Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Shelby
Making a Mess
“So far this trip home was a disaster,” Shelby said to herself out loud as she gripped the steering wheel in her truck.
If it weren’t for Pops, she’d never come back again.
But as it stood, she was going to be stuck in Sandy Point for at least a few weeks, if not longer.
She had no idea where to even start with finding someone to help Pops out.
And she felt sort of terrible with the plan to hire strangers to check on him weekly, if that was even frequent enough.
Shouldn’t his family be the ones to help him?
And wasn’t it just as much her duty to stay and be there for him?
With a heavy sigh she pulled into the private driveway of her parents’ home and stopped in front of the large black gate that hid the Shepherd estate. She pressed the button and waited for the butler to respond.
“Good afternoon, Miss Shelby, please come on in,” he said in his reserved tone that relayed no emotion.
Next the large gates rolled open, and she drove down the stone driveway framed by tall bushes trimmed into level squares and parked under the porte cochere.
One last big breath and she exited the truck.
She wore a simple navy-blue dress sprinkled with small stars, dark tights, brown boots, and her thick winter coat.
It wouldn’t matter what she wore if it wasn’t designer, and her mother would probably find her lacking even then.
The front door opened before she could knock and the butler appeared. Neither of her parents greeted her at the door and the longtime family butler didn’t even crack a smile.
“May I take your coat, Ms. Shelby?” Mr. Brown asked.
Unsure how long she was staying she hesitated, but she knew keeping her coat on would only offer her parents an easy excuse for them to give her a hard time. So she unzipped her coat and handed it over along with her scarf.
“Are my parents in the sitting room?”
“I believe your father is, and your mother hasn’t joined him yet.”
“Thanks for the warning,” she said under her breath as she walked through the large two-story foyer toward the great room in her parents’ ten-thousand-square-foot, beachfront mansion.
A monstrosity they’d had built and remodeled every few years.
Adding on more ridiculous things like an in-home spa, tennis court, and pool house even though they were less than a mile from the beach club and platinum members for life.
She sighed again. Her parents’ lavish lifestyle was probably the least offensive thing about them. And that was saying a lot.
Stepping into the large room with one wall of floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out at the ocean, she couldn’t help but be impressed by the view. There was something about being close to the water that just settled her, soothed any worries.
“Finally decided to honor us with your presence? Honestly, Shelby, your mother has been in a fit all week knowing you were in town and ignoring us.” Her father’s voice effectively popped the calm bubble she’d had looking out at the ocean.
“Hi, Dad, it’s nice to see you again too. I hope you reminded Mom that the two feet of snow and the first blizzard Georgia has seen in decades kept me from even being able to get here?”
There was no warm hug. Her father still sat in his high-back leather chair, holding his paper barely low enough to give her a disapproving glance.
“If you had arrived before the holidays you wouldn’t have been stuck in town for the blizzard.”
She didn’t have an argument for that other than she hadn’t wanted to spend her Christmas and New Year’s with her parents and brothers. It would have ruined the holidays for her. Instead, she’d spent them in her little condo in Atlanta alone, writing, baking, and enjoying the holidays.
“I had a work deadline that couldn’t be missed.”
“What is this mysterious deadline? Since when do waitresses have deadlines?” her mother said, sweeping into the room in a flowing emerald-green dress, as if she’d be heading to a ball later.
“Hello, Mom.” Shelby walked toward her mother to greet her.
Instead of a hug her mom gripped both Shelby’s shoulders and looked her over from head to toe.
“I wish you would let me take you shopping—just because you choose to live like a pauper doesn’t mean you need to dress like one.”
Then her mother gave her an air kiss on each side of her cheeks, as if they were French, but without all the warmth that she knew was embedded in the tradition.
Having visited France several times on book tours, she definitely knew more about the intended warm greeting than her mother who never left the state of Georgia.
At this point she didn’t know why she didn’t tell her family about her success as a writer, but it was likely because she knew they wouldn’t approve.
She knew they would diminish her books, and she just couldn’t subject her work to their scrutiny.
“I’m not into name brands—you know that,” Shelby said.
“Yes.” Her mother’s tone made it clear exactly how she felt about Shelby’s taste in clothes. “Have a seat. Tell us how your grandfather’s estate is doing.”
Shelby sat with her back ramrod straight, remembering how much they’d ignored Pops. Even now they were asking about his estate, not him.
“Actually, what I’d like to know is why no one visits him, checks on him, helps him make sure his house isn’t falling apart?”
Her father just ruffled his newspaper. “Your grandfather is more than capable of taking care of himself or hiring help that he needs. And he can certainly afford it.”
“But he’s your dad. Would you want us to leave you in this big house, alone? Never checking in on you? Never offering to help?”
“He’s fine, and he’s made it clear he doesn’t want my help,” her dad said.
“Well, he needs someone to help him. The house is getting too big for him to manage. And the only reason he hurt his hand was because the railing was falling down.”
“Perhaps it’s time we revisit the option to move him into a home?” her mother said to her father, who finally put down his paper.
“I suppose it is.”
Alarm bells went off in her head. Her grandfather didn’t want to live in an old folks’ home, and all they would do is forget about him there too.
“Actually, I don’t think that’s necessary since I’ll be staying with him.”
Both her parents’ gazes landed on her.
“You, you’re going to stay with your grandfather? For good?” her mother said, not hiding her dislike for the idea. “Like a live-in nurse?”
“Well for now, I told him I would help him find a property manager and maybe a care aid to check in on him, clean the house, that sort of thing. He doesn’t need a nurse. He’s still spry and mentally sharp, no major health issues. He can stay in his home, he just needs a little looking after.”
