Page 26 of A Family Affair: The Cabin
8
Two months later
The sun beaton Pete’s head, made him wish he’d borrowed one of his father’s ball caps. If the local weatherman hadn’t missed his target, it was going to be another hot one. Heat was relative, and it hadn’t bothered him when he lived in California. But he hadn’tlivedin the heat; he’d lived in the air-conditioning. Who couldn’t tolerate a cool room with a programmable thermostat? Same with his car—punch a few buttons and the heat evaporated within minutes, leaving the interior crisp and fresh.
But Pete wasn’t in California and he sure as hell wasn’t in air-conditioning. Nope. He was walking the land his Aunt Edith had gifted him, trying to decide which plots to give his siblings. After a bit of deliberation and persuasion, his aunt agreed it might cause a family feud if Pete kept the land all to himself,buthe was to keep the majority. Period. It wasn’t open for discussion or debate. When Pete told his father about his aunt’s proposal, Jack scratched his head and told him to take the land before his aunt went and donated it to somebody’s dog.
End of story. Pete accepted the property and was in the process of figuring out how to give an acre to each of his siblings. He’d thought of building a house here, maybe a big farmhouse with a wraparound porch and wicker chairs. That sounded peaceful and right now, that’s what he needed.
But it would mean more to share it with somebody. Oh, hell, he might as well admit the truth. It would mean more to share it with Elissa. He’d heard her name tossed about a few times. Once by Nate, another by Christine, and Pop Benito had mentioned her three or four different times. There’d been a curious look on the old man’s face when he said her name, as though waiting for Pete’s reaction. No luck there, because Pete knew how to keep his feelings tucked away from everyone.
Except Elissa.
He’d thought of contacting her several times since he’d left the cabin, but he had no idea where she was or how to get in touch with her. They’d never exchanged phone numbers and if the Desantros hadn’t mentioned her last name, he still wouldn’t know it. But that wasn’t why he hadn’t tried to get in touch with her and he was a fool to pretend it was. Fear kept him away. Fear that he’d hurt her that last day with his harsh words and accusations and killed whatever she’d felt for him. He still didn’t agree with her allegiance to that Blacksworth woman, but he guessed he had to respect her loyalty—however misguided it had been.
The more time he spent with the couples in town like the Desantros, the Reeds, and his aunt’s favorites, the Casherdons, the more he understood what compromise really meant. You could love a person and not agree with them all the time, and if you disagreed, it didn’t mean you weren’t meant to be together. If you shared fundamental principles and values, then you’d make it as a couple. It was work. Damn hard work. But it sure looked like it was worth it.
Pete swiped a hand over his forehead, wished again he had one of the father’s ball caps. If Elissa were here, she would have remembered the ball cap…and she’d have an idea or two about what kind of house to build. He pictured her face turning pink with excitement when she talked about it, full lips smiling… There were a lot of women in this town, and quite a few had been obvious about their interest in him. Phone calls, flowers, cakes, and pies. He didn’t want any of them.
He wanted Elissa.
So, what the hell was he going to do about it?
* * *
Awoman could only wait solong for a man to come after her. Two months was a lifetime, and yet there’d been no word from Pete Finnegan, which could mean just about anything. He really had been pretending in the cabin and had no real feelings for her; he’d had feelings for her, but they’d died when he discovered the notebook… Or, he didn’t know how he felt about her and wouldn’t know until he saw her again.
She chose to believe the last one.
What else could a woman think wheneverythingreminded her of him? Darn it all, she was not going to live the rest of her life waiting for the man to wake up and realize he cared about her, maybe even loved her. Elissa Marie Cerdi was going to take action. No playbooks, no lists or timelines, nothing but her heart and her instincts guiding her.
And they both pointed to Magdalena.
Her parents worried she’d set herself up for serious heartache, worse than the fiasco with Zachary, but what could be worse than the not knowing? The old Elissa would wait and pray, hoping for the day when the man who owned her heart would rescue her from a life of loneliness and despair. The new Elissa saidto heck with thatand decided to rescue herself. One way or another, Pete Finnegan was going to own up to his feelings. One day in late June, Elissa packed her car, kissed her parents good-bye, and took off for Magdalena with a promise to let them know when she arrived and when she’d return. No need to tell them that no matter what happened in Magdalena, her life would not be in Chicago. That conversation would come later, though the extra-tight hug her mother gave her said she might already know.
It was close to dinnertime when she pulled into the Heart Sent, the bed-and-breakfast where she’d booked a room for the next few days. The proprietor was a spry, inquisitive woman with blue eyes and dangly ball earrings. Elissa’s plan to keep quiet about her reason for visiting Magdalena spilled out over a dish of Chicken Marsala.
“So…you and Pete Finnegan…”
Elissa nodded. “I had an opportunity to tell him the truth about some things, but I didn’t, and when he found out…”
Mimi Pendergrass forked a piece of chicken. “Oh, yes, the Finnegans are big on honesty. I’m sure Pete didn’t take it well.”
“He didn’t, and worse, I tried to defend my reason for not telling him.” She bit her bottom lip. “It was a disaster. One minute we were laughing and happy and the next, he was gone.”
Mimi reached over, patted Elissa’s hand. “He’s had enough time to cool off. I’m sure he’s regretted his decision more than once, but the Finnegan’s are a tough lot; don’t like to admit when they’re wrong. His father’s the same way.” Shetsk-tskedand laughed. “Dolly, that’s Jack’s wife, deserves a medal and a straight trip to Heaven when the time comes.”
Elissa couldn’t let Pete take all the blame; she should have been honest with him. “It’s not all his fault.”
“I’m sure it’s not. It takes two to tango, my dear, and I’ll be the first to tell you I’ve known my share of relationship messes.” She took a healthy sip of wine, dabbed her lips. “And because of my vast experience in this unfortunate area, I can always tell when somebody’s in a fix and hurting.” Her blue eyes sparkled and a smile crept over her lips. “Pete’s definitely in a fix and hurting. You want to know how I know?” The smile spread. “Women are practically throwing their panties at him to get his attention. And Dolly told me about the phone calls to the house, the notes, the cakes, and pies. Goodness, she said there were some risqué photos, too. Can you imagine?”
Elissa clutched her wine glass, nodded. Any female with a heartbeat would be attracted to the man. “What did he do?” She didn’t really want to know, but the not knowing would be worse.
“Do?” Mimi sat back and laughed. “He didn’tdoanything. Dolly said he gave the goodies to his father who took them to the shop and he tossed the letters in the trash—” she paused, tilted her head to the side “—unopened. Yes, he sure did. Dolly only knew about the photos because she thought they were recipe cards and opened them herself.”Tsk-tsk. “Said they near gave her a heart attack.”
“So, what’s he been doing?”
“Well, he’s been busy, that’s for sure. He’s helping one of his cousins renovate a house and he’s remodeling his aunt’s bathroom. She’s something else. Edith Finnegan’s her name. The woman is one strange canary, but she’s always had a soft spot for Pete. Dolly told me she up and gave him the deeds to a big stretch of land, just because. Imagine that?” She shook her head and the dangle ball earrings bounced against her neck. “But Pete, being the honest soul he is, thought it only fair to give his siblings a tract of land. I don’t think he chopped it five ways, for the number of kids in the family, but he deserves credit for gifting them anything.”
