Page 82 of The Paradise Plan

“I just think…I think last year, I was still a little numb from everything.”She exhaled mightily enough for it to echo through the line.“This year, it reminds me that I’m going to be all alone again.”

Harrison swallowed and looked right, hoping a few more inches would mask his voice from his brother, who sat next to him.“You’re not alone, sweetheart,” he said.“You’ll be back here on Thursday, and I’ll be waiting at your place with whatever you tell me you want for dinner.”

He watched a man walk his dog, and a mother hand her child a square of a sandwich.Cass said nothing, and Harrison wasn’t sure why.He wished he could see her face, and he could easily turn this call into a video chat to do so.

“Harrison,” she finally said.“I’m not sure I’ll be able to come back this weekend.”

His heartbeat started to race, and he swallowed before he asked, “Why not?”

“Sariah wants to go through the house, and I need more time here with her.”

“Sure,” Harrison said, though he hated the thought of Cass in her old house in Texas, going through things with her daughter.At the same time, Cass had never held back from talking about her husband.“And you’re okay?With that?”

“Yes,” Cass said.She sighed again.“She’s changed her tune.Now she’s saying she doesn’t want me to sell the house.”

“Conrad didn’t either,” Harrison whispered.“Could you just keep it until…?”He didn’t know what came after that.Until what?More time had passed?Her kids were okay with letting go of it?

“I don’t want it,” she said.“I’m…I’m just trying to manage a lot here, Harrison.”

“I know, Cass.”He reached up and wiped his forehead.“What do you need me to do?I can come help with the house, or…” He once again trailed off, not sure what to say next.He swallowed, his throat narrowing to the width of a coffee-stirring straw.

“No,” she said.“You’re so busy there.Building four is a week behind, and I’m fine.”

“Cass.”The tension and uncertainty radiated through the line, but Harrison didn’t know what to say to ease it.

“I’m okay,” Cass said, her voice turning bright again.“I am.It’s just a lot.”

“Conrad’s place is okay?”He could maybe get her talking about something else.Something to take her mind somewhere else.

“It’s great,” she said.“He knows his roommates, and he’ll be happy there.”

“He almost didn’t go back,” Harrison said.

“He told me,” Cass said.“I think I would’ve lost my mind with him in South Carolina with me for much longer.”She gave a light laugh, and Harrison joined her.

“He’s a good kid,” Harrison said.

“Yes, he is.”

Harrison looked at his brother, who gazed back at him.“Heard from Jane?”

“She’s in Michigan,” Cass said.“She said she’ll probably be here by Saturday, which is the other reason I have to stay in Sweet Water Falls for a little longer than planned.”

“Wow.”Harrison’s eyebrows went up.“How long has it been since you’ve seen her?”

“Almost nine months,” Cass said.“I am excited to see her.”

“I bet.”He smiled then.“I want some pictures of you and your girls, okay?”

She laughed again, and Harrison could finally smile.“All right,” she said, and when she said that, she sounded Texan.Harrison had to believe that she’d at least come back to Hilton Head to deal with her house here.She’d taken Beryl with her, and he told himself that houses could be sold from thousands of miles away.

And yet, she’d gone back to Texas to sell the one there which she’d shared with West and her children for so long.

He couldn’t help wondering if she’d come back to the island—to him.He certainly didn’t have the same pull as everything else in Cass’s life, and though the call ended on a happy note, Harrison felt worse than ever as he slumped in his chair.

“Everything okay?”Spence asked.

“Yes.”Harrison flashed him a smile.“Everything’s great.”