Wild Hearts (The DiCarlo Brides)

by Heather Tullis

  “This is such a pretty place,” Penny said as they walked from a gift shop to the clothing boutique next to it. “Don’t you just love living here?”

  “I do,” Delphi admitted. “If it were just a little warmer in the winter I’d love it even more.”

  Penny nodded and chuckled. “You never liked New York winters, either.”

  “No, cold isn’t my thing, but Juniper Ridge, even in winter, has its perks.” She would never admit it to any of the half-sisters, though. Sage was already determined that everyone was going to stay longer than their contracted year. Beautiful or not, perks or not, she was anxious to return to New York where she knew what to expect from her own life.

  They entered the store and Delphi waved away the clerk, saying that they were just browsing.

  “Would a guy be one of those perks?” Penny shot her a curious look.

  “A guy? No, I’m not dating anyone.” Rides and kisses with Jeremy didn’t constitute as ‘dating someone’, right? Neither of them had been real dates, after all.

  “That’s too bad. I heard rumors things fell apart with the guy back home after you moved here. Not much of a loss, if you ask me. He wasn’t nearly good enough for you.” She pulled a green blouse off the rack, tipped her head as she studied it, then frowned and put it back. “And I would rather you came home to New York where we could see you more often.”

  “He was fine, but it wasn’t going anywhere, especially with me living here.” That was how she liked it though. She would never go back and change a minute with Fallon, but she wasn’t ready to risk that kind of hurt again.

  Penny reached out and touched Delphi’s arm. “I worry about you. You haven’t had a serious relationship since Fallon died. I expected that someone with as much love as you have to give would have found someone new by now.”

  “I guess I gave it all away already.” Delphi didn’t look up, focusing her gaze on the skirts in front of her—though she didn’t really see anything but blobs of color.

  “Honey, I know that’s not true. You have so much more to give someone. And Fallon would have wanted you to. You shouldn’t be alone.”

  Delphi sucked in a breath and blurted out. “There is someone here. I mean, I don’t know if there’s really a future for us, but I have been seeing someone. A couple of times. No real dates. We’re not, I mean…” She was flustered, feeling awkward discussing her love life with Penny. “It’s not a big deal and he’s not exactly a serious guy.”

  “Ah, so the previous statement that you weren’t seeing someone was you ignoring the truth?”

  Delphi’s lungs felt tight. “Something like that. He’s someone who does work at the hotel, as a subcontractor of sorts. He’s a photographer. We’re, I don’t know what, actually. A month ago I would have said we were nemeses, but now we’re friends, I guess.” She felt like she was back in high school. She hadn’t been this flustered when she first started dating Fallon.

  “Friends with benefits?” Penny lifted a brow.

  “Not the kind you’re thinking of.” Delphi felt her face heat. “A few kisses. And some good conversations. But he’s kind of a player, so I don’t think we’re going anywhere. Not really. And besides, I’m going back to New York at the end of the summer, so we’re just…whatever it is we are.”

  Penny didn’t say anything for several seconds. “I already know what your mom would say about this, so I’m going to let her be that person and come at it from another angle. You were young and idealistic when you married Fallon. You two were terrific together and I know that kind of perfect bliss isn’t easily replaced. You can’t feel exactly that way again because no other guy will ever be Fallon, and you will never be that sweet young thing that you were then. You’re a woman now with a lot more experience under your belt.”

  Delphi nodded.

  Penny patted Delphi’s arm. “You don’t have to look for the same thing again. Look for something new. If this guy is really a player, then walk away and don’t waste your time with him. But if he’s someone you could really care about, then maybe you owe it to yourself to see if you can love again the way I know you can.”

  Tears stung Delphi’s eyes and she had to blink them back. “If I ever find some other guy who’s half the man your son was, I’ll settle down again. I’m just not holding my breath.” Delphi spoke with a lightness she didn’t feel, fighting back emotions that threatened to swamp her. She glanced at Penny and saw the love and concern in her eyes. She wanted to thank this woman for being there for her, for caring, always caring, how Delphi was doing, wanting the best for her in a manner that wasn’t pushy. It meant a lot, but Delphi didn’t know how to say it. She’d been denying her emotions for so long.

