Safe Harbor (The Lake Trilogy, Book 3) (13 page)

“Thank you, everyone, for your time today. We hope that you’ll respect Will and Eliana’s privacy as they adjust to life back in Davidson and the Charlotte area. If you have further questions, please contact me directly. I believe you all have that
information. Thank you, again.” With that, Luke steps away from the podium, taking Will and me by the elbows to lead us away.

“Leaving so soon?” Marlene asks. She slithers the same way Gregory Meyer did. I’m amazed that he didn’t keep her around.
She’s beautiful with long, blonde, full-bodied hair, and the arm-candy stance that is the prerequisite for any woman who stood at his side.

“What do you want, Marlene? And why did you call this press conference today? I told you to wait,” Luke chastises.

“I’m simply here to support my baby girl,” she says with feigned concern. “And since when do you get to tell me what to do?”

“Since I’m representing your daughter pro bono,” Luke says cold-faced.

“So you’re
the
Layla Weston. You’re not as pretty as Marcus made you out to be. But, I never could count on him to get anything right so…”

“You need to back off,” Will tells her. “Do you have any idea what he did to Layla?”

“My son was an idiot and it got him killed. What do you want me to do about it?” she says so nonchalantly.

I think I might actually throw up. I can’t believe the way she’s talking about her own son. When Holly told me that she repeatedly made
Marcus beg his biological father to take him in I thought maybe it was a slight exaggeration of the truth. But standing before this poor excuse for a human being, I believe it all.

“I’m sorry for your loss, Ms. Harris,” I say. “Not that you have a clue what you lost. Despite your pathetic excuse for parenting, Marcus was a great guy.
Knowing Gregory Meyer as I did, I used to think that Marcus took after you. But, he was smart and funny, and he cared about people, so…I guess he paved his own path. I’m sorry that Will didn’t fight for Holly the way he did for me. Maybe the idea of being saddled to a family that would take any offer Gregory Meyer presented them wasn’t so appealing.”

“You little…” she begins in retort but I don’t flinch.

“We’re leaving now. I hope you got your fill of the spotlight you were looking for because it’s not about you anymore. It’s about Holly, and if you screw this up for her, she’ll never forgive you.” I take Will’s hand and walk briskly back toward the car.

“I can’t believe you just did that,” Will says to me, smiling from shock.

“I know enough about that woman that I don’t have to exchange false pleasantries with her. We’re so close to having everything we’ve ever wanted. I’m not going to let that miniature Barbie ruin anything.”

“I thought you weren’t going to go rogue on me,” Will says with a smirk.

“You told me not to go rogue with the media. You didn’t say anything about the witchy mother of your ex-girlfriend.”

We walk back through the door of the house and file into the kitchen. Silent. We’re all silent, at a loss for what
to say or what to do with ourselves next. Of course Holly’s trial is still going to consume much of our time and conversation, but without looming threats or the need to hide something, we seem to have entered a new reality.

“
So…” I say to no one in particular.

“Yeah,” Will says.

“Is it me or does it seem wonderfully weird to stand here in complete and total freedom?” I recall the day we stood in this kitchen when Will’s father presented the dirt he’d dug up on my family, and laid out his seedy offers. That day was clouded by the revelation of lies and the manipulation of a mad man. Today, the sun is shining and the world is ours.

“It is wonderful, isn’t it?” Eliana says. She, more than all of us, is relishing in the freedom we all
now enjoy. I can’t imagine how different her life is going to be now, and I hope that as she walks down the streets of town that she’ll be welcomed and embraced.

“I have something for the two of you,” Luke says
to Will and Eliana with a smile. He lays his attaché case on the counter and pulls out a large envelope. From it he pulls two standard size envelopes.

Will opens his envelope first and takes out the contents, laying them on the counter for
us to see. Spread out in a neat row is his driver’s license, social security card, debit and credit cards, all with the name William Gregory Meyer.

“I guess I don’t need these anymore,” Will says, pulling the same cards out of his
wallet that bear my father’s first and my mother’s maiden name.

“Huh. I called you by this name for two years, yet it seems so out of place now,” I say, examining the
ID’s side-by-side. “I was so honored that you took my dad’s name, but I’m so glad I have Will Meyer back.”

“And Will Meyer is glad to be back,” Will says with a relieved smile.

“Eliana?” Claire prompts. “We made the change you requested.”

“Oh, yes, of course,” she says hesitantly
. Eliana takes the same cards from her envelope and sets them in a neat row, just like Will’s. “Oh, my. It’s odd, seeing my name like that again. I hope you don’t mind, William.”

Will and I look at her new identification cards and see that she’s changed her name back to her maiden name of Hufford. Will stares at her driver’s license, picking it up and examining it…letting the name roll around in his head for a long moment.

