Retreat to Woodhaven (The Hills of Burlington Book 2)

by Jacie Middlemann

  Loving you Always,

  Mommy

  Jake carefully folded the letter up as it had been and replaced it in the envelope that bore her writing as well. There was a pressure building inside him that he desperately feared was close to boiling over. He couldn't remember feeling this way since, well, almost ten years. Without looking up he stood, walked toward the hallway that led straight to the front door and prayed he'd make it in one piece. "I'll be back in a little."

  Beth followed his movements. Understood them. It was like watching herself.

  "You loved her." She didn't mean to say it. Shouldn't have said anything but the realization had been too strong, too sudden to control. She watched him stop just beyond the doorway leading out of the kitchen. If there was a stance that defined pulling oneself together his was it.

  Jake drew on the same well of strength he'd had to drag deep within him before. Except then he’d been in the middle of a war zone with bullets flying in every Godforsaken direction. Yet from that same place he found his voice and the words. "I loved them both."

  

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Carrie swung open the door without looking first thinking Mary had sent someone to bring her to the rink. "Court?" This was the last thing she expected. He was the last person she expected.

  "Carrie." He stepped through the doorway knowing surely if he didn't she'd close it on him. "I just came by to see if Mary wanted a ride to the rink." He recognized the flustered look on her face and wondered at the cause.

  "She's already there. I stayed behind to wrap up some gifts for Mom and Mallie." And why in the world did she feel the need to explain herself. Frustrated with her own indecision she left the door open rather than step around him to close it then moved to finish what she had started.

  Court followed her in quietly closing the door behind him. "Since I'm here how about I wait until you're done and give you a ride."

  "That's fine." She ripped off the tape and nearly snarled when it stuck to itself instead of the wrapping paper.

  "Here." Court stuck his finger on the end of the package so she could make use of both hands to deal with the scotch tape. And worked hard to hold back the smile. Inside he was humming. The lady was interested. Not encouraging since she didn't particularly care to be but he could deal with that when the time came. "So, how's the divorce coming along?"

  "It's coming along,” was her tart reply. Just two more pieces of tape, she decided in that moment to forego the ribbon. Her mother always ripped it right off anyway.

  "Your husband being more amenable than he was?"

  She turned, her back ramrod straight. But before she could utter a word he answered her question.

  "No one said a word to me but I've got a sister. And she was once in a similar situation." He shrugged, "I read the papers. Your petition for divorce made the news for a good bit. The Senator did a good shuffle, turned himself into the victim without much effort." He turned the package over for her to fold up and tape the other side. "Then not so much as a single quote no matter how many reporters pinned him down." He looked at her now, his gaze never wavering. "Doesn't take much to figure something or someone shut him down. With all your brothers it doesn't leave much to the imagination." He laughed, surprising her and himself. "Good grief Carrie. Your mother could raise enough Cain to scare the Hell out of anyone if she really wanted to including your husband, Senator or not."

  "Ex-husband," she said this time with a bit less bite. Barely. "Almost," she added with no little frustration then picked up the package and the others that sat on the chair next to the table. "I'm ready."

  

  It was a rare thing for her to have a case of nerves but as she waited for her brother to answer his door she accepted that's exactly was she was suffering from. She was anxious to finally meet her niece. She'd planned on doing so before this but every unexpected calamity one could imagine had hit their online store site. She was just now comfortable, though barely so, they wouldn't suffer another crash. But now there was news she had to share that neither Jake or his daughter were going to be pleased with.

  "Casey," Jake stepped back to allow her to walk past him into the hallway. "We were just getting ready to head over to the rink." He saw the nervousness he knew came from being anxious over meeting Beth. But he also saw worry. He knew his sister. She might be nervous about meeting Beth but it wouldn't worry her. "What is it?"

  "I'd rather only go through it once and I really think Beth needs to hear it too." She followed his gesture and headed back towards the kitchen. "Mary knows we're going to run a little late." She smiled at the young woman standing at the table in the center of the room. "Beth," she reached out and took the hands that were offered in return, automatic or not it touched her in places she no longer hid from. "I'm Casey, Jake's sister."

  "My only sister," Jake added as he moved to close the back door they’d been getting ready to walk through.

  "He's spoken of you." Beth couldn't take her eyes off the other woman. Her aunt. She'd seen her before on TV but up close the similarities were undeniable. She saw pieces of the woman standing before her in the man who was her father, pieces she also saw in the mirror. "I enjoyed you on the news and was sorry to see you go." She paused, uncertain about the conflicting emotions her words seemed to elicit. "Jake says that you're behind the camera now. I look forward to seeing what you're working on."

  "Anytime," Casey took a breath. "I think we need to sit." And she did just that, if they wanted to stand, fine. She needed to sit. She looked at her brother. "Mark called me just as I was heading out. If he had called a moment later he would have missed me. He was going to call you next but I asked to talk to you about it instead and relay what he wants to do about it."

