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Laura pitched some of Jerry’s shirts in a box for the Salvation Army. They’d collected a lot of things over the duration of their marriage, but Laura wasn’t attached to them. If it hadn’t been for the kids, she would have liked to forget all of that time. So most of the art and collectibles were going on the block, as well. They had been Jerry’s taste anyway, too contemporary for the turn-of-the-century house they were moving to.
Once the plans were in motion, Laura lost no time having the sale, then packing up the house. She hired the cheapest movers she could find.
Farewells with Meredith and Edward were filled with tears and hugs for the children. They were stiff with her, showing their displeasure. Kirsten huffed as she got in the car, her entire face a pout. Despite her own uncertainty, Laura didn’t cave. Instead she headed west out of the city. This time her anticipation edged ahead of her fear.
“This old house?” Kirsten asked in disgust when they pulled into the driveway.
Laura hung on to her patience. It had been a long drive, which her daughter had made feel even longer by sulking the entire way. It was also late in the day and they were all tired.
“Cool roof,” Gregg offered, bouncing out of the car. “Big, old yard! Are there swings?”
Grateful for her youngest’s attitude, Laura followed. She had barely turned the key in the lock when she spotted the moving truck arriving.
Soon the driver and his helper were unloading the furniture.
“Excuse me, some of these cartons should be upstairs,” Laura said, when they’d finished taking the beds and chests up.
“Not in the contract,” one of the men replied as he deposited her kitchen table in the middle of the living room.
Laura sighed. She had chosen the cheapest movers she could find. She and the kids could carry the boxes upstairs. Since she had packed them herself she hadn’t collected big ones anyway. “All right. Could you assemble the beds next? That way I can get them ready before…”
The man was shaking his head. “Not in the contract.”
Laura gaped at him. She couldn’t help it.
The man shrugged and headed back to the truck.
Maybe she should have paid just a little more.
“Mom!” Gregg ran inside. “There’s a lady here.”
Laura poked her head around the kitchen door. Annie had been trying to follow Gregg, but he was already hopping back through the maze of boxes to watch the movers.
“I’m here.”
“Hi! I just saw the truck. Welcome!”
“Thanks.”
Annie looked around at the haphazard cartons. “Wow.”
Laura hated to admit again how blunder-headed she was. “I picked a discount moving company,” she finally said.
“Ah. Well, I love a bargain. It’s like finding treasure.”
Laura straightened a box that was tilted precariously to one side. “I’m afraid it’s going to take a complete treasure hunt to find anything here.”
“That’s not something you have to worry about tonight. You’ll be my guests.”
She didn’t have the money for rooms at the bed-and-breakfast. “I hadn’t planned—”
Annie dodged to one side as the movers carried in a chest of drawers. “As my guests. Ethan and I insist. It’s our welcome gift to you and the children.”
“We can’t—”
“Yes, you can. I know the argument. The bed-and-breakfast is a business. But it’s not our only income. Remember, Ethan is a teacher. And we know where our sheets and towels are,” she added with a laugh.
“That does sound like heaven.” The kids would be exhausted by the time the movers left. And the thought of Annie’s inviting beds… “But isn’t this your busy season, with the wildflowers?”
“It’s Thursday. My weekenders don’t start checking in until tomorrow.”
“Well…”
“And you’ll have dinner with us.”
Laura opened her mouth to protest, but Annie waved her off. “What? You’ll take the kids for burgers instead? I don’t think so.”
Laura was so grateful for her kindness, she felt the sting of tears.
Annie gave her a reassuring hug. “You’re home now. And that’s what friends are for.”
It had been so long since Laura had been able to let friends into her life. She hadn’t been able to confide the terrible state of her marriage to anyone other than Donna. She had been too ashamed. Instinctively Jerry hadn’t liked Donna, so she hadn’t been comfortable coming around when he was home. Swallowing, Laura nodded. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. We’ll see you when you’re done here.”
Kirsten stood at the bottom of the stairs as Annie introduced herself on the way out. “I’ll see you and your family for dinner later, Kirsten.”
“Okay.” She looked back at her mother.
“She invited us to spend the night at her bed-and-breakfast. We get to sleep on beds that are already put together.”
Kirsten didn’t look impressed.
