Page 23 of Fortune’s Control (Fortune’s Creek #1)

Emma’s car turned the corner and disappeared out of sight.

“Party time is over,” Shane remarked. He stroked the small of my back to offer some comfort.

“She stayed an extra day for me.”

“I think Emma didn’t want to drive home while hungover. How long is her drive? Five hours of nursing a headache behind the wheel.” I bumped his hip with mine. “No, you’re right. She stayed here for me,” he teased.

Emma despised driving.

“Go ahead and think that. The Gator Tale proved rowdier than we planned.” Our girls’ night out turned into a celebration for winning the game before developing into a general town party.

We ordered one pitcher after another until Shane volunteered as the designated driver.

I leaned my head on his arm and pulled away.

“You’re damp.” I sniffed him. “You smell.”

“Late morning run. I plan to shower before heading into town.”

“Then you’ll see Sophie and me later.”

“The grant work,” Shane guessed. He supported the idea after I told him, calling it the ideal job. I suggested Shane join in, and he backed away, horrified. “The two of you are starting on that. Are you responsible for the management and paperwork? ”

I rubbed my hands together. “It’s my dream job, Shane. I’ll make a chocolate cake to celebrate tonight, and Sophie volunteered to make dinner for us.”

“Or I could take you out?”

“No, we can do that another time.” I wanted to focus on my new job while he worked in the woodshop—a perfect evening at home.

“Home them.”

*****

I shut the guest room’s door behind me. Sophie asked for extra time to get ready, and I wanted privacy. The water pipes echoed through the walls, signaling that Shane hadn’t finished his shower.

Emma urged me not to call Sarah Jane at the baseball game, and, while I understood she wanted to spare my feelings, Sarah Jane was still my mother.

I held the phone and rehearsed what to say. She suggested making Shane suffer, and I rejected that advice, but she would want to know more about our relationship. My grandmother’s search stalled out, so maybe she’d provide a clue if I begged a little. Plus, my new job.

Experts suggested the sandwich approach, where you place the request between two positive comments. They referred to giving feedback, but this was similar.

It rang several times, and I wondered if she preferred voicemail to a conversation.

“Delilah, honey. How are you?”

“Hi, Mom. It’s been a busy several days.”

“I thought you forgot about me.”

“It hasn’t been that long.” I did the math. “Ten days.”

“Those ten days must have been mighty important. Are you still there?”

Ten wonderful days. “No, not at all. I’m also still in Fortune’s Creek, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“So, you insist on staying? Then wear sunscreen and watch yourself. That weather is brutal on a woman’s complexion.”

“Thanks for the advice. I called so we could catch up. Do you remember Shane? Our relationship is better than the last time we spoke. He’s a terrific guy, and I like him.”

“Tell me about this mysterious Shane.”

“He’s the captain of the town baseball team, and he’s their best player.”

“Interesting. A grown man who plays games. What else?”

“He does woodworking and sells his craft items at a local store.”

She sniffed. “That’s a horrible way to make a living. He sounds like a dreamer, and let me tell you. I dated a dreamer once, and…well, he could barely afford a steak dinner. Did you know George is in finance?”

Many words described Shane Wilcott, but “dreamer,” with all the negative connotations my mom attached to it, was not one of them. I admired the creative part of him.

“You didn’t, but congratulations to you.” Because a man’s career determined a woman’s self-worth. “Shane’s skill is amazing. Maybe you’ll see his work someday. He also owns property that he rents out and was in the Marines.”

“The first part sounds promising. Was he an officer?”

“I don’t think so, and why would it matter? He’s here in Fortune’s Creek, with me.” She huffed into the phone when I mentioned the town’s name. “He let me stay in his garage apartment, and I cheered him on at a game a couple of days ago. Shane’s a good man, Mom. I like him. You would like him.”

“You live in his garage?”

“No, that’s not what I said.”

“Delilah, let me offer you some advice because you need it. A man who cares about you doesn’t shove you into his garage like a piece of property. That’s a man who won’t support you, and frankly, even you should know better.”

Even me.

“You’re right.” I sat down and sucked in a breath to try again, this time without the timid voice.

There was no point correcting her. “I am unemployed, after all.” My enthusiasm for updating her on the grant proposal faded.

She wouldn’t cheer me on, and I didn’t need more reminders. “Mom, I have a question for you.”

She waited a beat. “What’s that?” From the way her question came out, I pictured Sarah Jane crouched in a defensive position.

