That Night on Thistle Lane (34 page)

“No kidding,” Noah muttered.

“It’s good. You get bored easily. In fact, you’re a pain in the ass when you’re bored.” Dylan looked more relaxed than when he’d arrived at the library. “Brandon Sloan’s a natural to work in adventure travel. He could do it on the side and still keep up with his construction work.”

Noah nodded. “You could use the help.”

“I thought this adventure travel initiative might burn out fast, but it’s not going to. It’s already taking off and we’re not even fully set up yet.”

Noah wasn’t surprised. With Duncan McCaffrey’s treasure hunting background and Dylan’s interests and contacts, adventure travel was a perfect next step for him. But it wouldn’t be the only one. After four years of hyperfocusing on NAK, he was as ready to explore multiple interests as Noah was.

“Maggie and Olivia are on their way to becoming full business partners,” Dylan added. “Maggie’s taking over more of the day-to-day running of Carriage Hill. She loves it and she’s good at it. Olivia loves the design work, planning, coming up with new ideas.”

“Finding old pillowcases,” Noah added with a smile.

“And soap making. They’re having a great time.”

Noah could get used to mosquitoes, and he could learn to love small-town life and hiking in the woods, but he wasn’t going to get into making soap. He suspected Dylan was of a like mind.

“NAK’s a success,” Noah said. “It’s in good hands, but we’re not done.”

Across South Main, people were gathering to check out the damage from the storm. The Civil War monument was intact, the stone Union soldier standing tall amid several downed trees. Several of the buildings on South Main had sustained damage. Across the common, the Knights Bridge Country Store was untouched.

Except for Phoebe’s cuts, there’d been no injuries. Noah watched her kneel down at eye level with her young nephews as she spoke to them. After their scare, they’d need reassurance.

“We’re friends, Noah,” Dylan said next to him. “That’s not changing, whatever comes next.”

He meant Phoebe, Noah knew.

She stood, Tyler and Aidan laughing now. Everyone looked more at ease. Noah felt his throat tighten. “I’m as sure about Phoebe as I’ve ever been about anything.”

“I know,” Dylan said.

“That obvious?”

“It is to me.”

“Phoebe and I need time together, but it won’t change how sure I am.” Noah went very still, a cool, gentle breeze blowing now. “I know it won’t.”

Dylan didn’t argue with him.

Olivia broke off from the Sloans and O’Dunns and Dylan met her on the corner of South Main and Thistle Lane. He put his arm around her as if he’d known her forever. Noah glanced at the library. Brandon had said he thought it would reopen quickly, within a few days, although the damage would take longer to repair. Would Phoebe lead that effort as library director?

She hugged her mother, then left her family and walked toward him. He wanted to go to her but waited for her to reach him.

“Thank you, Noah,” she said, stopping next to a small downed tree limb. “I’ve never passed out before.”

“You’re sure you don’t need to get checked out at the hospital?”

“I’m sure. I’ve been cleared to go home. My mother wants us all to come out to her place for hamburgers and hot dogs.” Phoebe smiled, added, “And tomatoes, of course.”

“Fresh from the garden,” Noah said.

“Absolutely.”

“Phoebe…” Then as he let his fingertips graze hers, out of view of her family and friends, he heard himself tell her that he was going back to San Diego. “I’m not a guy from Knights Bridge. I never will be. That’s a statement of fact, Phoebe. It’s not an apology.”

Her turquoise eyes widened but she didn’t speak.

“When we saw each other that night in Boston, it was like having a flash grenade go off in our lives. It changed everything. I had it happen when NAK took off and turned me into a very wealthy man.” He resisted an urge to touch her hair, her lips. “You need time, Phoebe. I’m giving it to you.”

If she said anything as he left, he didn’t hear it. He waved a hand at Dylan, who immediately joined him on South Main. “Noah, what’s going on?”

“I need a ride to the airport.”

“You’re going back to San Diego?”

“Tonight.”

“For how long?”

Noah glanced back at Phoebe, walking alone down Thistle Lane. “For as long as it takes.”

*

Word got out that Noah Kendrick had left Knights Bridge for the second time in less than a week. Phoebe was pouring wine when Maggie, Ava, Ruby and Olivia descended on Thistle Lane to take her to her mother’s house. Brandon was already there with Tyler and Aidan.

