Chapter One
“That…that can’t be.” Harper stared at her niece’s phone screen. Willa had done a search for Buck McCandless, the results of which were now on display. Buck was the biological father of Harper, and her sister, Frankie. The same man the biological mother they’d just met had just told them was dead.
Unbelievable. Sharlene was a real piece of work to tell them such a lie.
Willa pushed the screen closer to Harper and her mother. “It shows a guy named Buck McCandless taking second place in some fishing competition.” Willa glanced at the screen again. “Says it’s from three years ago.”
The room felt like it was spinning. Harper didn’t know what to think. She put her hands on the kitchen counter to brace herself.
Frankie leaned in to get a better look. “It’s got to be a different guy by the same name. We don’t have any idea what he’d look like now, so a picture isn’t much help.”
Harper remembered vaguely what her father had looked like, but now? Forty-seven years later? With gray hair and an equallygray beard, plus a few added pounds? Her distant memory wouldn’t be much help.
Willa shrugged and took the phone back. “Maybe it’s not him. But we’ll find out soon enough. I found this guy on Facebook and sent him a message.”
Harper’s stomach churned. “You did what?”
Willa went back to the couch where she’d been sitting with Archie, Harper’s apricot labradoodle. “I messaged him. Asked if he’d once been married to a woman named Sharlene. How else was I supposed to find out?”
Harper stood there, mouth open, genuinely speechless.
Thankfully, Frankie picked up the slack. “Willa, sweetheart, don’t you think you could have talked to us first? This is sort of your aunt’s and my business.”
Willa frowned at them. “Um, he is mygrandfather. Don’t you think that makes it my business, too?”
Harper turned away and busied herself with the chicken breasts she was grilling for their dinner. “I don’t know what to make of this,” she whispered quietly enough so that only Frankie would hear.
Frankie came over and put her arm around Harper’s shoulders. “How about we have a glass of wine?”
“Yes.”
“On it,” Frankie said.
Harper stared at the chicken, sizzling away in the grill pan. She hadn’t wanted to meet their mother, but she’d done it and it had gone about as badly as she’d anticipated. Maybe worse, in some regards. Now their father might not actually be dead?
If he wasn’t, Shar had lied to them. Why wouldn’t Shar want them to meet Buck? There had to be a reason.
As that thought settled over her, a new resolve rose up in Harper. Tongs in hand, she turned back around. “Let me know as soon as you hear from him, Willa.”
Willa’s brows rose. “Yeah?”
Harper nodded before going back to the chicken. “Yeah. I want to know what he says. If that’s him.” She turned the chicken breasts over. They’d be done soon. She clicked the tongs together like castanets. “And if it istheBuck McCandless, I…want to meet him.”
Bottle of wine in hand, Frankie’s mouth came open as her forehead wrinkled in disbelief. “You want to meethimbut you didn’t want to meet her?”
“That’s right. It’s only fair to get both sides of the story.”
“I’d agree with that,” Willa said.
“No one asked you,” Frankie shot back teasingly. She pulled the cork from the bottle then set it on the counter.
“Mom! Rude.” Willa laughed.
Smiling a little, Harper slanted her eyes at Frankie. “It was kind of rude. Even Archie’s giving you a look.”
“He is not.” Frankie playfully crossed her arms. “But I see how it is. Now you two are ganging up on me?”
Harper ignored the comment. “Do you not want to meet him? You were so gung-ho about Sharlene, I just thought—”
