He pulled the chair out from behind her desk and planted it just inside the doorway so he could talk to her while he sampled her signature bow-tie pasta with sun-dried tomatoes.
Rosemary approached once he was seated and eating. “How’s Delphi holding up out there?”
He shrugged and wondered what she knew that he hadn’t heard—Rosemary and Delphi weren’t he best of friends and rarely asked about each other with actual concern in their voices unless something was going on. “Something’s bothering her, but she’s Delphi, so she’s handling it. What is it?”
“Well,” Rosemary leaned a hip against a nearby counter and lowered her voice so no one else would be able to hear, “With the surprise visit from her in-laws, I wondered if she was rattled.” She watched his face, obviously looking for a reaction, happy she would be the one to dish out the gossip.
He lifted his brows, understanding Delphi’s discomfort. “Ah, I wondered what was going on. It’s barely put a hitch in her step. They should have given her a little notice.” Considering the fact that she’d been keeping her late husband a secret from everyone, it was no wonder she was off her game. He felt a twinge of hurt that she hadn’t told him the truth when it would have been so easy.
Rosemary’s jaw dropped and she stared at him for a few seconds, then nudged the chair into her office. “Get in there. We’re going to talk.”
Feeling a little smug for taking her by surprise, he rolled the chair back and waited for her to enter and close the door. “Don’t you have work to do?” Telling her what she wanted to know was likely to get him in a boatload of trouble with Delphi, and things were going too well since their truce to risk getting on her bad side. On the other hand, Rosemary was a little scary sometimes, so for his own sake, he would have to cough up something.
“I can afford a couple minutes. Everyone’s eating and the desserts are already plated.” Rosemary folded her arms over her chest and stared at him. “You knew she was married?”
He took another bite of pasta but didn’t respond.
Her eyes narrowed. “You were surprised the in-laws showed up, but you weren’t surprised they exist. How did you know?”
She always was a little more perceptive than Jeremy expected. He had to work to keep his expression mild. “I learned by accident a while ago.”
She kicked the chair leg, making it roll a couple inches. “And you didn’t say anything? Spill. I want details.”
“She asked me not to say anything, and I don’t have any details. She didn’t tell me much, really.” When her gaze grew doubtful he reiterated. “Really—she barely acknowledged that she was married. Then she told me it was none of my business and she didn’t want to talk about it.”
Rosemary huffed and flicked her long blond braid behind her shoulder. “Fine. I guess I’ll have to grill her instead.”
“And that’s going to go over great,” Jeremy said, sarcasm dripping with every word. “Because you two are so close she’s not going to mind you prying.” He felt a strange urge to protect Delphi from the interrogation her sisters were about to unleash.
“If it’s not me, then it’ll be one of the others. You know we won’t let it go—not with something this big. And why does she refer to them as her in-laws—not her former in-laws? Is she still married?”
“No, she’s not still married. I did get that much out of her,” Jeremy answered. He wasn’t sure why the clarification was so important to him.
“So she did say something, then. What else did she say?” her eyes drilled into his and she bent, leaning over him in intimidation.
He managed not to fidget under her gaze. “Just that she was married. Past tense. That’s really all.” The headshake about whether or not she was divorced wasn’t spoken, so it didn’t count, right? “Now get back in the kitchen and bully your staff some more. I need to finish this snack and return to the reception before anything interesting happens.”
Rosemary pressed her lips together, obviously holding back some comment, then opened the door and flounced out.
Jeremy finished his food in record time and got back out to the ballroom to check on things and keep an eye on Delphi. When he noticed how she was squinting and saw her rub her temples, he reached into his camera bag.
Delphi winced, feeling her headache grow worse. She ought to go see if Rosemary had some ibuprofen or something, but wasn’t ready for the third degree—and the stern looks her older half-sister had been throwing her all but trumpeted the fact that there would be plenty of questions.
