A text came in from Russ Colton: All clear. She found a tick crawling on her and beelined to her car. Off to her grandmother’s house.
A tick would do the trick for most of us.
Yep.
Felicity debated a moment but decided not to ask if Gabe was with him. Felicity put Nadia out of her mind and dove into answering her emails. She hadn’t anticipated making cobbler alone, but there was no going back now that she had a taste for it. If Gabe didn’t return before she finished her email dash, she’d get started.
* * *
Gabe saw Nadia on her way and was grateful for Russ’s intervention with her. Russ had the patience and professional distance Gabe was having increasing difficulty summoning, given Nadia’s intrusions. Fortunately he had his meeting with Dylan, following up a preliminary meeting in San Diego. This one took them into Knights Bridge village. They stood outside the old Sanderson house, a sprawling Victorian built by George Sanderson about the same time he spearheaded the construction of the library where his portrait hung above the mantel. The grand house abutted the small cottage where Phoebe O’Dunn—soon to be married to Noah Kendrick—had lived when she was the library director. The quietest and eldest of the four O’Dunn sisters, Phoebe had discounted marriage for herself. Then she’d met Noah at a costume charity ball in Boston, and both of their lives changed. Gabe had gotten the story from his sister-in-law. He’d been surprised at his growing interest in townspeople, whether ones he’d grown up with, like the O’Dunns, or newcomers, like Dylan, Noah, Samantha, Russ and Kylie.
“The house needs work,” Dylan said. “That’s not uncommon in this town.”
“A lot of old buildings here,” Gabe said.
“No shortage of them, that’s for sure.”
Gabe ran his toe across overgrown grass. “Knights Bridge has its charms. You grew up in Southern California. Miss it?”
“The weather sometimes but Olivia and I still have a place in Coronado. I bought it before I knew her. She’s added color. She says everything can’t be cappuccino. Her word. I just say it’s neutral.”
Gabe grinned. “That’s what you get, marrying a graphic designer.” And if he married a party planner? He put the thought aside.
“No more flying for me until the baby’s here.”
Gabe noticed the same about-to-be-a-dad tone in Dylan’s voice that he’d heard in his brother’s voice. He wondered if he’d ever hear it in his own voice. He pushed that thought aside and nodded to the house. “It’d make good offices. No problem with zoning?”
“None. We checked.”
We meant some combination of Dylan, Noah, the Frosts, the Sloans, probably Mark. The entrepreneurial boot camps, the adventure travel and the destination inn would keep Dylan and Olivia busy, but they needed office space. Olivia had a small office at her antique-house-turned-inn, but she planned to give it up when she and Maggie hired an innkeeper. Certainly there was space for her to work out of their new home, but Dylan and Noah wanted to get into venture capital. They needed to hire more staff and needed proper offices. They didn’t have enough office space at the barn. Knights Bridge was home base for Dylan and Olivia, but they would be on the go even after the baby. Noah and Phoebe planned to be part-time residents of Knights Bridge, dividing their time between the East Coast, the Kendrick winery on the Central California Coast and his home in San Diego. At eighteen, Gabe would never have predicted Olivia Frost and Phoebe O’Dunn would be married to two such men, but that didn’t mean it didn’t feel right—it absolutely did.
“You, Noah and I have had a lot of success at a relatively young age,” Dylan said. “There’s so much opportunity here. So much more to do.”
“Anyone else in mind to join us?”
“Yeah. We’re just getting started. We’re talking to a woman who just left the NAK board. She has more experience in this area than we do. We’d love to recruit her.”
“Will she be interested in life in Knights Bridge?”
Dylan grinned. “Not happening but she can work with us from wherever she wants. You can, too, Gabe, but...” He shrugged. “Your choice. Knights Bridge is your hometown.”
“Thanks, Dylan. I used to mow the yard here. Looks as if it could use me again.”
“You’ll think about joining us?”
“I will, very seriously.”
“Great. You look as if you’re in a hurry.”
“I’ve been thinking about wild blueberry cobbler for the past few hours.”
“Any kind of cobbler is irresistible as far as I’m concerned. Enjoy yourself.”
* * *
Gabe stopped at Moss Hill on his way to Felicity and cobbler. Russ met him in the main lobby. “Nadia called me earlier,” Russ said. “She knows she went too far and put people on alert, especially you and Felicity. She’s been in a self-destructive mode. She doesn’t want to end up getting a restraining order slapped on her. She said she knows feeling sorry for herself doesn’t justify acting out inappropriately.”
“She needs to pick up the pieces of her life and move on.”
“You’re not the one to help her do that. You know that, right?”
“Oh, yeah. I know.”
“I told her not to try to make amends to you and Felicity.”
“Do you think she’ll take your advice?”
Russ didn’t answer at once. Finally he shook his head. “No, I don’t, and I wouldn’t be surprised if her route to making amends will be inappropriate if not illegal. She’s got work to do to get her head screwed on straight.”
“Then again, don’t we all.”
But Russ didn’t smile. “When are you putting your place in Boston on the market?”
“I don’t know yet.” Gabe felt his hesitation and suspected Russ noticed. “I
