“All right, but when I tell you, you’ll think it’s a dumb idea too. I was just remembering the confirmation you got—your honeymoon trip in North Carolina... See, I told you it was a stupid idea.”
Wesley had booked them at an inn on Bluebell Lake, and it had been nonrefundable. Mia hadn’t realized he hadn’t canceled the reservation until she’d gotten an email a couple days ago.
Maybe this was a sign from God. “Well, at least that would be someplace quiet. Not to mention already paid for.”
“Sweetie... it was supposed to be your honeymoon.”
“And now it could be a little vacation—on Wesley’s dime.”
Brooke gave her a look.
“It was your idea.”
“It was a terrible idea.”
Wesley had pushed for Lake Cuomo in Italy for their honeymoon, but Mia had wanted to go to the town where her mother had grown up. Katherine had left home at eighteen to pursue her Hollywood dreams, changing her name and cutting ties with her family.
Mia’s father had left when she was five and, especially after her mother died, Mia craved those familial roots everyone else seemed to have. Maybe her grandparents were gone, but she’d always wanted to visit Bluebell, where they’d lived until they passed away. Imagine her surprise when she found out that the inn they’d owned was still there.
When the topic of the honeymoon had risen between Wes and her, she’d pushed the issue. And since Mia had graciously conceded to Wes’s mother in almost every aspect of the wedding plans, Wesley let her have her way.
Bluebell Lake was tucked away in a quiet little town in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the perfect spot for a honeymoon. And the perfect place to disappear to. How would it feel to go to the place where she and Wes were supposed to honeymoon? Not good, she was sure. But at this point she really didn’t have the luxury of avoiding pain and regret.
“I’ll need a flight,” Mia said.
“Mia.”
“Do you have a better idea?”
“What about your clothes and things?”
“I’d rather buy new than go back home and become bait for those vultures.”
“I could send my mom to get them.”
“I’m not having Lettie deal with all that.”
The idea was making more and more sense. Maybe going on her honeymoon alone was a strange idea, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that it was also the right idea. There was something about the dot on the map that had always felt like home.
“It’s settled then,” Mia said with more bravado than she felt. “I’m going to North Carolina.”
three
Levi Bennett stowed the lawn mower in the shed and locked up. The sun was setting across the lake, swathing the sky in hues of pink. The last light of the day lit his way up the sloped lawn toward the inn. The property looked nice, the grass spring green, the flowers lining the walkway in full bloom. Overhead the trees swayed gently in the breeze, and the sweet scent of lilacs wafted by.
Memorial Day weekend—the official start of lake season—was always a busy one, but this one had been off the charts. He could hardly believe his baby sister Grace had graduated high school yesterday. It had been bittersweet without their parents. Levi had felt the need to make everything perfect for her, but try as he might, he could never fill their parents’ shoes.
He’d had that same frustration since they’d died a year and a half ago: trying, and failing, to be everything Grace and Molly needed. He was the oldest, after all. The “man of the house.”
He slipped in the back door, his stomach growling. The lawn had taken the better part of the afternoon, and he hadn’t eaten since breakfast. The inn was quiet, the last of their guests having checked out this morning, and the scent of lemon cleaner filled his nostrils. He found his sisters in the dining room, huddled over the pizza he’d ordered thirty minutes ago.
“Hope you saved some for me,” he said.
Grace’s long blond hair hung over her shoulder in damp strands. She plated a slice of pizza, the cheese stretching temptingly. “Better hurry.”
Levi grabbed a chair and tore off a slice, giving silent thanks as he bit into the heavenly mound of meat and cheese.
“What a weekend, huh?” Molly brushed her dark ponytail over her shoulder. “Full house and a graduation to boot. We survived.”
