I nod, knowing that if anyone is going to give it to me straight, it’ll be my best friend.
“Walker’s not going anywhere. You’re going to have to figure out a way to get along with him.”
I shake my head at her words. I’m going to find out the story behind Jesse Walker’s scowl. And I’m not leaving Hope Harbor until I prove to everyone that he is up to no good.
—
HOPE HARBOR TOWN CHAT
UNKNOWN NUMBER:Did you know Tally Darling’s back in town?
UNKNOWN NUMBER:Oh yes! Ran into her downtown today. Or more like she almost ran into me. Good thing cars stop.
UNKNOWN NUMBER:Of course they do. What else would they do?
“What the heck is this?” I ask my sister as I hold up my phone and point the screen in her direction. We’re sitting in her car outside our house after sunset, and I’m trying to work up the courage to go inside. Messages continue to pop up by the second, all from numbers I don’t recognize.
My sister smiles. “Oh, it’s the town group chat.”
“The what?”
She giggles. “The group chat. You know, so everyone can get up-to-the-minute updates.”
Confused, I stare down at the screen that’s filling with more messages. “How did I end up in it?”
Penny shrugs. “If I had to guess? Rosie. Shelovesthe group chat.”
I frown. Everything feels so different from when I lived here last.
“You sure you don’t want me to walk you up to the house?” Penny’s eyes cast longingly in the direction of what used to be our family home.
“I’ll be fine. Hopefully the man of the house is already sleeping.”
Penny giggles. “Come by the store tomorrow,” she saysbefore turning to me with a more serious look. “I’m glad you’re home, Tal.”
My chest aches as I throw my arms around her before grabbing my stuff from the back seat.
When I get out of the car, I stare up at the white Victorian with the farmer’s porch my father never got around to fixing. My mother always wanted a few rocking chairs and cushions so she could sit and drink her tea and look out at her meadows. But the porch is bare. Like so much of this house, Dad only finished half of it before he got pulled into something else.
My father was the type of man who was always offering to help—he was at every town meeting, and if he wasn’t at home, he was probably helping out a neighbor. A familiar pang of sadness grows as I climb the steps and lean against the banister, which just barely holds my weight because one of the stakes is missing. Laughing, I look up at the sky, knowing my dad is saying he’ll get to that soon enough.
Silence greets me when I enter the house, and I sigh in relief, knowing I can sneak up to my sister’s room without having to talk to Walker. But as the floorboards creak under my weight, a throat clears and I find the man in question sitting in my daddy’s chair with a slew of papers laid out on the table in front of him.
The last time I visited, my dad was in that same position, reviewing taxes. I cough out a laugh at how ridiculous it is that he was worried about business expenses and write-offs that he didn’t even live to deal with.
“Are you okay?” Walker pushes back in his chair, studying me. I’m sure I’m quite the sight, with the delirious smile on my face from laughing so I don’t start sobbing.
I give a quick nod and shift toward the stairs. “I’m going to stay in Penny’s room if that’s all right.”
Walker shrugs. “It’s your house.”
I rush out of the room without a response. Because it sure doesn’t feel like it.
CHAPTER 5
Walker
“Do you think he keeps the rink open in the spring?” my nephew, Quinn, asks as he takes a bite of the pancakes Gail made this morning. It’s a new tradition she started a few weeks ago when she found out my sister was interested in helping with the weddings. Billie and Quinn come over to the farm for breakfast and then Gail and my sister chat while Quinn joins me out in the meadows. The fresh air is good for him, and I like to think that Gail and Billie’s new friendship is good for them, too. We normally do it on Saturday mornings, but Quinn had an odd day off from school today so my sister is joining us for brunch and then heading to work while Quinn hangs with me for the day.
