“I always did.”
“But he said he asked you about me.”
“He did. Twice.” She salutes me with her mug. “Part of why I like him. He’s not so easily put off. I cannot respect cowardly men.”
“But you didn’t tell him where I was, or tell me he’d asked.”
“True enough.” Una nods. “The first time was just after you’d gone to Toronto. You always were an independent girl who preferred to solve things yourself. I figured I’d best not get involved and you’d work it out, one way or the other.”
I was trying to do that. “And the second?”
She purses her lips. “It was a few years later. He was back in town because he’d finished his degree. Everyone was talking about his engagement and upcoming wedding. You could have heard Candace crow all the way to Havelock about her first son to get married.” Una gives me a look. “He’s Dianne’s son, thank youvery much.”
“Why didn’t you tell him then?”
“Well, he was getting married.” Una frowns. “What could he want with you that was any good for anybody? I was afraid he’d learned a little too much from his father.” She shakes her head. “Maybe I was wrong, but what’s done is done. The important thing is thatyoulike him. What if you did let bygones be bygones?”
“But Sierra…”
“What if you gave that man another chance instead of assuming he has some dark plan to cheat you? Is pride keeping you from happiness? Maybe, maybe not.”
I can’t admit even to my grandmother that the culprit is probably fear.
She continues. “It’s been a while and people change, but I have to think, Sylvia, that it’s worth taking a chance to find out.” She drains her mug again and rises to her feet with a wince. “And that’s enough of such serious matters for tonight.” She passes me on her way to putting the mug in the kitchen. “What happened tonight to put that sparkle in your eye?”
“Mike offered to pay for the trailer.”
“Did he, then?”
“He says it’s his turn to contribute.”
She nods approval. “And will you let him?”
I nod.
“Good.”
“He wondered if you and Sierra would like to go with him tomorrow to Port Cavendish.”
“While you go to your studio. I think that’s a lovely idea.” Una smiles wisely, then heads to her bedroom. She’s humming a little beneath her breath, the way she does, and her suggestion is hard to dismiss.
What if I took a chance?
24
MIKE
I’m a couple of minutes early to pick up Una and Sierra, but Sierra is already waiting outside Una’s porch. She’s standing, one arm wrapped around herself, as she does something on her phone. I’m reminded of the first time I met her, when she was defiant like a mini-Luke. When she looks up at the sound of the truck, her eyes narrow. She’s wearing a lot of eyeliner and black lipstick, and I have the sense it’s warpaint. Her jeans are torn and her top is tight, her black boots laced up. She looks ready to kick butt and take names, and I wonder what’s set her off.
I hope like hell it wasn’t me.
Una shrugs when she comes out to the truck and I figure it’s a teenage girl thing.
Una and I chat as we drive to Port Cavendish, while Sierra sits between us in silence and glowers out the front windshield. She might have been seized against her will and compelled to come along. I’m in uncharted territory so I follow Una’s lead and ignore Sierra’s mood.
That works until we get to the trailer place. I park and Unaslides out of the truck in a hurry. I reach for the door but Sierra stops me with a word.
“Mike.”
