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Yeah, that’s what Elisa was thinking.
Chapter Nine
The house smelled like bacon.
The last thing Elisa wanted to deal with today was a family brunch, but she’d issued the invitation, so she was stuck. She’d spent the morning getting everything together. Muffins made. Frittata in the oven. Husband outside tackling overly energetic son.
The last one made her smile. She stood at the sink, drinking coffee as she watched Nathan spike the football then dance around in a circle in the backyard. Harris laughed so hard he doubled over.
The house had filled her with joy from the moment they bought it. They’d lived a little farther out from the city before Candace died. With Josh emotionally reeling, Harris’s business growing, and Nathan becoming ever more mobile and curious, they’d chosen to move closer to Philadelphia but still have land, thinking more family would be better. That was three years ago.
The battle over housing style began immediately after they put the “for sale” sign in the yard. She’d wanted easy. Aone-story, completely renovated modern home. They bought a three-story, historically significant—which she now knew meantin need of serious repair and upgrading—white Federal-style home with an impressive wraparound porch. A true money pit.
Having grown up in one-bedroom apartments, this property with its outdoor patios and outbuildings struck her as overindulgent. They had a carriage house she’d converted into an office she never actually used because she preferred to work upstairs in the space off the bedroom. But Harris was a history buff. The idea of ahistorically significanthome appealed to him. He was happy, so she was happy.
Her smile faded as soon as Josh joined Nathan and Harris in the yard. The game of fake keep-away where Nathan managed to outflank his towering father and uncle usually gave her a warming sense of calm. Today, no. Nothing about Josh calmed her these days.
“Nathan is adorable,” Rachel said as she joined Elisa at the kitchen window.
“And loud.” He started screaming with his usual level of deafening sports enthusiasm before Elisa finished the description. “See?”
Elisa poured Rachel a cup of coffee. She’d arrived with Josh a half hour ago. The strained small talk since then had given Elisa a headache. She’d sighed with relief when Harris finally suggested “the men” enjoy some outside time to burn off a bit of Nathan’s energy.
“You ever think about having children?” Elisa asked.
“Never.” Rachel laughed. “That sounded abrupt. What Imeant was that it’s not on my radar yet. There are other things I want to accomplish first.”
Elisa still wasn’t sure exactly how old Rachel was. “You have time.”
“Is there anything I can do to help with the food?” Rachel asked over the rim of the mug as she took a drink.
“It’s all done. We have about twenty minutes until we’re ready to eat.”
Josh already had escorted Rachel around the house. That left more small talk... or thebigtalk. But Elisa didn’t feel grounded and ready to launch into the necessarybe careful becauseJosh could kill youdiscussion right now.
“Do you need to be in the kitchen, or could we walk around the property?” Rachel asked. “You know, just get some air.”
“You’re asking the right person. If you go with Harris you’ll get a twenty-minute explanation about how you’re standing on land where George Washington and the Continental Army camped on the way to Valley Forge.”
Rachel winced. “That’s a lot of information for a Sunday morning.”
“Oh, that’s only his opening speech. He can tell you all about the weapons and the battles. American history is his passion, and he loves to share what he’s learned.”
Rachel’s eyes widened in mock horror. “Dear God.”
“Exactly.” Yeah, only two brief meetings and Elisa already liked Rachel. She wanted to dislike the woman who stepped in as Abby’s quick replacement, but the timing was Josh’s fault, not Rachel’s.
Elisa pointed her mug in the general direction of the backdoor. “We’ll sneak out and sweep around the yard, thus avoiding any chance of being pulled into that game.”
Rachel laughed as she followed Elisa. “Thank you.”
They walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes. The sun beamed down, counteracting the slight chill in the air. Winter would roll in soon enough. Elisa intended to enjoy the rich colors of the fall mums spread around the yard in large pots for as long as possible.
While they sipped coffee, they moved along the fence outlining the property and cut through the lush lawn shaded by trees with leaves just on the cusp of changing color. From a good sixty feet away she could still hear Nathan’s squealing laugh.
Elisa mentally tested conversation topics before finally leaping in. “I should probably know this but what do you do for a living? Are you in the energy field, like Josh?”
“I like how you tried to make his job sound interesting.” Rachel smiled as she sat down on the bench at the entrance to the raised-bed garden, walled off in an attempt to confuse at least some of the wildlife in the area and give the vegetables a fighting chance. “Like he owns an oil company or something.”
