Kendall choked on a sip of water. “Excuse me. I didn’t realize they don’t pay rent.” She coughed again, then blotted her lips with a paper napkin.
Rick, Raina noticed, watched the action in earnest.
“You call what they’ve been doing upkeep?” Kendall asked when she’d recovered.
“Eldin paints in his spare time, which he has a lot of since he’s on disability,” Rick said. “If you looked carefully, you might have noticed the odd splotches on the walls of the main house.”
“Touch-ups,” Raina explained.
“I still don’t believe they didn’t pay Aunt Crystal rent.”
“Oh, Crystal didn’t see any reason. She owned that house free and clear for years. She knew things were tight for Eldin and Pearl and asked them to move in when she went to the home.” Raina reached over and patted Kendall’s hand. “Your aunt was a good woman.”
“One of the best,” Kendall said, her voice dropping as the reminder of grief set in.
She smiled right after, showing inner strength, something Raina admired.
“But I’ll still need to fix the place up,” Kendall said. “And then I can decide what to do with it—” She cut herself off. She met Rick’s gaze and something unspoken passed between them.
Oh, Raina remembered those days well. Little looks, glances only a couple in the beginning stages of a relationship understood.
“I mean I’m—”
“She’s not sure what to do with the house,” Rick interrupted, finishing Kendall’s sentence.
“Well, you can’t mean to sell your aunt’s house. It’s your heritage!” Raina didn’t understand all the undercurrents going on, but she couldn’t believe Crystal’s niece would give up her inheritance.
“It’s none of your business what Kendall does with her property, Mom,” Rick said.
Kendall sighed. “It’s hard to even think of having a heritage when I spent my life moving from place to place.”
“Oh, yes. Are your parents still abroad? Crystal used to tell me about their travels.” Raina tapped the table with her fingertips, thinking. Transience wasn’t a helpful trait but perhaps Kendall wasn’t like her wayward parents.
“They’re archaeologists. Somewhere in Africa now.”
“And your sister? How is she?”
“Hannah’s in boarding school in Vermont. She’s okay. I’ve gotten a call or two leading me to believe she’s a bit of a troublemaker, but she’s always been spirited. I plan to go on up there and have a talk with her myself once things settle here.”
Raina shook her head. “Sad when a family doesn’t live like a family.”
“Mother.” Rick reprimanded her with his tone. “Kendall just lost her aunt. She doesn’t need you hassling her. Her life and what she chooses to do with it is none of your business.”
Protective, Raina thought, and though Rick had that streak by nature, this time she sensed his defense of Kendall had a more personal side. A sense of satisfaction pulled at Raina as she watched her son.
“Rick, I don’t mind explaining. Most people don’t understand my lifestyle. Truthfully, if I didn’t live it, I probably wouldn’t understand.” She smiled at Raina. “Considering what an obviously warm, loving family you have, I’m sure my family’s life seems strange to you.”
“Nonsense. Well maybe,” Raina admitted, opting for honesty. People could change, she thought, given the right incentive. “I want you to consider yourself a part of our family. Crystal would want that and so do I.” More than Kendall knew.
From what Raina had seen so far, Kendall Sutton wasn’t only beautiful, she was warm, compassionate, and intelligent. She also had a mind of her own. And Raina assumed her independence held the most allure for her son who’d been bombarded with more domestic-minded women. Raina had only herself to blame for that, but things had changed now.
Rick obviously had fallen for Kendall even if he didn’t know it yet. Maybe if shown love and tenderness, Kendall would learn to love the stability she’d missed out on as a child. And who better to teach her the value of family than the Chandlers? Rick especially.
“That’s so sweet. I don’t know what to say.” Kendall’s eyes held a bright sheen.
“I do. You’ve been conned. By the best in the business,” Rick said wryly.
Raina scowled at her son.
“What business?” Kendall asked.
“The marriage business.”
“Ah, yes.” Kendall leaned forward in her seat and grinned. “I heard all about your matchmaking tendencies, Mrs. Chandler.”
“And I heard all about your auspicious arrival. Now tell me how you ended up on the side of the road in a wedding gown of all things?”
“Mother—”
“It’s a fair question, Rick.” Kendall’s cheeks turned a shiny pink, but she carried on like a trooper. “I was supposed to get married this morning,” she said, embarrassed at admitting she’d been an hour away from saying “I do,” when things had luckily fallen apart. “But we both realized marriage would have been a mistake and my fiancé and I parted ways.”
Raina had been happily married for almost twenty years before John died. She couldn’t imagine agreeing to marry someone she didn’t love or ending things so abruptly. “To call off a wedding so suddenly. Did he cheat on you?” Raina asked, appalled and affronted on Kendall’s behalf.
Rick kicked her lightly under the table.
Kendall shook her head. “No, but we were more good friends than anything else. He’d done me some favors, bailed me out by getting me some modeling jobs to help pay for Aunt Crystal’s nursing home, and I felt I owed him. Things just got carried away from there, but we realized it in time, thank goodness. I was so relieved I didn’t really think. I just walked out, got in the car, and drove.”
The impulsive act shocked Raina, who’d spent her whole life in the same house doing the expected things in life. “Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
Raina blinked, stunned. But since she’d gotten
