“What part ofno talkingconfuses you?”
“You started it.”
“My baby sister had a baby. I’m busy every night for at least the next couple of years. Probably longer.”
“Haylee has a mother,” Chase pointed out. “One who’s not you.”
“Have youmetmy mother?”
“Yes, and she’s terrific.”
“Well, she overwhelms Haylee. That’s why I moved back. To help keep the peace.”
“Is that your plan?” Chase asked, his tone more curious than judgmental. “Live with your parents until Haylee either gets married or Melly goes off to college?”
In truth, Laurel hadn’t given much thought to her living situation since she moved back. Living on her own had been out of the question while Haylee was pregnant. Her sister needed a buffer when Mom prodded too much or Dad threatened to hunt down thepunkwho knocked her up. Cody had only come back for the season a couple of weeks before Melly was born, and he’d leave in the fall.
Naturally, it made sense that Laurel live with the rest of her family. For how long, she hadn’t figured that part out.
“So what if I do?” She didn’t mean it. It was one thing to be twenty-nine and living with her parentstemporarily. But to be in her thirties or forties?Yikes!She made a mental note to contact the local realtor, Jolene Davies. Ask her to keep an eye out for something cozy and affordable, for informational purposes should she need it. Enough for her to make an eventual plan. But it would still be several weeks, if not months, before Laurel felt comfortable leaving Haylee on her own.
“What aren’t you telling everybody?” Chase challenged.
“What—” She cut herself off because she remembered the email with the incredibly tempting offer from her old boss. If money was her main motivator, she’d be a fool to turn it down. She could amass a small fortune with the clients he promised to give her if she returned to the Florida Keys. Though it was certainly a consideration, Laurel didn’t think she’d accept it.
“Laurel, when are you going to learn that secrets are not necessarily a good thing?”
Maneuvering around low-hanging branches, a small rocky island with a few trees sprouting from its jagged surface appeared in front of them. Laurel steered left, but Chase went right. Chase was too strong for their own good.
“Turn!” Laurel yelled at him as the rocky island grew frighteningly close. “The other way!”
Laurel squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for impact. But the crash never came. She opened one cautious eye, catching Chase pushing off the rocky wall with his paddle. “You think this is my first time out?”
“Not funny.”
“I thought it was quite entertaining.”
He was trying to rile her up, but she wasn’t going to let him any more than he already had. “We need to head back,” Laurel insisted. “I have to meet your sister for lunch so I can tell her we’re still married. How’s that fornotkeeping secrets?”
Several beats filled with only the whooshing of water and cries of nearby seagulls caused Laurel to turn her head over her shoulder at Chase. “Nowyou’re speechless?”
“Have you told her—”
“No. And I’m not going to.” Why she kept the miscarriage so close to the vest five years later, she could no longer say.Embarrassment? Fear of pity? Unwillingness to deal with the despairing grief all over again?Whatever the true reason, she wasn’t ready to divulge that secret. “But if Ava finds out we’re still hitched from anyone but me, I’ll be uninvited to her wedding.”
They steered around the small island, turning back toward the kayak rental shop. Passing the teens who were stopped in the water, taking selfies. Laurel shook her head, hoping they didn’t lose a phone. The water was fairly deep in this area, and gentle waves crashed into the side of their kayaks every few seconds. If they dropped one, they weren’t getting it back without scuba gear.
Laurel almost warned them, but thought better of it. If she startled them, they might drop the phone anyway.
She was almost sad when Chase tugged the kayak onto shore. Despite their bickering, she’d be lying if she said she hadn’t enjoyed the time spent together. As social as they both were, she’d always loved the moments spent in comfortable silence the most. It was so much easier to lie to herself than face the truth.
I blame Cody and his stupid words of wisdom.
“Think you could stop by tonight?” Chase asked after they returned the paddles. “To go through those boxes. Before you say you’re too busy, I’ll grill steaks.”
“Ribeyes?” Laurel asked, her eyebrow raised.
“The juiciest, fattiest ones I can get my hands on.”
