Except she was a family lawyer, and she didn’t know the first thing about property law.
Jack trailed off and straightened his back. He peered at her, and his eyebrows drew together. “I’m guessing by the look on your face that you didn’t know about any of this.”
Emma gripped the counter to keep from keeling over. “You are still good at guessing.”
Why did they go to Jack, of all people, for help?
And why was she finding out here, of all places?
She’d ducked into Harper’s Brew after hours spent with Marley combing through research and books in the library, in the hopes of coming up for air. Her feet had led her to the Brew before she knew what she was doing, and she hadn’t talked herself out of it.
Now, she wished she had.
Why had her father summoned her back after all this time?
And what did the upcoming eclipse have to do with any of it?
“I’ll get you something to drink. You look like you could use it.” Jack reached behind him for a bottle of merlot and poured a generous amount into a glass. In the background, someone called his name, and he offered her a sheepish smile before disappearing behind a set of doors that led into the back.
Emma downed her drink in one gulp and reached into her purse for her wallet.
She left a few bills on the counter, bundled up, and paused to tighten the scarf around her neck. In the doorway, she paused to peer at the flurry of freshly fallen snow and frowned.
At the library, Emma was shivering and trying to bring some warmth back to her extremities. She alternated between skimming through the books Marley had left for her and turning Jack’s words over and over in her head.
The bank couldn’t take the estate, not after everything her parents had sacrificed to build a good life.
They’d both poured their blood, sweat, and tears into the place, and none of it seemed fair to her.
As the hours rolled by, Emma sat at a table in the back, her mind racing with possibilities, and her stomach only tightened further. Marley came to check on her a few times, her face flushed with color as she took care of inventory. When it was time for Emma to leave, she sat outside in the car, peering through the windshield.
Jules came out a few times to beckon her in, the moon high in the sky behind her, but Emma kept waving her away.
She wasn’t ready to go in yet, not when she had no idea what was going to come out of her mouth.
Emma wasn’t sure if she was ready to confront Henry about the motive behind sending the letter, and she had no idea if she wanted to know why she really came back.
All she knew was that sitting in the toasty car, in the middle of a flurry, listening to Christmas music on the radio made her feel like the world around her wasn’t spinning.
Over the next few days, Emma spent as little time at home as possible, opting to take Jules out ice-skating and have breakfast at Harper’s Brew. While Jules was getting acquainted with the town, Emma sequestered herself in a quiet corner of the library.
She desperately hoped it had the answers she was looking for.
Even when a small part of her knew it couldn’t.
On the fifth day after learning about the foreclosure, Marley came to find her and pulled out a bean bag to sit on. She tucked the skirt around her, brushed lint off her sweater, and took off her glasses, hazel eyes swimming with concern. “You want to tell me what’s wrong?”
Emma lowered the book and blew out a breath. “I don’t know.”
Marley leaned forward to pat Emma’s hand. “That’s okay. Why don’t we just sit here together? I’ve got a break anyway.”
Emma placed the book on her lap and lifted her gaze to the ceiling. “Do you ever feel conflicted about something, but you’re not sure if finding out the truth would make things better?”
“Yeah, I know the feeling.”
“I found out from Jack that my parents’ finances aren’t doing so good, specifically the house, and it makes me wonder if the real reason my dad asked me to come back is because of the foreclosure notice.”
She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it.
