16. Chapter 16
sixteen
Ten days to the wedding
Rowan jogged toward the rising sun. Alex was running a good ten yards ahead of her. They used to run track in high school, but Alex, with her long legs, was always faster. And to this day, she’d kept running as an exercise, unlike Rowan. This morning was probably the first time in years she had run at this pace.
Rowan was ready with her sneakers on to catch Alex this morning—because she knew her friend would run when she was pissed.
And boy, I pissed her off big time.
When Kieran had arrived at the main house last night, Rowan and Chris had explained to the group that she’d only come up with the engagement to stop Gibbes from making more issues for Bright Head. She’d known Alex might’ve felt duped, but she hadn’t expected Alex to be this upset with her.
“You lied to me. You let me believe it,” Alex had said flatly. “I truly thought you finally found someone you deserve.”
Alex had walked out of the kitchen where they’d converged and left the house. Rowan had wanted to go after her, but Kieran had told her to deal with Alex later since he had his own questions. Oliver had assured Rowan Alex just needed to calm down and had gone after her .
After a short initial “what the fuck were you thinking?” reaction, Kieran had been oddly reasonable about the whole thing. He’d actually agreed due to the circumstances, announcing Chris as her fiancé had been the only way to shut up Connor Gibbes.
“But now you have to keep up with this ruse, at least until we can assure the Chamber that Chris isn’t here to buy up land,” Kieran had said. “Or until he leaves.”
“I have a feeling we didn’t fool Gibbes,” Chris had said.
“The more reason you need to convince them of your engagement, and you’re only here for Rowan,” Kieran had said. “Rowan is telling the truth that some people would prefer if the inn doesn’t reopen and we’ll be forced to sell the land.”
“Wouldn’t that make the island more vulnerable to buyers like me?” Chris had questioned.
“Sure.” Kieran had shrugged. “There’s a conservation group whose goal is to protect and preserve the island’s natural state and culture. Rowan and I support that goal. Maybe they hoped we’d donate the land?”
“Ever since we started the renovations, we’ve hit several issues,” Rowan had added. “But our dad had his own pull in the community. He got us the permits to build the additions. But since he passed, people like Gibbes think they can push me around. They’d use any ammunition to hinder my way.”
Chris had understood the dilemma and agreed to play the part of her fiancé. That was one issue temporarily solved, and now Rowan had to deal with another. She picked up her pace and closed the distance between her and Alex, though her lungs were burning.
“Alex, slow down, please!” she pleaded.
Alex glanced over her shoulder and gave her an annoyed look. She ignored Rowan and kept going. Rowan tried to keep up with Alex, but she gave up. She stopped and tried to catch her breath. With a hand pressed to the stitch in her waist, she bent forward and rested her other hand on her thigh.
“Alex!” Rowan called between pants. “Come on. We need to talk.”
Alex finally stopped but took her time before she doubled back. Once she was upon Rowan, Alex glared at her. “Now you want to talk? ”
“Why are you so angry at me?” Rowan demanded. “I wasn’t planning to tell Gibbes Chris was my fiancé. The lie just flew out of my mouth. It was a reactive panic thing. You don’t know how much trouble he could cause the inn if he believed Chris was buying it.”
“That’s one thing to lie to that old guy.” Alex’s usual fuck-it demeanor was nowhere to be found. “But you’ve been keeping things from me, Ro. I can feel it. What the hell is going on? I’m here to support you. Don’t I deserve the truth?
“Why is Chris Sullens really here, huh?” she demanded. “You haven’t even given me a straight answer on that one. He may not be your fiancé, but I know there’s something between you two. I can see how you look at each other, the way he pushes your button—”
“He’s here on behalf of my half-sister,” Rowan blurted.
“I’m sorry.” Alex did a double-take. “I must need to have my ears checked. I thought I heard you say your half-sister.”
“You did.” Rowan twisted her lips. “Kieran and I have a half-sister.”
“What the…” Alex stopped short and stared at her with rounded eyes.
“It’s a long story, but my dad had a daughter with another woman in his younger days.”
“What?” Her friend almost shrieked.
“Keep it down.” Though who would hear them in the middle of the large lawn?
“When did you find out about this?” Alex questioned. Flabbergasted concern replaced her display of hurt.
“When he died.”
“And you’re just telling me about it now?” The hurt returned and mingled with the disbelief in Alex’s voice.
Rowan felt guilty for keeping Alex in the dark all these months, but she just hadn’t been ready to share. “I didn’t know how to deal with that information, Alex. Neither did Kieran, so we didn’t talk about it. We simply ignored it until we couldn’t.”
