Chapter 14 #2
His question set them off again. Seeing them both laughing so hard was good for what ailed him, and he couldn’t help but smile at their glee.
“Trust me when I tell you,” Laura said, wiping tears from her eyes, “you do not want to know what we were talking about.”
Eyeing them with trepidation, Owen said, “I take it you had a good night with Charlie, Mom?”
Sarah gasped and looked to Laura for help. “Make him stop. I’m not talking about that with him.”
“I don’t want any details, and I mean that with every fiber of my being. I was simply asking if you had a nice time.”
“Um, yes,” Sarah said. “Yes, I did.”
Her demure reply made Laura snort inelegantly.
Sarah slipped a hand over Laura’s mouth. “Stop it. This instant.”
“Can’t,” Laura said feebly.
“I’m going back to work,” Sarah said. “Try to behave yourself.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“See you two later.” Sarah scurried out of the room, and Owen moved to take her place next to Laura on the sofa.
“What was that all about?”
“You’ll never get it out of me. Girl talk.”
“She’s okay, though? You’d tell me if she wasn’t, right?”
Laura took his hand and leaned in to press a kiss to the chubby cheek of her sleeping son. “Owen, honey, she is far more than okay. She is divine.”
“Eww. Gross.”
“Not gross at all. Very, very lovely. She’s extremely happy this morning.”
“Although I’ll beg of you not to share any details, I’m glad to hear that.”
Laura dissolved into giggles that made him smile at her delight despite the dark mood he’d been in for days now.
“Has it been a rough morning around here?”
“Rougher than usual.”
“I shouldn’t have left.”
“I was fine, and you can’t be with me all the time.”
“I’d like to be.”
“I know. Did you have any luck talking Evan out of coming with us?”
Stunned by the question, he stared at her. “How’d you know that was where I was going?”
She rolled her eyes. “I’ve got you figured out, Lawry.”
“You’re kind of scaring me right now.”
“So, what did he say?”
“He’s almost as bullheaded as you are,” Owen said with a sigh.
“Sucks having all these people around who love you, doesn’t it?”
He reached for her hand and linked their fingers. “It doesn’t suck nearly as bad as being all alone did. That was worse.”
Laura rested her head on his shoulder. “So Evan is coming with us?”
“Yeah, he’s coming.”
“Good. Are we going to Dan and Kara’s engagement party later? The party is at two. Appetizers and drinks.”
“I suppose we can go for a little while if you want to.”
“You sure you feel up to it?”
“Anything is better than trying to find a way to think about something else.”
She turned toward him, putting an arm around him and Holden. “I can’t wait for this to be over,” she said.
“I can’t either.”
For the first time in longer than she could remember, Stephanie woke up feeling unburdened. She’d spent years frantically trying to free Charlie from prison, and then after that had finally happened, she’d trapped herself in a cage of her own making.
It had been foolish, she now knew, to worry that Grant wouldn’t understand her fears or want to help her manage them the way he had for as long as she’d known him.
Even after all this time with him, she’d still been waiting for the bottom to fall out the way it had so many times before.
After last night, though, she’d finally begun to believe it wasn’t going to happen this time.
Grant wasn’t going anywhere. He’d convinced her of that as he once again showed her how very much he truly loved her. With the memories of their incredible night together fresh in her mind, she was eager to share their good news with the person she loved second best.
Despite her assurances, she could tell that Grant was still concerned about her.
She’d insisted he go share their news with his father, even though he’d offered to stay home with her.
She was determined to move forward with their plans and try to enjoy her life in a way she’d never been able to before.
After a shower, she got dressed in a tank and shorts and headed out.
The bright sunny day that greeted her made her grateful to live in such a beautiful place.
After she decided to stay permanently on Gansett, she’d worried about being bored.
However, she’d been anything but bored. With Grant’s big family nearby and their wide circle of friends, there was always something going on, even in the winter when the tourists had gone home.
She’d loved her first full winter on the island, during which she’d kept the restaurant open only on the weekends and had spent the rest of the time hunkered down with Grant while he worked on the screenplay about her efforts to get Charlie freed from jail.
For months, she’d cautiously avoided his frequent attempts to pin her down on a wedding date by changing the subject or evading the questions.
He’d never pushed her, but she could tell that her refusal to discuss it had hurt him on more than one occasion.
It was such a relief to know she no longer had to dodge the issue.
They’d talked through all of her fears and set a date.
She was going to marry Grant in a few short weeks.
The thought set off a wave of giddy laughter as she pulled into her stepfather’s driveway, where he was cutting the grass.
As he was wearing only a pair of shorts, his impressive physique was on full display.
He had muscles on top of muscles, which came from the time he’d spent in prison with nothing to do but work out for several hours a day.
Seeing her there, he turned off the mower and used a bandanna to wipe the sweat from his face. He bent to pick up the T-shirt he’d tossed on the grass and put it back on. “Hey there. What brings you out so early?”
“I wanted to see my dad. Is that allowed?”
“Always. I could use a cold one. Join me?”
“Lead the way.” She followed him into the small house he rented from Ned Saunders.
He’d intended the rental to be temporary until he figured out a plan for life after prison.
Like so many others who’d come to Gansett, that life had found him, and she was thrilled to have him close by.
The first thing she noticed inside the house was the vase of artfully arranged flowers on his kitchen table. “Nice flowers.”
“Oh, thanks. Sarah picked them from the garden.”
“How is Sarah?”
“Good, as you know. You saw her yesterday.”
Stephanie smiled at him as she accepted the glass of lemonade he’d poured for her.
“I’m actually glad you came by,” he said. “I was going to call you today to tell you I’ll be off the island for the next week or so.”
“Where’re you going?”
“To Virginia with Sarah and Owen. Her ex-husband is going on trial for beating her up last fall.”
“What?” Stephanie asked with a gasp as she sat down hard on a chair at the table.
Charlie brought his drink to the table to join her.