Seaview Inn

by Sherryl Woods

  By the time he’d reached the small grocery store on the island, which was thankfully unchanged, he was in pain, but his mood had improved. He bought a half gallon of rocky road ice cream, which he vaguely recalled had once been Hannah’s favorite. Or was it Abby’s? At any rate, they’d eaten a lot of it way back when. Maybe it would be just the thing to put everyone in a good frame of mind tonight.

  Then, again, that was asking a lot of a bowl of ice cream, no matter how big and decadent it was. Of course, at the pace he was walking these days, there was a good chance it would be soup by the time he got it back to the inn.

  Kelsey took one look at the plate piled high with fried chicken and the huge bowl of creamy yellow mac and cheese and went running for the nearest bathroom. Morning sickness, which was a misnomer if ever she’d heard one, basically sucked. She hated heaving her guts out several times a day.

  The doctor she’d seen assured her it would pass soon, but she wasn’t counting on it. She had a feeling this baby was going to punish her from now through eternity for not wanting it. If it wasn’t morning sickness, it would be something else…colic, or teething accompanied by cries of pain or, down the road, a teenage rebellion of monumental proportions. She figured she’d deserve every miserable minute.

  Though she could hear the low murmur of voices from the kitchen while she was in the bathroom, the second she crossed the threshold, silence fell. Obviously they’d been talking about her. She hoped her mother hadn’t filled her great-grandmother in on the news of her pregnancy yet. Grandma Jenny was going to have a lot to say about it and Kelsey didn’t want to hear any of it. She’d made a mistake. She knew it. She was going to deal with it. What more was there to say?

  Even her mom had known there was little to be said on the subject, because she’d been silent and withdrawn all the way from the airport to Seaview. Despite the careful silence, Kelsey had felt her judgmental stare every few minutes throughout the ride.

  Now, as she glanced from her mom to Grandma Jenny, she caught a glimpse of someone else in the room who hadn’t been there a minute ago. She turned to get a good look at the man hovering near the sink. He seemed intense. Dark and good-looking, but definitely intense.

  “Kelsey, this is Luke Stevens,” her mother said. “He’s staying here right now. We were friends when we were kids.”

  Kelsey studied him curiously. All her visits to Seaview had been rushed and she’d rarely ever met anyone who’d known her mom years ago. As far as she knew, no one ever stuck around the island if they could get away. To hear her mom tell it, only losers stayed behind, but this guy didn’t look like a loser.

  “Nice to meet you,” Luke said. “Seems as if you all have a lot to catch up on, so I’ll just fix myself a plate and head up to my room.”

  “No,” Kelsey said, as did both her mother and Grandma Jenny.

  “Besides, you went out and brought home all that ice cream,” Grandma Jenny added. “You need to sit right here and eat it with us.”

  Luke stared at them with amusement. “Gee, I’ve never felt so wanted.”

  Kelsey grinned, despite her lousy mood. “Every family needs a good buffer.”

  “Nice to know I can fill a niche around here.” He stared pointedly at Grandma Jenny. “Though I thought I was here to do odd jobs for a couple of weeks.”

  Grandma Jenny shrugged. “I’d say being a mediator for the three of us fits that, wouldn’t you?”

  “Just warn me ahead of time if I’m going to need a weapon or body armor,” he said dryly.

  Kelsey noted that even her mother had to fight a grin at that. As she munched on a handful of Saltines she’d managed to find in a cupboard, the rest of them dove into dinner. A few minutes later, Kelsey risked a little mac and cheese, then a chicken wing.

  She looked around the table and suddenly felt the knot in her stomach ease for the first time since she’d found out about the baby. Maybe, like dinner, her life was going to turn out okay, after all.

  Suddenly, acid burned the back of her throat and she bolted from the table.

  As she wiped her face with a damp cloth after throwing up her dinner, she corrected herself. She was going to spend nine months heaving her guts out, the baby was going to arrive, and then things were going to get complicated, especially if Jeff refused to back away from his demand that they get married and keep this baby. In no scenario she could imagine would her life ever be okay again.

