The Lakeside Inn, Leeanna Morgan [rosie project TXT] 📗

it looks.” Picking up the heart, she lifted it to her mouth.

“You’re eating it now?”

“Of course, I am,” she said with a grin. “Mom’s not here to tell me it’s too early. And besides, I need all the energy I can get. Someone woke me up when everyone else is sleeping.”

A heavy knock sounded on the front door.

Barbara frowned and looked at her watch. “It’s only six-thirty. Who could it be?”

“Unless it’s Wyatt, I don’t know.” Penny made sure she was decent before walking onto the landing. Charlie was already barking and racing down the stairs ahead of her.

Diana stumbled to her bedroom door, her hair a tangled mass of curls. “Who’s at the door?”

“We’ve got no idea,” Barbara said as she hurried after Penny. “You might want to brush your hair. You look like the Wicked Witch of the West.”

Diana frowned and disappeared into her room.

Before Penny reached the ground floor, Diana was already coming downstairs. She’d thrown on a sweatshirt and pulled the curls off her face with a hair tie.

Penny peeked through the glass panel beside the door. “Katie?” Throwing open the door, she frowned at her youngest sister. “What are you doing here?”

She held out her arms. “I thought it would be obvious.”

When Barbara joined them, she stared at her sister in silence.

Katie stuck her hands on her hips and frowned. “It’s Penny’s birthday. You know; presents, a special family meal, and looking at photos we’d sooner forget.”

Diana scrambled past her sisters. “Katie,” she squealed. “It’s so good to see you!” She shooed Charlie away and threw her arms around her sister. “How did you get here at this time of the morning?”

“I flew into Kalispell last night, then hired a car to come here this morning. I wanted to surprise you.”

She’d certainly done that, Penny thought.

“It looks as though someone has already been enjoying their birthday.”

Penny looked at the chocolate heart she was still holding. The bite mark on one side made her smile. “I needed the sugar. Thanks for coming.”

Now that she was over the shock of seeing Katie, Penny studied her sister’s face. Even as her sister laughed and hugged Barbara, she looked pale and drawn, as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders. It must have something to do with finding a literary agent. For a long time, she’d tried to get her children’s books published. It was disheartening when she couldn’t even get beyond the first hurdle.

When Katie saw Penny looking at her, she frowned. “I’m okay, just tired.”

Diana pulled Katie toward the kitchen. “Come and have breakfast and tell us what you’ve been doing.”

Katie stopped in the middle of the dining room. “Good grief. Is this the same house?”

“We’ve done a little remodeling,” Barbara said proudly. “Do you like it?”

As she turned in a slow circle, Katie’s eyes widened. “It’s amazing. You took down the wall between the dining room and the study and you’ve painted the walls.” She looked above her at the modern pendant lights. “You’ve even replaced the light fixtures. It looks incredible.”

Charlie woofed in agreement and everyone smiled.

Katie knelt on the floor and gave their canine buddy a big hug. “I’ve missed you, boy. Did you help everyone with the painting?”

Penny smiled when Charlie made playful growling noises. It was as if he was telling Katie all about his adventures around the house.

Barbara patted his head. “Charlie was a good boy and only supervised. Although he got close to dragging his tail through some paint.”

“Your mommy wouldn’t have been impressed.”

Diana grinned. “Penny saved the day. She whisked him outside before too much damage was done. We’ve remodeled a lot more than this room. I’ll show you the rest later on.”

They continued through to the kitchen. While Barbara made everyone a drink, Penny put two slices of bread into the toaster, and Diana and Katie took their favorite breakfast cereals out of the cupboard.

Katie leaned against the counter. “Apart from Penny’s birthday, there’s another reason I’m here.”

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at their sister.

“I thought over what you said about Grandma and Granddad’s house and how important it was for it to stay in our family. So, I’ve decided to come home.”

Penny, Barbara, and Diana threw themselves at their sister, wrapping her in a huge family hug.

“I can’t believe you’re staying,” Barbara said.

Diana grinned. “I knew you wouldn’t let us down.”

“I’m sorry it took me so long to make up my mind.”

“You’re here now,” Penny said happily. “That’s all that matters.”

Charlie ran around the kitchen, excitedly woofing at everyone.

Stepping away from her sisters, Penny took a doggie treat out of a drawer. Like magic, Charlie sat on his bottom with his tongue hanging out and not a woof in sight.

“Good boy,” she whispered. Once Charlie was quiet, her sisters’ chatter returned to normal. As she buttered the toast, Penny looked over her shoulder at Katie. “Do Mom and Dad know you’re staying?”

“Not yet. I thought I’d go to this morning’s church service and surprise them.”

“That’s a wonderful idea,” Diana said. “They’ll love seeing you.”

As they made their breakfast, Penny listened to Katie tell everyone what she’d been doing in Los Angeles. She was happy her sister was here, happy they could finally make plans for their future. But sad that their grandma wasn’t here to share the day with them.

Chapter 13

Wyatt tied his shoelaces and walked outside. He’d been awake since four o’clock this morning, thinking about his wife and what happened after she’d died. Usually, when he was feeling down, he played some music and looked at the pictures of her in his photo albums.

But this morning, Anya’s smiling face did nothing to reduce the heaviness in his heart or the raw emotion clogging his throat.

It was the anniversary of the day they’d met. They’d always gone somewhere special to celebrate their relationship and the new life they were creating together.

He breathed in the sweet scent of the new day before walking along the gravel trail beside