Bursts of red and blue sparks exploded in the night sky, reflecting off the shimmering surface of Willow Lake.
Oohs and aahs swirled around him, but Jack couldn’t summon the same enthusiasm. Although the Bryant brothers outdid themselves each year with their elaborate fireworks display, an inexplicable hollowness in the pit of Jack’s stomach kept him from fully appreciating each colorful crescendo.
Normally, Jack didn’t mind his solitary, simplistic lifestyle. In fact, he preferred it. But as his friends paired off, one by one, he couldn’t help wondering if they knew something he didn’t.
He glanced at the contented couples all clustered together on the roomy quilt. Luke and Cassie, Grant and Eliza, and now Colt and Penny, too. In their close-knit circle, he and Reed were the last men standing.
“Just think,” Cassie murmured, dragging Jack from his melancholy thoughts. “Frank could be getting down on one knee right now….”
“I hope not! Who’s going to help him get back up?” Jack teased, then winced at his own ill-timed humor. He really needed to learn when to bite his tongue.
Colt chuckled. “It’s actually pretty cool how much thought Frank put into the proposal. He doesn’t exactly seem like the romantic type, but he really made an effort to make it special for Beverly.”
“Love changes you,” Penny purred with a soft, dreamy expression.
Jack shifted on his corner of the blanket, flinching as a pine needle managed to stab him through the thick fabric.
Why did people always espouse “love changes you” as if that were a good thing? Why couldn’t love leave well enough alone? He liked being set in his ways. And he wasn’t keen on anything—or anyone—disrupting the life he’d made for himself. While it may not seem like much, it had come at a hefty price.
“Speaking of change,” Penny said with a tentative tremor. “I have some pretty big news to share.” While she addressed the group, her gaze flitted to Colt’s face.
He gifted her with a warm, encouraging smile and squeezed her hand. “What is it?”
“I found out… I have a half-sister.”
The loud crack of a firework exploding in the distance lent an audible exclamation to their collective shock.
“How’d you find out?” Colt gently drew her closer as she leaned into him.
“In a letter from my father that I hadn’t opened until a few days ago.” She hesitated as though she were still grappling with the revelation. “It took a while to wrap my head around it, but I’ve decided to reach out. We’re only a few years apart, and… we’re family.”
“Do you know where she is?” Cassie’s tone exuded empathy. Since she longed to find out the identity and whereabouts of her father, Jack knew she could relate in a way no one else could.
“No,” Penny admitted. “But I have an idea where to start my search.”
“My goodness,” Eliza breathed. “What are you going to say if you find her?”
“I don’t know exactly. I guess that I’d like a chance to get to know her. Maybe invite her to come visit for a while. Although, either Chip or I will have to share our bed. Unless I fix up Dad’s room….” She chewed her bottom lip as though she wasn’t sure how she felt about that idea.
Cassie turned to Luke. “We have a spare room. She can stay with us, can’t she?”
“Of course.” Luke’s eyes warmed with affection for his wife.
“We have an extra room at the cottage, too,” Eliza offered.
As everyone continued to chatter in excitement, already making plans for the mysterious sister, Jack experienced a curious flutter somewhere deep in his gut. Suddenly, his mind filled with a million unanswered questions.
What did she look like? Would she have Penny’s red hair? Would their personalities be similar? Or complete opposites?
Was she single?
Whoa! Where did that come from?
Jack grimaced. He definitely didn’t care about her relationship status. He didn’t even know the woman.
Of course, maybe that’s what he found so alluring.
If he did decide to give the whole love thing a try, getting involved with someone in Poppy Creek wasn’t an option—everyone knew him too well.
But dating a stranger? That might work….
If he could keep her from uncovering the truth about his past.
Don’t miss Frank’s proposal to Beverly! Visit rachaelbloome.com/secret-garden-club to download the humorous, heartwarming bonus scene.
You can continue Jack’s story and meet Penny’s long-lost sister in The Meaning in Mistletoe.