“And when am I going to meet the gorgeous Luke? Will he be joining us for dinner?”
“Actually it could be a bit sooner than that,” Hannah said carefully. “If you want to. I have to run by the clinic around four.”
Something in her voice must have given her away, because Sue’s expression immediately filled with concern. “What’s going on?”
Hannah swallowed hard, then forced out the words. “I found a lump.”
Sue immediately reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Why didn’t you call me?”
“There was nothing you could do. You’d just have worried.”
Sue didn’t even attempt to hide her dismay. “It’s been tested?”
“Luke did a biopsy. He’ll have the results this afternoon. He thinks it’s scar tissue.”
“Then that’s what we’ll believe,” Sue said at once. “Positive thoughts.”
“Kelsey doesn’t know,” Hannah warned her.
“Got it. And of course, I’ll go with you to the clinic, even though there’s absolutely nothing to worry about.”
Hannah clung to her hand, relieved to have her friend by her side. “I am so glad you’re here.”
“Me, too, sweetie. Me, too.”
But despite Sue’s attempt to be cheerful, there was no question that a pall had been cast over the visit.
Luke held the envelope with Hannah’s test results. Across his desk, Hannah sat next to her friend Sue. The two of them were holding hands so tightly their knuckles had turned white. Hannah’s eyes were dark with fear and Sue’s were shimmering with tears.
“You ready?” he asked, his heart in his throat. He could have looked the moment the results reached his desk, but he’d waited. He’d told himself there hadn’t been time to look them over earlier, but the truth was, he was as nervous as Hannah.
Hannah nodded. “Just get it over with,” she told him.
Luke opened the envelope and read the lab report, a sigh of relief escaping. He barely resisted a desire to run around the desk and scoop Hannah up in his arms.
“Scar tissue,” he announced. “Nothing else. Just scar tissue.”
Hannah blinked back tears. “You’re sure?”
“It says it right here.” He tapped the paper. “When you see your doctor in New York after the wedding, there will be more-thorough tests, but this one came back clear.”
“Thank God,” Sue murmured. She gave Luke a fierce look. “If it had said anything else, I’d have had to kill you.”
He laughed. “Yes—shoot the messenger.”
“I know we glossed over the pleasantries, but I’m Hannah’s very best friend in the world, Sue.” She gave him a penetrating look. “And the way I hear it, you’re more than a messenger.”
He grinned. “That remains to be seen. I’m working on it, though.”
“Don’t give up,” she said.
“Hey, you two, I am right here in the room,” Hannah grumbled. “And I feel like celebrating. Let’s go see if the grocery store stocks nonalcoholic bubbly and have a toast.”
“Why don’t you let me do that?” Sue said. “Just point me in the right direction and I’ll pick it up and bring it back here. Then you two can do a little private celebrating of your own.”
“Are you sure?” Hannah asked. “It’s been years since you’ve been here. Will you be able to find the store?”
“It’s an island. How lost can I get?” Sue asked.
Grateful to her for her consideration, Luke gave her directions. When she was gone, he walked around the desk.
“Told you it would be good news,” he said, his knees brushing against Hannah’s.
“It won’t always be,” she said direly.
“But it could always be,” he stressed. “That’s good enough for me. I’m a risk-taker.”
“Some risks are too big to be taken,” she argued.
He touched a finger to her lips. “My decision.”
“Luke—”
He silenced her protest by kissing her. He did a thorough job of it, too.
“How could I not want more of that?” he asked afterward.
Though Hannah looked a little dazed, she gestured toward the report lying on his desk. “How could you possibly want more of those?”
“Sweetheart, it was good news. Focus on that.”
“I want to,” she said.
“What’s stopping you?”
“Paralyzing fear.”
“Waste of time,” he told her. “It won’t change anything. It will just rob you of the happiness you could have. Decide to live, Hannah. Reach out and grab every second you can. And I want you to do that with me.”
He waited for her to think about that, waited for her to offer him at least a slim hope that they could reach for the future together.
“I’ll try,” she said eventually, touching a hand to his cheek. “It’s the best I can do, Luke. One minute at a time, I’ll try.”
He nodded. It wasn’t all he’d hoped for, but it was a start. “Then we’ll make those minutes count.”
“I look like a blimp, a giant white blimp,” Kelsey complained, turning this way and that in front of the full-length mirror.
Her father said solemnly, “You do not. You look beautiful. Doesn’t she, Hannah?”
