Sunrise on Cedar Key

by Terri DuLong

  Lucas stirred, opened his eyes, and smiled.

  “I want to wake to that beautiful face for the rest of my life.”

  “You will,” I said. “And I have the ring to prove it.”

  He laughed and reached for my breast.

  I sighed as his hand slid slowly down my body, igniting the desire of the night before.

  “You have to open the bookshop, don’t you?” I mumbled.

  “I’m the owner, and right now I’m going to make love to my fiancée.”

  Who was I to argue?

  “I think I hit the jackpot,” I said, taking a bite of the omelet that Lucas had prepared. “Not only are you handsome, witty, and charming, you’re the best chef I know.”

  Lucas laughed as he refilled my coffee mug and joined me at the table.

  “Oh, and by the way,” I told him between bites, “I really can cook. Maybe not as well as you—but you won’t be expected to do all the cooking in our house when we’re married.”

  “I enjoy cooking, but yes, we will share the cooking if you like.” He took a sip of coffee, then reached for my hand. “Grace, there’s one more thing I wanted to discuss with you that I didn’t get to last night.”

  What more could there be, I thought.

  “About children,” he began.

  But I cut him off. “Yes ... I know, and I know even more so now. It’s okay, Lucas. Really. I understand why you don’t want a child—and I’m okay with that. I really am. We have each other, and ...”

  Now he cut me off. “No, no. I also gave that a lot of thought over the weeks we were apart.” He took a deep breath. “I love children, Grace. You have no idea how much. But losing Genevieve ... well, it frightened me. The thought of having another child and something happening ... well, I wasn’t sure I could face that again.”

  “And now?” I asked.

  “And now I know we have no control over those things, but to never take another chance would be an even bigger loss.”

  I swear I could literally feel my heart swell with even more love for this man. “And so, you mean ...”

  “I mean, let’s see what happens. Is that agreeable to you?”

  I jumped up to throw my arms around Lucas’s neck and laughed when he pulled me into his lap.

  “Yes,” I said, stroking the side of his face. “Yes, that’s extremely agreeable to me.”

  He kissed my lips and then gently pushed me up. “Okay, now be a good girl and go eat your breakfast or you’ll have me dragging you off to bed again.”

  I laughed as I sat in my chair. “And that would be so bad, why?”

  “Because I do have to open that bookshop by noon and you have to get home to poor Annie.”

  I glanced at my watch and saw it was eight-thirty.

  “Right, but Suellen said she’d go over around seven this morning and let her out again for me.”

  “And when you called her last night, you didn’t tell her we were engaged?”

  I smiled. “Nope. I only told her I was spending the night here. I heard a snicker come across the phone line and would swear she was thinking, ‘I told you so.’ She was convinced we loved each other and would get back together.”

  Lucas laughed. “She was right.”

  “So I’m going to invite her over this afternoon and I’m going to tell her and Aunt Maude at the same time. God, they’ll be ecstatic.”

  “And Chloe? Are you going to tell your sister we’re engaged?”

  During all of our talking the night before, I had told Lucas about the part that Chloe had played with me and Beau.

  “If she finds out I’m engaged, it won’t be from me.”

  We were gathered at Aunt Maude’s kitchen table, and I looked across at two expectant faces waiting for me to say something.

  “Okay.” I let out a chuckle. “Knowing how you both thrive on good news, I wanted to share my very exciting news with the two people I love at the same time.”

  I whipped my left hand, which I’d been hiding under the table, out in front of them as I said, “Lucas and I are engaged.”

  “Lord above,” Aunt Maude said at the same time Suellen jumped up so fast from her chair that she knocked it over and came to scoop me into her arms.

  “I knew it. I just knew it,” she kept saying in between bursts of laughter. “I knew you two were destined to be together.”

  Aunt Maude laughed. “Oh, Gracie. I couldn’t be happier for both of you.”

  “Thank you, thank you,” I said, standing to take a mock bow, glowing in the limelight.

