A reason to stay, p.15
A Reason to Stay, page 15
But that all hinged on her big decision, and he’d decided not to push her on it for fear it would drive her away from the town—and, more importantly, from him. Trying to push a dog on her when she was considering going back to a city apartment might be too much. As hard as it was, he had to give her space to work it out between herself and God. But it couldn’t hurt to put in a little prayer intention of his own.
Mongoose called for lunch and a prayer, bowing his head and saying grace in a low, fervent bass voice. Aidan took his place behind the roll steamer just as he’d done the last time he was here. Sharpe stood next to him, peeking under the lid to find a delicious-smelling green bean casserole. He was going to be hungry by the time they got back home for their own Thanksgiving meal. Jake was an amazing cook and had taken full charge of the holiday meal since he’d married Avery and they’d started their bed-and-breakfast together.
For a moment, Sharpe looked around and couldn’t find Emma, but then he spotted her in the back corner with the coffee carafe in her hand, smiling and chatting up a small group of veterans as she refilled their cups. Was it possible she was imagining her own café, one with The Coffee Lady printed on the window out front?
He certainly was.
Everyone she spoke to smiled as she gave each of them her full attention. She was happy to take thermoses from the men and fill them with fresh, hot coffee from the machine. She was buzzing around like a bee.
Their time at the shelter went by in a blink, and before Sharpe knew it, they were all loaded up and back in Whispering Pines. Emma, Aidan and Baloo were with him in his truck, and other family members were driving together in other vehicles. He wasn’t certain who’d taken Gramps and Emma’s nan, but he wasn’t worried that they’d somehow managed to catch a ride.
He’d hoped Emma would say something on the way home regarding her decision of whether or not to stay in town, but she was unusually quiet, staring out the passenger window at the scenery. He reached for her hand, and she accepted his gesture, but it wasn’t even enough to get her to turn toward him.
He glanced back to make sure Aidan had his earbuds in, which, as usual, he did, his head resting on the seat and his eyes closed. The only way Sharpe knew he was still awake was that he was stroking Baloo’s fur, but hopefully his music was playing loud enough that he wouldn’t hear any conversation coming from the front seat.
“A penny for your thoughts?” he asked Emma in a whisper.
“Hmm?” She glanced over at him, looking dazed.
“You seemed distant just now.”
She shook her head and then glanced back at Aidan as Sharpe had done.
“No. Just lost in thought.”
“About?”
“We’re going to be leaving on Saturday.”
“What? You’ve made your final decision?” Sharpe’s heart plummeted into his gut, where it lodged like a rock.
“I just don’t see any other way around it. As much as I would love to stay here and pursue my dream, it just isn’t practical. Whispering Pines has been like a daydream, and I’ve loved every second of it, as has Aidan. But it can’t stay that way forever. As it is, I’ve put off making a decision so long that we’re going to have to stay in a hotel until I can find more permanent lodgings for us. Hopefully something near the building where I work.” She blew out a breath and scrubbed a hand down her face.
Sharpe forced a ragged breath into his lungs. He felt like falling apart, but doing that would hurt Emma, and he’d never do that to her, so he tamped down his feelings. He knew she hadn’t made this decision to leave lightly. He could hear the pain in her voice.
“I understand,” he said, his voice gravelly with emotion.
Her grip tightened around his hand.
Sharpe cleared his throat. “I don’t want to make this any harder for you than it already is, but since you’ll be looking for a new apartment anyway, would it be possible to find one that would accept a medium-size border collie?”
Tears sprang to her eyes and poured down her cheeks, and she rushed to wipe them off before Aidan saw.
“But he’s your dog,” she said quietly.
Sharpe chuckled despite the pain in his gut. “You really think so? He hasn’t been my dog for a while now. This move is going to be rough on Aidan. I thought I could make it a little easier for him if I gifted Baloo to him, so he wouldn’t be going off to California without a friend.”
