Chapter 15      

“Here we go,” Paige heard Mark say beside her as she scanned the row of people waiting to welcome her on the simple front porch.

“I didn’t expect this…” she said, gesturing to the welcoming committee.

Her sisters were standing next to their men, save Sadie, who was holding a newborn, likely Tory and Rye Crenshaw’s. When her eyes found Rye, she wanted to shiver. My goodness, he was compelling in person. Pull it together, Paige.

Two kids broke away from J.P. and ran toward their car. Paige knew they had to be Rory and Annabelle, and she couldn’t help but smile. Both of them were adorable, the little boy dressed in a white dress shirt with a red bow tie and the little girl in a yellow dress dotted with hearts. In her hand was a princess crown, and somehow Paige knew it was for her daughter. How sweet!

Haley jumped out of her booster seat. “Oh, they look so nice. Can we get out of the car yet?”

Mark chuckled and patted her knee before opening his car door. Haley didn’t need an invitation to burst out after him. When Paige opened her own door, she realized her seat belt was still on.

Her husband gave her a knowing look and waited until she was standing next to him. Taking her hand, he squeezed it once before turning his attention to the children.

“Hi there!” the little girl fairly shouted as she ran up to Haley. “I’m Annabelle and this is my brother, Rory. We’re your cousins, and we’re so happy to meet you. This is your crown. Sadie told us you like to be a princess. Me too!”

Haley gave the younger girl an inquiring look as she took the crown. “Are you going to wear one?”

“Yep,” Annabelle said, putting her hands on her little hips. “Mama said we can wear princess outfits later, but she made me put on this dress first because you’re company. Do you want to see our tree house? Aunt Susannah painted the inside, and there’s a prince and a princess.”

“Welcome to our home,” J.P said, coming down the sidewalk at an easy pace.

He shook hands with Mark and then gently kissed Paige on the cheek.

“It’s good to see y’all. I see you’ve already met Rory and Annabelle. They’ve been eager to meet you.”

“Do you like dogs?” Annabelle asked her daughter.

“I like small ones,” Haley said.

“You need to meet Barbie,” Annabelle told her. “She’s my dog. Uncle Rye gave her to me when we moved here.”

“Annabelle, give her some space,” Rory said. “There’s plenty of time for her to meet the dogs. Haley, if you need anything, you just let me know. Dad asked me to watch out for you today.”

Although Sadie had told her about the awful man who was Rory’s biological father, it was wonderful to see the affection between the boy and J.P. Clearly J.P. had become his father in every way that mattered.

J.P. sent Haley a wink. “There’s a lot of people, and Rory knows where everything is. Haley, do you want to put your princess crown on?”

She lifted her shoulder. “I’ll wait until Annabelle does, thank you.”

“Annabelle, run along and get your crown,” he told her. Turning back to Paige and Mark, he said, “I think you’ve met almost everyone.”

“They haven’t met me.” Paige watched as Rye Crenshaw ambled forward. “Hi, I’m Rye.” He shook hands with Mark, patted Haley on the head, and then pulled Paige in for a hug. “Everyone else seems to be observing some crazy welcome wagon rules. I might not be your blood kin, but this brother of yours is my brother just the same. I hope you’re prepared to share him because I can’t do without him.”

His big hit, “Cracks in the Glass House,” had gotten her through some tough times. Maybe she could tell him someday. “You’re in my phone.” Wait. Had she really just said that?

Rye barked out a laugh. “I heard that flustered you a touch. You’re welcome to holler at me anytime if you need something. Despite what some people might say around here, I’m pretty responsible.”

“No you aren’t, Uncle Rye,” Annabelle said. “You let the dogs out all of the time and—”

“Hush.” Rye plucked her off the ground. “You’ve been listening to your Aunt Tory. Well, come on, y’all. There are more people to meet. Vander! You’re the newest member of this here family. Come on forward and meet our new kin.”

