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“Hello?” she called out. “Family of mine?”
She tugged her large wheeled suitcase into the foyer, put her brown paper bag of contraband on the floor, and closed the front door behind her.
“Felicity?” she yelled, flipping on the lights.
The door hadn’t been locked, so someone had to be home.
Or not.
Pecan Valley meant community watch groups and nosy neighbors. Living in one of the biggest, oldest houses in town and being part of a family that had helped settle this region of the Texas Hill Country meant their family was more closely monitored. It was one of the reasons Charity had left town the day after her high school graduation. She wasn’t going to live under a microscope. She was going to live.
“Nick? Honor?” She flipped on more lights. “Wowsers, Filly, good job.” She stood, appreciating the remodeled kitchen.
Dad would never have allowed the changes made to his family home. But it wasn’t his home anymore. After Felicity’s divorce, Mom had convinced him that Felicity and the kids needed a place to start over. The fact that she’d never been a fan of the big dark house might have helped as well. Once Mom had found the perfect fishing cabin, perched right along the lake, Dad had handed over the keys without blinking an eye.
And Felicity had worked her magic, renovating the hundred-plus-year-old home from the roof to the floors. Lighter, airier, less cluttered…it looked great—a real, livable showplace. The family pictures over the thick wooden mantle were mostly the same, with the addition of Nick and Honor’s most recent school pictures.
Charity lingered, stunned by how grown-up they both looked.
“Oh, Felicity, you’re gonna have more heartache over him,” she murmured, picking up her nephew’s picture. He looked just like her brother-in-law at fifteen. Matt had been around before Charity was in her first training bra or thinking of boys as anything other than a pain in the butt. A view Matt had only reinforced the last few years. It’d been hard watching her sister’s heart get shredded. And sad to lose a man she’d considered her brother. “Let’s hope you only look like your dad.”
She moved on to Honor—she had high hopes for Honor. The girl was a solid mix of old soul and childlike won
der, kind and smart-as-a-whip. Gone were the kooky glasses and braces. Now she was a gorgeous young woman who’d be attending college on a full academic scholarship, far away from the confines of Pecan Valley.
“Hello?” she yelled, jumping when Praline and Pecan came thundering down the stairs. The golden-striped cats wound between her legs, purring ferociously. “Hi, guys. Where are the human inhabitants?”
She shrugged out of her jacket, kicked off her heels, and flopped onto the couch—the early morning flight and hours of waiting in the airport catching up with her. “Looks like it’s just us girls.” Praline and Pecan immediately crawled into her lap, kneading and headbutting her until she had one tucked under each arm. She sighed, resting her head on the back of the couch.
Might as well enjoy the quiet. Once the family arrived, quiet would vanish and the questions would begin. How was work? Where had she been last? Had she met any interesting people? And, most importantly, how long was she staying in Pecan Valley?
“I’m not going anywhere,” she murmured, continuing to give the cats a solid rubdown. “If Filly’s okay with it, I’ll be rooming here with you guys.” The time for living out of her hard-sided suitcase had come to an end. No more stamps in her passport. No more travel or tours or adventures. “I’m a lady of leisure now, guys. Exploring all my options.” At least, that was the answer she planned on giving when people asked.
The truth? That might not go over so well. Her hands strayed to her stomach. She wouldn’t be able to hide her baby bump for much longer—which meant she needed to come to terms with the whole pregnancy thing and stop thinking about her hometown as a place to escape from. Her family was here, and since she had no idea how to raise a kid or be a responsible adult, she was going to need them.
“Who wants ice cream?” she asked the cats. “I could go for some pecan praline.” She laughed as two sets of identical copper eyes stared up at her. “Or plain old vanilla.”
She stood, pulled her phone from her pocket, and headed into the kitchen. Two messages from her mother. Nothing from Felicity. She frowned, pressed play on her mother’s first voicemail, and opened the freezer.
“Jackpot,” she said, pulling the tub of neapolitan from the shelf.
“Hi, Charity, it’s your mother.” Her mother’s voice filled the kitchen.
“Hi, Mom. I know it’s you.” She smiled as Pecan jumped onto the counter.
“Felicity told me your flight was delayed, so I thought I’d check and see if you needed your father to come and get you. How late will you be? We’re having clear skies here. Can’t wait to see you. Oh, and you’ll never guess who asked about you. Braden Martinez.” Charity spooned a large bite of ice cream into her mouth as her mother drew in a deep breath. “Braden, you know, the one you went to homecoming with. He looked so very pleased to hear you were staying for a short visit…”
“Maybe not so short,” Charity muttered, spooning in another delicious mouthful.
Pecan mewed pathetically so Charity put a dab of ice cream into a bowl and offered it to the cat. Praline stayed by her feet, wailing loudly.
“Okay, okay,” Charity said. “Guess you have the better manners, don’t you? No cats on the counter.” She gave Praline her own bowl.
“…so, let us know. And be careful, please. There was a story about a young woman being abducted from an airport. She traveled for her job, too, and no one realized she was missing for weeks because…”
Charity rolled her eyes. “I’m here, Mom. Where are you?”
The message ended.
