Home For Christmas. Catherine Lanigan

smiled. “I can see why my grandpa liked you, Titus. You’re quite the charmer.”

      “Thanks.” Titus grinned.

      Joy looked back to the kitchen. “Is your mother coming to the luncheon?” she asked.

      “No,” Adam replied sharply.

      “She died. She’s in heaven with Mr. Boston,” Titus said matter-of-factly. “When I die I get to see them both.”

      Adam put his hand on Titus’s shoulder. “That’s right.”

      Joy knew she was blushing with shame. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

      “It’s okay,” Adam said, not to Joy but to Titus, who was looking up at him. “It’s been three years since Amie died. Titus and I are doing better.”

      “That’s right, Dad. We are.” Titus looked at Joy. “So, is it okay if I have a cupcake?”

      “You can have anything you want, Titus. Please. Enjoy.”

      “All right!” Titus nearly sprinted away.

      “Titus! Slow down! You might trip on that throw rug,” Adam warned.

      Joy watched Adam as he stared after Titus. “He’s wonderful.”

      “He’s like his mother.”

      “He’s like you,” she said, feeling a long-remembered warmth flood her. “He looks just like you.”

      “He does. Poor kid.”

      “Adam, you are incredibly handsome. I always thought that.”

      “I was a nerd.”

      “I like nerds,” she countered. “Though you aren’t one.”

      His blue gaze bored into her face, and for a moment, she was back there with him, in the potting shed where no one could see them and he was about to kiss her.

      He jerked away and turned to the photos on the mantel. He picked one up. She looked at the picture.

      “That’s us at prom. I forgot we had this one.”

      “I remember. It was the night I proposed. You forget that, too?”

      “No.”

      “You said ‘yes.’”

      “Adam. We agreed. We’d wait till after college… You had a scholarship to Purdue. I had a scholarship to Columbia. We grew up.”

      “We drifted apart.”

      This time when his eyes met hers, she saw sadness and regret. Not the sadness of mourning, but the kind she’d seen when she looked in the mirror after their breakup. She’d lost her parents. Adam. Her town. It had taken every ounce of courage to go to her classes and keep her grades up so that she didn’t lose her scholarship. But she’d done it. And she’d done it alone.

      “We did.”

      “Can I have this?” he asked.

      She thought it an odd request. He had a son. A life and recent past she knew nothing about. But he wanted their prom picture. “Sure. Uh, Frank would want you to have something.”

      “Frank—” Adam started to say something but Joy’s cell phone rang.

      “It’s New York. I have to take this.”

      “I better go. I’m truly sorry about Frank.”

      “Thank you, Adam. I know you are.”

      Adam walked to the dining room. She noticed that all the Barzonni brothers came up to him and slapped him on the back. Sarah hugged him. Maddie and Liz did, as well. They were all friends and they carried their affection for each other well.

      Her cell phone rang again. She answered it. “Chuck. Sorry. I was just saying goodbye to a guest.”

      “I didn’t know the luncheon would still be going on. I lost track of time myself. So, did you get the flowers?”

      “I did. They were huge. Thank you very much.”

      “Dad thought it was a good idea. They’re from both of us.”

      “Please thank him for me.”

      “I will. I tried to order them from your grandfather’s greenhouse, but the line was disconnected. You closed it down fast.”

      Joy worried her lip. “Uh, actually, Chuck, it’s been down awhile now.”

      “What?”

      “It’s a long story. My grandpa and I always used our cells and texts. I never called the greenhouse, where he’d be too busy to talk. Personally, I think he was expert at intrigue. Probably, all those old mystery movies he watched, because he kept his secret well. Even his deteriorating health was a secret. No one knew. Not even in town. Bottom line for us is that I’m meeting with the Realtor first thing in the morning.”

      “Great. Thanksgiving is less than a week away.”

      “Miss me that much, huh?”

      “I’ll say. The work has stacked up like crazy since you left.”

      “The work…”

      “Yeah. Oh, and Dad said to say hi.”

      “I gotta run. My guests, you know.”

      “Oh sure. Absolutely. Kisses.”

      “Kisses,” she echoed, as Chuck hung up.

      Joy stared at her cell. “Work.”

      Olivia walked up and put her arm around Joy’s waist. “You okay? Could use a hug, I bet.”

      “Yeah.”

      “This has been a shock for you,” Olivia said. “We’ve all been missing the greenhouses since Frank closed them up. But knowing that someone else will be buying them. It’s so…final, you know?”

      “Yeah.”

      “Frank was the best guy. It’s a shame he had to close down. Christmas isn’t the same without his poinsettias all over my deli. I miss that magic…”

      “Do you know why he closed?”

      “Not really. I thought he might’ve had health issues.”

      “He never told anyone why?”

      Olivia’s expression was thoughtful. “He was a private man. But if anyone would know, it would be Adam.”

      “Really?”

      Olivia nodded. “Adam was like a son to him. When he moved back and his wife was ill, Frank was there for him. They’ve been inseparable since Amie died.”

      “I didn’t know.”

      “Really? Frank didn’t talk with you about Adam?”

      “No.”

      “That’s odd. But like I said, Frank was a private man.”

      One by one, Joy’s guests came up to give her last hugs. They all begged her to call them for whatever help she would need. But all Joy needed was to put the greenhouses on the market, sign the papers, fly back to New York and let Cate take care of the rest.

      It was a good plan.

      Her life would go on. She’d be out of Indian Lake and out of their minds. Once again.