Chapter Eight
Nora
Firebrook Valley
Present Day
Wait, what just happened?
You deserve a chance to be with whoever you want, Nora. If Brady makes you happy, nobody should stand in the way of that.
Oh my God. He thinks I’m dating Brady.
I stared at the repaired section of the roof. It offered no answers. Why does everyone think I’m with Brady? We’re friends. Nothing more. Definitely not more. There’s no spark. There’s not even an almost spark. The almost kiss Evan and I tend to lean in for? Nope. Nothing like that. Ever.
Sure, we’ve gone skiing together, but always with a group. We’ve gone out to dinner a few times in Boston, which he said was his way of thanking me for helping him when he had an issue at college. I met him for lunch one time in New York because I was in the area.
He did fly up to bring me soup when he heard I was sick.
That’s what friends do, right?
Oh, shit. Am I accidentally dating Evan’s brother?
“Nora?”
I blinked. Palila was standing three feet away, holding a box of nails and wearing a look of deep suspicion. “You’ve been staring at that wall like it owes you money.”
“I’m fine.”
“Are you?”
I made a strangled noise that wasn’t quite a laugh. Emma appeared beside her, eyeing my face and then the tool.
“Maybe put that down for a minute,” Emma suggested.
“I know how to use a hammer.”
“Nora, that’s a screwdriver.”
I looked down. It was. “Oh my God.”
Palila gently took it from my hand. “We saw you talking to Evan.”
I swallowed hard. Were my feelings for him obvious?
“He didn’t look happy when he walked away. Did you argue?” Emma asked.
“No.”
“Does he have a problem with you dating Brady?” Palila tacked on.
Half-hopeful, I whipped my head toward her so fast my neck actually clicked. “Why would he?”
Palila and Emma exchanged a look as if they were trying not to laugh because they loved me and didn’t want to be murdered. Which meant I was going to hate whatever came out of their mouths next.
Palila spoke first. “The whole feud thing?”
Yeah, that.
Emma winced in sympathy. “You don’t have to tell us if you’re not ready to. It makes complete sense to want to keep something like that private until you know how serious it is.”
“Stop.” I pointed between them. “Brady and I are—” I stopped because if I’d misled Brady I didn’t want him to get the correction secondhand. He’d become a good friend and if I hadn’t been clear that that was all we were, he deserved to hear that from me.
Emma waited. Palila waited. I mentally reviewed the evidence and briefly considered giving in to a good cry.
Spending time with Brady away from Firebrook Valley had been a comfort when I hadn’t been able to force myself to return.
He was like a little piece of the town was reaching out to me, accepting that I wasn’t yet ready for more.
I turned, lost my balance, overcorrected and knocked over a toolbox. When I bent to gather the contents, I cracked my head on a piece of wood and sat down with a thud on a pile of sawdust.
Palila appeared overhead and offered me a hand. “Today isn’t your day.”
“No kidding.” I took her help, returned to standing, and coughed as I inhaled some of the dust I was brushing off my rear.
Mabel’s voice drifted in from the open side of the barn. “The roof looks great. I brought drinks and some snacks. Who’s hungry?”
She didn’t need to say that twice. People lined up, grateful for the bags of drinks and sandwiches she handed out.
Mabel handed me a cold bottle of Evie’s lemonade. The glass sweated against my palm. “Drink,” she ordered.
I chugged half of it. Was it better than lemonade I could have gotten in the city? Maybe, maybe not. But they didn’t come packed with a lifetime of memories. Only this lemonade brought both flavor and comfort.
Mabel looked at me over the top of her glasses. “Maybe there is a little magic in Evie’s water. You’re beginning to look like yourself again.”
“It’s been a day, Mabel.”
“Had I known, I would have also brought cookies,” she said with a smile.
I took another sip, and because the universe loves a good irony, the drink brought a memory of my mother this time. Nothing good. Only the familiar sight of Celia Burke on horseback, leaving again.
Always leaving. Up to see a woman in a remote cabin high on the mountain. Evie the Oracle. The Healer. Some called her a witch, if they were feeling particularly cruel.
Mabel never used those words. She said Evie was a woman who’d known more grief than most and wanted only to be left alone. I understood that better now than I had as a kid. People sought her out, sometimes for advice, or an herbal remedy. Sometimes out of sheer curiosity.
I’d never gone with my mother to see her and my father had forbidden me to go alone. I’m not sure why. From what I’d heard, she wasn’t dangerous, just quiet.
My feelings about her were complicated. There were times I’d resented every bottle with Evie’s label on it.
Because she got pieces of my mother I never did.
Because Mom would ride to those mountains and come back looking more at peace with the world.
I never understood why my mother couldn’t find whatever she needed by spending time with her family . . . with me.
And then in what had felt like the ultimate betrayal, my mother had gone out on her last of those horse rides while I was away at college.
The lemonade suddenly tasted like guilt.
I stared at the bottle, the barn, then sunshine outside the door.
Against my better judgment, my attention settled on Evan.
He was helping Kai push an old tractor back into the barn, his shirt dark with sweat, his muscles bunching.
He glanced over, caught me watching him, and nodded toward me in acknowledgment and my whole body warmed.
The wrong Holliston. I’ve been spending time with the wrong Holliston.
And now he thinks I’m dating his brother.
“Wow,” I muttered.
Palila leaned in. “What?”
“I screwed up.”
Emma considered that. “Specifics?”
I shook my head.
She followed my gaze and added, “He won’t be a tough brother-in-law to look at.”
Shooting her a glare, I took another drink, this time wishing it were a beer.
“Too bad he won’t stick around,” Palila said.
I hated the idea of him leaving again, but honestly, being in the same space as Evan again was harder than I’d expected it to be. “That’s probably for the best.”
Palila’s eyes widened. Emma went still. I closed my eyes. Did I say that out loud?
Palila whispered, “Why, Nora?”
Deciding it was best to play dumb, I asked, “Why what?”
Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t still . . .”
Emma looked from me to Evan and back. “No . . .”
Before I could decide whether to lie or confess, a truck tore up the road toward the barn, throwing a cloud of dust into the air. Everyone turned. The truck braked hard, and the driver’s door swung open.
And there he was. Brady.
Tall, broad-shouldered, admittedly handsome, and looking way too happy to be here. He spotted me almost immediately, and his expression lit.
Oh no. No, no, no.
He jogged over. “Nora!” he said, smiling. “I heard you were here.”
My stomach dropped straight through my dusty boots.
Behind me, Palila whispered, “This just got interesting.”
Emma whispered back, “It was already interesting.”
Brady looked me over. “You okay?”
No. Absolutely not. Not even a little. I smiled anyway, because I’d done this to myself.
“Great, Brady,” I said. “What are you doing here?”
“Thought I’d help clean up and see how you’re holding up.”
I couldn’t hate any part of that. “Thanks, Brady.”
Outside the door, Evan watched us and his gaze burned through me before he turned away.