but it wouldn’t feel real until tomorrow morning, when her aunt and uncle drove away in the big-ass RV sitting in the backyard. Uncle Jasper had left the other half to his nephew, Reuben, who’d always been referred to as her cousin, although he really wasn’t blood kin at all. It wasn’t the best of situations, but Jolene was determined to make it work.
She’d miss Aunt Sugar and Uncle Jasper, but Reuben could suck the life right out of the magic the inn had if he was as obnoxious as he’d been as a kid. Hopefully, he’d changed and he had some savings. Surely he did—after all, he’d been a college professor for years. He might have been a bully when they were kids, but he must have put back some money. If he was willing to invest it in the inn, they could do some remodeling and be ready to reopen by Easter weekend. She had the figures all worked out on paper, and he wouldn’t even have to live there or run the place. She’d be glad to split the profits with him, even more so if he stayed far, far away.
Tucker Malone pulled the painter’s tape from the edge of the crown molding, made sure everything was cleaned up, and locked up when he left. Job finished—year done. Tomorrow was New Year’s Day. He stopped by his favorite liquor store on his way home, but the parking lot was full. That meant people were standing in line, and Tucker was too tired for that after working fourteen hours to finish up the job. He drove to a smaller store on the other side of town and found only half a dozen cars in the parking lot.
“Happy New Year’s,” a bunch of kids yelled at him.
“Not until after midnight, and I bet you got whatever is in that brown bag with a fake ID,” Tucker grumbled.
An older man, wearing a well-worn cap with Army emblazoned on it, held the door for him as he started into the store. Tucker nodded. “Thank you, sir, and thank you for your service.”
“Been a long time since anyone called me sir,” the old guy said, hoisting his brown paper bag. “May the new year bring you happiness.”
“That would require a miracle, but same to you, sir.” The veteran couldn’t know that happiness hadn’t been in Tucker’s world in a very long time.
“Amen to that.” The man disappeared into the darkness.
Tucker picked up a six-pack of beer and a small bottle of whiskey. Tomorrow was a holiday. That meant no one would be purchasing liquor that day, and he damn sure didn’t want to run out. The lady behind the counter tallied up the price. He wasn’t surprised that she didn’t ask for his ID. With the crow’s-feet around his blue eyes, he looked every bit of his thirty-seven years and felt twenty years older. Tucker stuck his credit card into the chip reader and waited for the beep telling him to remove it. The gold wedding band on his left hand caught his eye as he put the card back in his wallet. If Melanie were still with him, they’d be celebrating the coming of a new year in a totally different way.
“Happy New Year.” The lady looked over his shoulder to the next customer.
“You, too.” He picked up his purchases and carried them to his truck. He was tempted to get out a beer right then and drink it warm. But drinking while driving was what had gotten him thrown off the Dallas police force. The very next day he’d visited Melanie’s graveside and given her his word that he’d never do such a stupid thing again.
He caught the highway headed north and had only a couple of bouts of road rage on the way to the RV park that he’d called home for almost two years. He eased his truck into the narrow space between his trailer and the one next to it. Getting out without hitting the side of his neighbor’s trailer took a stone-cold-sober man. Maybe Melanie was watching out from her place in heaven for that, too.
He set his beer and whiskey on the concrete slab that served as a porch and unlocked the door. Sassy, his big, fluffy white cat, darted out from under the trailer and beat him inside.
“Hello, honey, I’m home.” He set his packages on the cabinet and picked up a picture from the top of the television. “How was your day?” He