“Oh, Sharpe. You’re so thoughtful. I’d be a fool not to accept such a kind gift on Aidan’s behalf. I’ll figure something out. There are places that accept dogs.”
He jerked a short nod. “Good, then. It’s settled.”
“There’s one more thing I want to ask you,” she said. “I thought tomorrow, being our last full day here, we could maybe do something special together, just the three of us. Plus, I have an idea that will make Nan happy.”
“Sure. What did you have in mind?” There was no question that he was going to spend her final day here with her. How could he not?
“Would you give us the full Christmas tree–cutting experience? I thought we could get one for Nan’s house. What do you think?”
“I think that’s a wonderful idea.” He glanced back to make sure the boy wasn’t listening, but he was rocking out to his tunes, his hands moving as if he were playing the drums. “I’ll tell Aidan about Baloo then. Make an early Christmas present of him.”
“Trust me when I say that will be the very best gift he’s ever had.” She sniffled but had stemmed her tears. “It will mean so much to him. And to me.”
He brushed his thumb across the top of her hand. “And to me, as well. We’ll make tomorrow the best day ever, something we’ll remember all of our lives, okay?”
He would remember it, all right, for as long as he lived—as the biggest heartbreak of his life, and one from which he didn’t know if he would ever recover. After all these years fighting the feeling of being stuck where he was, he’d think he would be over the worst of it.
But the worst was yet to come.
Chapter Twelve
Despite having shed tears earlier in Sharpe’s truck, Emma couldn’t help but smile as she sat at the Winslow family dinner table—dinner tables, really, because there was no way to seat that many people around a single table. The bed-and-breakfast was equipped to handle a number of people at a time, so the adults sat around a long row of tables that had been pushed together. The older children sat together at another table. Of all the adults, it surprised her that Frost was the one who volunteered his services for the children’s table. He appeared to be a natural with them—the fun uncle.
It was so nice to have extended family around. She and Aidan were both going to miss times like this.
Gramps was sitting at the head of the table with Nan by his side. Avery had made calligraphy seating cards between each two place settings, indicating which couple belonged where. It made Emma’s heart skip when she saw her name underneath Sharpe’s. This would be the last time they would be considered a couple, and she was determined to enjoy it, no matter how brokenhearted she felt on the inside.
With Saturday practically staring her in the face, she knew she had to make the announcement that she and Aidan were leaving soon, but she’d talked it over with Sharpe before they’d come in and she’d decided to let everyone know after her Christmas tree–cutting experience tomorrow. She knew she’d see most of the siblings working at Winslow’s Woodlands on the busy day after Thanksgiving, and for those she didn’t see in person, the news would spread quickly via the gossip train. If she spoke out this evening during Thanksgiving dinner, it would become the major topic of conversation, and she wanted to talk about anything but leaving. That would ruin everything.
As Sharpe had told her at Sally’s Pizza, anywhere the Winslows were gathered became a noisy occasion where one had to talk loudly to be heard. Tonight was no different, with a number of conversations going on at once and a buzz of excitement in the air. Aidan was in an animated conversation with Frost, who was asking him about how he liked working with Baloo at the hospital and homeless shelter.
When all the food dishes had been spread on the table before them, Gramps quieted the crowd with a shrill whistle—evidently not a genetic trait—and asked everyone to join hands so he could say grace, especially thanking God for bringing the Fitzpatricks into their home and into their lives. The Winslows, he asserted, were better people for the new people sitting around their table. As Gramps blessed the food and ended with a hearty amen, Sharpe squeezed Emma’s hand tightly.
The dishes were passed around, and everyone dug in. Emma noticed the noise decibel significantly decreased while everyone was focused on the food. And she had to admit Sharpe had been right when he’d praised Jake’s cooking. She’d never enjoyed a meal more in her life—although that might be as much because of the company as it was the food.
Thanksgivings had never before been a thing for her. When she was young, her parents used to go out to fancy restaurants with friends on Thanksgiving and would leave her at home with a babysitter to eat a microwaved turkey meal. She’d spent her adult Thanksgivings alone and had never bothered to make a big deal out of the food she’d eaten.