Her father lifted his newspaper again. “I’ll speak to the attorneys anyway, because when you leave, and he fires the help, we’ll be right back in this situation again. I won’t have people saying we don’t take care of our own.”
Shelby held back a retort, because ignoring someone’s existence was not considered taking care of them.
“If you’re going to be in town for a bit, you can join me in the women of Sandy Point committee. We have several events planned to include a winter formal. You know, just a few parties to liven up the doldrums of winter,” her mom said with excitement.
You’d think her mother was from old money, but the truth was she’d been a waitress pretending to be something she wasn’t when she met Shelby’s father and got pregnant. Her mom had always been poor until she married money but always tried to pretend she was something else.
“Mom, I’m not really going to have the time to help with your committee if I’m interviewing people to help Pops and overseeing a few things around his house that need repairs.
” She was trying to think of any reason she couldn’t get involved with the committee, which was more like a sorority for rich women with too much time on their hands.
“Nonsense, we’ll need to take that shopping trip and find you a few things, but otherwise I think you can get away a few hours a week to help your mother and participate in some events.
Honestly, Shelby, I don’t know why you insist on acting like you’re not a Shepherd or you’re too good for us.
” Her mother stood. “Now come on and we’ll see what we can find in my closet for tonight. ”
“Tonight?”
“Yes, we have a small party to kick off the season and you can’t be seen in that dress.”
Shelby stood and looked to her father who was already ignoring them. Some things never changed.
She didn’t know why she spent the next hour letting her mother lecture her on needing to be more ladylike and take better care of herself.
Maybe deep down any attention from her mom was something she always craved.
But now she sat in a sequined gold cocktail dress that was at least an inch too short because she was several inches taller than her mother.
And she was certain her feet were going to fall off because her mother’s gold pumps were a half size too small for her feet.
“Why did I let myself get talked into this?” she muttered to herself as she sat at the front desk in the Beach Country Club to greet the women arriving for the winter season mixer.
“Miss Shelby Shepherd, as I live and breathe.” A familiar voice from her past rang out in the admittedly stunning beach club’s formal foyer that led to several event spaces.
“Miranda Sutton,” Shelby said, unable to hide the hesitation in her voice coming face-to-face with the former prom queen and most popular girl in her graduating class.
“I thought you’d escaped this town?” Miranda said.
“Yeah, I did. I live and work in Atlanta but my granddad needed some help so I’m just in town for a quick visit.”
Miranda just nodded but didn’t seem like she was in a rush to join the ladies’ luncheon and her smile faded like an actress once the cameras turned off.
“How about you?” Shelby asked.
“Well I did manage to leave for college, but then my father died so I’ve been back taking care of the ranch. And I recently got engaged. I’ll be Miranda Sutton Dubois, next month,” Miranda said, holding up her left hand where a huge rock that doubled as an engagement ring sat.
“Congratulations,” Shelby said. “Charles Dubois?” She recalled her mother saying Miranda was going to marry into the wealthiest family in Sandy Point.
“Funny story that didn’t work out after I caught him with several other girlfriends, at the same time. But his daddy proposed.” Her fake smile was back in place.
“Oh, well I’m sure it’ll be nice to be settled down.” Shelby didn’t know what else to say, considering Mr. Dubois was old enough to be Miranda’s father and she would be his third wife.
“Maybe if you’re in town for a bit you can come out to the ranch and see the horses, didn’t you ride in high school?”
Shelby was surprised Miranda knew that about her but smiled at the idea. “That sounds fun.” Shelby picked up a welcome gift bag and the table assignment where Miranda should sit and handed it over to her.
“In case I don’t see you,” Miranda leaned in, “whatever you do don’t let your mama rope you into joining the committee, trust me.” Miranda winked.
She couldn’t help but wonder if she and the former popular girl had more in common than she’d realized.
Shelby just nodded. “Thanks.”
Her mom had driven them to the event so she was going to be stuck there unless she wanted to walk back to her parents’ in these pumps.
Something she wasn’t ruling out. For now she pulled out her phone to call Pops and check on him.
She hadn’t planned to be out so long. She shot him a text to let him know she’d be home late but there was chicken dumpling soup in the fridge for him.
He replied with a smiley emoji and told her to have fun. Then she scrolled through her emails. One from her editor about her looming deadline for the first book in her new series and an email that caught her eye from W.Hart.
Shelby, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you’re too busy to use that number I gave you and call me, or that you failed to mention you’re a big-time successful writer.
But in case you lost my number, or you’re also replaying our time together and can’t get a good night’s sleep, I wanted to extend my offer again. Please call me, I need to see you. Wes.
It was simple, and a little romantic that he’d resorted to looking her up on the internet, found her email, and reached out to her. But his offer still stood as just a hookup, no request to take her on a date.
She laughed at herself. As an author of middle-grade fantasy adventures you’d think she wouldn’t be such a sap looking for romantic gestures from the man she had a crush on all through adolescence. But here she was.
Before she could think of a response a text rolled in from her mother.
Get in here so you can help me enjoy the festivities!
After being stuck on desk duty she was hoping to hide, but it looked like her mother had other plans.
Stepping into the large dining room, she saw that her mother was at the front of the room with a microphone and Shelby groaned at the thought of sitting through the next few hours.
She just needed to wait for a good window to slip out, and she could walk the few hundred feet back to her parents’ home to retrieve her truck.
Even a walk in the snow, in heels, would be better than spending all evening with this snobby crowd.