Chapter 2
Chapter Two
T he general story of Declan’s life was one of bad timing. He’d been born too soon to a girl who hadn’t been ready for motherhood. He’d missed the line drive in the critical championship game that might have landed him a full-ride baseball scholarship to college. He’d met the woman of his dreams mere weeks before the woman of his nightmares permanently altered his life. He’d been five minutes too late to meet country legend Garth Brooks at a hardware store in Nashville several years back. And he woke up with a vague hangover ten minutes too soon the morning after Kendrick and Erin’s wedding.
Not that he’d known that as he’d shuffled down the stairs of his sisters’ inn on a quest for coffee.
Not until the explosion hit him full in the face.
For long seconds, he stood on the landing, watching the sparkly cloud drift to the floor, wondering if he was still dreaming.
The grit on his tongue disabused him of that notion. As did the muffled giggles from somewhere below. Recognizing at least one of those giggles, Declan squinted through the glitter haze. His eleven-year-old daughter stood to one side of the stairs, both hands covering her mouth, the hazel eyes she’d gotten from him peeled wide with some combination of mirth and horror. Her sixteen-year-old-and-totally-should-have-known-better cousin, Ari, stood on the other side, her lips rolled in.
“Really?” His hands moved automatically, signing the word in case there was too much glitter still in the air for Scarlett to read his lips.
Her fingers flew in response, though she was looking at Ari as she said, “I told you we should have gone with confetti.”
Breaking his paralysis, Declan came the rest of the way down the stairs. “Just… why?”
Ari didn’t quite pull off the totally innocent expression. “We were expecting Kendrick and Erin. It was supposed to be a congratulations-on-your-marriage-and-have-fun-on-your-honeymoon surprise.”
He wiped at the glitter now coating his tongue. “You’re a bad influence.”
Neither girl appeared remotely repentant.
The sound of footsteps and luggage bumping down the stairs had them all looking up, where the bride and groom in question were descending.
“What the…” Kendrick stared at the silver and pink explosion on the stairs.
Erin was the first to spot Declan. Her laugh popped out like a champagne cork. Her husband joined her, nearly bending double with full-on guffaws. Declan just stood, patiently enduring their hilarity and wishing desperately that he’d waited just ten minutes before coming in search of coffee.
The kitchen door swung open. “What’s so funny? Oh my God.” Ari’s mother, Pru, definitely hit more of the horror end of the reaction spectrum. As she and her husband were the ones who actually lived on site at The Misfit Inn, no doubt she was imagining exactly how long they’d be finding glitter on the premises.
Kendrick set his suitcase aside and thumped Declan on the shoulder. “I gotta thank you for taking one for the team, brother.”
“Right. Because this was entirely on purpose.”
His brother pressed a fist to his mouth, but more laughter spilled out, anyway. “Oh, man, you’re gonna have glitter stuck in your beard for weeks!”
Scratching at his cheek, Declan noted the silver and pink falling from his face like sparkly dandruff. “I may have to shave it.”
“That would be an improvement,” Scarlett insisted.
His daughter had definite opinions about his facial hair. None of them were good. Reaching out to hook an arm around her neck, Declan pulled her in for a noogie, mindful of her hearing aids. “Brat.”
She squirmed, so of course he hugged her extra tight to transfer as much glitter as possible.
“Holy Mary, mother of God.” Ari’s dad, Flynn, let his Irish out as he came into the foyer and caught sight of his eldest daughter’s handiwork. “I don’t want to know.”
Mick stumbled out of the family lounge, where he’d been dumped on the sofa with a pillow and blanket after last night’s reception. His brown hair stuck up in every direction, and his eyes were bloodshot. Given the level of happy drunk he’d been by the end, that wasn’t a surprise. He tromped through the glitter before anyone could stop him.
“Well, shit.”
“Looks like we missed all the excitement.” Griff skirted the mess on the stairs as best as he could, Sam sticking close behind.
“Okay, okay, we’ve really got to go. Mr. Teague, we have a flight to catch,” Erin insisted.
“You’re absolutely right, Mrs. Teague.” Kendrick pulled her in for a smacking kiss.
Hugs were passed out—everyone avoiding Declan—and then the newlyweds were out the door and headed for Knoxville to catch their flight.
“Okay, girls.” Pru clapped her hands. “Vacuum this mess up. It may be all family this weekend, but we’re back to normal business tomorrow, and I don’t want to see a spec of glitter.”
As a chorus of groans sounded from the girls, Flynn nudged Declan toward the kitchen. “Coffee. You definitely need coffee.”
“True story.” Shaking and brushing off as much glitter as possible, he followed his brother-in-law back to the spacious kitchen with the enormous farmhouse table where he’d eaten countless meals with his foster family growing up.
It still didn’t feel quite right without Joan at the head of it. Declan wished he’d been home to see her more before the accident, but he’d been struggling with single parenthood of a special needs child, and his whole focus had been on making sure Scarlett was taken care of. Still, her shadow loomed large in the enormous family she’d left behind, from the four daughters she’d formally adopted, to the countless foster kids who still considered this home.
