for the failure of Vertical Blind, which made her only all the more desperate to close this deal.
Which meant, for the time being, sucking up her aversion and distaste at the idea of going home and making the best of it.
Oh, God, if only she didn’t hate this place. Everything looked the same—same worn and faded shutters that never saw a fresh coat of paint ever, same stench of fish everywhere—same bleak sense of poverty clinging to every plank.
Panic overwhelmed her good sense, and she entertained the option of putting a hotel stay on her personal credit card. But she was already maxed out, and her savings account was, frankly, anemic at this point. So there was no option but the one staring at her.
Delainey purposefully lowered her shoulders and lifted her chin. She was stronger than this. One trip home was not going to derail her. She’d faced down bigger threats than her sad past. No problem.
She opened the door, wincing as it screeched on its hinges. The sound, to her ears, was a loud announcement to everyone in town that Delainey Clarke had returned with her tail between her legs. She jerked her hand away and nearly turned on her heel with a “Screw it” on her lips when she heard her brother’s surprised voice.
“Laney?”
“Thad?” She stared at her younger brother, unsure of her welcome. He looked different, older. Life as an Alaskan fisherman was a hard one, and it’d started taking its toll on her brother. There were faint crow’s-feet bracketing his gray eyes from squinting into the harsh sunlight reflecting from the water, and his arm was in a cast. “Surprise...” she said with a tremulous smile.
“Damn, girl, you are a sight for sore eyes,” Thad said, breaking into a grin and quickly folding her into a hug. She tried not to wrinkle her nose at the subtle scent of fish clinging to his clothing, but it brought back a wash of unpleasant memories and she had to stop herself from stiffening. Thankfully, Thad hadn’t noticed. “Man, I never thought I’d see the day...”
That made two of them. Delainey shrugged and smiled. “I had some business to do in the area and thought it was time for a visit.”
At that, his expression was mildly reproachful as he said, “Yeah, it’s been a long time. Too long. I know you and Pops didn’t exactly part on good terms, but eight years is a long time between visits.”
Guilt tugged at her. He was right but the idea of coming home before she’d achieved her goals had been an effective deterrent to visiting, even though at one time she and her brother had been close. She supposed it was her fault they’d drifted apart. “Did you get the Christmas card I sent?” she asked.
“Yeah. It was real sweet. That gas gift card was nice, too. Pretty extravagant, too, but I suppose when you’re pulling down the cash like you are...” Thad’s misplaced pride only made Delainey feel that much more like a fraud, but she had to shelve those feelings for now. Besides, if she managed to land Trace, her worries would be over. Finally.
“What happened to your arm?” she asked.
He lifted his arm to glance at it then answered with a shrug. “Slipped on fish guts and landed wrong. Pretty stupid way to break an arm. No glory at all,” he said. She smiled. Her brother hadn’t changed much. He was pretty much still the man-boy she’d left behind, and for that she was grateful. Thad reached for her suitcase and took it before she could protest. “I’ll put this in your room. How long are you staying?”
“Not long,” she answered, wandering the living room, wondering when her father and brother became better housecleaners. She’d expected an inch or so of dust on every surface, but everything was surprisingly clean. “If you’re not on the boat, who’s working with Pops?”
“He’s got a few guys he picked up for short-time work. My cast is supposed to come off within the next two weeks, and then I’ll be right as rain. It’s a good thing I was here when you arrived. Pops is sure gonna be shocked when he sees you.” The slight nervousness in Thad’s voice didn’t surprise Delainey. The homecoming wasn’t likely to be filled with a joyous hug and reminiscing. “Hey, Laney, there’s something I need to tell you.”
She nodded, half listening, and went to the kitchen. Again, the cleanliness shocked her. Her father had never been one to lift a finger when it came to domestic stuff and surely hadn’t expected Thad to pick up the slack, either. All of the household responsibilities had fallen on her shoulders, no matter that she’d been only nine when her mother had died. She couldn’t count the times she’d slaved in that kitchen, wishing and hoping for a different life. She hated fish, and when her father had put little store in her doing anything more than cooking, cleaning and eventually marrying a man from good fishermen stock and settling down, she’d burned with a desperate desire to bolt at the first chance. Delainey roused herself from her mental walkabout just in time to catch Thad’s awkward conversation.
“Laney...if you give her a chance you might really like her. She’s good for Pops, you know? I mean, she’s real sweet and Pops isn’t the easiest to get along with—”
“Wait... What are you talking about?”
“Brenda.”
“Who is Brenda?” she asked, confused.
“Didn’t you hear me? Brenda is Pops’s woman now. She’s real nice, so don’t go and say anything that’ll hurt her feelings.”
“Pops is dating?” The idea had never occurred to her, but now that she looked at her old house she saw it through different lenses. There was definitely a woman’s touch, aside from the obvious cleanliness. Silk flowers were sitting in a vase on the windowsill and she could actually see through the glass of the window, when before it was crusted with years of mud and hard-water residue.
“He’s more than dating. He married her.”
“Married?” Her father was married? “I couldn’t even get a phone call?”
“Well, Brenda wanted to tell you, but Pops... You know how he can get. He’s still hurt over the way things went down when you split. And you haven’t much tried to fix things since, so he figured you didn’t need to know.”
“He wants me to fix things?” She tried not to be insulted, but her blood pressure rose just the same. “He’s the one who said he never wanted to see me again.”
“You know he just says that stuff. He doesn’t mean it.”
“No, I don’t know that, Thad,” she retorted stiffly. “Where I come from, people mean what they say and say what they mean.” Not exactly. No one in Hollywood spoke from his or her heart. Because no one had one. Being fluent in doublespeak was a requirement, and Delainey had been woefully unprepared when she’d first landed on the scene as a young producer with stars in her eyes. She hated thinking of her young self; so embarrassingly naive. “So he went and got married. Good for him. Is she deaf, dumb and blind?” She’d have to be to voluntarily put up with Harlan Clarke.
“Not generally, but I’ve been told I have an exceedingly cheery disposition, if that counts for anything,” a voice from behind her answered, and Delainey whirled to find a short, chubby woman with apple cheeks and a frizz of dull blondish curls on her head, carrying two grocery bags. Thad rushed to help and the woman unloaded her bags, eyes sparkling with curiosity and knowing. “I’ve waited a long time to meet you, but I must say, I never expected you to be so much like your father.”
“I’m