It’s as if she believed I would ruin her life, or perhaps she already did. Sarah Jane had me when she was nineteen, so I took away the last of her youth. “As you know, I’m staying in Fortune’s Creek.”

“Uh-huh. Please don’t ask me about your grandmother. Leave the past in the past, where it belongs.”

The door opened, and Shane entered. He put his back to the wall, crossed his arms, and stared down at me, unsmiling.

“It’s about my grandmother. I tried to find information about her and you.”

“After I asked you not to?”

Mortification filled me. Shane already shared his opinion about my mother, and here he was, listening in. At least he waited until the first half of our conversation was over. “Wouldn’t you like to see her? It’s been years, and she might like to know she has a granddaughter.”

“She knows, Delilah.”

My heart skipped a beat as Shane sat beside me, pulling me into his arms to offer support. “What?”

“I went to her for help when pregnant with you, and she turned me away. What kind of mother does that?”

“Not the good kind.” I couldn’t offer a better response.

“That’s right. I’m the one who birthed you and fed you, not her. Do you know how difficult it was in the early years? Leave it be, for my sake.”

“I…I’m sorry.”

Shane snatched the phone from my hands. “The next time you speak to your daughter, it will start with an apology, and you’d better make sure I believe it. Today’s call is done, so I suggest you take some much-needed time to reflect on how Lilah deserves a better mother than you’ll ever be.”

“Who is this?” Sarah Jane yelled into the phone.

“Your new son-in-law.” Shane hung up.

Horror filled me. “That was Sarah Jane.”

“I don’t care who it was. She won’t speak to you that way ever again. You didn’t deserve that, Lilah.”

I wanted to believe him. “You didn’t know me as a child. How much did you hear?” The water pipes quieted, and I never noticed.

“I heard voices in the hallway and made an educated guess. Her voice carries, even with the phone pressed against your face. As for the first statement, I know you now, and that’s more than enough. Your mother is an emotional vampire.”

My neck snapped.

He noticed. “What is it? ”

“Emma says the same thing. I used to spend weekends at her home growing up because one more kid around didn’t matter, and Sarah Jane appreciated the break from me. She was nineteen when I was born, and on her own.”

“Difficult, and probably frightening. That doesn’t make what she says to you okay. It doesn’t make any of it true.”

“She won’t apologize.”

Shane pulled me against him. I leaned on him every time he did, wanting to absorb his strength into my body. Sophie called him bossy, which wasn’t untrue, but also inaccurate. He took care of everyone in his brusque manner — including me.

Messy me, who leaned on him. I wrapped my arms around his waist and snuggled into his chest. His steady heartbeat strengthened me.

“She’ll apologize. If it matters, I think she loves you in her own miserable way,” he said.

“You sound like it’s foreordained.” Shane’s blunt delivery almost convinced me. “You can’t force her.”

“Forcing her will lead to an insincere apology. I would help her understand why it’s in her best interest.”

The difference between those two statements was slim. A strange pool grew in my stomach, warming me as I considered what that meant, and I shivered.

“Are you cold?”

So far, I’d seen Shane’s commanding nature directed towards friends and family. What would he do to those he deemed enemies?

“I wonder if that part about my grandmother is true.”

“Probably not, or at least not in the way she described it. In my experience, people who lie about one thing will lie about another.”

If her claim were true, that would make two generations of toxic Mayberry women. What did that say about me? Toxic or messy? Which was worse?

“Wait. What did Sarah Jane lie about?”

“She implied life with you was difficult, which is impossible.” His thumb stroked my cheek, and I shivered again. “She’s mistaken about that, Lilah. You made friends with Lainey, and deserve credit for my sister and me talking more than we have in years. You played matchmaker with Diane and Pete.”

“With your help.”

“My part barely mattered. You also made my life better. Considering all that, it’s more than fair to call your mother a liar.”

Sophie pounded on the door. “Hey, you two. Are we ready, or should I put earphones on?”

I wanted to melt into the floor. “I thought we were discreet.”

He chuckled. “I wasn’t.”

“One minute,” I called out.

“Stay with Sophie today. If you two separate, call me. I don’t want you alone.”

“All day. We’re touring a few buildings and pulling tax records.” I clapped my hands with excitement. “I get to build a budget.”

He struggled for a response before settling on caution. “Be careful. Anywhere downtown, I’m two minutes away.”

“I’ll be safe the entire time.” Nothing could happen to me in Fortune’s Creek, not in my newfound oasis.