Courted by Trouble: A Courting Romance (In Hyacinth Book 3) (7 page)

“I’ve cried on your shoulder tons of times,” she reminded him.

“I didn’t realize my grandmother was so incredibly… judgmental. I remember her as being this kind, loving woman. She’s changed.”

“I wish it hadn’t been over me,” Stephanie admitted.

“In the end, it wasn’t, sweetheart.” It was the first time he had called her by a pet name and she just about managed not to grin as right now she needed to be serious for him. “She might be losing it for all I know. For the last two days, she would change her mind from one moment to the next and when I called her on it, she would explode.” He grunted. “I thought it would be great to run a business with Gran. Instead it was horrible.”

“So what will you do now?” Dora asked, walking into the living room with a tureen of something that smelled wonderful and three bowls.

He looked up and shrugged. “Look for someone to hire to run the inn. It isn’t my forte. And I need to concentrate on the food.”

Dora filled the bowls and passed them around. “You plan on opening mid-summer, right?”

“That was the plan.”

“Well, I’ve got some vacation time coming. It’s only a couple weeks but I could help out.”

“Dory,” he said, using the nickname he tended to call her. Dora kept telling him to stop calling her a forgetful fish, but it was obvious to anyone who knew her that she liked the nickname. “I’m not going to allow you to work during your vacation. Vacations are supposed to be fun. You’re supposed to do non-work things during breaks. Obviously you didn’t get the memo.”

“Probably, but if you need me. I’m here.”

“Thanks.”

As if there wasn’t enough stress in his life, Alex reminded them as they started stage five that this was the month to decide if they wanted to go forward or not.

“He could have chosen a better moment,” Stephanie complained to Cami a few days later as they went out to lunch. “Chris is stressed enough without this on top of it.”

“True, but it is stage five. How are you two doing?”

“Good. Except for his grandma being a pain, our courting has gone well.” Pausing to take a bite of her sandwich, Stephanie took a good look at her friend. It had been months since she had spent any time with her. Cami and Jerod had kept to themselves through the winter. From what she could tell, her friend was even happier now than she was on her wedding day. “Wedded life agrees with you.”

Laughing, Cami nodded. “Yes, it does. I couldn’t be happier. Jerod’s blocked off two weeks this summer and he’s taking me roller coaster hopping. I’m so excited.”

“What’s roller coaster hopping?”

“We’re going to go from theme park to theme park to try out the scariest rides.”

“Better you than me.”

Grinning, Cami nodded. “Yeah, you’d hate it. Kathy thinks I’m nuts, too. Drake, however, is jealous.”

“How’s little Brandon?”

The newest Covington was a definite cutie. Stephanie was glad his parents decided to call him by his middle name as two versions of Alexander were enough for one family.

“Ohh,” Camille said, her face lighting up. “You really need to stop in at the Brethertons’ and see him. He’s so cute. And he even giggles now. Unfortunately he got his mommy into trouble.”

“How?” Stephanie couldn’t figure out how a four-month-old baby could get anyone in trouble.

“Kathy’s so happy being a mom that she blurted out at the dinner table that she wasn’t going back to school. Xan was less than pleased. Something about he wasn’t letting her give up on her dreams. Next time I saw her, she said she’d forgotten what a hard hand her husband had.”

Snorting a laugh, Stephanie grinned, turning a little pink. Looking around to make sure nobody was listening, she leaned in. “I finally know how that feels.”

Cami raised an eyebrow inviting more if she wanted to talk, but didn’t push.

“I asked him to do it. I wanted to know how it felt. Plus,” she added dryly. “It was either that or write something five thousand times. Five thousand,” she stressed making Camille grin. “Turns out, I get what you guys were talking about. There is a certain relief that comes from it.”

“What did you do that made him assign you so many lines?” her friend asked in amusement.

“I told Marjorie off for thinking her little girl would end up with a Covington one day.”

Laughing loudly, Camille leaned back in her seat. “I heard about that. Drake laughed himself silly.”

* * * * *

In late April, two major things happened that made Stephanie wonder about life. And they both happened on the same day. The first was that Dora came home from work one day with a strange look on her face.

“You all right?” Stephanie asked. “I promise I didn’t burn dinner.” In fact, she was rather proud of herself. She had finally managed to make meatloaf.

Her friend offered a tired smile. “Budget cuts. As of June, my position will be handed over to a volunteer.”

“That sucks!”

“I know. Carilyn Bretherton was spitting mad. She wasn’t there when they passed the new budget for next year because she was babysitting her grandson and Mrs. Taylor got her stuff pushed through.”

“Great. So they will have more comfortable chairs next year but no you.”

“Well, on the bright side,” Dora said, taking plates down and setting three places at the table, “I’ll be able to help Chris at the inn.”

Pulling her into a hug, Stephanie held her close. “You know we love you, right? You don’t have to do this.”

“I know. But I hate not being busy and it might be kind of fun to boss your boyfriend around.”

Giggling at the thought, Stephanie let her go to take the dinner out of the oven.

“If it isn’t my two favorite women,” Chris said, walking into the room. They had given him carte blanche to let himself into the house whenever he needed. Dora had even given him his own key. She said it was easier than making the trek to the door every time he came over but Stephanie secretly thought Dora and Chris acted like brother and sister and that to her friend, it just felt natural for him to be around. “Smells good,” Chris said, inhaling as he bent over and kissed her hello.

“I managed not to burn it,” Stephanie said proudly, placing the food on the table. “It’s celebration time.”

“Good for you, sweetheart. How are you doing, Dory? Auxiliary keeping you busy?” Chris sat down and Dora shook her head.

“Actually, are you still looking for someone to run the inn?”

“Yes, why?” he asked, taking the plate Stephanie passed him.

