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Blake came to a stop. “He went to Ryan’s.”
But he obviously hadn’t gone to Ryan’s. So where was he?
22
Lauren kissed Blake and said, “It’s fine. I have dinner. Cass said Harrison is at a City Council meeting for some zoning issue, and she’s waiting for me at her house.”
Blake said nothing, which meant the words were piling up inside him. Lauren guided his eyes back to hers. His glare was being wasted on Tommy, who’d put his head down on the table and turned his face away from the front door, from his father.
“Call me later?”
He nodded and finallysawher. “I’ll call you.”
She gave him a smile and touched her lips to his again. He did kiss her back this time, and Lauren took her box of half a pizza and ducked out the front door. Blake had called Tommy three times before his son had answered and said he was on his way home.
Blake hadn’t let Ryan leave, and the moment Tommy had rolled up on his bike and seen the boy he was supposed to be with, the tension had spilled out. Blake was not happy. Tommy wasn’t happy. Ryan was finally dismissed, and Lauren had taken the pizza when it had come, quietly separated a few pieces for herself, and said she’d catch up with the two of them later.
She really wanted to stay and make sure Blake was okay. She really wanted to stay and make sure Tommy was okay. Her maternal instincts for the boy surprised her, and the strength of her feelings for Blake did a bit as well.
She’d let them get really close to her, and panic built beneath her tongue on the way to her car. She’d managed to dismiss the feelings and accept that Blake and Tommy were important to her, the same way she’d done for her Supper Club ladies.
She wanted them in her life for a good long while, and as she drove from his house to the gated community where she’d live for another couple of weeks—as well as Cass and Harrison’s house—she pondered the idea of being in love with Blake Williams.
Was she?
She’d loved so few people in her life, and romantic love seemed to have eluded her almost completely. She didn’t know the answer, couldn’t puzzle it out, in only fifteen minutes, and when she rounded the car with her box of pizza, Cass waited for her on the porch.
“Hey,” she said.
Lauren smiled and moved up the few steps and into Cass’s arms. She didn’t say hello, but she didn’t need to. Cass hugged her. “What’s the matter?”
Lauren didn’t know how to answer. She felt herself shutting down, but Cass wouldn’t let her do that. She pulled away and wiped her eyes. “I might be in love with Blake.”
Cass smiled at her, no wide eyes in sight. “Oh, honey, that’s great.” She turned back to the house and opened the door. “Come in and tell me about it.”
Lauren followed her as she said, “I don’t have anything to say.”
“Right.” Cass laughed in a lighthearted way. “I believe you.”
“I don’t.” Lauren closed the door behind her and went into the kitchen. “It’s just tense right now with them, and I wanted to be there. I wanted to stay and make sure they were both okay.” She looked at Cass. “How do you know if you’re in love?”
She felt odd asking her friend this instead of her mother or sister. But she didn’t have a mother or a sister to ask, and while she and Cass hadn’t always been best friends, Lauren had always respected her. Though they were close to the same age, she’d always possessed a wisdom in a different type of way than Lauren did.
“It’s hard to say,” Cass said. “It’s just this feeling you have. You want them to be happy, which it sounds like you do. When you think of them, they make you smile. When they hurt, you hurt. When you imagine your future, they’re in it. When you try to find another emotion to describe how you feel about them…you can’t. That’s love. That feeling.” She touched her fist to her chest. “Is love.”
Lauren teared up again and nodded. She flipped open the pizza box, trying to get control of her emotions. “Okay,” she said. “This is the gourmet pepperoni pizza from Avenue Three-Fifteen. It’s got the spicy marinara sauce on top, with extra cheese.” She picked up one of the square pieces and took a bite of it straightaway.
Cass only watched, her smile wide and genuine. “I’ll get out some wine, and we’ll sit on the back deck and listen to the ocean talk to us.”
“Thank you,” Lauren said. She didn’t want to talk tonight, but she didn’t want to be alone either. She wanted to sit in her feelings and start naming them, so she could decide if she came to one that she couldn’t identify and then she’d know it was love.
* * *
“It’s great to meet you,”Lauren said, striding forward. She shook the shorter man’s hand, smiling as she did. “Cassandra says such amazing things about you.”
Miles Pince shook her hand with vigor. “I’m glad. Thanks for callin’.” He spoke with the strongest Texas accent Lauren had heard. Or maybe she’d been in South Carolina for too long. “So this is it.” He dropped her hand and gazed beyond her to the house.
She turned back to it too. “Yes,” she said. “I’m afraid it might be a bit dusty and drafty. I haven’t been here in a few months, and I just got in Friday night.”
