Chapter 3
3
“Mom, the shelter closes in thirty minutes. We gotta leave now or I won’t have a chance to see if Odette will hire me.” Lulu flounced into Willa Leigh’s office. “What’s taking so long?”
Granny traipsed behind, her walker and footsteps tapping an uneven tempo on the linoleum. “I can’t remember the last time you worked past four,” she said. “Is everything okay?”
No, everything was not okay, Willa Leigh thought. She hadn’t accomplished a single administrative task, spiraling between panic and exhilaration and disbelief.
What was Kobe Lewis doing back in Love Beach? He’d been gone ten years. No one had heard from him. Her searches on social media were fruitless. He seemed to have disappeared…except now he’d reappeared in the middle of her life. If word got back to him about Lulu?—
Adrenaline surged through her body, triggering the primal fight-or-flight response. She sprang out of the chair, unable to remain still.
“Did you finish your homework?” She busied herself shuffling stacks of papers to avoid her grandmother’s concerned look.
“Yes, Mom.” Lulu rolled her eyes. “There’s only one week of school left so the teachers aren’t handing out a lot of assignments.”
“Did Virginia sign off on your volunteer worksheet?” Lulu earned community service hours reading to some of the seniors with vision problems.
“Mo-om!”
“Lu, go get your backpack.” Granny shooed her out of the small office, waiting until she was halfway down the hall to trap Willa Leigh behind her desk and ask in a low voice, “What’s going on, dear?”
Hot tears stung her eyes. She’d dealt with this ten years ago when she found out she was pregnant. Knocked up by the Love Beach bad boy who took off the day after prom. For the first time in her life, she’d defied her parents and insisted on keeping the baby. Every day since she’d worked her butt off to justify her decision and regain their respect, their approval. Their love. When she was up at night with Lulu, a tiny squalling bundle with her father’s aquamarine eyes and reddish-gold hair, she’d wrestled with the decision to find Kobe and tell him…or not. To one day tell Lulu…or not.
She’d made peace with all of her decisions—having Lulu and raising her alone and not doing more to track down Kobe—but his return upended everything.
“Kobe Lewis is back in Love Beach.” Her knees trembled, and she dropped back into her chair. “Odette saw him this morning and called to tell me.”
“Oh, my.” Her grandmother clomped closer. “That must have been quite a shock.”
“What am I supposed to do, Granny?”
“What would you like to do?”
“I don’t know.” Willa Leigh grabbed a tissue and dabbed at her eyes. “Lulu deserves to know the truth, and she’s been asking questions about her father, but what if?—”
“What if her father rejects her? What if he’s angry for being excluded from her life? What if he wants to know his daughter and takes her away from you?”
“Yeah. All those things.”
“What’s the hardest thing you ever had to do, sweet Willy?” Granny leaned onto her walker, her dark eyes compassionate.
Fall in love with a man she never had a future with?
Ignore the rumors and speculation that burgeoned along with her baby bump?
Bring her and Kobe’s child into the world by herself, wishing every minute it was him beside her and not her grandmother and best friend?
Raise a wonderful, stubborn, creative, whip-smart daughter by herself?
“If Kobe is angry, you explain why you made your decision. If he wants to be a part of Lulu’s life, you figure it out. If he doesn’t want to be involved, you and Lu will be hurt, but you have each other. You’ll get through this, Willy.” Granny’s eyes shone. “You’re a remarkable woman. Don’t let anyone make you doubt yourself. Not Kobe Lewis and not your own daughter.”
“What about me?” Lulu popped back into the office, bouncing impatiently. “I can’t wait to bring Cookie home. We’re gonna have puppies! Hey, Mom, you can pay me for puppysitting. With that plus the poop-scooping money, I can buy lunch every day!”
“Go on, dear. Dreading is always worse than doing.” Carefully navigating her exit, Granny waved as Willa Leigh and Lulu left the retirement home.
“What were you and Great-Granny talking about?” Lulu asked from the backseat.
