Finally?! They’d been dating for two months…if that. Maybe when you’re ninety you don’t have time to waste.
“Morning.” Frankie yawned as she walked into the sunroom, coffee in hand, her long red hair was piled up in a bun, and her fair skin looked pale even for Frankie. “Everything looks good in the backyard. They’re almost done setting up.”
“Same as yours, yes?”
Frankie’s wedding had been held at her house just a few weeks earlier. It was beautiful, Jenna could understand why Yaya wanted to copy and paste, especially since the wedding was so last minute. She’d only decided to get married a week and a half ago. At least that’s when she told Jenna about the wedding.
“Yes, just a smaller scale.” Frankie yawned again. “Since the guest list is less than half.”
“Why so tired?!” Yaya barked. “You stay up all night trying to make baby?”
“I wish.” Frankie collapsed in the chair beside Yaya.
Jenna envied Frankie and her grandma’s relationship.Yaya had sixteen grandchildren but madeno secretthat Frankie was her favorite. Shewasher only granddaughter, but there was clearly a very special bond there as well.
Jenna never knew her grandparents on either her maternal or paternal sides. Unfortunately, Blake had been cursed with the same misfortune. Thankfully, Yaya adopted the entire town, herself and Blake included. She’d even taught her and Blake how to make loukoumades, baklava, and other Greek delicacies.
“No,” Frankie continued as she took a sip of her coffee, then laid her head back and closed her eyes. “We had to call an emergency family meeting.”
“What?!” Yaya sprang forward in her chair, and Jenna jerked her hand away. “Why no one call me?!”
“Yaya! Please, don’t do that.” If Jenna poked Yaya’s eye out on her wedding day, she’d never forgive herself. “You could have lost an eye.”
Jenna typically did hair, and Kiki was the makeup artist at the salon, but Yaya only wanted Jenna today, which made sense since it was a very small wedding party.
“Ah.” Yaya waved her hand dismissively. “I have one more.”
Frankie, used to her grandmother’s outbursts and maybe even close calls of losing an eyeball, casually tucked her feet beneath her legs and ignored the entire thing. “It wasn’tthisside of the family, Yaya. It was Liam’s side.”
“Oh, oh, oh.” Yaya settled back, then threw her arms up once again. “No, no, no! This side, that side, same side! I should get phone call.”
“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” Frankie apologized. “You’re right. I should have called, but it was the night before your wedding, and it all happened so fast.” She took a deep breath sat up, then explained, “Poppy came over,she was upset because she found out that AJhad uncovered that Deacon St. Claire isnotwho he said he was.”
I knew it, Jenna thought to herself silently.
She’d never met nor laid eyes on themysteriousDeacon St. Claire, but she knew all she needed to know about the man. He was a billionaire. Money was the root of all evil. It did things to people and made them awful. Made them horrible to each other.
And St. Claire money. Forget it. The hotels, liquor and wine, and airlines that’s stupid, filthy rich. She’d heard the rumors that he made his own money, that he’d started some sort of business at fourteen and then gone to MIT and graduated at twenty, but still, to grow up in that sort of luxury, she didn’t trust the man as far as she could throw him.
He moved to townmonthsago with his daughter and kept to himself. He hadn’t gotten involved in the community, which in Hope Falls was pretty much a mortal sin. She knew he was up to no good. He had gone trick-or-treating upon Poppy’s invitation after she started as his nanny, which had made quite the stir amongst the downtown shop owners.
Debbie Wilson, who owned the Barking Brush, was in for a cut the next day, and she said that Claudia Benson’s niece, Kimberly, tripped over herself, literally, to get his attention. Apparently, she’d pretended to trip and fell into him. He didn’tfallfor it—pun intended—just helped her right herself and then continued walking.
Lola Johnson, who owned The Secret Garden Flower Shop, was working the Witch Hat Ring Toss booth, said that when she saw him, he was sohother mind went totally blank. She forgot what she was doing, where she was, who she was. She said she thought she let MaxColburn have about ten free throws at the Witch Hat Ring Toss. He still didn’t win, so it didn’t matter.
Even Naomi Copeland, owner of Sweet Tooth Bakery, and herwifeSvetlana stopped by to ask if Jenna had seen him because they both couldn’t get over how perfect of a male specimen he was. They were tempted to ask him if he’d consider being a sperm donor not even because of how hot he was but because of how nice he was and how great of a dad he was to his daughter. If there were two women Jenna would have thought could have been immune to his charms, it would have beenNaomiandSvetlana.
Jenna was convinced it was the money. It had to be. Money did funny things to people. She wondered if those people didn’t know he was a billionaire, if they’d think he was sohot, sonice, such agooddad. Would they still want his sperm then? Would they be tripping over themselves? Would they be giving Max Colburn ten free throws because their mind was blank?
She seriously doubted it.
“It turns out Deacon St. Claire…”
Here we go. What was it going to be? Serial Killer? Stalker? Secret double life?
Maybe she needed to stop watching Dateline.
“Is Liam and Poppy’s half-brother.”
