Seaview Inn. Sherryl Woods

gave him a hard look. “You’re not going to keel over the second you walk out the door, are you?”

      He managed a faint smile. “I hope not.”

      “Then go.” She shook a finger under his nose. “But don’t think I won’t still have the same questions tomorrow or the day after.”

      “I never doubted it,” he said. “Right now, though, I need some fresh air.”

      “You’ll be back for dinner, though, right?”

      “I’ll be back,” he assured her.

      He felt her concerned gaze on him as he left. There was something sweet about that. He couldn’t recall the last time anyone had cared about his comings and goings. His ex-wife had stopped caring months ago, by his calculations. His kids, well, right now they were mostly confused. Very soon, when he felt more centered and sure of himself, he needed to fix that. They needed to know that he still loved them, that he was going to be there for them. To do that, though, to make that commitment, he had to figure out who the hell he was now...or who he wanted to be.

      “So, have yourself a damn pity party, why don’t you?” he muttered in disgust as he walked the few blocks into downtown, taking note of the many changes that had taken place since he’d left. Storefronts had been spruced up. There was more variety in the merchandise for sale. The tourists walking the streets tended to be families, rather than fishermen traveling solo. And a whole lot of people were riding around in golf carts, despite the fact that the nearest golf course was over on the mainland.

      By the time he’d reached the small grocery store on the island, which was thankfully unchanged, he was in pain, but his mood had improved. He bought a half gallon of rocky road ice cream, which he vaguely recalled had once been Hannah’s favorite. Or was it Abby’s? At any rate, they’d eaten a lot of it way back when. Maybe it would be just the thing to put everyone in a good frame of mind tonight.

      Then, again, that was asking a lot of a bowl of ice cream, no matter how big and decadent it was. Of course, at the pace he was walking these days, there was a good chance it would be soup by the time he got it back to the inn.

      * * *

      Kelsey took one look at the plate piled high with fried chicken and the huge bowl of creamy yellow mac and cheese and went running for the nearest bathroom. Morning sickness, which was a misnomer if ever she’d heard one, basically sucked. She hated heaving her guts out several times a day.

      The doctor she’d seen assured her it would pass soon, but she wasn’t counting on it. She had a feeling this baby was going to punish her from now through eternity for not wanting it. If it wasn’t morning sickness, it would be something else...colic, or teething accompanied by cries of pain or, down the road, a teenage rebellion of monumental proportions. She figured she’d deserve every miserable minute.

      Though she could hear the low murmur of voices from the kitchen while she was in the bathroom, the second she crossed the threshold, silence fell. Obviously they’d been talking about her. She hoped her mother hadn’t filled her great-grandmother in on the news of her pregnancy yet. Grandma Jenny was going to have a lot to say about it and Kelsey didn’t want to hear any of it. She’d made a mistake. She knew it. She was going to deal with it. What more was there to say?

      Even her mom had known there was little to be said on the subject, because she’d been silent and withdrawn all the way from the airport to Seaview. Despite the careful silence, Kelsey had felt her judgmental stare every few minutes throughout the ride.

      Now, as she glanced from her mom to Grandma Jenny, she caught a glimpse of someone else in the room who hadn’t been there a minute ago. She turned to get a good look at the man hovering near the sink. He seemed intense. Dark and good-looking, but definitely intense.

      “Kelsey, this is Luke Stevens,” her mother said. “He’s staying here right now. We were friends when we were kids.”

      Kelsey studied him curiously. All her visits to Seaview had been rushed and she’d rarely ever met anyone who’d known her mom years ago. As far as she knew, no one ever stuck around the island if they could get away. To hear her mom tell it, only losers stayed behind, but this guy didn’t look like a loser.

      “Nice to meet you,” Luke said. “Seems as if you all have a lot to catch up on, so I’ll just fix myself a plate and head up to my room.”

      “No,” Kelsey said, as did both her mother and Grandma Jenny.

      “Besides, you went out and brought home all that ice cream,” Grandma Jenny added. “You need to sit right here and eat it with us.”

      Luke stared at them with amusement. “Gee, I’ve never felt so wanted.”

      Kelsey grinned, despite her lousy mood. “Every family needs a good buffer.”

      “Nice to know I can fill a niche around here.” He stared pointedly at Grandma Jenny. “Though I thought I was here to do odd jobs for a couple of weeks.”

      Grandma Jenny shrugged. “I’d say being a mediator for the three of us fits that, wouldn’t you?”

      “Just warn me ahead of time if I’m going to need a weapon or body armor,” he said dryly.

      Kelsey noted that even her mother had to fight a grin at that. As she munched on a handful of Saltines she’d managed to find in a cupboard, the rest of them dove into dinner. A few minutes later, Kelsey risked a little mac and cheese, then a chicken wing.

      She looked around the table and suddenly felt the knot in her stomach ease for the first time since she’d found out about the baby. Maybe, like dinner, her life was going to turn out okay, after all.

      Suddenly, acid burned the back of her throat and she bolted from the table.

      As she wiped her face with a damp cloth after throwing up her dinner, she corrected herself. She was going to spend nine months heaving her guts out, the baby was going to arrive, and then things were going to get complicated, especially if Jeff refused to back away from his demand that they get married and keep this baby. In no scenario she could imagine would her life ever be okay again.

      Chapter 5

      Luke didn’t have to have a medical degree to know what was going on with Kelsey and why she’d come to Florida in the middle of the school year. She was pregnant. Hannah obviously knew it, which was why there’d been a pinched expression on her face when Kelsey had bolted for the bathroom for the second time since they’d arrived home from the airport. If Grandma Jenny knew, she wasn’t giving anything away. She just poured a glass of ginger ale, set it down on the table at Kelsey’s place and announced she was going to her room.

      “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?”