social media campaign to a new client, she admitted.
“I’ll give her a call, then.”
“I always liked her. That poor girl. She deserves better than that fool she married.”
“We definitely agree on that.”
Though she didn’t want to bother her mother with more questions about the garden center, Olivia needed information. She and her mother talked details about inventory and staffing for a few more moments. She thought she knew exactly why her mother’s gaze kept drifting to the door.
“So,” Olivia finally said. “Henry Cragun. What’s going on there?”
Color climbed her mother’s cheeks. “Nothing! Henry is a good friend,” she said, rather primly.
“A very good friend, apparently. He was at the cottage past one in the morning working on a ramp for you.”
“Along with Caitlin and Jake.”
“Right. But Henry was the one who instigated it. And he’s also the one who insisted on hanging around to make sure you can get home safely from the hospital.”
“Don’t go getting any ridiculous ideas,” Juliet said, her voice stern. “Henry Cragun and I are friends and that’s all we’ll ever be. Is that clear?”
“Perfectly,” a deep voice answered. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, Olivia looked to the doorway to find Henry framed there, his features impassive.
Oh darn. This was her fault. She should never have teased her mother about him. Apparently Juliet didn’t have a sense of humor when it came to Henry.
Olivia waited for her mother to apologize or say she didn’t mean her words, but Juliet only lifted her chin. “I cherish our friendship,” she said, stressing the last word.
Henry didn’t look offended at all, which made Olivia wonder if she was imagining the entire thing.
The nurse pushed her way into the room amid the awkwardness. “Sorry to interrupt,” she said. “I wanted to let you know the doctor has put in all the discharge orders and I’ve got a few things to go over with you about what you can expect after your release.”
“Perfect,” Juliet said brightly, obviously eager to change the subject.
The nurse pulled up a chair next to Juliet’s bedside and Olivia grabbed her phone so she could make notes about what might be required.
Henry stood for a moment, then appeared to think his presence was superfluous.
“I’ve got more phone calls to make,” he said.
“You don’t have to hang around all day waiting on me.”
“I’m here,” he answered, his voice just as firm. Without waiting for her to argue, he headed out the door.
The nurse, going through papers in her hand and apparently oblivious to the subtle tension in the room, stood back up. “I forgot to add a couple of important contact numbers. Sorry. Give me a minute.”
As soon as she left the room, Juliet turned on Olivia. “You don’t have to say anything.” Her mother looked rueful. “I know. I was rude.”
Olivia raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t say a word.”
“You were thinking it, weren’t you?”
Olivia had no answer and after a moment her mother sighed. “He doesn’t mean it. Henry understands there will never be anything between us but friendship.”
She wasn’t sure she wanted to have this conversation with her mother. She still couldn’t wrap her head around the idea of her mother in a relationship with anyone. If her goal was to improve her relationship with Juliet, though, she would have to be more open to the possibility.
“Why, though? Henry is a terrific man. He’s good-looking. He’s hardworking. He’s a great father. He’s always been a good friend to you. What better basis can you ask for a relationship?”
Her words seemed to distress Juliet further. “I can’t and that’s all I’m going to say about it.”
Olivia blinked at her mother’s vehement tone. “Okay. Sorry. Forget I said anything.”
The nurse came in right after that, holding out the papers. “All right. I think I’ve got everything now.”
“No problem,” Juliet said with a smile that betrayed none of her earlier frustrated tone.
While the nurse began going through the information they would need for Juliet’s care, Olivia listened with half of her attention, the rest of it focused on her mother’s love life. Or lack thereof.
Her father had been gone a long time. A lifetime, it sometimes felt. Steve Harper’s death had devastated all the women in his family.
His wife and his two daughters reacted so very differently to his death. Juliet became focused on saving the family business.
Already hanging with a wild crowd before Steve died in that building fire, Natalie seemed to have lost all restraint afterward, burying her deep unhappiness beneath a crackly veneer of