he had never known the world could be so exciting.
“He and Sierra are getting married, apparently, as soon as the divorce goes through. He needs the money to set up their life together.”
The bastard. The man had three amazing sons he had all but abandoned, sons who deserved a father in their lives.
The boys were struggling so much right now. Will was causing trouble in school, with frequent notes being sent home about his behavior. Ryan had developed anxiety issues and was afraid of everything from gym class to eating school lunch, retreating into a world of books to escape the stress of his family imploding. Charlie, the youngest and barely five, had become clingy and needy and never wanted to play with friends, only stay close to his mother.
“My attorney is going to fight his request to reduce the child support. She says I need to take Rich for everything he has.”
“Sounds like good advice to me.”
“I know. But I don’t want to be the vindictive ex-wife. I hate what he’s turning me into,” Melody said, her voice troubled.
“He’s not turning you into anything.” Cooper hugged his baby sister, aching that he couldn’t fix this for her. “You’re amazing, still the sweetest, kindest woman I know. Nothing you do to retaliate against that bastard you married will ever change that.”
She gave a rough-sounding laugh. “You’re my brother. I know I can always count on you to back me up, no matter what.”
“I mean it,” he said gruffly, giving her another hug.
She hugged him back, and he couldn’t help noticing she had lost weight even in the two months he had been back in Cape Sanctuary. Was she eating anything?
“This is so hard,” she mumbled after a moment. “I really loved him, you know?”
“I know.”
He hated this helpless feeling, one that seemed all too familiar. The grim knowledge that he couldn’t fix everything wrong in his sister’s life, any more than he could fix their alcoholic mother or breathe life back into Steve Harper’s lungs.
“You’re staying for spaghetti, right?” she said, pulling away after a minute.
“I’ve got a better idea,” he said on impulse. “Let’s go out to dinner. We can hit that new pizza place in town or go find burgers.”
Melody gave a pained laugh. “I look horrible. I don’t know if I want to be seen in public today.”
“You look great, as always.”
“That sounds like the perfect idea tonight,” she said. “You’re the best big brother on the planet. You know that, right?”
Both of them knew that was far from true, but he wasn’t about to argue with her when she already had so much on her plate.
“Hey, guys. Grab your shoes. We’re going out,” Cooper called to his nephews.
He was still tired after working a double shift, but he would try to find enough energy for dinner, especially if it could make Melody smile.
8
OLIVIA
Walking into the main building at Harper Hill Home & Garden the next afternoon triggered hundreds of scent memories in Olivia, one after another. Loamy. Sharp. Sweet. Sawdust and flowers and dirt.
She had a million things to do. The list Juliet had texted her waited urgently on her phone. Olivia pushed everything away to focus on inhaling the scents of her childhood.
In many ways, she had grown up here at the garden center, even more than she had at Sea Glass Cottage. She had played dolls in the shade of the trees for sale, had engaged in hide-and-seek games with Natalie between the aisles, had gone for endless rides in the wheelbarrow, pushed by her father.
The family business was as much a part of her childhood as school, her friends and the recreational opportunities available along the coast.
The store had been started by ancestors on her father’s side three generations back, first as an agricultural supply store frequented by all the farmers who had originally settled this area of California.
Around her grandfather’s time, the focus of Harper Hill Home & Garden began to transition from working farmers to hobbyists, those who planted vegetable gardens in every available sun-facing patch and flowers in containers and baskets and patio strips.
Her father had enjoyed running a greenhouse and garden supply business, and was good at it, but he had loved helping others more. If Steve Harper could have made a living in Cape Sanctuary as a full-time firefighter and EMT, he would have jumped at the chance. During her childhood, though, the entire fire department had been volunteer except the chief.