A Town Called Valentine(37)

She looked up at him in surprise. “Why, Nate, how sensitive of you.”

“Just too lazy to throw anything more away.” He folded his arms across his chest and frowned. “I think it was Grandma’s idea.”

Though she doubted that, she didn’t dispute him, seeing how uncomfortable he was. It was hard to hide a smile, but she made the effort. “What’s inside?”

“Go ahead and look.”

She slowly unfolded each tab of the box, reminding herself that she wasn’t worried about the past, that her grandmother was just too sensitive where Delilah was concerned. But would she find something here that would change how she thought about everything? And did she want to discover it in front of Nate?

But the box was open, and she let herself explore like it was Christmas morning. There was a jewelry box with several pieces of costume jewelry that might make a cool vintage statement in San Francisco. Her feelings of Christmas became even stronger as she found some homemade tree ornaments that made her gasp with delight. An empty carved wooden box must have meant the craftsman had been close to her grandmother.

And then she found more modern items, childhood toys from the sixties, several of which had images of the moon, which she knew had always captivated her mother. Even when in a hurry, if they stepped outside under a full moon, Delilah would raise her face to it for a moment’s peace. She never preached to Emily about the things she believed in, another private part of herself that she kept distant. Emily never knew if Delilah didn’t want to be ridiculed or didn’t care enough to teach her daughter.

She shook off her memories and went back to the box, finding high-school yearbooks from the early eighties, and even the fifties, a legacy of her grandparents to add to the few other mementoes she had of theirs. Lastly, there were clothbound books that might be diaries. Her mother’s diaries? she wondered, feeling both intrigued and dismayed. Did she want to be sucked into her mother’s life again, to learn secrets that might hurt her even more? Although what could hurt her more than hearing that her father had been a lie? Had the poor man even known?

“You don’t look happy,” Nate said quietly.

Startled, she glanced up, having almost forgotten he was there. He was watching her too closely, as if he could read her thoughts.

She forced a smile. “I was just remembering my mother. We didn’t get along well.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

She cocked her head as she watched him. “I hope you don’t understand what that’s like.”

“I don’t,” he answered simply. “My mother helped my father raise us even when she suffered her worst attacks of MS.”

“She sounds wonderful and brave. I’ll have to meet her sometime.”

To her surprise, he didn’t respond, even out of politeness. Protective, was he?

He gestured to the box. “Well, good night then. Hope you find something in there you’re looking for.”

She wished him the same and briefly watched him walk into the kitchen. She was staring at the box again when the back door opened and closed. The box couldn’t contain anything she was looking for because she wanted the future, not the past. She folded it shut.

The next morning at dawn, Nate was working side by side with Josh in the horse barn, raking dirty straw and loading it in the back of a flatbed. The barn was still cold before the spring day could warm it, and the horses occasionally neighed to one another, or butted Nate’s arm when he passed. Scout moved in and out of the stalls, yipping at the horses as if greeting old friends.

“So have you been to Outlaws recently?” Nate asked. “It’s been a long time since you offered to be my wingman.”

Josh laughed, for neither brother ever needed help approaching a woman. Nate tended to be more open and sociable, filling time with words instead of having to answer questions, while Josh let the soulful-cowboy thing work for him.

Josh stepped out of an empty stall and regarded him with interest. “Funny you should mention that. I was at Outlaws, and saw Brooke and Monica with that new woman everyone’s talkin’ about.”

Pretending nonchalance, Nate looked at the time on his phone, then put in his earpiece. The calls would begin soon. He realized Josh was still watching him. “Brooke didn’t mention seeing you.”

“I didn’t want to be noticed by my sister,” Josh said dryly.

Nate chuckled.

He leaned on the end of his rake. “Nice dodge, big brother.”