Safe Harbor (The Lake Trilogy, Book 3) (26 page)

“But…
you’re just going to let him wade through this crap with the exes statements all by himself.” It’s not a question, but a challenge.

“This is different, Ty,” I reply.

“How is it different?”

“It’s different because…because…I don’t know how this is different. Oh, geez, Ty!
What the hell have I been doing?” I cover my face with my hands, embarrassed that I didn’t fight to keep Will from doing this all alone. I shouldn’t have cared that he said he needed to this by himself. I should have insisted on going with him or refused to let him go. I should have fought harder and now I’ve spent the last four days without him. Worse than that, Will has spent the last four days wallowing in the grunge of his father’s treacherous past. I am the worst fiancée ever!

“It’s settled then. We’ll eat
, skip the movie, and go get Will off his ass!”

We pull up to Will’s house and I sit frozen in the driver’s seat, staring at the cars that are still there. I was focused earlier on the two cars I didn’t recognize that I don’t know if I missed Wes’ before or if it wasn’t there then.

So maybe Wes came to talk some sense into Will, too. Wes being Wes Will wouldn’t tell him to go away. Having both Wes and Tyler here with me, I feel even more confident in my position that I’m not going to let Will walk through this alone any longer. I can’t believe how stupid I was!

“So…are we going to sit and play name that car or are we going in?” Tyler says.

“We’re going in,” I reply, ignoring Tyler’s sarcasm. I get out of the car and shove my phone in my back pocket.

As we approach the door I’m not sure if I should knock or just go in. Will
did
offer this house to me as our home when we get married, so I kind of feel like I have a right to just walk in. I think about it for another 30 seconds and decide that I do, indeed, have a right to just walk in without knocking.

“Aren’t you coming with me?” I ask Tyler as he steps away from the door.

“Nope. You’ve got to do this on your own.” Tyler kisses my cheek and leaves me there with my hand on the door. I give him a thankful smile and watch him until he drives away.

I open the door slowly and walk into the grand foyer. The home has a very different feel now
that the Devil doesn’t occupy it. Even though the foyer still greets you with those huge marble pillars, and the house is still filled with the relics of Gregory Meyer, it almost seems warm and inviting.

I hear the laughter of a group of people coming from the back of the house where the kitchen and Great Room are.
Tyler and I look at each other and shrug, sure that there hasn’t been that much laughter in this house, well, ever.

We cross the threshold into the Great Room and see Will, Wes, and Eliana
engaged in lively conversation with an older couple and a man who looks to be about Luke’s age. They’re gathered around each other closely on the leather furniture. The older woman is laughing sweetly, patting Will on his knee. When I’ve just about decided that coming here was a terrible idea, the older woman sees me.

“Oh my! You must be Layla!”
she says as loud as her old voice will go.

“Layla!
” Will says, shocked at my presence.

“Don’t be rude, now, William. It’s time I meet this young lady, don’t you think?” the old woman says.

“Yes, of course, Nana.” Will walks toward me as I stand like a statue. This is Will’s grandmother.
Grandmother
. I’m instantaneously nervous. My stomach begins to flip and I feel my heart in my throat.

“Hey…
what are you doing here?” he asks softly.

“I…uh…I came to talk to you, but I can see it’s a bad time. I’m sorry.” I turn around and start to walk back to the front door when Will stops me.

“Layla…please don’t go.” I feel Will’s hand on my arm, but I don’t turn around. I have a myriad of feelings streaming through me that I’m not sure I know what to do with. Seeing Will there with his mom and Wes, and his grandparents…it stirs a sorrow in me I didn’t know I still had.

“Will,” I
begin as I turn to him. “You
left
me.”

“I know.”

“Why would you do that? You convinced me that you had to sort through everything alone. What happened to us being a team? What happened to me being part of everything in your life?” I’m speaking softly. I don’t want Eliana or his grandparents to hear me.

“I thought I had to do this on my own. I didn’t know what I was going to find and I was afraid that if you saw what the exes said my father was like that you’d get scared. Hell, I was terrified of what I was going to find!”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything than I am of the
fact
that you are
never
going to treat me the way your father treated his wives. After everything we’ve been through, Will!” My voice is slightly louder now and I notice the conversation in the Great Room quiets. “I should go. We can talk about this later. I didn’t mean to interrupt your time with your family.”

“
Your
family, dear,” I hear Nana say from behind Will. “If you’re going to marry my grandson, then we’re
your
family, too.”

Nana is a sweet looking older woman with mostly grey hair. There are highlights of red and brown streaking beautiful
ly throughout, and I can see that this is where Eliana got her gorgeous locks. Nana is short compared to everyone else in the room, possibly even me. There’s nothing trendy about what she’s wearing, and she has soft, kind eyes. Her smile is warm and inviting and I realize that everything about her reminds me of the heart of Will.

“Oh…that’s very nice of you to say
. Um…I’ll leave you all to your visit.” I tell her.

“Pish posh! Get in here so I can get to know
my grandson’s fiancée!” Nana grabs my arm and pulls me back into the Great Room where Eliana is smiling widely. “Now, come sit down. I have a few things to say to you. You may not like what I have to say, but that’s too bad because I’m going to say it anyway.”

I sit down as instructed and brace myself. Nana has been very kind to indicate that I’m a part of their family now, but…the last time a grandmother sat me down to tell me like it is, I was told not to speak of my parents ever again.
Is Nana angry with me for being the catalyst to the pain they experienced when Will and Eliana “died?” Is she going to analyze me to determine my worthiness? I mean, just because she’s acknowledged that Will is marrying me doesn’t mean she thinks I deserve him?

