Provenance Read online

  PRAISE FOR CARLA LAUREANO

  PROVENANCE

  “Provenance showcases Laureano’s trademark crisp prose and witty banter that culminates in a startling profound exploration of home. You will find yourself falling in love with the quaint mountain town of Jasper Lake, Colorado—and, ahem, with its mayor. I know I did!”

  Jolina Petersheim, bestselling author of How the Light Gets In

  “With her usual relatable, engaging characters and a story line ringing with both charm and depth, Carla Laureano shines in her latest offering. Provenance is a delightful read for lovers of small-town romance, and I found its themes of restoration and belonging especially stirring. This is one for the keeper shelf!”

  Melissa Tagg, Christy Award–winning author of Now and Then and Always

  “With her exacting eye for detail, I trust author Carla Laureano to deliver a well-thought-out novel. She does so once again with her distinctive style in Provenance. Her characters are strong, the setting vivid, and the plot well-layered. I was pulled into Laureano’s quest-for-home story from the opening page all the way to the extremely satisfying last scene.”

  Beth K. Vogt, Christy Award–winning author of the Thatcher Sisters series

  “With every Carla Laureano novel I read, I know I’ll be immersed in a world with strong characters whose emotions and authenticity capture me from page one. I love the way she weaves universal truths into romantic story lines that stick with me long after I close the back cover.”

  Courtney Walsh, New York Times bestselling author of If for Any Reason and Is It Any Wonder

  “Carla Laureano is a master crafter of compelling characters and enthralling emotion, and her mastery is on full display in Provenance. Set against the dazzling backdrop of the Colorado high country, Kendall and Gabe’s story examines the life-changing potential that exists when we accept the love we’re offered and capture the healing power of home. With characters you’ll care about and be cheering on from the moment you meet them, Provenance is the story your heart needs right now.”

  Bethany Turner, award-winning author of The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck and Plot Twist

  THE SUPPER CLUB SERIES

  “Bright, jovial, and peppered with romance and delectable cuisine, this is a sweet and lively love story.”

  Publishers Weekly, starred review of The Saturday Night Supper Club

  “Romance aficionados and fans of stories about overcoming obstacles and the role of faith in everyday life will eagerly await the next entry in this sweet food-centered series.”

  Library Journal on The Saturday Night Supper Club

  “Writing charmingly about faith, love, friendship, and food, Laureano will leave readers hungry for the next installment in the Supper Club series.”

  Booklist on The Saturday Night Supper Club

  “With fun food scenes and organic spiritual elements, Laureano’s book will be relished by sweet-toothed inspirational readers.”

  Publishers Weekly on Brunch at Bittersweet Café

  “The delightful characterization of baker and pastry chef Melody Johansson coupled with a realistic romance and spiritual message make Brunch at Bittersweet Café an exceptional pick.”

  Midwest Book Reviews

  “This romantic drama portrays realistically flawed characters in messy situations.”

  World magazine on Brunch at Bittersweet Café

  “By turns funny and serious, this romance is the third novel in the Supper Club series. Author Carla Laureano has effectively drawn characters whose lighthearted insights, soul-searching, and faith experiences ring true. Her narrative subtly weaves fiction with the reality of social justice issues pertaining to coffee farms in developing countries.”

  The Banner on The Solid Grounds Coffee Company

  “What a bright and engaging story! The Solid Grounds Coffee Company is full of snappy and smart dialogue, genuine characters I was rooting for, and sweet romance with just the right amount of tension. I loved getting to know Analyn and Bryan and seeing their two very different worlds dovetail into one layered, romantic, and delicious story.”

  Lauren K. Denton, USA Today bestselling author of The Hideaway, Hurricane Season, and Glory Road

  THE MACDONALD FAMILY TRILOGY

  “Sweet and scathing, lush and intimate. . . . This story has guts and heart as well as the depth and heat necessary to satisfy any romance reader’s palate.”

  USA Today on Five Days in Skye

  “Achieving an aching depth and a resounding trueness within a heated yet baggage-ridden romance, author Carla Laureano has proven herself a storyteller who is not afraid to take her characters into the darkest regions of their own hearts. An excellent follow-up to Five Days in Skye, London Tides tugs and churns every emotion . . . right up until the lovely hope-buoying end.”

  Serena Chase, USA Today’s Happy Ever After blog

  “Laureano’s final installment to her MacDonald Family Trilogy centers on newly widowed Serena MacDonald Stewart as she begins life anew with her two kids and a new job. . . . This emotionally astute tale will appeal to fans of Tamera Alexander.”

  Publishers Weekly on Under Scottish Stars

  “[The] long-awaited final volume in the MacDonald Family Trilogy. . . . Laureano pens a worthy crossover title concluding this modern romantic trilogy that could also stand alone as a winsome story of community and second chances. Fans of light, contemporary, Christian romance along the lines of Jenny Colgan or Bethany Turner will want to add Laureano to their lists.”

