Andrew slunk down, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. He turned his face toward the shelves until he realized he was fiercely concentrating on a selection of books about coping with menopause.
To his vast relief, the women’s conversation shifted to othersubjects. Andrew headed over toward the bathrooms as Finn came out.
“Did you wash your hands?” he asked automatically.
His son nodded, shaking off his still wet palms. “Where’s Zara?”
“She’s looking at the horse books. What are you looking for?”
With luck, his son would say he didn’t need a book and they could wrap up this excruciating bookstore visit.
“I want anotherStar Wars Origamibook. Can you help me find it?”
“Sure thing.”
Since the two women seemed to have moved to another section of the store, he directed his son to the children’s area. Finn quickly found several books he wanted to peruse, including the clever book that taught readers how to make origami versions of popularStar Warscharacters.
Andrew had returned to the research section right as the two women walked around the endcap into his aisle.
Even if he hadn’t heard the younger one refer to the other one as Mom, he would have known they were related. Both women were remarkably pretty. They shared the same green eyes, the same delicate features, the same auburn hair, though the younger one—the very insightful reader who loved his books, apparently—had purple-tipped highlights, several piercings in her nose and her lip, and a tattoo of a crescent moon on one arm and an iridescent dragon on the other.
“Oh!” The older woman drew up short. He saw a dawning look of horror cross her striking features. “You’re Andrew Morgan.”
With all his heart, he wished he could deny his identity in that moment but that would be stupid. “I am. Hello.”
He offered a smile, his polished meet-the-readers kind of expression—the one that concealed all the struggles and strains of life.
Maybe she would assume he hadn’t overheard their conversation. He had no problem going along with that. With luck, they could avoid any awkwardness.
“Welcome to Wood Briar,” she said. “I had heard you were moving to town. My mother is friends with your mother. She’s been so excited to have you return.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Why would your mother possibly care about me moving to Wood Briar?”
She grimaced. “Not my mother.Yourmother is the excited one. Nancy has been talking about it nonstop. She’s so thrilled to have your children close to her again.”
Being near his mother had been one of the main reasons he had decided to settle here. Nancy had been extolling the virtues of the area since she moved here herself on a whim several years after his father died.
During the final days of Tracy’s illness, Nancy had moved down to California temporarily to help him out with the children. He would be eternally grateful to her for that. Her calm presence had been a lifesaver.
His mother had talked about moving down to California permanently to be closer to them, but he could sense the reluctance in her voice every time she brought it up, so he had managed to dissuade her. She had made a life here, with a tight group of friends who looked out for each other. He didn’t want to take her away from that. She deserved to find whatever peace she could after being married to William Morgan all those years.
After the fire destroyed his house, moving here to be closer to her had made sense.
He still didn’t know if he’d made the right decision. The endless chaos of the house renovation along with Zara’s negative attitude made him question everything, but he supposed only time would tell.
“My kids are looking forward to being close to their grandmother.”
“How are you liking Stormhaven?”
“Stormhaven? Seriously? That’s where you’ve moved?” Her daughter looked astonished at that information as she gave the older woman a look Andrew couldn’t interpret.
He frowned. “I’m afraid it’s not so much a haven right now as a disaster. We’re in the middle of a construction zone. It will be nice when it’s done, but right now we’re squeezed into a couple of rooms above the old carriage house. The renovation is taking much longer than I expected.”
“I know. I’m sorry about that.”
“Why are you sorry?”
“Oh.” She looked flustered. “I should have introduced myself. I’m Rosie Lucas.”