Safe Harbor (The Lake Trilogy, Book 3) (9 page)

I stand next to the couch and wingback chairs and it’s like we never left. The table, the china cabinet, the couch and chairs…everything is in the exact same spot it was in before. I take a deep breath, savoring this moment
, not letting it slip away. I thought that first day in July when I stumbled into this room was my fresh start, but I was wrong. Because Gregory Meyer no longer exists to destroy everything I have worked so hard to have,
today
is my fresh start. I look around the room again and know just how right Claire was. It definitely feels like we’ve come home.

Will and Eliana have just arrived
and I’m giddy with excitement to give Will back to Chris and Gwen. I went back and forth with a few ideas of how to surprise Chris and Gwen, but considering how late it is, I think simple is the best way to go.

“Oh, you know what?” I say to the group. “I left something in the car. I’ll be right back.” I give Caroline a look and she knows exactly what I’m doing.

I specifically made Chris and Gwen sit with their backs to the kitchen door. When I come back in, Will, Eliana, and I are as quiet as possible. It’s not too difficult to stay below the noise level of our four friends, especially when hostile takeovers are being brashly negotiated.

After positioning Will in the entryway, I make as loud a declaration as I can. “Hey! Look what I found!”

Everyone looks to me and Chris literally falls out of his chair when he realizes that he’s not dreaming. That Will is really standing there.

The big reveal to Gwen and Chris
is just as spectacular as I anticipated. There are tears and laughter, and Chris throws lots of punches at both Will and Tyler for keeping this from him. Gwen is just so overwhelmed that Will is alive and we’re all back together that all she can do is cry and hug us both.

When we explain
the whole story to them, from Will’s disappearance to how I discovered him and his mother, to all the reasons why they did what they did, our friends understand completely. When we make Gwen and Chris swear not to mention a word of it to anyone, they agree without question. Knowing that it will only be a few days was helpful.

I ask Chris and Tyler how their dads
are doing with Meyer’s death and I am totally surprised by the answer. Apparently they’re not all that broken up about it. I never got to know them before we were exiled, but I always assumed Luke was the only lawyer there with a conscience, especially the way Chris and Tyler talked about their dads. They seemed almost as success-driven as Will’s father. I’m glad to find out I was wrong.

By the time we finish
telling Gwen and Chris everything, laughing, crying, reminiscing, and even playing an epic game of monopoly it’s after three in the morning. We shuffle everyone out with arms flying everywhere from all the hugging. Claire sends Luke, Wes, and me outside to get the overnight bags as well as the box with the bed linens, while Will and Eliana clean up after the tornado of fun that swept through the kitchen.

I call to Claire when I come back in with the box of linens. Following her voice toward their bedroom I find her in a room across from the room that had been their office, which is
being turned into a bedroom now that we’ve added three more residents.

“Hey…I got the sheets,” I say as I put the box down by the door. “
I’ve never been in here. What did this room used to be?” I open the box and pull out a set of sheets. Each set is folded perfectly and contained in a pillowcase of the set. Claire said she saw Martha Stewart do this and thought it was genius. I have to agree.

“This was Penny’s room,” she says softly.

“I’m sorry. I should have known.” Of course this would have been Penny’s room. Luke and Claire’s room is just down the hall, and the office is across from here. I’m such an idiot.

“Don’t be sorry, Layla. You didn’t know.
Really, it’s ok. Here, help me with this,” she says throwing the fitted sheet across the bed. I walk to the other side and pull the elasticized corner over the mattress.

“So…
did you and Luke, you know, want more kids?” I ask tentatively. I don’t want to stir up any heartache in Claire, but I’m genuinely curious. Two people as loving and incredible as Luke and Claire…I can’t see why they wouldn’t want another baby.

“We were going to. We thought we were ready
…
I
was ready…but Luke had a change of heart. He said he would feel like he was trying to replace Penny, and that he didn’t know if he would ever be able to look at another child without thinking they were only here to make up for what we had lost. I didn’t see it that way, but…if both partners aren’t on board, it’s a no-go. We were consumed by the whole partnership thing after that, and well…” she says.

I remember Claire telling me about the brass ring Gregory Meyer held out for them as
the youngest attorneys in the history of the firm to be up for partnership. That’s when they shut everything out and pursued their careers hard core. So much so that they didn’t even know Gram died until too late, which was their wake-up call.

“I’
m sorry about that,” I say softly. It’s all I can say really. They should have had more kids. They’re two of the best people I’ve ever known and it seems unfair that they didn’t bring another one just like them into the world.

“We got our second chance with you.” Claire smiles her sweet, loving, motherly smile at me a
nd I know how she feels because I got my second chance with them, too.

Luke and Wes stumble down the hall with more than just the overnight bags Claire requested. Each of them
has at least three pieces of luggage on them and they’re both laughing as they rumble through the hall like two pack mules.

“Hey babe,” Luke says passing us and going straight to their bedroom followed by Wes. “I’m just going to toss these in here for now, ok?” he calls.

“That’s fine,” she calls back to him. “Hey,” she says to Luke when he enters the room.

“Hey.” Luke kisses Claire’s temple and slides his arm around her waist.
“You doing ok in here?”

“Yeah, I’m good, thanks.” Claire
wraps both arms around Luke’s waist and rests her head on his chest. It’s not until this moment that I realize Claire probably hasn’t been in this room in a very long time. Even when we moved to Florida, Caroline’s mom must have handled this room.

“
Thank you, both, so much. It means a lot to me that you’re opening this room to Eliana.” Technically it’s for Eliana and Wes, but Will doesn’t like to talk about that. He says he’d feel better if, as he put it, Wes “put a ring on it.”