It took another hour for the movers to unload the rest of their things. By then Laura was exhausted and ready to round up the kids.
Annie and Ethan were so welcoming that even Kirsten was subdued. They led the family back to the large kitchen rather than the dining room.
“It’s where we eat,” Annie explained. “We think it’s cozier.”
A pot of chicken and dumplings simmered on the stove and the big round table was set for five with dishes that looked as though they had been in the house since it was built.
Ethan, a cheerful, quick-witted man with a noticeable sense of fun, pulled out chairs for Laura and Kirsten. “And, you, young man, how about sitting next to me?”
Pleased to be singled out, Gregg hopped onto the spindle-back chair. “Okay.”
After they were seated, Ethan and Annie bowed their heads. It took Laura a moment to react, then she gestured to her children to follow suit. Her throat tightened as she heard Ethan ask the Lord to watch over her and the children as they settled into their new home.
Then Annie began to dish up the fragrant stew while Ethan questioned the kids about their schools in the city, explaining that he was a teacher.
“You have to make kids do homework and take tests?” Kirsten asked him with a hint of accusation.
“Yes, but I also direct plays, plan the field trips. Most of the kids love drama.”
Kirsten sipped her milk, but didn’t reply.
“Do you teach any other subjects?” Laura asked, sending Kirsten a reproving look.
“English. I try to make that fun for the kids, too. We act out Shakespeare—makes it easier for everyone to understand.” He held out his bowl and Annie filled it with steaming chicken and dumplings. “I know it’s not everybody’s favorite, but I think most of us can get something out of his works.”
“If they understand them?” Laura prompted.
“Exactly.”
She looked down at her full bowl. “This smells delicious.”
“My grandmother’s recipe,” Annie told her. “She and my grandfather raised me here.”
Laura wondered about Annie’s parents as she glanced at the old portraits on the walls. “It’s a great house…better, it’s a great home.”
Annie grinned, meeting her husband’s eyes. “Thank you.”
He clasped her hand and lifted it to his lips. “My Annie has the touch.”
Laura felt a spurt of envy. Maybe it was the exhaustion that was just now setting in, but she felt very close to the edge of tears.
Annie reached over and patted her arm. “It’s a big adjustment moving to a strange town, even one as inviting as Rosewood.”
“Yes,” Laura said, her voice thick. She cleared her throat.
After smoothing the napkin in her lap, Annie picked up her spoon. “The chicken and dumplings are guaranteed to fix whatever ails you.”
“Annie made apple and cherry pie,” Ethan told the children, rubbing his hands together. “Which do you like?”
“Cherry,” Gregg answered immediately.
Kirsten shrugged.
“You’ll have to try both then.” This engaging man seemed the perfect complement to his kind, energetic wife. “Laura, you picked a fine house.”
“We like it.” Kirsten glared at her, but Gregg just kept eating his dumplings. “Have you lived in Rosewood long?”
“Grew up here.” Ethan chuckled. “Thought I might have to leave to find a wife, then I met Annie.”
“Luckily for me,” Annie murmured.
“And we decided we wanted to make her family home ours.” Ethan added a few hefty spoonfuls of sugar to his tea.
Laura dipped her spoon into the gravylike broth. “Are your furnishings original?”
“Most of them. Annie can tell you which ones belonged to her grandparents.”
Annie passed a small dish of pickles that appeared to be homemade. “I had to add more beds, a few other things—but most everything was here. I did some rearranging, too.”
“It seems more like a family home than a bed-and-breakfast.” It was something that had struck Laura immediately.
Annie beamed. “Super! That’s exactly what I’ve tried to achieve.”
Ethan winked at his wife. “And we hope to fill it with children in time.”
Annie blushed, a pretty pinkening of her pale skin. Ethan put his hand over hers. Yes, they were a lovely couple. Laura swallowed her longing, her sense of regret. Why couldn’t she have met a man like Ethan? But then, on the surface, Jerry had seemed perfect, too.
Ethan had a way with kids that even Kirsten had a hard time deflecting. After dinner, he herded them both into the parlor by the kitchen to play games while Annie took Laura upstairs to show her their accommodations. Their generosity was overwhelming.
