the usual family dinner at her mother’s.
Just as she’d anticipated, it was awkward and tense from the moment they arrived. Her sisters scowled at her and looked relieved when she finally abandoned the kitchen in favor of going outside to watch the kids. Her brothers-in-law regarded her as if she were deliberately trying to shake up their orderly worlds. Only the determined cheerfulness of her mother, Elliott and Karen made the afternoon tolerable. None of the others would have dared to voice their opinions aloud in front of her mother especially. The risk of alienating the family matriarch was too great.
The children, thankfully, were unaware of most of the undercurrents as they ran boisterously through the house and played in the yard with their cousins. Watching them, she was almost able to believe life would eventually return to normal, or whatever the new normal might be.
By three, though, Adelia had had more than enough. She excused herself to go home and work on the list of repairs needed at her new house. Surrounded by welcome silence, she’d made good progress on her list by the time Elliott and Karen dropped the children off on their way home.
“I’m sorry about today. It won’t always be like that,” her brother reassured her, regarding her with worry. “Everyone will eventually get past this.”
“And stop judging me?” she asked wryly. Her annoyance kicked up a notch. “What right do they have? They know what Ernesto was doing. In fact, I suspect our sisters knew all along and never said a word.”
Elliott frowned at that. “You can’t really believe that. Why would they do such a thing? What about family loyalty?”
Adelia voiced her theory. “I’m very much afraid because they’ve been brainwashed to believe that sort of behavior is expected, just the price a woman has to pay for a certain lifestyle.”
When her brother’s expression immediately darkened, Adelia realized she’d revealed too much about her possibly unfounded suspicions. “Wipe that look right off your face,” she ordered. “And don’t go roaring over to their houses tossing around accusations. I don’t know anything. I just have a feeling in my gut.”
“Your gut feelings are usually right on the money,” he said.
“Really? I never had a single one about Ernesto, not until the end when he grew careless.”
“Only because you didn’t want to believe he’d ever treat you that way,” Elliott said. “Love sometimes makes people blind. Do you think that’s the case with—”
Adelia cut him off and tried to stare him down. “Promise me you’re not going to get in the middle of this, not between me and them nor in their marriages,” she commanded. “I mean it, Elliott. Our sisters are living their lives as they see fit. I just wish they’d show me the same courtesy.”
He sighed deeply. “I hope you’re wrong,” he said.
“I hope so, too.”
But she didn’t think she was. Of all people, she knew only too well what it was like to live with delusions just to keep the peace and hold on to a familiar lifestyle.
* * *
Adelia was well aware of Mitch’s habit of starting his day in his wife’s bakery. She also knew she couldn’t avoid the place forever, even if steering clear was the best way to give Gabe a wide berth. From the moment the bakery had opened, she’d gotten into the habit of pausing to share a cup of coffee with Mitch and Lynn before heading next door to the boutique. They’d probably make way too much of it if she stayed away too long, especially after Gabe and Mitch had pitched in to help with the search for Selena. The last thing she wanted was for any of them to think she was ungrateful.
But even as she’d reminded herself of that, she let another week pass before she mustered up the courage to return to her old routine. She had work to discuss with Mitch, she reminded herself. That alone was the perfect excuse, if she needed one, to stop by the bakery.
She’d stayed up late the night before fine-tuning the list of projects needed to fix up the house. She needed to get cost estimates and then prioritize those that were essential and those that could wait. The list was a whole lot longer than she’d anticipated. It seemed that history and architectural character came with a host of problems.
Thankfully, when Raylene had promoted her to manager of the boutique she’d given her a nice raise to go along with it. That extra money would allow her to do at least some of these improvements without dipping into her nest egg from the divorce. Adelia was still a little shocked by her promotion. Sure, she’d gotten a business degree in college, but for years the only “jobs” she’d held outside her home had been on the numerous school committees she’d chaired. Raylene had taken a chance on her, and she claimed she’d more than proved herself. Adelia seemed to have an innate sense of fashion and an ability to help customers make choices that flattered them. Sales had skyrocketed in the months after she was first hired.
“To be honest, I’m a little nervous about how I’ll handle the whole parenthood thing,” Raylene had claimed after the first trimester of her pregnancy when she’d offered Adelia the promotion.
“But you’ve been raising Carter’s sisters with him, practically since their parents died in the car crash,” Adelia had protested. “You’ve been great with them and they adore you.”
“They’re teenagers,” Raylene had replied, as if that had made her role easier. “I have no idea what to expect with a baby. You’re practically running this place for me already, so you deserve the title and the raise that goes with it. You’ll still get your commission, too, since you’re the best saleswoman I’ve ever seen. All those lookers who used to leave without buying now can’t get out the door without being loaded down with bags.”
Adelia had hardly been in a position to turn her down, even though the responsibility had been a little terrifying. Now she was more than grateful for yet another chance to prove to Raylene, but even more importantly to herself, just how capable she was.
It was ironic, really, she thought on her walk into downtown bright and early on Saturday morning. She was a mature woman with an increasingly responsible job. She had a head full of ideas to prove that Raylene’s faith in her hadn’t been misplaced. She was a good mother, at least according to most assessments. If those things were true, how ridiculous was it that she was scared of a man she’d just met simply because she found him attractive?
Mitch was attractive, for heaven’s sake, and he didn’t scare her. Neither did any of the other men she knew in Serenity.
Because they were all safely married, she concluded with a sigh. Gabe, it appeared, was not.
Outside Sweet Things, she sucked in a deep breath and wiped her sweaty palms on a tissue. Today was as good a day as any to get back into her preferred routine. That it was a Saturday, a day she was less likely to encounter Gabe, was not the reason for her sudden bravery, she assured herself.
As she entered the bakery, she reminded herself that she was here to have a business discussion with a man she’d known for years. Mitch wasn’t the terrifying Franklin, after all. That was Gabe, and he frightened her only because of how easily he disconcerted her.
After the pep talk she’d been giving herself, she was actually stunned and a little disappointed to find Mitch all alone at his usual table, sipping a cup of coffee and studying a blueprint. He glanced up and smiled.
“There
