“Hush now. Nobody needs to know that.”
Everyone knew that. Betty was known for two things: gossip and supplying the children with their morning sugar rush. Both were done out of love…for the most part. “Sorry. It’ll be our little secret.”
“Good. Very good.” She looked over her shoulder to the curious eyes still aimed at us. “So, you’re looking for…Emily?”
Not sure who else she thought I’d be trying to find, I nodded. “Yes. Have you seen her?”
“I think she just slipped upstairs for a few. It’s been a tough day for her. A tough week, really.”
“I can imagine.” Harry had been a royal bastard to everyone within his orbit. But Emily Chamberlin had been the sun at the center of his universe.
“Would you like me to go and let her know you’re here?”
And deprive me of the chance to escape? No way. “That’s okay. I think I might just go and check in on her.”
“I think that’s a great idea.”
So did I, and just as I was about to head back into the hall, a woman out on the back deck caught my eye. She was seated on one of the wraparound benches and the afternoon sun was catching the golden strands of her hair like a halo.
She looked like some kind of angel. But who was I kidding? An angel wasn’t about to show up for anything related to Harry.
“Noah? Ah! I knew it was you!” Brianna, my sister, threw her arms around my neck and pulled me in tight. So tight I was at real risk of suffocation as she squealed in my ear. “I knew you would be here. Everyone else said there was no way. But I knew. I knew.”
I smiled and wrapped my arms around her waist. I hadn’t seen her since last summer, when her and Mom had come for one of their many visits, and for the first time since I’d driven back onto this property, I felt a sense of happiness. Something I hadn’t expect to feel here ever again.
“You always were the smartest one out of the four of us,” I said. “That’s why you’re at that fancy school of yours.”
“Liar. I’m at that fancy school because Mom didn’t know what else to do with me.”
That was probably true. Brianna was a wild one. I ran my hand down the back of her long, wavy hair and grinned. “Nooo.”
“Yesss. But only for six more months. Then I’m free.”
“God help us all.”
“Indeed.” She gave an impish shrug, and when her black wrap slipped down her arm, I gently lifted it back in place.
“You look good, Bree. Are you doing okay?”
“I’m fine. I mean, it’s not like I was really close with Harry or anything.”
“No one was close with Harry.”
“Yeah.” She wrapped her arms around her waist, and I tugged her in under one of mine as we walked down the hall. “Have you seen Justin and Ryan yet?”
“Ryan, on the way in. Said he’d be over in a few. Justin, no. Is he here?”
Brianna shook her head. “Not yet. He was going to stop by Gallagher’s for a drink before heading here.”
That sounded like Justin. If something was hard or unpleasant, he avoided it. If it was fun and easy, he was your guy.
“I’d kill for a drink right now,” she said.
I looked down at my sister with a frown. “You are underage.”
“Trust me, I know. Laurel booze-blocked me at every turn.”
“Laurel?” I stopped dead in my tracks, and when my arm slipped off Bree’s shoulder, she turned to look at me. “As in Laurel Anderson? She’s still here?”
Well, that was a definite twist. Up until now, it hadn’t even occurred to me that Laurel—the girl who haunted my dreams—would be exactly where I’d left her. I’d always imagined her leaving Chamberlin and heading to a big city, the way we’d always talked about. To hear she was still close by, well, that suddenly made this trip a whole lot more interesting.
Brianna frowned. “Of course she’s here. She manages the place. Oh shit, Mom didn’t tell you?”
No. No she did not.
“I’m sure she was going to,” Brianna said, trying to cover. “Maybe she wanted to do it in person?”
Highly doubtful. Laurel had been the driving force in Harry sending me away. If I had to take a wild stab at it, I bet her employment had been kept secret just in case I decided to return. Not that she’d ever take me back. Not after the way I’d just…left.
“How long has Laurel worked here?”
“Uh, maybe you should talk to Mom about it.”
“Bree…”
Brianna grimaced. “A long time.”
“Un-fucking-believable,” I muttered, wishing in that moment that Harry was alive just so I could kill him again.
“You really didn’t know?”
I let out a deep sigh and shook my head. “I really didn’t. I didn’t even know she was still living here.”
“Yeah. Everyone knows Laurel. She’s the best.” Brianna laughed. “Unless she’s trying to booze-block you.”
I gave a forced smile, my mind still reeling at this new information. Laurel Anderson, wow. She was somewhere here, right now.
“Noah?”
“Sorry. What?”
“I asked if you were ready to go and see Mom?”
Shit. It would be poor form not to go and check on her and let her know that I was here. “Yes. Let’s go.”
I shoved aside the desire I had to go and find the girl I’d once thought I would marry, and instead followed my sister upstairs. I’d be in town for a few more days, so I had plenty of time to see Laurel if I wanted to.
Hell, who was I kidding? Of course I wanted to. I’d been dreaming about Laurel Anderson for years. She was the bar that was never reached. The fantasy that never disappointed. She was the one girl who had gotten away—or had been ripped away—and before I left town, I was going to track her down and see just how good my memory was.
Until then—knock, knock, knock—I was going to be a good son.
“Come in.” My mom’s soft voice was instantly recognizable, and as I slowly opened the door to one of the guest rooms of the winery, I spotted her standing by one of the large windows that overlooked the sprawling vineyards.
She wore a black A-line dress with an elegant hat and veil to match, and her dark hair was pulled into a tight, prim knot at the back of her neck. She looked the very image of a grieving widow, and her slight frame appeared even smaller than usual as she turned to face the two of us.
“Noah.”
“Mom.”
She clasped her hands in front of herself as she looked between Brianna and myself, and then she walked across the room to stop in front of us.
“I wasn’t sure you’d come. When you weren’t at the funeral, I just assumed…”
She had every reason to think that way, and I had every reason to stay gone. But I loved my mom, and there’d been no way I wasn’t going to be here for her.
I reached for her hands and took them in mine. “Of course I was going to come.”
Her delicate features softened as her somber eyes assessed me in a quick once-over, the way that mothers do, then she offered up a broken smile.