  Jake sat as she suggested. Nothing surprised him anymore but he could tell from her tone, her attempt to keep it light, that whatever it was it wasn't good. He looked at Beth, then explained. "Mark is Casey's former boss and the man I just bought a local newspaper with." He watched her eyes narrow. He hadn't gotten around to telling her about his plans to run the local newspaper. "We both decided we needed something different and bought the paper along with Mary's younger brother." He turned back to his sister. "Go on. Get it over with."

  "Mark has been pretty successful in showing the veracity of most of your allegations put forth in the newspaper series. It wasn't all that difficult to do...." She looked in Beth's direction, saw she was aware of what she was talking about and continued. "Anyway it seems some intrepid reporter at some small newspaper in Rhode Island wondered why this Pulitzer Prize winning former investigative reporter turned top selling author for the past twenty years would come out of retirement per se from his earlier successful writing career for this particular story rather than handing it off to someone else which he is known to have done numerous times in the past." She took an unsteady breath and saw the inquisitive look on Beth's face and the wary speculation on her brother's. "In the process of his digging he found the link between you and Lizzie, did some math and when he was unable to locate either you or Beth," she raised her hands palms up in an obviously frustrated gesture. "He dug deeper and deeper and ..... " She left the rest unsaid. Both obviously understood the implication of what she was saying. She wasn't going to insult their intelligence by going any further. She sensed her brother understood there was still much unspoken and she'd bet a good bit that he had a pretty good idea what it was she wasn't keen about going into with Beth in the room. It was simply too much. For anyone.

  "What's the bottom line?" Jake asked quietly, his anger barely held in check. There were only a few things he held dear. His personal life and his family were on the short list.

  "Mark thinks, and I agree with him, that you need to get in front of this and get the facts out there on your own terms and not find yourself reacting to someone else's fictionalized account of it. While he'd love to have it on WNO it wouldn't have the impact that you need especially when it becomes known that he's l
eaving the network to run the local newspaper here with you."

  "Who does he suggest?" Jake bit out sharply, surprising both women in the room. "You?"

  "I'm not certain that would help anything even if he did suggest it which he didn't." She laid her hand on his, something she wouldn't have had the courage to do weeks ago. "He gave me a couple of names of people who’d already contacted him wanting to help in any way they could." She glanced at Beth, smiled in encouragement. "Friends of Lizzie and Jett who are pretty unhappy right now with how all this is playing out."

  "How is this playing out?" Jake asked pointedly, struggling to get a better hold on his temper.

  Casey understood what he was asking. "Mostly tabloid publications. If Mark knows about it you have to figure everyone in the business knows about it by now but not many are reporting it. That has a lot to do with your solid reputation...people respect you. Those same people have a profound sense of respect for Lizzie and Jett and aren't ready to trample their daughter." She rubbed her temples with the tips of her fingers. The pounding headache that began with Mark's phone call was pulsing into a full blown winner. "I know neither of you want to hear this but Mark has always been of the opinion that you take on the questions before people start making up the answers."

  "Jake," Beth spoke up quietly but firmly. She waited until he looked at her. "I knew even before I came here that this was a possibility. Mom and Dad talked to me about it years ago." She looked at Casey too, understanding now the high cost involved in being good and successful at what she had done for so many years. Even though she was visibly upset and worried about her brother....and her, she was outwardly calm, dealing with it in such a way that you'd never know a family member, someone she loved, was involved. "I think you...both of you...should handle it as you think best. I don't want you to make a decision on how to deal with it because you're concerned I can't handle it." She looked back at her father...let her eyes meet his with an unwavering determination and hard won strength. "There's nothing more they can do to me. It's all been done."

  "I told Mark you'd call him later on tonight. He said anytime. He'll be expecting it." She looked at Beth. "Your parents would be proud of you. Very proud of you." She stood. "I'll see you at the rink."

  "You can ride with us." Jake offered automatically.

  "That's okay. I've got stuff in the car I'm taking with me." She gave Beth a quick hug and walked over to her brother. She held him tight, "We'll get through this," she whispered softly before turning and letting herself out the front door.

  Jake looked over at his daughter who appeared lost in thought. "You still want to go?" He'd hate to let everyone down but this was Beth's call. "We can put in some old movies, pop some popcorn, I could play some really bad piano for you...put you sound asleep before you know it."

  "I'd like to go, really I would." And surprisingly, especially to herself, she did. She was looking forward to seeing who and where he came from. Who she came from.

  "Let's go then."

  

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Mary walked in the door to her small house and almost immediately saw the blinking light on her phone signaling a message. She was pretty certain without even checking who it was from. She headed for the bedroom to change clothes and decided on a cup of hot chocolate before making the call. She knew her Daniel. He would want to know every detail of the evening.

