A Place to Belong

by RaeAnne Thayne

  “Do you have a general contractor lined up?”

  Shep stared at him for a long moment, as if he couldn’t quite figure out why Cole had changed tactics. Finally he said, “We have plans. Big ones.”

  “I bet.”

  “It’s not a joke.”

  “I’m not laughing.” Cole gestured to the darkened lodge. “I gather you’re not staying here.”

  “Not yet,” Shep admitted. “There’s some work to do before the place is habitable again. And I have other...commitments right now.”

  “What’s your time frame?”

  “Six months.”

  “Are you joking? You’ll never get things going again in that amount of time.”

  Shep bristled, as if Cole doubting him was a physical blow. “We’re farther along than you think.”

  Cole ran a hand through his hair. “Why didn’t you contact me earlier?”

  “I like surprises,” Shep said, his smirk firmly back in place.

  “Don’t cause trouble. This town means something to me, and I won’t have you stirring things up around here.”

  “You sure do know how to make a man feel welcome. It warms my heart. Really.”

  Cole shook his head, both unable and unwilling to bridge the distance between him and his brother. “I’ll see you later, Shep,” he said and walked away.

  * * *

  Sienna heard a crash, then another, coming from the kitchen as she walked down the inn’s staircase the next morning.

  It was too early for construction workers, so she hurried toward the sound, calling out to Paige as she did.

  She found the innkeeper grabbing pans and metal bowls from the pantry and slamming them onto the counter.

  “Everything okay?”

  “Coffee in the pot and French toast casserole on the stove,” Paige said, her frenetic movements not stopping. “Do you want fresh squeezed orange juice to go with it?”

  “Paige.” Sienna put a hand on her friend’s arm. “What are you doing?”

  “Taking care of the only guest this place might ever see.” Paige shook her head and pressed the back of her hand to her mouth when a small sob escaped.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I called my mom this morning.” Her voice was miserable. “I told you the house is in her name, and I’ve been trying to save money to buy it from her. I’ve also been paying the mortgage, and maybe I missed a couple of months because of other expenses I’ve had to shell out to maintain this place. Maybe I told her I’d miss this month, as well.”

  “Okay.”

  “Not okay,” Paige countered. “At least that’s what I realized. My mom is under contract to sell The Bumblebee.”

  “She can’t do that,” Sienna said immediately. “You’ve put so much time and effort into it. You’re almost ready to open.”

  Paige gave a strained laugh and gestured to the mess of the living room floor. “Not quite almost, but I was getting there. I called to give her an update and talk about the construction expenses. She told me she was approached last week by a buyer out of California who wanted this property.”

  “Why The Bumblebee?”

  “It’s not just the house. The land borders the old ski resort. Apparently whoever bought the resort wants to make the inn part of that property. Grammy was always at odds with the former owner of the ski mountain, but I never thought it would be an issue for me.”

  “Your mom didn’t bother to mention this to you?”

  Paige sniffed and shook her head. “I made the mistake of calling her in a moment of weakness—when I was feeling overwhelmed. I might have cried and told her I wasn’t sure I could handle the inn.”

  “Crying is okay and doubts are normal. It doesn’t mean—”

  “I was sick as a kid,” Paige blurted. “Really sick.”

  Sienna felt her mouth drop open. “Are you sick now?”

  Paige shook her head. “I had leukemia. I was in and out of the hospital my last two years of high school doing chemo and radiation. I’ve been fine for almost ten years, but after that phone call, my mom decided that the stress of opening and running an inn would be too much for me.” She threw up her hands. “According to her, she’s doing me a favor.”

  “We need to convince her to cancel the sale. When is the closing scheduled?”

  “You have no idea what my mom is like when she sets her mind to something.”

  “Maybe not,” Sienna agreed. “However, I’m familiar with overbearing mothers.”

  Paige gave a soft laugh. “I suppose you are. But you’ve made a success of yourself in your own right. You have that important job—”

  “Which I don’t miss.”

  “You lived with your boyfriend—”

  “Who cheated on me,” Sienna pointed out with a wince.

  “There were some setbacks,” Paige admitted. “But you’ve proven you can be an adult. Before I came to Crimson, I still lived with my mom. She said the house was too big for her to be there alone after my dad died, and she wasn’t ready to sell it. The truth was she didn’t trust me on my own. Do you have any idea what it’s like when no one believes you can handle your own life? It’s embarrassing, and now this happens.”

  Sienna could relate to Paige’s dilemma. Maybe her life wasn’t as sheltered, but she’d followed wherever her mom and stepdad had led her. Yes, she had a great job, but she’d gotten hired with the ad agency because her stepdad had been fraternity brothers with one of the senior partners. Her mom had basically set up her first date with Kevin through someone she’d met at a charity dinner.

  Everything in Sienna’s life had been arranged to follow the path that Dana deemed appropriate. As if Sienna couldn’t be trusted to make her own decisions.

  It wasn’t until she’d arrived in Crimson that she’d tasted real freedom. Cole had been the first person to act like he believed she was strong enough to handle whatever life threw at her. No wonder she’d fallen for him so fast and hard. Butterflies flitted around her insides at the thought of him, but right now she needed to focus on seeing her friend through this mini meltdown.

