Safe Harbor (The Lake Trilogy, Book 3) (25 page)

I decide to give Will another
three days to do what he has to do. If it takes the whole three days that will make seven days that I haven’t seen Will. I occupy my time with wedding planning and living in a constant state of hope.

Caroline is in California for a few days with Ryan, and Gwen and Chris are off doing their thing. Gwen and Caroline have been by my side for days since Will lost his mind, so I don’t want to call on Gwen right now. She deserves to have uninterrupted, non-depressing time with Chris.
They’ve done enough already by going over to Will’s in an effort to talk some sense into him. Unfortunately he wouldn’t see them. I suppose he knew exactly why they were there.

I’m sitting on the dock, going through the music on my iPhone, trying to create a playlist of songs I think we should have at the wedding, when Tyler finds me. He’s really a si
ght for sore eyes. I don’t know where I’d be without him.

“Hey, beautiful,” Tyler calls to me as he makes his way down the dock to me.

“Hey there, yourself,” I call back. “What are you doing here? Surely you have something better to do than hang out with my depressing self.”

“
Are you kidding me? I live for it!” Tyler sits at the end of the dock with me, taking my phone from my hand. “Besides, you’re listening to happy music, how depressed could you be?”

“Well, since it’s music for the wedding I’m not sure
is still happening, it’s kinda sad. But,” I say taking the phone back from him, “I could use a break, so thanks for coming by.” I shove my phone into the back pocket of my shorts and rest against the post of the dock. “Have you talked to Will?”

“Yeah, a couple of days ago,” Tyler tells me.

“How is he? Is he any closer to coming to his senses?” I ask, hoping to gain a little insight into how close I am to getting my Will back. “He still won’t answer my calls or respond to my texts.

“He’
s good…just hanging out in that huge house of his…pouring over every single word of those statements over and over and over again.” Tyler looks at me like I should know what he’s getting at, but then I think it’s just me being silly.

“Well…thanks for checking on him. At least I know he’s ok,” I say.

“That’s it? At least you know he’s ok? You’re just going to sit around and wait for him to eventually come to his senses and get off his ass?”

“
What else am I supposed to do, Ty,” I say. “I’m trying to give him all the space he needs.”

“Really? You’re just going to give him
all the space he needs
?”

“Yeah. I mean, that’s the best I can do,” I reply.

“That’s the worst plan I’ve ever heard of,” Tyler challenges with an investigative look.

“What?”

“You’re just giving up? I can’t believe, after everything you two have been through, you’re just giving up,” Tyler scolds.

“I’m not giving up, Ty. I’m giving him…”

“…the space he needs, yeah, I know.” Tyler rolls his eye and I give his leg a little kick.

“I don’t want to argue with you Ty. Do you want to do something with me today?” I ask. “I need to get out of here and the girls are otherwise occupied.”

“Sure…what’d you have in mind?”

“I don’t know. Let’s just start driving and figure it out later,” I tell him. I don’t really have a particular place in mind, but just the need to get out. “I’ll drive!”

We pull out of the driveway and I intentionally take the long way out of the neighborhood so I can drive by Will’s house.

“Yeah…this isn’t stalker-creepy at all, Layla.” Despite the fact that it was about me, I still love Tyler’s sarcasm.

“What are those cars doing there? Do you know whose they are?” I ask Tyler.

“Nope. Never seen them,” he says.

“Hmmm….” I keep driving, deciding to let my curiosity fester inside me.
He doesn’t want to see me, but he’s got some random visitors?

“You’re not stopping?”
Tyler asks, surprised.

“No, Ty. I’m giving him space and time. I’m not going to barge in there like some crazed
girlfriend,” I tell him.

“You’re not some crazed girlfriend, Layla. You’re his fiancée. There’s a difference.”

Tyler is right, but I still feel like I need to respect his wishes. He’s processing through a lot and I have to appreciate that what he’s trying to understand is a big deal. He’s doing it for us and I have to let him.

I don’t respond to Tyler but continue driving. I make my way to the highway and decide to go a few exits up to what I refer to as the “real people mall.” This is the mall with an Old Navy and Borders Books – places real people shop. There’s also a movie theater and I think it’ll be great to catch a movie today, too.

As I wind through the parking lot, looking for a choice parking space, I notice a black sedan following us. At first I think it’s one of those coincidences when someone is behind you for a while and it feels like they’re following you, when really they just happen to be going your same direction. Only this guy doesn’t keep going after I turn down parking aisle. He follows me, turn after turn, regardless of where I go. I find a space between the theater and shopping areas and put the car in park. Black Sedan Guy parks behind me a few spaces over, having backed in so the nose of the car is pointing out.

“Do you see that guy
?” I ask Tyler, gesturing to the sedan and its driver. He’s wearing sunglasses but I can see that he’s got light brown hair, and by the looks of his shoulders, seems to have a fit build.

“Yeah...did he follow us all the way here?” Tyler responds without looking too obviously at Black Sedan Guy.

“I don’t know…he got behind me somewhere close to the exit off the highway,” I say.

“Do you think he’s a reporter?”

“If he is, he’s not part of the group that Will knows. He made a deal with them to leave us alone in exchange for exclusivity on coverage once Holly’s trial starts.” I look at Black Sedan Guy and see that he’s holding something up to his face. “Are those binoculars or a camera?”

“Looks like a camera,” Tyler says.

“Great!”

“Let him take pictures. What’s the big deal?”

“Will has already stood in front of the press and told them that I was one of the reasons why he faked his death. How’s it going to look that I’m out with you? They’ll twist it and it’ll show up in tomorrow’s paper causing Will even more stress!” This is the last thing we need and I have no idea how to curb it.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll text Will right now and tell him what’s up. That way he’ll know. Besides, he knows there’s nothing going on with us. He’s the one who sends me to check on you, remember?” Tyler smiles and pulls out his cell phone. I watch him text Will and wait for Will’s response. When it comes it’s just a simple “OK.”