And in the morning Annie insisted on feeding them a hot breakfast before they took off to their own house. The kids dawdled but Laura was anxious to get started unpacking.
When she finally unlocked the door of her new home, it was daunting to see the mound of boxes. But she and the kids had been there less than an hour when she heard the doorbell.
“Mom!” Gregg hollered.
She set down the bed frame, still clueless how to put it together. “Coming.” Walking down the stairs she could hear the buzz of voices. Had her son allowed strangers into the house?
She was relieved to recognize Annie among some other women. “Hi.”
“Laura, I’ve rounded up recruits. Cindy, Leah, Katherine, Grace and Emma.”
Laura’s hand flew to her chest. “I don’t know what to say.”
Redheaded Cindy grinned. “Hello will do just fine. Then divvy us up however you want.”
Overwhelmed, Laura wasn’t at all certain how to ask them to help.
“I’m especially helpful in the kitchen,” Katherine suggested. “If that would all right. I could start sorting dishes, pots and pans.”
“Oh, yes,” Laura replied, relieved.
“And I’m good at toting boxes,” Grace added.
“They’re labeled,” Laura said. “With the rooms they belong in. I’m afraid they’re all in a huge pile right now, no rhyme or reason.”
“I can help with the boxes,” Emma pointed out. “Rhyme’s my specialty.”
“And I can help Katherine in the kitchen,” Leah offered.
“So, I can be your helper,” Cindy said. “What were you doing when we got here?”
“Trying to put together a bed,” Laura confessed, holding up a tiny screwdriver, the only one she’d been able to find.
“Ah.” Cindy fished in her pocket for her cell phone. “When all else fails…”
Annie took Laura by the elbow and guided her out to the front porch. “You okay?”
Laura shoved her hands in her pockets. “Yes. Why?”
“I want to help, but I don’t want to pressure you.”
“It’s not that…it’s…” Laura looked out at the quiet street, the old houses that spoke of generations of families living and loving in the same place. “I haven’t been accustomed to anything like this…it will take some getting used to. But I like it.”
“Whew.” Annie let out her breath.
“Didn’t you tell me this was going to be your busy day?”
“Yes, but not for a while. I have time to help.” Together they headed into the house.
Even though Laura wasn’t accustomed to the sound of women’s voices around her, the occasional laughter, she found she liked it immensely. Like a piece that had been missing, the chatter and occasional laughter fit perfectly.
After about a half hour of progress, she heard the low rumble of a man’s voice, accompanied by the tread of boots going up the stairs, then the distinct thud of tools.
Cindy popped her head into the kitchen where Laura was consulting on the placement of dishes. “We’ll have the beds put together in a few minutes if you want to come up and tell us where to position them.”
“What? How?”
“I called my husband, Flynn. I knew he’d make sure the beds were put together right. I’m pretty handy, but I’d hate to try assembling them and have somebody crash in the middle of the night.”
Laura pushed the hair off her forehead. “That would have been an initiation to the new house.”
“I like your spirit!”
That wasn’t something Laura had heard very often. Encouraged, she headed upstairs with Cindy. In Gregg’s room, Flynn, a lean, handsome man, had assembled the bed and was helping Gregg with his computer.
He grinned at her, and she immediately liked the tall man with the ready smile.
“Mom, Flynn makes software programs,” Gregg announced.
“That’s great, sweetie. Hello, and thank you for coming and doing this.”
“Always glad to help new friends.”
Together they quickly figured out where the beds in her bedroom and Gregg’s should go. Kirsten’s took longer.
“I don’t like it there.” Kirsten frowned as they pushed the bed beneath the wide window.
Laura sighed. They’d already moved the bed three times. “We’re running out of places to put it. We can always rearrange later.”
Kirsten’s room had a dormer ceiling, resulting in angled walls. Although architecturally interesting, it made arranging furniture difficult.
Kirsten’s face drooped. “It’s a pokey room.”
“You think so?” Cindy asked. “I guess I’m the weird one, then. This is my favorite room in the house. Before I got married, I lived in a Victorian quite a bit like this one. And it was the interesting rooms like this one that convinced me to live there. I can just picture willowy curtains—and this fabulous window seat, well…I always felt it was so private. I could curl up with a book or music and it was a secret nook, all mine.”
