“Grandma? Aunt Mia? You don’t even know these people! Why are you so interested?”

“Mom, this place is amazing. Did you see how big it is? Your birthmother wants to give you half of it. Do you know how much money this place is probably worth?”

“It’s in Coon Dog Hollow, Evie. Not New York City.”

“Carter’s Hollow. Stop saying things like that. You’re going to screw up this opportunity for us.”

Kate studied her daughter carefully. “I’m not here to cash in, Evie. This is about the fact that my whole life has been a big lie. You need to understand this isn’t fun for me.”

Evie’s face changed in a way Kate hadn’t seen before. She looked empathetic for the first time in a long time. “I know. I’m sorry, Mom. I guess I’m just really excited for a fresh start. I’ve never had an aunt before, and she seems cool.”

Kate laid back against the mattress and stared at the ceiling fan. “Cool isn’t all that’s required here, kid. There’s a lot of water under this bridge.”

Evie laid down beside her mother. “I’m just saying can’t we give Mia and this place a chance? Enjoy this one night and see where it takes us? Maybe we’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

Kate chuckled. “I guess stranger things have happened.”

Mia called up to each of her guests for dinner, something that the regulars were quite accustomed to. Of course, the newlyweds didn’t respond or come downstairs, so she didn’t expect to see them until breakfast. It was times like these when she wished she had a man to lean on, to stay holed up with in a room for days on end, blocking out the world and all of its problems.

All she had was her cat, and he wasn’t all that friendly. In fact, he still hissed when she tried to pick him up after owning him for years. Such was her life.

As Mia stirred the chicken and dumplings, she felt butterflies in her stomach. How was she supposed to have dinner with her long lost sister, wayward niece and a bunch of guests without having an anxiety attack? This whole thing was just too much to bear. How could her mother leave half the B&B to a virtual stranger, even if she did come out of the same womb?

“Something smells good,” Evie said as she and her mother walked downstairs. Kate said nothing and just walked into the kitchen.

“This is your grandmother’s chicken and dumplings. Famous around these parts,” Mia said, smiling at Evie. She already liked having a niece, even if she seemed a bit rough around the edges. She would turn her into a Southern belle if she had the chance.

“Not her grandmother,” Kate mumbled under her breath.

“Excuse me?” Mia said.

“Nothing.”