Untold Read online

  I’d say don’t quit your day job, but clearly you don’t have one.

  What a dick. He made assumption after assumption with her. Ass being the operative word. He could go fuck himself, because he wouldn’t be fucking her again.

  Her hands shook just slightly as she walked through the parking lot. She tightened her grip—one hand on the bag with the air mattress while the other held her keys—trying to get a hold of herself. Unlocking her MINI, she put the box in the back before sliding into the front seat. As she twisted to reach for the seat belt, her lower back twinged, the pain causing her to suck in a sharp breath. Sleeping on the sofa last night had not been kind to her body. She’d woken with a stiff neck and a sore back. Plus, there’d been the cat that had burrowed under the covers and curled up at Brie’s feet, taking up a good amount of the sofa herself.

  Thus her investing in an air mattress.

  During her initial walk-through of Bethelda’s house, she’d found a stash of memory foam mattress toppers among the boxes in the spare room. Four to be exact. All still undisturbed in their original packaging.

  She figured layering a couple of those on top of an air mattress (and making it cat-claw proof) would be a much better temporary bed than the sofa. Now she just had to deal with muscle spasms. And to think, a little over twenty-four hours ago she’d woken up feeling sated and relaxed.

  That was clearly no longer the case.

  No, today’s feelings were ones of frustration and tension. Her temples throbbed with a headache that could not and would not be quelled with Advil. The cause of it all lay in a bright purple folder in the passenger seat next to her.

  The folder held copies of all of Bethelda’s monthly bills, bank account information, investments, deed to the house, keys, and so on. They were all the things that Brie had spent the morning and afternoon dealing with. The bank had been the first stop that morning, Brie giving them a copy of the death certificate to gain access to Bethelda’s account.

  After that she’d headed over to the cable company. She again showed the proper paperwork for access, paid that month’s bill, and got them to reset the Wi-Fi password so she could actually use the Internet. She’d also taken care of the utilities, stopped by the PO box at the post office, and closed out a number of Bethelda’s accounts around town.

  With each stop that she made her day got worse and worse, and her headache got more and more intense. Every time she mentioned Bethelda’s name people went from being helpful to hostile, and then they’d started to give her the third degree on who she was. They wanted to know exactly how she was associated to Bethelda.

  Brie had long exceeded the max of what she could handle, but she needed to make one more stop to be finished with this particular task.

  The GPS on her phone said that Rejuvenate, a high-end spa, was in the downtown area…just a few blocks away from the old Victorian that housed St. Francis Veterinary. She looked resolutely forward as she drove by. She wasn’t exactly sure why as she knew for a fact Finn wasn’t even in the building.

  She pulled into the lot of the spa, her tires crunching against the gravel as she rolled into an empty space. Grabbing the papers she needed and sticking them in her purse, she got out of the car and locked it behind her.

  Like a lot of the other businesses in the downtown area, Rejuvenate looked like it had once been a home. Nestled between two massive, mossy oaks, the building was slightly elevated. Five brick steps led to a wraparound porch that held a number of whitewashed rocking chairs. The windows were all outlined with white panels, which made them pop against the deep hunter-green siding. Planters hung from the ceiling of the porch, green leafy tendrils stretching down. Brie bet that when those flowers bloomed in the spring it would be even more of a sight.

  She mounted the steps to the front door, pushing it open before walking inside. A bell chimed above her, making another chime as the door closed. Moving farther into the room, her eyes landed on the currently unmanned front counter. There was a glass display off to the left that was filled with a variety of colored stone bracelets, each one promising to bring the wearer a different gift. Wisdom, tranquility, peace, love.

  She’d take any of them…except the love. She didn’t need that.

  To the right was an archway that led to an open room. One side had a wall of massage chairs—about half of them occupied—attached to foot spas while the other had half a dozen stations set up for manicures. Only two of those stations were filled, customers sitting across from women in jade uniforms. The one closest to Brie looked up from buffing her client’s nails.

  “Someone will be right with you,” she said, and smiled before returning her focus to the task at hand.

  Brie continued to look around. Multicolored tapestries covered the walls. Some sported animals (elephants, monkeys, tigers), others had flowers, and some had symbols. Jeweled chandeliers hung from the ceilings and rich woven rugs lay across the mahogany hardwood floors.

  It was pretty quiet, too. Just the soft voices of the few people getting their nails done. It was a moment later when a curvy woman with black hair and stunning violet eyes came up from a room behind the front counter. She was wearing a jade uniform and a warm smile.

  “Hello. Welcome to Rejuvenate. How can I help you?”

  Brie pulled a small smile onto her face. It was the most she could muster at the moment. Really she was just preparing herself for the inevitable attitude switch to be flipped, as was the norm for her day. “I’m hoping you can help me. I need to close out an account. And I’m not sure what the refund policy is, but all of February was charged to the credit card on file and none of the sessions will be used.”

  And for four massages at eighty bucks a pop, that wasn’t a small charge, either.

  “Do you have the account number or phone number on the account?” the woman asked.

