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“You do what you have to do. Nothing is set in stone.”
She was saved by the fact that it looked as if the wedding was going to start and everyone stopped talking about her new relationship with Lincoln.
Maybe if she was lucky, it’d be out of the way so she could convince him to go with her to Carter’s wedding in a few weeks and they’d be left alone.
When dinner was being served, Duke’s twin sister, Kelsey, came over. “How come you’re by yourself?”
“It was kind of last minute,” she said.
“Yeah, but I need more eyes on you and less on me,” Kelsey said. “Today has not been fun for me.”
Kelsey was laughing and Grace understood that statement. “Been there and done that with my cousins before me. At some point, eyes are going to shift your way with those questions.”
“And I’m going to keep dodging them like Superwoman,” Kelsey said, her arms moving as if she had gold bands on her wrists.
The two of them laughed while Kelsey moved away.
And by the end of the night, when more than five people made their way over asking if it was true about her dating Lincoln, she was positive she got her wish to get this out of the way before the next wedding.
18
FOOLISH MISTAKES
“It’s going to be a nice day,” Lincoln said when he climbed out of his truck around one.
They’d just come from Grace’s house. She’d had lunch ready for him when he showed up, they ate, cleaned up together and now were going to spend some time kayaking in the bay.
“It is,” she said. “I’ve been looking forward to doing this since we talked about it weeks ago.”
They both had shorts on. Grace had a long-sleeved shirt and he had a T-shirt. It would probably be cooler on the water, but they’d be moving.
“Is your brother here?” he asked. Lincoln didn’t see a car in the driveway, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t in the garage.
“I don’t think so,” she said. “He’s probably in his office.”
“I didn’t know he had an office,” he said. Not that he paid much attention to things. He knew Skyler had a ton of rental properties and was part owner of a hotel on the Cape. Things that he’d heard recently more than anything.
“Just a small one,” she said. “He’s got two staff there, the rest all work on the properties he owns. He has an assistant who deals with calls and any issues with the properties and someone who does payroll and pays bills. He’s always out and about more than anything checking on properties or talking to the guests at the B&Bs, trying to run them. Sometimes he’s there working them if he’s short staffed.”
“Like cleaning rooms?” he asked.
“No. He has a company he hires for that. I think he had staff at one point, but it was hard to keep them. I’ve gone and cooked for him before at the B&B’s when he was in a bind.”
“I’d come back again and again if I knew you were cooking there.”
“It doesn’t happen often,” she said. “Not in a few years. He’s got people on backup or if his cooks are out, he orders from Duke’s or other places for them. Family-style meals. He makes it work.”
Just like he was finding most in the Bond family did.
They had more money than Lara’s family ever would and no one in the Bond family was afraid of hard work or getting dirty.
“Just like most people do,” he said. “Where are the kayaks? I’ll get them for you.”
“I can handle it,” she said. “I might be small, but I’m tough.” She was flexing her muscles with a grin. “At least that is the reputation I’ve got in the kitchen.”
“Which surprises me since you don’t seem that way at home.”
“Leisure cooking is different,” she said. “I’m not striving for perfection at home. At The Retreat, I expect nothing less.”
