“Hannah, are you okay with that?”
“It seems I don’t have a choice about that, either,” she said. “I’m trying to adjust to the idea.”
“No wonder you sound a little dazed. I hate to add to the pressure, but I really do need you back here ASAP. When you’re not here, things fall apart.”
“It’s lovely to be considered indispensable, but we both know better. Dave, this is your business. You have plenty of competent people on staff. You just rely on me, because I’m usually handy. I’ve always been as much of a workaholic as you are.”
“Exactly,” he said. “I count on you, Hannah. Are you telling me you don’t want the responsibilities anymore? Because if I train someone to take your place, there’s no turning back. I can’t dangle a promotion in front of someone else on the team, then yank it back once you decide you’re ready to put in the time again.”
The threat that she would lose her place in the hierarchy was unmistakable. She waited for sheer panic to set in, but it didn’t. She had no idea why. Maybe it was because she thought he’d never follow through on it. Or maybe the real reason was within her. Maybe she honestly didn’t care as much as she once had.
“Dave, you know I love you and the company, but right now being here has to be my priority,” she said. “It won’t be for much longer, but I know you can’t run a business with that kind of uncertainty. Put me on unpaid leave and if and when things settle down here, we’ll talk. If you don’t want me back, then, well, that’s just the way it will have to be.”
“Hannah, you don’t mean that!”
Her own amazement seemed to exceed his, but she didn’t want to take the words back. “Actually I do,” she said.
“Come on, let’s talk about this. You need another week, even two, we’ll manage.”
“I can’t promise that will be enough, and I don’t want to let you down again,” she said, her mind made up. Until things in Seaview seemed settled, until she saw whether or not the inn could operate without putting too much of a strain on her grandmother and Kelsey, she needed to stay here for her own peace of mind. If there were reasons beyond that, she didn’t want to think about them now.
“How about a month?” he said, suddenly sounding desperate. “You can take a month’s leave with pay, as long as you agree to consult by phone and e-mail when we need you.”
The offer was more than she’d ever anticipated, proof of her worth to the company. She should have felt triumphant or at least gratified, but all she felt was more pressure. She knew exactly how it would turn out. Her days would be consumed with dealing with crises long distance. Her time wouldn’t be her own. She’d be little help to Kelsey or to Gran. Her days of taking walks on the beach or doing something just for the sheer fun of it with Luke would be over as well.
“Come on, Hannah, it’s a good offer and you know it. Say yes,” Dave pleaded.
“I’m sorry,” she said, feeling oddly euphoric as she uttered the words. “I can’t, Dave. I’ll call as soon as things are under control here and we’ll talk. If you need to move on in the meantime, I’ll understand.”
“Dammit, I am not letting you quit!”
“I don’t believe I ever said anything about quitting,” she reminded him. “I’m on an unpaid leave of absence with my return subject to negotiation.”
“Oh, spin it however you want to,” he grumbled. “You’re not coming back. I can hear it in your voice. I don’t know what’s going on down there, Hannah, but you’re losing your edge. You need to get back here before it’s gone for good.”
She laughed at his frustration. “How can you possibly say I’ve lost my edge? You just made me a dream offer, one you never would have considered when you made this call. I’d say that gives me the upper hand, even though technically I’m not even negotiating.”
“Whatever,” he muttered, then fell silent. When he spoke again, there was real concern in his voice. “Hannah, is this about the cancer? Are you suddenly scared that you don’t have time left? Is that what this is about? Are you trying to make the most of every minute?”
“No, Dave, it has nothing to do with the cancer,” she said honestly. “It’s about my family. Right now, they need me and I need to be here for them.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure.”
He sighed heavily. “Okay, then. Call me when you’re ready to come back.”
“I will,” she promised.
“I love you, babe. Forget anything I said before. There will always be a place for you here.”
Suddenly her eyes filled with tears. “Thanks, Dave.”
“I’ll be in touch. I’m not going to let you forget about us and the fact that I want you back.”
