“Night,” he said. Then because she’d pretty much made his night he added, “Thanks, Molly.”
She gave him a knowing smile. “You’re welcome, brother dear.”
thirty-one
Mia pulled a handful of books from the shelves and added them to the stack on the floor. She and Levi had already looked behind every wall hanging in the inn, and now they were in the library, clearing the shelves. The scent of lemon wood polish mingled with the musty smell of old books.
She glanced at Levi, who was working on an adjacent shelf. “I always thought it would be cool to find one of those secret library walls.”
“Well, I hate to be a dream crusher. But this is a corner room, bordered by a hallway and lobby, so I don’t think it’s going to happen today.”
“I’d settle for a secret safe containing that necklace.”
“Wouldn’t we all.”
They were running out of places to look. He’d mentioned a crawl space under the house, but neither of them could imagine Dorothy putting the Carolina Breeze in that damp, dark space.
Mia pulled a stack of Lee Child books from the next shelf. “Somebody likes the Jack Reacher series. There must be twenty of them here.”
“Those were my dad’s. He liked to read as much as Molly.”
He hadn’t talked much about his parents. It must be a painful subject. “What was he like, your dad?”
“He was an attorney here in town. He really liked helping people, though that’s not something he ever would’ve admitted to. He was a congenial guy, but he was quiet about it. He had this great dry sense of humor—I didn’t really appreciate that until I was in my late teens. I guess most of it went over my head before then. He sure loved my mom though. I used to moan and groan about the way they were always touching each other. But man... That’s pretty great to be so in love after all those years.”
“He sounds terrific. I can’t imagine what it would be like to evenhavea dad. I mean, some of my friends did, of course, but—” She shook her head.
“You were five when he took off?”
It warmed her that he’d remembered. “Yeah. That’s pretty young, huh?”
“What happened between your parents? Did your mom ever say?”
“She said he couldn’t deal with the realities of the business. He was jealous of the men she was with on-screen and jealous of the attention she got in public.”
Levi paused in his task. “And you never heard from him again?”
Mia shrugged. “Nope.”
She didn’t want to talk about her dad anymore. Maybe she’d come to grips with the abandonment, but it still wasn’t a pleasant topic.
“What about your mom?” Mia asked. “What was she like?”
“She was pretty great too. She was more free-spirited than Dad. She was the outgoing one—everyone liked her. We couldn’t go anywhere without her running into someone she had to chat with.”
“Sounds like Molly.”
“Yeah, Molly takes after her a lot. And I guess Grace got our dad’s dry sense of humor.”
“What did you get?”
He paused, a thoughtful look on his face. “They were very different, my mom and dad. I guess I got my mom’s conscience and my dad’s pragmatism—and his height.”
They’d both moved toward the bookshelf corner, bringing them closer together.
She gave him a look from the corner of her eyes. “I think you got your dad’s looks too. I saw the photo hanging in the lobby. He was very handsome.” Almost as handsome as Levi, with that dark hair and those sky-blue eyes.
Levi turned those eyes on her now, his lips quirking. His arm brushed hers as he pulled books from the shelf.