  As she waited for her milk to heat it was a small but treasured comfort for her to look out the kitchen window and see the lights come on at the Marshall Street house and know it was her family there. Again. She imagined if she looked out her front window she'd see the same happening at her Aunt Charlie's old house where Jake was making a home for himself and for the daughter he was only now getting the chance to know.

  With her mug in her hand she settled at the table where so many family gatherings again were taking place. And she called her husband. There was so much to share. There always was. This was their time as it had always been. In the quiet of the evening when their children were little they would steal this time with each other to share the day's events. To enjoy the peace found in the quiet. Picking up the phone she dialed and waited while it connected, listened to the ringing on the other end.

  "Did I wake you," were her first words. Her Daniel was an early riser. Earlier than the chickens he still claimed their next door neighbor had raised during his high school years.

  "No, sweetie. Actually I just got off the phone with your baby brother but tell me how tonight went first."

  Curious about what her husband and brother would be talking about, she told him about the evening’s event. It had been wonderful. They had taken over several tables along one side of the dining area and before long the news had spread throughout the rink that the new owners were on site. Mallie had been on top of the world. She and Aunt Charlie had already spent a lot of the day there getting to know the employees and invited many of them to join them throughout the night.

  When Jake and Beth arrived introductions were made all around. Mallie and Beth had clicked almost immediately. That hadn't surprised anyone considering how close they were in age. What had surprised them was how quickly Beth had taken to Aunt Charlie. But then Aunt Charlie had accepted her with open arms that had held her close. They had spoken quietly off and on through the night. Jake had sat quietly watching as he so often did. He had seemed more surprised than anyone else to learn his daughter had won numerous awards in skating, both on the ice and wood. Mallie had been thrilled. She had learned everything she knew about marketing at Casey's knee in the recent months and recognized immediately this could be a real boon for the skating rink. She'd already half convinced Beth to give skating lessons. Mary wouldn't be at all surprised if the Mallie wasn't already trying to figure out how to put in an ice rink...what it would cost and the revenue it might generate.

  "So, what were you and Dave talking about?" Mary asked without warning. She listened to the chuckle on the other end.

  "Your little brother is reared up and ready to go with his new little venture. Told me all about it. Sounds to me like he's going to have his hands full just being able to settle in let alone open a law office."

  "The house is a challenge but he took right to it Daniel, in a way I haven't seen him do in years."

  "I could hear that in his voice. He's not making any effort to disguise his enthusiasm that's for certain. I imagine it's not playing well with the rest of the family." He laughed, thoroughly enjoying the thought.

  Mary played with the phone cord. "I thought they wouldn't be surprised at his leaving. Not happy but definitely not surprised."

  "Honey, no one wants him to go. But I'm not so certain they expected to see him so happy about it either."

  "Hmmm."

  "He was also telling me there’s plenty of room for another lawyer if I want to join him in his little endeavor."

  "There are several nice size rooms on the second floor." Mary held her breath. "I won't lie to you, he picked out the best of them. He's going to have a view to kill for."

  "He told me all about it. He'll be lucky to get any real work done and I told him just that."

  "Yes. Well... There's also a smaller room next to it that’s going to be a conference or meeting room of some kind with a little kitchen area along one wall. He's seems to know exactly what he wants."

  "It was hard not to get that impression after talking to him tonight."

  "What did you tell him?"

  "I told him not to be surprised if he didn't see me poking around in there sometime soon." Daniel listened to the quiet, understood there would be no pushing. "Now why don't you tell me how everything finished up tonight? Did Jake's girl settle in okay with everyone?"

  And she told him, filled him in about Casey and her upcoming marriage...her very soon to be upcoming marriage. Neither she or Pete wanted to wait. They had plans and figured there was no reason not to get started on them as soon as they could. Together. She told him..again...how
Court's gaze never seemed to stray too far from Carrie. And how Carrie did her level best to pretend she didn't notice.

  She told him too how tickled pink Mallie was to be on the winning side of the bet they'd made over when Casey would find herself married. Mallie had indeed picked out a place for them to spend the pot. She had found a small Italian restaurant down near the river and didn't have to do a lot of convincing for that to be their dinner destination. Mary laughed at her husband's amused comment wondering how Casey had taken being the subject of the wager.

  "Once we invited her to go with us she was fine," Mary assured him.

  Then she caught him up on all the changes she was making in the house, how things were going and reminding him of what was left to be done. And...she told him she'd put an offer in on a house that may or may not work out but she hoped it did. In many ways it was the home where it all started. The home her great-grandparents had lived in all their married life. She knew Pete's concerns about the deal. But she held firm on her hope. On her resolve. And knew in the end it would work out as Daniel always said…as it was meant.