Chapter 8
8
Willa Leigh stabbed a fast-food wrapper with her trash grabber and shoved it into the plastic bag knotted through a loop on her jean shorts. The Love Beach Clean-Up Campaign had attracted a record number of participants, and black bags stuffed with debris were piled up in the back of Handy’s old pickup. He’d already hauled one load to the dump. Another half hour and they’d be done.
Several of the town’s restaurants were sponsoring a picnic for volunteers, but the only thing she wanted was a hot bath and a cold beer. Odette and Ginger waved from the top of the dunes, making “come here” gestures with their hands. When she ignored them and went back to picking up the few remaining bits of trash, they started shouting and waving their arms. Satisfied she’d found everything, she trudged through the sand, wondering what the fuss was about.
“Did you hear?” Odette squealed, nearly in tears.
“No, she didn’t hear. They just announced the news,” Ginger was less crazed, but a smile stretched from ear to ear.
“What news?”
“Someone donated five acres to the Love Beach Animal Shelter, along with two and a half million dollars to build a state- of-the-art facility.” Odette flung her arms around both friends. “Think of all the animals we can save. There’s money to hire our own vet and techs, and it will be big enough to stable horses and cows. Heck, maybe we’ll rescue a herd of llamas.”
“Who donated the land?” There was no one in Love Beach with that kind of money.
“Daddy did, silly.” Lulu popped up from behind a clump of seagrass, Kobe close behind.
“What?” All three women asked the same question.
Lulu flung her arms around Willa Leigh’s waist and squeezed. “Surprise!”
A little bit dazed and a lot confused, she looked to Kobe for an explanation.
“I had an offer from a developer to buy my dad’s land.” He smoothed his palms over his shorts in a nervous gesture. “I thought Love Beach could use an animal shelter more than a condo high-rise.”
“You…why? You don’t even live here.” She couldn’t connect the dots.
“My daughter does. And the woman I love does. So, maybe I can, too.”
“Time to go,” Odette intoned, curving a hand around Ginger’s arm to tug her away.
“The woman you what?”
“Daddy loves you, Mom. It’s not that complicated.” Lulu spoke like her mother as dumb as a bag of rocks. “Aunt Jezzy came to Daddy’s ranch and said she never should have told him to go away. Then you had me. It took a long time for Daddy to come back, but he did and he still loves you. Do you still love him?”
“How do you know all this?” Her ten-year-old daughter had a better grasp on the situation than she did.
“Lu, go find Odette and Ginger.” Kobe handed the girl a twenty-dollar bill. “Tell them I said you could have a triple scoop of ice cream from O'Leahey's Creamery. We’ll meet you there in an hour.”
Kobe took the trash grabber and untied the plastic bag, laying both on the sand near a metal receptacle.
“Let’s walk on the beach.”
She didn’t resist when he linked his hand with hers, leading her to the edge of the water where small waves rippled like lace.
“I’m confused,” she admitted.
“It’s simple. We lost ten years but found forever.”
“What Lulu said about Jezzy…”
“She didn’t want you to get hurt.”
“But to think we could have?—”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Kobe squeezed her hand. “We were young, Willy. The stress of a baby might have been too much for us. Especially when we both had a lot of growing up to do. Jezzy gave me a lot to consider. Life goes according to plan for some people—they fall in love and marry and have kids and grow old together. For others, it’s a rough ride and that’s okay. You eventually end up where you’re meant to me and the journey gives you time to become the person you’re meant to be.”
“I still don’t know who I’m supposed to be.” Just like prom night, she wasn’t afraid to share her deepest, darkest fears with Kobe. He made her feel safe and seen and loved for who she was.
“You’re Lulu’s mom. One day, I’d like you to be my wife.”
“Kobe!”
“Don’t worry,” he assured her. “We have time. I won’t rush you into anything.”
“This is too much. Too fast.” She pulled her hand away and wrapped her arms across her waist, circling as if looking for escape.
“I’m sorry.” He took a step back. “Jezzy said…I thought…”
“You don’t understand,” she cried. “This whole time Lulu was at the ranch, I’ve been convincing myself this could never happen. That what I thought was love was infatuation. I’m scared this is a dream and I’m going to wake up and you won’t be here.”
Kobe took Willa Leigh in his arms and held her.
“I’m not leaving you ever again, Willa Leigh. Take as much time as you need to believe this is real. When you’re ready, we’ll get married.”
“And Lulu approves of this?”
“Honey, our daughter is the one who figured it out. We’ll split our time between Love Beach and the ranch. You can keep working at the retirement home or explore other options. It’s time to live life on your terms, babe.”
“Oh, Kobe. I love you.” She rose up on her tiptoes to kiss the bad boy of Love Beach, then whispered. “Let’s live life on our terms.”
Up next in the Love Beach Collection is Summer with a Quarterback .
Check out all the steamy small-town romances in the multi-author Love Beach Collection .