“Bye,” she said, because her voice was suddenly too choked to say anything more.
She clicked off the phone, then sank onto the bottom step. Kelsey suddenly appeared, which made Hannah wonder how much of the conversation she’d overheard.
“Mom, are you really okay?” she asked, sitting down beside her. A worried frown knit her brow. “You weren’t lying to Dave, were you? Your cancer’s not back, is it?”
Hannah draped an arm over her daughter’s shoulders and pulled her close. “Nope. This is just where I belong right now, that’s all. While I was talking to him, I just saw it all so clearly, that you and Gran need to be my priorities right now.”
Kelsey leaned into her. “I saw things more clearly once I got here, too. Isn’t it weird how things turn out sometimes?”
Weird wasn’t the word Hannah would have used. Ironic was the one that came to mind. Never in a million years would she have imagined herself choosing Seaview Key over New York, even for a minute, much less weeks, but she just had. And even though it was temporary, it didn’t make the decision any less unexpected or disconcerting.
Kelsey set out for her afternoon walk with her mom at a brisk pace. For one thing, the doctor she’d seen had told her that walking on the beach was good exercise, but she liked it because she could clear her head out here. It was as if the sea breeze blew away the cobwebs and let her see things more clearly. She wondered if her mom had suddenly realized the same thing and that’s why she was staying in Seaview for the time being. Had she started to appreciate Seaview in a whole new way?
Whatever her reasons, though, Kelsey was glad her mom was going to be around for a while longer. She liked taking these afternoon walks with her. Sometimes they never said a word, like now. Sometimes they talked about the past, all the things—good and bad—her mom remembered about living here as a child. At those times, Kelsey felt the ties to her ancestors in a way she never had before coming here, especially when she surprised her mom with stories that she claimed she’d never heard. Kelsey suspected she’d always been so anxious to leave, she’d never really listened to all the reasons that Seaview was someplace worth staying.
“You’re awfully quiet today,” Hannah said, glancing her way. “Is there something on your mind?”
“Not really. I was just thinking about how glad I am that you’re staying longer.”
“Me, too.”
“Really?” Kelsey said. “I figured you were doing it because you felt obligated or something.”
“That’s part of it, I suppose,” her mom said. “But like I told you earlier, it seems as if this is where I belong right now. Maybe I need to get in touch with the person I used to be.”
“When you knew Luke?” Kelsey asked, curious about the relationship. It was plain as day they were attracted to each other, but she had no idea if they’d been involved years ago. “Did you used to date?”
“No, he dated my best friend.”
“But you liked him, didn’t you? Those sparks between the two of you now can’t be something totally new.”
“He was the hottest jock in high school, so I suppose I was just as infatuated with him as every other girl in school. But he only had eyes for Abby. He never even gave me a second glance.”
“Well, he’s g
lancing now,” Kelsey said. “And then some.”
Even though her mom hadn’t admitted that there was anything between them, Kelsey couldn’t miss the pleased expression on her face.
They continued on in silence, Kelsey stopping every so often to pick up a unique seashell or a piece of sea glass to add to the collections she was creating for display in the inn.
“Sweetie, can I ask you something?” Hannah said, sounding surprisingly hesitant.
“Sure.”
“Have you talked to Jeff lately?”
Kelsey bit back a sigh. “I finally called him back last night,” she said.
“How did it go? Did you tell him you’re staying here?”
“I told him,” Kelsey said.
“And?”
“He was pretty angry.” She glanced at Hannah. “I didn’t expect that. I thought once I explained everything, he’d get that this was the best decision. Usually he’s this really laid-back, go-with-the-flow kind of guy, which is one of the things I love about him. He’s like the anti-Dave, if you know what I mean.”
Her mom grinned. “I know exactly what you mean.”
“Well, he wasn’t like that last night. He started issuing all these ultimatums and telling me he wasn’t going to let me give his child away to strangers.”