Paige felt her nerves tighten when she heard Vander’s name. He was the one who’d helped her siblings find their father. He’d talked to him. And being a private investigator, she imagined he knew every sordid detail there was to know about her mother. She felt Mark lean in, sensing she needed extra support.

Shelby marched forward, hand in hand with a striking man. Vander.

“Rye, only you would upset the apple cart,” Shelby said, giving him a little shove. “We talked about the introductions.”

“Y’all are over-complicating things,” he said, “and making these nice people more nervous.”

Her nerves had to be fairly obvious, Paige realized with some chagrin. She’d barely said two words since leaving the car.

“Hi, Shelby,” she muttered, coughing to clear her throat.

“Don’t mind Rye,” Shelby said, giving him a look. “This is my Vander, and trust me, he’s always responsible.”

“Nice to meet you,” Shelby’s fiancé said in a flat Yankee cadence, his eyes steady on her. “I’m really happy this has turned out to be such a happy reconciliation.”

She had to cough again. No doubt he’d seen some unpleasant reunions in his line of work. Thank God her daddy had cut and run from them. She never wanted to meet him.

“Hey, y’all,” Susannah said, coming up behind the couple. “This is my husband, Jake.”

The handsome man gave them a kind smile. He was quietly magnetic—the complete opposite to Rye’s larger-than-life persona. “Good to meet you. Welcome. You let me know if you need anything too.”

“We’ve listened to you on the radio,” Haley said to him, tapping her crown against her leg. “You too, Mr. Crenshaw.”

“It’s plain ol’, Rye, sugar,” he insisted. “Clayton, get on over here. Now, you’ve already met my sister, Amelia Ann. Her husband, Clayton, is my manager.”

“And then some,” a tall man in a white cowboy hat said. “Nice to meet y’all. We’re happy the McGuiness clan found you. Sadie surprised us some with her gumption.”

“I always knew she had more than she was letting on,” Rye said. “Come and meet my baby boy, Boone. He’s the light of my life.”

Along the way, they stopped to hug Tammy, who was on her way into the house. Tory came forward and welcomed them warmly.

“I see you have the best seat in the house,” Paige said to Sadie, her eyes zooming in on the little miracle swaddled in a white blanket. “Oh, he’s so beautiful.”

“Hi, Paige,” Sadie said, that baby-glow on her face. “Hi, Mark. Hi, Haley.”

“Mama, can I see him?” Haley asked, rising on her tippy toes.

Mark picked her up, and she reached out a hand to touch him.

“Gently now,” Mark told her. “Y’all have a beautiful boy there.”

He gave her a look. When she’d gotten her period again yesterday, he’d told her they’d just keep trying and wrapped her up in his arms. Her heart pinched with worry. Would they ever have another baby?

“We think he’s the most beautiful baby in the world,” Tory said, “but we’re partial.”

“Takes after me,” Rye drawled, rocking forward on his cowboy boots and touching the baby’s soft cheek.

“In some areas,” Tory said, elbowing him in the gut. “You’d think Rye had invented babies from the way he goes on sometimes.”

“Well, sugar, I did invent this one,” he said with a slow smile. “With your help, of course.”

She shook her head. “Tammy probably has the whole meal laid out by now. Let’s find you some drinks.”

“Amelia Ann went in to help her,” Rye said. “What can we get y’all? A bourbon?”

Rye Crenshaw was offering them bourbon? 

“I’ll have one,” Paige found herself saying.

Mark swung his head to look at her, but he was smart enough not to say anything. “Will you now? I’ll have some tea.”

“Can I have a lemonade?” Haley asked.

“We always have that stuff around here,” Rye told her. “Sometimes with rosemary, although for the life of me I can’t imagine why. It grows like a weed at our house.”

“It’s an herb,” Tory told him in a flat voice. “Like you’d know.”

Mark started to laugh before he cut it off. Clearly they both found Rye entertaining.

