“You’re not. You’re wonderful. You took me in.”
“I’m lucky you put up with me. You’re my sister, and I’m so grateful we’re making a life together.”
“Me, too.” Starr bit her lower lip. “You’re not going to stay married to Kipling, are you?”
“I don’t think so. We don’t want the same thing. I panicked when I found out I was pregnant. That wasn’t really smart of me. I still want to stay in Fool’s Gold. We’re still going to be a family. Just you and me.”
“And the baby.” Starr leaned toward her. “I’ll help. I can do things around the house.”
“Good. One of us should know what she’s doing.”
Starr laughed.
“We’ll get a house,” Destiny told her. “One we pick out together.”
Not the one where she and Kipling made love, she thought. Those were memories she wanted to avoid.
“Are you going to get another job?” Starr asked tentatively. “Can you work with a baby?”
A really good question. Income would be required. She didn’t doubt that Kipling would offer to pay child support, but that was money she would want to put away. In the meantime, she was perfectly capable and had a unique skill set.
“My mom’s manager has always told me he wants to put me to work writing songs. I’m going to call him and find out if he’s telling the truth.” She touched Starr’s arm. “In fact, I was thinking of going through what I have after dinner. Want to help me with that?”
Starr’s eyes widened. “Yeah. I’d love to.”
“Good. Let’s check out what’s thawing in the refrigerator.”
They rose, and Destiny led the way into the kitchen. But her mind was on the notebooks she’d stored in a box in her dresser. Notebooks filled with dozens of songs she’d written over the years. There were a few that would make beautiful duets. There might very well be some interest in a release sung by the daughters of Jimmy Don Mills.
She wasn’t willing to go on tour or anything like that, but maybe a studio album wasn’t out of the question.
“What’s so funny?” Starr asked. “You’re smiling.”
“Am I? I was just thinking that life is nothing if not ironic. I’ve spent years running away from who I am only to find out that’s the person I need to be.”
* * *
FOR A WOMAN who owned a business smack in the middle of town, Jo Trellis was a difficult person to find. Kipling had been to her bar three times, left voice mail and texts, and he’d yet to connect with her. From what he could tell, she was avoiding him. Which seemed to be popular these days. Destiny was avoiding him, too.
This was not how he’d planned to spend the first couple of weeks of his marriage. Those nights had been so promising, he thought grimly, as he walked toward Destiny’s house. They’d been all over each other. But more exciting than the physical chemistry had been how much they’d enjoyed each other’s company. Or at least he’d enjoyed hers. By the way she was avoiding him, Destiny hadn’t felt the same connection.
What he didn’t get was how it had all gone to hell so quickly. One minute they were promising until death they did part, and the next he couldn’t get her on the phone.
He knew the exact moment everything had changed with Destiny. It had happened after the incident with Starr and Carter. But the real trouble with everything else had begun long before that. That much he knew. But the exact when of it was more confusing.
He walked through the center of town. The Fourth of July festival was in full swing with booths and crafts and live music in the park. There was going to be a parade later, and fireworks. Normally, he found that kind of thing a lot of fun. But not today. Today he needed to see Destiny, and he had to figure out why he was so unsettled.
The Man Cave was part of the problem. If he couldn’t fix things with Jo and his partners, then the bar wouldn’t survive. Nick had shown him the books. Kipling had seen right away that while the bar could limp along for a few months, the end was inevitable. Without local support, they were doomed.
It wasn’t the failure of the business that got to him, he thought. It was what that failure meant. Because The Man Cave had been his way of fitting in. Of giving back. And he’d screwed it up royally.
He paused by Brew-haha and looked toward the park. Even though it was still morning, there were crowds everywhere. The sun was warm, the sky blue.
Little more than a year ago he’d been skiing down a mountain in New Zealand, preparing to start serious training. He’d been fresh off his Olympic win and totally unstoppable. Or so he’d thought.
After the crash, he’d been more worried about whether he would walk again than thinking about the end of his career. Then Mayor Marsha had shown up, out of nowhere. She’d offered him a job and had promised to take care of Shelby.
He still remembered how he hadn’t believed her. How he’d promised to follow her to hell if she would protect his sister. He still remembered exactly what she’d said.
“You don’t have to be alone in this, Kipling. Nor do you have to go all the way to hell. Just come to Fool’s Gold when you’re able. We’ll be waiting for you.”
She had kept her word. He knew now that Ford Hendrix and Angel Whittaker had flown to Colorado that very day. When Shelby’s mother had died, they’d brought Shelby to Fool’s Gold. Kipling had followed when he was able. In January, he’d accepted the job as the head of HERO.