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“Well, I don’t see anything!” Carol snapped.
“They must have taken it down.” Andie slipped her camera back into her case and followed her mother. “It doesn’t matter. Everything I told you is true. I know Carver Neilson has recently bought forty acres in the canyon because I looked it up on the county recorder’s register. I believe Grammy’s orchard is next on his shopping list.” She sighed, because she really didn’t know what or who to believe. “But maybe not. I could be wrong.”
Carol stomped down the hall, the sound of her high heels echoing through the nearly deserted building. Andie caught up to her mother in the foyer.
Carol shot a glance at the armed security guard sitting behind the large desk before she pushed through the wide glass doors. Outside, beneath the flags flapping and tinging against the metal poles, Carol’s eyes welled with tears. “Is it so hard to believe that someone like Carver Neilson could be interested in me?”
“Of course not, Mom. But—don’t you think it’s odd that he would trust the sale of a multimillion dollar property to a rookie realtor? Why would he do that?” The wind tugged and pulled at Andie’s skirt and mussed her hair. She felt as if she needed to keep her feet grounded so that she wouldn’t blow away.
“Because he recognized me as the girl he knew in high school, and he wanted to see me again?” Carol blinked back her tears.
“Then why didn’t he just pick up the phone and call you?” Andie reached out to touch her mom’s arm and softened her voice. “Connect with you on Facebook or Twitter?”
Carol shook away from her. “You know I don’t do those social media things!”
“Maybe you should. Maybe you should check out one of the online dating sites.”
Carol harrumphed and turned toward the car. Andie had thought she had gotten her harrumphing from her grandmother, but now she knew where it had come from. Harrumphing didn’t necessarily skip generations.
“You tricked me into coming here tonight.” Carol pointed a shaky finger at Andie’s chest.
“I didn’t trick you. I just thought it made sense for you to come with me so that we could go straight from here to the rehearsal.” She swallowed. “And yes, I wanted you to see the map.”
Carol lifted her shoulders in a heavy sigh. “I’m supposed to see him later tonight. What am I going to say?”
“Don’t say anything. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe he isn’t interested in buying the orchard.”
“The property isn’t even mine!”
“Yes, but it will be when Grammy dies.”
“Oh, that woman is going to live to be a hundred.”
“He doesn’t know that. Besides, maybe he thinks that Grammy would rather live in Leisure World than Trabuco Canyon.”
“Moving would kill Grammy. Taking care of that house and running the orchard is her sole purpose for living!”
“I’m sure Mr. Neilson doesn’t know that either.”
“Then I have to tell him.” Carol fluttered her hands. “I can’t wait. I can’t act nonchalant. I have to confront him.”
“Mom—” Andie started a warning, but she let it die on her lips when she read the steely determination growing in her mother’s eyes.
“I’ll drop you off.” Carol stomped toward her aged Honda. Her face crumbled as she reached for the door handle. “You’re right. I don’t even have a proper realtor car!”
“Please don’t leave me there without a ride home.”
Her mom scowled. “But last night that nice Weatherford drove you home.”
“Yeah, and it was a huge hassle for him.” Andie touched her lips with her fingertips. “I can’t ask him to do it again.”
She thought maybe he would have called today. And a hundred times she thought about calling him. But she couldn’t. She didn’t want to hear that the kiss was just another pawn in his investment plan. She had to keep reminding herself that the day after tomorrow he would be gone. He had tried to use her the same way that Carver had tried to use her mom.
Thank goodness a map, the multiple listing service, and the county recorder’s office kept her feet firmly planted on the ground. And the orchard in her grandmother’s name.
#
ANDIE SLIPPED IN THROUGH the back gate. Since she wasn’t a member of the wedding party, she wasn’t involved in the rehearsal, which allowed her flexibility for candid photos. She took picture after picture of the yard and gardens. The Dodd’s had an amazing gardener. Hydrangeas, roses in every shape and size, English ivy, honeysuckle, and gardenias—Andie inhaled, loving the crisp smell of the flowers and trees in bloom.
A carpet of white lace ran between chairs draped in tulle. Two giant candlesticks flanked the rose covered gazebo. Kayla and her bridesmaids buzzed around the lawn while Grayson and his groomsmen looked uncomfortable and fidgety.
“Now, tomorrow there will the string quartet,” Mrs. Dodd said, “but for tonight we have this.” She pressed an app on her I-Pad and the sound of Chopin’s wedding march sang out.
Click. Click. Click. Andie captured Kayla in a hundred different poses, and as she did, long-ago memories of Kayla floated back to her. Wading in the creek. Riding on Grandpa’s tractor. Climbing trees—a competition to see who could climb the highest.
