Second Chance Girl (Happily Inc. #2)

“I will.”

Mathias walked to his desk and stared at the piles of paperwork he mostly ignored. It was going to be a long morning.

*

A LITTLE BEFORE ten he checked in at the gallery. There was still a huge crowd, although most of his pieces were gone. As he watched, an older woman carefully put a dollar in the Millie can, then carried her purchase out of the studio.

Mathias thought about the sad giraffe and calculated about how much he thought he would make from the day. Even if he donated every cent, it wasn’t going to be enough.

He stared at the display of Ronan’s glass. The flower sculptures for three hundred thousand. The starfish array for two hundred and twenty-five thousand. What were they doing, messing around with nickels and dimes?

He returned to the studio and called for Sophie. After putting on her leash, he led her to his Mercedes. They drove east, then north, up into the foothills. Ronan lived a few miles above the tree line.

When the brothers had first moved to Happily Inc they’d rented a big house together as they’d done their best to come to terms with what had happened. After a few months, Ronan had found the house in the mountains and had bought it—without saying a word. Mathias had been surprised and hurt, but he’d kept both to himself. Instead he’d purchased his place on the edge of the animal preserve.

He wasn’t sure if that was when the trouble had started—when they’d stopped living together—or if it had been before when Ronan had simply left Fool’s Gold, leaving Mathias to follow or not. Until his father’s heart attack, he and Ronan had believed they were fraternal twins. They’d done everything together. More than once, they’d dated sisters. But everything had changed with one simple sentence.

You’re my bastard from an affair.

Mathias got that Ronan had been blindsided by the information and that everything was different now. But what his brother didn’t seem to understand was that everything had changed for Mathias, as well. His identity had been rocked, all his memories altered.

He and Ronan had come to Happily Inc to get away from Ceallach and to figure out who and what they were now. Mathias had assumed they would work through the problem and get on with their lives. He hadn’t counted on Ronan pulling back until they were barely speaking.

Mathias parked in front of the large stone house. The place had to be at least fifty years old. It was huge, with giant windows and a massive double front door. Trees grew all around it, making the house appear to have sprung from the very earth itself.

He got out and checked Sophie’s leash before letting her jump to the ground. No way he was letting her loose on the side of a mountain—he would never see her again.

After she’d sniffed, peed and sniffed again, he guided her around the back of the house to the studio. The sprawling structure had once been a barn or maybe a stable. Ronan had converted it when he’d first moved in. There were ovens and all the equipment he needed to work. Mathias wondered why he bothered to come down the mountain at all.

The door to the studio stood open. Mathias entered without knocking and found Ronan staring at a to-scale drawing on the side of the wall. It showed his latest installation—the swan to dragon morphing.

His brother didn’t react to seeing him beyond a noncommittal “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself.” Mathias kept a firm hold on Sophie. “Carol needs money to buy Millie a herd of giraffes.”

“I know.”

“She needs nearly half a million dollars. It’s going to take too long. Donate something so Atsuko can have a gallery event and sell it.”

“Sure.” He nodded toward the storage room in the back. “Take something or have Carol pick a piece herself. Take ten. I don’t care.”

There had been a time when Mathias had known everything his brother was thinking. Back then he would have known what was behind the offer. Was it done out of concern for Millie or lack of interest in continuing the conversation? He no longer knew. Ronan had become a stranger.

“Okay, then. I’ll have her call before she stops by.”

“Good. Anything else?”

There were a thousand things they had to talk about. Whatever Ceallach had said or done, they were still family. Still brothers. Shouldn’t they have been able to stay close?

Mathias already knew the answer to that question. Every time he reached out to his brother, Ronan drew back just a little further. Eventually Mathias had stopped trying, afraid his brother would disappear altogether.

Mathias jerked his head at the sketch on the wall. “Let me know if you need any help with that.” Because when it came to glass blowing, a second set of hands was always welcome and often needed and Ronan’s interns only worked part-time.

“I will.”

Mathias waited but there didn’t seem to be anything else left to say.

“Thanks,” he muttered, then walked out of the studio and back to his car.

Sophie trotted at his side, her expression questioning as if she wanted to know why they’d come all this way only to leave so quickly. He didn’t have an answer for her or for himself, but at least the Millie problem had been solved.

*

CAROL GLANCED AT the suitcase and three tote bags her sister had brought over. “More proof the dinner went really well,” she teased. “You’re really going to stay here? Not that the room isn’t lovely.”

Violet rolled her eyes. “He can’t stay at my place—it’s upstairs, which he can’t currently climb. Here, there’s an elevator. Besides, I’m taking care of a sick person. You have to respect that.”

“I’d respect it more if he weren’t good-looking.” She looked around at the oddly decorated room. Wallpaper depicted some kind of mountain range in the distance with way too many wildflowers in the foreground. The bed was four-poster, the furniture on the rustic side. She’d caught a glimpse of the bathroom and it had appeared totally normal. “Okay, I don’t get it. What’s the theme?”

“Heidi.”

Carol frowned, processing the name. “You mean the book?”

“That’s the one. This is supposed to be a mountain chalet.”

“I wouldn’t have guessed that.”

“It’s not what I would have picked,” Violet admitted as she looked through the totes. “But it’s adjoining Ulrich’s room, which makes my life easier.”

“I never saw you as the private nurse type. Are you getting a uniform? Maybe one with a short skirt?”

“The man is injured.”

“All the easier to seduce him.”

“I’m ignoring you,” Violet told her.

“Ignoring the truth doesn’t make it go away.”

Her sister laughed as Carol had known she would. As for taking care of Ulrich, that didn’t surprise Carol, either. Violet was a good person with a big heart. No matter what she thought of Ulrich—he was alone and injured—she would be there for him. The sexy accent was only a bonus.

“You spoke to his grandmother?”

“Three times. She wants regular reports. He should be able to travel in a week or so.”