Reunion by the Sea

by Jo Leigh

  She looked furious.

  “How did you even get here?”

  “I drove.”

  “No, I mean to the boarding area.”

  She scowled. “I bought a ticket. If it takes the entire flight to get you to tell me what’s going on, fine. I’ve made arrangements for your niece to spend the night at her friend’s house.”

  “You bought a— Are you crazy?”

  “Probably.”

  He briefly closed his eyes. He felt trapped. Cornered. Guilty. Drowning in her eyes, even though she was staring daggers at him. He wanted to kiss her and not stop. “Ginny...”

  “Oh, don’t even try with those puppy dog eyes. You left me. Again. And guess what? I decided you don’t get to do that.”

  “Look, I’m doing you a favor,” he said, and she crossed her arms, waiting. “I told you, I’m a selfish man. I don’t mix well in civilized company anymore. I’m unreliable. And a coward. I let my disappointment with my father run my life for years, and now it’s too late.”

  Evidently that wasn’t enough for her. She kept staring at him, waiting.

  “I even failed Meg. She ended up giving up her child and probably losing her life. Believe it when I tell you, the best place for me is in the most remote piece of America I could find. You and Tilda are amazing, and you deserve to have someone in your life that—”

  “Okay, that’s enough.” Her voice was almost louder than the attendant’s call for those in the back rows to board. “I will not hear you blather on about what a loner you are, and a failure and that you can’t be counted on. That’s nonsense, and you know it.”

  Now he was getting mad. “I think I know a little bit more about myself than you do.” He stood up. “I’m due to board now.”

  “Fine. Walk away from the kind of life you should have. Go back to the life where you get to feel sorry for yourself twenty-four/seven.”

  “What are you talking about? You haven’t listened to anything I’ve said.”

  “But I have. I’ve been listening all along, you dope.” She took his arm and pulled him back down to his seat. “To the way you take care of your customers. How you’ve always been there for your mother, through thick and thin. How, when your father ran, you stayed, and you made sure you learned what you needed to in order to give your mom a proper life. You didn’t let your dad’s legacy run your life—you took control. Look at how you’ve been with Tilda.

  “In case you’re searching for the right word, it’s wonderful. You’ve been strong when she needed strength. Gentle when she needed kindness. When I said she’d miss you, what I should have said was that she loves you. And will keep on loving you no matter what. And I know her a lot better than anyone else on the planet, so you’d better trust I’m telling you the truth.”

  “I’m already a lousy uncle,” he said, his head a mess of confusion. “I’ll be in Alaska. Half the year, I can barely get phone calls.”

  She pressed her lips together. “There’s something else I should’ve said. I love you too.”

  He passed a hand over his face. “Oh, Ginny, you’re making this so damn hard.”

  “Look, I’m a strong, independent woman who’s managed to raise a remarkable child on my own. I’ve had advantages, yes, but I have worked hard to make a good life for me and Tilda. I think I can handle you.”

  Parker opened his mouth and closed it again.

  “Now, do you want to board the plane? Because my row is being called to get in line.”

  He closed his eyes. He needed time to think. To reason with her. What she’d said appealed to him and also scared the crap out of him. But he had to choose a path. Without letting fear be his guide.

  “For the record, you don’t know everything about me. But maybe you know more than I do...about some things.”

  “Such as...?”

  He watched a smile slowly bloom on her lips. “I love you, all right? Happy now? I love you, and it scares me to death. You deserve everything you’ve ever dreamed of, and I know I can’t deliver.”

  “I don’t think anyone gets everything. But I do think we’re allowed to have the things that will make our lives richer.”

  He wanted to kiss her. Again. But that wouldn’t be an answer... “I have a business. You know that.”

  “Yes,” she said, her voice so patient he wasn’t sure what to make of it.

  “I have no idea what to do about that. How to make an us out of what we are now.”

  “Okay. Any other concerns?”

  “Yeah, at least a hundred.”

  “What, you imagined this would be easy?”

  He shook his head.

  Ginny’s smile widened. “The whole thing is going to be all over the map for a while. Who knows what will shake out in the end. Maybe, it’ll all fall apart and we’ll be sad for ages. But if we never try, we’ll never know if it could be great.”

  He swallowed. “Well? Is there anything else you wanted to say?”

  “Probably. I just can’t think at the moment. Except you’re reimbursing me for this ticket. It cost me a fortune.”

  The last and final boarding call was going out over the loud system, and she just kept staring at him. “You’re right,” she finally whispered. “Love is utterly terrifying. But we’re both strong enough to walk into a life we know nothing about. What do you say?”

  Parker choked out a laugh. “Is that a proposal, Ms. Landry?”

  She gasped, laughed too. “Sure, why not? I promise I won’t tell all your customers I had to be the one to propose.”

  He lifted her up and into his arms as he stood, then kissed her the way he wanted to. The boarding area was empty when they finally parted.

