Sophie glanced in the rearview mirror as she drove the gas-guzzling, white Cadillac past Greystone’s open gates. Liam and his perfect abs were getting into the fire truck. She was pretty sure her face had gone the same color as the engine when she’d shared her personal opinion of his chiseled six-pack. She couldn’t say what his reaction had been to her embarrassing croak or equally embarrassing “Really, really good.” Marco had shown up and Liam had jumped at the chance to get out of there, accompanying her brother to retrieve Sophie’s car. A brother who’d made it clear she had some explaining to do.
Marco, who sat in the passenger seat, kept glancing back at Mia. “So what happened to the kid? Why doesn’t she talk?”
“Marco!” One of the toughest things about living in LA had been how much she’d missed her family, particularly her brothers. But at Marco’s insensitive question, she was beginning to wonder if she’d idealized them over the past eight years.
“What? It’s a legitimate question.”
“Yes, when we’re alone. And stop calling her ‘kid.’ Her name’s Mia,” Sophie whispered, meeting her daughter’s eyes in the rearview mirror. She faked a bright smile. “You okay, baby?”
“Seriously? She’s been sitting in pee for the last hour. How do you think she is?”
Sophie shot him an I-don’t-believe-you glare.
He had the good sense to look sheepish. “It’s okay, kid. No biggie. Your mother used to wet the bed. Didn’t you, Chunk?” Marco rubbed Sophie’s head.
She grinded her teeth and pushed her hair from her eyes. “We don’t say things like that.”
“How come?”
Sophie didn’t bother sharing her opinion on words that promote a negative body image. Marco wouldn’t get it. Moreover, he wouldn’t care. Which made the prospect of living under the same roof as her brother and grandmother worrisome at best. Rosa didn’t have a filter either. “Did you let Nonna know we were coming?”
Sophie worried the inside of her bottom lip, hoping he didn’t ask why she hadn’t. Her cell phone had run out of minutes two days before, and she didn’t have any room on her credit card to top it up. But that excuse wouldn’t fly with her brother, and she didn’t want to tell him the truth; she’d been afraid they wouldn’t want her and Mia.
“Nope, Harmony Harbor’s grapevine was working overtime. She called me when Liam and I were getting gas for your car. Pretty sweet ride, sister mine. You must be doing well in Cali-forn-i-ay.”
Sophie winced. She may have embellished a bit on her phone calls home. In her defense, she didn’t want them to worry about her. “It’s not mine. It belongs to Mom’s boyfriend.”
Her brother’s teasing expression faded. “Does it now. And how is Mother Dearest?”
She wasn’t Tina’s biggest fan at the moment, but Sophie had legitimate reasons for her problems with her mother. All Tina had done to Marco was leave Harmony Harbor and their father. But, in her brother’s eyes, Tina was responsible for tearing their family apart. The reason Lucas had joined the military and basically disappeared from their lives. Kind of like Sophie had for eight years. So she supposed she didn’t have a right to pass judgment on Marco and his hostility toward Tina. After all, he’d been the one left behind to take care of Rosa and the deli.
Like always, though, Sophie felt the need to come to her mother’s defense. Maybe because in a way she was defending her own actions. “Might be time to bury the hatchet, brother mine. Dad seems pretty happy with his new family.” Ouch, that had come out a little sharper than she’d intended.
Her brother opened his mouth, glanced back at Mia then closed it with a noncommittal grunt. Sophie realized he’d never mentioned if Rosa was happy about them being in town. “So what did Nonna say?” she asked, steeling herself for his response.
“Seeing as how she hasn’t seen you in eight years and her arch nemesis saw you first, what do you think?”
Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel. Kitty and Rosa’s long-standing feud was the stuff of legends in Harmony Harbor. No one seemed to know what had happened between the two older women, but they couldn’t be in the same room without sparks flying. Rosa was the worst. If she had her way, she’d run the Gallaghers out of town. Little tough to do seeing as they were Harmony Harbor royalty. The feud between her grandmother and Kitty had been one of the reasons why Sophie had left town with her mother when she’d found out she was pregnant.
“It’s not like I could help where my car broke down,” she defended herself as she drove past the town hall and copper-domed clock tower situated on the hill overlooking the harbor with its rugged shoreline. She used to spend her summers exploring the hidden coves and salt marshes, hanging out at the sandy beaches and hunting for sea glass.
