by Joanne Rock
It was heartbreaking. She’d have a hole in her heart her entire life because of it. But she also felt her mother would want her to go out and be happy whenever she could. Use her creative gifts. Give back to the world. That was how her mom was—selfless and kind.
She wanted so much to be like that and not like Brandon. Brandon, whose letter said he’d spend the rest of his life being sorry for what he’d done. As if that helped.
“My mom has been sad for a long time, too.” Ally kept her voice low as footsteps came down the hall toward them. “I just hope whatever surprise this is, it makes things better and not worse.”
The delivery guys appeared with two huge, long, flat boxes and started cracking them open with a crowbar. While Ally asked them questions they wouldn’t answer, Sarah noticed Mrs. Finley dart past the door every now and then. She thought about going out there to keep her company—or offer to make mac and cheese for everyone—but her phone buzzed with a text.
Can I see you tomorrow?
Lucas.
She’d been thinking about him since they’d kissed in the woods during the tailgate party. She’d had to beg him not to come out and introduce himself to her father. She just wasn’t ready for that complication yet. But she could tell he’d been frustrated with her.
“Ally.” She showed her the message while the construction crew went to work hammering boards together for a large frame. “Are you going to Lucky’s tomorrow?”
“If the weather is nice, for sure.” Ally watched the guys work. “I’ll bet half my class will be there.”
Lucky’s? she texted back.
Her phone buzzed again a few seconds later.
How about someplace quieter?
She didn’t show that one to Ally. She still hadn’t asked him about the rumors of his bad reputation, so she didn’t know how serious they were. How smart would it be to meet him somewhere private when she didn’t know that much about him?
Funny, she could practically hear Mathilda’s voice in her head telling her it was a bad idea.
I kinda like the idea of a reunion under the slide.
She hit Send, hoping he’d be okay with that. She felt guilty for the mixed messages. She’d been trying to forget about the letter from jail last night, and she’d gladly indulged in kissing and a little more than that to put everything else out of her head.
No doubt about it, she regretted misleading him since she was thinking they’d better put the brakes on the physical side of things until they knew more about each other.
OK. But we need to talk.
She stared at his message while Ally texted her friends about the surprise construction crew in the basement. Sarah didn’t want to be rude, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to stay the whole time they put the mystery furniture—or whatever it was—together. Besides, Lucas’s message made her a little uneasy. She needed time on her own to process it.
Would he give her a hard time about not introducing him to her father? She hadn’t had a real boyfriend in two years. She’d had fast, hot hookups that had been sorta physical while maintaining her virginity. She liked Lucas too much for that kind of thing.
And in the past week and a half, she felt she’d outgrown it. She was eighteen now. She’d admitted the truth to her dad about the college application fiasco. She’d told him about the letter. For the first time in a long time, she felt as though she was in the driver’s seat for her future. She wanted to do better than she had in the past. Then again, so did Lucas. Maybe they could reform together.
Finally, she typed, Me, too.
“Oh, my God. Sarah, are you looking at this?” Ally grabbed her arm.
Pocketing her phone, she looked at the project taking shape in the games room.
“He bought chalkboards?” She stared at the six-foot-high trifold panels that looked like something a professional sports team would use in the locker room to draw up plays.
“The backs are filled with writing,” Ally whispered excitedly. “I peeked.”
“I don’t get it.” She watched one of the other guys fill a new bookcase with brand-new hardcover titles. “‘Fifty Most Romantic Dates,’” she read aloud. “‘Best Weekend Trips: Southeast US.’ What is all this stuff?”
“It’s his plan.” Mrs. Finley stood in the doorway, her hands covering her mouth as she stared at the strange assortment of things her husband had ordered for the room.
Sarah had thought she’d seen tears in the older woman’s eyes earlier in the day at Last Chance Vintage, but now there was no doubt. Rivulets streamed down both cheeks.
She hurried over to stand on her one side while Ally stood on her other.
“It’s okay, Mom, right?” Ally asked, brushing aside a strand of hair from her mom’s face. “This is a good thing, isn’t it?”
Mrs. Finley nodded, a sort of hysterical laugh breaking through the tears.
“I told your father he had no plan to save our marriage. That we’d never figure it out if we didn’t do something different.”
The delivery guys seemed to become aware of the developing drama and the oldest—the gray-haired man who’d told Ally it might be better to surprise her—quickly flipped over one of the chalkboards.
The other two men did the same, until the room was crammed full of words.
“‘Take date nights. See reference shelf one.’” Ally read the first board and hugged Mrs. Finley. “There are footnotes, Mom.”
Mrs. Finley laughed harder. And cried more.
Sarah felt a little as if she didn’t belong in their private moment. But hey, no one told her to leave, and it was sort of awesome soaking in the happiness of a special day. A happy mom.
Actually, maybe it hurt a little inside, too. Ached some and felt good.
What pained her most wasn’t missing her mom. It hurt more to think about her dad not having moments like this. She moved away from Ally and her mom to look out the window of the games room, back toward Erin’s house.
Through the rain, she could see lights were on. Downstairs...and up.
Was her father still there?