  Library Journal on Under Scottish Stars

  Visit Tyndale online at tyndale.com.

  Visit Carla Laureano’s website at carlalaureano.com.

  TYNDALE and Tyndale’s quill logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Ministries.

  Provenance

  Copyright © 2021 by Carla Laureano. All rights reserved.

  Cover photograph of architectural plans copyright © by Sergii Iaremenko/Science Photo Library/Getty Images. All rights reserved.

  Cover photograph of main street copyright © by Photography by Deb Snelson/Getty Images. All rights reserved.

  Cover photograph of blue sky by Taylor Van Riper on Unsplash.

  Author photograph by Reynaldo Laureano, copyright © 2017. All rights reserved.

  Designed by Mark Anthony Lane II and Eva M. Winters

  Edited by Sarah Mason Rische

  Published in association with the literary agency of The Steve Laube Agency.

  Scripture taken from the New King James Version,® copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  Provenance is a work of fiction. Where real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales appear, they are used fictitiously. All other elements of the novel are drawn from the author’s imagination.

  For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Tyndale House Publishers at [email protected], or call 1-855-277-9400.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Laureano, Carla, author.

  Title: Provenance / Carla Laureano.

  Description: Carol Stream, Illinois : Tyndale House Publishers, [2021]

  Identifiers: LCCN 2021006454 (print) | LCCN 2021006455 (ebook) | ISBN

  9781496445919 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781496445926 (trade paperback) | ISBN

  9781496445933 (kindle edition) | ISBN 9781496445940 (epub) | ISBN

  9781496445957 (epub)

  Classification: LCC PS3612.A93257 P76 2021 (print) | LCC PS3612.A93257

  (ebook) | DDC 813/.6--dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021006454

  LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021006455

  Build: 2021-05-24 14:37:03
EPUB 3.0

  For Steve Laube.

  Thank you for helping make all these books possible.

  I couldn’t have done it without you.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Author Note

  Preview of The Saturday Night Supper Club

  Acknowledgments

  Discussion Questions

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  IT WAS GOOD TO BE HOME. Or at least it would be, if she had the faintest idea what home actually meant.

  Kendall Green levered herself out of the back seat of her rideshare and heaved her roller case out after her, then gave a quick wave to the driver before starting up the steep asphalt driveway. In the month since she’d left Pasadena, the season had switched from summer to autumn—at least as much autumn as one ever saw in Southern California—the turning leaves of the valley oak a striking counterpart to the palms that surrounded the property. Her suitcase bumped over the uneven surface in time with the click of her high-heeled boots until she pulled up short in front of a wrought iron gate bearing a laser-cut metal sign with the words Chronicle Design.

  Kendall smiled to herself and pressed the button on the intercom. “Sophie . . . it’s me.”

  Instantly a buzz came through the speaker, and the gate unlatched with a metallic click. Kendall pushed through with a creak and clanged the gate shut behind her, then inhaled deeply as she stepped onto the Saltillo tiles that paved the front courtyard of the property. If she were going to claim a home, this was where it would be. Never mind that the stately Spanish-style property was only a rental and served as both office and living space. It was where her antiques lived, which meant it was where she belonged. At least for now. The rent went up every year in November; one more hike and they would be out on the street.

  Or Kendall would. Sophie actually had family as backup, as little as she liked to ask them for help.

  As soon as Kendall stepped through the arch-topped front door, a pretty brunette appeared in the hallway, a cordless office phone pressed to her ear. She held up a finger as she finished the call, then shot a bright smile in Kendall’s direction. “Thank goodness! You’re back early!”

  Kendall laughed and hugged her friend and assistant, Sophie Daniels. The string of wooden beads Sophie wore as part of her usual boho ensemble pressed painfully into Kendall’s sternum, but she didn’t pull away. She wouldn’t say she’d exactly missed Southern California while she was gone, but she’d missed her friend, overpowering rose perfume and all. “Only a day early,” Kendall said, finally letting go and pushing the front door shut behind her. She froze while a horrifying thought occurred to her. “There’s not a mouse stuck in the bathtub again, is there?”

  Sophie shuddered. “No. Thank goodness. If that had happened again, the house would probably be burned to the ground.” She grabbed Kendall’s roller case and dragged it into the room right off the hallway. “Come sit down. I want to hear all about Europe.”

  Kendall followed her into the space they used as an office, noting that it looked just like she’d left it—desks piled high with paperwork and fabric samples, stacks of catalogs crowding the conference table. Sophie’s goal to clean up their office obviously hadn’t materialized. She shoved aside a box of cement tile samples to make room for Kendall to sit and plopped down across from her.

  “Well, despite all the auctions, London was pretty much a bust,” Kendall said. “I did pick up a modernist painting for the Vergara project at Christie’s and some serving pieces at London Silver Vaults for Rebecca Moon, but—”

  Sophie rolled her eyes. “I don’t want to hear about what you bought. I want to hear about who you met.”

