Seaview Inn

“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 to 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.”

“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.”

“Am I wrong to want her to finish her education, no matter what?”

“Getting a good education is never wrong, but you won’t know if now’s the time for it until you sit down and really listen to her, will you? In the end, this has to be her decision.”

“I suppose so.” Hannah leaned over and rested her head on her grandmother’s shoulder, taking comfort in the familiar rose scent of her cologne. “I love you, Gran. I know I came down here to bulldoze you into doing things my way, but I only did that because I love you and worry about you.”

Her grandmother winked. “Then it’s a good thing you’re not the only one in this family with a stubborn streak, isn’t it? I don’t get bulldozed that easily. Now, go upstairs and talk to your daughter. You two need to start figuring things out. And if you run into Luke while you’re up there, tell him he can take me to that hardware store on the mainland for some paint in an hour.”

“Paint? We bought paint,” Hannah protested.

“I’ve decided white’s too boring for the outside of an inn on the beach. Don’t know why I let you talk me into it.”

“Boring?” Hannah repeated nervously. “Meaning what?”

“I’m going with the turquoise, after all. Thank good-ness this isn’t one of those silly towns that go all crazy about permits for this and that. Do you believe some places even have a boring color palette you’re required to choose from? That’s not for me. I want to breathe new life into this place. We should stand out from the crowd.”

Hannah winced. “Are you sure?” She couldn’t imagine a new buyer being drawn to a turquoise structure, but she supposed that was the least of her worries. Grandma Jenny clearly didn’t intend to fall in with her plans for selling right now, anyway.

“I’m sure,” Grandma Jenny insisted. “But I’ll see if Luke agrees before I go wild.” She gave Hannah a sly look. “He seems to have a good head on his shoulders. Have you noticed that?”

Hannah regarded her with suspicion. “You don’t have some hidden agenda for Luke and me, do you?”

“I don’t even know if the man’s married,” her grandmother said innocently. “If you want me to, I’ll ask him while we’re out. Get the lay of the land, so to speak.”

Hannah groaned at the glint in her eyes. “Leave it alone, Gran. I’m sure Luke will tell us anything he wants us to know.”

“Some things it’s better to know at the outset,” her grandmother retorted firmly. “You deal with Kelsey. I’ll handle things with Luke.” She stood up. “Now that we have a plan, let’s get going. We can’t waste the whole day lollygagging around here.”

Hannah glanced longingly out the window toward the gentle waves lapping at the shore a few hundred feet away. Lollygagging sounded a whole lot better than going upstairs and facing her daughter. She was tempted to sneak out of the house and head straight for the beach, but a knowing look from Grandma Jenny told her she’d never get away with it. “Okay, okay, I’m going upstairs,” she said defensively.

“Now?”

“Now,” Hannah agreed, though with a hefty amount of reluctance. When had she turned into a woman who hoped that ignoring problems might make them go away? When had she developed this powerful desire to stick her head in the sand and pretend that everything was okay?

It had to be the influence of Seaview Key, she thought as she trudged up the stairs. And that was just one more reason she needed to get back to her busy, organized life. In New York, she was “Go-to-Hannah.” Down here, she was about to turn into someone who lacked motivation or drive or answers. Hannah, the slug. She shuddered at the thought.

* * *

Kelsey heard the tap on her door and knew it was her mom. “I have to go,” she told Jeff. “I’ll call you later.” She turned off her cell phone and jammed it into a bedside drawer before telling her mother to come in.

“Who were you talking to?” her mom asked.

“Nobody.”

“I heard your voice.”

“Must have been the radio,” Kelsey said.

Her mother’s gaze narrowed. “You’re lying, Kelsey, and you’re not very good at it, so don’t do it.”

Kelsey winced. “It was just a friend from school.”

“The baby’s father?”

“Why would you...?”

“You’re actually talking to the father of the baby?” her mother continued as if Kelsey hadn’t even attempted to deny it. “Why?”

“I never said—”

“Kelsey, how does this man feel about your being pregnant? What kind of man leaves you to deal with something like this all alone?”

“Mom, you don’t know what you’re talking about, so drop it, okay?”

“After your father, I think I do know a thing or two about men who can’t handle responsibility. You don’t want someone like that in your life, Kelsey. Forget about him now. You have your grandmother and me. We can see you through this.”

“This isn’t your life, Mom, and Jeff isn’t Dad. Far from it, in fact. I’m the one who doesn’t want to get married. I’m the one who’s having trouble facing all this. I don’t want a baby now. I’m not ready. I’d have an abortion, but Jeff got furious when I even mentioned the possibility, so I promised him I’d think about everything before I did anything that drastic.”

Kelsey felt awful when she saw the look of dismay that crossed her mother’s face. “I know you don’t believe in it, either, but how can I bring this baby into the world under these circumstances?”