“Here, I think you could use this.” Jeremy’s voice came from behind her.
She turned to find him holding a couple of white tablets and a glass of water.
“I thought you might like something for that headache,” he said when she just stared at him.
“How did you know?” Delphi gratefully accepted the offering, washing the tablets down with the cold water he’d gotten from a nearby dispenser.
“This.” He pressed his fingertip to the furrow between her eyebrows. “I could have been wrong, but I decided to take a chance at offending you.”
She felt goose bumps rise on her neck and arms at his touch—which disconcerted her even worse than Kirk and Penny showing up unannounced. This attraction she felt for Jeremy was not happening—he was obnoxious and big headed and sometimes really, really thoughtful. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome.” He studied her face for a moment. “How are you holding up?”
The way he asked made it clear the rumor mill was working fine. “You heard about my in-laws coming to visit.”
“Yeah. Not mentioning that they exist does tend to make their arrival pretty sensational. People are going to talk.”
“My sisters, you mean.” She tried to keep a generally pleasant expression on her face as she studied the crowd. She didn’t want any of the guests knowing she was upset.
“Primarily, though I’m sure others are discussing it too. It’s hard to get away from it in a place like this.”
Delphi gritted her teeth. That was going to be another round of hassles. Sometimes she could just pitch her father across the ballroom—if he had still been alive—for the way he’d thrown them all together. Forcing them to live in the same home should have made them understand each other better, but all it did was make Delphi feel even more isolated. She’d never figured out how she could feel isolated and smothered at the same time. “Perfect. I better get things going for the first dance.”
“That’s my cue, I guess.” He adjusted the strap of the camera bag on his shoulder and ambled in that direction.
Delphi shook her head. She really didn’t know how to deal with him sometimes.
The wedding went smoothly and finally Delphi was able to meet the Lawrences in the restaurant waiting area after the wedding party broke up. “I’m so glad I could catch you guys in time for dinner,” she said.
“Us too.” Penny hugged her again. “It’s been too long since we’ve seen you.”
“Yes.” It had been nearly a year. Delphi tried to catch up with them when she had a chance, but she hadn’t been back to New York City since moving to Juniper Ridge in July. Email never felt the same as a face-to-face visit. “I’ve stayed really busy here. There’s always something going on.” She signaled to the hostess, who immediately picked up menus and motioned them toward a table. “Let’s have a seat.”
Marla showed them to a quiet booth in the back where they would be guaranteed privacy—especially at this time of night.
“Thank you, Marla. We’ll start with water and that crab appetizer,” Delphi said as she took her menu.
“I’ll let your server know.” She smiled and disappeared.
“Such nice folks here,” Kirk said. “We’re so pleased with how helpful everyone has been.”
“I’m glad. If you need anything, you just let our staff know. They’re top notch. What did you do this afternoon?”
Penny smiled. “We went for a drive earlier. Saw
some really beautiful birds. This is lovely country.”
“It is. You mentioned Nancy is going to have a baby. When is she due?” Delphi felt guilty for not keeping in touch better. They had been so good to her when she needed the love and support she couldn’t get in her own home. And after Fallon died, they had been her lifeline for a long time.
Penny filled her in on the pregnancy of Fallon’s younger sister and how everything going at home. They ordered their meals and Delphi selected a nice bottle of wine. When the server left, Delphi turned back to Penny. “This was a big surprise, having you show up here.”
“Yes.” Kirk grinned. “The office pool won a nice chunk of cash in the lottery. I always wanted to see the Rockies, and you were here, so we decided to come for our anniversary.”
Delphi chuckled. “Most people would want to head somewhere warm.”
“But you were here,” Penny said, touching Delphi’s hand on the tabletop. “And we haven’t really heard from you recently. I know things have been hard for you since your father died.” They had met George only on the day of the wedding. Though he’d been introduced to everyone else as ‘an old family friend,’—he and Zelda both insisted on it—Penny and Kirk had known the truth.
