Adam joined her a few minutes later, fully dressed. “Change of plans. I need to get back to the lake.” He kissed the top of her head. “Check your messages. Vic texted us. He’s coming home.”
She grabbed her phone and saw Vic’s text: Home early tomorrow. See you soon!
“He sent this text while we...”
“Yeah,” Adam said.
“That doesn’t bother you, does it?”
“Nope.”
“Of course not. Me, either.” She smiled and texted Great! to Vic. She placed her phone back on the counter. “You know what I think?”
“You’re glad we didn’t spend the night together at his place and wake up with him in the driveway?”
“There’s that.”
“Spending the night here...”
“Yeah. Best at least let him unpack before he finds out about us.” Adrienne opened the oven. Using thick pot holders, she lifted out the pan of apple butter and set it on a rack on the butcher-block island. “This stuff smells heavenly. I’ve become an apple butter fan since moving east. But no, I wasn’t thinking about how we tell Vic about us. Or not just thinking that. I have a feeling he wants to take on another assignment but he’s afraid it’ll upset me. I move across the country to spend time with him and he’s plotting to spend the next year in who-knows-where.”
“Would that upset you?”
“I don’t want him to feel hemmed in by me. Knights Bridge has been his home base for two decades. That’s not going to change.” She set her pot holders on the island next to the bubbling apple butter. “I might have felt differently in September.”
“But you don’t feel so alone now,” Adam said. He dipped a finger into the apple butter and licked it. “Good but hotter than I expected.”
“It’s just out of the oven, Adam.”
He winked at her. “Best time I’ve ever had making apple butter.”
“Then you’ve done it before?”
“With my grandmother when I was ten.” He tucked a finger under her chin. “See you soon. Maybe whatever Vic’s been up to on these trips will help him finally settle into retirement and he’ll get back to his memoirs.”
But Adrienne knew Adam didn’t think so, and neither did she. After he left, she put the apple butter in jars and let it cool while she cleaned up the kitchen. Then she put the jars in the refrigerator. She didn’t need to do anything else. It’d get used before it had a chance to go bad.
She had apple butter with her toast for breakfast and was making apple crisp with Maggie when Adam texted her that Vic had arrived at Echo Lake with an entourage of DSS agents. They dropped him off, checked the house and grounds and departed. Something’s definitely up.
She showed Maggie the text. “Wow. I don’t think Vic’s ever arrived with a security entourage. Then again, most of us in town never paid much attention.”
She popped the apple crisp in the oven. Adrienne had helped with peeling and slicing the apples and measuring ingredients according to Maggie’s instructions. They were baking not for inn guests but for Thanksgiving. Apple crisp, pumpkin pie and sweet potatoes with apple cider. Family favorites, Maggie said.
Then came a text from Vic: I’m home!
“Go, go,” Maggie said. “I’ll take care of things here.”
Adrienne pulled off her apron. She was wearing the one with the chickens. Maggie had brought her own, with a big green dinosaur on the front. A present from her sons. “I won’t be long.”
“Take your time.”
Adrienne jumped into Vic’s old car. In the time he’d been away, foliage season had come and gone. A few spent oak leaves and such hung on, but most of the trees between Carriage Hill and Echo Lake had bare branches. The landscape had opened up, and she’d noticed fewer and fewer hikers and “leaf peepers.”
It was a raw, rainy autumn morning, but when she arrived at the lake, she found Vic in his favorite chair on the porch, with Rohan asleep next to him. Vic—her father—looked an intriguing mix of exhausted and excited. “Are you in trouble, Vic?” she asked him.
“Not the kind you mean. I’ve been offered a job.”
“A job. So much for retiring.”
“It’s a temporary assignment at NATO Headquarters in Brussels. A year at most. It would be a new chapter in my life but also a continuation of what I’ve done the past forty years.”
“You say ‘would be.’ Does that mean you haven’t said yes?”
“That’s right.”
“Why are you hesitating? Did you want to get back here and see if you could stand to leave your spot here on Echo Lake with your iPad, Rohan, your memoirs?”
