The Summer Getaway: A Novel(41)

“That’s not an unexpected response to having a sick kid.”

“I know, but what if I let myself off the hook, too, because of what we’d been through? Did I give myself too much of a break, thinking I endured the worst thing ever? And if so, how do I get myself on track?”

Tears filled her beautiful blue eyes. Tears that made him want to slay whatever dragon might be bothering her. Or at the very least, wash her car. Something tangible that would make her feel better.

That was the guy side of him. The soldier he’d grown to be understood that pity was another way to get lost. Self-pity was a waste of time and effort. Pity made a person feel weak, a slick road to acting weak.

“What are you going to do about it?” he asked a little more loudly than he’d planned.

She jumped slightly. “Excuse me?”

“You have six years to get your life in order. That’s more notice than most folks get. You have money, you have resources, you have time. Come up with a battle plan. Execute. Accomplish. Make things happen.”

One corner of her full mouth twitched. “So no hug?”

Her words were so unexpected, he couldn’t process them. When he did, he started laughing. She joined in, the sound bright and clear. God, she was incredible. Later, when he was alone, he would think about the fact that she’d said “clit” in front of him. He would do a lot more than think about it, but that was for another time.

“Not a lot of hugging in the army,” he told her.

“Probably for the best. There could be some misunderstandings.” She stretched out her long legs. “You’re not wrong. I do have six years to figure it out. I just wish I’d figured out the problem four years ago.”

“You can only go forward. What’s your goal? And none of that ‘I want to be happy and save baby seals’ crap. Realistically, where do you see yourself?”

Her eyes widened. “I really was going to join Greenpeace.”

He grinned at her. “Sure you were.”

“Okay, not that, although I support their cause.” The smile faded. “At some point, I hope not for years, Lillian will leave us, and then I have the contents of the house to deal with.”

“And the cats. We need to all be clear on that. Cats equal you.”

She laughed again. “Oh, Mason, I’d thought Charles II was winning you over.”

“Him, I like. It’s the other fourteen I’m less sure about.”

“Fine. I get the contents and the cats. At that point, I have more than enough inventory to open an antique store.”

“Back in Florida?”

“I don’t know. It’s where I live.”

He wanted to point out she could live here, but didn’t know how that would sound to her. Besides, it wasn’t as if anything was going to happen between them, so why did he care where she lived?

“In the meantime, because I want Lillian to live forever, I’m coming up with my plan. Right now it involves getting some business experience and working more hours. While I’m here, I’m going to do a preliminary inventory of the house. Just broad strokes. A real inventory would take a year. Is that good enough for you, Soldier?”

“It’s a start.”

“A start is more than I had yesterday.”



* * *



Harlow told herself not to read too much into Kip’s decision to pick up his mom and bring her to the club, leaving Harlow to arrive on her own. She told herself the move made sense—Judy had never been to the club and was uncomfortable about finding her way. It was the kind thing to do and spoke well of Kip as a person. Harlow had read somewhere that a woman should pay attention to how a guy treated his mother because it was an indication of how he would treat his wife later in life.

Which sounded great, but left Harlow arriving alone. She was still dealing with the knowledge that her father had cheated on her mother, the fight with her mom, and now having her future mother-in-law inflict her opinion on a possible wedding venue. She’d felt unable to say Judy couldn’t tag along, but suddenly wished her own mom was there as well.

Harlow opened the large door and walked into the air-conditioned comfort. In deference to their appointment, she’d put on a light blue summer dress and high-heeled sandals. She’d spent the morning of her day off running errands and doing laundry. After she was done here, she was hoping to talk Enid into hanging out for bit—assuming she could catch her friend between her two jobs.

Harlow sat on a bench by the entrance and texted Kip that she was here. The reply came immediately.

It’s Judy. We’re nearly there. The golf course is so beautiful.

Harlow knew that Kip couldn’t text and drive, but giving his phone to his mother? It was one thing to hand it to Harlow, but his mom?

She held in a shudder, then slipped her phone back in her bag. Five minutes later, Kip and his mom walked in and walked toward her.

“Rusti’s meeting us at two,” Harlow said. She turned to her future mother-in-law. “Hi, Judy. Thanks for joining us.”

She did her best to keep her tone friendly. She’d agreed Judy could come, so she couldn’t be upset that the other woman was here. As for her mother not being with them, well, apparently she was still in California, not bothering to communicate with her only daughter.