Chapter 1
One
Ellison
Present Day
I swear, if I have to look at this damn spreadsheet one more minute, I’m going to lose my ever-loving mind. I huff out a breath, sitting back in my rickety old office chair and closing my eyes. It’s only Wednesday, and I’m ready for this week to be over.
I need caffeine. Standing, I stretch my arms in the air, twisting from side to side, loosening up my back. I keep saying I’m going to replace the damn chair, but I never do. It was my father’s.
I remember him sitting in this very spot, behind this desk, in that chair, and no matter how uncomfortable it is, I can’t seem to let it go. Maybe I’ll just move it to the corner or something, because I’m not sure my back can take much more.
Opening my office door, I step out into the hallway. It’s a little after three, so most of the guests are either in town or exploring the property, taking advantage of this unseasonably warm day for early March.
“Hi, Alice,” I say, greeting one of the kitchen staff.
“How are things today?” I reach into the basket on the counter and grab an apple, biting into it.
It’s not nearly as good as ours. I can’t wait until August when our orchard is ready to harvest. The guests love it, and so do I.
I have fond memories of apple-picking with my parents and sisters growing up.
“All good.” Alice smiles. “Just finished up some apple pies for dessert tonight.”
“They smell so good. I came in search of caffeine,” I tell her.
“Just made some fresh sweet tea. It’s Miss Ruby’s recipe, as you know.” She laughs.
“Oh, trust me, I know. Grandma Ruby would never let us live it down if we served anything but her exact ratio of sugar and tea.” I grin.
Taking another bite of my apple, I place it on a napkin on the counter and pour myself a big glass of sweet tea.
Grandma Ruby’s is the best. Not too sweet, but just enough to kill that craving.
“Leighton was in here doing the same not fifteen minutes ago,” Alice tells me.
“Is she still here?” I ask, grabbing my apple and napkin from the table.
“I think she’s sitting out in the dining room with that computer she’s always attached to.” Alice smiles kindly and turns her attention back to her work.
I chuckle. She’s not wrong. Leighton does website design and digital marketing. She’s a genius at it and is always working. “Thanks, Alice.” I wave my apple, because I don’t have a free hand, and go in search of my sister.
Sure enough, I find Leighton sitting at a small corner table in the dining room with her laptop in front of her and a half-empty glass of sweet tea. Pulling out the chair across from her, I sigh and take another bite of my apple.
“That bad?” she asks, her lips tilting into a smile.
“You try staring at spreadsheets of numbers all day in a chair that kills your back and tell me how bad it is,” I grumble. Her eyes soften at the mention of Dad’s chair.
“What kind of bribe do you think we need to convince Baylor to finally come home?” she asks.
When Baylor finished her degree in accounting, she left our little town.
She graduated from college a year after our parents died, and she wanted out.
I fought with the need to beg her to stay, but she’s always been fiercely independent.
Instead of begging her not to go, I did what a great big sister should do: I supported her.
I miss her every single day—we all do—but she’s living her dream, working at some big accounting firm in New York.
We see her a few times a year, and it’s not nearly enough.
“Call her and ask her. I’m desperate here,” I reply, only half teasing.
I’d love for Baylor to come home and join us in working the family business, but this isn’t the life she wants.
Part of me thinks she needed to escape the memories of our parents, and the other half knows she was always going to leave this little town of Magnolia Ridge.
Leighton reaches for her phone and dials Baylor, putting the call on speaker. “My favorite sister,” Baylor answers.
“Hey, brat!” I call out, and her laughter fills the room.
“My other favorite sister,” she coos.
“Uh-huh, and what about Courtlynn? You know we’re going to tell her about this,” I tease.
“You’re all my favorites. Now, what’s up? Are Grandma Ruby and Court okay? You never call at this time of day,” Baylor says, her voice turning serious.
“Everyone is fine—well, everyone but Ellison.” Leighton chuckles.
“What’s up, Ellie?” Baylor asks.
“My back hurts, and my eyes are crossed.”
“What?” she asks, confused.
“She’s complaining about the chair in her office that needed to be replaced at least a decade ago, and she hates doing the books.
” Leighton fills in the blanks for her. “So, this is my desperate plea for you to come home and put her out of her misery. What will it take? Manis and pedis for life? Weekly massages? Name your price, dear sister.”