“I would miss Rohan and the lake. He likes the lake better than me. Elly can take him, but he’s bonded with Violet. I thought I’d ask Adam. But I’m getting ahead of myself. I honestly haven’t made a decision. I’m used to coming here for a few days at a time, or on vacation for a couple of weeks. That wouldn’t change. It’s been my routine for twenty years. I’ve only been retired a year. Not even that.” He got to his feet. “No, it’s you, Adrienne. I won’t take the job if it upsets you. You gave up California to head east to spend time with me.”
“Would I be able to visit you in Brussels?”
“Yes. I’ll be traveling frequently but I’ll be based there.”
“It sounds like an opportunity too good to pass up. It’s what you want to do, Vic. There’s an energy about you that wasn’t there a few weeks ago. How long do you have to make a final decision?”
“Twenty-four hours.” He shifted, biting his lower lip as he looked out at the lake. “I don’t want to get this wrong, Adrienne. I want to do right by you. I didn’t when you were a child.”
“I’ve been to Brussels, Vic. I love it.”
“It is an exciting opportunity, a chance to serve—to make a difference at least in a small way. Everyone in Knights Bridge thinks I retired too soon?”
Adrienne smiled. “We have a tendency to think Knights Bridge is even smaller than it is, but the people we know—yes, that’s my impression.”
“Adam’s invited us both to Thanksgiving with the Sloan clan at Red Clover Inn. Heather and Brody will be there from London, and Greg will be up from Washington—he has his wedding the next morning. I’ll say yes on behalf of both of us if you want to do it.”
That was so Adam, she thought. He’d speak to Vic first out of courtesy, in case he had plans. “It sounds like fun.”
“What about your...?” He faltered.
“Mom texted me this morning. She’s decided to pop in. She gets here tomorrow night but she’s only staying the one night. Dad is in New York on business and figured he’d drop by, too. It’s last minute or serendipity, or both.”
“That’s wonderful. It’ll be good to see them. It never would have worked between your mother and me.”
“You don’t owe me an explanation, Vic.”
“These past few weeks especially, I thought about what might have been. I faced the loss of not having known you were my daughter. The regret over the life I could have lived but didn’t. It wasn’t just Sophia’s doing. I never inquired when I heard she was expecting. I didn’t know her well. We had a mad fling, but I knew her well enough that I should have realized you could have been mine.”
“Because she never would have had a baby so soon after marriage if it’d been up to her.”
“That doesn’t mean she didn’t want you.”
“No, but it doesn’t mean it was part of her planning, either. She’s a great planner, my mother.”
“When she was getting ready to leave Paris, I made it clear—as she did to me—that our week together was just that. I didn’t want to ruin her marriage by asking about you. I saw her as a narcissistic barracuda. That was a bit sexist of me, I think. Sophia’s driven and hardworking. There’s a difference. She’s not perfect but I’
m not, either. She was going places those days back in Paris. Blazing her own trail. That’s part of what attracted me to her.”
She took his hand. “Take the Brussels job if it’s what you want, Vic. I have friends who own a vineyard in Provence. I’d love for you to meet them sometime when you can get away.”
“Does that mean you’re firing up your wine blog again?”
“No. I’ll have to find time to get away, too.”
“Keeping the innkeeping job?”
“It’s changing, I think.”
He narrowed his eyes. “And?”
“And I think I’ve fallen for the local stonemason.”
“Yeah. I kind of got that impression. If you’re worried about what I think—about what anyone around here thinks—” He stopped, put his arm around her and gave her a quick squeeze. “Don’t.”
Rohan woke up and bolted between them. They all walked down to the lake together. Adrienne could see Adam on the guesthouse deck. He was giving her time with Vic, she realized. Violet rose up. Of course she’d be there with Adam.
Adrienne watched Vic throw a stick into the water, Rohan leaping after it. She realized she was happy here. Making a place for herself as an innkeeper. Content, she thought. And she realized how much she’d come to care about Vic in the relatively short time she’d known him. He was a good man. She was proud to have him as her father. What would he think of her relationship with Adam? She wanted Vic to approve, to like Adam. But in the end it didn’t matter. What she and Adam had together was theirs.
