“These are nice houses,” Emma said, admiring the way they seemed to blend into the landscape.
“Your mom is very proud of them. Lucas Construction was the builder on all of them. That’s how she and Barbara became friends. Your mom was the project manager on Barbara and her husband’s house.”
These were definitely higher-end custom-built homes. Lucas Construction had done a great job, from what she could see on the outside.
She found a parking space between a small SUV and a flashy convertible, then moved around the side of the car.
“I can do this,” Sylvia said as Emma opened the door and reached a hand in to help her grandmother out. “With this walking cast, I mostly just need a cane. I’m getting along much better now.”
Emma had noticed and wasn’t sure what to think about that. “I’m so glad you’re feeling better. Whenever you feel like you’re ready to come back to the bookstore, I can step aside. I’m sure I could find something else in town to do.”
Perhaps she could persuade her mother that she wanted to start at the bottom at the construction company.
Sylvia snorted. “Don’t be silly. The last thing I want is for you to step aside.”
“You don’t want to come back to the bookstore?”
“Not to run the place. You are exactly what The Rainy Day Bookshop needed to shake things up, someone with more energy, enthusiasm and ideas than I could ever find, especially at this stage of life.”
“I hate feeling like I showed up in town and pushed you out of doing something you love.”
“Don’t be silly. I was more than ready to quit. If I hadn’t been, do you really think a silly broken leg would have kept me on the sidelines?”
Emma narrowed her gaze at her grandmother. “Then why am I here?”
Sylvia shrugged. “You needed to be home and this broken ankle was as good an excuse as any.”
Emma frowned as she helped her grandmother up the two steps to the front door. “Are you telling me you orchestrated this whole thing?”
“Not the broken ankle. That was real, unfortunately. But I’m glad things happened as they did. You and Olive needed to come home.”
Since she couldn’t argue, she only gave her grandmother a chiding look. “I like making my own decisions for my life. You could have asked me to come back even before you broke your ankle.”
“Would that have made a difference? You only came home because you thought it was an emergency. Admit it.”
She could not disagree. “You are a rascal, Grandma,” she said.
Sylvia only laughed. “I know, but you love me anyway.”
She hugged the older woman, smelling her familiar scent of roses and sandalwood that immediately took her back to being a girl cuddling beside her grandmother while Sylvia read to her.
“You’re lucky you’re so lovable.”
Sylvia laughed, a low, husky sound. “Don’t I know it?”
There was a sign on the door that bid visitors to enter. Feeling odd about walking into a stranger’s home, Emma knocked softly before she pushed open the door. A sleek, well-groomed woman beamed at them.
“Hi, Sylvia. And you must be Emma. You look like your mother. Come in.”
She ushered them into a large open room packed with people, some she recognized and others who were unfamiliar to her.
“Have we missed listening to our sexy new author?” Sylvia asked.
Barbara chuckled. “He hasn’t officially started talking. You have time to come and grab something to eat. We have tons of food. Pam brought croissant chicken salad sandwiches, and they are absolutely delicious.”
Emma stiffened. Pam was there? She hadn’t realized the other woman was part of the book club.
She should have asked her mother for the guest list. She had absolutely no desire to socialize with her.