I run through these scenarios knowing in my logical mind that she’s probably just going to actually try to get to know me as she said. But the fear of the unknown is taking over and I stupidly decide to cut her off at the pass with a preemptive apology.

“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Hufford! I know the pain you went through thinking Will and Eliana were dead. If I had known they were going to do something like that I would never have let them. I’m so sorry!” I blurt out.

“Hush, dear! What are you talking about?” she scolds.

“I just…I know that I was part of the reason why they did that and I just wanted you to know how sorry I am.” I say quickly before she can cut me off.

“Layla
, you don’t honestly think I blame you for what they did, do you? Now listen…I’ve already told my grandson he’s a knucklehead for sequestering himself in this big house, leaving you out in the cold to wait for him to come to his senses. And I’ll tell you what I told him. I haven’t managed to stay married to Pop for 50 years by trying to do
anything
on my own. Once you find the person who makes even the worst part of life better, you don’t leave them. You work things out…
together
. When life stinks like a cow pie in the middle of summer, at least you have someone to swat the flies off of you!

“And no more of this Mrs. Hufford nonsense! You can call me Nana or Nana Grace, I answer to either! William has told me all about what brought you to him and I’m here to tell you that as long as I’m around you will never feel that way again. Grandmas are for baking cookies and giving their grandchildren loud toys and sending them home all sugared up! You’re my granddaughter now too
, and I won’t take no for an answer!”

Nana smiles sweetly and I think I’ve entered another universe. There’s something about this beautiful old woman that
in this moment she’s somehow started replacing all the terrible grandmother memories I had with new ones, starting with this one. It’s almost magical and I’m not sure I know how to respond. Most kids grow up with their grandparents and know how to receive the kind gestures of hugs and hard candy, but not me. I mean, I know how to reciprocate kindness, but this is different.

“Thank you, Mrs.…uh…Nana. That means m
ore to me than you’ll ever know,” I say feeling the sting of tears in my eyes. “I don’t mean to be rude, but can you please excuse me for a moment?” I say.

I wait only long enough for Nana to give a nod and then I’m walking swiftly to the foyer and out the front door. I hear Tyler call my name
followed by Will telling him that he’s got me. I make it all the way to my car before the tears start falling.

“Layla!” Will calls as he jogs from the door to my car.

“Will,” I say as I fall into his arms. We stand there while he holds me tight in his embrace.

“Are you ok?” he asks, not letting go.

“I’m sorry. I had no idea meeting your grandmother was going to affect me like this,” I tell him in muffled speech because my face is half pressed to his chest.

“It’s ok…it’s ok,” he tells me. “
I understand. It’s a process. I don’t talk about it, but sometimes it’s hard to be around Luke. He’s everything a father should be and sometimes it makes me sad for what I didn’t have.”

“Really?” I pull my face from Will’s body and look up at him. His eyes are glowing and I think about just how much I’ve missed looking into them over the
se last days.

“Yeah…but then I think about what I’ve got now. Luke is more of a father to me than my dad ever was. And I’ve got Wes now, too. I’ve got role models coming out of the woodwork!” he laughs.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me about how great Nana Grace is?” I ask.

“I don’t know. You never asked and…I guess I didn’t want to rub it in your face that my grandmother is one of the greatest people ever.
I didn’t want you to feel bad. Don’t take this the wrong way, but…you remind me of her.” Will squints his eyes, afraid of seeing my reaction to being compared to a grandma.

“Um…thank you?”

“I know it sounds weird, but you always have. You’re both spirited women who, when their mind is made up, are forces to be reckoned with!” he says with a wide grin.

“I suppose that’s not so bad of a comparison. I do already like her a lot. I mean, she called you a knucklehead so clearly she’s got excelle
nt judgment,” I tease.

“Yeah…about th
ese last four days…I’ve been miserable. I’ve been scouring through the statements and they all read pretty much the same,” he says.

“Did you find anything that concerns you?” I ask, mentally preparing how to reiterate my solid belief that Will could never turn into his father and treat me so poorly.

“Not really. I mean…it’s made me think about the times I haven’t been as respectful of you as I should have, but…no, there’s nothing there that makes me concerned,” he tells me.

“Good
, because
we
are not going anywhere.
We
are forever. And
we
are getting married in four months. Things aren’t always going to be perfect. I’m going to think you’re a jerk sometimes, and, on occasion, I might be a little difficult,” I smirk. “But it’s like Nana said. We have to
stink
together. So this is it. Live together or die alone.”

“I’m sorry I hurt you.
I should never have left you like that. I didn’t know what I was going to find, and I was scared that there might be something in there that, if you saw it…you would be afraid of me. I don’t want you to be afraid of me, Layla.” Will’s eyes are scared like they were the night Marcus died. This is the terrified feeling Claire told me about.

“
I could
never
be afraid of you, and I am
never
going to leave you,” I tell him with all the love and seriousness one person can muster. “I’ve already made my vows to you, and I’m pretty sure God takes those seriously even if we aren’t legally married. And I’m sorry, too. I should never have let you go. I should have fought harder.”

“You’re not the only one who can be a little difficult sometimes. Nana passed down her stubborn gene to me,” Will says. He
takes a deep, cleansing breath and smiles. “Thanks for not giving up on me.”

“Never.” I throw my arms around Will’s neck, hugging him tightly as he lifts me off the ground.
When he puts me down I stumble a moment and spin around as I steady myself. “Oh my gosh! He’s here now, too?”