I was hoping he’d have more to say. Maybe something about telling Tyler to take good care of me, or even telling Tyler to tell me hello or that he loves me. Nothing.

“OK…let’s go. I need to walk,” I say, almost storming out of the car.

Tyler and I walk around for a while, browsing Old Navy and Borders not seeing Black Sedan Guy anywhere else. I walk through the section of Borders remembering the afternoon I literally stumbled into Will. That was the day I met Tyler and the others and our friendship began. I closed out that day with Will, seeing the view of the lake from the dock for the first time at night. That’s also the night I knew I had been sucked into the vortex of being compelled to know Will Meyer. And now here I am, engaged to Will, hoping that there’s still going to be a wedding in four months.

My stomach growls loudly, jolting me out of my daydreaming
and making Tyler and I both laugh. It’s the first time the tension of the day has lifted, which makes me happy.

We stop into what became one of my favorite places to eat before we left for Florida, and as we are seated I realize just how much I missed it.
It’s the kind of place I could come to with anyone and it was perfect.

“Do you want to see a movie after we eat?” Tyler asks, not looking at me but scanning the menu.

“Yeah, that’d be fun,” I tell him.

“Anything in particular you want to see?” he asks.

“Oh, yeah…uh…there’s that one with the guy who was in that other movie with the girl who did that TV show.” I look at Tyler, eyebrows raised at him like he should clearly know which movie I’m talking about.

“Sure! Then maybe we can see the one with the guy who does that thing and the grifter who scams that girl and then they fall in love.” Ok, so Tyler has no idea what movie I’m talking about and now he’s making fun of me.

“Ok, ok! I get it!” I giggle.

“I’ll look up what’s playing and give you your options. Maybe one of the titl
es will ring a bell?” he laughs.

“So what’s the skinny on your love life, Ty?” I ask as I tear the paper from my straw
while Tyler scrolls through the screen on his phone. “It’s got to be better than mine right now.”

“Oh please…you and Will are going to work everything out like you always do.
You’re Will and Layla. It’s what you do,” he says, putting his phone down. We’ll get to the movie selection later.

“I seriously can’t talk about Will right now, Tyler. Please…can we talk about you? I want to know
how many girls I have to make sure are treating you right!” I give a small laugh.

“None,” Tyler says straight-faced.

“None. No, seriously, Ty. We’re halfway through college. Surely there are at least a few girls!” The idea that Tyler wouldn’t have any girls waiting in the wings seems preposterous. Next to Will, Tyler is the best guy I know. He’s smart and funny, and he’s really cute. I can’t imagine there not being any girls lined up for him.

“Well…there have been a few girls, but no one that I saw more than two or three times.”

“Really? I didn’t realize you were so picky!” I say a little surprised.

“It’s hard to find the right girl when…no…forget it,” he says, picking up his menu.

“What is it? It’s hard to find the right girl when what?” I ask.

Tyler looks at me for a long minute before he sighs heavily and then speaks. “It’s hard to find the right girl when all I do is compare them to you.”

“What? Why would you compare other girls to me?” I squish my face in confusion.

“You have no idea the impact you make on people, do you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Do you remember when we said goodbye the day you left for Florida?” I nod. How could I forget? It was one of the saddest days of my life. “When I told you that if I had seen you first I would have made you mine
, I wasn’t just being sweet. It was one of the truest statements I’ve ever made. Don’t worry…I’m not suggesting anything. I’m not trying to tell you I have feelings for you. You and Will are my best friends. I’m just saying that sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I had moved faster that day on the Green.”

“What do you mean
move faster
?”

“Will saw you sitting there with your aunt and uncle and pointed you out to me. I don’t know how long he had been watching you, but together we watched you for a while. We saw how you interacted with Luke and Claire…how you responded to the music…how you smiled and your eyes lit up as you watched people with their kids. As those minutes passed we knew you weren’t like any girl we had ever known.
Before I knew it Will was uttering the words
I’ve got to meet her
.”

“So, what, that’s like the gentlemen’s way of calling dibs?” I chuckle.

“Sort of.” Tyler takes a long draw from the straw of his drink as he thinks. “I mean, it wasn’t like Will was free to date who he wanted. He always knew his father’s view of love as a distraction. There was just something so different about you. And once we met you, got to know you…it was hard to not want to be around you all the time. Will struggled with that for a long time…wanting to be with you but knowing his father would make it difficult.”

“
Yeah…he ran hot and cold a lot,” I say, recalling the times I caught Will smiling at me, only to watch the smile fade right before my eyes.

“You can’t blame the guy. If you had any idea…you’d understand.” Tyler looks intently into my eyes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him like this.
“All I’m saying is that the pickings are slim for a guy who’s already met the perfect girl when said girl is taken by his best friend.”

“
That’s very sweet of you to say, Tyler. You are an
amazing
guy, and chances are good had I met you first, I wouldn’t have said no to you. But life happens the way it does for a reason. I’ve learned to accept that. You just have to give some other girls a chance. It’s not fair to compare them to anyone…especially me,” I tell him. “I’m so jacked up with baggage…consider yourself lucky that you didn’t have to navigate through all of my crap like Will did…does.”

“I doubt that!”

“No, really! I’m sure Will’s at least given you an idea of some of the junk I’ve had to wade through. I’ve had some serious stuff to deal with, but Will has been there every step of the way. Sometimes it was really hard. And when I didn’t want to talk about it, Will made me. He never let me go through any of it alone,” I say with a smile as I think about just how steadfast Will has been.