He headed up the queue for coffee, pouring himself a massive mug and adding a liberal splash of cream.
“If you want to go up and change after you finish your coffee, we can get your clothes washed before you leave,” Pru offered.
“Leave?” Sam blinked. “I thought you were here for the week.”
“I am. Scarlett’s going to be visiting with her grandparents while I sort out the logistics of our upcoming move. I’m dropping her off in Knoxville tomorrow. And I thank you, Pru. I’d just as soon not show up to my ex-wife’s parents’ house looking like something out of Showgirls. ”
Aware of Sam exchanging a meaningful Married People look with Griff, he felt a frisson of unease. “What?”
Sam waved him to the table. “Well, it’s just that I was talking to Abbey at the reception last night. Your old flame gets into town today.”
Declan was glad he didn’t have a mouthful of coffee. He’d have sprayed everyone at the table at that bomb.
“Livia?” He didn’t know why he was asking. It wasn’t like he had another old flame who happened to be Abbey Keenan’s cousin.
Griff settled onto the bench beside Sam. “Yeah. After what you said at the bachelor party, we thought maybe you’d want to know.”
Too much hard cider during the celebratory bachelor bonfire had led to a walk down memory lane he’d been avoiding for more than a decade. He’d been working at Abbey’s family’s apple orchard for the summer. Livia had been eighteen, all long, tanned limbs and sweetness, and he’d taken one look at her and fallen ass over teakettle. Just the idea of seeing her again had everything in him softening. It had been twelve years since he’d last been graced with that smile. Twelve years since he’d kissed her.
Twelve years since he’d disappeared on her without a word.
Guilt squashed the bloom of softness in his chest. “Even if I didn’t already have plans this week, she’s not going to want to see me.”
Sam laid a hand over his and squeezed. “Hey, if anybody understands what it means to clear the air after a lot of years, it’s us.”
That was true enough. And yet, faced with the prospect of actually seeing her again, Declan didn’t know if he had the stones to actually do it.
“This is your shot, man,” Mick added. “If nothing else, you can finally give her that apology you’ve always wanted. You never know what might come of it. Even if it’s just closure, isn’t that worth it?”
Would it be worth it to get that regret off his heart? He hadn’t thought about a real relationship with anyone since he’d split from Scarlett’s mom years ago. And, yeah, part of that was guilt over how he’d handled things with Livia. He had absolutely no expectation that an apology at this late date would truly fix anything. She’d been an amazing girl, who’d no doubt grown into an even more amazing woman. The likelihood that she was even single was slim to none.
But maybe it would be worth facing her for a chance to get rid of the shame he’d carried about it all these years.
Reaching for one of the biscuits in the basket Flynn placed on the table, he conceded, “I’ll think about it.”
“Oh my God, you’re finally here!”
Livia stared as her cousin waddled carefully down the front steps of the big white farmhouse, leading with her enormous baby belly. Abbey’s husband Kyle trailed behind, hands outstretched, clearly prepared to leap and catch her if she fell.
“Holy crap, Abs! Are you sure there’s only one baby in there?”
Abbey rubbed the belly with a laugh. “We’re sure. Believe me, I had them check.”
Livia carefully wrapped her cousin in a hug, twisting to make room for the baby belly. “Are you sure you still have six weeks to go?”
“So they keep telling me. I’d be completely okay if our beloved little freeloader decided to come early. I am beyond ready to have my body back.”
Kyle looped an arm around her waist. “As long as he waits for at least another month. Porter said it’s gonna take that long to finish the addition on the house. Neither one of us wants to deal with trying to manage a newborn with construction going on.”
“Fair point.”
Livia didn’t miss how her cousin leaned into him, the picture of contentment. She ignored the stab of envy. It had nothing to do with the fact that Abbey had landed Country Music’s Captain America. The two of them had been friends long before he exploded on the music scene, and they’d lost an entire decade together because of someone else’s lie. If Kyle hadn’t accidentally blurted out that they were engaged on a national TV interview at the end of his last tour, he’d never have come home and been forced to face her. But they’d worked things out at last, and Kyle had overhauled his career as a country music star to better fit the life he wanted with his bride. They weren’t wasting a second getting started on that life. Livia was thrilled for them both, but God, she wished there was some prospect of the same on the horizon for her.
Her gaze skated out over the orchards, back to that last summer she’d spent here, when she’d thought things would turn out differently. Back-lit by the cotton candy sky of sunset, the rows upon neat rows of apple trees, stretching across the rolling hills and on toward the mountain beyond, made a hell of a picture. It was a different kind of beautiful from her family’s Christmas tree farm back home, but no less a testament to the broader family’s commitment to nurturing and preserving the land. The view soothed the ragged edges of the discontent that had dogged her on the nine-hour drive from Mississippi.