“I’m out of a job come June.”

Startled, he stared at her. “Why are they letting you go? You keep the place running.”

“Budget issues.”

There was a pause and he grinned. “Well, think about it, but if you’re interested? I’d love to have you. You’ll probably be able to keep even me organized and that’s quite a feat.”

“I’m up to it,” she teased. “And Mrs. Bretherton said I could work any hours I wanted from now until then. She told me she would write me a recommendation letter, if you need one.”

His eyes twinkled. “Oh, I’m sure I would need at least… oh, zero recommendations. I know your work ethic. I also know how much, or should I say how little, you get paid there. With what you would be doing at the inn, you’ll be making more money.”

“Don’t you waste money on me,” she said in a belligerent tone. “The first couple years are the hardest for any business. As long as I make enough to pay my bills...”

The two of them bickered back and forth like siblings as Stephanie watched. Dora was set on not taking any more than she needed and Chris was intent on paying her what she was worth. “Now children,” she said as the doorbell chimed. They both rolled their eyes at her making her laugh. “I’ll get that.” Their playful bickering followed her to the door where Alex, Xan, and Drake Covington stood, their arms full of boxes.

“Come in,” she said and they walked inside, placing the boxes in the living room. “What’s all this?”

“We were clearing out the shed looking for a few things,” Xander explained as his brother and father went out to get more boxes, “and ran across the stuff Mom saved from your old house.”

“I figured it was safer with you than getting so buried in our stuff we might never find it again,” Alex said gruffly as they unloaded the last box. “If you don’t need it, feel free to toss it out. But I think there are a few things you might want.”

Chris and Dora joined them, looking at the boxes.

Alex walked over and patted Dora on the arm. “I just heard about what happened at your job. If you need anything…”

She smiled and shook her head. “Thanks, Mr. Covington, but I’ve accepted a job as Chris’s boss.” Chris barked a laugh and she giggled. “I’m gonna help run his inn.”

After the Covingtons left and they finished their dinner, Dora and Chris accompanied Stephanie into the living room where twelve large boxes now stood. “That’s a lot of stuff,” she said. “I figured there might be one or two boxes. Not twelve.”

“Want to open them? Or put them away?” Dora asked in a kind tone.

“Let’s open them.” The words were out before she consciously thought of them, but as Stephanie and Dora grabbed a couple boxes, Chris took out a pocket knife and sliced through the tops of each box. There was a lot of stuff she wasn’t even sure what it was, but there were also the stuffed animals she had as a kid, a box of her old school stuff, several posters from her bedroom walls which made Chris laugh, and to her surprise one box held her mother’s sewing machine. “I never thought I’d see this again,” she breathed as she pulled it out. It was an antique, something her mother had received from her own grandmother.

As she and Dora unpacked the rest of the sewing box, Chris’s silence made her turn toward him. “Sweetheart,” he said softly, “look at these.” He reached into the box he was looking at and pulled out a pile of picture albums. Flipping over a cover, he smiled. “Look, they’re all of you.” In fact, they were of each year of her life, starting from the year before her mother died and going backward.

“I can’t believe Mom did this,” Stephanie said as she put aside one from when she was two, her first year in Hyacinth. Chris was holding two more and she figured they were from her first two years but he was frowning. “What’s wrong?”

“From the dates on them, they’re from before you were born.” He opened up the oldest and the three of them looked at the first picture. It was a picture of her mother when she was a teenager. Only there were two of her. “Jeanie and Jessica Alverson,” Chris read from the scrawl under the picture. “Age fifteen.”

“Mom was a twin?”

“Wow, not just a twin,” Dora said as they turned a couple more pages. “An identical twin.”

The first album took the twins through high school, ending in a wedding photo. The man was tall with a crew cut and he was in a marine uniform. Her mother smiled into the camera with her sister standing nearby. “Taylor and Jessie’s wedding day,” she read quietly. Something was wrong about the photo, but Stephanie couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

The second album was of her parents’ married life. A third of the way through there was a newspaper picture of the two of them at a hospital bed with Jessica holding a baby. “Was that you?” Dora asked in excitement.

“No,” Chris said, reading aloud. “Taylor and Jessie Trundle are pleased to announce the birth of their son Bryant Gregory. From the date, he was about five years older than Steph.”

Stephanie’s chest began to tighten. Something was wrong here and she knew it. But she couldn’t stop turning the pages. One whole page was taken up with a faded newspaper clipping.
Major Taylor Trundle Missing In Action, Feared Dead
was the headline.

“Oh, no,” Dora whispered.

On the page opposite was another clipping. It was a picture of Jessica holding another baby. Chris read, his voice soft even as his arm wrapped around Stephanie’s shoulders. “Jessica Trundle is pleased to announce the birth of her daughter Stephanie Anne. Her husband Taylor has been missing in action for three months but his wife is sure he will make it home to his family.”

Dora turned the page and all three of them gasped at the headline on the next newspaper clipping.
Jessica Trundle Killed By Drunk Driver
.

Her head pounding, Stephanie shook her head. How could this be? This newspaper was twenty years old but her mother died just a few years ago. “This doesn’t make sense.”

The next few pages were filled with pictures of a young boy and a baby girl. And then another news clipping.
Major Taylor Trundle Is Coming Home
. Clearing his throat, Chris read even as his hand took hers and held it tightly. “For years our little community was saddened by all of the horrible things that happened to the young Trundle family but today we are excited to announce that Major Taylor Trundle has been recovered, is alive, and is set to come home within the next few months. Bryant and Stephanie may not remember him, but their father will soon be back in their lives. Jeanie, Jessica’s sister, who has been taking care of the kids should be pleased her brother-in-law is coming home. She can return to school and the entire family can move on with their lives…”