Baylor laughs, causing us to share a smile. “Ellison Moran, you’re amazing at what you do. Buy a new damn chair. We can keep that one, but your body needs to be comfortable when sitting for long stretches. It’s a business expense.”
“It’s not like we can’t afford it,” Leighton says softly. “Just buy the chair, Ellie. Push that one to the corner of the office, and call it a day.”
“I know,” I concede. “I will. I just hate doing anything that erases them.”
“You know that even Dad would have bought another chair by now.”
“Fine. I’ll buy a chair. Now, about these damn spreadsheets full of numbers. What are you going to do about those?”
“You know I don’t mind looking over them. Just send it all over.”
“This is one of those needs to be done on-site kind of jobs,” I tell her. “New York is too far away.”
“I love you, too, big sister,” she says, and I can hear the smile in her voice.
“Hey!” Leighton says.
“Aw, Lei, you know I love you, too.”
“Now, she tells me.” Leighton chuckles.
“How are things, Bay? How’s Todd?” Todd is her long-time boyfriend.
She met him not long after she moved to New York, and they’ve been going strong ever since.
He’s not the kind of man I pictured my sister ending up with, but he makes her happy.
That’s all that I care about, even if he sticks out like a sore thumb the times he’s been here to visit.
Let’s just say, the fancy-pants attorney and Magnolia Ridge are not exactly the best of friends.
He’s uptight and glued to his phone, and the people of Magnolia Ridge are friendly busybodies. The two don’t exactly mesh well.
“Great,” she says, and the happiness oozes over the line. “Todd is working on a big case, so lots of long days, but he’s close to making partner, and that should slow down.”
Todd’s always working on a case, which is another check in the “not the man I thought my sister would end up with” column.
Baylor is a free spirit. She’s friendly, outgoing, and doesn’t know a stranger.
She’s a “you can take the girl out of the small town, but you can’t take the small town out of the girl” kind of person.
They’re opposites in every way. Sometimes I wonder if he’s not the man she thinks she needs for this new life, this new world she’s created for herself.
One of these days, I’m going to dig up the courage to ask her.
“What’s this? I’m the only Moran girl working today, or what?” our youngest sister, Courtlynn, says, walking toward us. Her hair is pulled up in a knot on top of her head, and she has a laundry basket in her hands that looks as if it's filled with freshly washed cloth napkins.
“Hey, Court,” Baylor says through the phone. “These two are trying to bribe me to come home.”
“I approve of this conversation. Please proceed,” she says, in a tone making her sound like some kind of royal.
“She’s not taking the bait,” Leighton tells her.
“Damn, sounds like we need to up the ante. What did you offer her?”
“Come on now,” Baylor says. “I’m happy here.
I love my life in New York. I miss the three of you and Grandma Ruby like a limb, but this is where I am.
I’ve got Todd, and we’re building a life together.
The three of you should try it. Meeting a man, maybe knocking off the coochie cobwebs,” she says, and I gasp.
“Baylor Grace Moran!” I scold. Her hysterical laughter brings a smile to our faces. I glance around the room to make sure no guests have wandered in.
“Come on, Ellie, how long has it been?” she asks.
“We are not talking about this. Guests could hear.”
“Fine, but we will talk about this,” she promises.
“Don’t you have numbers to multiply or something?” I fire back, only for all three of them to cackle with laughter.
I love my sisters.
“I do need to get back to work. I’ll talk to you all soon,” she says. We all say our goodbyes, and Leighton ends the call.
“Is she good?” Courtlynn asks.
“She’s fine, but Ellie won’t be unless she orders a new chair,” Leighton replies, giving me a pointed look.
“I’m going,” I tell her as I stand, taking my apple core, napkin, and the rest of my sweet tea with me. “I’m doing it now,” I say, walking off. Stopping in the kitchen, I toss my trash and continue to my office, which is in the very back of the inn.
As soon as I enter, my eyes lock on the chair. Even after all these years, tears well in my eyes. It’s been nine years since we lost them, and the ache of that loss still sits heavily on my chest.
I know that I need to keep pushing forward each day, running this place as they wanted me to.
My parents wanted all four of us girls to work here at Magnolia Manor, or Magnolia Estates, as we like to call the entire grounds.
I know they’d be happy for Baylor, but they’d wish she were here, too, just like we do.