Page 4 of Never Fall Again
He sat straighter and turned on the Southern charm. “I assure you, Ms. Hutton, that while the Pierces and Quinns don’t get along, our feud has never devolved into violence. You never have to worry about getting caught in the crossfire. We’re polite about our disagreements, and there’s not a Pierce or a Quinn who wouldn’t come to your aid.”
“Or a Shaw?”
“That goes without saying.”
She sighed and relaxed in her chair. “I appreciate what you’ve said, but I can tell you aren’t happy about this. I think I must be missing some key information.”
She was. He was going to strangle Bronwyn for putting them both through this. He had no idea how much Landry knew, but if she was going to live in the middle of Pierce land, across the river from Quinn land, she had a right to the truth. “The river that runs along our property line is on the far edge of Pierce and Quinn lands. Most of our families live on the outer edges, as far away from each other as possible. But when we were sixteen, Bronwyn, Meredith, Mo, and I hatched a plan to ask for that land. Both of our families have a tradition of giving a plot of land to the children, and now grandchildren, when they turn twenty-one.”
“Bronwyn said the Pierces own a lot of land.”
“They do. And the Quinns do as well. Enough to continue breaking it up and handing it down for several more generations.The theory is that by the time it’s all split up, the older generations will have died so their land will be available.”
“So you wanted the land at the far edges of your family’s property? Why?”
“Partly because of the river. We grew up playing in and around it.”
“I can see that.” Landry’s smile was back, her eyes soft as they flicked to Eliza. “It looks like a place a kid could spend hours exploring.”
“And we did.” The river was so tied to their childhoods that they’d wanted to live there so their kids could grow up the same way. Although at the rate they were going, there would be no kids.
“You said partly?” Landry’s question pulled him from the dark direction his thoughts had taken.
“Yes. There were many reasons, but the biggest was that the four of us wanted to be neighbors. We’d decided by then that our grandparents, parents, aunts, and uncles could carry on with their drama for as long as they wanted to, but we wouldn’t let it get in the way of our friendship.”
“Did that work?” Her question held an undercurrent of knowledge. He’d have to ask Bronwyn how much she’d shared with Landry.
For now, he’d stick to the publicly known facts. “We all left home after high school.” Before in Bronwyn’s case. “We aren’t the same people we were when we left.” None of them had escaped their twenties unscathed. “Now that we’re all back home, we’re trying to figure out what our adult relationships look like. And I must be honest, Bronwyn selling a piece of her land, especially land adjoining mine right in the heart of our little enclave without saying something? I didn’t expect her to do that. It’s her land, and she can do whatever she wants with it. But I didn’t see that coming. Quinn land can’t be sold to anyone who isn’t a Quinn. I thought the Pierces had a similar expectation.”
Landry’s expression grew guarded at his mention of Bronwyn, and Cal was unsurprised when Landry rushed to defend her. “Oh, they do. There was a family meeting about it before Bronwyn offered it to me. And there’s a binding contract that should I ever sell the land, Bronwyn has first right of refusal.”
Cal should have expected that, but he should have heard this from Bronwyn, not Landry. “I’m trying to explain my earlier reaction and bad manners.Youdon’t owemean explanation.”
“Based on what you told me, I think I do.” Landry didn’t give him time to argue. “I’m not a Pierce, obviously, but I’ve been living on Pierce land for three years. I’m settled at The Haven. I don’t want to leave, but I’ve had lucrative offers from other resorts.” A faint tinge colored her skin. “I’m not sure how to say this without it sounding conceited, but I suspect the land was a small way to ensure that I stay.”
Cal leaned toward her. “I know the Pierces, and I know they excel at business decisions. I’m certain they’d pull out all the stops to keep you. But you should also know that while the desire to entice you to remain may have been a contributing factor, they wouldn’t sell a blade of grass of their land to someone they didn’t trust and care about. It isn’t a small gesture. It’s huge.”
Landry flushed again. Her fair skin turned pink with the slightest provocation. This was a woman who would never be able to hide her emotions. Time to get the conversation into safer territory. “Just to get this out in the open, I’ve seen your work. I own one of your vases. It’s remarkable.”
She smiled hugely. “Thank you for saying that.” She gestured toward the door. “That means a lot. Especially coming from an artisan like yourself. Carla said you made her desk. It’s stunning.”
“Thank you.”
“And, to get this out in the open, I’ve seen your pieces in town. I have a bookmark, and a bowl I keep Reese’s Pieces in.”
“A peanut butter fan?”
“Peanut butter with chocolate fan. I like peanut butter fine, but I love it with chocolate. And”—she narrowed her eyes at him—“despite your change of subject, you should know that I have my eye on two of your vases. They’re works of art. How long have you been perfecting your craft?”
Washeblushing now? What was wrong with him? He cleared his throat and again pushed the conversation into shallow water. “I started messing around with woodworking in my late teens. When I moved home after I left the Marines, I had way too much time on my hands in the evenings. Meredith and Mo hadn’t moved back yet, and I could only handle so many evenings with my nieces and nephews.”
Landry’s eyebrows lifted in amusement and confusion. “You were so good with Eliza, I expected you to be the favorite uncle.” Her voice dropped. “Eliza isn’t usually comfortable with strangers, especially men. But she opened right up to you.”
There it was again. A hint of past trouble, maybe even present. Cal caught himself before he asked if Landry was okay. He wasn’t going there. He’d jumped in with both feet before, and his heart still bore the shrapnel scars.
Landry Hutton was beautiful. Blond, about five feet five. Neither skinny nor chubby. Her handshake had been firm, and while she apologized for her rough hands, he hadn’t noticed that they were particularly abrasive.
Eliza was adorable. Her skin was brown, her hair was dark brown and curly. Her eyes brown. Her father must have had dark skin and hair, and his genes had overridden Landry’s. Except for the shape of her face, which was a miniature of her mother’s.