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Pepper could only turn away. Shifting her umbrella, she stared down at the ground and hoped she could just make it all go away. She gazed long and hard at the soggy brown turf, but it didn’t seem to help.
“Pepper?”
She snapped her head in the direction of the sound and found Ivy looking at her with a quizzical expression on her face.
“What?”
“Are you okay?” she asked with a crinkled nose.
No, definitely not okay, but she couldn’t tell her that. “I’m fine. I was just thinking about something.” Apparently she was thinking hard enough not to notice that the service had ended and everyone was making their way over to the church.
“Okay,” Ivy said, although there was a touch of disbelief on her face. “Are you going to come to the church to eat with us?”
That had been the plan initially, but suddenly she needed to get far away from here. Far from her lying mother, her ignorant father, and the smug face of the man who caused it all. If she stayed, she would say or do something she would regret. That wasn’t how she wanted to honor Estelle’s memory.
“Actually, I think I’m going to skip it and head home. I’m pretty tired.”
Ivy watched her with concern for a moment and then nodded. “Okay.” She leaned forward to hug Pepper. “I’ll see you later. I’ll come by the shop tomorrow. I leave first thing Friday morning.”
Pepper tried to give the friendliest nod she could and waved as Ivy and Blake disappeared into the Fellowship Hall with everyone else. Before anyone could talk to her, she bolted in the other direction, back toward the funeral home and her car. She needed some wine and a brownie and some time to process everything she’d just learned. Nothing would ever be the same again.
Her brother was a Chamberlain.
Chapter 13
After an hour of mindless television and two stiff drinks, Pepper had finally achieved the mental numbness she desired.
When she left the funeral, she’d gone home in the hopes of burying her head in the sand for a while. The whole town was at the church dinner, then probably staying on for Bible study since it was Wednesday night, so she anticipated a peaceful evening where she could process everything she’d pieced together this afternoon.
She had a sibling who was half Chamberlain. Realizing that had nearly knocked her off her feet. Everything she knew about her childhood, her brother, her father . . . now it was all tinged with the color of deception.
She was taking her last sip of coconut rum and Sprite when the doorbell rang. With a sigh, she got up from the couch and looked through the peephole. The only person she expected to see was Grant, straight from the end of his long shift, but she was disappointed. It was her mother.
Pepper swung open the door and stood there, a stiff barrier to the house. She wasn’t really interested in talking about this tonight. She didn’t have nearly enough rum. “Mother,” she said, acknowledging her mother with a cold tone.
Kate was standing alone on the porch, clutching a piece of cake wrapped in plastic wrap. “Hi, Pepper. I brought you a piece of cake.”
She didn’t really feel like cake of any kind, but she accepted the plate anyway. “Thanks. Where’s Daddy?”
“Logan took him home about halfway through the dinner. He got tired standing at the service for so long. I needed to stop at the grocery store, so they went on without me.”
“The Pig is three blocks that way,” she said, pointing down the street.
“Pepper, we need to talk,” she said.
Pepper snorted and shook her head. “I’m not the one you need to talk to, Mama. I already know too much
for my own good. Logan is the one who needs to know the truth.”
Kate swallowed hard. “Can I please come in?” As much as she didn’t want to, Pepper stepped back and let her mother into the house for the first time.
Kate stepped in slowly, looking around the space with a small smile curling her lips. “Your house looks lovely. I love the warm color on the walls and the artwork is perfect. I can tell you’ve put a lot of hard work into the place.”
“I have Grant to thank for most of it,” Pepper said, knowing that answer would just antagonize her mother.
Kate lowered herself onto the couch with a sigh and patted the cushion beside her. “Sit down, please.”
Pepper reluctantly did what she was told, keeping a full cushion’s distance between them. She faced her mother, drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. Somehow that protective pose made this discussion more palatable.