When the country music legend took her elbow and steered her inside the house, she nearly jumped out of her skin. “Let’s get you that bourbon, Paige. I like a woman who drinks during the day. I mean, my mama named me after a smooth rye whiskey, after all.”

“That is so not true,” Tammy told her brother. 

Rye sent Paige a devilish smile. “Caught me. It’s such a good story though. It’s a shame to let it go.”

When Rye poured himself a drink so he could toast her, she had to take a deep breath to keep from feeling lightheaded. 

“To family, new and old,” he said, clinking their glasses together. “I heard you had a difficult spell with your own, and well, so did I. Happy to say it’s all behind us now. We’re all glad you’re here, Paige. These here McGuinesses are pretty wonderful people.”

“Yes they are.”

“Let’s shoot it, shall we?”

“Shoot it?” she repeated, noting he’d given her a healthy pour.

“Down the hatch,” he said, and then he tipped his glass to his mouth and drank the bourbon in one fell swoop.

She bit her lip and thought, Oh, what the hell, and tossed her bourbon back the way he had. Fire shot down her throat. It took effort not to break into a fit of coughing. 

“That was a nice toast,” she rasped out.

“I thought so,” Rye declared. “Now, I’m going to take my son back from Sadie. I never get to hold him at a family gathering. I swear, it’s like the women in this family become wolves, passing my kid on from one hungry woman to the next.”

He left the room, and this time she touched her throat and coughed out the last of the fire coating it.

“You actually drank the bourbon!” Susannah exclaimed from the doorway of her brother’s study. “I mean, I know Rye has a powerful effect on people. He’s like a tidal wave.” 

“Were y’all standing outside the study, watching?” Paige asked, finally seeing the group of people gathered in the doorway.

“You think we’d miss the show?” Shelby told her. “You get points. Personally, I loved seeing the look on Mark’s face,” she added, coming into the room. “I thought he was going to lose it.”

Paige looked down at the empty glass in her hand. “Where should I put this?”

Clayton came forward. “I’ll take this off your hands and get it to the kitchen. Good job there. You need to call Rye’s bluff every once in a while.”

She stared at his back as he left the room. “Does he mean Rye was joking about the bourbon?”

“Who knows?” Susannah said. “But probably. None of us women drink it.”

“Why don’t we get you something a little smoother?” Shelby said.

“Nothing smoother than bourbon,” Vander said, his lips twitching. 

“I can’t believe you drank bourbon with Rye!” Sadie said, coming inside and grabbing her by the arms. “You aren’t drunk or anything, are you?”

“My wife handles her liquor pretty well,” Mark said, resting against the doorframe and smirking at her.

“I haven’t done shots since we were in college.” That hadn’t gone so well for Mark. She’d drunk him under the table, so much so she’d needed to then take care of him. He’d been so embarrassed the next day.

“Tequila,” Mark said in a deep voice. “Not my finest moment.”

“Tequila is the devil,” Shelby said, shuddering.

“So is Southern Comfort.” Susannah grimaced.

Jake pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. “You did shots of SoCo, honey?”

“I know,” she said with a sputtered laugh. “It was at a tailgate party. What was I thinking?”

Everyone was laughing, and Paige crossed to Mark. She leaned against him and looked at her new family. Everyone was smiling at her like she’d hung the moon. 

“They’re pretty great,” Mark whispered in her ear. “Way to go, tiger.”

She was still beaming when J.P. offered to show her the chocolate garden and sweet-talked Tammy into turning the last preparations for dinner over to Susannah and Shelby so she could join them. Holding Mark’s hand as they strolled though the gardens under a sunny sky, she was conscious of how happy she felt—and what a precious feeling it was. 

“With fall coming in, the garden isn’t quite as it was a few months ago,” Tammy told her. “But it’s still beautiful.”