  Suellen righted her chair and sat back down. “Okay, now details. We want details as to exactly what happened. I take it all is forgiven about Lucas seeing you with Beau?”

  “Yes, that’s true. But I have a lot more to fill you in on and all of it isn’t happy. Actually, it’s quite surprising and sad.”

  I went on to tell them about Lucas’s daughter, his loss, and the difficulty he had dealing with all of it.

  “Oh, my goodness,” Aunt Maude said, shaking her head. “It’s no wonder Lucas was cautious. What a horrific ordeal to go through.”

  I saw the tears glittering in Suellen’s eyes. “God, I can’t even imagine what I’d do if something happened to Ashley. That poor man. Does anybody ever get over something like that?”

  “Not easily,” Aunt Maude said. “But it sounds to me like Lucas has worked through it and gotten to a good place. And Grace, I have no doubt you had a lot to do with that.”

  “Oh, gosh,” Suellen said. “Well, it certainly makes sense now why he never wants any more children.”

  I smiled. “That’s not entirely true. He feels he’s ready to take another chance. He loves children, so who knows. We’ve both agreed to see what happens.”

  This caused Suellen to jump up again, rush over, and pull me into a tight hug. “Oh, girlfriend, I’m so happy for you. You and Lucas will make the best parents.”

  I laughed at her exuberance and confidence.

  “So when’s the wedding?” she asked.

  “We haven’t set an exact date, but we’re thinking October.”

  “Oh, perfect time with the cooler air arriving.”

  “And, Aunt Maude ... we were wondering if maybe we could get married in your garden? It’s such a beautiful spot, and this house really feels like home to me.”

  “Grace, I’d be honored. The garden will be a perfect spot for a wedding, especially in autumn.”

  “I’m so excited for you,” Suellen said. “My little first-grade friend—finally getting married.” Tears filled her eyes again.

  I laughed. “And romantic that you are, I’d love for you to be my matron of honor. And I’m going to need lots of help choosing a gown, doing decorations, and all that sort of thing.”

  She began laughing and crying at the same time.

  “Really? Your matron of honor? Of course I will! And any help you need, just let me know. Oh, gosh, this is going to be so much fun. Hey,” she said, reaching out. “Let me see that ring again. It’s gorgeous.”

  I proudly displayed my left hand. “It belonged to Lucas’s grandmother.”

  “It’s really lovely, Grace,” my aunt said. “Family heirlooms are so special.”

  It didn’t escape me that neither my aunt nor Suellen had mentioned Chloe’s name at all.

  Lucas and I were relaxing with coffee after dinner in my living room. Both Annie and Duncan were curled up side by side at the end of the sofa.

  I smiled. “I think they’re both going to adjust very well to living together.”

  “I agree. They’ve always liked each other, which is nice.”

  “Oh, hey,” I said, putting my mug on the table. “Gosh, we have so many things to discuss about getting married. Where will we live? Your place or mine?”

  “Well, I did give that a little thought and it’s really up to you, but I thought maybe here might be better. With you doing the knitting retreat weekends, you have your office out there in the carriage house and
... besides, your place is larger. You know—just in case we need that extra bedroom.”

  I smiled and leaned over to place a kiss on his lips. “Yes, I know, and I like your way of thinking. Okay, so here it is. I have no doubt my aunt will be pleased to have us upstairs.”

  “See, that was easy. One thing settled. What’s next on the list?”

  “I mentioned to my aunt that we’d like to get married out in the garden, and she said that would be fine. I think she was thrilled that we’d chosen her prized garden for our wedding. Oh, maybe we should decide on a definite date?”

  “Good idea. Got a calendar?”

  I jumped up to retrieve the one from my desk. “Here we go,” I said, laying it out on the coffee table.

  Lucas thumbed the pages to October. “Well, do you want early or late October?”

  I stared at the boxes and numbers. “Hmm. Well, we don’t want it hot and humid, so maybe later October? How about the twenty-fourth?”

  “Sounds good to me, and remember that trip to Paris that I’d mentioned? I’m taking you to Paris for a two-week honeymoon. If you would like that.”