She took a moment to absorb the view that she’d taken for granted for eighteen years. She didn’t realize until that moment how much she’d missed her hometown. Founded in the early seventeenth century by William Gallagher, Harmony Harbor was steeped in maritime history. Its twisty, narrow streets were lined with homes once owned by sea captains and merchants—Colonials, Cape Cods, and Victorians. The family-owned boutiques, art galleries, pubs, and gift shops were housed in quaint sea-foam-green and ocean-blue clapboards on Main Street.
But even more than the scenic beauty of Harmony Harbor, she’d missed the friendly, relaxed atmosphere…and her grandmother. She twisted her hands on the wheel and glanced at her brother. “Aside from us ending up at Greystone, is Nonna at least happy we’re here?” she asked as she turned down the familiar street.
Marco lifted his chin. “See for yourself.”
Her grandmother paced the brick sidewalk in front of DiRossi’s Fine Foods, the Italian grocery store and deli that Rosa had started as a single mother of three preschoolers. Which pretty much made her a rock star in Sophie’s eyes.
Over her navy dress and white apron, her grandmother wore a pink sweater, her hands gripping the edges tight, a pair of pink fuzzy slippers on her feet. “She looks good,” Sophie said past the lump in her throat.
“Yeah, she does,” her brother agreed with a fond smile.
As a young woman, Rosa DiRossi had been movie-star beautiful. In Sophie’s mind, she still was at seventy-three. Her cheekbones were high and prominent, just like her proud Roman nose. Her eyes were dark and exotic with lashes so long you’d think they were fake. She wore her dark, curly hair loose and to her shoulders. The curls were natural, the color…not so much. It suited her, though.
“Still a pain in the culo,” her brother added as Sophie pulled in front of the red Colonial that housed the deli on the main floor and the DiRossi family apartment above.
At least her brother said ass in Italian. Maybe she wouldn’t have to warn him about his language after all.
“Jesus, Ma!” he yelled at their grandmother when she yanked the back car door open before they’d come to a full stop.
Rosa cuffed him on the back of his head. “There’s a bambina. Watch your mouth,” she said then pressed her hands to her chest and stared at Mia, her eyes shiny and wet. Sophie blinked back tears of her own and got out of the car, walking around to where her grandmother stood murmuring, “Molto bella. She has the face of an angel.” Rosa lifted the gold crucifix she wore at her neck to her lips and kissed it then held out her arms. “Come, come to your nonna, bambina.”
“I have to help Mia out of her booster seat, Nonna. The seat belt is finicky.”
Her grandmother straightened and slowly turned, her dark eyes roaming Sophie’s face before she pulled her in for a fierce hug. “It’s been too long, bella. Too, too long.”
“I know, Nonna,” Sophie said, hanging on just as tight. She sniffed into her grandmother’s neck, breathing in the familiar scent of lemons.
Rosa pulled back and took Sophie’s face in her hands. “You’re home now. That’s all that matters, sí?”
Everything inside Sophie went weak at her grandmother’s easy acceptance. They were welcome here. They had a home, and they were safe. “Sí.” Before she went to take Mia out of the car, Sophie thought it best to warn her grandmother or she’d no doubt comment on the smell. She whispered what had happened at the manor.
Rosa flung her hands in the air. “Poor bambina. What was Kitty thinking? Fog machines! Foolish old woman.”
Afraid her grandmother would ask too many questions in front of Mia, Sophie looked at her brother, nudging her head in her daughter’s direction and touching her mouth. Her brother sighed then nodded. He’d tell Rosa that Mia didn’t speak. Sophie would explain why to them later.
As she fought with the seat belt, Mia leaned around her. She stared at Rosa, who was half talking, half yelling at Marco in Italian, her hands moving as fast as her mouth.
Sophie smiled. “You’ll get used to her, baby.”
Rosa frowned when Sophie placed Mia on the sidewalk. “What do you feed her? She’s too small. Too skinny.”
