Twilight at Blueberry Barrens (Sunset Cove #3)(26)

After checking the door locks one more time, she shut off the lights and went to her bedroom. When she pulled open the dresser drawer to retrieve a nightgown, her breath caught in her throat and her hand froze over the drawer.

Instead of the jumble of colors and patterns, every item was neatly folded in organized piles. She put her hand to her throat and her pulse jumped beneath her fingers. Uncle Paul wouldn’t have done this. He was as messy as a rat in a new nest.

She shuddered and whirled to draw her curtains. Who had been in here? She grabbed her phone and called her sister to tell her she was coming over. The sheriff could figure this out.





THIRTEEN


Claire pressed her hand against the butterflies dancing in her stomach as she stared at herself in the mirror. The wedding gown was a mermaid style and accentuated her curves. She didn’t even recognize herself. She turned to face her sister. “No other incidents at the house?”

Kate was wearing a deep aquamarine-blue gown in the same style. Her blue eyes looked enormous with her hair swept up. “Nothing, but I jump at every sound. The sheriff didn’t find any clues, and I’m back to wondering if it was Uncle Paul. Rearranging the clothes in my drawers sounds weird, but he’s been in prison. Maybe he was looking for something and straightened them without thinking. I wonder if Becky told him I wanted to see him. Maybe he hung around for a while, then got tired of waiting. It would make sense with some of the pizza being gone.”

Claire’s grandmother stirred from the armchair and beckoned to her. “Come here, my dear girl. I have something for you.”

Claire went to take her grandmother’s hand. “I’m not sure I can bend in this dress, Grandma.”

Her grandmother’s health had waned this past year. Age had deepened the lines around her eyes, and the constant pain she was in from arthritis made her dark eyes look sunken. Claire felt a momentary stab of panic. The thought of ever losing her grandmother was a knife to the heart.

“I can get up.” Her grandmother gripped the arms of the chair and struggled to her feet. “Turn around.”

Claire obeyed and her grandmother’s cool fingers touched her neck as she fastened a necklace around it. Claire touched the beads. “Your pearl necklace!”

“It was a gift from your grandpa on our wedding day, and we both thought you should have it today. May you enjoy as many happy years of married life as we have.”

Claire turned and bent down to embrace her grandmother’s short frame. “Thank you, Grandma. I’ll treasure it.”

“I know you will.” Her grandmother reached behind her and practically fell back into the chair.

Claire faced the mirror. The pearls finished the dress. In the distance she heard the thrum of music in the yard. This was really and truly happening. She was about to marry the man she loved and start a new life with him. The enormous blessing of it all tightened her throat.

She turned at a tap on the door. Her mother stepped inside. Her pale-blue suit was a perfect foil for her short blonde hair, and she looked almost young enough to be Claire’s older sister. “You look beautiful, Claire.”

Her gaze landed on Kate and her smile faltered. Claire had tried hard to blend her family since she’d found her twin, but her mother never seemed to let go of her stiffness. She made an attempt though with a smile that didn’t reach her green eyes. “You look lovely, Kate.”

Kate’s fake smile matched the older woman’s. “Thank you, Mrs. Dellamare.”

Claire’s mother pressed her lips together. “I still wish your father could have gotten out of prison to give you away.”

He was the last person Claire wanted to walk her down the aisle. “Grandpa is a great substitute.”

Her mother inclined her head. “I’m glad you think so.”

“You and Dad are talking?”

“A little.” Her mother stepped forward and adjusted the veil. “I think we’d better get outside. The guests are waiting, and so is Luke.”

Luke. The man who had swept into her life on the cusp of a wave and had changed it forever. And after today she wouldn’t be a Dellamare any longer.

The door opened again and Luke’s sister, Megan, poked her head in the doorway. Her brown eyes danced with merriment. “It’s time. Luke is pacing the grass like he’s going to make a run for it any minute. You’d better get out there and stop him.” Her short, dark hair was in a cute, spiky hairdo.

“I have rope right here.” Claire picked up her bouquet and went to join her soon-to-be new sister. “I’m so glad you were able to get time off for the wedding.” Megan lived in Oregon and studied viruses and mutations.

“I’d have quit my job before I missed this.” Megan opened the door wide and stepped out of the way. “Come on, Claire, your grandpa is waiting to walk you down to the arbor. And let me help you out, Mrs. Dellamare.” She went to assist Claire’s grandmother out of her chair.

They’d opted for a small wedding with just a maid of honor and a best man. Claire stepped out the back door to grasp her grandfather’s arm. In spite of his age, he looked pretty good in a tux. The music wafted on the wind and she leaned into her grandfather’s embrace as her grandmother, Megan, and Kate went down the steps. Her heart was nearly pounding out of her sequined bodice as the strains of the “Wedding March” grew louder.