“Save room for pie,” Sharpe instructed her after they’d already been eating for a quarter of an hour.
“Pie?” she squeaked. “That would have been nice to know before I started. I’m feeling just as stuffed as the turkey over there.”
“Find a little room in there somewhere,” Sharpe said. “We have pumpkin, cherry and apple to choose from. Or you can be like me and have all three smothered in ice cream or whipped cream.”
“You seriously eat all three kinds of pie? Where do you put it all?” Sharpe was a large man, but he was pure muscle from working the farm.
Avery overheard the conversation and chuckled. “Both of my brothers can put away dessert like nobody’s business,” she said. “And then along came our husbands, and we discovered they, too, have that raw talent. It appears to be a manly ability.”
“Say what you will,” Jake said, bellowing with laughter, “but Thanksgiving only comes around once a year. We all need to make the most of it.”
“And we’ll have leftovers,” Ruby said. “For the next month, with as much food as Jake cooks. You can take some of your favorites home with you if you’d like.”
Emma swallowed hard, willing back the tears that instantly sprang to her eyes. There would be no Winslow leftovers for her this year, or any year, for that matter. Sharpe reached for her arm, but she couldn’t look at him, because she knew she’d break down. She took a small slice of cherry pie and ate slowly. It took her a few minutes to feel in control of her emotions again.
When everyone was finished with dessert, Gramps stood and whistled for attention again. Emma laid her hand on Sharpe’s bicep and caught his gaze, mimicking Gramps’s whistle and flashing him a knowing grin. He rolled his eyes.
“As you all know,” Gramps began, clasping his suit jacket, “life has been difficult for me for the past couple of years. I honestly believed I’d never love again. Then God brought this special woman into my life, and she changed everything.”
Gramps reached for Nan’s hand and pulled her to her feet, then kissed her knuckles and grinned widely at those around the table.
“I’m long past being able to drop to one knee to do this romantically, so you’ll have to bear with me and just imagine I’m kneeling and can get back up again.” He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a sparkling ring, a large emerald surrounded by smaller diamonds. “My sweetheart was born in May, and emeralds are her birthstone,” he explained.
He paused for effect and then pressed her left palm to his heart. “My love, will you make this old man feel young again and consent to be my wife?”
Nan held out her right hand, palm up. “That depends. Let me see the ring first.”
Emma gaped and met Sharpe’s eyes. Surely Nan wouldn’t reject Gramps in front of everyone. Sharpe just grinned and shook his head.
Without hesitation, Gramps dropped the ring into her grasp. She made a big production of examining it, as if she would know by looking at it whether or not it was genuine. The entire room was silent, although Jake was smothering laughter behind his palm.
“Yes, this rings appears to have come from the heart,” she said after letting Gramps sweat for a long moment. “I say, let’s do this thing.”
She handed him the ring back, and he tenderly placed it onto her finger, to hoots and hollers from the whole Winslow clan. All the adults swarmed around them, waiting for their turn to offer their congratulations to the happy couple.
Emma couldn’t have been more delighted for Nan, nor sadder for herself. It was strange, being able to feel both emotions at the same time.
She hugged Nan and kissed Gramps on the cheek, offering her most hearty congratulations and well-wishes, and then moved out of the way so others could do the same. She was walking back to her seat when her cell phone buzzed in her pocket.
Who would be calling her on Thanksgiving Day? Everyone she knew in Whispering Pines was already here in this room.
She glanced at the screen and saw it was her attorney. Her gut tightened. Something had to be seriously wrong for him to be calling on a holiday. She excused herself and stepped outside onto the porch, wrapping one arm around her middle to stay warm.
“Hello?” she said. “Bryan? What’s up? Is everything okay?”
“Hi, Emma. I hope you’re having a nice Thanksgiving. I’m really sorry to have to call you today, but something has come up that I think we need to talk about in person. The sooner, the better. I’m sure you’re busy celebrating right now, but is there any way you can give me a call this evening?”