  I threw my arms around Lucas’s neck. “Like it? I’d love it! Oh, wait till romantic Suellen hears this. That will be such a special trip.”

  “It will be, and if you don’t mind, I’d like to take you to Père Lachaise Cemetery while we’re there—so you can meet my daughter.”

  “I’d like that, Lucas. I’d like that a lot,” I said, placing a kiss on his cheek.

  “You won’t need me to do the shopping for a gown and that sort of thing, will you?” he asked.

  I laughed. “No, you’re excused from that duty, Mr. Groom. Suellen will be my assistant with that.” This caused me to think of Chloe again.

  “Forgiveness is hard, isn’t it?” I said.

  Lucas nodded and pulled me into the circle of his arms as if he knew what I was thinking and wanted to give me comfort. “Forgiveness can be very hard, yes. But ... it’s also very necessary in order to go on with one’s life.”

  “Have you forgiven Danielle?”

  Lucas didn’t answer right away. “A part of me has,” he then said. “But a part of me still blames her for taking my daughter away from me. Maybe that’s natural. I don’t know. But I do know that until I was willing to forgive her I was stuck. I was going nowhere, and that’s when I made the decision to relocate to Brunswick. And now, I can’t help but feel that move ultimately led me to you.”

  I smiled. “The same with me. Maybe I had really forgiven Beau long before I even realized I had. I’ve now come to understand that it was me I was having a hard time forgiving for all these years. But when I saw him again, spoke with him, I suddenly knew the time had come to also forgive myself.”

  “Sometimes we’re much kinder when it comes to forgiving other people.”

  “Do you think Chloe is sorry for what she did? Calling Lila and telling her about Beau and me.”

  “I can’t answer that, Grace.”

  And since I had no desire to confront her to obtain that answer, I might never know.

  37

  The end of April had me reflecting a lot on the previous six months. So much had happened that in some ways it felt like a lifetime. My coffee shop and residence had burned to the ground. Lucas and I began dating and became closer. My sister and I reconciled only to be estranged once again. I began working with my aunt doing the knitting retreat weekends. And—in six months I would be married. Something that six months before I wasn’t sure would ever happen.

  Lucas had gone to Gainesville for the day to do errands and I was covering the bookshop. I was arranging some new arrivals on the shelf when I noticed a gentleman waiting for my attention.

  “Oh, sorry,” I said, turning toward him. “Can I help you with something?”

  He appeared to be mid- to late forties, streaks of gray in his dark hair adding a note of distinction, and he was well dressed in jeans and a polo shirt.

  Pushing his wire-rim glasses farther up the bridge of his nose, he stammered, “Ah, yes ... I wanted to know ... ah ...”

  His hesitation made me wonder if perhaps he wanted to inquire if we carried porn books, so when he went on to say, “I wanted to know if you know the woman working in the coffee shop,” I burst out laughing.

  Geez, Grace, I thought, get your mind out of the gutter.

  “Oh, Suellen?” I said, stifling my laughter. “Gosh, yes. We’ve been friends since first grade. Is there a problem?”

  “Oh, no. Not at all,” he said, shifting the stack of books he held in his hands. “I was just wondering ... do you know if she’s married?”

  I was so stunned by his question it took me a moment to answer. “No, Suellen’s not married. She’s been divorced for years.”

  A smile crossed his face, which enhanced his nice looks. “Oh, I see. That’s good.”

  He must have seen the confused expression on my face.

  “I realize that was a pretty odd question,” he explained. “But I’ve been staying here on the island for a few days and going into the coffee café. I’ve struck up a few conversations with her and ... I’d like to get to know her better, so I just wanted to be sure... .”

  Oh, wow, could this be possible? The queen of romance might be getting an interested romantic partner of her own? I figured the least I could do was notch up my matchmaking abilities and maybe help the process along.

  “That’s really nice of you to check first,” I told him. “And listen, just because she’s my best friend, I’m not going to enhance her qualities, but ... Suellen is one of the sweetest, nicest, and most caring people I’ve ever met.”

