always sparked questions about whom she did resemble. She had asked her mother a few times about her birth mother, but the question had always put her mother in such a dark mood she had stopped asking.
As she approached Elaine, her stomach tightened with nerves. As if sensing her, Elaine looked up and smiled. “Libby, you made it.”
Libby held up the cake. “Thank you for having me.”
Elaine took the cake. “That’s very sweet of you.”
“My neighbor Sierra Mancuso is opening a sandwich shop soon. She’s very good, and she wanted us to enjoy it.”
“It smells amazing.”
“It is.”
Ted came up beside Elaine. “Welcome back. I know I’ll be having at least two pieces. I know Margaret won’t mind an unplanned dessert.”
“Ted is grilling, and Margaret is just finishing up a couple of side dishes in the kitchen. I did set the table,” Elaine said, laughing. “It’s the extent of my culinary talents.” She turned toward her daughter. “I would like you to meet Lofton.”
Ted took the cake from Elaine, and as he set it in the center of the farmhouse table, Elaine clasped her daughter’s hand and tugged her forward. “This is Lofton. I think I told you she just graduated from the University of Virginia law school.”
Libby shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Lofton. And congratulations on the law degree.”
“Thank you,” Lofton said. “Mom tells me you took some amazing pictures at Ginger’s wedding.”
“I think I got a couple of great shots.” For some reason, she felt the need to toot her own horn.
Ted handed Libby and Lofton glasses of red wine. “I opened a bottle Elaine and I bought in Naples last year while in Europe. Seemed the perfect night to try it.”
The warm fruity flavor tasted good, and the alcohol would soon take the edge off. “I saw Colton’s truck out front.” She wasn’t going to ask a forward question about whether he was coming or not, even though she hoped the extra place setting was for him. “How is the greenhouse coming?”
“It looks fantastic,” Elaine said. “The vines are all stripped away, and the inside is all cleaned out. We’ll have to walk down after dinner.”
“I’d like that.”
“Next up is to remove the stone flooring and excavate down so he can install a new gravity-fed water system. That starts in a day or two. I have a few of Olivia’s early gardening journals. You said you were interested.”
“That would be great. I’ll have them back to you shortly.”
“There’s no rush,” Elaine said.
“Are you giving Libby my great-grandmother’s journals?” Lofton asked.
“Sure,” Elaine said. “Libby is photographing the estate for me. If we go into this wedding venue business as you have been suggesting, then we’ll need photographs with background history.”
Lofton’s polished finger tapped against the side of her glass. “Yes, but she doesn’t need the journals.”
“Lofton, help me with the grill,” Ted said. “I don’t want to burn the steaks.”
As if sensing a warning in her father’s tone, Lofton grinned. “Sure, Daddy.”
Lofton and Ted retreated to the grill. Libby took another sip of wine.
“You know what?” Libby said. “I’ll take a raincheck on the journals. I don’t have time to read them anyway.”
“You strike me as the kind of woman who finds the time, and Lofton has just become a little overprotective since I got sick. Don’t worry about it. I’ll send them to you.”
“Did I miss much?” Colton’s deep voice mingled with Sam and Jeff’s chatter. Margaret walked beside him carrying a bowl of potato salad. Colton had a platter filled with steamed corn on the cob.
The boys ran past Libby and straight up to Lofton, who promptly grabbed Jeff by the midsection and turned him upside down. Jeff laughed and flailed his arms as Sam jumped up and down, begging, “Pick me up!”
Margaret set her bowl of salad on the table, glancing up at Elaine. The two exchanged glances, but Libby couldn’t decipher their silent communication.
“Last summer the boys spent a lot of time with Lofton,” Elaine explained.
“They ask about her all the time,” Colton said.
“I wish she were staying longer this summer. She and Ted have such fun together,” Elaine said. “But she’s clerking in DC. Very big step for her.”
Libby sipped her wine, remembering the last time she and her father had had real fun together. She had to go back a few years and sort through the days before she’d met Jeremy.
They had been cleaning out the family attic. He had found a box of Libby’s baby clothes. Tiny pink, yellow, and