  “I hope you do.” Penny brushed away a tear, unashamed by her feelings.

  Delphi wished she were more like her mother-in-law. She had often wished she had been Penny’s daughter for real—that she still belonged in the family who had made her feel so loved and accepted when she needed it most. She placed a hand over Penny’s on her arm. “Thank you.” She allowed the touch to linger for only a moment before returning to shopping, even though she didn’t really care about getting a new outfit.

  “You know what I really want?” Penny asked after a moment, her voice bright again. “A scoop of ice cream. I saw a parlor across the street.”

  Ready to go with the flow, Delphi smiled. “They have awesome ice cream, too. Wait until you taste it.” She turned away from the rack and headed for the door. “Their fudge pecan is to die for.”

  “You know me so well.”

  She and Penny shared grins and Delphi waved goodbye to the clerk, hoping the deep topics were done for the day.

  Delphi looked over the selection of food and decorations on the table and counter at home that evening. Jonquil had been busy organizing the buffet the girls would be grazing on that night—a combination of healthy and sweet to fit every appetite. Delphi had just come from the hotel where she’d given final directions for wedding setup, and verified the guest count with the kitchen for the next day. Kirk and Penny had already made arrangements for a night of dinner theater, but Penny said they’d swing by afterward to talk and meet Jonquil and Cleo—the only girls they hadn’t already met at the hotel.

  Delphi double-checked the supplies and wondered if she was being more anal about this wedding than most because she and Rosemary had never gotten along well. She didn’t want anyone to say that she slacked on the job because she held a grudge. Not that she had a grudge against Rosemary; they just had different ways of looking at the world.

  At least, that’s what Delphi told herself as she adjusted the cute wedding-themed paper plates someone had picked up for the party.

  “Mom, come see!” Cleo stood at the top of the stairs, looking over the railing at the kitchen. She ran to Rosemary’s room and pounded on the door. “It’s so pretty.”

  Rosemary opened the door and came out, followed by her future mother-in-law, Darla. Rosemary’s hair was piled up on her head—apparently they’d been testing styles for the wedding. “What’s going on, Bug?” Rosemary asked.

  “Look!” Cleo pointed to the decorations. “Come downstairs, it’s time for the party.”

  Darla set a hand on Cleo’s shoulder. “How fun. I love a party.” She pushed her long, dirty-blond hair behind her shoulder and took Cleo’s hand. “Who do you think put it all together?” She’d flown into town Wednesday afternoon and had been staying in Sage’s old room, though she’d been offered a suite in the hotel for free, and since her arrival had seemed almost as thrilled about being there for part of her daughter’s pregnancy as for her son’s big day.

  “Jonquil’s the cook and decorator,” Delphi answered. “I’ve been too tied up at the hotel making sure everything is set for tomorrow. I don’t know how she finished all of the bouquets and things for tomorrow so early. I thought for sure she was going to send Cami to handle all of this.” Jonquil was an unending source of amazement for Delphi, with unflagging
energy.

  “As long as Cami doesn’t think it’s an excuse to cook,” Rosemary commented.

  The door to the garage opened as Rosemary was speaking and Cami came through. “No worries there. I’m not going to poison everyone just to show off how bad I really am in the kitchen.” She toted a large canvas bag and brought a bottle of champagne.

  “You think one bottle will be enough for seven of us?” Delphi knew two of the sisters were pregnant, but surely a wedding celebration called for more than a glass each.

  “I have more in the bag. I didn’t have room for this one.”

  “There are eight of us,” Cleo pointed out.

  “Yes, and you’ll notice the lemonade in the fridge—just for you,” Jonquil said as she came up from the basement.

  “Awww. I never get to try any.”

  “Only eleven years to go, kiddo.” Jonquil tapped the little girl on the nose. She had turned ten a few weeks earlier.

  “I have to wait for everything you guys already get to do.” Cleo crossed her arms over her chest, though her eyes were still bright and excited. She was teasing them.