Maggie, looking emotionally ragged, took the wine bottle out of Phoebe’s hands. “Are you out of your ever-loving mind, Phoebe? It’s bad enough I’ve screwed up everything with Brandon, but you can’t screw up things with Noah because you’re afraid of not being there for us, for Mom, for Knights Bridge. You just can’t. I won’t let you.”

Ava glanced at her watch. “Noah doesn’t have that much of a head start. You have time to get to the airport before his plane takes off.”

“You’re assuming I was invited,” Phoebe said.

Her sisters groaned in unison. “Who cares? Go!”

“I’ll drive you,” Olivia said. “If we’re wrong and he doesn’t want you on his plane, I’ll drive you back here—”

“And we’ll drink a case of his wine,” Maggie said.

“It’s a risk but not a crazy risk,” Ruby said. “He wants you to take it. He wants to prove he’s not too much for you. Too rich, too California, too smart, too—you know. Too everything.”

“And he needs to know you’re falling in love with him,” Maggie added quietly. “He needs to know he has something to offer you.”

Phoebe took a breath. “Something to offer me?”

“You have everything you need right here in Knights Bridge,” Olivia said. “Your family, your job, your friends.”

But not Noah, Phoebe thought. She didn’t tell her sisters and friend that even before the storm—fainting into Noah’s arms—she’d drafted her letter of resignation from the library, just to get a feel for what it might be like to try something new. She could volunteer. She could get into adventure travel, work on Carriage Hill soaps, learn about venture capital and serial entrepreneurs. She could read books and chase toddlers.

There was so much she could do.

She saw possibilities where before she had only seen the path she was on.

Before Noah.

“It’ll take me two seconds to pack,” she said, already heading out of the kitchen.

She didn’t know what she threw in her suitcase. If she forgot anything, there were stores in San Diego. And maybe I won’t need clothes, she thought with a jolt. She blamed her scare with the storm, her mad dash up to the attic with her nephews. She still ached from her cuts, but at least she hadn’t required stitches and didn’t have a concussion.

In other words, she could fly. She could see the sights in San Diego.

Make love to Noah.

She let out a breath. Don’t get ahead of yourself.

On the drive to the small airport barely twenty miles from Knights Bridge, Olivia gripped the steering wheel, her eyes on the road as she spoke. “If things don’t work out with you and Noah, you and I will still be friends. You know that, right, Phoebe? It won’t change anything between us.”

“But Dylan—”

“It’s the same for him and Noah. They’ve been friends for almost as long as we have. We’re all grownups now, Phoebe. You know? We’ll figure it out. You and Noah need the space to be whatever you’re meant to be to each other.”

“I appreciate that, Olivia,” Phoebe said. “You and Noah seem to get along well.”

“Noah is—he’s just Noah. Not everyone gets him.”

“Women?”

“I don’t know much about his past relationships.” Olivia smiled. “Except that they’re past.”

“I’ve never been to San Diego,” Phoebe said half under her breath.

“You won’t be intimidated by Noah’s life there. You’re not the type. Just because you’re quiet and kind doesn’t mean you’re a pushover. You’d never have managed Knights Bridge Free Public Library if you were a pushover.”

Phoebe laughed. “That’s for sure.”

Olivia slowed for a curve. “That’s what Noah sees, you know. He believes in you.”

They arrived at the airport.

Noah’s plane hadn’t taken off yet.

Phoebe had a strong suspicion that Dylan had given his friend advance warning. The pilot greeted her by name and escorted her to the private jet himself.

Noah was there, fresh out of the shower, in a clean black shirt and dark jeans. He looked every inch the billionaire he was. He had champagne waiting, and when she sat next to him on a leather seat, Phoebe knew there was nowhere else on the planet she’d rather be.

*

Brandon slept on the couch at Maggie’s “gingerbread” house off Knights Bridge common. It hadn’t sustained any damage, but he said he wanted to be close to the boys their first night after their scare. Maggie didn’t mind. It made sense, she told herself. Tyler and Aidan needed both parents.

Brandon had an early start at work. He hadn’t even stayed for coffee.

It was almost as if he hadn’t been there.

The second night, however, was a different story.

His folks took the boys for the night. Christopher had promised he’d show his nephews some basic search-and-rescue techniques. Tyler and Aidan were so excited, Maggie couldn’t say no, although she was reluctant to be apart from them. Never in her life had she had such a scare as when she’d arrived at the library after the storm.