Sophie had invented a fake father for Mia. A father with beautiful blue eyes who’d died a month before their daughter’s birth. She’d told the story so often to Mia and her mother, and anyone else who asked, that Sophie had almost come to believe it herself. Her mother had been so caught up in herself that it hadn’t been difficult to convince her that Mia was two months premature. But here in Harmony Harbor, that two-month difference might not be enough.
Sophie put her hand behind her back and crossed her fingers. “She’s only six, Nonna. I wasn’t much bigger than she is at six.”
Mia narrowed her eyes at Sophie and crossed her arms. Sophie winced. She’d have to figure out a way to explain the lie to her daughter, but right now, her grandmother was a bigger concern. Rosa’s gaze sharpened as she looked closer at Mia; then she lifted her eyes to Sophie and gave her a brisk nod. “Sí.”
In that brief moment of silent exchange, it felt like her grandmother had uncovered Sophie’s secret, and they’d made a bargain that it would stay that way.
Sophie left the small, cramped bedroom that she and Mia had shared last night to retrieve her contacts from the counter in the bathroom. She’d taken them out before her shower that morning. She lifted the towel beside the sink then bent to search the floor, her eyes landing on the wastebasket. She groaned. Her grandmother had thrown them out, and Sophie didn’t have another pair. She was farsighted and needed them. It looked like she’d be wearing her glasses for the foreseeable future.
“Nonna,” she began as she walked into the kitchen. Her heart practically stopped at the sight of her daughter at the gas stove. She raced across the pale yellow linoleum floor and grabbed Mia off the chair, hugging her tight to her chest. “What were you thinking?” she yelled at her grandmother. “I told you what happened. I told you—” Mia looked at her, her small face pale, her blue eyes wide, and Sophie choked down the rest of her panicked outburst. Weak-kneed, she moved to the kitchen table and sat down with Mia on her lap.
Rosa looked at her like she was crazy. “What’s the matter with you? I’m right here. We were heating up soup for lunch.” She threw up her hands and turned back to the stove.
Sophie couldn’t believe her grandmother didn’t understand why she was upset. Once Mia had been bathed, fed, and tucked into bed last night, Sophie had sat at this very table and told her grandmother and brother what had happened. Sure, she’d left out some details—like that her mother had left Mia alone and that Sophie had been arrested for child endangerment. Unwilling to give Rosa and Marco another reason to hate her mother, she’d told them the sitter hadn’t shown up. As for the arrest, she didn’t want to upset or worry them.
But Rosa knew the most important detail of all—that Mia had accidently burned down their apartment and nearly lost her life trying to bake a cake. She’d wanted to surprise Sophie. To celebrate Sophie finishing her hotel management degree. Every morning in the month leading up to the big day, Mia’d check off the calendar on the fridge, and they’d do a silly little dance around the postage stamp–sized kitchen.
It was the day their lives should have changed for the better, but obviously it hadn’t worked out that way. The police had pulled Sophie out of her final exam and arrested her because Tina hadn’t been at the apartment when Mia got home from school like she’d promised. She’d been at a hot yoga class.
Sophie pressed her face into Mia’s hair, breathing in the sweet scent in order to calm her racing heart. Mia didn’t squirm and wriggle to get away. “Sorry, baby,” she whispered, loosening her hold to stroke her daughter’s hair. She glanced at her grandmother’s stiff back. She wore her pink slippers, navy dress, and white apron, talking to herself in Italian as she stirred the big pot of potato, kale, and sausage soup.
Her grandmother didn’t understand Sophie’s fears, and she wouldn’t try. Mia didn’t inherit her stubbornness from the Gallaghers. Oh no, she got her mule-headedness from the most obstinate woman Sophie had ever known. Now, as a mother, Sophie could almost sympathize with her own. It couldn’t have been easy living and working with Rosa day in and day out…or being married to Rosa’s son. However, until the night Tina had announced she was leaving, Sophie had thought her parents had the perfect marriage. It’s why the divorce had hit her so hard. But from the vantage point of distance and maturity, she could see the signs had been there all along.
Mia wriggled out of Sophie’s arms and hopped off her lap. The powder-blue, sparkly leggings she wore under her Frozen T-shirt bagged at her knees as she walked to the refrigerator. Sophie needed a job. With her first paycheck, she’d buy her daughter clothes that fit and that were better suited to the North Shore’s climate than LA’s. She stood up and tightened the belt of her grandmother’s robe, adding clothes for herself to the list. At least for work. She could make do with the one pair of jeans and two sweatshirts she’d bought at Goodwill before they left California.
