Chapter 1
1
“Lulu, get a move on. You’re making me late for work.” Willa Leigh double-checked her reflection in the oval mirror centered in the hall tree near the front door, unable to resist straightening the jumble of jackets and shoes and totes cluttering the rack. Lulu would be looking for her backpack, and instead of hanging it on the bottom right hook, she’d dumped it onto the shelf designated for dog gear.
Which reminded Willa Leigh to grab a leash and roll of poop bags. She’d agreed to pick up a pregnant pittie that had been abandoned in front of the Love Beach Animal Shelter two days ago. Jeb Jamison, the town’s vet, gave the dog a clean bill of health and estimated she’d deliver in a couple weeks. She preferred fostering smaller dogs, but Odette Bell, a girlfriend from high school who now ran the no-kill shelter, had begged her to take the expectant pit bull.
“She is an absolute sweetheart,” Odette said. “She sat out in the rain overnight, tied up to the fire hydrant in front of the shelter, until I got there in the morning. She was hungry and wet, but she just sat there with her tail wagging, waiting for me to do something. I’d love to get my hands on the asshole who dumped her off like that.”
Unable to say no when someone needed her, Willa Leigh had agreed to foster the pittie. The other reason she’d been reluctant to say yes came bounding down the stairs of their small beach house, singing along to whatever pop tune was playing over her headphones. Lulu grabbed her backpack then held out her hand, palm up.
“I need five bucks for school lunch today,” she yelled.
Willa Leigh plucked off the headphones, cringing at the volume. “Lower your voice in the house, please.”
“Sorry, Mom.” Lulu went up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to her mom’s cheek before dropping onto her butt to pull on her high-top sneakers. “It’s pizza day.”
Lulu had two speeds: asleep and fast-forward.
“That falls under personal expenditures. You’ll have to use allowance money.” Willa Leigh opened the front door, patiently waiting for her daughter to pass through.
“Aw, Mom. Not fair. I’m saving up for Taylor Swift tickets and they’re way expensive.” Hands on hips, pale blue eyes narrowed, strawberry-blonde hair in two uneven braids, Lulu challenged her mother’s ruling on the matter.
“Grab an Uncrustable out of the freezer. There are bananas on the counter and juice boxes in the pantry.” Willa Leigh sighed when Lulu stomped off toward the kitchen to pack a lunch. She was ten, going on two. Specifically, the terrible twos.
“Maisie doesn’t get an allowance,” Lulu announced as they buckled themselves into Willa Leigh’s eight-year-old Honda Civic. “Her mom gives her money anytime she asks.”
“We do things differently than Maisie’s family.” Flipping her turn signal as she pulled out of the driveway, she checked left and right before turning onto the road into town.
“It’s because I don’t have a dad.” Lulu folded her arms across her chest and pouted. “Maisie gets whatever she wants, and her mom doesn’t have to work because her dad is a billionaire.”
“Mr. Paulson is not a billionaire, and it is none of our business how much money he makes.” Willa Leigh struggled to keep the frustration out of her tone. These morning drives used to be filled with Lulu’s girlish chatter about her soccer team, coming up with cute names to make the dogs and cats at the shelter more adoptable, and negotiating the menu and movie for their traditional Friday PJ Party. Six months ago, Lulu began asking questions about her biological father, wanting to know why he and Willa Leigh had never married, blaming his absence for everything unpleasant in life, like having to use her allowance money for school lunch.
“If I had a dad, he’d buy me concert tickets and a new bike and we’d go on vacation to Disney World every year.” Lulu slouched in the back seat, staring out the window.
Lulu did have a dad—somewhere. Kobe Lewis, the high school bad boy who relieved Willa Leigh of her virginity in the back seat of her father’s Buick on prom night, was long gone by the time she discovered she was pregnant three months later. Her first instinct was to find Kobe and at least tell him he had a daughter even if he chose not to be involved, but her parents had convinced her raising the baby alone would be better for everyone.
For the first three years, while she’d completed her associate’s degree at the local community college, she lived with her parents. Her mom and Granny took care of Lulu while she was working part-time at the Beach Breeze Retirement Home, where she was now the office administrator. After Granny fell and broke her hip, she’d moved into Beach Breeze and sold her beach cottage to Willa Leigh.