  “I love you, Ginny.”

  “I know.” She grinned at his raised brows. “I love you too, Parker Nolan. I have for a very long time.”

  One Year Later...

  “I’M SO GLAD to see you.” Ginny met Parker’s mom, Eleanor, and her husband at the door, and was promptly pulled into loving arms.

  Parker had just picked his mom and Wade up at the airport. The occasion was more than just Tilda’s fifteenth birthday party. It was also a celebration of Tilda’s scholarship to MIT, and Ginny and Parker’s new, and very complicated, life.

  He’d spent time in Alaska, of course, getting things straightened out with Mark and hiring a new pilot to take over for his fall and winter deliveries. The man was someone he could trust. Someone a lot like himself—or like the man he used to be. He would also take over the cabin for the duration, and that suited both of them just fine.

  It turned out, Tilda’s plan had merit. In the summer, the newly formed family would go to Alaska, although they would be renting a bigger cabin. Parker would still make his runs, but he’d be home for supper most nights and have time to show off his beloved state. When they were in Temptation Bay, Ginny would still teach piano. And Parker had gotten a job as a flight instructor at the local airport. Wherever they were, Tilda would still be a teenager, getting into trouble with her friends and waiting impatiently for the wedding she insisted on planning—all Ginny knew was that it would be next spring.

  Life was good. And complicated, not that Ginny would change a thing.

  Well, except for the surprise they’d spring on Tilda at the wedding. The wonderful news that she and Parker would finally become her legal parents. And perhaps, if they were lucky, that their amazing daughter might just get a brand-new brother or sister to spoil in the years to come.

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from A Family for Rose by Nadia Nichols.

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  A Family for Rose

  by Nadia Nichols

  CHAPTER ONE

  WYOMING WAS A far stretch from Nashville, but Shannon McTavish hadn’t forgotten the way home. Ten years had passed since she last drove down this long, lonesome stretch of road, but she remembered every curve, every hill and every gully. She knew the names of the mountains she was driving toward—Whiskey and Wolverine, Wolf Butte and Wind River. She knew the names of the creeks she crossed and how sweet the wind would taste when she rolled her window down to fill her lungs. She remembered the sound of the soul-deep thunder that the wind made when it blew across the wild wide open.

  This was a big, empty land that looked as if nothing had changed, yet everything had. When Shannon left, her future had seemed so bright and she’d been so in love. Ten years ago she’d vowed never to return to the lonesome place on the edge of nowhere, yet now she couldn’t wait to get there.

  Each mile brought her closer, but there were two more obstacles to overcome—and they had nothing to do with the miles or the mountains in between. Her father didn’t know she was coming home, and he was unlikely to welcome her.

  Shannon glanced in the rearview mirror. “How’re you doing back there, Rose?”

  “Good, Momma. I’m counting cows, like you told me to.”

  “How many so far?”

  “So many I can’t go that high,” Rose said, all blue eyes, fair skin and sweetness.

  “We must be in Wyoming, then,” Shannon said.

  “Are we almost there?”

  “Almost, sweetheart. I’m going to stop for gas at this little store up ahead, and then it’ll be just a few more miles and we’ll be home.”

  “Will there be horses there?”

  “I don’t know, Rose. There used to be lots of them, and I hope there still are.”

  Hope. The word mocked her. She’d done nothing but hope this whole long drive. Hope her father would be glad to see them. Hope he’d sell her that little piece of land she coveted, so she could build a house and haven for herself and Rose on that little pine-clad knoll above the creek near the ranch gate. Hope she could make a new life for herself and her daughter, and mend fences with her father.

  Hope and pray Travis wouldn’t follow them here.

  Shannon pulled alongside the gas pumps out in front of Willard’s General Store. The sign was a little more faded after ten years, but the store’s facade looked the same. The weathered bench in front of the store was empty, but it would be at four o’clock on a summer afternoon during haying time. She unbuckled her seat belt and got out, stretching cramped muscles. The air was warm and clean and smelled of sweetgrass and sage. She drew it into her lungs, remembering past summers, other times. The screen door opened with the familiar tinkling of the brass shop bell and Willard Jackson emerged, pulling on a pair of leather work gloves. Same old Willard. Gray hair and beard, wiry and spry, eyes bright behind gold-rimmed glasses. He started down the steps as the screen door banged shut behind him and then came to an abrupt stop when he spotted her.

  “Shannon?” he said. “Shannon McTavish! Well I’ll be hanged. How are you, girl? It’s been a dog’s age since you went and got famous on us. Good to see you!”

  Shannon had to restrain herself from hugging him, her reaction was that acute. She shook the hand he offered with a glad smile. “It’s good to see you, too, Willard. It’s been a while, for sure. I’ve come back to visit Daddy and my gas tank’s about empty. I’d appreciate if you’d fill it with regular. How are things with you? How’s Wilma?”

