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.“Sure.I’ll just go collect my.tools.”Shoes! He meant shoes! He was still barefoot, and if Sally caught on to that.Alessandra rubbed her forehead as Penn headed out of the kitchen.“Did you just drop by, Sally, or.”“Oh!” The older woman laughed.“I brought something for you.Can you believe I almost forgot?” She set her mug beside the cardboard box she’d arrived with and then placed her palms on either side of it.Alessandra didn’t have a clue.“Well?”“It’s been such a wonderful few days,” Tommy’s mother said.“I’m so thrilled with the plans for Clare’s wedding, and I.” She ran her hands over the box, almost caressing the cardboard.“I have a few things that I think I’m ready to pass on to you.No.That I know that I’m ready to pass on to you.”Alessandra’s skin went hot, then icy.Pinpricks burst along the nape of her neck.“What.what kind of things?”“Keepsakes of Tommy’s.Of course I have many that I’ve put away for the family, but I thought these might be of special meaning to you.” She pushed the box toward Alessandra.It seemed to writhe and rattle like a snake.Her hand white-knuckled the back of a kitchen chair to keep from falling.or running.Sally was still smiling.“Aren’t you going to open it?”A warm hand wrapped one of Alessandra’s hands fisted around the chair.Penn.She looked up at him, offering to give him a thousand pardons if he could get her out of this.He squeezed her fingers.“I thought since you’re here, Sally, I could take you down for another look at the cottage,” he said.“Make sure it’s all to your satisfaction.I have a few extra minutes.”“Oh.” The inch-and-a-half of assorted gold bracelets on the older woman’s slender wrist jingled as she gestured toward the boxed belongings.“But I wanted Alessandra to look through these—”“I’m sure you’ll agree it can wait.Clare’s wedding, on the other hand.”That prod carried the exact right voltage to get Sally moving.“Of course, of course,” she answered, already heading for the door.Penn and Alessandra trailed behind.“I’ll stay here and get dressed,” she whispered to him.“Thanks.”His smile was perfunctory and he strode ahead to catch up with Sally.Alessandra descended the steps in their wake.The older woman tucked her hand in his arm.“Is there something in particular that needs my attention?” she asked Penn.Before he could answer, another car came speeding toward the farmhouse.Clare’s Camry.It came to a smooth stop, so quiet that it reminded Alessandra she needed to get her sedan into Gil’s shop.Her brakes were squealing.And hey, maybe she could make an appointment right then and there, because it was her cousin who was getting out of the passenger seat of Clare’s car.He looked great, brawny and bold and.happy.Happy?Her gaze snapped to Clare whose wide eyes were trained on her mother as she climbed from her seat.“Mom.” She swallowed.“I was going to come by and see you later.”A questioning note entered her voice as she turned to Alessandra.“I called you last night.Your cell wasn’t on this morning.”“Oh.Sorry.” Guilt had her glancing at Penn.But he was focused on the couple by the car, and.The couple by the car.A premonition slithered down her spine.Her feet moved backward, her heels bumping against the first tread of the stairway.“I’ve got to get back inside.” She made a vague gesture with her arm.Clare frowned.“But I came to speak with you.”“Your mom’s here,” Alessandra said, feeling her way up two steps.“Visit with your mom.”Penn moved quickly, catching her arm.“She’s here for you,” he reiterated.But she didn’t want to hear what Clare had to say! She tried shaking free of his hold, shooting him a glare.“Her mother—”“Should probably learn this at the same time as you, anyway,” Clare offered.She looked up as Gil came to stand beside her.The smile she sent him was sweet.It made Alessandra’s stomach hurt.She tried moving again, but Penn kept her tight to his side.Clare’s gaze cut again to her mother.“Mom, I’m not marrying Jordan.”Sally stepped back.Alessandra, too, stumbling against the next step.Penn caught her arm to steady her.“But.but.” Sally said.“The wedding is just days away.You’ve never hinted.”“I know.” Clare gave a weak smile.“But it’s like this Star Trek episode,” she said.“It’s titled ‘This Side of Paradise, ’ and the Enterprise lands on an agricultural colony to evacuate the colonists endangered by fatal Berthold rays.No one wants to leave—”“Clare.” Alessandra’s voice was firm.“Star Trek isn’t a guidebook for life.”“Wait,” Penn said.“I know this one.Spock got all hot and bothered with an old love interest, which made it pretty memorable.But the main idea was that everyone on the planet was affected by a plant that made them abnormally happy—happy enough to risk certain death by refusing to leave.It took them experiencing strong emotion to shake them back to reality and themselves.”Clare was nodding.“I was just going along with the marriage plans until something shook me up.”“What?” Sally slid a look toward Gil.“Did—”“Jordan was cheating on me, Mom.” Color flagged Clare’s cheeks.“For the last few months he’s found time to be intimate with someone else, though he was always too busy for us to be alone.I don’t think that’s right, even if he said it didn’t have any more meaning to him than a lap dance.”“Cheating on you?” Sally blinked, obviously trying to absorb the news and its ramifications.“This can’t be.I don’t.Oh, Clare.”Her daughter’s voice hardened.“ ‘Oh, Clare’ isn’t the right response, Mom.I didn’t disappoint you.”“No.Well.” Sally put her hand to her head.“But Jordan’s parents, Grandmère—”“I suspect Grandmère understands Jordan better than we did,” Clare replied.“It explains why she gives him an annual stipend as an incentive not to gamble.She knows he wants to.She knows he’s into risky behavior.”“But.but.he’s a stockbroker!” Sally protested.“Mom,” Clare said on a sigh.“That’s exactly what I’m trying to tell you.”Penn laughed, then covered up the sound with a cough.“Or maybe he’s just a selfish jerk, Clare.I think you have dodged a bullet.”“Thank you,” Clare said.“And there’s more.More that everyone should know.”Alessandra tried retreating toward the kitchen again.Penn let her make it to the small back porch before his hold tightened again.“Stay put,” he said.Clare straightened her spine.“Like I said, I’m not marrying Jordan
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