I buttoned my suit jacket and made my way up the front steps, where I knocked on the large wooden door and steeled myself against whatever reception I was about to get. A second later, the door was pulled wide by a woman in a black dress and a white apron. She offered a polite smile and then ushered me inside.
“May I take your jacket for you, sir?”
I smoothed my hand over the buttons but shook my head. Now that I was here, the jacket felt like an extra layer of armor, and for now I thought it best to keep it in place.
“Very well. The other guests are in the tasting room and out on the back deck. Would you like me to lead the way?”
“No, thank you. I’ll be fine. I’ve been here before. I’ll just head on back.”
She gave a clipped nod and then disappeared behind one of the doors that led to the kitchen.
Ah, money—it really could buy you whatever the hell you wanted. Cooks, landscapers, someone to answer the front door so you didn’t have to. It was something I’d never felt comfortable around, even as a child. That hadn’t changed in the years I’d been gone. If anything, my discomfort level had intensified.
I checked my watch and wondered if it was too late for me to claim that my flight hadn’t arrived on time. But knowing that was easily checked up on, I resigned myself to my fate and made my way down the long hallway toward the sunroom where the tastings were held.
I could hear hushed voices begin to carry throughout the house. Whispers, quiet laughs, a feigned sob here and there, but when I finally stepped through the doorway, all pretense of being there to mourn the late Harry Chamberlin vanished, as every single pair of eyes in the place landed on me.
It seemed Ryan had been right: news of my arrival had reached the good citizens of Chamberlin, and Harry’s departure was suddenly the last thing on any of their minds.
2
Laurel
SOMEWHERE IN THE back of my mind I’d known this day would come. I’d dreamed about it, had practice conversations where I’d try to guess what would be said so I’d have something witty and brilliant to come up with. But never could I have imagined this scenario. The one where I was working that bastard Harry’s wake, and in walked the long-lost Chamberlin son, perfect as ever—Noah.
It’d been years since I’d last seen him, but there was no mistaking who I was looking at, as the boy who had once stolen—and then broken—my heart walked across the threshold of the tasting room and scanned the people standing inside of it.
Oh, he looked different enough. His thick chestnut hair was a little longer on top now than he used to keep it. He was sporting thick stubble along a jaw line that had definitely changed from boyish to masculine, and the immaculate black suit he’d chosen to wear was so well tailored to his body that it outlined his broad shoulders and waist to breathtaking perfection.
Yes, he looked different. But not so much that my body didn’t recognize him the second my eyes did, because suddenly, it was really hot in here.
“Did I miss something?” Willa, my good friend and owner of the local B&B, said, as she popped the last bite of her cheese and spinach quiche in her mouth. “Why is everyone suddenly— Oh…”
Yes. Oh.
“Is that who I think it is?”
Willa knew exactly who it was, even if she was one of the only people standing in the room who didn’t actually know him in person.
Noah had been long gone by the time Wilhelmina Sinclair arrived in Chamberlin. But she’d heard the stories, since gossip was part and parcel of a town this size. Add in the fact that Noah came from the wealthiest family, which also happened to be the namesake of said town, and, well, rumors were bound to fly.
One of those rumors had been his appearance today. I hadn’t wanted to believe it. The idea of Noah being back after all this time caused an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I still hadn’t decided the root cause of it. Betrayal, hurt, anxiety…?
I looked around for one of the waitstaff with the champagne flutes, but of course there was no one in sight. It was probably for the best anyway. I shouldn’t be drinking, since I was the one running this thing.
“Laurel?”
Oh, right, Willa had just asked me something.
“Sorry.” I somehow managed to tear my eyes away from the man still standing in the doorway. “What did you say?”
“I asked if that was Noah. But judging by the ghostly hue of your complexion, that’s a yes.”
I quickly grabbed her arm and tugged her toward the open door, deciding that maybe some cool air would do me good.
“Laurel? Laurel,” she said, as we came to a stop off to one side of the deck. But I wasn’t listening. I was too busy trying to process everything I’d just seen.
Noah was here. Here. Back in Chamberlin. Back in my immediate orbit, and shit—suddenly I couldn’t breathe.
“Okay, why don’t you take a seat? You don’t look so good.”
I didn’t doubt it. I’d gone from hot to cold in the blink of an eye, and my knees felt as though they were going to give out any second. Willa guided me to one of the bench seats that bordered the back deck, and once I was down, I feared I’d never get back up again.
“Heeey.” She sat down beside me and rubbed a soothing palm over my back. “It’s okay. Take a deep breath in and then let it out.”
I did as she said, but all I could think about was how long I’d waited for this day and how much I’d dreaded it. Damn these conflicting emotions—they were doing nothing to help settle my nerves.
“So, okay, that’s Noah. Holy shit, Laurel. You didn’t say he looked like that.”
Because he hadn’t looked like that. When I’d last seen him, he looked like the all-American boy. The golden child with a charming smile and eyes that looked right into your soul. He’d been sweet and kind and had broken hearts everywhere he went, and eventually he’d broken mine.
I took in another shaky breath and then let it out, trying to calm the nerves that had twisted my stomach into knots. “I told you he looked like Ryan. They used to always get asked if they were twins.”
“Ryan?” Willa laughed. “I hate to break it to you, but that man in there looks nothing like Ryan. That man owns a suit. I’m pretty sure Ryan wouldn’t even know where to buy a suit.”
That was true. I didn’t think I’d ever seen Ryan in anything other than a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt. And as for Noah? I guess I was still thinking of the boy who’d lived in shorts, shirts, and baseball caps. Not the man who’d just arrived back in town looking as put together as GQ model.
“Okay, so they dress differently. But other than that, the similarities are pretty clear.”
Willa peered around my shoulder, her straight black hair falling around her face as she scrunched up her pert nose. “Hmm, I’m not seeing it. Maybe it was more obvious when they were younger, but now? No way. That man in there oozes sophistication. Ryan is homegrown through and through.”
I braved another glance over my shoulder and braced myself against the barrage of emotions I knew would slam into me again.
Noah had moved into the center of the room now, and while it was close to full, it wasn’t difficult to spot him. With everyone gathering on the periphery, he might as well have had a spotlight on him, and damn what a vision he made.