Kelsey rolled her eyes. “You have to say that. You’re my parents and you want this wedding to happen. I should have waited until after the baby’s born.”
“This is better and you really do look beautiful,” Hannah said. “I swear it. If you want, I can get Jeff in here. I’m sure he’ll agree with me.”
“Bad luck,” Kelsey said succinctly. “Besides, he wants this wedding to happen even more than you do. He’ll say whatever it takes to get me down the aisle today.”
“True.” Hannah smiled. “But I promise you that all I really want is for you to be wildly happy. I think you will be with Jeff.”
Kelsey threw her arms around Hannah’s neck. “I think so, too. I have no idea why I waited so long to say yes.”
“You were taking the enormity of this step seriously,” Hannah said. “I’m proud of you for that. And, in case I haven’t said this enough, I am very proud of you for figuring out what makes you happy and going for it. You’re doing an amazing job with the inn. Gran is ecstatic that you’re here and want to keep it running. I’m also proud that you’re generous enough to welcome your grandfather, his wife and my half brother for your wedding.”
“And me,” her father said. “I haven’t spent nearly enough time with you, but I promise we’ll change that.”
“I did that for our family,” Kelsey said. “I want my baby to be surrounded by every single person who will love her. As for the inn, I’m not doing it just for Grandma Jenny,” she said firmly. “It’s fun. I love getting to know all the guests and making sure they have a good time. There’s something new every day. I think I might have realized sooner that this was what I wanted if I hadn’t been so afraid you’d disapprove, Mom.”
Hannah frowned at the suggestion that she might have stood in the way of Kelsey choosing her own future. “Why would I disapprove of anything, if it made you happy?”
“Come on, Mom. You always hated the inn and Seaview. Gran knew it. So did I.” She studied her mother intently. “But I think your attitude’s changing a little bit, isn’t it? At least toward Seaview?”
Hannah nodded slowly. “Being here with you and Gran has been wonderful,” she admitted. “It’s going to be hard leaving you here, especially with the little one on the way.”
“Hold on,” Kelsey said. “You’re leaving before the baby comes? Dad, could I have a few minutes alone with Mom?”
“Of course,” he said as he left. “Hannah, you did an amazing job with our daughter.”
“Mom, you have to stay here,” Kelsey said.
“I have to go back, sweetie. You know that. You’ve heard Dave badgering me ever since he arrived.”
“I’ve also told him to butt out,” Kelsey reto
rted. “What about Luke? I know he wants you to stay. Your home is here with us, Mom. What is there for you in New York?”
“My career,” Hannah said flatly.
“Sit,” Kelsey ordered.
“Baby, it’s almost time for the wedding to start. We don’t have time for this discussion now.”
“Then I’ll make it fast,” Kelsey said. “Mom, all you have in New York is a boss who works you to death. I’m sure it’s been very satisfying all these years to know that Dave counts on you and it certainly paid the bills, but you’re not excited about it anymore, not the way you used to be. It turned into drudgery a long time ago. You’re just scared to admit it, because it’s all you have.”
“It most certainly is not all—” Hannah began indignantly.
“It is,” Kelsey said, cutting her off. “Until you and Luke hooked up down here, you hadn’t been on a date in years. You certainly haven’t met anyone as wonderful as Luke. You have one really good friend, Sue, and a lot of acquaintances. You don’t even have me anymore. Your whole family will be down here. You’ve always defined yourself by being needed—I don’t have to have a psychology degree to understand that. Well, where are you more needed? Here or New York? Just think about that, Mom. Promise me.”
“If it will get you into church and down the aisle, I’ll promise you anything,” Hannah said in a flip tone.
“I’m serious,” Kelsey said, not budging. “Promise and mean it.”
Hannah regarded her, surprised by the somber tone. “This really matters to you, doesn’t it?”
“It does. I want you here to be a part of my baby’s life. And mine. And I want you to be as deliriously happy with Luke as I am with Jeff.”
“Then I promise to think about it,” Hannah said.
“I’ll hold you to that,” Kelsey warned her, then grinned. “Now, let’s go get me married so I don’t have this baby on the way down the aisle.”
After a perfect wedding with no mishaps and everyone—Lucy included—on good behavior and with Kelsey and Jeff away on a three-day honeymoon on nearby Sanibel Island, Hannah pitched in to help at the inn. As soon as they were back, she planned to head for New York and another round of tests to be sure that the biopsy results hadn’t been a fluke. While she was there, she also intended to speak to Dave about her job. Though he’d brought it up at every opportunity during the visit to Seaview, there hadn’t been a moment for a serious conversation.
