designed for a big family to gather in privacy. The matriarch and patriarch of the family—Ginger and the general—appeared on the balcony porch looking like any other grandparents vacationing with their family. Relatives of all ages poured from the guest quarters. Three other dogs sprinted ahead. Not quite the careful, structured meet and greet that worked best, but clearly this home was about organized chaos.
She stepped out of the car, setting Sterling on the sandy ground while she held tight to the leash. The family tableaus played out in full volume now. She could hear a little girl squealing with laughter while her dad taught her to swim in the pool. A mom held a snoozing infant on her lap while she splash, splash, splashed a toe in the water. Voices mingled from a mother’s lullaby to a couple planning a date night since grandparents could babysit.
Johanna saw her own past in the times her parents had taken her swimming in a pond and saw the future she wanted for herself, but couldn’t see how Stone would fit into it. She was killing herself, seeing all these happy families while was stuck in a dead-end relationship with a man who would never open up.
All luxury aside, this kind of togetherness was what she’d hoped to build for herself one day. Those dreams hadn’t changed. Which meant she’d landed herself right back into the middle of a heartache all over again.
* * *
Stone sat at a poolside table with Ginger and Hank Renshaw, pouring over their adoption paperwork. If anyone had told him a week ago that he would be grilling them to be sure Sterling would be a happy fit for their family, Stone would have said that person was nuts.
Yet here he was, quizzing them and watching the way they handled his grandmother’s dog— Correction. Their dog now. Sterling was curled up in Ginger’s lap, looking like a little prince, completely unfazed by the mayhem of children cannonballing into the deep end while a volleyball game took place on the beach.
Stone nodded somberly, pulling his hat off and setting it aside. “It’s important that Sterling get along with children.”
“Amen,” the general agreed, having stayed silent for the most part, a laid-back gramps in khaki shorts and a polo shirt. “We have double digits in grandkids. Christmases are particularly chaotic.”
This wasn’t chaos? Stone felt the weight of Johanna’s eyes on him, the confusion in her gaze. He gave her a reassuring smile, and she warily smiled back, which too quickly had his mind winging back to thoughts of last night, of how damn much he enjoyed making her smile...and sigh.
He cleared his throat, and his thoughts, turning his focus back to the older couple who’d clearly found a second chance at romance.
Ginger touched her husband’s arm, the former secretary of state completely poised in spite of the breeze pulling at her graying hair and loose beach dress. “Hank, we should have them test out the Rottweiler—Ruby—while they’re here, as well, since he will be part of the family, sort of, by going to Jonah’s father-in-law.”
Ginger’s youngest son had married a princess, no less. Stone looked out at the beach where Ruby splashed in the waves with another dog and a trio of preteens. “So far so good, I would say.”
Ginger nodded, patting the cairn terrier in Johanna’s lap. “I just wish we could take that precious Pearl, too. She’s like a little Toto from The Wizard of Oz. The grandkids would love her and it would be wonderful to keep them together. But we know our limits.”
Johanna set her glass of sweet tea back on the table. “We’re going to be sure Pearl is well taken care of. Just knowing that Sterling is happy is a load off all our minds, especially for Mrs. McNair.” She glanced sympathetically at Stone before looking back at Ginger. “Thank you.”
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