The Man Must Marry(32)

Shelbyalso stood up. "There is nothing to discuss, Willa. Well, except   for my living arrangements. It's going to take me a couple of weeks to   find a place I can afford to buy, so I had planned to move in here with   you. But there are only four bedrooms, and Peg has one of them. That   leaves one for Cody, one for Jennifer, and yours." She grabbed the   bottle of wine and refilled her glass. "I suppose I could stay in the   cottage."                       
       
           



       

"I'll stay in the cottage. That way, you won't have to worry about my fussing over your kids."

"It was an observation, Willa, not a criticism. And I have no intention   of kicking you out of your home. I'll move my things into the cottage   tomorrow." She smiled impishly. "But I'm eating here. I've never had   roast chicken that tasted so good."

Willa set her glass on the end table, strode into the kitchen, and   grabbed her rain slicker. "You can have the house and the housekeeper.   I'll move my stuff out of my bedroom tomorrow."

Shelbyfollowed her into the kitchen. "Willa!"

Willa ran out the door and down the steps, holding the rain slicker over   her head as she dashed for the cottage, fighting the wind howling off   the ocean. A swaying branch snatched the slicker right out of her  hands,  and she was soaked to the skin when she finally reached the  cottage.  The door was locked. Who in hell had locked the door? She ran  back down  the stairs, dug in the mud for the key she kept under the  step, then  finally stumbled into the darkened cottage and felt around  for the light  switch. The lights didn't come on, and she looked out the  window at the  main house and saw that it was also pitch black.

Feeling her bottom lip beginning to quiver, Willa stripped out of her   clothes by the door, felt her way to the bedroom, crawled under the   covers, and burst into tears.

"Oh, Auntie, I told you not to take it personally," Jen said with a sigh, sitting on the bed and brushing

Willa's hair back off her face. "You cried all night, didn't you?"

Willa pulled the pillow over her head.

Jen snatched the pillow away and stood up. "Well, crying time is over,   because you have to teach me to drive my truck on the way to school.   Then you can take it to work and pick me up at three, and we can   practice until supper. I can apply for my license by the end of August,   which only gives me three months to get the hang of it."

Willa pulled the blankets up over her head. "You're a teenager, Jen.   You're not supposed to be bright and cheery in the morning." She brought   the covers down to her chin and glared at her niece. "Besides, your   mother should be the one teaching you to drive."

"Are you nuts? We'd kill each other. Come on," Jen said, trying to pull the blankets off.

"Hey, I'm naked under here! Go see if the clothes fairy hung my clothes up to dry last night, would you?"

"The power's still out on your road," Jen said, heading into the main   room. "You'll have to shower at work. Peg sent down clean clothes for   you and milk and cereal." She walked back into the bedroom carrying a   neatly folded bundle of clothes. "And she told me she was going to move   into the cottage this morning, so Mom can have her bedroom. I told her   I'd rather stay in the cottage."

"It's my cottage, and I'm staying in it," Willa sat up. "Jen," she said   when the girl turned to leave. "I'm sorry your parents are getting   divorced."

Jennifer gave her a sad smile. "I'm more sorry that they don't love each   other. But their separating will be better for all of us. Mom will   start laughing again, and Dad will work fewer hours and spend more time   with Cody and me."

"How did you get to be so wise?"

Jen shrugged. "You hang around Emmett long enough, I think you get it by   osmosis. Hurry up, I want to get to school early, so everyone can see   me driving my new truck," she said, whirling around and shutting the   door on the way out.

Willa couldn't help but smile. Jennifer reminded her so much of herself   at that age; she had haunted Emmett's boatyard every day, too. Willa   knew he had always hoped she'd take over his business one day, since he   had no children to pass it down to. It looked as if Jennifer was the  new  heir apparent, which pleased Willa to no end. Jen had a passion for   wooden boats, and for Sengatti sloops in particular. Though only   sixteen, she had already designed and built a day sailer that Emmett had   proudly put into production last year.

"Is the RoseWind really yours, Auntie?" Jen asked through the door, her words sounding garbled.

"Abram left it to me in his will," Willa called back as she dressed. "Hey, are you eating my cereal?"

"We'll pick you up something on the way to school. Wow, do you know how much that boat cost new?

It's in the seven figures! Abram must have been really rich. Was his family upset that you got it?"

Willa stared at the closed door. What was she going to tell Jennifer about Abram's will? AndShelby ?                       
       
           



       

Or anyone else, for that matter. She snorted and pulled her sweater over   her head. She sure as heck wasn't telling them she was a   multi-multi-millionaire.

Even if it was only for three months.

But she was keeping the RoseWind , no matter what happened. Sam had said   none of them cared much about sailing, and she couldn't leave that   beautiful sloop with anyone who couldn't appreciate what a work of art   it was.

"I need a hairbrush," she said, walking into the main room.

"I think you need a hairdresser more. Emmett said the RoseWind is the   fastest sloop he's ever built. I wish I could have sailed her here with   you."

"I wish you had been with me, too. Sam Sinclair was more trouble than help." She snickered. "He can swim, though."

Jen's eyes widened, her spoonful of cereal stopped halfway to her mouth. "Sam Sinclair was with you?"

she squeaked.

Willa wanted to kick herself. "That is not common knowledge, young lady. Especially don't tell your mother."

Jen set her spoon in her bowl, her breakfast forgotten. "Are Abram's   grandsons as cool as Abram? Are they handsome? And single?" She shook   her head. "What am I thinking? If they're rich and handsome, of course   they're already married."

"They are three confirmed bachelors, and women everywhere can be   thankful for that. I came this close"-Willa held her thumb and finger an   inch apart-"to tossing Sam overboard."

"So where is he?"

"With any luck, on his way back toNew York City ."

Jen sighed and stood up. "Too bad. I'd like to meet one of Abram's   grandsons, so I could at least thank him for the truck. We need to get   going so I won't be late. I found your rain slicker caught on the fence.   Here-it's still raining a bit." She handed it to Willa as she walked   out the door.

"We'll stop at the coffee shop, and you can run in and get me a muffin   and coffee," Willa said, smoothing down her tangled hair as she   followed.

Jen giggled, limping toward the main driveway. "I think it's cool how the coffee shop banned you."

"Cool."

"Well, yeah. It shows you're not afraid to stand up for what you believe in."

"Um … and at the town meeting last year?" Willa asked, watching her niece out of the corner of her eye.

"Do you think that was cool, or did I act like a ‘confounded female' who didn't know what in hell I was talking about?"

"No! Everyone has the right to speak out, especially when their opinion   runs contrary to popular sentiment. That's the whole point of   democracy."

"But did you agree with me?"

"It doesn't matter. There were a lot of pros and cons to having a   big-box store built in town, but nobody was voicing the cons. You should   have sued them for removing you from the meeting. They completely   disregarded your civil rights."

Willa merely smiled as she climbed into the passenger seat of the SUV.

"Okay," Jen said, putting the key in the ignition. "Promise to be patient with me."

"Willa!"Shelby called.

Willa look out the windshield to see her sister standing on the porch, wearing her bathrobe and slippers.

"We need to talk."Shelby lowered her voice to normal when Jennifer   rolled down her window. "And you don't have to take Jen to school. I'll   take her when I take Cody in, and she can practice driving with me this   afternoon."