Page 100 of Day Break

“When did my grandfather add Chloe to his will?” I asked, curious. I hadn’t thought about it at the time, but she’d only worked for him for three months. It was a little strange for her to be included.

I understood Grandpa giving her Byron and the truck. But I was to split the money with her fifty-fifty once my cousin and the animal shelter got their shares. That was a large chunk of money. Not that I didn’t think she deserved it. And it was, after all, my grandfather’s money to do with what he wanted.

“A little over three weeks ago,” Lee answered. “He called me, and I came up to visit him. We met at that little gas station diner he likes.”

“Right,” I said, remembering the day my grandfather had driven himself into town without Chloe or myself. I’d been flooded with work and dealing with my family. Chloe had been busy baking or tending to my family’s needs.

“He mentioned that the conversation he’d had with Chloe was behind his reasoning for splitting things down the center with you. He told me a little about her past. I would never have thought she’d been through that hell after meeting her last week,” Lee said with a sigh.

“Right,” I said. Just then I got a text from Malory to call her as soon as I could.

“I also heard from the local PD on the island that your cousins are in trouble for that little stunt they pulled when I was there. How’s the truck?” he asked.

“Fixed and sitting in the garage now.”

“Idiots. Sorry, I know they’re family, but if they didn’t want to get caught, they should have done the damage under the cover of night.”

“Right?” I chuckled as I rolled my eyes. “Neither of them have ever learned how to control themselves.” Which was another reason they were high up on my list of suspects.

“Well, for now, I’ve filed their complaints,” Lee said. “You know the drill from here.”

“Yes,” I groaned. “Thanks.” I hung up the call.

I figured Chloe would want to be a part of the call to Malory. When I stepped out of the study, Chloe was sitting on the sofa with a very familiar red book in her hands. She was so engrossed in the pages that when I sat beside her, she jumped a little.

“Sorry,” I said, trying to avoid looking at my sister’s diary. “Find anything useful in there?” I asked.

“No, not yet.” She closed the book. “It’s entertaining, though. Your sister was a very talented writer.”

“She was?” I frowned. There was so much I didn’t remember or even know about her. There were also so many things that I missed about her. Her laughter, which, oddly enough, I heard in my dreams often. Her smile, which I saw in my mother’s smile when she allowed herself to relax and let go of the control she desired so much. But the one thing I missed dearly about Sherry was that she loved me. Unconditionally. Just like I’d loved her.

“Yes,” Chloe said, holding the book to her chest as her eyes closed. “She’s grown so much since the first pages. At the beginning of the summer, when she started this journal, she despised every member of your family for some reason and the farther I get into this, now it sounds like she just hates a few of them.” She smiled over at me. “She changed her mind about you too. I think it was the strawberries.”

“Strawberries?” I frowned, then smiled when I remembered the first weeks of that last summer with my sister. My grandmother was allergic to strawberries and therefore had never planted them in her garden. Sherry loved strawberries and always complained that we couldn’t have them. So, I’d bought a few strawberries from the store and buried them just outside the yard the week we got here. When the first berries appeared, Sherry was so excited.

“You planted them for her,” Chloe said.

“I did,” I answered. “Well, I buried a bunch of strawberries, hoping they would grow. I had no idea if they would.”

“My garden is going crazy,” Chloe said, glancing out the window. “We’ll have a wonderful harvest this fall. Already, I’ve used some of the tomatoes and onions. The rest still needs time.” She sighed. “I eventually want to plant a lot more. I only did a few things, since I wasn’t sure what George would like.”

“Plant as much as you want,” I said, meaning it. I missed the days when I could walk outside and pluck a carrot from the ground and eat it. “Maybe I should plant a few apple trees. Byron really likes apples. That way, he could enjoy the ones that drop.”

I wasn’t sure what I’d said to make Chloe cry, but her eyes grew damp, and she jumped up and rushed from the room.

I followed her and knocked on the bathroom door when she shut it.

“Are you okay?” I asked through the door.

“Yes,” she called back. “I… I just…” The door flew open and she hugged me. “The fact that you’d plant strawberries for your sister and an apple for a dog makes you the best kind of human, in my opinion,” she said, holding onto me. “Lane, I don’t know all the rules of a relationship, but I don’t think I can wait any longer.” She pulled back and smiled up at me. “I’m in love with you.”

Okay. I thought.

Sure.

Yes.

Hell yes.