A Family Affair: Summer: Truth in Lies, Book 3 by Mary Campisi Page B

someone listen when you’re trying to work out a problem.”
    What did he mean by that? Was he talking about Tess? What problem? They didn’t have a problem . Did they? She was in town to visit her mother and he was here recuperating. End of story. The tragic tale that had consumed their lives was over, and neither one of them had a desire to rework the past.
    Did they?
    When Cash didn’t respond to the “trying to work out a problem” comment, Will went on, “This house has been occupying most of my life for the past several months. After I lost Julia, I had to find a way to fill my days.”
    “ I’m sorry about your wife. She was a nice lady.”
    “Yes.” Will’s voice dipped. “She was.”
    Cash scratched his jaw and decided to do a little information scavenging of his own. “Ramona said you’ve been spending a lot of time at Olivia Carrick’s.” When his aunt mentioned that, she’d given him the raised eyebrow that said there was a whole lot more to that story, if a person were so inclined to do a little digging.
    “Your aunt should have been a judge or a spy, not sure which she’s more suited to, but I’m thinking she’d like the judge part better.”
    Cash slid a glance in Will’s direction, kept his voice even. “She was merely commenting.”
    Will laughed. “Your aunt doesn’t comment on anything for the sake of commenting.”
    “Okay, so what’s up with you and Olivia?”
    “We’re friends. I did some painting for her, oiled a few doors, fixed an electrical outlet. Basic stuff.” He paused. “My brother never was much of a handyman.”
    They turned off the main road and headed down the long driveway of Will’s homestead. He’d named it Blue Moon, and Cash had loved it from the first time he saw it. Will’s family had owned the place and when Will returned from the war, he’d married Julia Artemis and together they fixed up the place and got ready for the kids that never came. Two days before their second wedding anniversary, Julia learned she had multiple sclerosis. That’s when she’d formed The Bleeding Hearts Society, and while the main requirement for this invitation-only club was a love of perennials, most people shared something else: heartache.
    “Would you like to see the house?”
    Cash nodded. “Absolutely.”
    It almost felt like the old days when they rode in the squad car together. But this wasn’t the old days and they weren’t cops anymore—at least, not officially. That was another story, one that Cash wasn’t ready or able to deal with right now. Will eased the truck past the sprawling house and barn and drove a half-mile further back to an opening that held a two-story log cabin with a front porch.
    Cash stared at the log cabin , thinking it sure looked a helluva lot like the one he and Tess designed for their dream house, the one he’d pictured in his head for the last eight years. And now, here it was, a living, breathing reminder of what he’d lost.
    “Your aunt found the plans,” Will said in a soft, knowing voice. “She gave them to me a while back, but I just kind of hung onto them. When Julia died, I needed a way to fill my days, so I started working on them, but it wasn’t until we heard about your accident that I became hell-bent on it.”
    The pitched roof. The front porch . The skylights. It was exactly as they’d envisioned it. Cash cleared his throat and asked, “What are you going to do with it?” It was almost too painful to look at. He’d dreamed of the memories they would make in this house, the children they would have, the love they would share…
    “Give it to you.”
    Cash tore his gaze from the house and stared at Will. “Me? Why?”
    “You’re the son I never had. I always planned to offer you the land when you and—” he caught himself , corrected, “—when the time came to build. And I would have helped you build it, so I just gave you a jump start. There’ll be plenty more to add: a barn, a garage, a workshop. Why