Heart of Stone

“I’m not playing, Tara.” The look in his eyes washed over her like a warm, shimmering ocean wave, leaving her both languid and alert. “Have dinner with me.”

“Absolutely not.”

“I won’t take no for an answer.”

“Oh, yes, you will. Because it’s not going to happen.”

“Tara, what’s going on with you and Stone?” Ana asked Tara later that night. “He’s called here three times.” Before Tara could reply, Ana clapped her hands together. “Did you take me up on my suggestion? Is that it? Are you going out with Stone, like on a date?”

“Oh, please!”

Tara sat across the massive kitchen counter of the tea room, folding napkins for tomorrow’s after-church brunch crowd. The girls and her parents were down on the beach with Rock and Cal, leaving the two sisters alone in the big Victorian house that served both as Ana’s tea room and art gallery on the bottom floor and Ana and Rock” s home on the second and third floors. Business had been so good at the quaint restaurant, Rock and Ana hadn’t really had a proper honeymoon—just one weekend together alone in this big old house. But Ana didn’t seem to mind. She was happy. Too happy to understand this problem with Rock’s brother.

Which was why Tara had debated telling Ana about Stone. Now she didn’t have any choice. He’d called here, asking for Tara. Luckily, Rock hadn’t answered.

“Oh, please, what?” Ana said, her hands on her hips before she went back to her bread dough. “Tell me, Tara. I mean, you two must have really clicked at the wedding, so why are you holding out on me?”

“It’s business,” she said finally. “Stone is trying to buy my land.”

Ana stopped stirring bread dough, her mouth dropping open. “That land near Savannah that Chad bought all those years ago?”

“Yes.” Tara nodded, folded another napkin, then stopped, looking down at the counter. “He wants to develop it into an upscale gated residential community, complete with shopping centers and restaurants near the river.”

Ana dropped her spoon to stare at her sister. “That could mean a lot of money, right?”

Tara nodded again. “He’s offering me a lot, yes, but not as much as I’d hoped to get.”

“And when did all of this come about? Certainly not at the wedding?”

Tara kept her eyes down. “No, we just met at the wedding. Look, it’s a long story—”

A knock on the back door stopped Tara in midsentence. “You’ve got some explaining to do,” Ana said underneath her breath before she opened the door.

Eloise Dempsey whirled in, carrying a yellow-colored sealed folder in her hand, her gaze hitting on Tara. “Oh, good, you’re here. I’m supposed to deliver this to you.”

“What is it?” Tara asked, surprised to find the famous sculpture artist playing postmistress.

Eloise gave her a wry smile, then shook her head, her feathered dreamcatcher earrings shimmering and shimmying as she moved around the long counter to give Ana a quick peck on the cheek. “Well, it’s the strangest thing,” Eloise said, her eyes back on Tara. “My son Stone came to pay me a rare visit this evening. We had a nice dinner and then he said he needed me to do him a favor.”

Tara’s heart picked up tempo, while her sister picked up an obvious interest in the conversation. “What else did he say?” Tara asked, her eyes locking with Ana’s.

“He said to tell you, actually to tell all of us, we’re invited to a private dinner party next month, at his home here on the island—Hidden Hill.”

“What type of dinner party?” Ana asked before Tara could say a word. “I mean, that old mansion isn’t in any kind of shape for a party.”

“Oh, a black-tie benefit for the lighthouse.” Eloise clapped her hands together. “He implied it was by invitation only. And I think he’s going to hold it in the garden, in spite of how bad the place looks. I believe we’ll all receive our formal invitation in about a week or so.”

Ana smirked, then rolled her eyes. “So Stone couldn’t come down to the fair we held last month, to mingle with the little people?”

“I guess not,” Eloise said. “But he wants to do his part—make a contribution toward the restoration.”

“Of course he does,” Ana said, making a face to Tara behind Eloise’s back. Then, as if she regretted being so cynical, she added, “That is good news, Eloise.”

Eloise nodded. “Yes, and I’m so glad I was invited. And you and Rock, too, of course, Ana. Stone was very evasive about the whole thing. An exclusive crowd, I suppose.”

“You think?” Ana asked, shaking her head.

“I think,” Eloise replied, calm as always, “that our Stone has come home, at last. I think his brother’s wedding made him realize that he needs to settle down. I also think he needs our understanding and forgiveness.”

“You’re right, of course,” Ana said. “And I’m sorry if I sounded a tad suspicious. I mean, I’m the one who’s been encouraging Rock to try for a better relationship with his brother, so I shouldn’t be doubtful.”

Eloise smiled softly. “Stone hasn’t given us very much reason to think otherwise. Until now.”

“Yes,” Tara agreed, her eyes on the fat envelope laying on the counter. “But what’s that got to do with me? And what’s in this envelope?”

“I don’t know, dear,” Eloise said, her keen gaze centered on Tara. “Why don’t you open it and find out?”

Chapter Four

T ara eyed the envelope as if it were a snake.

“Open it,” Ana said, her curiosity obvious in the wide-eyed look she gave her sister.

Tara reached for the envelope, turned it over. “I don’t understand what this could be. And why Stone would have you deliver it.”

Eloise shot Ana a quizzical look that Tara couldn’t miss. “Stone and I had a good talk at the wedding the other day,” Eloise said. “He promised he was going to come around more. Then, tonight he told me he was going to stay here on the island for a few weeks. He’s renovating that old mansion, so he wants to be close to the work. He’s a details man, my Stone. Other than learning he’s going to be here a while, I’m stunned and clueless.”

“So is this one of those details?” Tara asked, wondering just how much Stone really had told his mother about her. And wondering what Eloise wasn’t telling her.

“I don’t know,” Eloise said with an eloquent shrug. “I only know that my second son seems fascinated by you, dear.”

Ana cleared her throat and began briskly kneading her bread dough. “Maybe it’s about the land, Tara.”

Rock came into the kitchen right as the words left Ana’s mouth. “What land?” Glancing down at the bright envelope, he saw the label from Stone Enterprises, then asked, “What’s that?”

“Hello, Rock,” Eloise said as he leaned down to absently kiss her cheek. “I just delivered this to Tara, from your brother, Stone. He’s staying at Hidden Hill for a while.”

Tara winced. She didn’t want to bring Rock into this. His relationship with his brother wasn’t the best on a good day. “It’s business,” she said, her smile weak and shaky.

“What kind of business do you have with my brother?” Rock asked, his expression wary.

“She was just about to explain that to me when Eloise brought this in,” Ana said, pointing to the package.

Tara felt the scrutiny of everyone in the room. Taking a deep breath, she said, “I guess I’d better tell all of you everything, from the beginning.”

Rock sank down on a bar stool. “That might be wise.”

Tara touched a finger to the package. “I put some land on the market a few months ago—the land Chad left me in the will.”