Tall grasses the color of chocolate blew in the breeze next to a plant Tammy identified as Chocolate Drop sedums. Rory ran over and joined them, and J.P. encouraged the boy to tell them the story of the chocolate fairies. According to Rory, the fairies looked out for the families who planted chocolate gardens and made them chocolate each night as a thank-you. Her lips twitched when he pulled her aside and whispered that he knew the chocolate fairies weren’t the ones who put chocolate under their pillows every morning. Annabelle didn’t know yet, so she and Mark had to keep the confidence.

Both she and Mark promised the little boy, and when she caught J.P.’s loving smile, her heart seemed to soak in all of the magic around them. This family—her new family—was becoming almost as vital to her as Mark and Haley, and Riley and Jess for that matter, something she’d never imagined happening.

“Are y’all finished with the garden tour?” Rye shouted from the back porch. “Some of us are starving!”

“There are appetizers in the kitchen,” Tammy yelled back. “I swear that man eats more than a teenage boy.”

“I hope I can eat as much as Uncle Rye when I grow up,” Rory said, racing toward his uncle.

Paige caught sight of Haley and Annabelle running across the back of the house with what looked like rainbow streamers flying behind them. Rory might have been asked to watch out for Haley, but Annabelle had made it her mission to make her feel at home. She was so glad her daughter had found another friend.

Once the tour was over, she caught Vander watching her from the back porch. She decided she needed to firm up her courage and speak to him. If she couldn’t face him, how in the world was she going to face Louisa McGuiness?

She squeezed Mark’s hand, and he must have understood what she needed because he kissed her cheek and headed off after the others to find the appetizers.

“Would you take a walk with me?” she asked Vander.

He nodded and came down the porch steps. The chocolate garden called to her, and she sought out its beautiful warmth again.

“I know you were the one who helped everyone find Preston McGuiness,” she said, not wanting to refer to him as her father.

“Yes, I was,” he replied, tucking his hands in his pockets as they stopped near a cluster of maroon flowers with chocolate leaves.

“I’ve never even seen a picture of him,” she told him, looking down at her feet, waves of vulnerability washing over her like the low tide in Dare River. “In all honesty, I’m not sure if I even want to.”

He was silent, as if waiting for her to continue.

“I looked you up online,” she said, feeling it was only fair to meet his eyes as she said so. “I know you’re a well-respected private investigator.”

He nodded.

“I…what I’m trying to say is…” She felt her throat burn with heat. “You would be thorough. You would know…everything there is to know about my mother, Skylar Watkins.”

His face didn’t give anything away, and she rocked back and forth on her feet.

“I want you to know I’m nothing like her,” she said, clenching her hands. “She’s…made her choices, and I don’t condone them or even pretend to understand them.”

“I know you’re nothing like the woman I read about, Paige,” he told her, reaching out to hold her forearm. “You don’t need to worry that I’ll think less of you because of what your mama did. You’ve clearly risen above your background, and I admire that.”

She blew out a breath. “Mark and I had to cease all contact with her. She was coming around for money for drugs, and it…”

His touch was oddly comforting. “I know all that, and you did right. You chose your family. Sometimes people who are troubled never stop trying to take.”

“Is Preston McGuiness like that?” she asked, old fears circling like creeping jenny on her insides. This was why she understood Riley’s lingering fears about his ex. “I…need to know. I mean, it’s a fear I can’t completely shake…that the two of them are the same and I won’t be able to avoid one or both of them coming around. I haven’t told Mark it still sneaks up on me. That fear.”

Vander waved to someone, and she looked over her shoulder to see it was Shelby, standing on the edge of the porch with J.P., watching them with concerned looks.

“Let’s walk a bit,” Vander said, guiding her to the river path.

The quiet of the trees seemed to embrace her, and she took a moment to gather herself.

“What I’m about to say, I say as both a member of this family and a private investigator. I figure you need to hear both perspectives. When Preston McGuiness ran on me from the little town he’d been holed up in for about a year, I knew he was a coward.”

Her belly clutched. Only a coward could have done what he’d done.

