Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
D eclan wasn’t sure he’d ever been happier to see home than he was when he pulled up to the old Victorian late Friday afternoon. Exhaustion practically bled out of every pore, but the dumpster fire of his week had been extinguished. Finally. He hadn’t known when they’d be arriving, but Pru had assured him they’d have a room ready, no matter when. Thank God for family.
Scarlett dozed in the passenger seat, finally able to rest for the first time since the weekend. As he took in the shadows beneath her eyes, temper stirred anew at his ex-wife. She’d terrified their daughter. And all Bridget had talked about when she’d been confronted was how hurt she was by Scarlett’s rejection. As if she hadn’t been rejecting Scarlett in big ways and small for years.
It took a few moments for Declan to lock down the rage again before he reached out to touch his daughter’s shoulder. As her eyes fluttered open, instantly tracking to his, he signed, “We’re here.”
On a yawn and a stretch, she unfastened her seatbelt. “I’m hungry.”
“I expect we can rustle up something in the kitchen.”
Neither of them knocked before stepping inside.
“Welcome to The Misfit Inn. How can I—You’re back!” Ari leapt up from the reception desk in the corner of the foyer and rushed around to fold Scarlett into a hug.
The immediate offering of comfort had Declan’s throat going tight. He had to swallow twice before he could speak. “So we are. Where’s your mom?”
Over Scarlett’s head, Ari sobered, her expression far more adult and aware than any sixteen-year-old ought to be. “Kitchen. Athena and Kennedy are here, too.”
“Thanks.”
Tucking Scarlett close, Ari smiled down. “Why don’t you come with me while they catch up on all the boring stuff?”
“Do you have snacks? I’m starved.”
“It happens we just finished filming an episode of The Misfit Kitchen this afternoon. There are leftovers in the studio kitchen. C’mon.”
Blessing Ari for her intervention, Declan made his way into the kitchen, where three of his four sisters were clearly in conference with Flynn around the big farmhouse table.
“You’re home!” Pru scrambled up and crossed to fold him into a hug.
Declan absorbed the embrace, momentarily pressing his cheek to the top of her head as he’d once done to Joan. “Thanks. I needed that. It’s been a hell of a week.”
Kennedy was next, giving him a solid squeeze. “We’ve been worried.”
“I know. But I didn’t want to get into it until we had some kind of resolution.” Because he hated dragging anyone else into his mess, and he despised not having clear answers.
“Sit,” Athena ordered. “I’ll make coffee.”
“I won’t say no. I should probably move the car, though. I just parked out front.”
“I’ll do it.” Flynn held out his hands for the keys. “I’ll grab your bags, too.”
“Thanks, brother.”
When he’d disappeared, Pru herded Declan to the table, while Athena began fussing with the coffeepot.
“Now what happened? Is Scarlett okay?” Pru’s big brown eyes were worried as she resumed her seat.
“She’s… going to be.” Scrubbing both hands over his face, Declan tried to decide on the most concise way to tell the story. “Y’all know she was spending last week with Bridget’s parents. It’s the longest unsupervised visit they’ve ever had. Scarlett wasn’t exactly excited about it, but it seemed like time to try it out. I didn’t see the sense in punishing them by withholding their granddaughter, just because Bridget walked away. Up to now, they’ve been completely aboveboard, seeming to really want a relationship with Scarlett.”
Athena handed over a steaming mug. “Until now?”
“Thanks. Apparently, Barbara—that’s Bridget’s mama—decided she just needed to unify the family again. Didn’t consult with me or clear it first. She told Bridget Scarlett was there. Bridget showed up Saturday night and tried to take her.”
At the chorus of gasps and curses, Declan sipped at the coffee, feeling the warmth of the mug soak into his palms.
“Can she do that?” Kennedy asked.
“No. She gave up all custodial rights when Scarlett was little. We have a visitation plan technically in place, but when Bridget never adhered to it, I stopped putting Scarlett through the stress of even trying. She doesn’t know her mom anymore, and sure as hell didn’t want to go with her. Bridget tried to pull parental rank, as if I haven’t told Scarlett what she can and can’t do. So Scarlett locked herself in her room and barricaded the door until I could get there.”
“Shit,” Athena murmured.
“Yeah. I’ll spare you the recount of the rip-roaring fight we had. So now Scarlett doesn’t trust her grandparents, and neither do I. I’ve just spent the last week getting my attorney involved to make sure that Bridget understands there will be no visitation that is unsupervised. If that’s something she actually wants, she has to fucking earn it. She has to show up and prove she truly wants to be in Scarlett’s life. I refuse to put my kid through the stress of all this.”
