The Winter Lodge by Susan Wiggs

Jenny. I want to help. What can I do?” Olivia seemed almost desperate and utterly sincere. “I want to help, in any way I can.”
    Jenny summoned a smile, grateful beyond words that even after losing Gram, she still had her sister. If not for Olivia, Jenny would be alone right now, the last of her family gone. Yet at the same time, she felt a pinch of melancholy, regretting the years they’d lost. She had grown up with Bellamys all around her, never knowing of the connection they shared. She and Olivia were so different. Olivia had spent her life surrounded by the wealth and privilege of the Bellamy family. The adored—and, according to Olivia, overindulged—only daughter, she had attended the best schools, graduated with honors from Columbia, and by the age of twenty-four had launched her own business. She was gorgeous, successful…and she was in love with the perfect guy—a local contractor named Connor Davis. It would be easy to envy her to the point of dislike.
    Except Jenny truly liked Olivia. She honestly did. Her half sister was kind and funny, and she genuinely wanted to have a relationship. Jenny had read somewhere that the true test of the strength of a relationship is whether or not it held up in a crisis.
    I guess I’m about to find out, she thought.
    Taking a deep breath, she said, “At the moment, I’m kind of disoriented. I hope you’ll forgive me.”
    “Forgive? My lord, Jenny, you must be devastated.”
    “Well, when you put it that way…”
    “God, listen to me. I’m awful.”
    “It’s all right. There’s really no etiquette in this situation.” An awkward silence stretched between them. Jenny studied her sister’s face, as she sometimes did, seeking something—anything—they shared in common. A certain tilt of the eyes? The shape of jaw, chin, cheekbone? Their father swore they looked like sisters, but Jenny believed it was wishful thinking. “Listen, there is something you can help with. I’m going to need some clothes.”
    “You’re going to need everything,” Olivia added. “I’ll drive.”
    Finally, Jenny felt it—the relief and gratitude of knowing someone wanted to look after her. She went over to Rourke. “Are we done here?”
    “For now. The fire investigator is going to be working most of the day.”
    “All right. I’m going with Oliv—my sister—to pick up a few things.” She felt a curious satisfaction at saying it aloud. My sister.
    “Call me,” he said.
    There was no excuse not to. Her cell phone had been in her purse, safe from the fire, and Rourke had already replaced the charger. She got in the car with Olivia, the heated leather seat sighing luxuriously beneath her. Further proof that the rich were different. Even their cars felt special.
    “Where are you staying?” Olivia asked.
    Jenny didn’t say anything, but her glance in Rourke’s direction gave her away.
    “You’re staying at his place?”
    “It’s just temporary.”
    “I’m not saying anything is wrong with it,” Olivia clarified. “But…Rourke McKnight? I mean, if you put that together with the picture of the two of you on the front page of the paper, then, I don’t know
    —it starts to look…”
    “Like what?”
    “Like something. Like you two are—”
    “Me and Rourke?” Jenny shook her head, wondering how much Olivia knew about their history.
    “Not in this life.”
    “Never say never. That’s what I said about Connor, and look at us now. Next summer, I’ll be married.”
    “I think you’re the only one who’s surprised by that.”
    “How do you mean?”
    “You and Connor are made for each other. Anyone can see that.”
    Olivia beamed at her. “You know, you’re welcome to stay with us.”
    No offense, thought Jenny, but I’d rather have a root canal. Olivia and Connor lived on the most gorgeous parcel of riverfront land in the area. They were building a house of stone and timber and romantic dreams, and Jenny had no doubt that a blissful future awaited