  5

  Luke didn’t have to have a medical degree to know what was going on with Kelsey and why she’d come to Florida in the middle of the school year. She was pregnant. Hannah obviously knew it, which was why there’d been a pinched expression on her face when Kelsey had bolted for the bathroom for the second time since they’d arrived home from the airport. If Grandma Jenny knew, she wasn’t giving anything away. She just poured a glass of ginger ale, set it down on the table at Kelsey’s place and announced she was going to her room.

  “Something tells me you and your daughter need to talk,” she said to Hannah, then looked pointedly at Luke. “They could probably use some privacy, too.”

  Luke acknowledged the suggestion with a nod and stood up.

  “That was subtle,” Hannah murmured after she’d gone. “Are you sure you want to stick around here after tonight? I told you it was going to get messy.”

  “Do you want me to go?” he asked, studying Hannah’s expression. “I mean now. Earlier both you and Kelsey seemed anxious to have a buffer. Maybe an impartial third party could help.”

  Hannah looked relieved. “To tell you the truth, I don’t want to get into any of this tonight and I imagine Kelsey would rather postpone it indefinitely. Stay, please.”

  Luke acquiesced and sat back down, though not without some trepidation. “Does your grandmother know about the baby?”

  “I haven’t told her, if that’s what you mean,” she said, not bothering to deny that her daughter was pregnant. “But she knows. I’m sure she noticed the handful of crackers that Kelsey grabbed earlier. That’s why she left that glass of ginger ale, too.”

  “You okay?”

  She gave him a wry look. “I’m not the one who’s still more than a year away from graduating from college and about to have a baby.”

  “No, but you are the mother of a young woman who’s about to have one, and apparently without a husband, or am I wrong about that? Is there a wedding on the horizon?”

  “Not that I’m aware of.” She regarded him sheepishly. “Then, again, apparently I’m the last to know a lot of things. I didn’t even know there was a man in her life.”

  “Maybe there’s not,” he said, phrasing his words carefully.

  “Oh, I’d say a man’s involved in this,” Hannah retorted.

  He grinned at the evidence that she hadn’t entirely lost her sense of humor. “I meant anyone she’s serious about.”

  “Are you suggesting she was just casually sleeping around?” she asked, her indignation stirring. “No way. I may not know much else, but I know that.” She sighed. “Truthfully, we haven’t broached the daddy factor yet. I just found out about this myself the night before last, right after I got down here. Kelsey flew here because I insisted. She’s not thinking very clearly right now. She wants to quit school and move back to New York.”

  “And you disapprove?” He could read it in the set of her jaw and the tone of her voice.

  “Strongly. Am I wrong?”

  She gave him a surprisingly helpless look that made Luke want to fix this for her. He hardly had the right to even offer a suggestion, though. “Honestly, I don’t know,” he said eventually.

  “Me, neither,” she admitted. “I don’t know if I have the right to push her to stay in school, or if it’s even the right thing to do. I’m out of my league with all this.”

  “I don’t think any parent’s ever prepared for this moment.”

  “Do you have kids?”

  “Two, but they’re a lot younger than Kelsey. Thank God, I don’t have t
o worry about something like this for a long time.”

  “Trust me, the time passes before you know it. A part of me still thinks of Kelsey in a frilly party dress, blowing out candles on a birthday cake, surrounded by a bunch of other toddlers. Instead, she’s this amazing young woman whose life is about to be turned upside down. If she were a different girl, if she’d been flighty or reckless, I could understand how this could happen, but she’s not. She’s always been very much in control of everything.”

  The bathroom door opened and they fell silent. Kelsey looked pale and drawn, but she managed a wobbly smile.

  “Sorry,” she said. She spotted the ginger ale and took a tentative sip. “Where’s Grandma Jenny?”

  “She went upstairs,” Hannah told her.

  “I think I will, too,” Kelsey said, avoiding Hannah’s gaze. “I know it’s early, but I’m beat. I’d like to sleep for a week.”

  Hannah regarded her with disappointment. “I thought we could talk,” she said, though it sounded halfhearted.

  “In the morning, Mom, please,” Kelsey said. “I’m just not up to it tonight.”

