Coming Home to Seashell Harbor (Seashell Harbor #1) - Miranda Liasson Page 0,27

what became of it.”

They all knew what Seashell Harbor diamonds were—bits of quartz that had made their way down streams and tributaries in the Catskills, getting polished and hewn as they bumped their way down to the ocean and washed up along the beaches. Local shops had been selling them for as long as Seashell Harbor had been a tourist attraction.

“Is it her wedding ring?” Kit asked.

Darla sat down on the bed, staring at the ring. “It’s not a wedding ring.” She turned it over in her hand. “But there’s a family legend. My great-great-grandmother bought this ring herself—it was pretty cheap then—and pretended to be married so she could buy property at a time when only men could. She became the very first businesswoman in town.”

“What was her business?” Hadley asked. Darla’s mom was a nurse who lived on a quaint little farm just outside of town. This was the first she’d heard of a feisty great-great-anything.

“She bought the Kepler House,” Darla said.

Kit examined the ring. “No way. I’ve always loved that place. It’s got great bones.”

Only Kit would say that. To everyone else, the place was an old, run-down, turreted mansion on the outskirts of town. But then, Kit had inherited an old house that had been in Carson’s family for years that she’d placed on the market because she couldn’t afford to rehab it.

“She escaped a bad marriage but pretended to be a widow and bought the house and turned it into a home for unwed mothers.” The ring caught the sunlight from the windows and cast prisms on the walls as Darla spoke. “She ran classes about childcare and personal finances and helped the young women get jobs and an education. She was a real trailblazer for her time.”

“This gets even more amazing,” Hadley said. “I’m so glad you found it.”

“It’s not that surprising,” Kit said. “You have a lot of her traits, Darla. Courage, going against the grain, speaking out when something’s not right.”

“You make me sound heroic.” Darla gave a little shrug. “All I did was survive cancer treatments.”

“Which is extremely heroic,” Hadley said.

A little while later, when the last box was finally unpacked, Hadley realized Jagger had snuck out of the room. And it was awfully quiet. “Uh-oh,” she said, looking around. “Where’d my furry friend go?” She envisioned the kitchen torn apart, food scavenged from the counter, Ollie huddled somewhere, frightened.

“Come see this,” Kit whispered, beckoning with her hand from the doorway.

Hadley walked over to Kit, Darla right behind her. There, on what had to be a designer couch in the great room, was Ollie, fast asleep, curled up against Jagger.

“What a sweetheart,” Darla said. “He’s not shy about making himself at home.”

“I’d love to give him a home,” Hadley said, “but he’s bigger than half my apartment in LA.” Knowing that Darla had never owned a dog, she turned to Kit first. “How about some company for Rex?” Rex, a black Lab, had been Carson’s dog.

“No thanks,” Kit said adamantly. “I can barely take care of Ollie and me.”

“Don’t look at me,” Darla said. “I sit in a chair and write all day. I’d be a terrible dog parent.”

Eventually they went back into Darla’s bedroom and poured one more glass of wine before sitting on the floor talking.

“You both are the best, you know that?” Darla said, a little bit teary-eyed.

“Darla, is something wrong?” Hadley’s stomach dropped like a bag of bricks. Between the sudden teariness and the mention of bloodwork, she couldn’t help thinking what if Darla’s cancer was back and she’d waited till they were all together…

Darla sat back against the bed frame. “Nothing bad.” She looked at Hadley. “It’s just…when was the last time we were all together? I don’t even remember. I mean, I’ve seen you both separately when you came to see me during chemo, but when was the last time all three of us were in the same place for a while?”

“Last Christmas?” Kit asked.

“No,” Darla said. “Hadley was skiing in Aspen.”

Cooper’s idea. How had she let him talk her into not coming home for the holidays?

“Well, we’re all together now and I just want to say…I’ve missed you all.” Darla raised her glass to her friends. “Thank you for coming to help me. And for all you’ve done for me over these past two years. I’m so happy to have you as my friends.”

“Hear, hear.” Kit raised her glass next.

They all toasted to the panoramic view of the Atlantic just outside the window. Hadley