  Delphi patted her on the shoulder as she walked past. “Your time will come.”

  “You don’t have to wait,” Rosemary said. “We already let you help with the dishes, and if you want to scrub the bathroom or learn to wash your own clothes, you just say the word and we’ll be happy to oblige.” Rosemary looked around when she reached the bottom of the stairs. “Where are the prego-ladies? Haven’t they arrived yet?”

  “Last I heard Lana was taking a nap—at Blake’s insistence,” Delphi said. “He said she’d had some Braxton Hicks contractions today and needed a rest before coming to party with us. I haven’t seen Sage since the meeting this morning. But I’ll call her.” She pulled out her phone.

  “If she doesn’t answer, call Joel and tell him she’s overworking herself and needs to come here to relax with us,” Rosemary suggested.

  Darla grinned. “He’s so sweet with her, always making sure she’s okay.”

  “He’s driving her crazy with his over-protectiveness—and she’s only four months along.” Rosemary said. “Image how crazy he’ll get when she’s near term.” They all chuckled.

  The low hum of the garage door raising reached the women. “I guess that’s one of them,” Jonquil pointed to the sofas in the sunken great room. “Bride to be. Go sit. Mother-in-law to be, whom we all adore, you should join her. Let us take care of you. Squirt,” she directed this last to Cleo, leaning down and speaking in a stage whisper. “You are the next most important person in this room, but you’re not getting married, nor are you pregnant.” This observation made Cleo giggle. “So, I’m delegating you their personal slave for the night.”

  “Same as always?” Cleo asked.

  “Yes. Are you up to the challenge of making sure Darla and Rosemary have everything they need?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” She saluted.

  “What have you been showing my daughter?” Rosemary asked. “Using respectful language, saluting? What is this?”

  “Rosemary!” Cleo giggled again and hurried over. “Grandma, what do you want?” She seemed thrilled to have met Darla. Cleo’s adoptive parents had died a few months earlier, but both sets of grandparents had been dead for longer than she could remember, and Rosemary’s mother was not very friendly. Darla was thrilled to be inheriting a granddaughter, though she claimed she was far too young for such things, and kept trying to get Cleo to call her Darla instead.

  Harrison had told Cleo in no uncertain terms that she should always call Darla “grandma.” Delphi thought it was for the pure pleasure of seeing his mom flustered. And she got the impression that after the first time or two, Darla only objected out of principle, not because she minded.

  The door to the garage opened and Sage entered, followed by Lana. “I dragged her out of bed to come with me. Blake threatened to boycott the wedding if we let her stand up again anytime in the next three hours.”

  The doctor had said Lana should take it easy, but she was a workaholic and didn’t like to slow down.

  Lana scowled. “I told you to ignore that.”

  “Not happening. Come sit over here,” Rosemary patted the spot next to her. “Hey, slave-o-mine. Can you bring over the foot rest for her?”

  Cleo had headed for the kitchen, but did an about-face and raced to the ottoman, dragging it over. “There you go,” she said in triumph as Lana reached her. “I’m going to get Grandma’s food and then I can get yours.” She raced back toward the kitchen again.

  Delphi held in a laugh, surprising herself when she realized she enjoyed the byplay among the women. It hadn’t been that long since she had avoided or cut her time short at family gatherings. She wondered if coming clean about Fallon had anything to do with how much freer she felt now. Or maybe it was the on-again, off-again spring weather and motorcycle rides with Jeremy.

  Her phone rang and she glanced at the Caller ID. It was the motorcycle shop. “Sorry, just a minute,” she said to the others, stepping away to answer it. “Hello, this is Delphi.”

  “Miss Gifford. This is John from Mike’s Bikes. I just finished looking over your bike and it looks like it needs some major work.” He went on to detail everything that needed to be repaired and quoted a cost to her.

  “That’s more than the bike is worth.” She sighed, her practicality warring with nostalgia. She honestly had no idea which would win out. It would have been so much easier if the bike hadn’t been Fallon’s.