  “Okay, sure.” Hannah was a little too quick to cave in, proving just how reluctant she was to have this conversation. “Get some rest, sweetie. I love you.”

  Kelsey bent down and kissed Hannah’s cheek. “Love you, too. Good night, Luke. I swear I’ll be better company tomorrow.”

  “Your company is just fine,” he said.

  She grinned. “You actually said that with a straight face. I think I like you.”

  Then she was gone and Luke was left alone with Hannah, who looked as if she were near tears.

  “You’re not going to cry, are you?” he asked worriedly. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if she did. He could handle combat better than he could deal with a woman’s tears. His wife had known that and used it to her advantage more times than he could count. The only time it hadn’t worked had been when he’d reenlisted in the army.

  “It’s entirely possible that I’ll bawl my eyes out before the night’s over,” Hannah admitted. “You can run for your life, if you want to.”

  Since she’d offered him an easy out, naturally he felt compelled to deny he wanted one. “Now, why would I do that? I’m just asking for advance warning, so I can get you some tissues. As for running me off, in general, let’s just accept that I’m here for the duration, okay?”

  “You are gallant, aren’t you? Kelsey was right.” She dabbed at her eyes with her napkin. “Just for that, I will not cry. I’ll clean up these dishes and then make some iced tea. You want to join me for some on the porch?”

  “Forget the tea,” he said. “I want some of that ice cream. How about you?”

  Her eyes brightened perceptibly. “I’d forgotten all about that. What kind did you get?”

  “Rocky road.”

  She gave him a surprised look. “Was that a lucky coincidence or did you actually remember that was my favorite?”

  He shrugged, his expression sheepish. “I remembered we ate an awful lot of it that summer I was hanging around here. It had to be somebody’s favorite.”

  “Honesty. Wow, that’s a rarity. Most men would grab the credit for being that thoughtful,” she said.

  “Only if they were trying to impress you, which I’m not.” His gaze met hers and he felt something shift. There was an unexpected spark that took him by surprise. If Hannah’s expression was any indication, she was as startled by it as he was. Talk about lousy timing. Both of them had way too much on their plates to consider adding another complication. Even so, it might be impossible to ignore this pull. It had been a long time since he’d been with anyone, an even longer time since he’d wanted a woman other than his wife. That had to explain this sudden spark between him and a woman who’d never been more than a friend. Whatever the reason, the reaction was undeniable.

  “Maybe I should amend that,” he said quietly.

  “Amend what?” she asked, a faintly breathless quality in her voice as their gazes held.

  “I’m not trying to impress you yet.”

  The moment seemed to last an eternity before she grinned and the spell was broken. “Let me know when you’re going to start trying,” she said lightly. “I think I’d better be prepared. Something tells me you’re a very dangerous man when you decide to throw yourself into something.”

  He chuckled, relieved to be back on more familiar footing. Teasing her had always been one of his favorite pastimes. “Hannah Matthews, are you flirting with me?”

  She blushed furiously. “You started it. Now, scoop up that ice cream, Luke. It’s gotten awfully warm in here.”

  He deliberately held her gaze a bit longer, then grinned. “Indeed, it has.”

  He retrieved the ice cream from the freezer, lingering with the door open in an attempt to cool down his overheated libido.

  While he had his back to Hannah, he told himself he was an idiot. He was here to get his priorities in order. And her life appeared to be even more of a mess than his own. As much fun as flirting with Hannah—or a fling—might turn out to be, neither of them needed the potential heartache. He’d do well to remember that.

  Besides, it had been years since he’d had a friend to confide in. That was the role he needed Hannah to play. This little zing he’d felt was an aberration. Tomorrow they’d go back to being pals the way they’d been years ago.

  He was so busy formulating his plan that he didn’t notice right away that Hannah was staring at him with amusement. When he did, he muttered, “What?”

  “That’s a lot of ice cream, even for you,” she said, gesturing toward the bowl, which must have had a whole pint scooped into it.

