A Newport Christmas Wedding Read Free

Lucas would become her family. Or she would be become part of theirs. They’d always been part of the Calder-­Hollises.
    And that’s what made her breath catch, her pulse race, her stomach flip. Would it be like those scales of justice, balanced as long as everything stayed the same; but once the balance shifted, would they all come tumbling down?
    And if they did, would they be able to start again?

 
    Chapter 2
    N ORA STOPP ED INSIDE the mudroom door and shed her jacket and boots. They’d pretty much beaten the snow down into an icy path between Corrigan House and Calder Farm, and it had been slow going.
    She was cold. Luckily the heat was going, the lights were on, and the kitchen was bright and smelled like lemons. Nora was still shocked everytime she came home to find that the living and dining rooms in the once gloomy, dark old house were painted white, the kitchen a light yellow. Her dad had commissioned it all when he planned to sell last summer.
    Thank God Meri had put an end to that idea. Nora had been so grateful and happy then. Now, not so much. She wanted to be happy. But she was scared. Scared she’d be shoved to the background again. She guessed that meant she was selfish, just like her mother always told her.
    She walked through the kitchen and opened the door to the sound of vacuuming. Mrs. Miller, the housekeeper, was always cleaning. It should be annoying but it wasn’t. Nora had loved Corrigan House the way it had been, dark and never dusted. It was always a relief to visit after her mother and Mark’s perfect house in the ’burbs.
    She hoped that Corrigan House wouldn’t become like that. She’d never even seen the cleaning ser­vice from the other house. She’d just come home one day and find her room spotless and everything misplaced or thrown out, and it pissed her off every single time.
    She didn’t want to go back there. She wanted to stay here. She wanted Dad and Meri to want her to stay. They acted like they did, but . . .
    Mrs. Miller looked up and smiled and went back to her vacuuming. Nora passed through the living room, the dining room, and out to the sunporch where her father worked.
    He was sitting at his drafting table, facing the sea. Like always, he was wearing an old white shirt with the collar cut off, the sleeves rolled up, the whole thing spattered with ink and paint. He had graphics programs that he used for some projects, but he liked doing art by hand better.
    He didn’t notice her, so she just stood on the threshold watching him for a while. She’d missed him so much. Lucas had, too, though he’d never admit it. He was thirteen, out of touch with his emotions, probably. Or maybe he just kept them all bottled up inside. Kind of like their dad.
    She moved in closer.
    Her dad looked up.
    â€œGran says dinner is at seven because of the fitting.”
    â€œGreat. I might just get this finished today, then.”
    â€œWhat are you working on?”
    â€œA book of fairy tales. Like the world needs one more. But I’m not complaining. Job security.”
    â€œWhich one is that?”
    â€œLa Belle au Bois Dormant.”
    â€œSleeping Beauty? Huh. Symbolic, Daddikins?”
    â€œHuh?” He stopped to look a question at her.
    â€œShe looks like Meri.”
    â€œDoes she?” He turned back to frown at the picture. “I guess she does, a little. I’ve had Meri on my mind a bit lately.”
    He smiled and waggled his eyebrows, something he used to do when she was little and before the divorce had broken them apart.
    â€œWell, when I get to the next story, I’ll paint you as Snow White.”
    â€œI’d rather be Grumpy, or Dopey, or maybe Maleficent.” She hesitated. “Or maybe you were planning to use Mom.”
    Her dad put down his pencil. Turned to face her. “I would never do that. Your mother and I weren’t right for each other. If we had been more