Page 20 of Return to Rosewood Beach

CHAPTER TEN

Alexis stepped back, inspecting the way she’d arranged some picture frames on a side table at the church. She felt jittery, wanting everything to look just right. It was as if she was trying to handle her grief in that way, by arranging and rearranging things, hoping that a perfect arrangement would make her feel better about everything.

It was the day before the funeral, and she was at the church getting things ready. They’d already had a few bouquets of flowers arrive, and she found their aroma comforting. She’d never realized how pleasant it was to have something alive and beautiful, like the flowers, in a place where people had to grieve a death.

It was a cloudy, gloomy day, and rain had been drizzling down ever since she’d awoken that morning. She’d driven to the church soon after breakfast and was starting to feel lonely in the large building. She hadn’t turned on any lights, and the hallways and rooms were dim and shadowy.

She sighed, still dissatisfied with what she’d done with the picture frames and feeling that they were off-kilter somehow. She stepped away from the table, telling herself that she couldn’tbe too perfectionistic, since there were still many more things to be done.

She started back toward the kitchen, where they had boxes stored. She was planning on taking out the last box of picture frames and beginning to arrange those around the church lobby, when she saw Julia step inside the doors of the church.

Her sister was dressed in a black raincoat, dark jeans, and black heels. Her outfit seemed to be a mixture of business and casual, and her hair was pulled back into a messy bun with a clip. She didn’t have any makeup on, which was uncharacteristic of her, and Alexis guessed that she was having a difficult morning.

Alexis stepped forward and gave her sister a warm hug. “Where’s Mom?” she asked, looking over Julia’s shoulder. “Wasn’t she driving with you?”

Julia shook her head, looking tired. “She was supposed to, but she’s having a hard morning. I wanted to give her some extra time. I’m going to go back there and pick her up soon.”

Alexis nodded sympathetically. “I can’t even imagine what she’s going through. The funeral is going to be difficult for all of us, but especially Mom, I’m sure.”

“Especially when she found out things she shouldn’t have to be thinking about during her husband’s funeral,” said Julia dryly, her dark eyebrows furrowed.

“What do you mean?” Alexis’s stomach gave a lurch. There was something about Julia’s tone that implied that something was seriously wrong.

At that moment, Dean stepped inside the church, carrying a massive bouquet in a green glass vase. “Hey, sisters.” He smiled at them, although he was also looking tired. “Where should I put this bouquet from the Johnsons?”

“Uh, put it in the kitchen for now. Thank you, Dean. We’ll figure out the floral arrangements later.”

“Sure thing.” He started toward the kitchen of the church, and Alexis immediately turned back to Julia.

“What do you mean, Julia? What things did Mom find out?”

“What?” Dean turned around in a hurry. “Did something happen?”

Julia sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have blurted that. You guys shouldn’t have to know about this during the funeral either.”

“What?” Alexis urged, feeling anxious. “Tell us.”

Julia looked down, biting her lip for a moment. Alexis’s stomach twisted with worry. Whatever it was that Julia was about to tell them, she had a feeling it was going to rock their world in a bad way.

“So, Dad had a habit that none of us knew about.” Julia looked up, meeting her siblings’ eyes. “He kept it hidden from Mom, and all of us. He gambled.”

There was silence for a few seconds. Outside, a car passed in the rain.

“Well, a lot of people gamble sometimes, don’t they?” Dean shrugged, trying to brush it off, although he looked troubled. “I mean, it’s not really that big a deal, right?”

Julia shook her head. “It wasn’t just sometimes. It was a lot. Often. Regularly. For years. I found record of all of his gambling debts in the pub’s finances.”

“Debts?” Alexis echoed, feeling as though she’d gotten the wind knocked out of her.

Julia nodded gravely. “And they’re bad. The—well, Mom’s in trouble. The pub is in trouble.”

“Oh, no.” Alexis couldn’t stop the tears from falling then, and Dean wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

“I can’t believe it,” he murmured. “Dad kept that from all of us all those years? I can’t believe he’d do that.”

“I can’t either—or I couldn’t.” Julia sighed. “I kept staring at that paperwork, hoping there was some other explanation. But there isn’t.”

“This—this means that he was out gambling on those nights when we thought he was working at the pub.” Alexis’s voice was shaking. “He didn’t just keep things from us, he lied to us. And he left Mom with a legacy of trouble and debt instead of security.”

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