“Going from being an only child to one of six with everyone thinking they should have their noses in my business has been an adjustment,” Delphi admitted. “But the job keeps me busy, and we respect each other’s boundaries. Mostly.” She had a good idea that they would start prying tonight when she got home.
“You didn’t tell them about Fallon, did you?” Penny asked, disapproval in her voice.
Delphi pursed her lips. “No. I didn’t see the point.”
“The point is that they’re your family.” Her voice was light, taking the sting out of her words.
“You’re my family, Penny. They’re... I don’t know what they are. Pains in my butt, mostly. I’m not ashamed of Fallon, I just…” Blamed them for existing. The thought surprised her, taking her off guard. They really hadn’t done anything to deserve her mistrust, after all.
“Give them a chance,” Kirk suggested. “I bet they’ll surprise you. The ones we’ve met so far seem like real nice girls.”
Delphi didn’t want to think about the twisted relationships her father had left them with, so she changed the subject. “What do you have planned for tomorrow? You mentioned snowmobiling.”
Kirk’s eyes brightened and he launched into the research they’d done on the area before coming out.
Penny seemed unhappy with the change of topic, but let it go.
Delphi figured she had three days with them. The subject would come up again, sometime.
By the time they finished off the French silk pie recipe Rosemary refused to share with anyone—including her staff—Delphi was anxious to get home to the peace and quiet of her bedroom so she could melt away the rest of her headache in a hot tub, and sleep off the day’s stress.
Of course, she realized when she arrived home that she should have known better than to expect to be allowed a chance to relax. The garage was full of cars, despite the fact that half the sisters now lived elsewhere.
She found all of the sisters sitting in the sunken living room, chatting while munching on popcorn and veggies and drinking sodas. Their attention swiveled to her as soon as she walked into the kitchen—the open floor plan made it impossible to sneak into the house. At least none of the guys were present, she consoled herself, and apparently Cleo had either gone to bed or was staying at a friend’s. “Hi. I have a headache, so I’m going downstairs.”
“Oh no, you don’t.” Jonquil jumped from her spot on the sofa and hurried to block Delphi’s way. “We’ve been waiting for you to come home—this was a really big secret.”
“I was married, now I’m not.” Delphi tried to go around Jonquil, but was blocked again. “Let go.”
“I’m the grumpy, obnoxious one,” Rosemary said from her seat. “You keep it all bottled in and when you see no other way, use your perfectly placed cuts to deflect. You’ve been acting off all day, and we decided you need to get it out of your system.”
“What are you talking about?” Cami asked. “She’s perfectly controlled, never openly rude.”
Rosemary’s eyebrows arched. “You haven’t gotten on her bad side, have you?” She turned back to Delphi. “But I’m not afraid of a few pointed barbs, so get your butt over here and join us.”
“You decided that, did you? Thanks. I appreciate it.” Delphi crossed her arms over her chest, really wanting to wrap them around her protectively.
“We just want to know what happened,” Jonquil said, her voice soft and soothing. “That’s a pretty big secret.”
Delphi looked over at Lana, whose pregnancy was really starting to show. “Yeah, well we all have our secrets, don’t we?” Lana hadn’t exactly been forthcoming about her relationship with Blake, either.
“Not anymore, they all seem to be coming out.” Rosemary mirrored Delphi’s stance. “It’s past time you filled us in on this one because we’ve been very impatiently waiting for you to get home.”
Delphi remembered her epiphany during dinner and decided to give just a little this time. Besides, she didn’t have any other choice if she wanted to get to bed before midnight, and that a few details now would save her a lot of grief later. “Look, there’s a reason I don’t talk about it. I don’t want to be the center of gossip or pity or whatever, all right? I’ll say this once, and then that’s the end of it.” She took the empty seat and accepted the soda Jonquil offered her, though the last thing she needed at this time of night was more caffeine.