“I needed a fresh start, darling. I just…I couldn’t be attached to that man in name any longer,” Eliana tells him.

“Are you going to look at me with regret now? A casualty of the mistake you made in marrying my father?” Will’s voice is soft and reflecting the conflict he’s experiencing.

“Oh, no, no, no.” Eliana glides to Will and embraces him. “You are the very best of everything your father had to offer and I will never regret marrying him. Of all the things he ever gave me
none
of it compares to what he gave me when I had you. Please don’t think terribly of me. I need a fresh start, William. Part of that is reclaiming myself by going back to my maiden name. Part of that, well, part of that includes Wesley.”

“I’m happy for you, Mom. I really am. I’m sorry. It just struck me. I didn’t know you were doing this and it caught me off guard.” Will reciprocates his mother’s embrace and we all stand there and watch as more Gregory Meyer-induced wounds are healed.

“If it makes any difference,” Wes begins. “I’m hoping her name won’t be Hufford for too much longer.”

I knew it! It’s so obvious to watch Wes and Eliana together just how in love they are.

“Really?” Will says to his mother.

“Well, we’ve only talked about it briefly…and there hasn’t been any formal proposal. But, this is good, William. I love Wesley, and he loves me in a way I’ve never been loved before. I need to know that you’re alright with this.”

Will thinks for a minute before speaking. It’s one of the things I admire about him. More often than not, he’s slow to respond, which means he actually thinks about what he’s going to say before he says it.

“I’m great with it. I trust Wes and I believe he really does love you. I’m happy for your fresh start, Mom, really.” Will hugs his mom and shakes Wes’ hand. “I think you and I need to have a conversation soon, though,” he says to Wes.

“Of course,” Wes says.

I’m not sure if Wes thinks it’s cute that Eliana’s son wants to have a sit down with him, or if he realizes that there’s a lot that Will needs him to know before he takes such a huge step with her. Either way, they’re respecting the other as men and don’t seem to be letting egos get in the way of what’s best for Eliana.

“You want to take that slow, deliberate walk with me to the dock now?” Will asks me.

“
I thought you’d never ask!”

I lace my fingers through Will’s
and we walk slower than we ever have before down the flagstone path to the lake. The weather is warm but the breeze whipping through the trees provides just enough coolness to my skin. I brush the loose locks of hair that escaped my ponytail from my face and tuck them behind my ear in vain. Twigs snap beneath our feet and those little spiked balls fall from the trees. It’s a perfect day.

We near the end of the path and slow our pace to almost a halt. We hadn’t taken the time earlier today to enjoy the moment of our reunion with this place, but we’re here now and plan on making up for that.

“It’s just as beautiful as I remember,” I say softly.

“I can hardly believe this is happening,” Will says. “It’s almost surreal.”

“Your mom’s got the right idea, Will. It’s time for a fresh start for all of us. We can live the life here that we were meant to have. It’ll be crazy for a little bit, but after a while the novelty of the story will die down and it’ll be like it was supposed to be all along.”

“I know you’re right. It
’s just that, well, now that I’m back and free, there are some things I have to do. Some wrongs I have to right,” he says, tugging me to the edge of the dock.

“What do you mean?” I can’t imagine what wrong Will would have to right.

“I need to connect with my mom’s family. It’s not right how we left, and I’m not sure if she’s even contacted them yet.” Will sits and rolls up the legs of his khakis and takes off his shoes. I follow suit and take my sandals off, being careful not to let my skirt fly up as I sit.

“I’m sure they’re going to understand, Will. They know what kind of a man your father was, don’t they?”

“I suppose so. Still, it feels like we should have told them what we were doing,” he says, rubbing his eyes.

“What else is going on, Will?”
I ask, reading his eyes.

“I
’m going to see Holly,” he says softly.

“
What?” I whisper.

“I
need
to see her, Layla. I feel responsible for what’s happening. It was
my
father who tore her family apart.” Will’s eyes are filled with compassion for Holly, not knowing that everything that happened between them was part of her mother’s scheming.

“Well, we’ll go see her together then,” I say. I want to be there to make sure she doesn’t lie to him any more than she already has.

“I need to do this on my own.” Will tucks those loose locks behind my ear again and brushes my cheek with his fingers. “Can you understand that?”

It takes me a moment but I finally agree.
“I understand, Will.” What else am I going to say? I can’t tell him the truth about what Holly told me.
She
has to tell him. If I tell him I’ll just look like a silly, jealous fiancée who doesn’t want her guy seeing his ex. Actually…that’s exactly what it is. But, considering the circumstances, how can I deny him. I mean the girl is standing trial for murdering his father.