She still wasn’t over it, she thought as she crossed the yard to Grace Webster’s old house—the one Dylan’s father had bought and then left to him, a simple act that, ultimately, had changed all their lives.

The heat of two days ago eased with the storm; it was downright chilly. Maggie had promised her in-laws that she’d drop off a jug of corn chowder for Brandon. She and her mother and younger sisters had made up tons with fresh corn from the garden.

He stood by an open fire in front of his tent. “It’s still warm,” she said, handing the chowder to him.

“Thanks, Maggie.”

She heard something in his voice but couldn’t figure out what it was. He had a blanket spread out on the grass between his tent and the crackling fire. She appreciated the warmth of the flames.

“Sit with me a minute?” he asked her.

She shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

She sat cross-legged on the blanket. He sat next to her, his legs stretched out, the light from the flames flickering on his face. He smiled at her. “Nice night. I don’t miss the heat.”

“Me, either, although I’ll probably regret saying that in January.” She fidgeted, uncrossed her legs. “I shouldn’t stay long. I have things to do at home.”

“At least stay until the stars are out.”

She went still, narrowed her eyes on him. That was it, she thought. That knowing tone. That Sloan smugness. “I’ve been set up, haven’t I?”

He leaned toward her. “You didn’t stand a chance. All of us Sloans united to get you out here tonight.”

“My sisters weren’t involved, were they?”

“Do you see them here with pitchforks?” Brandon asked wryly.

“It’s not that they’re against you. They’re just with me.”

His gaze softened. “So am I, Maggie.”

She looked away from him and saw a star twinkling brightly in the darkening night sky. “Brandon…” She didn’t go on. What else was there to say?

“If you want to leave, Maggie—”

“I don’t.”

The words were out before she’d realized she’d said them and that it really was what she wanted. Brandon edged closer to her, and she sank against him, felt his arm settle around her. It was so quiet, just an owl hooting across the field toward Carriage Hill and Quabbin.

“Ah, Maggie,” Brandon said. “Maggie, Maggie.”

“We’re not kids anymore, are we?”

“Maybe not, but we have years of fun left in us.” He kissed her on the top of her head. “Decades.”

As they watched the stars come out, he talked to her about the work he was doing with his family, and he asked her about her catering business and what was up with her and Olivia at Carriage Hill. They talked about adventure travel and treasure hunts left over from Dylan’s father.

The night turned dark, stars glittering overhead. Maggie watched the fire die down, just glowing coals now. At least she’d had the sense to wear jeans and a sweatshirt given the cool temperature. The mosquitoes left them alone.

Finally she said, “I was so afraid of wanting to be back in Knights Bridge—wanting to raise Aidan and Tyler here—that I ended up blaming you. I had to come home because we were on the skids. It was an excuse.” She picked at a loose thread on the blanket, then looked up at him. “It was a bad excuse, and it hurt you and the boys. And me.”

“I’d talked you into thinking it’d be a sign of failure to come back here, and that I didn’t want to.”

She grunted. “You didn’t want to, Brandon. I’ve been listening to you say you couldn’t wait to get out of Knights Bridge and then that you never wanted to go back for years.”

“Yeah. I know.” He shrugged. “But things change.”

Maggie sat up straight, shocked. “You want to be here?”

“Pretty much.” He grinned that easy Sloan grin. “My family’s been waiting to hear me say that since I was just out of diapers. Maggie, I don’t care if you needed someone to blame for wanting to come back here for the boys—for yourself. I can take it.”

“I was so afraid of being impractical and impulsive. Starting my own business, buying a fixer-upper.” She pushed hair out of her face. “Oh, Brandon. I’ve been such an idiot.”

“No, you haven’t. I shut down. I told myself you and the boys would be better off on your own.”

“You were wrong,” she said, more forcefully than she’d intended. “I know you’ve been through a rough period and you’re being responsible, but I don’t want you to give up your dreams. Not for my sake.”

“When I lost my job, I felt like my dreams were what got us into trouble, and I dug a hole deeper for you and the boys.” He touched a finger to her chin. “There’s a lot of history between us, Maggie. When I lost my job, I felt like a failure. I felt like everything I’d told you for years about what I was going to do, how we were going to live, was just a lot of BS.”