AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And just like that, we have a family party planned!” Meghan said happily.
Oriana gazed out across the surging waters of the Vineyard Sound, her heart in her throat and only one thing on her mind. Two days ago, she’d reached out to Brea for the first time in twenty-three years— and she hadn’t responded.Where in the world was she? Was someone threatening her, too?
Or was Brea the one threatening Oriana? It was possible. They were strangers, now, after all. And strangers could do anything to hurt you if they wanted to. Love didn’t complicate it.
Then again, Oriana knew nothing of Brea. It was entirely possible Brea was dead.
“Hey! Oriana!” Meghan’s voice barely penetrated her thoughts. “We have to get back to the car now.”
It was decided that en route to Oriana’s place, they’d head to the retirement facility to pick up Chuck. It took ten minutes to get there from the ferry, and when they did, one of the facility workers waved to them from the front desk, recognizing them from their frequent visits. Oriana remembered a few months back when she’d come to the facility to bring her father donuts— only to be told that Roland and Grant were back there. Her half-brothers. The half-brothers who had no interest in knowing her and Meghan.
But this time, when they greeted their father, he had news on that subject.
“I saw the boys yesterday,” he said as he strapped himself into the passenger seat of Oriana’s car, his eyes dancing. “And they’re interested in a meeting. Isn’t that fantastic?”
Meghan leaned forward from the backseat. “I don’t know what to say…”
Chuck bowed his head. “Girls, I’ve told you. The boys aren’t angry with you. Their anger is directed at me— and for good reason. I broke up our family. I wronged them. And I was too much of a coward to admit it.”
Oriana eyed Meghan in the rearview window. Her brain was too overloaded with other things to give this her full attention, especially because she’d heard her father say this repeatedly over the past few months.
“What if we say it’s too late?” Oriana suggested, starting the engine and driving them out of the parking lot.
Chuck set his jaw, his eyes widening with surprise. Very quietly, he said, “That just doesn’t sound like the woman I raised. Your mother always spoke of forgiveness and love.”
Oriana blinked away tears. Ever since the incident at the hotel with the mysterious note, she’d had the strangest desire to run home to her mother— a mother who was no longer alive. She supposed that instinct never went away. Oh, how she missed her. How she yearned to lay her head on her shoulder and cry.
“We should try, at least,” Meghan urged quietly. “Their children are so lovely.”
“I adore them,” Oriana said quickly, remembering the smiling faces of Roland and Grant’s children and grandchildren. “They’ve made such an effort to get to know us. And I’ll never forget that.”
This shut everyone up for a little while.
When they reached Oriana’s home, the front door burst open for Benny, who sped out onto the grass, barefoot, with his hair curly and wild after it had grown back in. The sight of her grandson filled Oriana with momentary hope, and she shut the engine off and jumped out to raise him against herself and spin around. His giggles filled her with so much love and almost made her burst into tears.
How could she protect Benny if someone was trying to destroy her?
Alexa and Reese came outside immediately afterward, Reese to kiss Oriana, and Alexa to grab the suitcases. Her arms were covered in paint from her recent painting session. She was chatty and happy, asking her aunt and Oriana about their time away.
“We almost burned the place down without you,” Alexa joked to Oriana.
“Hey! Don’t tell her our secrets,” Reese said, swatting Alexa playfully as they entered the kitchen. Across the counter, they’d lined up the beef patties prepared for the barbecue.
Out front, another car appeared— this one belonging to Hugo, Meghan’s husband. Meghan hustled to the foyer to greet him, and Oriana watched from the window as Hugo raised her up and whipped her in a circle so that her feet went out behind her. It looked like something out of a movie.
“You want me to do that to you?” Reese joked from behind her, and Oriana felt herself smile, even though she didn’t want to.
“It would be nice to have a little romance around here,” Oriana joked just as Reese wrapped his arms around her, closed his eyes, and kissed her lovingly. Oriana’s heart swelled, even as her stomach tied itself into nervous knots.
“I love you,” Reese said as their kiss broke. “I’m so glad you’re home.”
Out back, Hugo got to work on the burgers as the rest of Meghan’s family arrived, plus Oriana’s son, Joel, his wife, Lauren, and their two sons, Tyler and Peter. Oriana busied herself for a while, ensuring enough tables and chairs were outside. A sharp breeze came off the Sound, not cold enough for a full coat but certainly demanding a jacket. She hurried inside to grab blankets and extra sweatshirts just in case anyone wanted them. As she fetched them in the spare room, the one with the desk and the spare bed and several books that nobody wanted to read, she stopped short to look at the newspaper clipping that hung on the wall.
The headline of the clipping read: NEWCOMER ART DEALER MAKES KILLER, FOUR MILLION DEAL. And in the photograph beneath the headline was Oriana next to a gorgeous modern-art painting that seemed fierce, filled with passion and color. This younger version of Oriana smiled in a way that suggested she had everything figured out. It had been her first huge art deal that had set up her career. She’d known when she’d cleared the deal, that her life was about to change. And it had.
“Oriana! Where did you go?” Meghan’s voice carried through the house, and Oriana hopped to it, hurrying back downstairs to deliver the blankets and sweatshirts. By the time she wiggled into a massive “Martha’s Vineyard Sailing” sweatshirt, the first round of burgers and onion rings was finished. Someone put a cheeseburger on a bun for her as another person piled her plate with salad and onion rings. As she bit into the juicy burger, her muscles relaxed, and she closed her eyes at the decadent taste while the cheese melted along her tongue.
“Chuck was just telling the rest of us that Roland and Grant are up for a meeting?” Reese asked.
