Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
For the next five days, Jayce could say he was living his best life.
He and Kelsey spent every minute together and he enjoyed getting to know her again.
They had so much in common and it didn’t matter if they were talking about food or movies or current events—the conversation just flowed so easily. He was loving it.
And her.
Yeah, the more time he spent with Kelsey, the more he fell in love with her. It didn’t matter that they’d only been together for a week. He knew. Deep down in his soul, he knew that Kelsey Brooks was his forever.
He just hadn’t had the courage to say anything because he didn’t want to freak her out or—even worse—scare her off.
The plan was to bide his time, but he only had another three days here at Lakeview Harbor Resort.
She was staying a few days longer than him, but he had to get back to Raleigh to start on a new project.
“It’s not polite to keep an old lady waiting,” his grandmother said as she walked across the path toward his cabin. He was standing out on the porch and was about to walk over to get her, but she beat him to it.
“Sorry, Gram,” he said, meeting her halfway and kissing her on the cheek. “I lost track of the time.”
She hooked her arm through his and gently turned them in the direction she wanted to go, which was toward the lake.
“I feel like the two of us haven’t had a lot of time to visit with everyone around.
That’s why I orchestrated it so everyone was busy this afternoon except for us.
I knew your mother and Kelsey would love to go to the signing at the local bookstore, your father had been complaining about not getting any time to play pickleball so I signed him up for the tournament, and your grandfather always wants to take an uninterrupted nap, so I’m letting him.
Now…I can finally have some time to have you all to myself. I haven’t seen enough of you.”
“Really?” he asked with amusement. “Because I feel like we’ve seen each other every day since I arrived.”
“We have, but it’s always with everyone else around—your grandfather, your parents, Kelsey…
” She sighed. “Our party is tomorrow night and all your cousins and aunts and uncles will be coming, so I want to make the most of this afternoon.” Squeezing his arm slightly, she added, “I’m worried about you, Jayce. ”
“Me? Why?”
“You’re dragging your feet! Do you need a house to fall on you or something?” she demanded.
“I have no idea…”
“The perfect girl reappears in your life and you’re going to let her get away again,” she said with disdain. “We all can see that she’s crazy about you and you’re crazy about her and yet you’re not making any plans for after this trip!”
Ah…okay. This he could handle.
“Gram, I’m just trying to…”
“Remember the day on the boat?” she interrupted. “Your mother and I asked Kelsey what her plans were—was she planning on staying in Rochester or maybe starting someplace fresh?”
He nodded. “O-kay…I had that conversation with her as well.”
“She says she feels guilty about moving away, even though it’s something she’d like to do.” Looking up at him, she continued. “I told her about my parents and how they moved to America from Ireland and how sometimes you have to just take a leap of faith.”
Jayce nodded again, unsure if he should say anything.
“I told her, your memories are always with you, Kelsey,” she went on.
“And then I explained how she might not be able to walk to the park she used to play in or go to a restaurant her mother or father loved, but those places only a car ride or plane ride away. Then I finished with how they wouldn’t want her to stay there just because of the memories. ”
“That all makes sense, Gram,” he reasoned. “You made some great points.”
“I know,” she said with a very satisfied smile.
“Sometimes taking that first step is the hardest part. But I tried to make her see that amazing things can happen when you take a risk. If my parents hadn’t moved, I never would have met your grandfather.
We never would have had your mother. She never would have met your father, and then they wouldn’t have had you. And that would be a real shame.”
“I have to agree.”
Pausing, she smiled up at him. “You see all the things that never would have happened if two people didn’t take that leap of faith and decide to start fresh someplace new? That is the exact question I asked Kelsey.”
Now he was truly invested in the story. “And what did she say?”
She shrugged. “She said she wasn’t sure where she would go, but I said she should follow her heart and go where it leads her!”
“And?”
She frowned. “And what? She didn’t make a decision right there on the spot. That’s where you come in.”
“Gram…”
“Just…hear me out.” She held up her hand to stop him from saying anything else. “You obviously have feelings for Kelsey, and she has feelings for you. You’re not strangers, and it seems like you get along very well with each other.”
“We do, but…”
“What are you waiting for? Ask her to come to Raleigh! Gah! It’s so simple!”