“Well, you’re home now, and you know we’ll all close ranks to keep Scarlett safe if Bridget should come around again. Lord knows, there are enough of us.” Pru whipped out her phone. “Do you have a current photo of her? I’ll send it out with instructions on the family group text.”
Declan felt the corners of his mouth twitch into a semblance of a smile. “I’ll see what I can come up with.”
“Seriously, anything we can do,” Kennedy assured him.
“Actually, I was hoping y’all could keep an eye on Scarlett for an hour or two. I need to run over to the orchard to fill Livia in on all this.”
The three of them exchanged a look that had fresh tension coiling in his gut.
“What?”
Pru laid a hand over his. “Honey, Livia went home.”
“She what? But she was supposed to be here through Sunday.”
Kennedy offered something that was halfway between a sympathetic smile and a wince. “Abbey said she was really upset.”
Declan shoved out of his seat and began to pace. “Damn it. Damn it. Damn it! Damn Bridget. I didn’t text her. I didn’t call her. It’s just been nuts, and I wanted to explain the shit show in person. And I—Fuck, I didn’t want Bridget’s crazy to bleed in.”
It was the exact same choice he’d made twelve years ago. Not to clue her in and tell her what was going on. Not to trust her to be able to handle it.
“Oh no. No, no, no. She’s never going to want to talk to me again after this.” Declan squeezed his eyes shut as the weight of his actions sank in.
This was how he’d lost her the first time. When he’d ghosted her out of his own cowardice.
“Don’t you think that’s a touch dramatic?” Athena asked.
“No. Because she thinks I’ve ghosted her again. And I don’t blame her.”
Tipping his head back, he blew out a long breath. “Maybe this is a sign from the Universe. Maybe she’s better off without me.”
“No, Daddy!” Scarlett tumbled into the room, Ari right behind. “You have to go after her. Mom already ruined things for you with Livia once. Don’t let her do it again.”
Declan looked down at his wonderful, brilliant, resilient daughter, who still wanted him to have the chance to be happy after everything she’d just been through. He pulled her in for a tight hug.
“How do you feel about a road trip to Mississippi?”
Scarlett grinned. “I get to pick the snacks.”
“Jace is worried about you. So am I.”
Livia looked up from the ocean of ribbon and wreath-making supplies she was organizing in advance of the insanity that was next week’s official opening of their Christmas tree farm for the season. Her sister-in-law leaned against the doorway, eying her with that concerned look she and her brother had been wearing for days. “I’m fine.”
Tara straightened and stepped inside. “You’re clearly not. You cut your trip short, and ever since you got back, you’ve been super withdrawn. Jace doesn’t want to pry, but I will. What happened in Tennessee?”
Dropping her gaze, Livia tried to find an answer that would put an end to this line of questioning. “I got some long-needed closure. I’ll be all right.”
And she would. Eventually. She had reason to know that heartbreaks did eventually heal.
Tara’s lips pressed together in an obvious struggle not to push for more. Instead, she wrapped her arms around Livia in a hug. “I’m here if you want to talk.”
For just a moment, she tipped her head to Tara’s, taking the comfort. “Thanks.”
At the sound of an engine outside, Austin hollered, “Tara, you’re up!”
She released Livia with a sigh. “Duty calls.” With one last worried look, she went to handle the customer.
In the weeks leading up to opening day the Friday after Thanksgiving, the farm was open for limited hours to allow locals to come tag the trees they wanted to cut. The entire family was rotating who handled giving the newcomers the spiel, filling out tags and handing them over. Equitable division of labor. Livia had been hiding out, organizing stock in the barn for their product side lines. She didn’t want to see anyone.
Once she’d organized the wired ribbon in a wooden crate to her satisfaction, she moved on to sorting the bulk ornaments. In another couple of days, her evenings would be full of decorating live wreaths to sell during opening weekend. She preferred to have each element grouped by color family. Long experience had taught her that sped up the process.
The phone in her pocket vibrated. She hesitated for long moments, resisting the urge to race for it. With everything in her, she tried not to care who’d sent the text, tried not to give in to the lingering ember of hope that it would be Declan. But she still fumbled it out with shaking fingers.
Abbey
Check your email.
Before the disappointment had even settled, a second text came in.
Don’t get mad.