“It was a private conversation.” She concentrated on her breathing to calm the roiling in her stomach. It was five-thirty, an hour past Kobe’s appointment at the shelter. She didn’t want him to leave town before she had a chance to speak with him, but she needed more time.
The Love Beach Animal Shelter parking lot was empty except for Odette’s old station wagon and a shiny black pick-up truck with Montana license plates. A sick certainty settled behind Willa Leigh’s navel as she pulled into a space on the other side of the gravel lot.
“Wait—”
Lulu was out of the car before she shifted into park, darting toward the one-story brick building and through the glass door.
“Dammit.” Willa Leigh turned the car off, fisted the keys, and went after her daughter.
The building interior was cool and brightly lit. Time froze, the tableau imprinting itself: Odette on one side of the counter, Lulu and Kobe on the other peering into a cardboard box.
“She’s so skinny,” Lulu exclaimed. “What’s her name?”
“She doesn’t have one. I rescued her from a rainspout this morning. I brought her here, intending to put her up for adoption, but I guess she’s coming home with me.”
The familiar chords of Kobe’s voice triggered a barrage of memories that made Willa Leigh dizzy: a raspy demand to kiss him, a rumble of pleasure that vibrated through his chest, the terse command to take him deeper right before he came inside her.
“I’m really good at naming pets.” Lulu looked around and beamed at her. “Right, Mom?”
Nodding as if her head was balanced atop a dandelion stalk, Willa Leigh locked eyes with Kobe, trapped between guilt and desire and fear.
“Hey, Kobe.” Breathy and high-pitched, she sounded nothing like herself.
“Willa Leigh.”
Sweet heaven, he was gorgeous. His lanky young man’s frame had hardened into the solid build of a man accustomed to physical labor. Sculpted biceps stretched the short sleeves on his blue t-shirt, the fabric hugging defined pecs and broad shoulders. Faded jeans molded to thick thighs and a flat abdomen. Shaggy dark blond hair streaked with copper and honey gave him a wild, untamed look.
He'd left a bad boy and returned badder and better than ever.
“Itsy Bitsy,” Lulu declared, breaking the moment.
“What?” Kobe asked.
“Not what, who.” Lulu pointed into the box. “Her. You found her a rainspout, so the perfect name is Itsy Bitsy. Like the spider.” She began chanting the nursery rhyme.
“You’re right. You are good at picking the perfect pet name.” Kobe’s brow furrowed as he took in Lulu, then looked over at Willa Leigh.
He knew . She was sure of it.
Tension, thicker than the late-May humidity outside, filled the reception area. Lulu, oblivious to the silent communication passing between the adults, talked to the cat in the box in a high-pitched falsetto.
“Um, Lu.” Odette glanced between Willa Leigh and Kobe. “Come into the back and help me get Cookie ready to go.”
When they were alone, Kobe set the cardboard box on the counter and leaned a hip against it, arms folded over his chest.
“Wha-what are you doing back in Love Beach?” she stuttered.
“I inherited a parcel of land from my father.” His pale blue eyes drifted toward the back of the shelter where muted conversation would be heard. “Someone wants to buy it.”
“I didn’t think you’d ever come back.”
“There was no reason to come back.”
She flinched, and he saw it.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said.
She lifted her chin, a show of defiance she didn’t feel. “It was one night. No strings. No expectations. You never misled me.”
“We were young, Willa Leigh. You had your whole life planned out, and I had…nothing.”
“Now?”
“I’ve grown up. Learned some hard lessons. And now, life is…good.”
Reflexively she looked at his left hand for a gold band but it was hidden in the crook of the opposite elbow.
“What about you? Still the town’s good girl?” The corner of his mouth lifted for a second, taking the sting out of his comment.
“A lot changes in ten years.”
“Let me guess.” Kobe’s smile was bittersweet. “You got straight As in college. Moved back to Love Beach. Got a job at the retirement home. Married a local boy and started a family. You’re on the PTA, you volunteer for at least three charities in town, and you’re the chairperson for the annual Fourth of July celebration.”