It had always been just the two of them. There were plenty of nice guys in Love Beach, but they all fell short. No one, then or since, made her feel like Kobe had: seen and loved for her true self. For that one night, plain, predictable Willa Leigh had been enough. No, she’d been more than enough. She’d been everything.
When her daughter acted out, Willa Leigh wasn’t sure how to respond. Most people in Love Beach suspected who her father was, but like most small towns, some things were never discussed. They eventually became secrets, but there was no guarantee they’d remain buried.
Lately, Willa Leigh had begun thinking some secrets should be revealed. In deciding to raise her daughter as a single mom, she hadn’t considered the impact that might have on Lulu. Her daughter deserved to know the truth, but that would change everything.
For one, she didn’t have a clue where to find Kobe Lewis. He and his alcoholic father moved to a ramshackle house on the outskirts of town when he was fifteen, and during the three years he attended Love Beach High School, he was a notorious rebel, a bad boy who townsfolk said would never amount to anything.
Where was he now? Who was he now?
Would he want a relationship with Lulu? Knowing she had a father who wanted nothing to do with her would be a hundred times worse than not knowing who he was.
The instinct to protect her daughter warred with the compulsion to let Lulu be her own person. To give her space and freedom and guidance and facts—even when the truth was hard to face—so her daughter could make her own choices.
It was a luxury Willa Leigh never experienced. Expectations and responsibilities had been foisted on her, and it got worse after Henry Lee was convicted on drug charges. The one decision she’d made for herself, despite her parents’ insistence, was keeping her baby. An unplanned pregnancy meant no going away to college, although the residents of Beach Breeze insisted she use the $500 they collected for tuition be applied to classes at community college instead of Florida State University. The used car purchased with money Granny raised selling preserves at the weekly farmers market provided transportation to her college classes and part-time job at the retirement home. After she completed her degree, she was offered a full-time job and eventually worked her way up to office administrator.
For the past ten years, two factors had dictated every decision Willa Leigh made: providing a happy, stable home for her daughter and redeeming herself for disappointing her family. Willa Leigh Osborn was the most reliable, most responsible person in Love Beach, and if that meant working a job that left her unfulfilled but paid the bills and volunteering for every good cause to set a good example, then that’s the way it would be.
A long time ago, she’d dreamed that Kobe would return and whisk her and Lulu away to become a family. That they would work together to raise their daughter to be responsible, confident, and unafraid to explore all the adventures the world offered. That every night he would make her feel treasured and cherished and worthwhile with bold caresses and an insatiable hunger for her.
Long, exhausting days as a single mom dashed those fantasies, but sometimes they resurfaced. Like when she drove past the high school or Clements Pond where they’d parked on prom night.
Since Willa Leigh and Lulu had gotten a late start from the house, the line of cars dropping off students in front of the elementary school had dwindled to just a handful of minivans. Her relief at making it to school on time was short-lived when she caught a glimpse of Lulu’s unhappy face in the rearview mirror. Willa Leigh ignored the guilt, reminding herself that everything she did now—boundaries, limits, lessons—were intended to prepare her daughter for real life. She remembered the advice a parenting coach had offered during a series of workshops sponsored by the PTA: hear your child out, give a brief explanation for your decision, provide an alternative. Last and most important, tolerate their reaction and don’t give in.
“I know other families do things differently, but this is how our family does it, Lu.” She turned to face her daughter. “I want you to appreciate hard work and what goes into earning money so you can make smart decisions. If you want to save your allowance for concert tickets, you can help Odette clean out the kennels at the animal rescue to have money for extras like pizza day.”
“Maisie doesn’t have to scoop poop.” Lulu unlatched her seatbelt and pulled the door handle.
“Yes, but Maisie’s parents refuse to let her have a pet.” She smiled, well aware animals were Lulu’s weak spot. “We’re picking up Cookie after work today. I’m going to need your help with her, especially once her puppies are born.”
Lulu’s mood brightened like the sun popping out from a bank of rainclouds. “For real? We’re keeping her and her puppies?”
“We’re fostering her until she and her pups find their forever homes.”
“Maybe we can be a forever family for one of them.” Excited by the prospect of a new doggo in the house, Lulu hopped out of the car and waved before running to catch up with a group of friends.