She hoped Heartache would be good luck for him and bring him happiness. She wished it with all her might.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“IT WAS THE sweetest thing ever.” Sarah sighed happily the next day as she finished telling Erin her version of Scott’s gift to Bethany.
Erin had already heard from her sister-in-law that morning. Bethany had called the store early to say Scott had made a big step forward in committing to their marriage. But it was fun hearing Sarah’s account as the production crew packed up their equipment for the day and Erin cleaned up the store. Remy had texted her from the road after he had found a good boutique to feature on Interstate Antiquer. It would solidify the show’s comeback. He hoped to return to town by eight o’clock.
“But Scott wasn’t there?” Now, at half-past six, she ran a mop along the skid marks on the hardwood floor from the camera dollies.
“I guess he was kind of keeping an eye on the house from your mom’s. The other home that’s kind of close, right?” Sarah dumped a bunch of matchbooks into the bin where Erin normally kept the small collection.
A customer had taken them all out one by one to inspect each individually and hadn’t bought a single one. That would make for really exciting television. She hoped Remy was right about this show being a good thing for the business.
“That would be Mom’s.” She should get over there again. She hadn’t seen her mother since Remy came to town and Interstate Antiquer had started filming. “I think Scott’s been there a lot the past few months to give Ally’s mother some space while they figured things out.”
“We saw him walking toward Ally’s house when we pulled out of the driveway for her to take me back to the B and B.” Sarah replaced a few vintage skeleton keys on a yellow-painted Peg-Board where they hung from ribbon scraps. “So romantic. Don’t you think?”
Erin opened the back door to let some air in and dry the floors. A
brass wind chime jingled in the fragrant spring breeze.
“Yes. And she deserves that big sweet gesture because it’s been a hard year for her.”
“My dad has had a hard year.” Sarah lowered her voice, her head down as she moved an orange blouse from a rack full of kids’ clothes to return the garment to its rightful place. “I wish he’d find some happiness.”
And didn’t that conversation feel as though it had the potential for land mines? She picked up a hammer that had been mislaid when she’d hung a new sign earlier and put it on a shelf near the register.
“I do, too,” Erin said carefully, gathering up some donated items she planned to put into the storage area. “Would you mind opening that door for me?”
“Sure.” Sarah hurried to help, turning on the overhead light with the pull chain. “Wow. Look at all this cool stuff. Want me to bring anything else in here?”
“There are two more stacks of things that were brought in today—”
“I know the ones.” Sarah was already rushing away, only to return half a minute later with both stacks.
“You are incredibly efficient.” Erin waved her down the narrow steps into the small unit that had been a root cellar at one time. She loaded the clothes into a moisture-proof chest for sorting another day. “I don’t know what you plan to do for a career, but you’ll be awesome at it.”
Sarah stilled. “Did my dad tell you I didn’t apply to colleges?”
“No.” She had sidestepped one land mine only to land on another, apparently. And as much as she didn’t want to step on Remy’s toes with parenting, she also couldn’t help thinking this young woman could use some more female influences in her life. It wasn’t easy being eighteen. “That is, I know he worries about you, but I didn’t know that. Don’t you want to go to college?”
“Maybe.” Sarah ran a hand over an old toboggan that Erin liked to use in Christmas window displays. “It’s been hard to think about college with Dad so unhappy. It’s like he’s been stuck since Mom died, and if I’m not there to help out... I mean, I guess he’ll be okay. But we haven’t felt like a family lately. And he’s, you know...all I have left.”
The tender thoughtfulness behind the words just about took Erin’s breath away. Her eyes burned.
“You will keep on being family no matter where you go.” Erin wasn’t a natural-born hugger, but she found herself draping an arm around the teen’s shoulders and squeezing. “Your dad is lucky to have you. As more time passes, he’ll see how much you’ve been there for him.”
“Because it was sweet of him to adopt me and everything, but it’s just a piece of paper. And my biological father sure did ruin Dad’s life.” Sarah swiped away a tear.
The bastard had ruined his daughter’s life, as well. She noticed Sarah didn’t mention that, her tender heart more concerned for Remy. Did she ever put her own needs first? Her own grief first?
“Sarah. You are not his daughter because of a piece of paper. He told me last night that he would have lost his mind a long time ago without you. Another time, he told me you were a ‘powerhouse personality’ and he smiled with such pride when he said it.”
“Really?” Sarah’s lips quirked sideways, her green eyes hopeful.
“Yes. And that’s how a father looks when he talks about his kids. At least—that’s how good, devoted fathers should look when they talk about their kids. You might have gotten a bad hand from your biological father, but the father you chose? He’s the best.”
Sarah swiped more tears away and smiled. “I totally chose him, too. My mom had dated some real loser guys before Dad showed up. But Dad clapped for all my dances and ate all the terrible food I made and pretended it was great. I was determined to make that match happen.”
Erin turned to dig in a supply closet and found the extra paper products. She pulled out a new box of tissues and handed Sarah a few, kept one for herself while she was at it.
“Well, you had good instincts. But I don’t think you need to miss out on college to keep that relationship strong, Sarah. He will want to see you settled and happy somewhere.”
