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Instead of baiting the old woman further, I walked over to the antique armoire Octo-Cat and Paisley were patiently sitting by. I pulled on the door, and it swung open to reveal…nothing but an empty armoire.

“Behind it,” Octo-Cat whispered.

“Oops,” I said, closing the door. “Charles, could you help me here and move the armoire over a bit?”

Nodding his agreement, he got low on the furniture piece and slid it across the floor, revealing a large hole in the wall with a fat, orange cat asleep on a pile of valuables like a flugly—that’s fluffy and ugly—dragon. Near the top of the horde sat my ring, shimmering in all its matrimonial magnificence.

“It looks like your cat has been taking things from your guests and stashing them here,” I said, triumphantly plucking my ring from the pile and allowing Charles to slide it back onto my finger where it belonged.

The old lady’s skin went pale, and she stammered a bit before finding her voice. “I’m so sorry. To the both of you. I had no idea Louis was using his nap spot for something so… so… That’s a bad kitty!” She scooped the pile out of the nook, jostling the cat from his place.

“I’m so sorry,” she said again. “I honestly thought that my guests were lying and trying to sink my business. A developer had offered to buy the place a year ago, and I thought because I’d turned him down, he was trying to run me out of business. I guess that’ll teach me to get too involved in my stories. Oh, I owe so many people apologies, and I’ve got to make sure all of these things get back to their rightful owners. Thank you so much for helping me out, and after I was so rude to you.”

“So can we be friends now?” I asked.

Her face soured.“I still don’t approve of your shenanigans. And also your beau scratched my floor when he moved that armoire. Expect the repairs to be added on to your bill.”

My jaw dropped. From sour to sweet and back again almost instantaneously. I swear, there was no winning with some people.

“I still don’t care for you much, but since you managed to help me, I’ll let you stay until check-out tomorrow morning,” she said reluctantly. “But I don’t want you two back here until you’re well and properly married. I run a wholesome business here. Now go, get out of here, before Ichange my mind.”

Charles and I rushed away, laughing the whole time.

Millicent didn’t know the first thing about us or our relationship, but she believed what she wanted to—and we had nothing to prove.

Now that I had my ring back, I counted this weekend a perfect success.

20

I always loved getting away, but even more than that, I loved coming back home. My life rocked, now more than ever.

I was surprised to find Nan waiting up for me even though it was quite late.“How was your trip, dear?” she asked, stretching her arms overhead and standing to greet me.

“Did you get my message?” I asked, scooping her up in a hug.

“Yes, all seventeen of them. I’m sorry I didn’t return any of them. This felt like a conversation we should have face to face.”

Hmm, now where had I heard that before. Sharon. I’d need to call and give her an update since we were unable to meet up before Charles and I headed home again. I had a feeling we’d both be seeing a lot of her in our future, starting with our upcoming nuptials.

“Shall I put on some tea?” Nan offered, hooking her thumb toward the kitchen.

“No,” I said, gently lowering myself onto the couch and patting the cushion beside me. If I gave Nan an excuse to put this off, she’d keep finding more and more reasons to put it off further. If we were going to have this talk, we needed to have it now.

I reached forward and grabbed both of her hands in mine, waiting for Nan to share what was on her mind.

“I’m sorry I kept you away from your grandmother all these years. It’s the one thing in my life I truly regret,” she said with a sigh.

I shook my head emphatically.“I don’t.”

She lifted her eyes to mine, searching.“What?”

“I don’t regret you doing that, and neither should you.”

Nan swallowed.“Was she really that terrible?”

“No, she was actually pretty cool.” I smiled, remembering the moments we’d shared that weekend.

And Nan’s expression pinched.

“But I’m glad I grew up with you,” I quickly added. “Marilyn is nice, and I look forward to getting to know her much better, but you’ve helped shape my life into what it is today. And I love my life. I love you. I wouldn’t have wanted anything different.”

“Really?” Nan looked so frail in that moment. For the first time in a long time, I really saw her age. She’d lived through a lot and carried one very big secret for most of her life. How did she feel now that it had been exposed and that everyone still loved her just as much as before?

“Really, really,” I said in a silly voice.

She laughed at my reference to an old movie we’d watched together countless times in my childhood.

“Will you believe me this time?”

Nan wiped away a tear, then grabbed my hands again and gave them a good squeeze.“I’ll try.”