“Great. So spill.” Cami sat in a corner chair, curled in a ball, her tiny body barely taking up half the space.
It shouldn’t be so hard to talk about—it had been a long time now since Fallon’s death, and it had been months since the anniversary, so she should be back on track now. She decided to get it out quickly. “His name was Fallon. He worked in the cafeteria in college.”
“Pictures, we must have pictures,” Jonquil demanded. “Surely you have at least one.”
Delphi rolled her eyes, though she couldn’t blame Jonquil—if their roles were reversed, she would want pictures too. “In the top draw of my dresser. Don’t touch anything else.”
Sage jumped up and hurried to the stairwell. “Don’t say anything until I get back.”
It only took half a minute before Sage was with the others again, holding a small photo album.
“Wait a minute, I know him.” Cami’s head swiveled to face Delphi an her brows crinkled. “Did you guys date when you and I were in the same dorm?”
“Yeah.” It was a difficult time for Delphi, seeing her half-sister every day, knowing who Cami was, but still having to be their dad’s little secret. She’d nearly told Cami the truth at least fifty times the first month. Then she’d met Fallon, and the urge wasn’t quite as strong. “We started dating about a month into school. We fell madly in love. My parents hated him—he wasn’t what they planned for me and forbade the relationship. I married him anyway.”
“The week after school got out.” Cami nodded as she remembered. “How come I forgot about that?” She was older by three years so that had been the only year they overlapped at school, and they had only been passing acquaintances. Delphi suspected they had only been in the same dorm because George had orchestrated it. He’d arranged meetings between all of them at one point or other, though at the time they hadn’t realized they were related.
“Because I was barely on your radar. You didn’t know we were related, so why would you remember?” Delphi pushed ahead as the others flipped through the album. “Dad supported my decision to marry Fallon, maybe because my mom didn’t want me to. She had a total come-apart when I told her we were getting married. I don’t know why, but Dad paid the bills and came to the ceremony. He didn’t participate, but he met Fallon and his parents. He also helped us with school expenses when we went back in the fall.”
“Fallon got the flu the next winter. We didn’t realize it was bad until it was really bad. It turned out he had a weak heart. The illness took so much out of him, his heart gave out. He didn’t make it.”
The room went silent. “You had less than a year with him?” Lana asked.
“Nine months of marriage. Eight of the best months of my life. And then nothing was right again for a long time.” As soon as she said it, Delphi wished she’d kept the last part to herself. It was too telling.
Silence descended, the only sound being the humming of the refrigerator from the kitchen.
“You and your mom seem to be on decent terms now,” Jonquil said after a long moment.
“Yeah. We’re best friends.” Delphi couldn’t help but be sarcastic. “She came to Fallon’s funeral so she could tell everyone what a terrible tragedy his death was, even though she hadn’t talked or written to me in almost a year because she was so mad at me. She’s a peach.” It was impossible to sit there with them all around her, filling the air with their sympathy. She felt stifled and emotional from discussing Fallon’s death and all of the dreams she had lost with him.
Delphi saw Lana rubbing her pregnant belly and remembered her pain when she’d miscarried her own little girl a few weeks after Fallon’s death. The ache rose inside her and she felt near crying.
She stood and set the barely touched soda on the coffee table. “Look, I don’t want your pity, so just let it drop, okay?” She snagged her purse, grabbed the album out of Rosemary’s hands and headed for her room downstairs. “I’ve had a long day. I’m going to bed.”
“Delphi,” Cami’s voice protested, but Delphi didn’t respond.
Just before she shut her bedroom door, she heard their voices pick up as they hashed it out. She told herself she didn’t care, that she was just glad to be alone, but she knew it wasn’t true.
>
Delphi met Kirk and Penny for lunch the next day, then took Penny out to do a little shopping while Vince took Kirk out to spot wildlife.
Wild Hearts (The DiCarlo Brides) Page 8