If Ever I Fall (Rhode Island Romance #1) Read Free Page B

it.”
    Collette leaned
across the table, compelling Willa to look at her. “Listen, hon,” she said,
giving Willa a straightforward look. “In case you haven’t noticed yet, I can be
pretty blunt with my speaking. My ma calls it ‘brassy’. The older I get, the
less I care about people being offended by what I say or do. I can tell you’re
not used to that. That’s why I’m warning you. The girls are just the same.
Well, Mercy can be a bit of a prude. She can’t help it; that’s how she was
raised. But give her a couple of glasses of wine, and she’s a little devil.”
    Willa was startled
by her own laughter; she couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed about
anything. “Thanks for the warning,” she said. “You’re right. I’m not used to
that. I don’t think I’ll mind. But let’s agree not to speak about my father.
It’s too soon.”
    “Fair enough,”
Collette said with a smile, looking relieved. “Good. Now. You were asking about
Pauline’s financial situation. I have all the paperwork over at my place. We
can go through that tomorrow. But she was doing just fine. About six years ago
she thought she might move to one of those assisted living places. Then she
changed her mind and had the apartment added in case she needed to hire a
live-in caretaker. But she was in pretty good shape right up until she had her
stroke. I think deciding to stay here kept her going. She loved this neighborhood.”
    “How long did she
live here?”
    “Technically, it’s
been her home since she was born. It was the family’s summer cottage. She and
your father were born and raised in Providence. Her father gave this place to
her as a wedding gift.”
    Willa frowned. “I
thought she’d never married?”
    “She was engaged.
Her fiancé was killed in a boating accident a week before the wedding. She
moved in here anyway. I don’t think she ever got over his death.”
    “You mean… She was
alone all those years?”
    Collette grinned.
“Well, I wouldn’t say that. Not from the stories she shared with me. Your aunt
was a beautiful woman. Like you, if you don’t mind me saying. There were men in
the picture through the years, but she told me that her independence was very
important to her. I don’t think any man could match up to her fiancé. He was
her soul mate.”
    Willa’s sudden yawn
startled both of them. “I’m sorry,” Willa said, covering her mouth. “It just hit
me how tired I am.”
    “It’s been a long
day for you. Did you have something to eat on the plane? I put a chicken
casserole in the fridge.”
    “Thank you, but I’m
not hungry.” Willa stood up from the table. “I’d like to see the apartment. Would
you mind showing it to me now?”
    “No problem. You
might as well bring your overnight things with you. I’m guessing that you’ll
want to stay there. When spring comes, I’ll help you get this house opened up
and aired out.”
    Bundled up in her
coat once more, on the verge of exiting the house, Collette turned to Willa and
said, “You don’t remember me, do you. But I remember you. You were a funny kid.
When all the other kids in the neighborhood were playing outside, you’d be
sitting on the front porch, lost in your books.” Her mouth quirked in a
reflective smile. “Your aunt had a hammock strung between the two silver maple
trees in the backyard. I could see you from my kitchen window. You’d just lie
there sometimes, so still you were like a statue, just looking up into those
trees. It was almost like you were counting all the leaves on the branches or
something.”
    “I was.”
    “No kidding!”
Collette laughed, looking a little awestruck. “I think that hammock’s still
around. You’ll have to dig it out this summer.”
    Willa felt her
features relax, a vision of lounging on the hammock beneath the shade of those
beautiful maple trees capturing her thoughts. “I will definitely do that,” she
said, hearing the wistfulness in her own voice.
    Collette