“Later, when I met him at his mother’s house—Lenore is a wonderful woman, by the way, although she’s had a hard life—I found him to be a worthless excuse for a man. Selfish. Destructive. A total victim. He looks like J.P. in some ways, but he’s nothing like anyone in this family. Louisa has done her job as a mother, and every one of the McGuiness children has done the rest to become who they are today.”

His confidence in Lenore McGuiness, her grandmother, made her wrap her arms around herself. Hadn’t the McGuiness children told her the same thing?

“Would Lenore want to meet with me? I mean…I’m… Some people might call me—”

“You’re her granddaughter,” Vander said, cutting her off. “We haven’t told her we’ve found you yet or how wonderful you are. Shelby said you didn’t want to talk about the past.”

She’d thought that at first, but learning there might be an opening with the grandmother she’d never known… She’d lain awake at night thinking about it.

“But to answer your original question, you don’t need to worry about Preston McGuiness ever taking anything from you.” He kicked at a rock on the ground, using an angry, punishing force. “I’ll be blunt, even though it’s hard to say this to you. He said he’d never wanted to find you.”

Her heart, one she’d thought healed by love, felt stabbed by a million stickpins. She stopped and turned her back on him.

“He blames me for being alive then?” she asked.

“He blames everyone,” Vander said, coming closer to her. “Paige, he’s… I’ve seen a lot of men like him in my time, but because I love this family, I hate him for the selfish, mean-spirited coward he is. Frankly, every one of you is better off without him. I mean, you’ve dealt with plenty of misery from your mother from what I can tell.”

“And I didn’t need another deadbeat parent, right?” She gave a tortured laugh. “Sometimes I don’t understand life.”

He kicked at another rock. “Me either. You may know this already, but my daddy was murdered in a Nashville alley twenty-five years ago. The killer was never found and brought to justice, and I’ve had to live with that.”

This time she put her hand on his arm in comfort. “I’m so sorry.”

“This year something amazing happened,” he said, a half smile crossing his lips. “Boone was born on the day my father died, and even though that little boy doesn’t know it, he’s changed that date forever for me. It’ll always be the day I lost my daddy, but now I’ll spend it with this new family of mine, celebrating one of us.”

Tears gathered in her eyes.

“I can’t say I understand life either, and perhaps Louisa has been impacting my way of seeing things, but there seems to be something greater at work. While I don’t claim to understand it, I respect it. And I’m grateful for it too.”

She gave a nod and dashed at the tears in her eyes.

“I watched this family learn about something so dark, so painful…something that hurt every one of them down to their bones. Then I watched them come together and love each other through it. And then Sadie, who is supposedly the baby in the family that everyone looks out for, went out and found you. All on her own. She didn’t come to me. She didn’t go to anyone. She just…up and found you. And you and Mark and Haley seem to be terrific. Again, I don’t understand how life works most days, but I find I’m grateful to see you here among the McGuinesses.”

“Oh, goodness, I’m totally going to cry,” she said. “I’m sorry. You should just leave me here for a minute.”

He pulled her into his arms. “That’s not what a future brother-in-law would do.”

She’d never imagined him being this kind, but she found herself pressing her face into his chest, tears streaming down. “I’m so grateful for y’all too.”

After she collected herself, they walked down the dirt road. When the house came into view, all of her siblings were waiting for them. She could feel their concern radiating toward her.

“Vander, there’s only one last thing I want to ask,” she said, stopping in her tracks. He did the same. “If there’s any health issues I need to be aware of on Preston’s side.”

“I have that information,” he said, rubbing her arm. “The family wanted it too. I’ll give it to you at the next get-together.”

“Thank you,” she said with a soft smile.

“If you ever need any help or want to know anything, you just tell me. I’m here for you too, Paige.”

“Again, thank you.”

“We should probably head back. Everyone looks a touch concerned. But there’s something I wanted to tell you first. You don’t need to be afraid to meet with Louisa. She’s one of the most loving women I’ve ever met, and this will help both of you, I believe.”