  Brie moved to pull her purse from her shoulder, flinching as another twinge tightened her lower back. The run-in with Finn must’ve agitated it more, or maybe he’d just agitated her more. Setting the purse on the counter, she pulled out the papers and handed them over. One had the account number along with the automatic monthly charge, the other was the death certificate.

  The woman glanced down at the papers for just a second before returning a now shocked look to Brie. “This is Bethelda Grimshaw’s account?” she asked, lifting one eyebrow as she set the papers on the counter.

  Brie had always wished she could do that, raise just one eyebrow. Whenever she tried she just ended up looking like she was trying not to squint one eye, which was a lot less cool.

  “Yes”—Brie nodded—“Bethelda Grimshaw.”

  The woman continued to study Brie for just a few more seconds, confusion highlighting her features. There was no doubt a myriad of questions running through her mind, but she didn’t voice a single one before she cleared her throat and moved to the computer.

  Brie had been bracing herself, so the reprieve surprised her.

  After a moment of typing, the woman looked back up at Brie. “We actually did an account review yesterday and put in a refund for the February charges. You should see that show back up on the card it was charged to in three to five business days.”

  “Oh.” Brie was slightly taken aback by how simple that had been. Her shoulders slumped in relief, relief that was short-lived as her back spasmed again. She sucked in a sharp breath, her hand automatically moving to her lower back.

  “You OK? That’s the second time you’ve done that.”

  There was actual concern in the woman’s voice, and to Brie’s horror she felt her eyes start to water.

  “Sorry.” She blinked rapidly. “I slept on a couch last night, and it wasn’t kind to me. I’m exhausted”—physically and emotionally—“and you’re the first person today who has seen that paper”—she pointed to the death certificate—“and talked to me like I’m an actual person afterward.”

  And that was just from the death certificate; those people had no idea that she wa
s Bethelda’s biological daughter. But Finn had shown her quite clearly how people were going to react to that.

  “Yeah, Bethelda wasn’t what anyone would really call popular around here. That doesn’t justify anyone treating you like that.” She tilted her head to the side, the sympathy on her face clear. “I’m sorry.”

  “Thank you.” Brie reached up and swiped her fingers under her eyes. “I didn’t even know her and I’m guilty by association.”

  The woman opened her mouth, inhaling before she spoke. For just a moment, she hesitated at the top of the shallow breath. Brie knew that the words that came out of her mouth weren’t what she was initially going to say. She had questions, no doubt about it, but she didn’t ask them.

  “There are two credits on Bethelda’s account. Nonrefundable credits…and I just had a massage cancellation.”

  “Seriously?” Good Lord a massage sounded absolutely glorious.

  “It would be a shame to let those go to waste.”

  “You’re on.”

  “Good.” The woman held out her hand. “I’m Harper.”

  “Brie.” A genuine smile turned up her mouth as she reached up, extending her own hand across the counter.

  “Nice to meet you, Brie.” Harper grinned back as they shook hands.

  Chapter Nine

  Pariah vs. Piranha

  The sun was just coming up over the water when Finn threw his first cast out over the side of the boat and into the Gulf of Mexico. It really couldn’t be a more perfect morning. The view was stunning, yellows, oranges, and pinks painting the sky. The temperature was in the low sixties and it promised to get up into the high seventies.

  It was the perfect kind of day for fishing. He’d never get tired of mornings like this out on the water. Never get tired of the beauty that his town had to offer. Not ever.

  For the eight years that Finn had been in school, and away from Mirabelle, he’d felt like something was missing. During those years, the longest he’d ever gone without coming home was two months, and that long of an absence had been pretty rare.

  He loved Mirabelle. It had always been his home and would always be his home. Not everyone felt the way he did about it. All of his close friends growing up had moved away for college and settled down elsewhere. The only person who’d come back was Rebecca.

  Finn and his ex met on the first day of second grade. She’d forgotten her crayons at home, so he’d done the gentlemanly thing and shared his. From that point on they’d been best friends, and it was right before they’d started eighth grade that their friendship became something more.

  It had happened two weeks before summer break ended, a rainy Tuesday that had kept them inside all day. They’d spent it having a movie marathon at her house. Her parents had been at work and her older sister had left to go to a friend’s house. One minute they’d been watching The Sixth Sense and the next he’d been kissing her.

  She was his first kiss…she was his first everything actually. First girlfriend. First lover. First love.

  When college had rolled around they’d both gotten their top picks. His was Auburn, hers was Virginia Tech. They’d made the long-distance thing work. Daily phone calls. Driving halfway to meet up at a hotel in Greenville, South Carolina. They didn’t even leave the room on those weekends. Dealing with the distance hadn’t been the easiest thing in the world, but what other choice was there?

  She was the love of his life…or at least he’d thought she was.

  It had always been the plan that after they graduated from undergrad, they’d move back home and get married. They’d shared a mutual love for the small town that they’d grown up in, and that was where they wanted to spend the rest of their lives. Settle down. Have a family.

  That had been the plan…but plans change.

  During Christmas break of their senior year, Finn told her that he’d decided he wanted to go to school to become a veterinarian. He’d waited to tell her about applying and getting in to his top choice until they could celebrate together.