“You really are so great,” he says, pulling me to him and wrapping his arms around me. “I love you.”

“I love you more,” I say, tightening my arms around his waist. “You should probably wait a few days, though. I mean, with your press conference today, and all the media swarming the court house and the jail…”

“Yeah…I’ll give it a couple of days before I go. I’ll see if Luke or Wes can arrange a more discrete visit. Thanks for understanding, Layla.”

“Of course.” Of course I’m going to see Holly before he does. Now that Will is coming back from the dead, she’s going to tell him every detail she laid out to Claire and me about their relationship. From her mother’s conniving to her insincere pursuit of Will and whatever lies she told him about how she felt about him. She’s going to tell him, or I will. I won’t let Will spend the rest of his life thinking Holly Reynolds was an innocent victim. He has to know that she was a willing pawn in her mother’s game to destroy the Meyer family.

“So…now wh
at?” I ask.

“Now…we live.”

“That sounds wonderful. What should we do first?” I sit up and decide it’s time to fix my ponytail as a whole.

“We could talk about wedding stuff,” he says sweetly. “It’s less than a year away now.”

“Yeah, by like, a week! You’re such a romantic.” I lean into Will’s chest and kiss him softly.

“Or, we could do this,” he says grabbing the nape of my neck and bringing me back to him and kissing me deeply.

“That’s an idea,” I manage in between kisses. “Actually, we should probably talk about that. Now that you live here we’ll have to be extra careful. Seeing you from sun up to sun down is going to make me feel very much like we’re married…minus the sex.”

“We
are
married, remember?” Will murmurs as he moves to kiss my neck.

“I’m serious, Will! And when did you get so impatient?” It’s not like him to be like this. I spent years being flustered every time Will pulled away f
rom any passion we were sharing and now he can’t get enough?

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me. I just feel so free. Like I can do anything, be anything, and there aren’t consequences for being me. When I’m with you…I’m everything I was meant to be. Now that there’s nothing threatening our existence together, well
, I may find it harder to contain myself.” Will cups my cheek and I lean into the comfort of his hand.

I know exactly what he’s saying. I’ve never felt as free as I have when I’m with Will. You hear love stories about couples
that just knew they were supposed to be together…that with one look they knew the other person was designed just for them, perfectly ordained since the beginning of time. That’s Will and me.

“Well then maybe we should discuss an earlier wedding date,” I smile.

“Oh, babe, no. May 25
th
is your parents’ anniversary. It’s a date that means something. I don’t want to take that from you.”

“We already said our vows in the same place my parents did. It’s ok, Will. I don’t think either one of us is going to be able to wait another year. And we’ve come this far in showing a ridiculous amount of self-control, I’d hate to ruin that record because we got impatient,” I tell him.

“If you’re sure, then let’s pull the calendar out and see what the Gardens have available. But only if you’re sure!” he demands.

“I’m sure, but there
is one other thing,” I begin. I twist my mouth in an effort to tease and make him think I’ve got bad news. The reality is that what I’m about to tell him is going to make his day. “I want to get married in a church, here in Davidson.”

“What? Really? Oh, bab
e! Why?” Will is stunned just as I hoped he would be.

“Well, you already gave me a private ceremony in the Gardens. Now I want to give you the bells and whistles wedding you want.” I smile at Will knowing that this could quite possibly be the best wedding gift I could have ever given him. It had been so important to him that we have a big church wedding with a gazillion people, but he gave that up for me. The day we said our vows in the Gardens really is all the memory I need of the intimate wedding
of my dreams.

“Just when I think that you’ve reach the pinnacle of awesomeness, you do something like this. I totally don’t deserve you, but I’m going to give you the best wedding ever. More than that, we’re going to have the best
life
ever.”

As much as I want our normal life to start immediately, Holly’s trial is going to dominate our time for a while longer. This means that Luke
and Claire have Will helping Eliana get through prepping for her testimony. The trial is still months away, but it's not going to be easy, recounting all the ways Gregory Meyer treated her so poorly like the soulless monster he was. Luke doesn’t think the prosecuting attorney is going to try to discredit her, especially with the other ex-wives testifying, but he still wants her to be prepared. It’s interesting how
right
she has to get it. The
right
amount of strength. The
right
amount of emotion. The
right
amount of both anger and gratitude toward Holly. I always thought witnesses just got up there and told their side of the story. I had no idea it was so well orchestrated. Wes is working on some security things, which I don’t understand since we’re no longer under any threat. But…Luke keeps him around and it really doesn’t matter why. Since Luke got upgraded to Dad, Wes got an upgrade himself from bonus uncle to just uncle. Then I realized just this morning that Wes will get another upgrade. After Will and I are married and he marries Eliana, he’ll be my father-in-law.