She drew a deep, steadying breath. “I’m in Tahoe now. But I was planning to head down the mountain on Saturday morning. So any time on Saturday. If you’re free. But don’t feel obligated,” she quickly added. “I’m sure you’ve got a million things you’d rather do with your weekend than hang out with your ex-sister-in-law.”
“I’ll be available around four.”
“That would be perfect. It’ll be a lot better if you’re there with me.” She bit her knuckles as soon as those words came out of her mouth. What had she just said? It sounded as if she missed him, felt safer when he was around. But she couldn’t take it back or clarify without drawing even more attention to her faux pas.
“Okay,” he said as if she hadn’t said anything out of the ordinary. “I’ll call you when I’m heading over.”
“Thank you.”
“See you on Saturday,” he said and then he was gone.
Serenity groaned as she fell back on her bed. It’d be a lot better if you’re there with me?
She tried to tell herself she didn’t know where that had come from. But she had to acknowledge that while she’d been navigating the sharp rocks and reefs of Sean’s lies, his family’s anger at her defection, his lawyers’ pressure to change her testimony, the loss of her marriage and, maybe, the hope of ever having a family—not to mention the mounting pressure of being unable to write during the whole ordeal—it was Sawyer showing up at the courthouse each and every day that had been the lighthouse guiding her safely through.
18
lorelei
“DID YOU NOTICE your husband getting a bit too chummy with your best friend before you learned the truth?”
Reagan had taken Lucy down to the water, which left Finn and Lorelei sitting farther up the beach. When they’d set out from the cabin, they hadn’t intended to walk clear to Sand Harbor. Lorelei would never have attempted such a distance on her own, not without a stroller. Lucy could easily tire on the way back, which would mean carrying her home.
But with Finn letting Lucy ride on his shoulders, Lorelei didn’t have to be so practical. When they got involved in conversation and continued on to the lake, Lorelei hadn’t protested or asked to turn back. She was enjoying herself too much.
“Not really,” she replied. “Francine and I were so close that she spent a lot of time with Mark, too. She’d hug us both when she arrived or left. Would remember to bake him a cake for his birthday. Would bring over cookies or meals she knew he’d like. Would talk to him about movies or TV shows they both enjoyed. But she did plenty of nice things for me, too, and everyone else she loved. I didn’t get the impression she was flirting with him so much as being thoughtful—a good friend to both of us.”
She could feel Finn’s eyes on her but didn’t dare meet his gaze. Every time she looked at him, she felt a flutter in her stomach—an awareness she hadn’t experienced in ages, which was crazy. She was avoiding the hard problems in her life by admiring him. Or maybe she was looking for some reassurance that she was desirable in spite of how unattractive Mark had made her feel.
“When do you think it switched to something more?” he asked.
Lorelei stared out over the water. The beach wasn’t crowded; it was still too chilly for sunbathing. And it was a Monday. Apparently, many of Tahoe’s visitors came only for the weekend now that it was no longer ski season. But with the vivid blue of the lake, the Brunswick green of the tall stands of pine trees that looked as though they’d marched boldly up to the water, and the white-capped mountains rising all around them, it was a beautiful place to be. Lorelei felt as if she was sitting in the middle of a painting, especially with someone as handsome as Finn lounging beside her. Maybe one day Finn would paint this place...
“That’s the thing,” she replied. “I don’t know. They joked around and teased each other all the time, but I got the impression it was more like a sister horsing around with a brother-in-law.”
He grimaced. “That makes it even worse.”
“It does. Obviously, it changed somewhere along the line. I’m not sure exactly when that was or why I didn’t notice, but I’ll lose my best friend as well as my husband—if I go that way.”
Sitting up, he crossed his legs in front of him. “Is that the direction you’re leaning?”
She shook her head. “I can’t decide. It’s so hard to give up on a marriage when you’ve devoted everything you have to it. Especially when there’s a child involved. But how will I ever trust Mark again?” She didn’t mention that she believed Mark was taking steps to protect his income should she leave him, because that hurt almost as much as the affair. It revealed a stingy, ungenerous side of her husband, one that was, in the end, ruthlessly practical as well as blatantly unfair. It certainly did little to convince her that he truly cared about her or her well-being.
“Considering the way you grew up, I can understand how important trust is to you.”
Finally, she looked at him directly. “Don’t you think he should’ve understood that, too?”
Although he seemed about to agree with her, he deferred at the last second. “Marriages are complicated, Lorelei. I don’t want to steer you wrong.” He picked up a rock and threw it as far as he could into the water. “Do you have a picture of Mark? And Francine? We’ve talked so much about them, but I don’t even know what they look like.”
She pulled her phone from her pocket and thumbed through her photos until she came up with a picture of her husband. Finn glanced at it and nodded. Then she found one of Francine at the baby shower she’d thrown when Lorelei was pregnant with Lucy.
“She’s pretty, isn’t she,” she said as she showed it to him.
She watched as he studied her ex-best friend’s image, imagined him taking in the long blond hair, big blue eyes, petite but curvy figure and the dimples that flashed whenever she smiled.
“No prettier than you,” he responded and handed her phone back as Lucy came running up the beach.
“Momma, come wade with me!”
“Isn’t the water too cold?” Lorelei asked.
“It’s freezing!” Reagan called from the water’s edge.
That didn’t deter Lucy. She tugged on Lorelei’s hand. “It’s not too cold,” she insisted.
Lorelei laughed. “Okay, okay. Let me get my shoes off.”
Finn kicked his flip-flops to the side, got up and pulled her to her feet.
“Thanks,” she said, but he caught her by the elbow to stop her before she could follow her daughter down to the water.