Kirsten looked over at the window seat. “I guess so.”
“I plan to make cushions for it when you decide on your color scheme,” Laura added.
They repositioned the bed one last time and then started on the other pieces. It was especially helpful to have Flynn’s brawn to move the furniture into place. The room looked pretty well put together when they were done. She had hoped by making the room special, it might help to break down Kirsten’s defenses.
“What now?” Flynn asked.
“Aren’t we keeping you from your work?”
Flynn grinned. “One of the bonuses of being boss.”
“We need to make sure we have all the upstairs boxes actually upstairs,” Cindy told him.
“Aye, aye.” He smiled. “Boss at work, that is.”
“Pooh.” Cindy’s red hair seemed to crackle in the outpouring of sunlight from the windows. “Don’t let him fool you. He’s hardly henpecked. Do you know where the boxes with the sheets are?”
Laura felt so inept. “Not really.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll find them. I want to make sure Flynn finds all the boxes that need to come up anyway.”
Shaking her head at the resourcefulness of these women, Laura headed back downstairs. At noon, the doorbell rang. Although Laura had forgotten to plan for lunch, the women hadn’t. Someone had ordered sandwiches—made with homemade bread—from the café down the street, along with soup, salad and brownies.
Even Kirsten relaxed as everyone in the house stopped to eat. The women knew each other so well, by the time lunch was over, the place rang with their laughter.
Laura learned that Katherine was the pastor of the Community Church. She had married her husband, Michael, after moving to Rosewood. Cindy was her best friend and she had married Flynn after the death of her sister—then his wife and mother of his triplets.
Grace had survived a horrific car accident that required numerous surgeries. Which was how she had met her husband, Noah, the finest surgeon in the area. But then, Grace was biased.
Emma had come to Rosewood through the witness protection program. Fortunately, the man who was stalking her had been caught and now was in prison for life. Even more fortunately, she had met her husband in Rosewood— Seth, the man who had refurbished this house.
And Leah had come to Rosewood from Los Angeles, in search of her child, who had been abducted by his father as an infant. Now, she and her son were reunited, and she was married to the man who had loved the boy as his own. They were expecting another child in six months.
Laura wanted to confide her own past, but she couldn’t. Everything she had ever confided to Jerry had been turned around on her, more ammunition for him to belittle her with. Besides, her situation was so humiliating. It seemed as if she’d been ashamed all her life. From childhood when she couldn’t invite friends over because of her parents’ fighting.
Cindy stood and stretched. “If I eat another brownie, I’m going to bust.”
“Me, too.” Katherine began gathering empty paper plates.
By the time evening rolled around, the breakfast table was in place in its nook, all the boxes that had been stacked there previously now distributed appropriately. All the bedrooms were set up, bed linens and blankets on each bed, and towels were stacked neatly in the bathroom. Dishes, glasses, and pots and pans were put away in the kitchen cabinets.
As the women prepared to leave, they gave Laura a hug, and again she felt close to tears. Ridiculous, she told herself. More emotional than she’d felt since the death of her husband, since finding out about her own untenable situation.
“Thank you all so much. I don’t know what to say.”
“We’re glad we could be here for you,” Katherine murmured.
Emma shifted her purse to her shoulder. “And I’m supposed to tell you that Annie’s bringing dinner.”
“But, she’s already done so much—”
“Don’t fight it,” Leah advised, leaning over to whisper. “She’s my best friend and a definite keeper.”
As Laura closed the door behind them, she finally gave in to tears.
“Mom?” Kirsten’s voice wavered behind her.
Laura quickly wiped her cheeks. “Yes, sweetie?”
Kirsten stared at her for a moment. “Gregg’s hungry.”
“Annie’s bringing dinner over. Isn’t that thoughtful?”
She shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”
But Laura had seen a crack in Kirsten’s rocky facade. It was a start. Now she just had to work on Paul. And pretend she had the courage she had lost so long ago.
Chapter Three
“You moved here?” Astonished, Paul got up from behind his desk, staring at her. Only a nut would pack up her children and move to a strange town on a whim. “What did you do with your house? You didn’t leave it empty, did you?”
