Page 31 of Unpacking Secrets
She finally forced her eyes back to my face. I grinned at her obvious reluctance, but then she wrinkled her nose and I was distracted by how adorable I found that particular expression.
“Well, the local hillsides are quite memorable.” She smirked when I laughed. “But yes, I like the area. The town, the lake. It’s beautiful here. I just feel like a total outsider, you know? Like I plunged into taking on this wholelifeinvolved with the inn and this house and I don’t know anything about any of it.”
“It’s a lot to deal with,” I said gently.
“My mom didn’t even tell me. Not once in my entire life. All of this history, and she left me a note to find after she died.”
No turning back now—apparently we were venturing into deeper topics. Later, maybe she’d blame the painkillers or exhaustion for oversharing and letting me in, but at this exact moment, I couldn’t deny the simple feeling of connection running like an invisible thread between us.
Iwantedthat connection, wanted to earn her trust, especially after I’d bungled so badly before, so I nodded sympathetically.
“Mrs. Gregson mentioned that after you called. What did it say?”
“That I needed to protect myself, that the choices she made were a matter of life and death, and that the owner of the inn would explain it all. It’s here somewhere but I can’t find the damn thing. The last thing she wrote to me, and I lost it.”
Her voice wavered and I shook my head, hoping she wouldn’t burst into tears. “Hey, we’ll find it. Look at all this stuff—it’s like a needle in a haystack right now, but it’s gotta be somewhere. I’ll help you.”
After a shaky breath, she nodded. “Thank you. These boxes seemed less overwhelming than owning an inn at first, but now I feel like I’m drowning.”
“I’ll help,” I reiterated firmly, waiting until she cracked a tiny smile before I continued. “And if Nan left it all to you . . . well, she was the shrewdest person I’ve ever met. She must have known what she was doing.”
Juliet studied me, her eyebrows drawn together in consternation. “That sounded suspiciously like a compliment.”
“It might have been. Don’t tell anybody, though.”
“What was she like?”
My lips tugged into a smile as I looked toward the photos on the mantle.
“Feisty,” I said, cocking my head. “Smart. Canny, I think, is the word my grandfather used to use. She could be sweet as pie one minute and rip you a new one the next, without ever losing that twinkle in her eye. She knew practically everything about everyone in town, but she refused to gossip.”
“I’ve been getting that impression. The commentary in her journals is hilarious,” she said softly.
“I don’t know if she had any kind of formal education after high school, but she knew everything there was to know about running that inn. She did almost everything entirely on her own for a long time, Gramps told me, until she finally hired the folks who work there now, most of them before I was even born. She was loyal and headstrong, tough as nails. She would have loved you, Juliet.”
A visible tremor of emotion rocked her and she blinked back tears that turned her eyes a brilliant turquoise. For a moment, she avoided meeting my eyes, but I didn’t take it personally, not when I could see she was struggling to control her reaction. When her gaze landed on the photos on the mantle, it seemed to steady her, so I ventured to speak.
“I know I apologized already, but I really am sorry about how I treated you at the beginning,” I said quietly. “And if avoiding me is what kept you away from the inn, then I’m doubly sorry. I had no right to criticize you. I can’t imagine how hard it was to lose your mother and leave everything you’ve ever known to come out here.”
“I’m sorry too. Everything was just a bit overwhelming, and everyone else was so damnnice,”she said, leaning her head against the chair back.
She swallowed hard and risked a glance in my direction, catching me grinning at her disdain over the word before she went on.
“I needed something to pour my energy into and you certainly gave me that.”
“Well, I’m glad I could help, then. If there was any doubt you were Nan’s flesh and blood, it evaporated that morning. You’re every bit as feisty as she ever was.”
At that, Juliet couldn’t hold back a smile. “You think so?”
“Hell yeah.”
“Looking like someone you’ve never met isn’t much of a connection, even if it finally explained the origin of my hair color.”
“Possessing the same inner fire, though, that seems like something to cling to. Something to be proud of,” I ventured. “You’re exactly what she would have wanted in a granddaughter, Juliet.”
From the radiant expression that dawned on her face, it was exactly what she needed to hear.
Thirteen
