Finding Forgiveness: A Bluebird Bay Novel Read online

  Finding Forgiveness

  Christine Gael

  Denise Grover Swank

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Also By Christine Gael

  Also by Denise Grover Swank

  1

  Max

  Ding.

  Max winced as her paintbrush slipped and a streak of red appeared below the line of blue painter’s tape she’d been painting above. She shot a quick glance toward her brother, who was busy repairing a damaged shelf, before rubbing the streak off the dry surface with a dirty rag.

  Crisis averted.

  She looked down at her phone and found herself grinning as Ian’s name flashed across the screen.

  Hey, just wanted to check in and see how things were going at the boat. I’ll be home around seven, so we could go out for dinner, unless you’re eating with Gabe?

  She typed out a quick response.

  Things are going great here. I’ll be home before seven. See you tonight! Love you.

  She rolled her eyes at herself, thinking of how things had changed in just a few months. Ian Thackery had come into town as a wealthy businessman looking to purchase her bookstore, as well as the shops around it, so he could fulfill his own dreams of building a complex of custom escape rooms. She could hardly imagine what the Max from back then would say if she saw her now. It was beginning to feel like the man who’d started off as her mortal enemy, might actually be the love of her life. He’d been a great support through her grandfather’s death, and always had her back. He was funny and smart and kind… he was beginning to become part of the family.

  Footsteps from behind interrupted her thoughts and she spun to see her older brother, Gabe, screwdriver in hand, approaching.

  “Looks pretty good, even for you, Squirt. We’ll be finished here in no time,” he said, surveying her work with a grin.

  Gabe’s boat was beautiful but a recent boom in the whale-watching and fishing tour business had caused a good bit of wear and tear. He’d never been great at the more detail-oriented jobs so she’d offered to have her clerk watch the bookstore for half of the day and come do some painting for him. They’d spent most of the morning on the deck and had only recently moved to the interior.

  “Yup, just a few more things to do and we should be all set. Which is good, because that will give me time to do some stuff at the bookstore and then stop by Mom’s for a glass of wine before Ian and I go to dinner.”

  “Stick around for a bite to eat, at least. Sasha texted a bit ago and said she had a bit of time before work and would drop off lunch for us.”

  “Great,” Max said with a smile, inhaling the ocean breeze. No matter how many times she visited, the marina would always be special to her. She and Gabe had spent many days out on the water as kids fishing with Pop, and the tradition had continued with Gabe. “You’ll have to take me out sometime soon.” Though she hadn’t gone out on the water since Pop’s death, today’s visit made her eager to do so again.

  Gabe nodded, grinning. “Sure. Any time you want, assuming I’m not booked.”

  “It’ll be difficult, then,” Max said, picking her paintbrush back up with a chuckle. Gabe had been taking people out on the water nearly every day, as of late.

  He stepped away, moving back to the shelf, and she could hear the sound of him screwing another shelf in shortly after, barely audible over the whooshing of the waves. Something about work like this was so satisfying. She made a mental note to tackle all the odds and ends that still needed doing in her apartment, soon.

  She nodded with satisfaction as she finished painting a few minutes later, stepping back to admire her handiwork.

  “Is the next shelf ready for paint?” she asked.

  “Yeah but let’s wash up,” he said, glancing down at his phone. “Sasha said she’d be here any minute.”

  As if on cue, the boat began to rock and footsteps sounded from the deck. “Babe?” Sasha called, pulling the door open.

  “Hey,” Gabe said. Sasha stepped forward and slid her arms around him as he pulled her in for a stiff hug. She craned her neck upward for a kiss and he obliged, but stepped back quickly.

  Max shot a glance at her brother, then his wife, and back again.

  What the hell was going on between these two? Surely, the honeymoon wasn’t over already. They’d only been married a few months…

  Probably just a lover’s spat. Everyone had them. And besides, poor Sasha’s hormones were probably all over the place lately. Max had to imagine that growing a human took a lot out of a girl.

  Sasha’s brow furrowed as she pulled away from Gabe, but her lips tipped into a smile when she saw Max.

  “Hey, there, Max.”

  Hoping to offset the tension, Max stepped forward and pulled her sister-in-law in for a hug of her own…one she hoped was warmer than her brother’s had been. Though she’d had some hang-ups about Sasha after she’d broken off the engagement with Gabe the year before, her opinion of the woman had improved significantly since then. She was thinking that someday the two of them might actually become friends.

  Besides? How was she going to fill Aunt Anna’s shoes as the cool aunt if she didn’t at least make an effort to get along with her little niece or nephew’s mother?

  “How are you feeling, sister-in-law?” Max said, pulling away and gesturing to the softly rounded bump of Sasha’s belly. “How’s my little buddy doing in there?”

