“I wanted to buy Sea Breeze.”
“That’s what your mother said.” Granny nodded in self-satisfaction.
Harper released a labored sigh. “Why don’t you begin by telling me exactly what Mummy told you?”
“Well”—Granny James slightly lifted her shoulders—“I guess I have to go back to last May. Georgiana called me after a row she’d had with you. She was very upset that you up and quit your job at the publishing house. Really, dear,” Granny scolded, “to quit your job without notice.”
Harper simmered. “Go on.”
“She was very upset that you’d refused to return to New York or even go to England to see me. I tried to calm her. I reminded her that you were not a child, after all. You’re a grown woman capable of making your own decisions.”
“Thank you.”
Granny James gave Harper a pointed look. “Though I admit, I would have appreciated a phone call from you this summer.”
“You’re right,” Harper apologized. “I was selfish and rude. I’m sorry.”
Granny James accepted the apology with a wave of her hand. “Anyway, summer passed, and then just this week Georgiana called again to tell me that not only were you staying here, but that your grandmother, Marietta Muir, was manipulating you to get your trust fund early so you could buy her house and help her financially. Georgiana made all sorts of slurs and comparisons to your father. Not at all kind, I’m afraid, and I won’t insult you by repeating them.”
“It’s all ridiculous!” Harper said, steaming. “Nothing could be farther from the truth.”
“Why don’t you tell me your side of this sordid story.”
“First of all, Mummy treated me horribly at the publishing house. I won’t go into my personal relationship, or lack of one, with her. We’ve been through that before. God knows how many times I’ve cried at your knee about it.”
“Yes, dear,” Granny James said in a softer tone, and reached out to touch Harper’s hand. “Your mother can be harsh.”
Harper released an unladylike snort. “She can be cruel. And an utter bitch of a boss. You’d expect her to be at least professional, but she treated me as her lackey, not her editorial assistant. It was embarrassing. She refused to promote me. I honestly believe she enjoys keeping me under her thumb. Last May we had words.” Harper didn’t add that the argument was about Granny James, how Georgiana had demanded Harper fly to England to be her nurse. “She told me my job was to do what she said, period.” Harper shrugged. “That was the last straw. I quit. You must believe me. It was all between her and me and had nothing to do with Mamaw.”
“Except that you happened to be at Sea Breeze when all this transpired.”
“I came here for Mamaw’s eightieth birthday party. Initially it was only supposed to be for a few days, but then she invited all of us girls to spend an entire last summer together at Sea Breeze. Like we did as children. Call it serendipity, but it just worked out that we could. You should know that Mamaw informed us from the start that she was putting the house on the market at the end of summer. That was why this summer was so important. To all of us. Mamaw does not need my money, nor does she need me to buy her home. In fact, she has two offers on the table at this very moment to buy it.”
“I see,” Granny James said doubtfully.
“It’s true. Oh, Granny, what can I tell you? I love it here. I belong here.” Harper waved an arm out toward the Cove. “Sea Breeze is a wonderful place and I wanted to buy it. I wanted to live here forever. I still do,” she added wistfully. “It feels like home.”
“And Greenfields Park? Don’t you have affection for that place? Don’t you feel it is your home?”
This was tender territory, and Harper didn’t want to upset her grandmother. “Yes, of course I do. I have strong feelings for Greenfields Park because it’s where you and Granddad live. Where I spent so much time growing up. But . . .” Harper looked at her grandmother, gauging her reaction.
Granny James sat as still as a cat but her eyes were watching Harper intently. “But . . .”
“But I don’t feel like it’s my home.” Harper could only offer the truth.
“I see,” Granny James said stoically. She looked at her hands.
There was a silent stretch. Harper heard the mournful creaking of wood as the dock moved with the tide, stretching tight the rope that bound it.
Granny James lifted her head and appeared ready for battle. “So you asked your mother for access to your trust fund.”
“Right. A purchase offer for Sea Breeze arrived. I panicked. I’d run out of time. I had to buy now or lose Sea Breeze forever. The trust fund was my idea. You have to believe me. I wasn’t asking for anything that wasn’t mine. So, I gathered my courage, swallowed my pride, and called my mother.”
“Why her? Why not me?”
“Because she is the executor of my trust fund. I asked her if I could get the principal of my trust fund early so that I could buy the house.” Harper paused, feeling the bitterness well up inside her again at her mother’s reaction. “I was naive to ask her for help. I don’t know why I thought she’d respond as a mother. Concerned. Wanting me to be happy. You’d think I’d have learned by now.”
Granny James didn’t respond.
“You know what happened next. What always happens with Mummy when she doesn’t get her way. She ranted and railed against me, Mamaw, and my father, and the whole Muir lineage. It was terrible. She threatened to cut me off if I didn’t return to New York immediately. You know her well enough to know that she’d do it, too. I was distraught. Confused. I’m ashamed to admit I was a breath away from being the meek daughter and returning home at her command. As I always have. As she expected.”
Granny James tilted her head, her eyes bright. “But you didn’t.”
“No.” Harper smiled a bit, embarrassed. “I told her to take her money and shove it.”
Granny James raised her brow.
“Then I got in my car and drove straight to see Taylor. It was instinctive. I knew I wanted to be with him. That I’d be safe with him.” Harper paused and said with tenderness, “That’s when he asked me to marry him.”