Had Kayla climbed the highest? Was she the winner in the social ladder competition? Was Andie’s socialistic bend a reaction to Kayla’s glitzy life-style choices? Andie squirmed and turned her attention to a wandering Persian. She took a few shots of the cat watching the wedding rehearsal from a branch of a lemon tree. And then she focused her camera on Grayson. But Grayson looked so much like Whit that it hurt.
She didn’t know where to go from here with him. Except for maybe away. That was the game, right? She would act like his girlfriend so that his mom—and probably Vanessa, although her name had never been mentioned—would leave him alone until he could escape back into his adventure-seeking life.
She sucked in her breath when he walked in, remembering that soon he would be gone.
But for tonight, he was here. And he looked beautiful. Much better than any man should. She looked away before he could catch her eye.
The wedding party lined up on the back patio, the bridesmaids partnering with the groomsmen, Whit taking the arm of Mimi, the maid of honor. They jostled, taking their places, laughing. Kayla radiated. Grayson looked grim. Sofia wiped away a tear. Whit looked at Andie, and she raised her camera to avoid his gaze.
She couldn’t help herself. She took picture after picture of Whit, angling the shots, cutting out Mimi.
As the wedding party paraded up the lacy-looking carpet, something near the back gate crashed. Every head turned to watch Carol stumble in. She waved, tried to act casual as she crossed the lawn, and dropped into a chair beside Andie.
Andie sank to her knees and rubbed her mom’s hand, trying to silently provide reassurance and comfort. She cast a glance at the wedding party.
Whit broke out of the line-up. “I’m standing in as the pastor tonight,” he announced.
Grayson and a couple of the groomsmen booed, while a few of the bridesmaids giggled.
Whit grinned, braced his shoulders and began his mock speech. “Love is eternal and all of that. So glad you two found each other because, I mean, who else would love my brother?”
Grayson plucked a rose off the nearest bush and threw it at Whit’s head.
“Hey!” Whit complained, ducking and laughing.
“Boys!” Sofia scolded. “Honestly! Behave!” She rolled her eyes at Kayla. “You would think they would be more mature by now.”
“I love my brother, but I have to, having shared a womb and all.”
Sofia punched Whit’s arm. “No body humor. I don’t want you or anyone here discussing my womb.”
“Sorry, Mom.” Whit continued speaking, but Andie turned her attention back to her own mom.
Carol sniffed. “You were right. I...” She shook her head. “I don’t even have the listing. The property is already under contract.”
Andie cast a worried glance at the wedding party, hoping that they hadn’t overheard, but Kayla and Grayson only had eyes for each other. Whit, though, was watching. She turned her back on his gaze.
“Seriously, though,” Whit said, “I love my brother, and Kayla, I’m so happy he has found someone to love.”
Carol shivered. “I guess people really don’t change. He’s still the same little worm he’s always been. Except for now he’s a rich worm.” Carol glanced at the wedding party and blinked away her tears. “Are you ready to leave? Do you think we can go home now?”
Andie gave her mom a tight, sideways hug. “Of course.” Without looking back at the rose covered arbor and the people gathered beneath it, she removed the lens, tucked the camera in the case and followed her mom to the back gate.
A touch on her arm. Andie stopped, turned and faced Whit.
“I need to talk to you,” he said.
Andie looked back at the wedding party. Grayson smirked, and for once Kayla lost her smile. Mrs. Dodd wore a poker face, shuttered and unreadable. Everyone listened for her response.
“I don’t think you do,” Andie whispered. “My debt is nearly paid.”
Whit winced, studied her eyes and touched her cheek with his hand. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
#
ANDIE CLIMBED TO THE top of the orchard in the fading twilight, Mickey by her side. She was grateful for his company. Dogs always seemed to know when something was wrong. She looked over the Jenson’s, no Neilson’s property, searching for the family in the VW van, but they were gone. She wondered if they were coming back, or if their departure was permanent.
But that was the thing, wasn’t it? The family in the VW van weren’t permanent sort of people. Their children didn’t go to school, the parents didn’t hold jobs, and they didn’t live beside an orchard in a house that their grandfather had built. Andie sat on a stump and let the tears that had been building ease out. Mickey poked his snout against her, asking to be petted. Absently, she ruffled his ears.
She didn’t know why she cried—why it bothered her that the VW van family had moved away—why she was so upset about Kayla’s wedding—why her heart ached for her mom and the dashed hopes—why she wished that Whit would come and make her laugh.
She turned her thoughts to more practical matters. Maybe her twenty thousand couldn’t take her to remote parts of the earth, but why not use it to visit places in hardship nearby? She had already posted pictures of L.A. and Orange County’s shelters, orphanages and soup kitchens, so why not go to Oregon, or Arizona, or New Mexico? Twenty thousand dollars could take her further than Ventura. Her job was flexible. Her expenses low. What was holding her back?