Bracing herself for the consequences of her cousin’s interference, Livia switched over to her email program and found one from Maggie Reynolds Ingram.
“Abbey, what the hell did you do?”
She opened the email.
Dear Livia,
Abbey brought me your application. I’ve reviewed the business plan and discussed it with my colleague here at our small business incubator, and we both agreed it looks absolutely fantastic. Your bookstore would be an outstanding addition to Eden’s Ridge, and I’m delighted to offer you a spot in our program. Further details about how it works are attached, but please reach out with any questions. I look forward to hearing from you.
Maggie
Livia closed her eyes. “Dammit, Abbey. You had no right.”
This was just an extra twist of the knife. To give her the perfect way to make a life in Eden’s Ridge—right after everything with Declan fell apart. She didn’t think she could do it. Be in the same small town as him, knowing she wasn’t enough. The worst of it was that, as she’d written the business plan, she’d allowed herself to get excited about the idea of getting away from her job at the library to do something else. Not just anything else, but to create a business that was truly a part of a community. Maybe she could do that somewhere other than Eden’s Ridge, but it wouldn’t be Wishful. They already had a bookstore and couldn’t support another.
So she was back to feeling stuck again, with no idea how to get out.
“The prodigal returns early. I feel like that’s not a good sign.”
Livia turned to face Autumn, spotting Riley right behind. “What are y’all doing here?”
“I heard from Miss Maudie Bell, who heard from Miss Betty, who was in the hardware store while Jace was talking to Tyler yesterday. He mentioned you were home already,” Riley explained.
“So we came out to check on you, since you basically snuck in under cover of darkness and didn’t let us know you were home.”
“I didn’t sneak,” Livia protested. “It wasn’t even after sunset when I drove into town.”
Autumn waved a hand. “Same difference.” Her green eyes searched Livia’s face. “What happened?”
“I really don’t want to get into it.”
Autumn moved in to cup her face. “Somebody put heartbreak in your eyes. Whose ass do we need to kick?”
“We’ll get Liam and Judd to hold him down if we need to.”
Livia huffed a laugh, appreciating their ready defense. “That’s not necessary. I just had a blast from the past. It didn’t end any better than it did the first time. Lesson learned. I got closure and came home to help get ready for opening season. That’s it.”
Autumn pulled her in for a hug. “I’m sorry. I wished romance for you, not this.”
Livia squeezed back. “We don’t always get what we wish for.”
Riley took her turn. “Maybe you needed to clear the decks of old business to make room for something even better.”
Because she knew they needed it, Livia managed a smile. “Here’s hoping.”
“Liv! This one’s yours!”
At her brother’s shout, she rolled her eyes. She didn’t want to deal with people, didn’t want to give the spiel. But she was home, doing the work. It was only fair that she split the duties. “Hold that thought. I’ll be right back.”
Stepping out of the barn, she moved toward the basket where they kept tags and markers, but stopped as she took in the familiar blue sedan and its even more familiar driver.
Declan slid out of the car, and she could feel his eyes on her even from this distance. The passenger door opened, and a little girl stepped out the other side. As the two of them crossed over, Livia’s heart began to thud.
He was here. And she had no idea how to feel about it. He’d come all this way. That had to mean something. Maybe just that he knew he’d screwed up badly enough that it merited an apology in person. Maybe to give her a proper goodbye.
There were a million and one things she wanted to say, but most of them weren’t appropriate to utter in front of Scarlett, so she settled on, “What are you doing here?”
“We got back to Eden’s Ridge yesterday. My sisters told me you’d already come home.”
As that was obvious, she said nothing.
He stopped about ten feet from her, clearly uncertain of his welcome. “I owe you an apology. Again. For going all incommunicado. That was an especially dickish move after… Well, what happened with us before.”
Again, not wanting to say anything negative about him in front of his daughter, Livia merely inclined her head to acknowledge the point.
Scarlett tugged at his sleeve and began signing to him.
Tell her, Dad.
“Tell me what?”
Declan glanced up in surprise. “You speak ASL?”
“I can’t claim to be fully fluent, but I’m adequate. There’s a little boy who comes to story time at the library who is hearing impaired. I learned so he can enjoy the stories like everyone else.”
“Well, aren’t you just full of surprises?”
Because the question seemed rhetorical, she stayed silent, waiting.
His gaze tracked behind her, where no doubt Riley and Autumn had emerged from the barn, and her brother and likely the rest of her family had gathered for the show. “Can I talk to you in private?”