  “As good as can be expected,” Sasha replied, shrugging. “Still got a ways to go, so right now just tired and emotional some days. I’ll take it over the back pain and swollen feet part that’s sure to come soon, though.” She placed a small plastic bag on the wooden table at the center of the room and pulled two aluminum foil-wrapped sandwiches out. “I wish I could stay and eat with you but I’m due at work.”

  Max frowned. “That stinks. Thanks for the lunch, though. You didn’t need to go through all that trouble.”

  Gabe was notably silent.

  Sasha just shrugged. “No trouble at all, I pass right by the marina on my way to the office.” Turning to Gabe, she continued, “Well, I guess I’ll head out. Will you be home for dinner? I was thinking of making that chicken with the lemon butter sauce and capers you like so much…”

  Gabe shook his head. “Not sure, but you don’t have to make me anything. I’ll just heat up a can of soup or something when I get home.”

  Sasha nodded, the hope in her eyes dying in a way that made Max want to wince in sympathy.

  “Well, I guess I’ll see you whenever you get home. Love you.”

  “You too,” he replied, walking his wife as far as the door and giving her a kiss on the cheek goodbye. He wasn’t exactly cold but there was nothing romantic about the gesture, either, like he was kissing their Great Aunt Mildred instead of his wife.

  Weirder and weirder.

  Max waved a quick goodbye, trying her best not to let her curiosity get the best of her as Sasha left the boat. It was none of her business, aft
er all. She cast her memory back to the last time they’d all been together a couple weeks ago and realized that things had been a little off between them then, as well, now that she considered it. If Gabe had been quiet today, she might have just assumed he was having a rough one with Pop’s recent passing, but he’d been in a great mood…

  Until Sasha showed up.

  “Let’s eat,” Gabe said with a tight smile as he tore into the foil that’d been wrapped around one of the sandwiches.

  Max nodded and grabbed the other sandwich, the scent of roasted vegetables and cheese filling the air as she unwrapped the steaming hot package. Her mouth watered as she saw the crusty portion of French bread filled with a seasoned medley of eggplant, zucchini, squash, and mushrooms. Topping it off was a generous helping of gooey gruyere cheese.

  “Wow, this looks awesome!” She took a big bite and let out a soft groan of delight as the savory flavors hit her palate. “Where did she get these?” Max demanded, going in for a second bite.

  “She made them,” Gabe replied, not looking up from his food. “She’s always trying out new recipes.”

  “She really outdid herself,” she remarked. The bread had been toasted to perfection to prevent it from being soggy and then coated with rich olive oil, and the seasoning was perfect. She shot Gabe a glance and realized nearly half of his sandwich was already gone.

  “So good,” he admitted, wiping a bit of liquid off of his chin before tearing off another piece.

  “It is good, but are you even chewing? You don’t want to gain that baby weight…Sasha is the one eating for two,” she teased.

  His expression darkened. “I’m sure I’ll be fine,” he muttered.

  Max set her sandwich back on the aluminum foil, shaking her head. “Okay, that’s it. You went from joking and laughing with me, and singing along to the radio all morning to acting like an injured bear. You need to tell me what’s going on. You treated Sasha like she was some acquaintance or distant relative or something while she was here, and now you’re getting pissy with me over a little teasing? We joke around all the time. Something’s wrong with you, and I want to know what the hell it is.”

  “I’m fine,” he said, turning back around with a guilty look on his face. “But I’m sorry for snapping at you.”

  Max shook her head, determined, now. “You’re lying. Business is booming, you’re freshly married, and you have a kid on the way. It should be the happiest time in your life, so what gives? It’s been more than just today. You and Sasha have seemed distant the past few times I’ve seen you together…ever since the funeral.”

  Gabe stared at his sister for a long moment before answering. “I…” He paused and raked a hand through his dark hair. “Fine. Remember when I told you Sasha was pregnant?”

  Max nodded, a surge of fear running through her.

  Gabe set his sandwich on the table next to Max’s, meeting her gaze.

  “We lied…when we said we were waiting to tell the family until she was further along. Sasha knew she was pregnant before we got married, but she waited to tell me until after the wedding. I barely found out before the rest of you.”

  She felt her jaw drop. “What? But, why?”

  “I don’t know, Max. She said she was afraid I wouldn’t want to marry her or something.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Max said, still trying to process what her brother had told her.

  “That’s what I said. But we had talked about waiting to have kids until our finances were in better shape and she was done with school. For some reason, she thought it was set in stone. I just…I’m having a hard time forgiving all the deceit. She had so many chances to tell me. She pretended to drink champagne on our wedding night. And then she got sick on the boat and lied about why. I was so worried something was wrong--” He broke off, his jaw working as he stared at the wall behind her. “It’s just going to take some time for me to work through it, that’s all.”

  Some time? He was a better person than she was, then. How could he ever trust her again after she’d spent week after week deceiving him?

