after that.”
Penny looked at her sisters’ unhappy faces. They were all in shock but, as soon as they’d decided what to do with the house, she’d be on a flight back to Seattle, living a life that had suddenly lost its appeal.
Four hours later, Penny and her family were sitting in the solicitor’s office, frowning at the poor man who’d given them the bad news.
“That can’t be right,” Penny said. “Grandma didn’t mention anything about us having to stay in Sapphire Bay for twelve months. Are you sure you didn’t make a mistake?”
Mr. Rogers, her grandma’s solicitor, looked over the top of his black-rimmed eyeglasses. “I can assure you, Betty knew exactly what she was doing. Next year, you can do what you want with the house. But for now, you and your sisters have to stay in Sapphire Bay if you want to keep it. If you decide to live in the house, Betty was happy for you to do any remodeling work that is necessary.”
Katie looked as worried as Penny. “What if we can’t stay?”
“Then the house will be donated to The Connect Church. They’ll use it as a boarding house for people who can’t find other accommodation.”
“A boarding house?” Diana repeated.
“A lot of people come to Sapphire Bay without a job or anywhere to live. The church has been working hard to help them. Your grandma did what she could.”
Barbara read her copy of their grandma’s will. “What about our jobs? If we stay here, we might have to resign.”
Mr. Rogers’ eyebrows rose. “I can’t help you with those decisions.”
Penny turned to their mom and dad. “Did you know Grandma wanted us to stay here?”
Mabel shook her head. “The last time we talked, she didn’t say a word about you staying here.”
Allan crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I might have known something about it.”
Five pairs of female eyes swiveled toward him.
“And you said nothing?” Mabel asked with a touch of annoyance.
“Betty made me promise not to say anything. She knew the girls loved the house, but she wanted it to be more than somewhere they came for vacations.”
“And she also wanted your daughters to reconnect with each other,” Mr. Rogers added.
“We don’t need to reconnect,” Katie insisted. “I speak to at least one of my sisters each week.”
Mr. Rogers looked over the rim of his glasses. “Your grandmother was old-fashioned. She believed that talking on the phone isn’t the same as seeing each other.”
Penny agreed with her grandma. Even though she’d come home more in the last six months than she had in the last five years, she still missed her family when she wasn’t here.
Katie frowned. “Can we contest Grandma’s will in court? It’s unfair to expect us to live here when we have jobs and lives in other cities.”
“Of course, you have that option,” Mr. Rogers said. “But it can be a long and expensive process to go through. However, the decision remains with you.”
Penny looked at her sisters and then at Mr. Rogers. “Maybe there’s another way of making it work. Do we need to stay in Sapphire Bay all the time?”
Diana leaned forward. “What are you thinking?”
“Well, most of us can do some of our jobs from Sapphire Bay. Barbara can manage her clients’ social media accounts from anywhere in the world. Apart from her job at the restaurant, Katie can write from anywhere, too.”
“And I don’t have a job at the moment.” Diana sent Penny a questioning look. “What about you?”
“I have to fly back to Seattle. I can’t do my job from Montana but, if I could work from Seattle and only come home for one week a month, it might work.”
“That’s not fair,” Katie grumbled. “I love Los Angeles. When I’m here it feels like I’m in the middle of nowhere. If you can work from Seattle, I can go home, too.”
After seven years of living in Los Angeles and no book contract in sight, no one understood why Katie still wanted to live there. Penny leaned forward to talk to her sister. “If I could stay, I would. But if I don’t go back, I won’t get the promotion and I probably won’t have a job.”
“I agree that Grandma’s request is a little extreme,” their mom said. “But it’s only for a year. You may not get another chance to spend this much time together.”
Barbara turned to the last page of their grandmother’s will. “It says the twelve months doesn’t start right away. We still have some time to decide what we want to do.”
“That’s correct,” Mr. Rogers said. “But coming home for one week in four doesn’t meet the requirements of the will.”
Penny’s heart
sank. They all loved their grandparents’ home. She didn’t want to be the person who forced it to be donated to the church, but she couldn’t see how she could stay.
“Let’s think about how it could work,” Diana said.
“It won’t change anything,” Katie muttered.
Sometimes, Penny thought, her sister could be a real pain.
Mr. Rogers glanced around the room. “Is there anything else you want to discuss?”
Penny and her sisters shook their heads.
Mabel took a deep breath. “Not at this stage. Thank you for everything you did for my mother.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll be in touch to find out what you’re doing with the house. If you decide to contest the will, please let me know as soon as possible.”
As her family left the office, Penny picked up her bag and shook Mr. Rogers’ hand.
She wasn’t looking forward to their next conversation.
Wyatt stood in front of an easel, studying the layers of color he’d added to another painting. He was still working on the portrait of the mother and child but, today, he was desperate to lose himself in the familiar world of landscapes.
This painting didn’t require him to do anything other than submit to the whims of nature, to express the tones and texture of the land in ways that were as mysterious as the rising and setting of the sun.
He picked up a brush, dabbed it onto his palette, and frowned.
Outside his studio, a dog was barking. People walked along the shore of the lake all the time, taking their pets for some exercise. It wasn’t unusual to hear a dog, but this one sounded as though it was standing beside the house, barking furiously at something he didn’t like.
Throwing open the window, he leaned over the frame and glared at the dog. It didn’t make any difference. The golden-haired Labrador had his tail on high alert, barking at a…he looked again to make sure he hadn’t missed anything…a plastic bag?
A woman with blond, curly hair rushed across the yard. “Sorry. Charlie’s hypersensitive to anything he hasn’t seen before.”
The Lakeside Inn Page 3