  Rebecca hadn’t wanted to celebrate. Instead she’d given him an ultimatum: her or school.

  There was no conversation about how they could make their relationship work. She wouldn’t even discuss it. Not all that surprisingly, Finn hadn’t reacted well to her ultimatum and he’d chosen school.

  Fourteen years, all of that history, and she’d just walked away. Admittedly, there was the fact that he’d let her go. But he’d thought she’d come back to him…thought she’d figure out that they were supposed to be together.

  Oh, how wrong he’d been. So very, very wrong.

  Instead she’d moved on and married someone else: Brett fucking Milton. There wasn’t an ounce of love lost between Finn and Brett. Not from the time they’d been in the same little league together. Somewhere in that first season they’d started competing against each other, odd, as they’d been on the same team.

  And the competing had never ended. Sports, academics, their personal lives…and then Brett had gone and gotten the girl. The only girl who had ever mattered to Finn.

  The thing that had really gotten under his skin? Brett was a dentist. After undergrad he’d had to go to school for four more years, too. Meaning he’d come back to Mirabelle at almost the exact same time Finn had.

  It had been a bitter pill to swallow, but he’d gotten it down in the end and moved on. And in the years since, he’d gotten over Rebecca…for the most part.

  He wasn’t in love with her anymore—that was for damn sure—but what happened with her had definitely changed him. How could it not? The only serious relationship he’d ever been in had ended with him getting his heart broken.

  Thus him doing a total one eighty on that front. No commitments meant no pain.

  That was why he shied away from commitment at all costs these days. He thought that with his three rules—no locals, no staying the night, and no repeats—he could prevent himself from going down that path…and prevent himself from regretting his choices.

  Regret. That word kept repeating in his brain on a loop. Sometimes it was accompanied by more words…words from Brie. I don’t live my life with regrets, Finn. But I guess there’s a first time for everything.

  Not only that, but when he closed his eyes he’d see her in front of him. See the pain etched on her face…radiating from every part of her.

  What the hell was his problem? What the hell was he doing?

  Boots thudded on the deck of the boat, stopping at Finn’s left. He pulled his focus from the water—and his thoughts—and turned. Tripp Black stood next to him, an uncast rod in one hand and a disposable cup of coffee in the other. As Tripp had been getting Grant—his stepson…of sorts—set up, he hadn’t gotten his line in the water yet.

  Tripp wasn’t one of Mirabelle’s natives. He’d moved to town four years ago when he’d gotten the job of fire chief. He and Finn had gotten to be pretty good friends over the last couple of years. Probably because they’d been the last two remaining bachelors.

  There was also the fact that their dogs were siblings. It was going on a year and a half that Tripp had found two puppies abandoned at the fire station. Tripp had adopted the male, Duke, and Finn had kept the female, Frankie.

  So they’d had their dogs while everyone else in their close circle of friends had gotten married and started to pop out kids. But then Tripp had gone and fallen in love with his neighbor Beth. They’d started seeing each other last March and been married by December. And not only had Tripp gotten himself a wife, but he’d gotten an insta-family as well.

  When Beth’s sister and brother-in-law had died in a car accident two years back, she’d gotten custody of their three children. Nora (eighteen and no longer in the terribly rebellious stage she’d been in the year before), Grant (who was nine and hero-worshipped Tripp), and Penny (the sweetest four-year-old on the face of the planet). Tripp had fallen in love with those kids, too, and he was beyond protective of them.

  Finn had seen it all happen, from
beginning to end. He’d even walked in on them making out like a couple of hormonally charged teenagers. But that wasn’t the only thing he got to witness. He got a front-row seat of Tripp being brought to his knees by Beth…and then the rest of the family.

  And that was how Finn was left as the only single guy in their group of friends.

  “Man”—Tripp shook his head—“that look on your face is way too pensive for seven thirty in the morning.”

  A soft chuckle to Finn’s right had him turning in that direction. As his brother’s focus was still out on the water, he only got Shep’s profile. But Finn knew the signs, the guy was grinning from ear to ear.

  “What?” Finn couldn’t stop himself from asking.

  “Did I say anything?” Shep let out his line.

  “No, but you’re definitely thinking something.” Tripp set his coffee in the cup holder of the chair behind him. “What’s going on with our boy here?”

  “Could it have anything to do with the pretty brunette who was in your office two days ago?” This question came from Bennett who was on the other side of Shep.

  Finn had just known that Bennett witnessing that moment was going to come back and bite him in the ass. And really, this was going to be a big bite. There were seven guys out on the boat that day: Finn, Shep, Tripp, Grant (who was the only one who wouldn’t be busting Finn’s balls…mainly because he was nine), Bennett, Brendan, and Liam James.

  Liam wasn’t a Mirabelle native, either, but when he met Harper Laurence—now Harper James—there’d been no turning back for him…something that had been true before he realized he’d gotten Harper pregnant.

  He’d been living in Nashville at the time, which was how he’d been able to balance his career of being a country musician. It was a little more complicated for him professionally now that he’d made Mirabelle his home base, not to mention his career had blown up after his hit song “Forever” had gone platinum. But he and Harper were managing.