“How did you respond to that?”
“I told him he wasn’t the boss of me and hung up,” she admitted with a rueful grin. “Real mature, huh?”
“No, but understandable. It’s obvious, though, that you two do need to see each other and work this out face-to-face.”
“I already told you I can’t do that. I’ll cave.”
“I think you’re stronger than you give yourself credit for. If you cave, as you put it, it will be because on some level it’s what you want. Maybe there’s a compromise you haven’t even thought of yet.”
“I don’t think so. I think he’ll win because he’ll just wear me down.”
“You could invite him to come here. You’d have all of us as moral support,” Hannah suggested.
“No,” Kelsey said at once. “I don’t want him here.”
“Well, if you change your mind, it would be okay with Gran and me.”
“You’ve talked about this?” Kelsey asked, suddenly indignant. “What are you doing, plotting behind my back? Are the two of you picking out wedding dresses or something?”
Her mom just stared at her as if she’d gone off the deep end.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Hannah said finally. “If either of us wanted to plot behind your back, we’d have called Jeff ourselves and invited him here. I’m just saying that we’ll support you, no matter what you decide about asking Jeff for a visit or about putting the baby up for adoption or anything else, okay?”
Kelsey’s temper cooled at once. “Thanks. Sorry I snapped at you.”
“It’s okay. It comes with the territory.” She linked her arm with Kelsey’s. “Now, we’d better get back before Gran decides to climb a ladder to change light bulbs or something.”
Kelsey grinned. “You caught her doing that, too?”
“Oh, yeah. The woman doesn’t know when to quit.”
“Tell me about it.”
At least that was one thing they could agree on, she thought as they turned and headed home.
From the front porch, Luke watched mother and daughter walking on the beach. They’d been doing the same thing for days. He couldn’t help wondering what mother-daughter secrets they shared on those walks, but he never asked. Since until recently he’d kept more than enough secrets of his own from Hannah, he could respect their right to theirs.
Not that he had much time to wonder about what those two talked about. Grandma Jenny had him so busy he didn’t have a lot of time to sit and ponder his own life or anyone else’s. He’d taken some rare time off this afternoon and he intended to enjoy it. He’d leave his future on the back burner for another hour. Or maybe another day. Who knew, as contented as he was feeling right now, maybe even longer.
He closed his eyes and let the sun soak in. The warmth made his bad leg feel better, especially after he’d put too much stress on it trying to keep up with all the chores Grandma Jenny had for him. He could have told her the truth about his injury and begged off, but he’d liked feeling useful too much to risk having her cut back on the assignments out of pity. If she’d noticed him limping more at the end of the day, she’d never mentioned it, and he’d liked that, too. He appreciated that Hannah apparently hadn’t revealed what he’d told her, either, leaving it to him to decide how much he wanted Grandma Jenny to know. He didn’t want anyone hovering over him.
“You catching a catnap before Gran puts you back to work?”
Hannah’s teasing words snapped him awake. He grinned at her. “Don’t tell, okay? The woman’s wearing me out.”
She perched on the railing opposite him, her slim legs tanned and fit from the long walks she’d been taking, the color high in her cheeks, her hair streaked with blond highlights. She looked younger and more relaxed than when he’d first arrived.
“Me, too,” she confided.
He asked a question that had been on his mind for a couple of days now. “Aren’t your two weeks up now? You going back to New York?”
“I should be,” she said, sounding resigned. “But you know I can’t. Gran has her heart set on reopening the inn. I can’t bear to disappoint her. And then there’s Kelsey. Her life’s in chaos at the moment. I told my boss this morning that I was going on an indefinite leave of absence.”
He regarded her with surprise. “You’re staying indefinitely?”
“That’s the plan,” she said, then added, “Not forever, though.”
He smiled. “Just so I’m clear about it, huh? Or are you saying that for your own benefit?”
“Okay, sure. I do have to keep reminding myself that this is just temporary. It makes it bearable.”
