Emilia looked around her tiny bedroom with rosebuds splashed across the wallpaper and let out an exhausted breath. She wasn’t even sure why she’d decided to buy back Mama Cam and Papa Jack’s house, but here she was with keys in hand and boxes crammed in every corner of her new home.
She’d like to believe the reason she bought the place wasn’t purely because she was afraid of Josh Turner tearing it up, but she had a feeling that was precisely why she now held the deed. She collapsed on her bed, which looked enormous in her grandparents’ bedroom, and closed her eyes. There had to be a way to simultaneously unpack and write a couple of pages all at the same time.
A chapter was due to her editor over a week ago, but she couldn’t make herself write what they wanted. Not being able to write about her life made entirely no sense either. She was dealing with complete strangers, and the chance that Josh Turner would ever read the words she wrote were slim to none, so Emilia didn’t understand why she faced writer’s block for the first time in her life.
Emilia blinked her eyes open and stared at the popcorn ceiling with flecks of gold glitter that genuinely gave this home its charm. She swore if she concentrated hard enough, she could hear Mama Cam calling out to Emilia that fresh chocolate chip cookies were on the counter. Her chest tightened at the thought, and she propped herself up, staring out the window to see a new flurry of snow coming down.
She had a lot to do today, and she promised herself and her editor, Suzanne, that she’d send over a chapter in two more days. Right when she got up, she saw a snow plow slowing down at her drive and narrowed her eyes to see Austin North, the youngest North brother. Before she realized what he was up to, he turned down the drive and began pushing the snow out of the way.
She quickly slid on a coat and nearly ran down the stairs and out the door to say thank you.
When Austin caught her flying out the door, he turned the truck off and climbed out.
“So the rumors are true.” Austin smiled and wandered over to Emilia, who was dumbstruck by just how good-looking he had turned out to be. He was a few years younger than she was, but she knew him from the North family functions.
“The rumors are true.” She nodded, smiling.
“So, here’s the million-dollar question.” He grinned. “Should I call you Hailee or Emilia when I see you around town?”
“Whatever floats your boat, buddy.” She chuckled, feeling extremely foolish for having so many different names. If it were hard for everyone else to keep track, it would explain why Emilia had so much difficulty figuring out who she really was. “For the North brothers, I’ll answer to either.”
“I’m flattered.” He tipped his cowboy hat and winked at Emilia, which only made her giggle. “Since when did you become a cowboy?”
“Oh, this old thing?” he teased. “The ladies love it.”
“Sure they do.”
Emilia had to admit, he looked pretty darn good in the hat, but he was far too young, and he was related to Josh, which would be far too messy.
“So, are you moving back to town or is this going to be a rental?” Austin asked as she zipped up her coat. The chill in the air was turning icier by the second. “You know people are dying to know.”
“For now, it’ll be home. But who knows? I’ll probably get over my sentimental attachment and rent it out and dash off somewhere else. It’s my nature.”
“That’s one way of looking at it.” He glanced at the Tudor cottage behind her.
“And what’s the other?” She folded her arms over her chest.
“I predict you’re finally coming home to where you belong, and you just don’t want to admit that you miss us.” He winked. “You belong in Silver Ridge.”
“What makes you think I belong here?” Emilia’s brows furrowed.
“You always did.” He shrugged. “It’s like Josh and Dakota. I have no idea why they moved away.”
“Because that’s what people do. They spread their wings.” Emilia chuckled and patted Austin’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. Someday, you will too.”
“You’re as feisty in person as in your columns.” He scratched his chin and let out a deep breath. “It’s good to have you back in town. If you need anything, make sure to call one of my brothers. They’re great at solving problems.”
“What about you?”
“Work isn’t my cup of tea.” He grinned devilishly.
“Says the man plowing a stranger’s driveway out of the goodness of his heart.”
“You’re no stranger, Emilia. Well, maybe to yourself.” His grin only widened. “But to us, you’ll always be sweet Hailee.”
Hearing him refer to her as sweet Hailee knocked the air right out of her. That was Josh’s nickname for her that had spread through the North family. She was shocked that Austin remembered.
“Well, thanks for plowing my drive. It was really nice of you and so much easier than me getting out there with a shovel.”
“It’s a fun machine to drive but don’t get used to it.” He gave her a quick wave before spinning on his heels and jogging back to the plow.
Emilia watched Austin reverse down her drive as the snow continued to fall.
Well, it was official. Word would soon spread around town that Emilia had not only returned but had bought her grandparents’ home. She let out a groan and spun around to go back inside.
She needed to buckle down on her writing or the bank that gave her the mortgage wouldn’t be thrilled.
The Olsens had left the kitchen table behind, and that was where Emilia had temporarily set up her laptop. She slid into one of the kitchen chairs and opened her blank document that had the Chapter One heading staring right back at her.
She glanced over at the empty coffee pot and the empty bag of non-existent coffee beans and chewed on her lip for a brief second. Emilia couldn’t be expected to write without caffeine. At the moment, she could barely get any writing done with the caffeine, so she couldn’t imagine trying without it.
And her driveway had been freshly plowed, so it had to be a sign. Without talking herself out of her decision, she jumped up from the chair and made her way to the front door. Maybe by the time she got to the store, her opening line would pop into her head. The publisher wanted it in the memoir style, so writing in the first person should be easy for her. It was how she wrote every day on her blog. Not that it seemed to matter, given the topic.
She locked up her grandparents’ home. No, wait. She needed to stop looking at the house as their home and embrace it as her own so she could start building new memories.
Emilia traipsed through the snow and unlocked her car, turning on the defroster before dusting off the fresh snow on her windshield.
