Lakeside Sweetheart (18 page)

Chapter Twenty-One

A
n hour later, Vanessa settled on the couch with her mother's journal and the envelope she'd been avoiding all day. She realized avoidance was her specialty. She'd avoided facing the truth in her life and she'd avoided any serious relationships. She'd avoided coming back to confront her mother about the things they'd left unsaid through the years. She'd avoided making sure the world knew about Gregory Pardue and what he'd done to her. And in a weird way, selling vintage clothes and collectibles had allowed her to avoid moving into the future.

She'd also avoided God and the kind of love that only having faith could bring into her life.

But she had to face facts now. No more excuses. She was done clinging to the past.

And because she wanted Rory in her life and that might mean moving back to Millbrook, she knew it was now or never on getting through this journal.

But first, the envelope, please.

She opened it and found a one-page letter from her mother.

And a birth certificate.

By the time she'd finished reading the letter and glancing over the birth certificate, Vanessa's whole life had flashed through her mind with a glaring intensity that left her gasping for breath, her sobs caught in her throat.

She didn't have to read her mother's journal to realize her whole life had been based on a lie.

* * *

Rory shoved another box of clothing into the big rental truck they'd loaded with what was left from the rummage sale.

“This should be the last of it,” Alec called out, sweat beading on his forehead as he shoved another box up the loading ramp.

Rory nodded and glanced across the street. Vanessa had never shown up to help, and her car had been gone when he'd gotten up. Early-morning errands?

He'd get a shower and go over once he'd checked on the gathering hall. But Wanda and a few other volunteers were giving it a once-over with the vacuum and brooms. The place would be spotless before Wanda released her crew.

Kandi lifted up a bag full of jewelry to him. “Have you seen Vanessa? She called Miss Wanda yesterday after we left the sale and said she had some things for me.”

Rory shook his head. “No. I'll call her later. Her car's not in the driveway. Must have gone out early for something.”

“I know where she is.”

Both Rory and Kandi turned to find Miss Fanny standing there leaning on her walker, a gloomy expression on her face.

“Where?” Rory asked, concern mounting only because Miss Fanny had never looked so glum.

Miss Fanny waited until he finished with the truck and came down the ramp. “She's gone, Rory.”

“Gone?” He checked the house again. “What do you mean?”

“I found this tucked into my screen door.” Miss Fanny handed him a square blue envelope. “It has your name on it.”

Kandi eyed the envelope and then shook her head. “She told me she might not be around for long. But I thought—”

“Me, too,” Miss Fanny said. “I thought we'd won her over.”

Kandi shot both of them a disgusted stare. “I should know not to count on anybody or anything.”

“Hey, we haven't heard what happened,” Rory warned, his heart sinking. “I'll read this, and then maybe I'll call her.”

“Right.” Kandi turned and stalked back into the church.

“I'll leave you to it,” Miss Fanny said to Rory, her eyes full of sympathy. “I hope it's nothing bad.”

Rory hoped the same. “I'll find out, good or bad.”

After they'd finished and he'd closed up the church, he went up to the little porch of his garage apartment and sat down in the rickety old lawn chair. Then he opened the card.

Rory,

I have some urgent business in Alabama. I don't know when I'll be back. Thank you again for last night. And for everything.

Vanessa

That was it. No explanation, no reason for leaving in the middle of the night. Or at least before dawn, since he'd been up that long. Rory pulled out his phone. Not even a text or missed call. It was close to two in the afternoon. He had a few hours before the rehearsal dinner for the Kent-Alvanetti wedding.

Taking out his phone, he called Vanessa.

No answer. It went straight to voice mail.

Now he was really worried.

After finding the number on her website, he called Vanessa's Vintage boutique in New Orleans. But the sales associate who answered said they hadn't heard from Vanessa today.

“She told us she'd call when she was on her way back,” the woman said. “But for now, that's probably going to be late next week since she's mostly finished with clearing out her mother's house.”

Rory thanked the woman and ended the call.

“Hey!”

He glanced down to find Alec standing by the steps up to his place. “Everything okay?”

Rory nodded and hurried down the steps. “Vanessa is gone. Left me a note saying she had to go to Alabama.”

Alec rubbed the scar that slashed across one cheek. “Well, she does have property there now. Maybe something came up.”

“Maybe,” Rory said. “But she could have called. I'm worried. Leaving a note seems odd, considering.”

Considering how they'd left things last night.

“How was she last time you saw her?”

“She was great. We had a good time. I thought things were looking up.”

Alec slapped his hand against Rory's arm. “I'm sure she's still dealing with a lot, so try not to worry. Maybe she'll be back later today.”

Rory hoped so, too. And he prayed all day long, about a lot of things. When he still hadn't heard from her later that night after the rehearsal dinner, he had to accept that she might have left because she was scared of what they felt for each other.

That meant he'd have to give her some time to decide what she really wanted to do. Or if she really wanted to be with him after all.

* * *

Vanessa stood looking up at the staircase of the Tudor-style house in Birmingham that had belonged to Richard Tucker.

Her house now. But not just because the man was generous.

She was his daughter.

A mirror centered on the wall in the entryway caught her eye. Vanessa studied herself, seeing it all so clearly now.

Richard Tucker was her father.

The dark-haired man who'd come to visit when she was young.

The man who'd bought the house in Millbrook Lake for her mother, even when he was married to another woman.

A woman who couldn't have children.

The man who'd made her mother cry over and over again.

His wife had died and Richard had come back to Cora at long last, after years of quick visits and whispered words. But neither of her parents had thought it important to explain this to Vanessa.

We felt it best to leave things as they were. We were happy and we tried to make you happy. It could have made things worse, telling you the truth since Richard had been absent from our lives for so long. I hope you will forgive us. We both loved you so much. I tried to tell you so many times.