  He grinned and shoved the bowl in her direction. “Actually that one’s for you. I recognize a woman in need of a chocolate fix when I see one.” He doled out a huge dollop of hot fudge sauce to prove it.

  She eyed the bowl skeptically, then picked it up. “You could be right. Come on out to the porch when you’re finished.”

  Luke told himself he ought to be anywhere except on the porch tonight, but when he had his own bowl filled with ice cream, he couldn’t seem to make himself climb the stairs to his room. Instead, he headed for the front door…and most likely straight for trouble.

  “Why didn’t you tell me your daughter is pregnant?” Grandma Jenny demanded the second Hannah wandered into the kitchen in the morning following the aroma of coffee brewing.

  Hannah wasn’t ready to have this conversation before she’d had caffeine. A lot of caffeine, in fact. She and Luke had been up way too late talking. They’d carefully avoided any repeat of the flirting that had gone on earlier, sticking to memories of old times, catching up on news of friends they’d each kept in touch with. He’d done a better job of that than she had. After a couple of hours of talking about old times and old friends—yet somehow avoiding any mention of Abby, who’d been so integral to both their pasts—they’d said a casual good-night and gone their separate ways. As they’d climbed the stairs, they’d kept a careful distance apart, pretending that the spark they’d both felt earlier had never happened.

  Now Hannah deliberately ignored her grandmother, grabbed the biggest mug she could find and filled it to the brim with strong, fragrant coffee. Only when she’d had several sips did she dare to meet Grandma Jenny’s expectant gaze.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about Luke staying here?” Hannah retorted, hoping to buy herself a couple of minutes, since she didn’t have any real answers about the whole lousy situation.

  “Don’t try that with me,” Grandma Jenny said. “I told you yesterday why Luke’s here. Now I want to know why my great-granddaughter has shown up here with a baby on the way. And don’t deny it. I’m not so old that I can’t recognize the symptoms.”

  “I wasn’t going to deny it,” Hannah said. “But to be honest, I haven’t asked her a lot of questions yet.”

  “I left the two of you alone last night precisely so you could talk.”

&n
bsp; “Never happened. She went to bed. Luke stayed.” She gave her grandmother a defiant look. “I asked him to.”

  “I see.”

  “I doubt it,” Hannah replied. “I was so thrown when Kelsey told me about the pregnancy the other night, I couldn’t think of anything to do except get her here so we could talk about it. Now that she’s here, I don’t know where to start.”

  “The father seems like a good place to me. Where’s he in all this?”

  Hannah shrugged. “Not a clue.”

  “Don’t you think maybe you should ask?”

  “I’ll get around to it. With Kelsey, it’s better to let things unfold at their own pace.”

  Her grandmother rolled her eyes. “Up to you, but I’d recommend you get answers before that child’s due date.”

  “Grandma Jenny?” Hannah was surprisingly hesitant. This whole disaster was so far beyond her ability to control or fix, she honestly didn’t know what to do next. “What on earth am I supposed to do?”

  To her surprise, her grandmother pulled a chair up next to her and took her hand. “You keep on doing just what you’re doing. You’re here for her. So am I. Together, we’ll figure out what comes next,” she said matter-of-factly. “To do that, though, we need to get all the cards on the table.”

  “You’re not upset that I told her to come?”

  “Don’t be silly. This is your home as much as it is mine,” her grandmother reminded her. For once it seemed as if she was merely stating a fact, not sending a pointed message. “And that makes it Kelsey’s home, too. Where else should she go when there’s a crisis?”

  “When she told me, all I could think about was convincing her to stay and finish college. I didn’t think for one second about how hard that would be or what would come later. She’ll have a baby to raise all on her own. She’s not ready for that.”

  “None of us are entirely ready for a baby, no matter what we like to think,” Grandma Jenny told her. “Before your mama came along, I read every book. Made your grandfather read ’em, too, but it didn’t do a lick of good. Every baby’s different and every cry seems like a crisis until you get to know your own child. Eventually you just settle in and handle whatever comes along. Kelsey will, too. She’s your daughter, isn’t she? I imagine she has enough organizational skills and strength to get through this, even if the baby’s father isn’t in the picture.”