“I—Yes, of course. What time?”
“Shall we say eight o’clock?”
“Okay. I’ll speak to you then.”
Her lawyer hung up before she’d had the opportunity to think over what he’d just said. Something had come up—something important enough they needed to speak tonight to discuss it. She’d thought her parents’ whole estate had been dealt with. What if Bryan had found hidden debts? That had been one of her biggest fears from the beginning when she’d discovered she was the executor of her parents’ estate. She wouldn’t put it past her father to have taken out loans. He’d never been particularly good with money.
She had a bit of money set aside from selling off the items in their home at auction, but she’d intended to put that into Aidan’s trust. Hopefully if her father owed anything, the money from the estate sale would cover it.
Her gut churned just thinking about it.
“Hey, there you are. I looked around and you had disappeared. Is everything okay, honey?” Sharpe stepped out the front door and closed it behind him, then moved to her side and wrapped his arm around her, offering her both comfort and warmth.
“To be honest, I don’t know,” she said. “I just got off a phone call from my attorney. He wants me to phone him tonight.”
“On Thanksgiving? That’s kind of weird, don’t you think?”
“He says it’s important, and that we need to speak immediately.”
Sharpe stared at her for a moment without speaking before he reached out and curled a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
“That could mean it’s a good thing, couldn’t it?”
She took a deep breath, considering.
“I suppose. But I doubt it. It’s my parents’ estate we’re talking about here. I thought I had it all wrapped up, paying off his debts and everything and making sure all of Aidan’s money has been put in a trust for him. I have a bad feeling in my gut right now. What if my attorney has found more my dad has owed? I’m going to be really angry if I have to pay out all the money from the estate sale to settle up. That money is for Aidan’s future.”
Sharpe’s brow lowered, and his eyes glimmered with anger on her behalf. “Is this going to hold up your plans to move back to California?”
There might have been a note of hope in Sharpe’s voice, but she couldn’t blame him for trying to make lemonade out of lemons.
“I don’t think so. Like I said, I’ve worked everything out. Or at least, I thought I did. I guess I’ll see tonight how bad it is.”
Sharpe started to speak and then closed his mouth, choosing instead simply to wrap both arms around her and tuck her head under his chin.
Maybe it was bad news, maybe not. But right here, right now, in the circle of Sharpe’s strong arms, she felt protected.
She felt loved.
*
Sharpe had had a sleepless night, tossing and turning and worrying about Emma. He’d hoped she’d text or call him to let him know how it had gone with her attorney, but his phone had remained ominously silent. He thought a thousand times about reaching out to her, but she knew where he was if she wanted to talk. If she needed space, he’d give her space.
This morning, he’d dressed for the snow and had saddled three horses, his own, named Rocky, Aidan’s Diamond and Emma’s Elijah. Funny how he thought of Emma and Aidan whenever he saw these horses anymore. They’d be riding a short distance into the mountains to select the perfect Christmas tree for Nan. They’d cut it down and then drag it back to the farm, where Sharpe would put it in his truck and drive it to Nan’s. Emma would pull out the Christmas decorations, and they’d surprise Nan with the finished product.
Sharpe also planned to tell Aidan that Baloo was his to keep. Emma was supposed to tell Aidan they were leaving before Sharpe gave him the dog. That way the boy would have something positive to hold on to instead of just being sad that they were leaving.
Emma and Aidan arrived right on time, at ten in the morning. Both appeared surprisingly chipper, all things considered, and Sharpe wondered if she’d not yet found the voice to be able to let Aidan know they were moving away. Or maybe Aidan already knew and was okay with it. He watched the boy for a moment while he wrestled with Baloo and thought about how happy it would make him to be given the dog as a gift. Sharpe would have to find a way to pull Emma aside and ask her what had happened with the attorney, so he didn’t make a muddle of things and accidentally blurt out something that was Emma’s news to share.