“Of course n—”
“You know you’re supposed to consult with me before you make these decisions. That’s why Jerry left the plans in place—to protect you and the children.” He perched on the edge of the desk. “What were you thinking? Just hire movers and…Hey! Where’d you get the money to move?”
“You told me you couldn’t teach me how to flip houses since I was living in Houston, so that left me one option—to move here.” She edged back in the chair. “I rented a house over on Elm Street that I can afford on my allowance, then went back to Houston and leased out the house. And I had an estate sale to raise the money for moving costs. That and I used a bargain mover.”
He pictured her selling everything Jerry had accumulated over his lifetime and groaned. An estate sale? In the short time since he had seen her it had to be a giveaway sale. And no telling what kind of people she had rented the house to. But she had him there. He wasn’t sure he could interfere with that decision. She did own half the house by Texas law. As a broker he knew that. And he had never imagined that she would twist his words to mean that she could be part of the business by moving here. But he didn’t know how to undo what she had done, either.
She shifted, loosening her grip on the chair. “So, what do we do first?”
“First?”
“You know, to begin my training.”
He hadn’t even begun to wrap his mind around what she had done yet. “Would you like some coffee?”
“Oh, um, yes. Okay.” She started to get up. “Where is it?”
“I’ll get it.” He needed a minute to think. He crossed the room, filling two mugs. “Cream or sugar?”
“Just cream, thanks.”
He handed her one of the mugs. “So, Laura. This was a huge step.”
She warmed her hands on the steaming mug. “It was. But it means a lot to me. I explained that before.”
“Settling in is going to be a big adjustment.”
“I thought so, too.” She lifted her gaze, her green eyes entreating. “But Rosewood’s a lot different than Houston.”
“You form opinions pretty fast.”
She wondered if he thought that was bad. “It’s hard not to.”
“You’ll have to enroll the kids in their new schools.”
She swallowed a sip of the hot brew. “Did that yesterday.”
“Really?”
“I didn’t want them to miss any more than necessary. It’s difficult enough to settle in a new school without having them get behind.”
“Don’t you have to have records transferred or something?”
“I did that.” She took another tentative sip.
He put his mug down on the desk. “Still, you’re going to need time unpacking, settling in—”
“No.” She ran her fingers over the handle of the mug. “I’m ready. That’s done for the most part. There’s always more to do, but it’s livable.”
He pictured the house in a jumble of boxes. But that was why Jerry had named him executor, to keep an eye on how she was caring for the kids. “Laura, this isn’t a school.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s an office.”
Her expression faltered. “But you said—”
“That I couldn’t train you if you lived in Houston. But I can’t stop working and set up classes, either.”
“Then what?”
She had gone from hopeful to desperate in the space of minutes. She wouldn’t last. “Start by spending some time in the office, watching what I do.”
“Oh.” Deflated, she gripped her mug tighter, then nodded. “Okay.”
She would get bored fast. Sitting at the desk next to his, listening to only his side of telephone conversations, trying to digest a lot of financial information she couldn’t possibly understand. He’d give her a week at the most before she stopped coming around. She’d probably get bored with Rosewood almost as soon.
The phone rang. And her tutoring began.
“So, how was school?” Laura put a plate of oatmeal raisin cookies on the table. She had made arrangements with Paul to be home each day before the children got in from school. Since he looked relieved at the suggestion, she guessed he would have been just as happy if she had suggested a much earlier quitting time.
Gregg grabbed a cookie. “There’s a kid in my class who can cross his eyes, hold his breath and wiggle his ears. All at once.”
“Impressive.” She tweaked the tip of his nose. “Do you like your teacher?”
“Yeah.” He took a swallow of milk. “She said next Monday we can all bring a pet for show-and-tell.”
“Oh.” They didn’t have a pet.
“It’s okay, Mom. Even if we had the aquarium set up I couldn’t take it to school.”
He always rolled with the punches. She put another cookie on his plate.
“Kirsten, how about you?”
She shrugged. “It’s a school.”
“Did you meet anyone who could wiggle their ears?”
Her daughter sighed. “Mom.”
Nothing so unsophisticated for her daughter. “Let me rephrase. Did you meet anyone you liked?”
Kirsten was quiet for a few moments. “Kinda.”