  “Your mom lives in Denver, right?” she asked.

  “On the south end of town.”

  “Has she been up here to see what you’ve done with the place?”

  “No. She hasn’t been here since my grandma’s funeral and the house was a mess at that point. When Grammy died, Mom wanted to sell the inn right away. I convinced her to let me try to make something of it.”

  “You have,” Sienna said immediately, her heart aching to see the other woman so sad. In the past couple of weeks, Paige had become a true friend. They’d spent hours sitting on the front porch at night, and Paige had been infinitely patient listening to all of Sienna’s worries. Paige had seemed so settled and sure, and it was a shock to hear about her illness and the uncertainty surrounding her mother and the inn.

  “Not quite. I should have known better than to share my problems with her. She’s always treated me like the sick girl I used to be, even after I wasn’t sick anymore. It’s part of the reason I wanted to open the inn. I wanted to prove to her and to myself that I could succeed in something big. I can work hard and it won’t hurt me.”

  “You’re doing great,” Sienna insisted. “Invite your mom up, and we’ll make sure she changes her mind.”

  “Maybe I can introduce her to your mother,” Paige said with a slight smile. “They can compare notes on their wayward daughters.”

  Sienna grabbed a coffee mug from the counter. “My mom won’t be here long enough for that.”

  “Are you going back to Chicago with her?”

  “She definitely thinks so. I managed to convince her I couldn’t leave until tomorrow at the earliest. But we both know I can’t ignore my life forever.”

  “But this is your life, too.�
� Paige handed her a carton of creamer as she poured coffee into the mug. “Maybe it’s time to think of making some permanent changes. You have to claim the life you want to live.”

  Sienna lifted a brow. “Like you’re going to claim the inn?”

  Paige drew in a tremulous breath, like the question had knocked the wind out of her. Then she pulled two plates from a cabinet, porcelain clattering as she placed them on the counter with unsteady hands.

  “French toast first,” she said with a too-bright smile. “No one should take back her life on an empty stomach.”

  Sienna nodded. “I’ll get the syrup.”

  Chapter 17

  Sienna flipped the button on her phone to vibrate and shoved the device into her purse as she walked through the hospital doors later that morning.

  Her mother had called earlier, but Sienna wanted to speak to her dad before facing Dana and her expectations that Sienna would be leaving Crimson.

  She wasn’t finished in this sweet little town. Despite her mixed emotions, Colorado was quickly beginning to feel like home. She wouldn’t give that up without a fight.

  She waved to Dixie at the receptionist’s desk and headed for the elevators.

  “Your mother hasn’t aged a day since she left here,” the older woman called. “I recognized her the minute she walked in.”

  Sienna spun on her heel. “In where?”

  Dixie chuckled. “The hospital, of course. She got here about twenty minutes ago.”

  “Is Jase with her?” Sienna asked, already backing away.

  “Haven’t seen him.”

  Dana was alone with Declan. The implications screamed through Sienna’s brain, as if she was standing too close to the tracks when a powerful freight train came speeding by. She bypassed the elevator and pushed open the stairwell door, taking the steps two at a time to the third floor.

  It was difficult to tell whether her gasping breath was a result of racing up two sets of stairs at altitude or the overwhelming panic at the thought of her parents together.

  The door to her father’s room was open halfway, and she paused outside to catch her breath, gather her thoughts and try to discern whether any blood had been shed yet.

  “We had an agreement, Dec. Nothing has changed.”

  The sharp edge in her mother’s tone wasn’t a surprise, but her words certainly were.

  “She showed up here. That changed everything.” Declan coughed, painful and raspy in a way that couldn’t be good for his continued recovery. He sounded out of breath and agitated. Sienna started to interrupt the conversation but stopped as her father spoke again. “What was I supposed to do? Send her away? Reject her to her face?”

  “Yes,” her mother said, exasperation clear in her tone. “If you want to keep receiving the monthly check, then yes.”

  Sienna felt like she’d taken a punch to the gut. She reached out and put a hand on the wall to steady herself.

  “Let him explain,” a quiet voice behind her said.

  She turned to find Jase standing a few feet behind her, Emily at his side. Her sister-in-law’s gaze was gentle, and Sienna understood she’d been duped by everyone. As far as she’d seen, Emily wasn’t one for sympathy...ever.

  “I’ve got to get out of here,” she muttered, but her legs were rooted to the polished linoleum floor.

  “Sienna?” The door to the room opened to reveal her mother standing stiff as a statue, her mouth pressed into a tight line even as her gaze tracked wildly from Sienna to Jase.

  “Baby girl, come in here,” Declan called from over Dana’s shoulder. “We need to talk.”

  “Did you pay him to stay away from me?” Sienna didn’t move, ignoring her dad’s request.

  “I helped out with living expenses.” Dana glanced at Jase again. “For your brother.”

  “Sienna!” Declan shouted. “Get her in here.”

  Dana gave a small nod. “We can discuss the details behind closed doors. No need for the entire hospital to overhear you.”

