Is It Any Wonder (Nantucket Love Story #2) - Courtney Walsh Page 0,88

she dreaming? Had he materialized out of thin air as a result of her foolish mental ramblings?

“Sorry; didn’t mean to scare you.”

Her face flushed and she tried to gather herself. “No, it’s fine. I didn’t hear the door.” How had she not heard the door? And could he tell by the look on her face she’d just gotten to the part of the daydream where they were about to start kissing?

“I let myself in. I saw Maggie through the window—she’s asleep in the chair.” His eyes widened as they drifted down to the mess she’d made.

“It’s organized chaos,” she said, looking around. “What are you doing here?”

“I talked to my mom tonight.”

She went still. “That’s good.” He probably heard the uncertainty in her voice.

He stood straight, like a man who’d been trained to do so. “Not good, actually.”

“Is she okay?”

“She’s coming for Maggie’s party.”

Louisa’s heart nearly burst. “That’s great.” She stood up, setting aside the stack of unopened mail in her hand. “That’s so great.”

“No, Lou, it’s really not great.”

Her heart deflated. “It’s not?”

“I asked you not to invite her.” He seemed to be talking through gritted teeth and trying very hard not to lose his cool.

“And I decided to ignore you.” She tried to sound sorry but avoided his eyes.

“I should’ve known.”

Louisa folded her arms across her chest. “I know you’re upset, but your mom has a right to be here. She has a right to say goodbye.”

“But that’s not why you invited her.” He took a step closer, keeping his voice low, but his anger was easily detected.

“It is too.”

“No, it’s not,” he said. “You told me as much. You’re trying to fix this. You think that if everyone comes back together, they’ll all be one happy family again.”

She could feel a flame flicker inside her. “Well, what’s so wrong with that? What’s wrong with wanting the people I love to love each other again?”

“They’re past that, Louisa.”

She lifted her chin. “They are not.”

He paused. “You know they are.”

Why did she feel like they weren’t talking about their parents? Why did she feel like this was his way of telling her that no matter how kind he’d been—no matter how gentle his touch or patient his demeanor—the two of them were beyond repair?

No birthday wish would ever bring them back together.

“You can’t fix everything, Louisa. It’s broken. Leave it alone.” His tone had softened, but she heard the warning in his voice. What was he so afraid of?

“You know I can’t do that.” His face blurred behind the cloud of tears that filled her eyes.

“Yes, you can. You have to learn to leave things alone.”

Normally she would’ve had a witty retort at the ready, but she simply didn’t have the energy to be funny right now. She didn’t want to know what “things” he was talking about, and she couldn’t shake the idea that it wasn’t “things” at all—it was people, namely him, that he wanted left alone.

“All right.” She was aware of the stubbornness in her own voice. “If you want me to leave things alone, then I won’t tell you what I just found.”

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking like he was trying not to care.

She picked up the mail she’d sorted and pretended to sort more. She also pretended that it had no effect on her whatsoever that he was standing within a foot of her, so close she could inhale the scent of him—a scent that was starting to become familiar and one she was certain would always make her think of him.

“Fine.” He said it like it was a complete sentence and not one he wanted to say.

She looked at him. “Fine what?”

“Don’t do that, Louisa. Tell me what you found. Was it a dead chipmunk? Because I’m pretty sure there’s got to be some sort of animal carcass in this mess.”

She thumbed through the pages and found the one with the abnormal cash deposit. He took it, scanned it, then looked up at her, a lost expression on his face.

She pointed to the total—$52,675—and waited for the light bulb.

“That’s the same amount as one of my father’s withdrawals,” he said.

“I thought it might be,” she said.

“Was there another one for $25,382?”

“No. At least not that I’ve found yet. There’s a lot more to go through.”

“Did you ask Maggie about it?”

She shook her head. “To be honest, I don’t think she has any idea what all is up here. These envelopes were still sealed. It was like she handed her money