Moonlight In Vermont. Kacy Cross
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Название: Moonlight In Vermont
Автор: Kacy Cross
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Короткие любовные романы
isbn: 9781947892057
isbn:
Except Nate had given zero indication that he might be thinking of reconciling.
“Every relationship I’m in just falls apart. What if I’m alone permanently? Really, what if I’m like that half duplex that just sits on the market forever?”
“You need a fresh perspective,” Ang told her. “You know, I think we could both use a holiday out of town.”
The foreign word rolled around in her head as she tried to put some context around Ang’s point. “What, you mean like a vacation?”
“Yeah. Let’s shake things up a little. Get your mind off of Nate. You can come back here with a fresh start.” Ang’s face lit up. “I know just the place. We should go visit your dad. I’ve always wanted to see the inn.”
“The inn?” Now Angela was just talking crazy. Why would Fiona voluntarily visit the place that had supplanted her childhood home? “I don’t know. My stepmom is still upset with me for not visiting since last summer. And you know my dad and I have issues.” The last time she’d gone up there—which had only happened because Delia harassed her until Fiona took two days off to breeze through—she and her father had barely spoken outside of surface-level chitchat about the inn and its daily functions.
“You need a change of scenery,” Ang said firmly and gestured at the bistro’s other tables. “Let’s face it. Manhattan is ground zero for happy couples. Holding hands through Central Park, shopping along Fifth Avenue, brunch in places like this. I mean… look.”
Fiona followed her gesture to spy a couple with their heads together at a nearby table. They weren’t even eating, just laughing softly to each other in that way newly-in-love people do when everything is rosy and beautiful.
The couple even had matching scarves. Gag.
Angela topped off Exhibit A with, “That is my point exactly.”
It was an arrow through the gut, all right. The city wasn’t a good place to be right now, not if she planned to keep pretending she wasn’t devastated.
Then she had a worse thought. She had a much higher chance of running into Nate by haunting the places he liked, which was the real reason brunch had been a bad idea. The breakup had her all turned around.
If nothing else, she needed to be someplace Nate was not. “You sold me. When do we leave?”
Three
Before she could go all the way to Vermont, Fiona had to clear the air with Delia, her stepmother. When Fiona’s father had remarried a couple of years after his wife died, Fiona expected to hate the woman who had replaced her mom. She didn’t.
Delia was wonderful, exactly what her lonely dad had needed. She’d never intruded on Fiona’s life, had never been anything but supportive and gracious. Her stepmother was everything anyone could hope for: a friend, a confidante, a role model.
Which was why this call had to happen, despite the butterflies in Fiona’s stomach. Delia loved her; she knew that. Oddly, their relationship had so many fewer complications than the one Fiona had with her father, which had everything to do with why it was hard to beg forgiveness for not visiting more. It wasn’t Delia’s fault her husband had moved out to a remote place like Vermont and abandoned everything that was important to Fiona.
But it was Fiona’s fault she couldn’t get over what she viewed as a betrayal, plain and simple.
Delia answered on the first ring. “Inn at Swan Lake. May I help you?”
Her stepmother sounded so cheerful and so much like unconditional love that this idea started to seem like a good one. She could use a hug from Delia right about now and some supportive, kind words about the horrible thing Nate had done to her. “Hi. It’s Fiona.”
“Hi, honey! How are you doing?”
Small talk wasn’t going to get this apology out any faster. “Listen, before you say anything, I’m sorry it’s been so long since I visited.”
There was no excuse, so she gave none.
“Oh, honey, that’s understandable. I just miss you. Well, we all do,” Delia corrected hastily.
Fiona knew her father didn’t have a sentimental bone in his body. The Wall Street old guard still talked about his ability to stay calm and unemotional in the face of turmoil. It had been the key to his success...and the whole reason he could dump an apartment full of love and laughter to jet off to Vermont at a moment’s notice.
And that was ancient history at this point. Ang needed a vacation. Fiona needed to not run into Nate by accident. Vermont held the key to both. No reason to let her emotions over the past get the best of her. Like father, like daughter.
“Well, that’s why I’m calling. Angela and I thought it might be nice to come up tomorrow and see you guys for a few days.” She barely got the sentence out before Delia was squealing with happy laughter. “I take it that means you’re excited?”
“Yes,” Delia said succinctly in case there was still a question.
“We’ll just stay four or five days, but only if you have the room.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, of course we have the room. And your timing couldn’t be more perfect. MapleFaire kicks off this weekend.”
Fiona smiled just a little. That meant she could shove Angela out the door to sightsee on her own while Fiona nursed her broken heart by lying around in bed all day, phone in hand as she managed a few deals remotely. “Great. See you tomorrow then. Love you. And send my love to Dad.”
That was as close as she’d get to being conciliatory toward Harris Rangely.
Fiona looked up to see Irwin strolling into her office. Unannounced. “Irwin. Hi. I wasn’t expecting to see you.”
Did they have an appointment she’d forgotten about? No way. Unless she needed this vacation even more than Angela insisted she did.
“And I wasn’t expecting to have to chase you down,” Irwin said.
Oh. This was about the job offer that she’d been sitting on for goodness knows what reason. “I’m sorry. I really have to apologize—”
“Am I detecting a bit of hesitation?”
“No.” Yes. But she couldn’t let him know that her head hadn’t been in the game since Nate had dumped her. Scrambling, she gave him the best excuse she could think of. “I’m just going up to visit my dad in Vermont, and—”
“This is an offer of a lifetime,” Irwin reminded her, and it unsettled her stomach that he felt he needed to. “You’ll be the queen of New York real estate. What more could you want?”
Good question. The offer was amazing. It was Fiona that was the problem. She couldn’t stop wondering if this job might be one more thing standing in the way of finding the man she’d always СКАЧАТЬ