“Close,” she admitted. “I work at Beach Breeze and next year I’ll be president of the PTA. I’m chairman of the annual beach clean-up campaign. Ted Finnely’s in charge of Independence Day festivities.”
“What about the rest? Is she your only kid or do you have more at home?”
“Lulu is an only child.” She swallowed, her throat sticking. “I’m not married.”
“I’m sorry. Divorce is hard, especially on kids.”
Here it is. Your chance to tell him.
“I…um…I never married.”
Something flickered in his gaze, then was gone. “Like you said, a lot can change in ten years.”
“Is that your truck?”
“Yep.”
“How’d you end up in Montana?” She wanted to know everything, but turnabout was fair play, and she wasn’t sure she was ready to answer questions he might ask.
“It’s a long story.”
She waited, wondering if he would suggest getting together to trade stories. If he asked, would she say yes? Should she say yes?
Absolutely not. Kobe Lewis was part of her past. The only person entitled to a relationship with him now was Lulu. And she didn’t have a clue how to put that into motion.
Not without revealing the truth to Kobe and letting him decide.
“There’s something?—”
Lulu burst through the door, leading a pit bull on a pink leash. White with bluish-gray patches, the dog was stocky and round-bellied, close to the end of her pregnancy.
“Odette said I can work three hours on Saturdays,” she announced. “And we decided to name all of the puppies after different kinds of cookies. Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin. We need a few more. What’s your favorite cookie, mister?”
“Oreos. Isn’t that everyone’s favorite?” Kobe crouched down to scratch Cookie’s chin. “Hey, girl. You’re gonna be a momma real soon.” Standing, he turned to Odette. “She’ll drop those pups in the next week or so. Do you know how many she’s carrying?”
“Six, we think. Maybe seven.”
“Six?” Willa Leigh shrieked. “I can’t handle that many puppies.”
“It’s not a big deal.” Kobe grinned. “Set up a whelping box and keep an eye on her. Cookie will know what to do when the time comes.”
“Six baby dogs?” Lulu gasped. “Mom, we gotta keep at least one. Maybe two. Please! We can name them Snickerdoodle and Shortbread. That’s my Gramp and Grams’ favorites.”
“Seriously, Odette. We’re in over our heads here.” Between the pregnant dog and the prodigal bad boy, Willa Leigh was definitely in overload.
“I own a ranch in Montana,” Kobe said. “I’ve handled more births than I can count. Sheep. Cows. Goats. Cats. Dogs. Horses. I’d be happy to come by and get you set up. I assume there’s a vet on call, just in case?”
“Dr. Jamison,” Odette supplied. “He has a full-time practice here in town. He and his vet techs help out here.”
“Mom, Cookie needs us. She can’t have her puppies in a homeless shelter.” Lulu folded her hands together in a plea.
“It’s an animal shelter,” Willa Leigh said.
“It’s a shelter for animals without homes, so that makes it a homeless shelter,” Lulu insisted.
“There’s no one else to foster Cookie,” Odette said. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but the pressure is on with Tom Hadley selling the property out from under us.”
Willa Leigh gave up. Cookie needed them, and Kobe promised to help.
She had to tell him Lulu was his daughter, and maybe giving him a chance to get to know her would make the news less of a shock.
“Let’s go.” She sighed in surrender.
“Don’t forget Itsy,” Lulu told Kobe. “Does she like dogs? Cuz I think she and Cookie should be friends.”
They left together, leaving Odette to lock up.
“Friendship is a good place to start.” Kobe slid a glance toward Willa Leigh.
“Where are you staying?” she asked.
“The Red Roof Inn near the interstate.”
“Come by after dinner tomorrow. About seven?” She unlocked her small SUV, waiting until Lulu and Cookie were tucked in the back before closing the door.
“What if I bring pizza from Giancarlo's?”
“Yay! Ham and pineapple!” came Lulu’s muffled approval.
“Six?” Kobe asked.