“In the old days, kids learned their parents’ trade and had apprenticeships.” Sarah blew her nose and shoved the tissue in her pocket. “Aristotle didn’t have a college education and he turned out okay.”
“Aristotle?”
But Sarah was already in the supply closet, putting away the tissue box.
“Oh, my God. I can’t believe you have this mirror.” She came out of the storage shelves with a small gilt-framed piece. An angel head was centered over the top, with smaller cherubs on either side, the gilt frame taking up twice the square inches of the reflective glass.
“Isn’t it beautiful? I got it last year when I was traveling, but I don’t have a good Italianate or Victorian section of the store to showcase fancy pieces like that.”
“Just yesterday I was telling Ally about my mirror collection on the wall of our old house. I had one so similar to this.” Sarah cradled it in careful hands, tracing the angel face with the tip of her butterfly manicure.
“That’s serendipitous. It must have been meant to find its way to you.” She suspected it was left behind in Remy’s haste to move them far from Louisiana.
Sarah looked up from the intricate gold scrollwork. “Oh, I couldn’t keep it.” She tried handing it back to Erin. “I think it’s just another sign that I’m on the right track with the next match I’m making.”
The girl’s hopes were so obvious Erin worried. As much as she wanted to spend more time with Remy, she knew he wasn’t ready to take things faster.
“I don’t know about any matches.” That sounded like trouble to her ears. She tucked her hands behind her back so she couldn’t take the mirror from Sarah. “This is my gift to you so you’ll remember me when you’re having an amazing first semester at a fun college. I know you’ll be glad that you didn’t follow in Aristotle’s footsteps.”
“Well, thank you.” Sarah hugged the mirror. “It’s a good omen and I could use some more of those. Thank you, Erin.”
They smiled at each other as Sarah backed away, an undeniable new bond formed.
“You’d better get going if you want time to change before the dancing starts at Lucky’s tonight.” She headed up the stairs and back into the store.
Sarah switched off the light. “Are you and Dad going to be there?”
“If he gets done with work soon, I think so.” She couldn’t help but feel some of Sarah’s enthusiasm.
Not that she wanted to rely on the relationship maneuverings of a teenager to land a guy...
Wait a minute.
Was she really rooting for this thing to work out between them on a more permanent basis?
Despite all her efforts to keep things simple—yes. She couldn’t deny she wanted more with Remy. She hadn’t taken it slow. Her hopeful heart had gotten the better of her even though he worried he wasn’t anywhere near ready for the same kinds of things she was. How could he look toward the future when he was still so rooted in the past? When so many of their conversations still circled around to his life with Liv and all he’d lost?
“Great. I want Ally to tell you how I was just talking about that mirror last night. She won’t believe when I show her this.” Sarah picked up her keys off the front counter. “Thank you!”
The store seemed to echo with her voice for moments afterward. Erin watched her jog out to her car and drive away with a wave.
What an amazing young woman, and to think Remy played a part in her upbringing. Sarah just needed to figure out a path in life and she’d be okay.
As Erin enjoyed that thought it occurred to her she was thinking like the girl’s...mom? Her bout of nerves only increased. She had no idea how she was supposed to fit into this girl’s life if things progressed between her and Remy. Sarah had been through so much, and Erin didn’t want to disappoint her.
Sarah was in a fragile place. Erin would offer her whatever hand she could to get through th
is time. Although, it would be good to know more about that boy Remy asked her about—Lucas. She hadn’t found a private time to quiz Bethany about him.
“Excuse me?” A man stood at her back step, near the potted rosebush. “You still open?”
He stepped inside on her just-mopped floor, his big work boots not staying on the mat. Had he been one of the film crew hands? She thought she knew just about everyone in town and she didn’t recognize this florid-faced man. She didn’t peg him for an antiques customer, but maybe he’d come in to check it out for a wife.
“No.” She checked her watch. “We’ve been closed for almost an hour, but we reopen at ten tomorrow.”
“I just had a quick question—”
Didn’t they always? She sighed inwardly and straightened a display of yellow-hued carnival glass.
“Maybe you can tell me if you’re the woman responsible for my girlfriend leaving me?” His tone turned hard. Angry.
Her hand slid behind the counter to find her cell phone. Her heart beat faster as she walked her fingers along the desktop, not finding the phone.
His face flushed red. Heavy eyebrows slashed inward as he glared at her.
“Excuse me?” Her eyes flicked to the open door behind him. If she needed to call out, someone might hear her.
But for now, the man stayed where he was. He didn’t approach her. She would not panic. She needed to get closer to the door. Or find the damn phone. Where was it?
“I heard from my sister that the woman running this store gave my Jamie all-new clothes and set her up with a fancy job. Now she doesn’t need me anymore and she’s acting like a single woman again.” He clenched his big fists at his sides.
Erin’s throat convulsed in a swallow-choke that wouldn’t have allowed her to speak if she wanted to. Why hadn’t she locked the door when Sarah left?
Although, thank God, Sarah wasn’t here. She would never forgive herself if anything had happened to her after all that Remy had been through.