Her mother's words in the letter.

She'd read the journal, too, even though it had made her sick to her stomach and boiling mad with anger.

But the last words of her mother's journal had finally saved Vanessa by showing her the final thread to the past.

One day, your father's legacy will become yours. He worked very hard to make sure you'd have a secure future. Vanessa, please don't waste this opportunity. Use this gift to move forward with your life. And learn from our mistakes.

Always be honest.

Always be kind.

Trust in God.

Fall in love.

Vanessa wondered why none of this had been mentioned in the will, but then Cora was ever the dramatic one. Her mother knew she'd find the journal. Knew she'd be curious.

So Cora had created one last piece of art. Pictures and words, pasted like a collage of Vanessa's life, against paper, with glue that would stick for a lifetime. Cora also knew that if anyone else found the journal or the letter, they'd make sure Vanessa got them. But mostly, her mother knew that Vanessa would come back to the house because Vanessa loved old things. Because Vanessa would want to know about the past.

So here she stood, in a house that could have been her home. Vanessa moved around the sprawling, elegant mansion, her mind thinking of so many scenarios. Should she sell this place?

Move here and try to recapture her youth?

Go home to Rory?

She voted for the last one.

Checking her watch, she saw the late hour.

Then she pulled out her phone.

Rory picked up on the fourth ring. “Hello?”

His voice slid over her in a husky whisper.

“It's me,” she said, forcing the tears out of her words.

“Hi. Are you okay?”

“I am now. I wanted you to know... I'm coming home.”

“Home? As in, to me?”

“Home to you, yes.”

“When?”

“I don't know. Maybe soon. Maybe in a few days. Or weeks.”

“Vanessa—”

“I'll explain everything when I get there.”

“Are you sure you're all right?”

“Not yet. But I will be as soon as I see you again.”

“Vanessa, I—”

“Don't. Not yet. I'll see you soon, Rory.”

“Okay, but when you get here will you please stop interrupting me?”

“Probably not. I have to go.”

She stood in the big, empty house and realized big houses didn't make homes and bad memories didn't have to ruin a house or a home. Or a future full of promise.

When her phone rang again, she shook her head. “Rory...”

But it wasn't Rory.

“Why did you leave? You know Rory loves you.”

Kandi.

“It's hard to explain.”

“Complicated? Right. Look, I know all about complicated. You're gonna have to do better than that.”

“It's tough. I found out something that kind of rocked my world.”

“In a good way?”

“Good and bad. I'm still in shock.”

“Well, snap out of it. We... I mean... Rory needs you.”

“I'm coming back,” Vanessa said to reassure Kandi and herself. “And once I get back there, I don't think I'm ever going to leave again.”

“That's more like it. Later.”

“Later.”

Vanessa put away her phone, her mind still on Kandi. She couldn't disappoint the girl. She didn't want to disappoint Rory either. Mostly, she didn't want to let go of the good parts of Millbrook Lake. The church and her friends and Rory.

I can't avoid this. I love him. I want to be with him
.

Help me, Lord. Show me the courage to follow my heart instead of holding on to my pain
.

She went from room to room in the big house, studied the huge, airy bedrooms and several roomy bathrooms, stood in the huge kitchen and imagined many happy times here, sat on a white wicker chair in the second-floor solarium and thought about reading books and drinking tea right here, and by the time she'd made it back downstairs, she knew what she wanted to do with this house.

And she knew she wasn't going to sell the Millbrook Lake house.

* * *

“I don't think she's coming back,” Rory told Alec and Blain right before the wedding was about to begin. “Something caused her to run. Something about that house and her mother. Maybe she finally read the rest of that clunky journal she kept moving from room to room.”

Blain quirked his detective eyebrows up in a question. “Do you think she found out something in the journal? Or that she's using any excuse to avoid commitment?”

“Sounds like the voice of experience,” Alec said with a wink toward Blain.

“It is the voice of experience,” Blain replied. “I wasn't one for committing to a relationship until I met Rikki.”

“The least likely candidate,” Alec said.

“Same with Vanessa,” Rory said, nodding. “She made it clear she didn't want marriage and children. And she knows how I feel about that.”

“Maybe she just wants a low-key relationship with no strings attached,” Blain said.

Rory could hear the organ music starting up. People were piling into the church. The smell of fresh lilies and sprays of jasmine filled the air. He had to get it together for Blain's sake. And the fact that Rikki would throttle him if he didn't present a happy face while he read their vows to them.

“I could live with that,” he told Blain. “For a while.”

Alec adjusted his tie. “Yes, but you want more, right?”

Rory nodded. “I fought against wanting more for a long time. After I lost Allison—”

“You deserve more,” Blain said. “And Preacher, you might take some of your own advice and trust in the man upstairs.”

Rory couldn't argue with that. “You're right. And it's time to get you to the altar. Your bride will come looking if we're late.”

Blain grinned, his dark eyes bright with love. “I can't believe I'm getting married today.”

“We're both happy for you,” Alec said. “I love being a married man.”

Rory would love that, too. But while he was happy for his two lovestruck friends, he had to wonder if he'd ever have that dream of marriage and a family again.

Vanessa might talk herself right out of coming back to Millbrook Lake.

* * *

She stood in the back of the church until she saw an open spot in the very last pew. Vanessa slid in without being noticed and took in the scene.

White lilies and baby's breath, trailing sprays of jasmine mixed with tiny white and pink roses. Candlelight and soft music. Blain looked so happy, so expectant, waiting for his bride.

Rory stood staring up the aisle, his own expression expectant. Had he seen her come in? She'd driven across Alabama to get here, but it had taken her a lifetime to find him.