  But Sienna was beyond caring who knew this latest detail in their sordid family history. “Did your help include an agreement that he wouldn’t try to contact me?”

  Her mother tipped up her chin and gave Sienna the patented mom stare that used to shut her down when she asked questions about her dad and brother.

  Sienna pressed her palm flat against the wall and stared back.

  “Your father and I had an understanding. I never forbade him from contacting you.”

  “The hell you didn’t, woman,” Declan called from inside the room. “Now someone get me out of this dang bed.”

  “You had no right,” Sienna whispered to her mother.

  Dana’s eyes narrowed. “He cashed the checks every month.”

  “Dad had some rough times,” Jase explained, stepping forward. “He needed—”

  “Did you know about this the whole time?” Sienna demanded, pulling her hand away from the wall and fisting it at her side.

  “Not at first,” Jase said after a moment. “But eventually I started managing the bank account.”

  “Inappropriate to put a child in that situation,” Dana muttered.

  Sienna felt like she was at the center of a tornado, all the parts of her life spinning around her in a whirlwind.

  “Do you want to get a cup of coffee?” Emily asked. “A few minutes away might help you collect your thoughts.”

  “I don’t need time.” Sienna looked between the three people facing her. “My thoughts are clear. You’ve all lied to me. I want nothing to do with any of you.”

  * * *

  Sienna paced back and forth in the corner office of the sheriff’s department, anger and humiliation buzzing through her like a swarm of insects.

  The friendly woman at the front desk had offered her a cup of coffee, then led her to Cole’s office. He was on his way back to the station, she’d explained, and Sienna was welcome to wait.

  The door burst open a few seconds later, and Cole appeared, his gaze frantic. “Marlene called me,” he said, moving toward Sienna. “She said my girlfriend was in the office crying and that I’d better get my butt back here stat.”

  Sienna’s cheeks grew warm as a thrill coursed through her at his casual use of the word girlfriend. Did that make her optimistic or pathetic? Probably a bit of both. “I hope she didn’t actually use the word stat.”

  “She did,” he confirmed. “Marlene’s a big fan of medical shows. She’s also happy to give an armchair diagnosis of any physical ailments you might have.”

  “I’ll remember that.” Sienna smoothed her fingers across her cheeks. “For the record, I wasn’t crying when I got here. I was totally composed when I walked into the station.”

  “But you’d been crying?” He didn’t wait for an answer, only reached for her. His strong arms wound around her back as he pulled her against his chest.

  She sucked in a shaky breath and let herself sag against him. They stood together for several minutes, Cole gently tracing circles on her back with his palm. She splayed her fingers across his shirtfront, feeling the steady beat of his heart. The sorrow that had tightened around her chest, ensnaring her heart like a vine, slowly subsided.

  It was this moment more than any other that made her certain of her love for him. He felt like home, and she’d been yearning for a place to belong for as long as she could remember. She drew in her first normal breath since leaving the hospital, realizing she could handle anything with this man at her side.

  “My mother went to visit my dad in the hospital this morning,” she said, pulling away.

  As reluctant as she was to leave Cole’s embrace, she had to have a little distance to get the words out. She walked to the edge of the desk, ran her fingers along a deep scratch in the oak top.

  “I take it things didn’t go well.”

  “No
t exactly. They argued over the money she’d been giving him all this time.”

  Cole’s thick brows furrowed, but otherwise he didn’t respond. She’d expected him to be as shocked as she was by the revelation so she didn’t quite understand his calm reaction to the news.

  Maybe he didn’t understand the implication of what she was telling him. “Mom has been sending a monthly check to Declan for the past twenty years,” she explained. “She tried to tell me it was for Jase, but obviously my brother is a grown man now and even when he was a kid...” She shook her head, confused that Cole still looked unsurprised. “They had an unspoken agreement that Declan wouldn’t contact me. Jase knew about it. He’d started depositing the checks when Declan was having issues.”

  “That’s a lot of pressure for a kid,” Cole said quietly. “Your parents never should have made that arrangement.”

  “Yes,” she agreed slowly, an uncomfortable feeling—an itch she couldn’t quite reach—skittered along the back of her neck. “That’s not the point. Jase knew and never mentioned it. My mom made me believe my dad wanted nothing to do with me. Declan took the money and was willing to stay out of my life to ensure it didn’t stop. It’s untenable that they’d all have kept this from me, even once I arrived in Crimson.”

  “I’m sorry, Sienna.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “It was a bad situation all around. But you have to understand—”

  “You knew.” She lifted her arm, pointing a finger at him. It felt as though her hand wasn’t connected to her body. She saw everything through the haze of heartache crashing over her once again. Only this time it was a pain she doubted she’d ever recover from. “You knew about the checks.”

  “Jase didn’t like keeping it from you.” Cole took a step forward but she stretched out her hand, palm out, to keep him from moving closer to her. “He was trying to figure out a way to tell you. He mentioned that Declan hadn’t cashed the checks for a while, if that helps.”

  She felt her eyes widen. “You’ve discussed this with Jase.”

  “He needed to confide in someone,” Cole said by way of explanation. “It was long before you and I were together.”