Despite everything Kelsey had said, Hannah was still clinging to the idea that her life was in New York. Maybe the truth was that she simply couldn’t handle a change so huge at this point in her life when there was so much other uncertainty.
Leaving Luke and her family was going to be hard. She recognized that, but the past few months had been an unexpected gift, a chance to heal a lot of old wounds and spend time with people who meant the world to her. She couldn’t find a label to pin on what she’d found with Luke, who was sitting beside her now as twilight fell.
With most of the guests out for the evening, they had the porch at the inn to themselves. Gran had actually gone off to her quilting circle for the first time in months. Her energy seemed boundless now that she knew the inn was going to stay in the family.
“This is the perfect way to end a day,” Luke murmured contentedly. “Sitting here and unwinding with you.”
“It is,” Hannah agreed, not yet ready to tell him that moments like this would end soon.
When her cell phone rang, it was a jarring interruption to the serenity of the evening. “Sorry,” she murmured to Luke when she saw that it was Dave. “I have to take this.”
“Sure. I’ll go in and pour some more tea.”
“Thanks,” she said as she flipped open the phone. “Hey, Dave. What’s up?”
“That’s what I want to know. I’ve given you months to make up your mind, Hannah. Even when I saw you over the weekend, I tried not to do a full-court press, but the truth is I can’t wait any longer for your decision. We just landed a major account and I need you back here, or I’ll have to replace you. So, this is it. Are you coming back or not?”
“I’m flying up next week,” she told him. “Can we talk about this then?”
“Sorry, no,” he said. “I need to know now. Tonight.”
She frowned at the reply. Obviously Dave was in crisis mode. Dave was always in crisis mode, but tonight she found it annoying. Nothing could possibly be so important that she had to made a decision in the next five seconds. This was either gamesmanship on his part, or he’d found her replacement and was looking for an excuse to hire the person.
“Who is it?” she asked quietly.
“Who? The new account?”
“No, the person you want to hire.”
“The person I want is you,” he insisted.
“Who is it?” she repeated.
He muttered a curse under his breath. “You know me too darn well. Max Carter’s just become available. He’s good, Hannah. He’d fit in here, but I don’t have a spot for him if you want your job back.”
Hannah gazed across the street at the calm waters glistening under the full moon. She listened to the music coming from inside the inn, an old favorite of Gran’s, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, perhaps. Then Luke came through the door, two glasses of iced tea in hand, as well as some bruschetta he’d magically whipped up from fresh tomatoes and Merilee’s sour dough bread. Suddenly it was no contest. All this stacked against the demands of a man who respected her for her capabilities, but didn’t care about her needs as a human being.
Hannah swallowed hard and decided it was time to take a leap of faith. With Luke’s gaze locked with hers and her heart fluttering as if she were nineteen again, there really wasn’t any choice to make. As long as Seaview Key had Luke, New York had absolutely nothing she really wanted.
“Hire Max,” she told Dave without the slightest hesitation. “You’re right. He will fit in perfectly.”
Dave gasped. “You’re serious?”
“I am,” she said, reaching for Luke’s hand and twining her fingers through his.
“You’re not just saying that because I pressured you into making a decision, are you? This is really what you want?” Dave asked, his voice filled with disbelief.
Hannah met Luke’s gaze and saw that he’d picked up on enough of the conversation to understand the choice she was making. His lips curved. “This is really what I want,” she said, holding Luke’s gaze.
Dave was still talking when she clicked off the cell phone and tossed it aside.
Luke pulled her into his arms. “You’re sure about this?”
“What is it with you men?” she asked. “You’ve been begging me to make a decision and now that I have, you don’t seem to want to accept it.”
Luke grinned at her feigned annoyance. “Just giving you one last chance to back out,” he said. “Because once you say yes to me, I won’t let you go, Hannah. This is it.”
Her gaze never left his face as her expression sobered. “This is it,” she said emphatically. “You, me, here, for as long as it lasts.”
“Forever,” he corrected. “I won’t settle for anything less.”
She touched his cheek as she had days earlier. “From your lips to God’s ears.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5391-3
SEAVIEW INN
Copyright © 2008 by Sherryl Woods.
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