1
“Mama, I don’t want to go.”
Clara Carter didn’t think six words could rip her heart out, but she felt the pain in her chest as she hid behind the curtain of her reddish-brown hair. Every little bit of her soul wanted to reach out and grab her six-year-old son, Mason, and keep him safe in her arms, but today wasn’t about her. Today was about Mason and the fact that his safe, sheltered life wasn’t so safe or sheltered anymore. Sullivan Keene, Mason’s birth father and the man who vanished from Clara’s life nearly seven years ago had come back to town.
Standing in her childhood home, where her grandparents had raised her, she thought nothing could ever touch Mason or her. Not in this house, where so much loved lived. Mason had only asked once about his birth father, and Clara had given the vaguest honest answer she could: Sometimes, people can’t be in our lives. We miss them. We wonder what they’re doing and where they are, but sometimes, it’s better for us if they stay away. Since then, Mason had never asked again. Clara amounted that to the love from her family, who’d filled that void for Mason. Instead of Father’s Day, they had Auntie’s Day. Mason had never missed his father, because Sullivan simply didn’t exist in Mason’s young world. Even now, all around her were reminders of the love in this house. Its hardwood floors creaked, worn from a wonderful life. The distressed furniture, cozy and soft from many nights spent around the fire. But that comfortable bubble Clara had been living in shook with trepidation as she faced Mason again. Her son’s sandy-brown eyebrows furrowed over stormy, light green eyes. She cupped his chubby face. “Don’t be silly. You’re going to stay with Penelope tonight.” Penelope, Clara’s cousin who’d moved to River Rock last Christmas, was now Mason’s favorite person.
He stomped his foot, little hands fisted at his sides. “I don’t wanna sleep over. I never do that.”
Clara restrained her cringe. She didn’t need the reminder that today was different from any other day. She felt unsteady, all the unknowns piling up on her shoulders. Determined to not drag this out, she moved to the staircase and grabbed his red backpack for school, along with another bag filled with his pajamas, toiletries, and clothes for tomorrow. “You’ll have so much fun, and you don’t want to hurt Penelope’s feelings. She’s very excited to have you overnight.”
The crunching of gravel caught Clara’s attention, and before Mason could object further, she opened the front door. He dug his heels in a little as she gently guided him outside.
When the car rolled to a stop next to the porch steps, the passenger-side window slid down. Penelope’s warm green eyes landed on the very grumpy Mason. Her long, chocolate-brown hair was pulled into a side braid today, her light makeup was spot on, and Penelope’s smile instantly brightened their morning. “I hear we’re getting pizza tonight, going for ice cream, and watching a Spiderman movie.” When Mason didn’t move an inch and his frown deepened, Penelope slowly lifted a bag. “Oh, and eating candy too.”
Clara didn’t know her kid could move that fast. Mason beelined for the car.
“Bye, Mama,” he called, fastening his seat belt.
The tightness strangling Clara’s chest eased slightly as Penelope winked. “We’ll be good for tonight.”
Clara folded her arms in a terrible attempt to warm her bones. “Thanks for watching him overnight. I really appreciate it.” Depending on people was hard. Sometimes impossible. Penelope made it easy. “He needs to be dropped off at school for eight o’clock, both today and tomorrow. Pick up today is at three.”
“No problem,” Penelope replied then tickled Mason, sending him into a fit of laughter. “You know I love any time I can get with this cutie.”
They said quick goodbyes before Mason could change his mind, and soon, his sweet laughter faded as Penelope drove down the long driveway. The world felt like it began falling down on Clara’s head. She wanted to run and hide so nothing could fracture the happy life she had created for him. But that was not rational, and she wouldn’t let her emotions run wild today.
“I’ve got exactly what you need,” a voice broke through the silence.
Clara glanced behind her, finding the youngest Carter sister standing in the doorway. Maisie was everything Clara wasn’t. A free spirit. Wild. Adventurous. Her dark blue eyes always held a mischievous glint, her dirty-blond hair was unruly, and most days, she had paint somewhere on her body. She was the creative brains of Three Chicks Brewery, the company she and her two sisters had built from the ground up after Pops, their grandfather, passed away and left them the Colonial house, along with the barn that now housed the brewery. Even Penelope had a stake in the company now, handling the beer tours that came through. Which allowed Maisie’s position to become a part-time job as she was planning on opening an art studio in town. “What do you have for me?” Clara asked for clarification.
Maisie raised her arm, revealing a shot glass. “Necessary fuel for today.”
Only Maisie would think it appropriate to down what looked like whiskey at a quarter to eight in the morning. Clara envied Maisie’s life, full of passion with her new fiancé, Hayes, and how every one of her dreams had come true. Maisie deserved that, but Clara didn’t have the luxury of chasing her happily ever after. She had Mason. And while the day ahead felt unbearable, this was the day they’d been waiting for since they opened the brewery.
After hard months of grueling work, beer tours, and brewery awards, they finally got a shot at a distributor. With the distributor’s help, they could put their top beer, Foxy Diva, into every bar and restaurant in North America. Reminded of all the responsibilities weighing heavily on her, Clara figured a little help to ease her nerves wouldn’t hurt. She took the shot glass and downed the whiskey, shutting her eyes as the warmth of the liquid burned down her throat.
“It’s understandable if you’re feeling out of sorts right now.”
Clara handed Maisie the empty shot glass. “I’m not feeling out of sorts. I know exactly what I’m doing.” Maybe if she said that a hundred more times, she’d believe it too.
Obviously not believing her sister, Maisie gave a little shrug. “Okay, then, what’s the plan besides looking about ready to crawl out of your skin?”
Clara rolled her eyes. “I’m fine, Maisie. The plan is simple: impress the distributor.” Only problem? The distributor was Sullivan’s uncle, Ronnie. Clara hadn’t known Sullivan was coming back to town. And she’d nearly had the wind knocked out of her when she arrived for a meeting with Ronnie and saw Sullivan sitting at the table too.
“Yes, of course, we’re going to impress the hell out of Ronnie,” Maisie said, quirking up her lips. “But let’s not forget you’re also going to see the man you thought you’d marry and who cruelly left you behind and broke your heart.”
Clara gave the empty shot glass another look. Maybe she needed more than one to get through today. “What are you getting at, Maisie? Do you want me to cry or something?”
Maisie scanned Clara’s face a little too closely. “No, I don’t want you to cry. But I think you need to talk about this. Mason’s birth father is back in town. And you have hardly said anything about it. What’s the plan? Hiding Mason away until Sullivan leaves town again?”