Emilia remembered her Papa Jack always vowing that come summer, he’d build a carport, but by the time winter ended, he was so happy that summer had arrived he’d completely abandoned his carport idea and focused on the fun stuff about summers like hiking and fishing.
There were plenty of lazy day afternoons she’d spent with her grandparents up on Silver Ridge with a picnic basket and a never-ending supply of cookies. She’d much rather have those memories over a carport any day.
She climbed into her car and backed out of her driveway, careful not to drive into the small snowbank, and began heading toward town. If all of her free moments were going to be spent thinking back to Mama Cam and Papa Jack living here, she wasn’t sure how she’d move on, which had been precisely her worry so many years before.
As Emilia pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store, she noticed Austin’s plow and quickly spotted him chatting to a woman who looked utterly enthralled with whatever was coming out of his mouth. She quickly found a spot by the door and parked, but just as she was getting out of her car, she noticed a text had come through from her parents. It was short and vague.
Please call when you get a chance. We have something important to ask.
Emilia debated whether she wanted to call now or after the store, and unfortunately, her daughterly instinct told her to call now. It only took a few rings before her mom picked up, and what Emilia thought she detected made her heart sink.
“Hey there, daughter dearest. What have you been to up this fine day?” her mom asked.
“You mean what have I been up to?” Emilia asked, feeling her mouth turn dry. Disappointment, sadness, despair, and anger all rushed through Emilia’s senses as she realized her mom was drunk. She suddenly felt like a little girl again, the same little girl who’d begged for her mom and dad to stop drinking, to stop falling asleep on her, to remember to pick her up from kindergarten.
“That’s what I said.” Her mother suddenly sounded indignant.
“That’s what you meant to say,” Emilia corrected, and her mother huffed into the phone. She heard her father in the background hollering at her mother, asking where the remote was hiding, which was a sign that he was drunk as well. When he drank too much, he always thought the remote was hiding from him as if it suddenly grew legs and decided to take refuge under the couch or in the freezer. “So what is it you want?”
“Don’t take that tone with me.” Her mother’s voice turned shrill, and Emilia let out a sigh, wondering why in the world her mother had reached out if she was drunk.
“I’m not taking a tone. I just happen to be in the parking lot of the grocery store and wanted to see why you texted me to call.”
“I didn’t text you.”
Emilia bit her tongue and instead rolled her eyes. “Yes, you did, Mom.”
“Emilia Hailee Howard Hudson, I would remember if I texted.” Her mother laughed, punctuated by a hiccup. “But since you’re on the line, and I hate to ask, but your father and I need another loan. Not as big as the last one, but we’ve had some unexpected expenses.”
“I just loaned you twelve grand. What happened to it all?”
“What? You’re going to make me feel bad for needing money?”
Guilt slammed into Emilia’s gut, and she let out a silent sigh. “That wasn’t my intention. I’m just taken aback.”
“So now that you’re a millionaire—”
Emilia’s stomach dropped. She hadn’t told her mother or anyone—except Mama Cam and Papa Jack—about her book deal.
“First, I’m not a millionaire. I received an advance that after taxes is nowhere near the money you’re thinking, and second, the other portion won’t arrive until after my book is finished.”
“Oh, boo-hoo.” Her mother feigned a sob.
This was the mother she hated. The mean one. What she remembered from being a little girl was that it came out often when her parents drank, which was most of the time. The thing about being an alcoholic was that it wasn’t just a part-time lifestyle. It consumed every waking second of her parents’ lives. No matter what they told themselves, there was no such thing as only one drink, and Emilia was guessing that whatever got them to this state after so many months of being sober was disguised as only one drink. Pushing aside everything running through her head, Emilia took a deep breath.
“How much did you need me to send?”
“Eight thousand.” Her mother sounded all business.
Emilia was shocked.
“On top of the twelve I already gave you a few months ago would make it nearly twenty grand in a few months. Where’s it all going?”
“Like it’s your business. Are you really going to make your own mother beg for help?” she scoffed. “It figures I’d be the one mother who had a millionaire daughter who turned her back on us.”
“I’m not a millionaire, and after taxes, I’ll be far from it.” Emilia ground her teeth into her bottom lip, not even recognizing the pain it caused because suffering her mom’s call was ten times worse. “But fine. I’ll get the check in the mail to you today.”
“There’s this great feature now. You can just send it electronically through an app.”
“Fine. Send me the details, and I’ll do it.”
“All right. Now, go get your shopping done.” Her mother’s voice contained a hint of sweetness right before she hung up. It was as if her mother had split personalities.
And that was when Emilia realized her mother hadn’t even said thank you. She stared at her phone, hoping she’d at least get a THX from her mom over her text messenger but no such luck. Instead, she got the information to download the correct app and how to send the funds immediately.
Emilia had done a great job at Christmas telling herself that her parents had changed and she had a shot with them as a family again, but after this afternoon she doubted she’d ever see them again, and she wasn’t even sure whose choice that would be.
It was moments like these when she wished her grandparents were here to shield her from the parents she had, even if one of the parents happened to be their daughter.
Throwing a couple of bags of coffee beans and various other items into her cart, the trip became something of a whirlwind. Emilia just wanted to get home and get the money sent off.
It wasn’t until she got to the car that she saw a new text from her agent. He’d set her up on a local Seattle daytime talk show for an interview and Q&A session with a live audience. He thought it would be good publicity, and on any other day, she’d probably agree with him, but today wasn’t that day. But as her life was spinning out of control with no real input from her, she went home and put all of her heartache into writing her first sentence.
There once lived a boy who stole my heart, and I broke his in return.
And Emilia forgot to send her parents the money.