* * *
Adrienne had lunch with Vic and returned to Carriage Hill after he went upstairs to take a nap. By late afternoon, she was sitting on the terrace in a fleece jacket, loving the chilly November weather. She’d filled up the wood box, appreciating the shorter trek from the new lean-to. Aidan and Tyler Sloan and their friend Owen were playing dinosaurs out on the stone wall Adam had rebuilt while Brandon and Maggie mulched the garden. Olivia was “excused,” as Brandon had put it. Adrienne felt positive about what she’d accomplished at Carriage Hill in such a short time.
“You’re a natural innkeeper,” Olivia said, joining her from the kitchen. “Maggie and I had a feeling you would be. Does it surprise you that you’re so good at it?”
“It’s hard work but I love it. I guess I wasn’t sure if I’d fit in.”
“You’ve made a place for yourself. That’s what Dylan did here, too—and Russ, Kylie, Clare, Samantha and even Noah. It’s home again for Brody and Gabe. It’s not home for Greg and Charlotte, but they have family here, and they know the welcome mat’s always out. And Vic,” Olivia added. “Knights Bridge is home for him, wherever he might be.”
“I love it here,” Adrienne said. “I never thought I would, and even if I did come to love it, I thought I’d get restless. I’ve been a wanderer for so long.”
“Well, we’re glad you wandered here.”
Maggie joined them. “Brandon and I want you to consider taking on Red Clover Inn, too. Samantha is never going to be an innkeeper. She has her pirates. Justin—he’s got his hands full with his construction work. It’ll be a while before the inn’s open to guests. You’ve got time to get things sorted there properly.”
“And we’d like you to become our partner here at Carriage Hill,” Olivia said.
Adrienne swallowed past the tightness in her throat. “I’m overcome. Thank you.”
“Take some time to think,” Maggie said.
“Talk to Adam,” Olivia said quietly.
Adrienne knew she wouldn’t take on Red Clover Inn, a Sloan venture, if Adam had any reservations. Maggie and Olivia obviously understood that without spelling it out. The Farm at Carriage Hill and Red Clover Inn had so much potential, and countless options.
“I knew from the start that Justin and Samantha would never be innkeepers,” Maggie said, amused. “No one else in the family is suited, either. Can you see Eric greeting guests on the front porch? They’d run. Christopher? Adam? Not a chance. But you, Adrienne.” She smiled broadly. “You’ve got the gift. You’ll make it work.”
* * *
Adrienne put aside thoughts about her future in Knights Bridge to enjoy Thanksgiving Day at Red Clover Inn with the Sloans and Charlotte Bennett and Greg Rawlings, tomorrow’s bride and groom. The eccentric Bennetts and rough-and-tumble Rawlingses were an odd mix but Greg and Charlotte were clearly deeply in love. And everyone was thrilled to have Heather and Brody home from London for a few days.
Vic helped Tyler and Aidan set up an epic dinosaur battle in the library. Adrienne hadn’t seen him look so happy. The prospect of his new assignment agreed with him. She did notice the two DSS agents eyeing Vic knowingly. Whatever Vic’s new job was, Greg Rawlings and Brody Hancock knew all about it.
Maggie got a text from Dylan letting her know Olivia had gone into labor early that morning. “He’s taking her to the hospital now.”
By early afternoon, as Thanksgiving dinner was being served, Dylan texted Maggie. She showed her phone around the table: Mary Grace McCaffrey, 7 lbs. 5 oz., healthy.
Adrienne filled glasses with sparkling wine, and Justin led the toast. “To Mary Grace McCaffrey, and to friends and family. Happy Thanksgiving.”
* * *
Adam, his four brothers, Greg and Brody headed up to the lake after they cleaned up the dishes from Thanksgiving dinner. They got a fire going down on the sand. “It’s not as cold as it was last time I was up here,” Greg said. “Cold enough, though.”
“I love it,” Brody said.