“Sweetie, we don’t always get to choose the circumstances, but a child is a blessing, no matter when it comes along.”

“Really? Tell that to some poor woman who’s been raped.”

“Kelsey!”

“Well, it’s true. There are circumstances when it’s not a blessing, when the timing’s all wrong or the people are all wrong together or a thousand other reasons. Shouldn’t I have the right to say this is not right for me?”

She could tell her mother was struggling to be fair, to be impartial, even though she had very strong opinions of her own. And the truth was, after her initial desperate reaction to the pregnancy, Kelsey hadn’t been able to see herself getting an abortion, either.

“You do have a right to make your own choice, but only when you’ve weighed this very, very carefully,” her mom said. “This is one of those times when you can’t go back and undo an impulsive decision. You have to live with it for the rest of your life. And, to be honest, I’m probably not the best one to help you decide. We’re talking about my grandchild here. I might not have chosen this moment for him or her to come along, but that’s life. Things happen. We deal with them.”

Kelsey felt tears welling up. “I don’t want to deal with them. I don’t want to deal with this,” she said, and threw herself into her mother’s arms. “How did I screw everything up so badly?”

“I think we both know the answer to that,” Hannah said, a hint of levity in her voice. “Why don’t you tell me about Jeff? That might be a good place to start. You’ve never even mentioned him before, but he must be important if the two of you are about to have a baby together.”

Kelsey didn’t know how she felt about Jeff anymore. A part of her loved him. Another part was furious with him for his role in this predicament. Because her feelings about him were so conflicted, she said, “Could we go for a walk on the beach, instead? I think that’s what I need right now.”

Her mom looked as if she wanted to insist that they sit right here and talk, but eventually she relented. “Maybe a walk will do us both good,” she conceded. “Watching the waves come in, knowing they’ll still be doing the same thing tomorrow and the next day and long after we’re gone helps to put things in perspective. Problems never seem as huge and overwhelming by comparison.”

Kelsey gave her mom a wry look. “I was just thinking that maybe for a little while it would make me feel like a kid again.”

Hannah grinned. “Okay, that, too.”

“I remember the last time I was here, not for Grandma’s funeral, but before that. I was a junior in high school, I think, and you let me come down by myself during spring vacation.”

“Hardest thing I ever had to do, watching you get on that plane,” Hannah admitted as they slipped into sandals and walked across the street to the beach. “I knew you were old enough and responsible enough to travel alone, but it was terrifying for me. We’d never been separated for more than a couple of days before. I sat at the airport until the plane was in the air and then sat by the phone at home until you called me that afternoon. That was, without question, the longest week of my life.”

Kelsey regarded her with surprise. “Really? I thought you were glad that I was spending time down here, getting to know Grandma and Grandma Jenny.”

“I was. I wanted you to know the rest of your family, to feel that connection to them.” She gave Kelsey a rueful look. “I think I was scared you’d fall in love with Seaview Key. A lot of people who leave New York in the middle of winter and discover it’s possible to be warm in February develop an infatuation with Florida. And to someone who didn’t grow up here, Seaview Key does have its charms.”

“Like being able to walk to the beach from your house and having everyone in town know who you are,” Kelsey said, pausing to kick off her sandals and dig her toes into the cool sand at the water’s edge. “I couldn’t believe it when I went to the store with Grandma and every single person said hello and called me by name. They all knew who I was. At least, the locals did. It was kind of cool.”

“I didn’t think so when I was a kid and every one of those people would call my house if they saw me misbehaving,” her mom countered. “I’d walk in the door and your grandmother and Grandma Jenny would be waiting for me, ready to let me have it.”

“I guess that would suck.” Kelsey grinned. “Did you misbehave a lot?”

“Enough,” Hannah admitted.

“Tell me,” Kelsey begged. “Come on, Mom, spill everything.”

“I am not going to give you ammunition to use against me,” Hannah retorted indignantly, but she was grinning.

“I’ll just ask Grandma Jenny,” Kelsey threatened. “I bet she remembers every bad thing you ever did.”

“I don’t doubt it. She always took great pleasure in telling me I’d messed up.”

Kelsey’s mood sobered. “Mom, you know she and Grandma really loved you and were proud of you, right?”

Hannah stared at her. “What makes you think that?”

“They told me. When I was here, they asked a million questions about your job and your friends and all the places we’d been. I wish they’d visited us more in New York.”

“I invited them, but they hated it the one time they came,” her mother replied defensively. “I offered to send them plane tickets every single Christmas, but they always came up with an excuse and it always had something to do with the inn.”

“It was their business, Mom,” Kelsey said impatiently. “You, of all people, should understand about responsibility. Until you got sick, I don’t think I ever remember you taking a real vacation.”