  That was Sophie, always the optimist. When Kendall traveled for business, she was lucky to see anything beyond the auction house and antique markets, let alone any of the city’s more . . . attractive . . . sights. But that didn’t stop Sophie from urging Kendall to live a little. Secretly she probably hoped Kendall would fall in love with a European prince or be swept away by a whirlwind romance with some sexy Scotsman.

  Never mind the fact that Kendall’s seven-year friendship with Sophie was the longest relationship she’d had with any human, ever.

  “You know me better than that. What happened while I was gone? Other than a tornado hitting my desk.”

  “We got a new client . . .”

  “And you didn’t lead with that? Tell!”

  Sophie’s face broke into a smile and she jumped up to grab her tablet off her desk. “Wait until you see this place. It’s a Thornton Ladd mid-century modern in Long Beach. La Marina Estates. It had a terrible ‘update’ in the 1980s, but the Thomases want to take it back to its original details.” She pulled up her gallery and started swiping through the photos of the house, taken from every angle. No matter what else Sophie might be, she was definitely thorough.

  “Wow. Diagonal walnut floors. You don’t see those often.” Kendall swiped back and expanded the photo to see detailing of the home’s cement fireplace, which had been covered with a horrible faux brick. “At least it’s just a veneer. That shouldn’t be too difficult to remove, though it will have to be skim-coated when it’s done.” Excitement began to build in her. Her style ran more toward European antiques and elaborate finishes, anything with the weight of tradition behind it—French provincial, Spanish, Tudor—but it could be fun to work on something so streamlined and modern, especially since their clients were beginning to demand more eclectic spaces with a mix of origins and styles. “When do we get started?”

  Sophie didn’t answer immediately, and Kendall raised her eyes to her friend’s face. “What?”

  “It’s just that . . . they asked for me specifically. Not you.”

  “Oh.” Kendall licked her lips and shoved down the pang of hurt. “Of course. I just . . . No, that’s great.”

  “Are you sure? The style is right in my wheelhouse, and after you let me take the lead on the Najarian project—”

  “No, absolutely. It makes total sense. You’ll do a great job. It’s high time you start doing some projects without me, and if we’re working independently, that gives us more income.”

  “That’s what I was thinking.” Sophie exhaled in relief; then her expression shadowed. “I was going to wait until you were settled in to tell you . . .”

  Kendall froze. “You’re not quitting and going out on your own, are you?”

  “No! Of course not.” Sophie laughed, then sobered quickly. “We got the notice from the landlord.”

  If she’d been feeling hurt before, now all Kendall felt was panic. “How bad is it?”

  “Not great. Eight thousand.”

  “A month?”

  “Well, it’s not per
year, that’s for sure.”

  Kendall closed her eyes and tried to calm the sudden frantic thump of her heart. Eight thousand dollars a month didn’t sound like so much compared to renting commercial space, but since they lived there, only part of that amount could be written off on their business taxes. The rest came out of their salaries, which were fairly paltry considering how much money they always had tied up in inventory and receivables.

  “It’s a good thing you’re taking on your own clients then,” Kendall said finally, straightening her spine. “With two of us working independently, we can make it work. And in that case, it’s probably time that we list you on the website as a designer.” She forced a smile. “Let me drop my things in my room and change, and you can show me what you’re thinking.”

  Sophie returned the smile, and Kendall pushed herself to standing, her steps more subdued now as she pulled the roller case down the bumpy clay-tiled floor to her bedroom. The Spanish-style house had dual masters—large rooms each with their own en suite—so she and Sophie didn’t have to share a bathroom, though it wouldn’t have bothered Kendall if they did. She felt lucky enough to be living in a multimillion-dollar house in one of the nicest parts of Pasadena, a luxury she hadn’t dared imagine as a kid. Until now, their work relationship had always been divided along certain lines: Kendall had the designer skills and the experience; Sophie picked up the slack on administrative duties and acted as a design assistant. It was only within the last few months that Kendall had let her take the lead on projects, and that was simply because Kendall’s schedule had become untenable. She hadn’t expected to come back from one of her sourcing trips to find that her assistant had been taking on clients of her own.

  “Don’t be silly,” she whispered to herself, pushing down a sudden bubble of what felt suspiciously like jealousy. Kendall might be young for this business at only twenty-nine, but she’d made a name for herself with both her impeccable taste and her ability to find unique furnishings with interesting—and fully documented—stories. Everyone from movie stars to TV producers to socialites wanted to own a cabinet that was passed down from Catherine of Aragon’s great-great-great-granddaughter or a Hans Wegner Danish modern prototype that never made it into production. It was her reputation for doing whatever it took to source the pieces and uncover their provenance that made her something of a wunderkind in the Southern California design world . . . and most likely the reason they got the Thornton Ladd house in the first place.