Greg shuddered. “Figures. Didn’t you propose to Heather on a cold winter night?”
Brody grinned. “The best time.”
Justin handed Adam a beer. “Are you going to tell Adrienne you had a hand in asking her to take on Red Clover Inn?”
Adam opened the bottle. “Do I interfere in your relationship with Samantha?”
“Yes, but I’m not interfering. I’m asking. Brother to brother. And you’re telling me it’s none of my business.”
Adam raised his beer to Justin. “Brother to brother.”
Greg eased next to Adam with a beer of his own. “Red Clover’s set up for a wedding. You all will be tearing out walls, wiring and plumbing soon. We could do a double wedding. Why not?”
“Eric broke up with his fiancée,” Adam said.
“Don’t be dense. I’m talking about you and our dark-eyed innkeeper from California. Vic’s daughter.” Greg paused. “Adrienne Portale. I met her last winter. You two are good together.”
Adam wasn’t sure he wanted to get into his relationship with Adrienne with a senior DSS agent. “I wouldn’t argue with that.”
“Bet you wouldn’t.” Greg held his beer up to the firelight. “Four sips. Just what I thought. I’m stone-cold sober. Thinking straight and still marrying Charlotte Bennett tomorrow.”
Adam grinned. It was a frosty evening, the flames of their fire outlined against the darkening landscape. “You’re a lucky man,” he said finally.
“Yeah. She and Samantha are probably off talking sunken pirate treasure.” Greg took another sip of his beer. “Hold on. I didn’t lose my train of thought. Why wait, Adam? Go for it.”
Adam made no comment and drank more of his beer.
Brody nodded in agreement with his DSS friend and colleague. “Greg’s got a point. No time like the present.”
Justin, too, eased forward, as if he had a firm grasp on exactly what was going on here. “Vic’s in town. Adrienne’s folks are here or on the way. Seize the moment.”
Adam hadn’t mentioned to his brothers and friends that Adrienne’s parents would be in town tomorrow—but it was no surprise they knew. News traveled fast in Knights Bridge.
Heather arrived, bundled up in a warm jacket. She helped herself to a beer and dived into the conversation. “I married Brody in a whirlwind. Justin married Sama
ntha in a whirlwind. You, Christopher and Eric had to deal with relationships that didn’t work so you’d know the right woman when she turned up. Trust me, Adam. Waiting isn’t going to change anything.”
He sighed. “Are you all done now?”
“Done,” Justin said. “Just let me know if I need to postpone tearing out the kitchen at Red Clover.”
Adam didn’t tell them he’d already made up his mind. Let his siblings and DSS friends think they’d talked sense into him. Meanwhile, he’d find Adrienne Portale, the woman he loved.
First, though, he had to talk to Vic.
“I’ll be in touch,” Adam said, then handed his beer to Justin.
He walked up to Vic Scarlatti’s longtime house on Echo Lake. Had Vic ever imagined his life would come to this? A stonemason in love with the daughter he hadn’t known he had when he’d first bought this place...
The not-so-retired ambassador was on his front porch, under a blanket with a bottle of fine port from his wine cellar on a small side table. He offered Adam a glass. “No, thanks,” Adam said.
“You’ve got something on your mind, Adam.”
He decided to get straight to the point. “I want to marry your daughter tomorrow. Unless you object—”
“Object? Why would I object?”
“You’re her father, Vic.”
He picked up his port glass. “Yes, I am. I really am.” He bit back a sniffle. “Damn.”
“I know tomorrow’s short notice.”
“Yes, but it works. Greg and Charlotte are on board, I assume? They would be. Married...” Vic sipped his port, set the glass back on the side table and threw off his blanket as he got to his feet. He put out his hand. “Congratulations, Adam. You have my blessing. I can’t imagine a better son-in-law, or a better man for Adrienne.”
They shook hands. Adam felt his own emotions surging. He looked out at the lake, and he could smell the last of the bonfire in the chilly late-November air. Violet and Rohan were racing around in the yard, a whirl of golden fur as they played and provoked each other.
Stone Bridges Page 26