Glad to have diverted another conflict, Willa Leigh continued through Love Beach’s quaint downtown already bustling with late May tourists. Pulling into her designated parking spot in front of the retirement home, she collected her purse and insulated lunch bag. Lulu wasn’t the only one expected to adhere to a budget.
Her first stop was the morning room where residents gathered after breakfast. Some were gathered around a big screen TV while others worked a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle or played cards. Beach Breeze was small, but Arden Phlew, the owner, worked hard to make it feel like home for the fifty or so seniors who lived there. It was more of an assisted living community than a traditional nursing home, and after Granny’s fall, she’d decided to stay. Willa Leigh loved being able to see her grandmother several times a day, and they’d grown closer over time.
Sunny Osborn occupied a wooden rocking chair in the craft corner, her lap covered by the light blue afghan she was crocheting for Arden’s granddaughter who was pregnant with a baby boy.
“You’re making good progress.” Willa Leigh pressed a kiss atop her grandmother’s head, wispy silver strands tickling her nose. “But you do know Penny is only four months along.”
“No time like the present, dear.” A serene smile emphasized the wrinkles and laugh lines earned over seven decades of living on the South Carolina coastline.
The Osborn family settled in Love Beach four generations ago, before there even was a town. In that time, the small scattering of residents had grown into a close-knit beach town that catered to tourists. In recent years, there had been a push from developers who wanted to buy up cheap land and build high-rise condos. So far, the town council had resisted attempts from investors to turn Love Beach into another big money golf and resort enclave, but there were some townies struggling financially for whom selling out would solve a lot of problems. The land rented to the animal shelter was one such case. The owner was selling; good for him, bad for the rescue organization.
“How’s my great-grand-blessing this morning?” Sunny adored Lulu and spoiled her excessively. Willa Leigh didn’t make a big deal out of it since there were no other great-grandchildren to compete for the family’s attention. Her brother, Henry Lee, was still single and likely to remain so, given his reputation in town. He’d been released from prison five years ago and never shed the cloud of disgrace hanging over him, thanks to one horrible decision made when he was nineteen.
Maybe that was why she’d empathized with Kobe all those years ago. She knew her brother wasn’t a bad person, despite making bad choices. It wasn’t her place to judge anyone, especially after her own mistakes.
“She’s not even a teenager yet.” Willa Leigh groaned. “How am I going to survive another eight or ten years with her?”
“Same way as the rest of us.” Sunny continued rocking, knobby fingers nimbly working the crochet hook and yarn. “Do the best you can and pray.”
“Good advice.” She squeezed Sunny’s shoulder. “I’ll see you later. I have to finish the quarterly report for Arden’s meeting with his accountant tomorrow.”
Willa Leigh’s office was adjacent to the reception area and front desk. She greeted the receptionist, a college student home for the summer, and Handy, the old janitor who’d been working at Beach Breeze since the first day it opened for business.
She turned on her computer, staring out the big window that overlooked the coastal salt marsh while the desktop machine whirred to life. Sometimes it felt like Love Beach was twenty years behind the rest of the world, but she’d learned to appreciate those old-fashioned values when Lulu was born. She shuddered, imagining what it would be like to raise her daughter in a big city where everyone seemed to live in the fast lane.
As she sometimes did when her mind was idle, Willa Leigh wondered how her life might have turned out had she not gotten pregnant with Lulu. Would she have returned to Love Beach or remained in Florida, perhaps chasing a career in Miami or Tampa? Would she have met someone and fallen in love? Started a family and had children? Given up her career to be a stay-at-home mom? Not had kids and remained single?
She didn’t often indulge in the what-if game, knowing there were no do-overs in life. She’d made her choices and was content. She had a good job, friends and family, and a healthy, well-adjusted daughter. Still, if there was one thing she could change?—
Her cell chirped, disrupting her musings. The display screen indicated it was Odette, from the animal shelter, probably calling about her new foster.
“Willy, are you sitting down?”
Willa Leigh didn’t have time to remind Odette she hated being called by her childhood nickname.
“You won’t believe who’s back in town!” Voice practically vibrating, Odette announced, “Kobe Lewis. He came in this morning with a feral cat he trapped at that shack where he used to live with his daddy. He’s coming back to check on her this afternoon. Right about the same time you’re picking up Cookie.”