Her tears dried as she mentally constructed travel plans. Andie stood, brushed off her pants, and shouldered her camera. “Let’s go, Mickey,” she said to the dog. As she walked down the hill, following a path through the orchard worn first by her grandfather and then tamped down by aunts, uncles, and in-laws, Andie realized that she didn’t have to be in an elevator to be stuck.
She found her mom waiting for her on the front porch. Carol looked drawn, anxious and she kept wringing her hands. She visibly brightened when she saw Andie.
“Mom—is something wrong?”
“It’s Carver.”
“Carver? I thought we were done with him.” Andie settled into a rocking chair and looked up at her mom.
Carol dropped into the neighboring chair and blew out a long sigh. “He apologized for everything.”
“Of course he did, but you can’t believe him. You can’t trust a single thing he says.”
“Just listen. He said he wanted to make things up to me—to regain my trust.”
Andie shook her head and planted her feet so that the rocker couldn’t shift beneath her. “It can’t be done. You told him that, right? You called him a snake, didn’t you?”
“Just listen, Andie. He’s trying to be generous.”
“No. I won’t listen.” Andie bounced to her feet. “You can’t listen to him!”
“He wants to send you to Africa.”
“Well of course he does! He knows that I’m suspicious. He knows I won’t let him weasel away Grammy’s ranch!”
Carol’s lips twisted. “No, really. There’s an orphanage in Kenya supported by a charitable organization that is afraid that their contributions are being mishandled. He can get you a job at the school.”
“Seriously? Africa?” Andie dropped back into the rocker and held onto its arms to keep it still. “He wants me to spy?”
“He knows that you want to be a photojournalist.” Carol put her hand on Andie’s knee and gently squeezed. “That’s what you studied in school. This is exactly what you always said you wanted to do.”
Andie’s thoughts buzzed. How could she trust Carver Neilson? Maybe this school didn’t even really exist. “But—”
“Here’s your chance.”
“He’s a weasel.”
“He is willing to fly you there first class if you can leave the day after tomorrow.”
“He’s a snake.”
Carol let out a long sigh. “He’s a rich snake-weasel who is offering you an enormous gift and opportunity. Are you really going to let your pride hold you back?”
“My pride?” The hair on the back of Andie’s neck bristled. “What about his pride? What about his gargantuan ego that tells him that he can buy whatever he wants; he can manipulate everyone and everything to fall into step with his plans?”
Carol cocked her head and gave Andie a long look. “Are we still talking about Carver? Or is there someone else you’re mad at?”
Andie balled her hands into fists. Yes, she was mad. She was mad at Carver, her mom, Whit, but mostly with herself. How could she have been so stupid to think—even for a few giddy moments—that someone like Whit could be interested in someone like her? She thought of his kiss and her fingers instinctively went to her lips. She closed her eyes and willed the longing that swept over her away.
“Andie?” Her mom brought her back to the here and now. “Where did you go?”
“To Africa.”
“Isn’t that where that nice Weatherford is going?”
“He’s not that nice.”
“So, he’s the one you’re mad at.”
“No, I’m mostly mad at myself.” Andie turned her thoughts to practicalities. “What about a visa and shots?”
“You don’t need a visa, and you can get shots. You already have a passport.”
“I don’t know, Mom.” What she did know was that Carver Neilson was buying her off, getting rid of her so he could make the moves on Carol and the orchard in a two for one deal.
“It’s only for a few months.” Carol laughed, but it sounded sad. “You’re afraid that while you’re gone, Carver is going to woo me out of Grammy’s property.”
Andie didn’t answer but stared out across the peach tree covered hills.
“I’m a big girl, Andie.” Carol squeezed her knee again. “I can take care of myself.” Carol took a deep breath. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and I’ve decided that if you don’t go, if you won’t take this opportunity, I will convince Grammy to sell to Neilson.”
“Mom!” Andie jumped up, causing the rocker to bang against the wall.
Carol nodded, looking satisfied. “Grammy and I will move into a cute little condo with a swimming pool and a hot tub, and we’ll walk to McDonalds every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
Andie put both of her hands on her head and pulled at her hair. “Mom!”
“But if you go, if you accept this gift, I promise I won’t sell. I won’t even go on a date with Carver Neilson until you get back.”
Andie tried to corral all her spinning thoughts. “I don’t trust him.”
Carol shrugged. “That’s okay. He hasn’t done anything to win your trust. So, let him do this.”
“How do we even know it’s legit?”
“What can it hurt? If you get there and hate it, come home.” Carol picked up the phone in her lap. “He’s waiting for me to call with your answer. He wants to come over and tell you about it himself.”
Andie sniffed and sat back down. “You wouldn’t really sell, would you?”
Carol looked out over the orchard. “I would for you.” She picked up Andie’s hand. “I would do anything for you.”