While she believed all of the warm fuzzies about Louisa, she was the daughter of the woman who had ultimately ruined her marriage and home life. Surely even a pastor couldn’t shake that kind of ugliness.

“I’m happy to go with you if you need,” Vander said. “I’ve been part of a lot of difficult conversations surrounding Preston.”

“That means a lot,” she said. “Other than Mark and Riley, our neighbor…and Sadie’s beau, as you probably know…I haven’t had a lot of men stand up for me.”

“Well, you have a whole bunch of people who will now,” he said, putting his hand to her back and leading her forward. “And I’m glad to hear that about Riley. Sadie means a lot to us.”

Her siblings reached out to her a little extra when she and Vander reached the porch. Sadie and Shelby hugged her. Susannah offered to get her a lemonade. But it was J.P. who stopped her and looked directly into her eyes.

“Everything okay?”

As she studied him, she thought of what Vander had said, how J.P. favored Preston. She realized this was the closest she would ever have to a firm picture of her father in her mind. Then she discarded that because she didn’t want to search for similarities between her deadbeat father and her siblings. Her siblings were so much more than he could ever be. 

“It is now,” she told him, and surprised them both by leaning in and kissing him on the cheek.

He flashed a smile at her, and when she turned away, Mark was waiting to enfold her in his arms.

“You’re the bravest woman I know,” he whispered in her ear. “I’m so glad you’re mine.”

She should have known he would sense the upshot of her discussion with Vander.

“Back at you,” she said, squeezing him tight. 

When they all went inside and gathered around the large dining room table for dinner, the children’s table tucked at the end, Paige was moved when J.P. asked everyone to join hands.

She was sitting between Mark and Sadie, the man of her heart and the first of her sisters to make her feel loved and wanted.

“Dear God, I want to thank you for the food we are about to eat and for all of the lovely hands that prepared it. But most of all, I want to thank you for bringing our sister, Paige, to us. For looking out for her while we were apart. For the wonderful man you blessed her with in Mark. And for the beautiful daughter they have in Haley. This family has always been in your hands, and despite tough times and heartache, we’re grateful for the love you’ve continued to give to us. And we look forward to sharing more family dinners and get-togethers with Paige, Mark, and Haley. Amen.”

“Amen,” everyone echoed.

“That was a really good prayer, Dad,” Annabelle said, leaning forward and looking at Haley. “When you make someone cry, it’s a really good prayer. Who needs a tissue?”

Eyes awash in said tears, Paige started to laugh and then put her hand over her mouth to cover it, not wanting to hurt the little girl’s feelings. 

“I do!” Shelby said, dabbing at the corner of her eyes.

Annabelle leapt up and ran out of the room, returning with a box of tissues. Most of the women took one when she came around the table offering them. Rye grabbed three and blew his nose loudly, causing Paige to giggle.

“That prayer got to me right here,” he said, pointing to his heart. “Preacher boy there knows how to say it. Paige, you should see the music he writes for me and Jake and a whole host of other singers. He’s got a gift.”

It struck her that she’d been listening to her brother’s heart through Rye and Jake’s music for as long as she could remember. She’d gotten to know J.P. long before meeting him. No wonder she loved the singers’ songs.

“How about another bourbon after dinner, Paige?” Rye asked, waggling his brows.

“Why not switch to tequila?” she countered.

Everyone looked around at one another, waiting to see how he’d respond. Tory shook her head and tucked Boone closer to her chest, rocking him softly back and forth.

Rye sat back in his chair and nodded. “Gold or silver?”

So, he wasn’t a man to fold. In that moment, she decided she wouldn’t give in either.

“We could start with silver and go to gold, if you like. I can do either or both.”

There was an audible pause before his lips twitched. “Whatever you say, sugar.”

She nearly bounced in her seat, hearing him call her that. And while they never did end up having bourbon or tequila, which she’d suspected might be the case, it didn’t matter in the end. 

She’d become one of them.