  “I know. I’m sorry about that. We’ll be happy to give you a few days to decide if you want to fix it or junk it.”

  “Thanks.” She returned to the main room with the others.

  “What was that?” Lana asked.

  “My bike needs major work. I’ll have to decide if it’s worth fixing.” Delphi snagged a celery stick from the veggie tray and looked at Rosemary. “Now, back to your hair. Don’t you think it would be fabulous with those rhinestone pins?”

  They ate dinner, passed around a few pampering products several people had brought to share, and harassed Rosemary about her honeymoon cruise.

  They were just starting in on the pros and cons of the resort doing a float for the Fourth of July parade that year when Cami’s phone dinged, alerting them to a text message. She pulled it out and read it, then looked over at Delphi. “What’s this about a tattoo?”

  Delphi made her face go blank. She hoped. Jeremy had told the guys about that? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Cami’s brow rose, but she didn’t argue. “The guys were looking at some of Jeremy’s pictures from a recent hike. Apparently Harrison asked about something the newspaper had printed. A chunk of fool’s gold with a waterfall in the background.”

  “Jeremy does carry his camera practically everywhere he goes.” After the hard time the others had given her about her first ride with Jeremy, she wasn’t about to volunteer anything more.

  “You still have the rock?” Cami asked.

  “Somewhere.” It was in her nightstand. She’d pulled it out several times in the past few days to toll in her fingers as she tried to decide whether to put the breaks on things with Jeremy, or to continue seeing where it went. She took a sip of her drink and stared Cami down.

  “Wait. Back to the relevant point. You have a tattoo?” Rosemary asked, fascination on her face.

  “Cami didn’t say that.” Delphi found she was enjoying making them work for details.

  “No,” Jonquil admitted. “But you weren’t very convincing when you denied it, either.”

  She did her best society looking-down-my-nose-at-you expression. “Now I have to work to convince you too?”

  Cami’s phone beeped again and she clicked on it. A moment later her eyes grew big. “Is that a fairy?”

  They sent her a picture? Delphi sat back and crossed her arms over her chest. “A fairy, really?”

  “What do you call it?” Lana leaned over to look at the phon
e, which Cami had passed to Sage.

  Delphi took it and looked it over. “Really good Photoshopping.”

  “I don’t think so. I’ve never seen you wearing anything with a low back.” Rosemary watched her with curiosity. “When did you get inked?”

  Delphi hadn’t planned to tell them—to tell anyone. She hadn’t shown the tattoo to anyone for a long while, but she’d wanted to taunt Jeremy a little with the casual clothing choice, to get his attention. His reaction to the tattoo had been a bonus. Now she would have to explain it to everyone—there was a reason she usually covered it up. She pulled out her phone and sent him a text message.

  Traitor. That was our secret.

  She looked at the others and forced nonchalance she didn’t feel. “I was mad at my mom for trying to control me. I was half drunk and feeling defiant, so I got the pixie done.” She still didn’t regret it, though it didn’t make wardrobe choices exactly easy sometimes.

  “Hey, I want to see.” Cleo crowded in to look at the picture. “I want a tattoo.”

  Rosemary grabbed her girl’s hand and pulled her closer, cupped her chin in a palm and said in a serious voice. “You even think about it before you turn eighteen and I’ll nail your bedroom window shut and confine you to quarters. No more bird song, you got it?” As threats went, it wasn’t a strong one—for most girls. But it would be torment for Cleo, who loved to leave her windows open so she could hear the birds chirping outside.

  Cleo frowned. “You’re so mean sometimes.”

  “That’s me. The queen of mean.” Rosemary pecked Cleo on the cheek.

  Jeremy texted back:

  Sorry, I didn’t mean to. Much.

  Delphi bit back a smile. And responded, You’re in big trouble. You have to take me to dinner to make up for it.

  “Who are you texting?” Cami asked, her eyes narrowing.

  Delphi slipped the phone back in her pocket. “Jeremy. I can’t believe he showed the guys that picture.”

  Jonquil tipped her head. “When were the pictures taken? You weren’t wearing that outfit when you went for a ride with him.”