“Um…it’s really not, Gram,” he began carefully. “I can’t just ask Kelsey to uproot her entire life and move hundreds of miles away based on a ten-day vacation.”
“You could stay the two weeks…”
He gave her a patient smile. “Believe me, I would love for Kelsey to move to Raleigh, but…the time has to be right. I’m working on it. I promise.”
“Hmph.”
Used to his grandmother’s attitude, Jayce simply got them walking again. “It’s a very big decision and I don’t want her to feel pressured to say yes. I’m also afraid I’ll scare her off if I make such a big proposal after less than two weeks of being together.”
“Your grandfather and I got married after only knowing each other for three weeks. Did you know that?”
His eyes went wide. “Seriously? Three weeks? And your parents allowed that?”
Eleanor laughed softly. “Sweetheart, back in those days, you didn’t do long engagements, and you didn’t live together before you were married.
My family was poor, and I think they were relieved to have one less mouth to feed, so…
yes, they allowed it. And now look at us.
It’s our fifty-fifth wedding anniversary tomorrow.
Your grandfather wasn’t afraid he was going to scare me off and you shouldn’t be either. Think about it.”
Like he was going to think about anything else.
“I’m not the impulsive type,” he explained. “You know I overthink almost everything. I enjoy figuring out the way things work.”
“She’s not a building that you’re doing the electrical work on, Jayce!
She’s a woman! A woman you want to spend your life with!
If you spend too much time overanalyzing the situation, she’s going to think you’re not interested!
She’s going to think you don’t care!” She snorted with disgust. “Where has being overly cautious gotten you, huh?”
That made him laugh a little. “Well, I could say it’s gotten me a very lucrative career. I own my home, I make good money, I’ve got a retirement account…” He shrugged. “I’m doing better financially than a lot of my friends are.”
“Well, whoop-de-do. I hope your bank statements keep you warm at night,” she muttered. “I can’t show my friends pictures of your 401(k), Jayce! I’d like to have great-grandkids while I’m still young enough to enjoy them!”
“Gram, you’re only seventy-one. And need I remind you that you won the hula hoop competition yesterday and beat out people half your age?”
She preened. “I beat out those teenagers too.”
Hugging her close, he nodded. “Yes, you did. So don’t start playing it up like you’re getting old because you’re not.”
“Jayce…”
“I get what you’re saying. I do. But…can’t you just be happy knowing that I’m…I’m working on it?”
Her sigh was loud and very dramatic. “Fine. But I’m not happy about it. With all the hanky-panky going on in that cabin of yours, you should be making an honest woman of Kelsey right now! Kind of a disgrace if you ask me…”
“Gram…”
“Fine! Fine. As long as you don’t wait too long, and you let me know the minute you decide.”
“Um…Kelsey will be the first to know, but then I promise we’ll let you know, okay?”
“If you need an engagement ring on the fly, you can have mine. Your grandfather is giving me a new ring at the party. He doesn’t know that I know, but…I know.”
It was his turn to sigh loudly. “You’re killing me, Gram. Can we please just drop this for now?”
Making a zipping motion over her lips, she didn’t say another word until they reached the lake.
Jayce led her over to a shaded bench where they sat down.
“I love looking at this lake. It doesn’t matter the time of day; it’s just peaceful and lovely.
It breaks my heart that this is the last trip where I’ll get to enjoy this view. ”
It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her about his conversation with Walker, but he didn’t want to get her hopes up. That whole situation was between him, Walker, and Kelsey. With any luck, he’d have good news to share soon enough.
And not just about Lakeview Harbor Resort.
“I’m so glad I brought a dressy dress with me,” Kelsey murmured to herself as she checked her reflection in the mirror. It wasn’t full-length and it was a bit awkward to fully see herself, but from what she could see, she looked pretty darn good.
Smoothing a hand over the snug bodice, she let out a small breath.
The peach color looked fantastic against her tanned skin, and honestly, she loved the vintage look of a swing dress.
Was it too dressy? Not dressy enough? Tonight was the big anniversary party, and she had been so focused on hearing about all the details of the menu and music that she never really bothered to ask about what everyone was wearing.
Earlier today, she thought she’d be able to ask Lori or even Jayce what she should wear, but the entire day was spent welcoming all of Jayce’s relatives.
And there were a lot of them.