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“You’ve been here so long, I thought you both might need some food.” She tested the atmosphere for tension and found it only slightly charged. She tried to figure out what was going on. Were they agreeing to a plan for the Kendall?
Kelly had a sip of her iced tea. “Jace, I hope it’s all right, I told Ari we could go for a ride before dinner.”
“Dinner?” Jace checked his watch. “I didn’t realize it was so late.”
“You’re all welcome to stay.” She included both men in her gaze and they nodded. It was the hospitable thing to do, but that wasn’t the only reason Kelly invited them. She missed seeing Ari and Jace. And she wanted to know what the brothers were discussing and what Jace was going to do about the Kendall’s sale.
Now that the Kendalls were reunited, however precariously, they could pose a united front and push her out. They’d been together for more than two hours. What had they talked about? Was any of their discussion related to the Kendall and wrestling it back due to a technicality in the paperwork?
Kelly was determined to find out.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
THE FORMAL DINING room had a table and chairs to serve twenty. With only five of them for dinner, it was much too large for tonight’s meal. Rather, a smaller and more intimate room lay off the kitchen. It looked out on the western side of the house, across the porch and into the far woods. The sun had not yet set, but it was on its way down. Flowers had been added to the room, giving it a subtle fragrance. Kelly placed folded napkins and china on the table. She used the good silver and crystal glasses.
The members assembled, a little awkwardly, and took seats. Ari had eaten earlier and was playing video games on a handheld device.
“Sheldon, why don’t you sit there instead?” She pointed to a seat opposite the one Jace was standing behind. She sat next to Jace.
Kelly hoped they’d be able to break the ice at dinner. She had a purpose for wanting to speak with the brothers. She wondered if they had an offer to present to her. Drew and Mira were there for moral support.
“Sheldon, did you have time to see the house?” Drew began. “Kelly has done a wonderful job restoring it.”
Sheldon smiled at her. She thought how opposite the two brothers looked, even with different mothers. “Jace took me on a tour before dinner. Kelly, you’ve done a lot.”
She nodded toward him, acknowledging his sincere words. “I found some old photographs of the rooms and used them as a basis for some of the restoration.”
Earlier, she’d offered a member of the kitchen staff extra wages if she’d prepare a simple dinner for the group. Fortunately, Grace had agreed, and they now began to pass the serving dishes around the table. The main meal consisted of a salad, seared fish with fresh asparagus and glazed sweet potatoes. Sheldon refused the wine, but accepted a glass of water.
Kelly took the opportunity to switch subjects. “How do you like living in North Carolina?”
“It’s warmer. We rarely get snow and the sunsets are amazing.”
“What do you do there?” Mira asked.
“I work at a boat yard. I clean the hulls. Do repairs.”
“Do you plan to stay there, settle for the long run?” Kelly asked. It was the perfect opening for her to find out his agenda. Why had he shown up at the Kendall out of the blue?
“I think so,” he said.
She nearly closed her eyes in relief.
“I have a job. I don’t plan to keep it for the rest of my life.”
“What do you plan to do?” Mira asked.
“I’m thinking of becoming an electrician.” He went on to explain his reasons and that he’d already begun to learn about it.
“I’m glad to hear that,” Jace said. “I know it’s hard to change from one thing to another. I’m about to do the same thing.”
Kelly’s fork clattered onto her plate. All eyes went to Jace.
“I got a job today,” he said.
“Job?” Kelly questioned.
He nodded. “That’s the reason for the suit.” He leaned back in his chair.
The room was deathly quiet. Yes, Kelly had thrown him off the farm, but in the back of her mind, she thought he’d come back. If he didn’t challenge her for ownership, then she thought they would resolve their differences, but if he had a job...
“Where?” she asked.
“County land office. I’m the new engineer for Duchess County. Sort of like a surveyor. I enrolled Ari in that day-care center, which he loves, and I’ll be looking for a permanent place for us to live.”
“That’s a lot of change,” Mira said.