  He nodded. “I think I already gathered that. Is she seeing anybody?”

  “No. She had a nasty divorce years ago, raised her one and only daughter on her own, so she’s a tad cautious with men. Ashley happens to be my goddaughter and she’s in college in Georgia.”

  “I see,” he said again, and then balanced the books in one hand in order to reach out with his other. “By the way, I’m Mitchell Thomas. Nice to meet you.”

  I returned his handshake and said, “Likewise. I’m Grace Stone. My fiancé, Lucas, is the owner of the bookshop and café.”

  His glance took in the room. “It’s a very nice shop.”

  “Where’re you from?” I asked.

  “Originally, the San Francisco area. Gave up my high-profile job in the Silicon Valley and relocated to Tampa a few years ago. Now ... I run a dog-grooming service.”

  Well, he must like dogs if he grooms them, I thought. A couple points for him.

  “Is this your first visit to the island?”

  “Yes, and I have to say I’ve fallen in love with it. As a matter of fact, I’ve extended my stay for another week.”

  I smiled. “Yeah, this town can be like a magnet.”

  “Well,” he said, again juggling the books in his hands. “I’ve taken up too much of your time. Thank you so much for all the information. Maybe you could ring me up?”

  “Sure,” I said, walking to the counter. I noticed his taste in reading ran from Michael Connelly to Ken Follett to a new mystery that had recently hit the New York Times list.

  I passed the tote bag across the counter. “Well, it was very nice meeting you, Mitchell. I hope you’ll stop in again.”

  “Oh, I’m sure I will, and nice to meet you, too, Grace.”

  Instead of leaving from the bookshop door, he headed back over to the coffee café, and I couldn’t resist standing in the archway to take a peek.

  Suellen turned around as he came up to her counter. He must have said something humorous because I saw a huge smile cross her face and then she laughed. They talked for a few more minutes and then he left.

  Hmm, interesting. Very interesting. I waited a few minutes and then sauntered over and perched on a stool in front of the counter.

  Suellen looked up from scooping coffee into a filter. “Hey, Grace, what’s up?”

  I smiled. “W
hat’s up? Gee, I seem to recall another time, another coffee café where girl met boy.”

  A perplexed expression crossed her face. “What on earth are you talking about?”

  Trying hard not to laugh, I said, “Mitchell Thomas.”

  Was that a shade of crimson I saw creeping up her face?

  “Oh ... him? The guy that just left? You know him?”

  “Well, after he gave me the third degree about you, yeah, I’d say I know him fairly well.”

  “Me? He was asking you questions about me?”

  “Ah, yup. Hey, could I have a double latte?” I loved dragging out information with Suellen. I’d been doing it since we were kids, and I knew how much it annoyed her.

  She threw the coffee scoop down. “No way in hell are you getting coffee till you tell me what’s going on.”

  My laughter finally broke through. “Well, Miss Romance, I do declare I think you have a real live romance of your own brewing. He specifically came over to the bookshop to ask me if you were married.”

  Surprise covered Suellen’s face. “No way!”

  “Yup. Said he wanted to get to know you better but wanted to be sure you weren’t married or seeing somebody.”

  Now I was positive that was a deep crimson covering my friend’s face. “So I take it you’re also interested?” I asked.

  “Well ... ah ... he started coming in here a few days ago and you know, we started talking, and ...”

  “And you’re interested in him,” I stated.

  “Well, he’s a good-looking guy and he seems intelligent and, yeah, I did enjoy talking with him, so maybe. Maybe I’m a little interested, but I don’t know a thing about him. He only told me he lives in Tampa and is here for a few days visiting the island.”

  “Hmm, make that a week, honey. He’s extended his stay.”

  Suellen’s face lit up. “He has?”

  “Yup, and he’s originally from San Francisco. Worked in the Silicon Valley but sounds like he wanted to get away from the pressure, because now he runs a dog-grooming service.”’