Page 26 of Unexpected Entanglement

“I can understand that,” she said.

“But as your father specified in his will, she couldn’t relinquish the inheritance if she wanted to, so we need to find a way for all three of you to coexist peacefully.”

Rowan nodded and took her time going back to the coffeemaker. She poured the dark brew into a couple of mugs. Though she wasn’t sure consuming caffeine with her heightened nerves was smart, she carried both mugs to where Chris was sitting and offered one to him.

“Thanks,” he said appreciatively.

They enjoyed the warmth of coffee for a few seconds before returning to the subject.

“I think there’s a reason my father passed this land to the three of us,” Rowan said after she felt more settled.

Chris looked at her with curiosity in his eyes. “And what’s that?”

“Atonement,” she answered. “Mr. Sullens, my father wasn’t perfect, but he was a good man. I still haven’t quite processed his confession of a past affair that resulted in a daughter he’d left behind. But I can tell you it cost him. He was just very good at shielding us from it. Now I know my father lived most of his life pretending.”

“What do you mean, pretending?”

Rowan drank her coffee before answering, “On the outside, he seemed to have lived a full life with a fulfilling career and a happy family. He was the poster boy of the great American life, except he wasn’t completely happy. Not inside, he wasn’t. But he’d never shown that part of himself to us—Kieran and me. We didn’t know he never loved our mother—not in the way we expected a husband to love his wife.

“And he’d only kept at the job he was so good at because he knew he had to provide for us. But with what I know now, I think he’d probably have been happier if he’d stayed with the job where he got to travel all over the world. Perhaps Rae got her love of travel from Dad,” Rowan mused.

Chris nodded, digesting her words. “Perhaps you’re right. But how is giving Rae a third of this property his atonement? Why didn’t he reach out to her while he was alive?”

“I don’t know the answer to that. What I know is my grandparents worked this land and built this inn. They’d inherited it from the generation before them. And they passed it down to my father, who unfortunately only showed interest in it once it was too late. But even he kept the land—as much of it as he could—in the family.

“As far as I know, this land has been in the Kelly family for more than a century. And now it’s ours, the next generation of the Kellys. And Rae is a Kelly, whether she bears the name or not. It’s her birthright because she came from our father. Kieran and I stand together on that.”

Chris’ eyes widened slightly with surprise at Rowan’s words.

“Okay.” He finally nodded, accepting the explanation. “I suppose now it’s a matter of finding how Rae can play her part for this place.”

“That is up to her. She can embrace this inheritance or dismiss it since she doesn’t have the emotional attachment to it like Kieran and I do. I think that’s her choice. We can’t make her feel responsible for a heritage our father denied her all her life. But that’s why we invited her to come. Maybe then we can figure it all out together.”

“She needs a little more time to take it all in. I’m here because I don’t have emotional baggage, and I can be a neutral observer. Perhaps I can help you all find common ground,” Chris suggested.

Rowan wasn’t sure how neutral Chris Sullens could be when one-third of the equation in this mess was his friend. But it wasn’t as if she and Kieran had any choice. Rae sent Chris to them, so she had to show Rae how special Bright Head was through Chris.

“All right, Mr. Sullens. You got a deal.” Rowan nodded her agreement.

“Good. Now, please call me Chris,” he pled.

“Okay, Chris.” Rowan smiled. “I’m sorry about earlier, by the way. How are your balls? Do you need ice?”

Chris burst into a laugh.

ten

The chefs had rolled into the main house when Chris poured his second cup. Rowan had given him a brief on the wedding in the short time between their truce and the chefs’ arrival. The plan sounded solid, with many elements in the works, but one of the most essential matters—staff—was still half-resolved. Rowan had arranged with Frankie to borrow some of the farm team for the wedding weekend. He hoped they could train them to be hotel staff in a week.

Since they had come in, Oliver had whipped up a batch of blueberry muffins using the wild blueberries Frankie had brought in yesterday, while Alex had made omelettes. Chris was putting the dishes into the dishwasher when someone rang the bell. Rowan ran out to answer the door and returned with the leggy lady he’d seen with her yesterday.

“You need a top-up before we start?” Rowan asked the woman as they entered the kitchen.

“I was hoping you’d offer.” The other woman nodded. “I didn’t have time to refill it as I rushed out this morning.”

“We got a fresh pot and blueberry muffins.” Rowan led her to the kitchen table where the glass cloche of muffins was. Also sitting there were Alex and Oliver discussing the menu for the four-day wedding weekend.

To make things simpler, they’d agreed to provide fixed menus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the guests leading into the wedding day. Meals would be served at set times, lodge style. Though Alex and Oliver were confident they could do a cook-to-order egg bar for breakfast. They were only hostingtwenty people belonging to the wedding party and families. Other guests would stay in town or in other rentals.

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