“So you just buried it? All this time?”
“I didn’t want to believe it. It couldn’t be true if I didn’t, right?” Rowan laughed bitterly. “But she is real. She exists—a secret sister I never knew.”
“Wait. I don’t understand. Did your father know about her? ”
“Oh, he did, and never once did we suspect he was harboring a secret so big.” Rowan felt tears pooling in her eyes. “But I suppose it became easy for him. Out of sight, out of mind.”
“What does that mean? You mean, he…” Alex stammered.
Rowan understood Alex’s confusion. This news, this betrayal, wasn’t what anyone would suspect from Neal Kelly, a devoted family man. Alex had considered Rowan’s father as her other dad. She had mourned him along with Rowan and Kieran.
“Before he died, he told me he had many regrets, and I think abandoning her was one of his biggest mistakes.”
“Whoa.” Alex doubled over as she absorbed the hard-to-swallow news.
Rowan squeezed her friend’s shoulder.
“Why would you keep something this big from me?” Alex said as she straightened and hugged Rowan tightly. “God, why did you shoulder this on your own? That explains why you’ve made all these drastic decisions after your father died—breaking up a five-year relationship, quitting your job, and moving to this island.”
Alex yanked Rowan away and held her back like she'd just had a revelation. “You ran away.”
“I did not run away,” Rowan denied with a vigorous shake of her head.
“What do you call this then, Ro?” Alex spread her arms and made a circle, gesturing to their surroundings. “Why would you drop everything and put your all into this place?”
“An epiphany,” Rowan answered. “My father’s confession and death made me realize life is too short to just cruise through. I won’t spend another minute in a relationship that suffocates me. I won’t work a job that simply pays me but doesn’t satisfy me. I am here for me.
“But I’m also here for my dad. This inn is the last thing Dad and I were working on. We had the best time. He was trying to fix his regrets, and abandoning this place was one of them. I’m going to make it happen for him and for myself.”
“I hear you, Ro.” Alex nodded with an I-get-it-grin. “But one thing I still don’t understand, what does Chris have to do with this place?”
“My dad left Bright Head to his children. All three of his children. Chris is my half-sister’s proxy. ”
“Ooh.” Alex’s expression showed the progression of her understanding of the complications of her dad’s decision. “How do you feel about that? Kieran must be pissed.”
“He’s not happy about it.”
Learning about Rae and the will on top of her father’s death had driven Rowan up the wall that first weeks after her father’s death. It was weird how time had dulled some of her feelings. Though it still felt like an enormous boulder lodged in her chest, Rowan could find hilarity in the situation now.
“Why are you laughing?” Alex looked at her as if she’d grown another head.
Rowan didn’t realize she was actually laughing, but then she really let it all out in a full-belly laugh.
“Ro, are you okay?” Alex asked, looking concerned.
“This whole thing is so ridiculous. I wouldn’t believe it if it didn’t actually happen to my family.” She continued laughing. “For thirty-two years, I didn’t know my father had a love child with another woman he’d had to abandon because he already had a wife and two children on the other side of the country.”
Gasping breath in between words and laughter, she continued, “And apparently, my mother knew all about it. She gave him the ultimatum to stay for his two other children when she was diagnosed with her condition. I suppose I should be happy that he chose us; for us, he was a good father.
“Oh, oh, and you know what else? My parents were never happy. All those happy family moments, they were lies! Just a front.”
Rowan couldn’t stop the unloading. “It took him thirty-two years to tell us. It took my dad dying for us to find out that he left a third of this property to his secret child. And now we don’t have access to the property trust fund until we can find a way to work with our new sister, who still hasn’t agreed to meet us.”
Alex only stood there, looking perplexed, as Rowan’s laughter continued. “Can’t say Neal Kelly didn’t leave a mark when he left this world!”
“Ro…” Alex came to her and wrapped her tightly in her arms.
“He…he left—”
“Shh, Rowan.” Alex held Rowan’s head to her shoulder. “It’ s okay, Ro.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m sorry you held all that inside,” Alex whispered in her ear. “Let it all out.”
The floodgate that had barely contained Rowan’s anguish all these months broke. She sobbed into her friend’s shoulder and finally let the grief of her father’s death and betrayal flow out of her heavy heart.
“You’re still in Vinalhaven?” Rae’s voice came through the earbuds Chris was wearing. With a cup of coffee in his hand, he sat on one of the comfortable chairs on the porch.