  “And this is not, like, a deal-breaker for you?” Max asked, doing her best to keep her emotions in check. Apparently, her feelings about Sasha had been right from the start and her anger at the pain the other woman had caused her brother was burning hot. “How can you even forgive someone for something like that? How can you believe anything they say?”

  “Slowly,” he said with a shrug. “I do love her, Max, and I want to work through it. Of course I would’ve gone through with the marriage even if I’d known, so…I don’t know. I’m more sort of hurt.” He looked out the window, staring into the distance for a moment before continuing. “I don’t know, maybe I shouldn’t have even said anything. It feels like a betrayal.”

  “No,” she replied, shaking her head vigorously. “What she did was the betrayal. It’s not about whether or not you’d have married her anyway, it’s about trust, Gabe. She lied to you out of fear that you wouldn’t go through with the marriage. Not to mention, preventing you from making a decision of your own.” She felt a wave of fury as she looked back at her mostly-eaten sandwich.

  And to think she’d actually been starting to like the woman...

  He blew out a sigh and crossed his arms. “I know it was wrong of her, Max, but I made a commitment, and I want to try to get through this, if I can.”

  “Even if your marriage started with a lie?” Max whispered, her heart squeezing for her brother. He looked so damned sad.

  “Even if my marriage started with a lie,” he confirmed softly.

  Max opened her mouth to argue again, but thought better of it. It wasn’t her place to convince him, and he had a baby to think about. Tons of couples had gone through way worse and come out happy.

  But she didn’t have to like it.

  “Anyway, I’m only telling you because I know you were worried. And so you don’t keep asking me about it,” he admitted with a wry half smile. “So now you know. Things are going to be weird between me and Sash for a while, and I’m not sure this is something I can get over, but I’m going to do my best. I need to be a force of stability for our relationship, like an anchor, through this tough time. For Sasha, as well as our child.”

  Max nodded solemnly, her anger replaced by sympathy and sadness as she eyed her brother. Because she couldn’t help but wonder if Sasha’s lie was the anchor…and if it might just drag them both down with it, instead.

  2

  Cee-cee

  “Here’s the last batch,” Stephanie said, setting a cooled tray of cupcakes on the table in front of Cee-cee. The scents of fresh cake filled the air, though the ovens had long since been shut off for the day.

  Cee-cee nodded without looking up, stifling a yawn as she tossed a finishing handful of sprinkles onto the vanilla bean cupcakes she’d been working on.

  Her sister had started helping out at the shop a few weeks back, and it seemed to be going well so far. Things had been tough for them all since Pop’s death, and while Steph had managed to keep herself from going back to the anxiety medication she’d been taking, every day was a battle. Cee-cee had taken it on herself to be a steadying hand for her sister, especially during the hours that Steph’s boyfriend, Ethan, was busy with work. Todd, Steph’s older son, had also stepped up to the plate by taking over the majority of Stephanie’s duties at her veterinary clinic.

  “I think it’s about time for you to pay the cupcake tax,” Stephanie said, a ghost of a smile appearing on her lips. Though she’d flatly refused to take any money in exchange for her work, she’d taken to eating a cupcake or two each day while helping out.

  Cee-cee chuckled. “Maybe I’ll join you,” she said, pointing to a platter of finished cupcakes on the other side of the large table, “but we’ll have to take them from the extras over there.”

  The rest were earmarked for a big order that was supposed to be picked up around closing time.

  She put down her piping bag and took a few ste
ps over to get a better look at her creations. Six dozen—if Cee-cee did say so herself—beautifully decorated cupcakes sat in front of them.

  There were dainty ones of vanilla or lemon cake topped with vanilla buttercream dyed a light pink, others with apple pie filling and a lightly-sweetened cinnamon and apple butter icing, and others for children with multicolored cake and cotton candy frosting bedazzled with edible glitter.

  For Cee-cee, however, the choice was obvious. She reached down to grab the chocolate cupcake topped with a luxurious dark chocolate ganache finished with a sprinkle of chocolate-covered espresso beans. Stephanie grabbed one of the apple pie ones and they took their first bite nearly in unison.

  It was good, she thought with satisfaction. Rich, gooey, bittersweet and crunchy…a perfect blend.

  “We’re pretty good at this,” she mumbled around her bite.

  Stephanie did a little wiggle of delight and nodded as she chewed. “So good.”

  Moments like this reminded Cee-cee of why she’d started this business in the first place. While she liked having a creative outlet, as well, food brought moments of joy. Nothing was better than being able to share that kind of joy with others. Especially people she loved.

  “Delicious,” her sister said, holding it closer to her face and inspecting the cake. “Where’d you get the idea for the apple butter icing? You started selling them just a few days ago, right?”

  “I always like doing apple because it’s something seasonal that I can source locally,” Cee-cee replied, shooting her sister a bittersweet smile as she continued, “and Pop always loved when Mom made scones with the apple butter she bought from Otto’s farm. It seemed like a fitting choice.”