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
