Paul slipped his arm around Tessa’s shoulders and squeezed her against him. “If given a choice, I’d rather have crazy on my side than bitterness. I have a feeling we’re going to win this fight, Tess.” He kissed her temple. “But let’s not miss the show.” He tugged her forward into the house.
The crystals in the chandelier clinked together, sending frantic chimes throughout the front of the house. The floorboards vibrated beneath Tessa’s feet. She followed the sounds of voices and found Crazy Kate standing at the open French doors. Mrs. Steele and Dorothy were outside on the brick patio, looking at the freshly groomed back garden.
“Trudy,” Crazy Kate said, not bothering to hide the anger in her voice.
Mrs. Steele’s back stiffened. Sweat formed on Tessa’s forehead, and Paul squeezed her hand. Dorothy turned and looked at Crazy Kate framed in the doorway. The young woman’s expression was not one of recognition. She glanced between her grandma and Crazy Kate. Clouds crept across the vibrant blue sky and smothered the sun’s light, muting the colors around them.
Mrs. Steele turned and leaned heavily on her cane. With her curled lip and her narrowed gray eyes, she transformed into an exemplification of an evil queen. “Kate.” She said the name like it was toxic in her mouth. “I had hoped I’d never see you again.”
Crazy Kate’s unyielding gaze locked on Mrs. Steele. “Then you shouldn’t have tried to ruin our family’s home.”
Mrs. Steele laughed, but the sound of it raised the hairs on the back of Tessa’s neck. “Family? We’re notfamily, Kate. We haven’t been afamilyin fifty years.”
Crazy Kate stepped onto the patio, and her navy-blue skirt swirled around her ankles. “Geoffrey’s death didn’t stop us from being part of the same family, Trudy. That was your choice for being unwilling to accept or see truth.”
Mrs. Steele’s hand trembled on the cane, and then she slammed it against the bricks. “The truth that you tried to steal my husband’s love from me? The truth that you were a no-good woman doing whatever you wanted with whomever you wanted?” She lifted her cane and pointed it toward Tessa. “Just like that one. Thinking she can come into someone’s home and do inappropriate things with men. I’m not surprised you two know each other.”
Tessa’s mouth fell open. She stepped through the French doors behind Crazy Kate. “Excuse me? You knownothingabout me.”
Mrs. Steele’s glared at Tessa. “Kate can offer you plenty of ways to trick a man into loving you.”
Dorothy grabbed onto her grandma’s arm. “Grandma, how about we calm down a little. This doesn’t have to be so offensive.”
Mrs. Steele snatched her arm away. “Don’t you act as though I’m overreacting. You have no idea what that woman did to me. What she did to my family!” she yelled in her brittle, broken voice.
A chilly wind swirled around Crazy Kate’s feet and rushed up Tessa’s legs. Leaves tumbled across the yard, and a blackbird landed on the fence, singing a tune that caused goosebumps to rise on Tessa’s arms.
When Crazy Kate spoke again, her voice was calm, gentle even. “Trudy, I loved Geoffrey, but that was years before he met you. We were kids. Stupid, silly kids. After he left for college, there was nothing ever between us again. Nothing. I’ve told you that. Matthias was the only man I wanted to be with. I tried to save them.” Crazy Kate closed her eyes and pressed one hand against her heart. “You know Itried.”
Mrs. Steele’s face scrunched as though she’d eaten rotten fruit. Her gray eyes watered as she inhaled a shuddering breath. “You didn’t try hard enough, did you?” Her shoulders slumped. “You got to keep Matthias, but what about me? What did I get? I got to be a widow with two small kids and a husband who called out foryouwhen he was dying.”
Crazy Kate’s sharp inhale startled the blackbird, and it took flight, cawing into the sky. “What?” She crossed the patio in deliberate, slow steps.
Mrs. Steele’s jaw clenched. “In his fever, minutes before he finally succumbed, I sat at his bedside, praying he wouldn’t leave me, telling him how much I needed him, and he looked over at me and said, ‘Take care of Kate. I loved her. Promise me you’ll give her what she wants.’” Mrs. Steele’s frail body quivered with rage. “You. That’s who he was thinking about as he was dying. Not me, not his kids. You, this house, this town, this whole familyruinedme. It took everything from me, and I hate you for it.”
Tessa crossed the patio, feeling a rush of boldness. Her heart hammered erratically in her chest. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Mrs. Steele. She tried tosaveyour family, thewholefamily, even though Geoffrey mistreated her when they were together. Did you know that? Did he ever tell you what he did? I doubt it. You have no right to show up here with your bitterness and blame the whole town and this house just because you’re angry that your husband wanted you totake careof Kate.
“There’s not a quota on how many people you can love. So what if he loved Kate? He loved you too. He married you and had children with you because he wanted to. Him mentioning Kate must have hurt you, because obviously that’s what you’ve been focusing on all these years. I’m sorry you were hurting, but rather than let it go, you’ve let that pain make you angry and bitter. I want you to know what went on here after you left. Matthias didn’t want to live in the house either, not after what happened. So he made this house a haven for those who were in need, for those who were sad or lost or sick or broken. For the past fifty years,this househas helped people, and you’re going to destroy that because a man you loved wanted you to take care of someone who was important to him? Do you even realize what you’re doing with his last request? You’re ignoring it.”
Mrs. Steele and Dorothy stared at Tessa, and no one spoke. Sunlight escaped through the clouds and warmed Tessa’s cheeks. She glanced up at the attic window. Faint laughter, accompanied by the sound of rainfall, drifted down, featherlight, around her.
Tessa thought about the photo album in the trunk. A swiftly moving chill swept down Tessa’s body, racing from her head down to her toes. She looked at Mrs. Steele. “You were married in this garden, weren’t you? And it rained on your wedding day, but you didn’t care because you were so happy to be with Geoffrey. And your kids used to play in this backyard. They’d run around laughing, chasing lightning bugs.”
Mrs. Steele blinked in the sunlight. Tears caught in the creases of her cheeks.
“It’s not too late to do what Geoffrey asked. You can still help Kate. You can helpallof us by letting us repair a home that has made a significant difference in so many lives.”
Mrs. Steele reached out and clamped her weathered hand onto Dorothy’s arm. “We’re leaving.” Without making eye contact with Kate or Tessa, Mrs. Steele pushed past them, dragging Dorothy beside her and banging her cane with each step. “And get out of my house.”
Chapter 21
Singin’ the Blues Grilled Cheese
Tessadidn’thaveachoice but to return to the apartment with Paul. She spent most of the day distracting her mind with work and halfheartedly online searching for a new car. Paul ordered pizza for dinner, and they sat mostly in silence while watching a history series about ancient civilizations. Tessa slept fitfully when she slept at all. Losing Honeysuckle Hollow to a nasty old crone—which was the shameful name she’d taken to calling Mrs. Steele during the wee hours of the morning—felt worse than losing her condo to the flood. At least the flood was a natural disaster and not caused by hatred or resentment.
“I’d probably be sour too if I’d had my knickers in a knot for fifty years because of jealousy,” Tessa said as she tossed back the covers and sat up in bed.
“Am I interrupting?” Paul asked from the bedroom doorway.