She went to her grandmother and wrapped her arms around her waist. “Sorry, Nonna. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. It’s just when I saw Mia so close to the flame under the burner…” She kissed her grandmother’s cheek.
Mia’s eyes flicked to Sophie; then she took a flyer off the harvest gold refrigerator and went back to the table.
Her grandmother put down the wooden spoon and patted Sophie’s face. “You eat. You feel better, sí?”
Of course, because food was a magic cure-all in Rosa’s eyes. Sophie smiled, reaching past her grandmother for the yellow soup bowls. “Do you have time to eat with us?”
“You think I’m going to work on your first day home with the bambina? I called Louisa and Sylvia. They’re good girls. I trust them.”
Sophie chewed on her bottom lip, casting a sidelong glance at her grandmother, who bent to take a loaf of bread from the oven. She cleared her throat, hating to ask for anything more, but she didn’t really have a choice. At least if she worked at the deli, she could keep Mia with her. “Nonna, are you hiring?”
“No. Your brother, he’s worse than Giovanni. Cut, cut, cut the expenses. That’s all he does.” She made slashing motions with her hand then frowned. “Perche?”
Sophie forced a smile, ladling soup for Mia into the bowl. “No reason,” she responded to her grandmother’s why. “I just thought, if you needed help, I could work a few hours for you.”
Rosa waved a dismissive hand. “You need to rest, get some meat on your skinny bones.” She glanced over her shoulder at Mia then raised her eyebrows at Sophie and tapped her fingers and thumb together to mime talking. “Spend time with your bambina.”
The idea of spending time with Mia outside of a car sounded wonderful. Sophie couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a real holiday. Maybe it’s what they both needed. They had food and a roof over their heads. She fingered the twenty-four-carat-gold St. Peter’s medal at her neck. Her grandmother had given it to Sophie the morning of her Confirmation. It’s the only thing she had left to pawn. If she shopped carefully…
She walked to the table with Mia’s bowl of soup. “You have to let me contribute something, Nonna. I don’t feel right—”
“Don’t talk foolish,” her grandmother said, placing the bread she was slicing into a basket.
No one ever won an argument with Rosa, so Sophie let it go for now. “I’m just going to move this until after you eat,” she told Mia, picking up the flyer to set the bowl in front of her.
Sophie glanced at the paper. There was something familiar about the stone cottage in the photo. The surrounding trees and exterior were decorated for Christmas. As were the living and dining rooms featured in two smaller interior shots below. Old Mia would have been squealing with delight. She loved Christmas.
At the reminder of the upcoming holidays, Sophie’s heart squeezed. She’d never been able to spoil Mia like she’d wanted to, but unless she got a job, Santa would be skipping their house altogether. At least this year they would be spending the holiday with family.
Mia tapped the flyer and looked up at Sophie with a hopeful gleam in her eyes. Other than with Liam and the Gallaghers’ black cat, it had been weeks since she’d seen anything besides fear and distrust in her daughter’s eyes. It felt like a breakthrough, and Sophie’s heart lightened. “It’s a pretty cottage, isn’t it? Look, there’s even an Elf on the Shelf.” She bit her lip. She probably shouldn’t have pointed out the elf in the pink skirt sitting on a mantel above a cozy stone fireplace. Mia had gotten her elf at the staff Christmas party last year and named it Trina. Trina had been lost in the fire along with the rest of their Christmas decorations.
Mia pursed her lips and shook her head, taking the flyer from Sophie. She turned it over and tapped again.
“Sit,” Rosa said, placing a bowl of steaming soup in front of Sophie and the basket of bread on the table. She glanced at the flyer. “It’s a raffle. Half the proceeds go to Greystone. The other half to Mothers Against Drunk Driving.”
Now Sophie knew why the cottage looked familiar. “This is Kitty and Ronan’s cottage, isn’t it?” The couple had begun their married life in the cottage before moving into the manor when Ronan’s father died. A ten-minute walk west of Greystone were several cottages and bungalows. They were rented to guests or used by the extended Gallagher family when they came to visit.
