to come inside for coffee?” I hoped he would accept, because I was full of questions. If Emily wouldn’t answer me, then perhaps Nick would.
“Another time,” he said. “I should get back to the house. I’ll check on the patient later.”
He was out the door when I stopped him. “Nick?”
“Yeah?”
I had one arm on the frame. “I’m glad you were there.”
He cracked a smile and nodded. “Yeah, me, too.”
—
Seeing that the sky was gray and the day gloomy, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to do some baking. I had a new recipe for cranberry scones that I wanted to try and another for an egg casserole. Both were out of the oven before I noticed Emily was awake.
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” I teased.
She stretched her arms above her head. “How long was I out?”
“A couple hours at least.”
“That long? Oh dear. I was supposed to meet Dana later this afternoon. She had a few listings she wanted to show me.”
“No worries. Dana called to verify the appointment and I explained you wouldn’t be able to meet her.”
“Thanks. I’ll reschedule later.”
“How about a cup of tea and a fresh scone?” I asked.
She sighed and awkwardly transferred her leg from the sofa to the ottoman. “That sounds divine.”
While I was in the kitchen, she grabbed hold of the crutches and uneasily made her way into the bathroom, pausing when she saw her running clothes in a neatly folded pile just off the foyer. It was almost as if she’d forgotten she had on one of Nick’s T-shirts and his sweatpants, which were huge on her.
“Nick was here?”
“He stopped by earlier. You were sleeping and he said he’d check on you later.”
“Oh.” She looked away as if afraid I’d read more than warranted into her response.
I wasn’t sure how to interpret that small sound, whether she was happy Nick was coming by or if she dreaded seeing him again. I tended to think she wasn’t sure herself.
Once the tea was brewed and Emily was comfortable on the sofa once more, I carried in a tray with the pot and two of the scones, still warm from the oven. I poured and handed her the cup.
She stared down into the hot liquid as if reading her future in the tea leaves and then said, “Do you remember when I first arrived how you mentioned that the inn was a special place?” She didn’t wait for me to answer. “Can you tell me what you meant by that?”
“Sure.” I explained how Paul had come to me that night and what he’d told me.
Emily listened intently, but she didn’t seem to fully understand.
I settled back in my chair, Rover at my feet, and crossed my legs. “As you can imagine, I was skeptical about this dream myself. I mean, think about it. I wasn’t sure if in my grief I had conjured up Paul—and you need to remember that at the time I was half asleep. It was only natural to wonder if the entire episode had been a figment of my imagination.” I didn’t know how best to explain what the death of a loved one does to a person. It was as though with that one person gone, the entire world is suddenly empty.
“I’d have questions, too,” Emily agreed.
“Then my first two guests arrived. Josh Weaver was a construction project manager who’d been raised in Cedar Cove. He booked a room at the inn when he’d gotten word that his stepfather was dying. From what I learned, there was no love lost between the two men. Josh’s mother died when he was in his teens and Richard had made Josh’s life miserable in a multitude of ways.
“Unfortunately, Josh was Richard’s only family. His stepfather’s only son had died and Richard deeply resented the fact that it was his natural son who was gone and not Josh. I never got the full story of what happened between the two men, but from what I could read between the lines there was plenty of bitterness and resentment.”
Emily frowned and shook her head. “I don’t understand what you’re telling me. Are you saying that his stepdad got better? Is that the healing you’re explaining?”
“No, as a matter of fact Richard died, but before he passed, Josh and his stepfather made peace. Josh was with the older man when he died, and there was real forgiveness and love between them, something that seemed impossible only a few days earlier.”
Emily eyes brightened with