“You know what I think? I think you like being here more than you expected to. It works that way sometimes. When we’re young, all we care about is growing up, being independent and moving on. Then we discover that being out there in the cold, cruel world is not all it’s cracked up to be, and home doesn’t look so bad, after all. Admit it, Hannah, Seaview is starting to grow on you again.”
She shrugged. “Maybe a little,” she conceded. “And right now, being here is good for Kelsey, too. I’ve managed to buy myself a few weeks of unpaid leave, but then I absolutely have to go back or I can kiss my career goodbye.”
“You said that being here is good for Kelsey. What about you? Why won’t you admit that it’s been good for you, that staying is about more than obligation? You look a lot more relaxed than you did when I first got here.”
Her expression turned thoughtful. “I’m annoyed at being conned into staying.”
“Conned?” he inquired.
“Okay, it was my decision,” she admitted. “But I am frustrated that I can’t get Gran to see my point of view. I still hate Seaview.” Her eyes sparkled, despite the litany. “But, yeah, it’s been good for me, too,” she said, the concession grudging. “How about you? You making any progress on all those heavy decisions you need to make?”
“Your grandmother’s kept me so busy, I haven’t had much time to think. You know what, though? That’s okay. I thought I needed to think things through, force myself to make some decisions, but I think I’d been doing way too much of that during all those months of rehab. I was just going around in circles. I needed to just be for a while, get in touch with myself again.” He smiled. “I know it all sounds a little touchy-feely, but you know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I think I do,” she said.
Just then his cell phone, which he’d stuck in his pocket out of habit, rang, something it hadn’t done for days. He pulled it out, glanced at the caller ID and winced. “I have to take this.”
Hannah started to move away. He put his hand on her bare thigh, then yanked it back.
“You don’t hav
e to leave. I’ll only be a minute. Stay, okay?”
He held her gaze until she turned and sat down in the rocker next to his and closed her eyes, soaking in the sun as he had been moments earlier. He wasn’t sure why he wanted her there, maybe because her presence helped to ground him.
“Hello,” he said curtly when he finally took the call.
“You haven’t called the kids for weeks,” Lisa announced, dispensing with any pleasantries.
“You’re exaggerating, as usual. It’s been less than two weeks,” he said, immediately on the defensive. “Besides, my impression was that you thought that would be for the best. You said when I called, it only upset them, and you wanted them to adjust to having Brad in their lives.”
“Well, I was wrong. This is upsetting them more.”
“Then I’ll call tonight,” he promised. “I never intended to stay out of their lives forever, Lisa. You know that. This was just a break until I could make some decisions and things started to get back to normal.”
“Where are you, anyway? I called the hospital and they told me you’d been discharged two weeks ago. Are you back in Atlanta?”
“No.”
“Then where are you?”
He didn’t want to listen to the sarcastic comments she’d make if she knew he’d gone running back to Seaview, so he avoided telling her. “It doesn’t really matter. You have my cell phone number. You can reach me if you need to.”
“Are you coming back eventually? What should I tell Brad? He’s wondering what to do about the practice.”
Luke could think of a few choice things she could tell his one-time best friend, but he refrained. Words couldn’t change the fact that Brad and his wife had hooked up while he was in Iraq. Well, God bless ’em. They deserved each other. His kids, however, deserved better.
“Actually, I’ve changed my mind, Lisa. I’m not going to call the kids tonight. I’m going to drive up tonight and get them first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Get them? What do you mean? I have custody. That was settled when the divorce went through.”
“Actually, we have joint custody and I have visitation privileges even when they’re with you,” he reminded her. “Quite a liberal amount of it, in fact. Let their school know that they’ll be spending the next week with their dad, who’s just home from Iraq and out of rehab. I don’t think anyone will have a problem with that, you included, am I right?” He didn’t even try to keep the challenging note out of his voice. He was spoiling for a fight and he wanted her to know it.
Seaview Inn Page 17