“It is, but we can’t live here. And my savings aren’t going to let us continue to live at the motel.”
He was in a motel. Kelly felt like a louse. How could she throw him and his son out with no place to live? She felt her face grow hot.
“Maybe Kelly will let you come back until you find somewhere else,” Sheldon said. “This is a big house. I’m sure you two can get around without bumping into each other.”
All the eyes that had been on Jace were now on her. They silently asked for a response.
“Of course,” she said. What else could she say. “We have the horses and Ari loves riding them. I don’t imagine it will take long to find a nice place. Not in this market.”
“We’ll talk about it later,” Jace said. He must have heard the reluctance in her voice.
“Staying here until then sounds perfect,” Mira stated. “Ari can still go to the day-care center and he’ll have this treat to come home to until you get off work. I’m sure that job could send you away at times.”
She looked at Kelly. “And you love having him around.”
Kelly glared at her cousin. She felt like the walls were closing in, yet there was nothing she could do to stop them. Even her own family wasn’t standing up for her. Mira was throwing her into the lion’s den.
And they both knew why.
As dinner ended and the dishes were being moved to the kitchen, Jace stopped Kelly. Angling her onto the porch, he leaned with his back to the railing. Kelly faced him.
“I’m not going to stay here,” he told her.
She took a breath before asking, “Why?”
“Ari and I need to be settled.” She thought they could settle here, but didn’t say it. She’d become used to having them around.
“What about the Kendall?” she asked.
“The Kendall is yours.”
Kelly blinked, unsure she’d heard the words she so wanted to hear.
“Sheldon is returning to North Carolina,” Jace said. “Ari and I will find a small place. He’ll go to school and I’ll work. The Kendall is yours.”
Kelly felt numb. She moved to one of the rocking chairs and sat on the edge of it.
“You’re not going to challenge me on it?”
Jace smiled and shook his head.
“What changed your mind?” she asked.
“I realized it’s just a house. In Colombia, our apartment was small, but we were happy. We don’t need the Kendall for that. Now that I have a job and day care for Ari, we need to get on with our lives. We should have done this when we first arrived.”
Kelly thought of the Kendall without them and her heart lurched. She was getting what she wanted. So why didn’t she feel like she’d won?
* * *
SHELDON STAYED FOR four days, enjoying the hospitality of Kelly and the Kendall. Consequently, Jace was also underfoot. Kelly couldn’t turn a corner without seeing one or the other of the brothers. Ari was also by her side. He enjoyed day care, but couldn’t wait to get to the horses when it was home time.
Sheldon left on a Saturday. Ari said goodbye and hugged his uncle. It was a moment that Jace seemed to appreciate given his wide smile. Then she and Ari mounted a horse and went for a ride while Jace took his brother to the bus station. She and Ari rode longer and farther than ever before. Ari sat in front of her. She took him to the place where she grew up. It was about a mile beyond the Kendall’s south border. Her house was still there, although it was occupied by another family. The neighborhood had changed. When she lived here it was poor and run-down. Since then new families had moved in and fixed everything up.
Slipping down from the saddle, Kelly reached up and helped Ari to the ground. She tied the horse to a nearby tree at the edge of the neighborhood.
“Where are we?” Ari asked.
“This is where I used to live,” she told him. “I thought you might like to see it.” She sat down on the curb and pulled Ari onto her knee.
Ari looked around. “Which house was yours?”
“The yellow one over there.” Kelly pointed to a small, neat house with a bay window and a black door.
“Who lives there now?”
“Some other people.”
“Don’t you want to live there?”
“I live at the Kendall. I like living there.”
“Can I live at the Kendall, too?” he asked.
Kelly wasn’t sure how to answer that. She’d love for Ari to live there, but that was impossible. “Don’t you want to live with your dad?”
“Yeah. I want him to live at the Kendall, too. It’s got our name. Does that mean it belongs to us?”
She repositioned him closer to her. “It’s not that easy. It does have your name, but it was sold and someone else owns it now.”