“I thought you’d be on your way to the Cape,” Rae added.
“Skipping the annual week where my father points out all the unfortunate choices I made doesn’t sound like a bad idea.”
“What unfortunate choices? From my point of view, you’re doing great.”
“That’s how I feel.” Chris shrugged with a small smile.
“Seriously, what is it that your father has against your choices?”
“Where do I start? That I still won’t helm The Sullens, and I prefer creating my small brand of luxury resorts?”
“Can’t you do both?” Rae asked. “I mean, eventually you’ll have to, won’t you? Your father will have to retire someday.”
“He has a management team that handles most of the business, but he still controls the company’s vision and the big picture. He’d still want to hold that, even if I were in charge. I’d appreciate advice when I needed it, but I wouldn’t lead the company with my father hovering over me.”
“I can understand that.”
“But I didn’t call to talk about me,” Chris segued. “I’m looking at this place your father left you and your half-siblings, Rae. It has a lot of potential.”
“Really? And I thought it was just an old property.”
“It is old, meaning it’s been in your father’s family for decades. And he passed it down to the next generation. Kieran has turned the farm into a well-oiled machine in just two years. I haven’t seen its financials, but I assume it’s at least breaking even .
“The inn isn’t back in operation yet, but Rowan has put a lot of work and upgrades into the place. It still needs a few touches and a well-trained staff, but it promises a quaint and laid-back New England vacation. I think you’ll love it here,” he concluded.
“I saw the pics you sent me. It is beautiful,” Rae said. “It’s exactly the type of place I like to stay in. Gorgeous view, big enough that guests aren’t on top of each other, but small enough to feel cozy and warm.”
“Exactly.”
“How are they treating you? What are they like—Kieran and Rowan?” The curiosity in her voice was subtle, but Chris heard it loud and clear.
“They’re…” Chris weighed his words. “Interesting people. Hard workers, stubborn. Standoffish at first, but I think they’ve warmed up to me.”
“I don’t think there’s anyone in this world you can’t charm, Chris.” Rae chuckled.
“Well, they reminded me of how you were when we first met, though you were less confrontational. But I can definitely see that you guys share genetics and traits.”
“I know,” Rae said. “It’s been a while, but I remember the shock when I got a glimpse of them. My father asked me not to break the perfect family he had, so I never looked back. I tried not to think about them ever again.”
“I’m sorry, Rae. That’s fucked up.” Chris felt for his friend. “But perhaps it’s time to finally meet them.”
“You think I should?”
“Now that I’ve met them, I think it would help for you three to get to know each other. Kieran still resents that you own a part of his farm, but I don’t find him unreasonable. And Rowan… She’s curious about you.”
“Curious?” Rae questioned.
“And conflicted. You’re a reminder that their father wasn’t perfect, but they won’t deny your existence. I think they’re taking on your father’s guilt for abandoning you—Rowan, especially.”
He wanted Rae to understand Rowan didn’t have ill will toward her.
“I don’t know if I’m ready to face them,” Rae said.
“I’d say take your time, but I also think it’ll be easier to work things out—inheritance or emotional baggage—when you finally communicate face to face. There’s something more going on here that I’m still uncovering. Meanwhile, I’ll help them with the wedding for the next ten days.”
“Chris, you don’t have to do that. I know you have more important things to do.”
“I cleared my calendar. I’m supposed to be on vacation, remember?” He dismissed Rae’s concern.
“You should be relaxing, not working at a remote island inn slash farm,” Rae said.
“I kinda enjoy it. It brings me back to the old days when things were simpler,” Chris said.
“Nothing about this situation with me and the Kellys is simple.”
Tell me about it.
The sound of a lively but unintelligible conversation caught his attention. He looked over the vast lawn and found Rowan and Alex talking loudly and animatedly.
Are they fighting?
From where he stood, he could only see their shapes and movements. Rowan seemed to laugh hysterically as if she were telling Alex a joke. But Alex wasn’t laughing at all, which was expected since she’d been unhappy when she’d stormed out of the house last night. In the short time he’d known Alex, he knew she was the type who didn’t take most things too seriously, but she’d really taken Rowan’s deception personally.
“Chris?” Rae’s voice alerted him she was still on the phone.
“Sorry, I got distracted.” He averted his eyes from the women and focused on Rae. Seeing Rowan and Alex reminded Chris he had something else to share with Rae. “There’s another reason I need to stay.”
“What’s that?”
“Well…” Chris wondered the easiest way to say it and went straight to the point. “Rowan and I are engaged.”
“You what?”