It had been so long since she’d spent any time up here. She’d come up for Abbey’s wedding back in the spring, but that had just been a quick weekend trip. They hadn’t actually gotten to visit. Livia had missed the hell out of Abbey since she’d moved home almost three years ago to help care for her grandfather, who’d been diagnosed with dementia. So when Abbey had invited her up for a visit, she’d jumped at the opportunity to catch up with her favorite cousin and the rest of this branch of the family.
The rest of that family was spilling out of the big white farmhouse. Uncle Mark, Aunt Faye, and Great Uncle Roy. They passed hugs all around, talking over each other, cracking jokes, asking about her trip and the family.
Uncle Mark cut through the hubbub. “We’re gonna put you over at Abbey and Kyle’s. We thought you girls would want an easier time visiting.”
Livia glanced at the house set past the barn. Originally the house where orchard employees lived, the whole thing had seen a massive facelift, with additions going both out and up an entire second story. There was still evidence of the ongoing construction, but it was clear the process was nearly finished.
“Oh, that’s lovely. Thanks.”
“Come on in,” Aunt Faye urged. “Supper’s almost ready. Kyle, why don’t you take Livia’s car and scoot it over by y’all’s place? You can run her bags inside and come back here.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Kyle accepted the keys Livia tossed him and went to do as ordered.
Aunt Faye hustled her into the house and back to the kitchen.
As the scents of grease and carbs and baking things wrapped around Livia, her stomach gave a massive growl. “Oh my Lord, that smells amazing!”
“I remembered that chicken fried steak was one of your favorites.”
“I appreciate it.” Even if she would have to take some extra long walks to make sure she still fit into her bridesmaid’s dress for Riley’s January wedding.
“It’s the least we can do, what with you helping out with the Harvest Festival this week.”
Uncle Roy pressed a hand to the side of his mouth and offered a conspiratorial whisper. “What she’s not saying is part of your job will be to distract General Grumpypants over there.”
“I heard that, Granddaddy.” But there was no heat in the censure as Abbey leaned over to press a kiss to his weathered cheek. “He’s not wrong. I’m grumpy as hell because I can’t do anything with this belly. I’m bored out of my mind.”
“I keep telling her to enjoy this part,” Aunt Faye admonished. “Once the baby gets here, there won’t be any slowing down.”
“At least my ankles won’t be the size of an elephant’s.”
“Your ankles are beautiful,” Kyle corrected as he rejoined them.
Uncle Roy chortled. “Nice save, son.”
They loaded their plates and took seats around the long table.
“How is everybody?” Uncle Mark asked. “I saw Owen post pictures from their latest stint in Arizona.”
“Mom and Dad are doing really well. Taking this year to RV around the country has been great for them. They’re seeing all the things they didn’t have time to see because they were managing the farm. And Dad got a clean bill of health at his last check-up with the cardiologist.”
“And your brother?”
“Jace has taken over the farm like he was born to it. Which, basically, he was. That’s been another big load off Mom and Dad.”
Aunt Faye passed the mashed potatoes. “What about that sweet wife of his? Any talk of bringing along the next generation?”
Livia laughed, imagining the look on her sister-in-law’s face if she heard that. “Tara’s still only twenty-five. She’s not in any hurry, especially since her little brother, Austin, is in high school now, and Ginny’s coming up right behind. The two of them really help make up for the lack of grandkids.”
Livia and Jace had been exceptionally thankful for that since Tara had come into their lives a few years before. She’d taken custody of her two younger half-siblings when she’d been only twenty. They’d been a delightful addition to the family.
Uncle Mark forked up a bite of lima beans. “Never thought the baby of the family would get married first.”
Livia didn’t let her smile drop. He didn’t mean it the way it had come across. But she still felt the sting. Hard not to when she daily faced the evidence of her baby brother’s married bliss.
“What about you, Livia?” Aunt Faye asked. “Any sweethearts in your life?”
She’d been expecting the question. It was standard fare from women of a certain age, particularly those with grandchildren on the brain. But it was a fight not to grit her teeth.
“Nope. I’m pretty sure I’ve exhausted the shallow dating pool in Wishful. My friends have caught all the good ones.” She said it with a laugh, but there was a grain of painful truth to the statement. It seemed everyone around her was happily coupled up.
“That Callahan boy’s sweet on you. Ought to do something about that.” Uncle Roy sipped at his sweet tea, like he hadn’t just made an entirely outrageous statement.
Livia opened her mouth, but had no idea what to say to his proclamation. She hadn’t seen Declan in twelve years. Not since that last summer. Abbey had warned her that Uncle Roy periodically got trapped in the past, but somehow Livia hadn’t expected this flagrant reminder of exactly the ghost she’d been trying to avoid.
“Livia is here for a girls’ trip , Granddaddy,” Abbey interjected. “Don’t you be trying to palm off my favorite cousin before I’ve gotten my visit in, or I’ll enter the pie-eating contest and give you some competition.”
“You couldn’t beat me. Nobody can eat more apple pie than I can.”
“I’m eating for two, old man.”
Their friendly bickering shifted the conversation away from the past, but it was too late. His name had been mentioned, and Livia spent the rest of the meal trying not to think about the first love who’d broken her heart.