“Greg Sullivan better hope he never crosses my path,” Aunt Janice declared. “I’ll take a tire iron to him.”
Nic grinned. That was no idle talk. Aunt Janice would do it.
“It’s been four years, and I still have moments where the memories catch me off guard. I guess it’s only natural that I’m more wary when it comes to men.”
“Between your skunk of a father and snake of a husband, you’ve had some bad breaks. You need to find a man like your uncle David.” Janice smiled wistfully and glanced toward the hill to the north, where her husband rested in Eternity Springs Cemetery.
“Don’t I wish,” Nic agreed. “Problem is, men like that are hard to find.”
“You just have to know where to look.” Janice shot her a sidelong look and said, “Your mom can tell you that.”
Nic stopped dead in her tracks. “Mom?”
“Yep.”
“You’re kidding me!”
“Nope. He’s a widower she met on our trip to Italy. He lives in Miami and they see each other quite a bit. I think it’s serious.”
Nic was thrilled for her mom, yet her feelings were hurt. “Why hasn’t she told me about him?”
Janice grabbed Nic’s hand and squeezed it. “She’s afraid. She loved your father deeply whether he deserved it or not.”
“Not.”
“Trust is a real issue with her as a result. She’ll tell you about Alan—that’s his name, Alan Parks—when she’s more secure in the relationship. I thought it best to give you a heads-up.”
Nic understood about trust. It was one of her bugaboos, too—as her reaction to Sage and Gabe’s interaction proved. “I’m glad for her, Aunt Janice. Shocked, though. It’s been such a long time since Bryce Randall walked out on us. She said she’d never love again, and I believed her. I’m shocked she let this Alan Parks get close.”
“He was sneaky about it. I like the man.” It had begun to snow, and Janice flipped the hood up on her coat and suggested they turn around. “My blood has gotten thin while living in Florida. So, what about you, honey? Do you see yourself falling in love again? Maybe with this hunky Callahan guy?”
“I admit I thought about it, but I don’t think Gabe is the guy. It appears that the walls around his heart are higher and thicker than mine. I do hope I’ll fall in love again someday, though. I want to.”
Nic tilted her face toward the sky, felt the cold kiss of snowflakes on her cheeks, and smiled. “Bryce P. Randall III and Greg Sullivan played havoc on my past; I don’t want to give them the power to ruin my future.”
“You go, girl. I’m glad to hear you say that. I’ve worried about you, you know. When you moved here as a girl, you were like a young Hester Prynne wearing a scarlet I-for-illegitimate on your shirt. I don’t know that your mother ever realized how deeply affected you were by the fact your mother wasn’t married to your father, but David and I saw it.”
“We lived in a very conservative town. It was hard.”
“I know, dear. And I know that you were hurt by Greg and his wandering penis. I’ve been afraid you wouldn’t stay at the plate and take another pitch.”
Nic grinned at the expression her aunt had used, then declared, “I refuse to be a quitter, Aunt Janice.”
They reached the corner of Aspen and Seventh and turned toward home. Nic’s gaze lifted toward Murphy Mountain. “That said, I’m afraid that learning to trust a man again will be more difficult than falling in love will be. Trust is a tough one—just look at Mom.”
“It’ll happen for you.” Aunt Janice linked her arm through Nic’s. “I believe in that old cliché about time healing all wounds.”
Nic nodded and added, “Time, distance, and Eternity Springs.”
Ten days later, Nic recalled the conversation as she pulled her truck into the driveway at Cavanaugh House and sat for a moment, looking at the sprawling Victorian. The place looked postcard pretty with snow icing the gables, the mountain behind it, and expanse of yard in the front. “Time, distance, and Eternity Springs,” she murmured. That would make a good marketing slogan for Celeste’s healing center. She’d have to remember to tell her.
The initial cleanup in the wake of the fire was just about finished. Unfortunate though it had been, the fire had worked magic on the town’s off-season economy, providing a windfall to local contractors and the building supply store. The Elkhorn Lodge