“Sí,” her grandmother said, her voice tight, and then she rolled her eyes. “They named it Mistletoe Cottage for the raffle.”
Sophie read the rules. “You bought a ticket?” she asked, unable to keep the surprise from her voice. Not only would the raffle benefit Rosa’s arch nemesis, the ticket cost a hundred dollars. A small fortune in her frugal grandmother’s eyes.
Rosa shrugged. “Mothers Against Drunk Driving is a good cause. And the publicity, it’s good for the manor. They need all the publicity they can get.”
Sophie imagined MADD was an organization near and dear to the Gallaghers’ hearts. Liam had lost his mother and sister in a car accident. Eyewitnesses had claimed the driver of the car that hit them was drunk. But neither the car nor driver had ever been found. Kitty hadn’t lost only her daughter-in-law and granddaughter in the accident; she’d lost her husband too. Grief stricken, Ronan had suffered a fatal heart attack two days after Mary and Riley Gallagher’s funeral.
“Mrs. Gallagher mentioned business is down. She thought it might have something to do with the new hotel in Bridgeport.” Colleen had cornered Sophie in the sitting room at the manor last night, seeking advice. She’d overheard Sophie telling Kitty that she’d left her job at a hotel in LA. Somehow they’d missed the part that Sophie had been a maid at the hotel, not the manager. And she hadn’t actually left her job. She’d been fired when she’d refused to leave Mia’s hospital bedside.
A few minutes into Sophie and Colleen’s conversation, someone had spotted smoke. It was then that Sophie discovered that Mia, who’d been eating a pumpkin cupcake and playing with the cat seconds before, was gone.
Rosa made an eh gesture with her hands. “It’s not the hotel. They’re losing business because they’re stupido. Ronan dies, and they…” Her grandmother mimicked a wailing, prostrate woman.
“Nonna!” She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised by her grandmother’s lack of empathy. She’d had no choice but to pick up the pieces and make a life for her three small children when her husband died. Rosa wasn’t exactly a sympathetic woman to begin with.
“What? It’s true. No conferences and weddings booked at the manor in all that time. Businesses in town, we depend on them. Now the mayor, she’s trying to get them to sell. A developer, he wants to buy the estate, tear everything down, and put up condos. Condos. Bah!”
Sophie couldn’t imagine Harmony Harbor without Greystone standing sentry on the rocks above the harbor. She’d worked part-time at the manor when she was in high school. It was the one time Tina had stood up to Rosa. Not that her grandmother had made it easy for Sophie. Despite that, she’d loved working at Greystone. It was the reason she’d decided to go into hotel management. With its turrets, stone walls, and richly appointed rooms, it had been like working in a fairy-tale castle. Only her own fairy tale hadn’t turned out as she’d planned. Her Gallagher prince had turned into a frog.
But that one mistake had given Sophie her greatest gift—Mia. Her daughter was all that mattered. She drew herself back to the present and the conversation. “Colleen won’t sell,” she said. At least it hadn’t sounded like she would the night before.
Rosa rubbed her thumb and fingers together. “No, but the kids, they’ll want the money.”
Sophie was distracted by Mia tapping the flyer again and giving her a hopeful nod. She wished she could give her daughter the answer she wanted to hear. “Sorry, baby, but Mommy doesn’t have a hundred dollars.” Realizing what she’d inadvertently revealed to her grandmother, Sophie briefly closed her eyes. She opened them to see Rosa staring at her. The insistent ringing of the phone saved Sophie from coming up with a response. Her grandmother pushed back from the table with a look on her face that suggested Sophie’s reprieve would be short-lived.
Rosa answered the phone. “Sí.” She frowned. “Who is this?” Her eyes shot to Sophie then to Mia. “Un momento.”
“Mia, come with Nonna. I’ll show you my ticket for the raffle.” As her daughter jumped off the chair, Rosa bent down and whispered to Sophie, “The lady, she says she’s with the Department of Child Welfare.”
Sophie waited for the door to her grandmother’s bedroom to close before picking up the phone. Don’t panic. Stay calm. “Hi, Mrs. Whitmore. I was just about to call you.”