  Willard began pumping the gas. “Oh, things around the store are the same as ever. Wilma’s fine. Not much has changed since you left.” He canted his head as if reconsidering what he’d just said. “Your daddy know you’re coming?”

  Shannon shook her head. “I wanted to surprise him. Why? Is everything all right?”

  “Well...” Willard began reluctantly, then stopped. His jaw dropped as he looked through the open car window at Rose. “By the sweet ever lovin’. Is that little’un yours?”

  “She sure is. Rose turned six last month. Say hi to Mr. Jackson, Rose.”

  “Hi, Mr. Jackson,” Rose said.

  “Hello, Rose. You’re as pretty as your mother, you know that? You planning on staying awhile?”

  “Momma says we’re gonna live here, and I’m going to ride horses every day,” Rose said.

  Willard nodded. “Glad to hear it. Your momma sure could ride, before she got herself famous in Nashville.” He topped off the tank and replaced the gas cap. “You planning on moving back here for real?” he asked, that same cautious look in his eyes.

  Shannon reached inside the car for her purse. “Willard, to tell the truth, right now I can’t say whether I’m coming or going. It’s been a long journey and I’m really tired.”

  He nodded his understanding. “The ranch road’s gotten pretty rough since you been gone. There’re some washouts that fancy car of yours might not like. Things at your daddy’s ranch might look a little different now from what you remember.”

  Shannon wondered what he was trying to tell her, then shrugged off her fears. “Everything changes, Willard. I’m just glad to be home.”

  “We’re glad to have you. If you need any supplies out there, anything at all, just give me a holler. I’ll drive ’em out myself after closing time.”

  “That’s kind of you, but I’m sure we’ll be okay.” Shannon counted off the bills for the gas and gave them to Willard. “Give Wilma my love.”

  The ranch turnoff was less than a mile from the store, and the entrance to the ranch road looked pretty much the same. Same massive cedar poles set on either side, two feet in diameter and twelve feet tall, with the ranch sign up high, spanning the distance between them.

  The sign was painted steel, rusting gracefully, with a cutout of a running horse. McTavish Ranch was lettered in gold against the dark red painted steel. Her mother had made the sign, using an arc welder to cut out the big silhouette of the running horse. When it first went up, folks had come from miles around to admire it, and after all these years it was still a handsome sign, welcoming her home and making her feel as though everything was going to be all right.

  That feeling lasted until she saw the new house that was being built not a stone’s throw from the ranch turnoff, on the banks of the Bear Paw, smack-dab on the spot where she used to wait for the school bus.

  She braked abruptly, her fingers tightening around the wheel, and for a moment she couldn’t believe her eyes. It was as if someone had found her childhood diary with the drawing of her little dream house in it, the house she’d planned to build in this very same spot one day. Only nobody knew what her dream house looked like. She hadn’t told a s
oul she was coming back. Nobody would’ve built that house for her on the little knoll overlooking the creek.

  “I don’t believe it,” she said aloud.

  The building was a small, story-and-a-half ranch with a wide porch across the side facing the creek. Simple and pleasing to the eye. The structure was framed up and closed in, sheathed in house wrap, but the roof was only half shingled and the siding wasn’t on yet. No windows had been installed in the framed-out openings. No doors. She could see a generator under a lean-to near the house. Stacks of roof shingles and lumber were neatly arranged in the yard.

  “Are we there, Momma?” Rose asked from the back seat, perking up.

  “No, honey, not yet.”

  “Why’re we stopped?”

  “I’m looking at a house.”

  Rose hitched up in her seat to see out the side window. “Who lives here?”

  “Nobody...yet. It isn’t finished.” Shannon was still trying to process it all. Was it possible that her father was building this place for her and Rose? Was it possible that, all along, he’d been waiting for her to come home? Hoping that she would? Awaiting the day? Had she been wrong about him, thinking that all these years he was still angry with her, that he never wanted to see her again? Could this little house be proof that he really loved her and hoped she’d come back?

  “No,” Shannon concluded with a shake of her head. “Never in a million years would Daddy be building that house for me.”

  The final stretch of road to the ranch was worse than rough. One of the first things she’d have to do would be to trade her Mercedes for a pickup truck. If her father let her stay, that was.

  But she might have destroyed all chances of that ten years ago. Daddy’d warned her about quitting school and running off with Travis Roy. The day she’d left home they’d had a terrible fight, said terrible things to each other, things they could never take back. Shannon figured he’d get over his big mad, but he hadn’t, not even after ten years. Hadn’t answered any of her letters, hadn’t asked her to come visit or expressed any interest at all in his granddaughter. Worst of all, every single thing he’d warned her about had come to pass. He might not have spoken to her in forever, but for sure he’d say these four words to her when she came crawling home. He’d say, “I told you so,” and he’d be right.