When she only folded her arms and waited, Declan nodded.
“Okay, audience it is, then.” He wiped his palms on his jeans and took a step closer, looking her full in the eye. “The reason I didn’t call or text either time wasn’t because I don’t trust you, or because I wanted to ghost you or to walk away. It’s because my time with you was the only time in my life that was ever perfect, and I was afraid that if you saw the full extent of crazy and chaos that’s my real world, that you’d decide I wasn’t worth it.”
The heart Livia had tried to harden squeezed hard. Not worth it? How the hell could he think that? Didn’t he understand how amazing he was?
Then she stopped to really consider the question.
He hadn’t been enough for his parents. Hadn’t been enough for his ex-wife. He’d been forced to do everything himself. Well, maybe not everything. He’d had his foster family, but that wasn’t the same as what she’d had.
She’d been surrounded by supportive friends and family all her life. Hell, a small army of them were at her back right now. No matter what decision she made here today, they’d be there to support her and help her through it.
Declan hadn’t gotten that basic need met for far too much of his life. That wound ran so much deeper than hers. Of course, he’d be terrified of not being enough for anyone who mattered. But didn’t he know her better than that?
“Why are men so stupid?”
The question had been rather rhetorical, but Scarlett lifted her hands. “It’s part of their DNA.”
Autumn snorted. “Oh, I like this kid.”
Livia couldn’t stop the smile. She liked that the girl was a ballbuster. It said a lot about Declan’s skill as a parent that she was that comfortable.
Scarlett continued. “Please don’t hold it against him. He’s been making up for other people’s disappointments my whole life.”
Livia’s heart squeezed again. God, they’d both been hurt. They both deserved someone who could love them exactly how they were. Flaws and all. Sobering, she turned her attention back to Declan. “I wasn’t asking for the world. I was asking for communication. Crazy doesn’t scare me.”
“Well, then you’re doing better than me. The crazy regularly scares the shit out of me. Trying to figure out how to manage it, how to wrangle it, how to get through it. But it doesn’t scare me half as much as the idea of losing you again.”
With another step, he was close enough to touch her, but he didn’t.
“I know I screwed up. Twice. After how things went, you probably don’t want to give me another shot and sure as hell don’t want to risk turning your whole world upside down in pursuit of this. And that’s completely fair and understandable. But I’m going to ask for that shot anyway, even though the answer is probably no, because I love you. I’ve loved you since I was eighteen years old, and if you’ll let me, I’ll prove I can be better. That I can learn.”
He loved her. He loved her.
It was the thing she’d needed to hear. The one truth that could make up for all the stress and strain and worry of the past week.
“Do you think she’s gonna say yes?” Ginny, Tara’s baby sister, whispered in a voice that still carried over the dead silence.
Someone shushed her.
Livia stared at this perfectly imperfect dad, who was trying his best to be everything to everyone. Maybe… Maybe the things he’d done hadn’t been to her but rather to protect himself. And in, in his way, to protect her as well.
She knew that if she said yes, he’d screw up again, and they’d have to figure out how to make it work. But she could be the person to teach him that he didn’t have to show up with every detail already worked out. That part of the journey was sorting the details out together. She knew she’d rather screw things up with him than settle for a shadow of perfect with anyone else. But this wasn’t just about them.
Turning to Scarlett, she found the girl waiting with bated breath, hazel eyes so like her father’s, bright with curiosity and hope.
Livia began to sign. “Hi. I’m Livia. It’s nice to meet you. Are you, by chance, into books?”
The girl’s hands flew, even as she spoke. “Books are my favorite.”
“Then I guess it’s a good thing there’s going to be a new bookstore opening where you live.”
“There is?” The cautious hope in Declan’s tone had her turning back to him.
“When Maggie gets through with me, there will be. I got accepted into her small business incubator program.”
Declan’s smile spread wide and delighted. “That’s amazing! Congratulations.”
She could feel his excitement for her and also that he was holding back. Livia appreciated that he didn’t make assumptions they’d be jumping back in where they’d left off, but she figured by this point, he’d suffered enough uncertainty.
Stepping into him, she laid her hands on his chest. “There are about eleven thousand details to sort out. Know anybody who can help me with that?”
Relief brightened his eyes as his arms slid around her. “It happens I’m really good with details.”
“Good. Let’s start with this one.” Curling her hands in his sweater, she rose to her toes and kissed him.