“I’ve been trying to reach you since yesterday to set up your at-home visit, Sophie. Your mother gave me this number. We should have been informed you were going out of state. I think I made that very clear at our initial meeting.”
“Yes, yes, you did.” Sophie’s knuckles whitened as she clenched the phone. “Like I said, I planned to contact you. I decided it was best for Mia and me to move back home to Harmony Harbor. I have family here and a good support system. It’s a small town, and rent will be cheaper.”
“I see. Did you share your plans with your mother? Because she seems to think you’re returning to LA.”
“No, Mrs. Whitmore, I didn’t. Is that a problem too?”
“Sophie, I’m not the enemy.”
“Really? ’Cause it kind of feels like you are. The charges were dropped, Mrs. Whitmore. I’m a good mom. I don’t do drugs or go to bars or have men back to my apartment. Mia is the most important thing in the world to me. I would never intentionally put her in danger. All I was trying to do was make a better life for us. That’s all I was trying to do.” The fight went out of her, and she sagged against the wall.
“Sophie, our preliminary investigation supports everything you’ve just said. We got back glowing reports from your roommates, coworkers, and the woman who provided before and after school care for Mia. But because of the circumstances, we’re legally required to do a follow-up visit. I’m going to transfer your file to the Massachusetts Department of Child Welfare. Is this the number where you can be reached?”
“Yes, I’m staying with my grandmother until I find a place of our own.”
“All right. You should expect to receive a call from them within the next month. That should give you plenty of time to get settled and find steady employment before your follow-up visit. How is Mia? Any more nightmares?”
“No, she hasn’t had any more nightmares.” After yesterday’s episode at Greystone, Sophie’d been surprised she hadn’t. No doubt she had Liam and his comforting presence to thank for that. Sophie wished she had someone to comfort her now. If anyone from Children’s Services found out what had happened at the manor, she’d have another red flag on her file. She’d thought that by coming to Harmony Harbor, she’d at least escape child welfare and the threat that they’d take her daughter away.
After answering the rest of Mrs. Whitmore’s questions, the caseworker wished Sophie good luck and said goodbye. Sophie hung up the phone and rested her forehead against the wall. Strong, firm hands took her by the shoulders and turned her around. “This time you tell me the whole story, bella. Sit.”
“Mia…”
“She’s good. She’s watching the TV.” Her grandmother bent down and pulled a bottle of red wine from the bottom cupboard.
“Nonna, I’m not drinking at noon.”
“It’s for me,” she said, pouring herself a juice glass full. She sat beside Sophie at the table, and this time she didn’t leave anything out.
Her grandmother swore in Italian, cursing out interfering government agencies and Sophie’s no-good mother. Sophie didn’t have the energy to make excuses for Tina. Once her grandmother got her temper under control, she said, “I’ll make some phone calls. See if anyone—” The phone rang, cutting her off.
Sophie’s heart pounded. “What if it’s—”
Rosa tossed back her wine and got up from the table, patting Sophie’s shoulder as she reached for the phone. “Leave it to your nonna. I will take care of them. Sí,” she snapped into the receiver then frowned and nodded. “She is. Oh. All right, I will tell her. An hour? Sí. She will be there.”
Sophie twisted the red-checkered tablecloth between her fingers. “Who was it?”
“Colleen Gallagher. She wants to meet with you. I think she’s going to offer you a job. The manager’s position.”
As much as Sophie needed a job, she couldn’t work at Greystone.
Rosa returned to her chair and glanced at her bedroom, nodding slowly. “Two birds, one stone. You’re a smart girl. You’ll turn Greystone around, and the child welfare people, they will be happy. Good job, steady job. It’s good. It will work.”
Her grandmother was right. If Greystone was owned by anyone other than the Gallaghers, Sophie would jump at the opportunity. As it was, she hesitated. First off, she knew Rosa. She’d only be able to set aside her feud with Kitty for so long. Then there was Sophie’s biggest fear—running into Michael. “I don’t know, Nonna. Maybe I should—”
“You rarely see the Gallagher grandchildren at Greystone,” Rosa said conversationally. “I don’t remember the last time Michael was in town.”
Sophie’s eyes shot to her grandmother. Rosa patted her hand. “Don’t worry, bella. No one will take Mia from us. Colleen offers you the job, you say sí.”