“Of course, Layla,”
Luke says. Claire sighs and it seems to be a cue for Luke to move things along. “You know what? It’s late. Let’s divvy up these sheets and get everyone to bed.”

I find Will and Eliana in the kitchen cleaning up the game and
Chinese food remnants. I’m surprised there was anything left considering we were feeding Will, Tyler and Chris. Those boys can each down an entire large pizza and a two-liter of soda on their own. They’ll all be spending more time here in the coming days as everyone soaks in as much Will time as they can before the big announcement. Once that happens, the potential for media craziness is imminent and we’ve told them that they’ll have to keep their distance for their own good. We don’t want them having to answer questions from the press.

“Luke says it’s time for bed,” I
say as I wet a paper towel and wipe down the counters. I’ll have to remember to put cleaning supplies on the list for what to pull out of the boxes first tomorrow.

“You ready, babe?” Wes asks Eliana as he enters the kitchen
just a moment behind me. He kisses Eliana sweetly and Will cringes just slightly, but then smiles as he shakes his head. I can imagine it’s weird to see your mom like that, but at the core he’s really happy that she’s found with Wes what she had been denied for so long. Wes treats her like gold and that’s what matters most to Will.

“We’ve got the rest of this. You two go to bed
,” I tell them. Will doesn’t look up from his garbage-gathering task. He’s trying, but sometimes trying means that you’re containing what would be your natural reaction. He knows that Wes is good for his mom, but he’s just really protective of her, especially now that we’re back in Davidson. He doesn’t want anyone to think poorly of her because she’s moved on and in a new relationship.

“If you’re sure,” Eliana says. I nod and she and Wes make their way to the door. “William?” Will
turns around and looks at his mother. Eliana looks like she’s not sure exactly what to say; just that she wants to say something. We’re headed into a media firestorm and Will is carrying so much of the responsibility for how it goes. Eliana may make a statement, but Will is the one who will field all the questions. “Get some good rest, sweetheart. We’ve got some big days ahead of us.” Will just nods again and smiles sweetly.

It only takes us another five minutes to get the kitchen tidied.
With the kitchen boxes still packed in the garage there are no actual dishes to tend to. Ours was a mission of trash pick-up.

“C’mon. You
r turn.” I grab Will’s hand and escort him to his new room. Wes and Eliana’s door is now closed and the box of sheets is in the hallway. I grab a set from the box and begin undoing the perfection of its folding and drop them on Will’s bed. Will is quiet as I shake the fitted sheet out and begin adjusting it on the mattress. “You want to talk about it?”

“Talk about what?”
he says. He doesn’t make eye contact with me as he grabs the pillows and begins to fit them with their cases.

“Why are you acting like I don’t know you? I know when you’
re deep in thought, when you’re worried.” I stop what I’m doing and take the pillow from him. “Talk to me, Will.”

“It’s…a lot.” His eyes are tired and I know he’s been running through infinite scenarios of the upcoming days.

“I know. I also know that you can do this.” I take Will’s hands in mine hold them tight. “You’ve already come this far. I believe in you.”

“I’m glad
someone
thinks I can pull this off.”

“Will, what you have to do this week is nothing compared to what you had to pull off to get away from
your father. You and Luke coordinated your disappearance and faked your death, which proves you’re brave. You can’t let having to explain all of that to the press scare you.”

“I’m
not worried about me, Layla. I’m worried about you, my mom, my family in Hickory…oh, my gosh! What are my grandparents going to think?” Will sits down on the side of the bed and puts his face in his hands.

“They’re going to understand, Will. They knew what your father was like. They’re just going to be happy to have you back
, and they’re going to be thrilled to finally have the kind of relationship with you they always wanted.” I sit next to Will and put my arm around his back. It’s so small compared to his athletically strong body, and doesn’t compare to the blanket-like feeling his arms have when they wrap around me. “What’s your mom said about it?”

“She hasn’
t. I haven’t asked her about it. It was enough to tell her about the ex-wives, Loretta, and Erin.” Will’s answer is muffled but audible through his hands.

“How did she take that news?” I ask.

“She feels terribly for them, especially Loretta. She’s the only one who knew my dad before the switch got flipped. My mom, and I’m sure the others, can look back and see how my dad manipulated her. Not Loretta. She got to know my dad as a person with a heart who cared about her, cared about their baby. She got blindsided and there was no hindsight. Mom was more concerned with how I felt about Erin.” Will stands and takes the pillow to finish getting the bed ready. I follow his lead and grab the sheet.

“How
do
you feel about Erin?” I ask, getting back to the task of making Will’s bed.

“
Better than I did before. I can’t do anything about how she feels about me but…I think I’d really like to get to know her her…if she wants to get to know me. What do you think she wants?” Will looks at me and I can see the frightened little boy in him. After years of his father’s rejection I don’t think he could take any more. If his father had allowed it, Will would have loved to have had a relationship with Marcus when they were younger, but Will didn’t find out that Marcus was his brother until their father had already done too much damage to both of them.

“I think she wants to know you.
From everything Luke has said about Loretta, Erin’s experience growing up was the polar opposite of Marcus’. She didn’t spend her life hearing about how evil Gregory Meyer was. Her mother left because she wanted a better life for Erin, not because she was forced out. And…Erin is, like, 40 years old, Will. I’d like to think she’s adult enough to know not to hold you responsible for your father’s choices.” I know this isn’t always the case, but my gut tells me Erin’s motives are good.

Will breathes a heavy sigh and helps me straighten the blanket onto the bed. He hands me a pillow and we place both of them against the headboard. When we’re done making
his bed, Will grabs another set of sheets from the hall, takes my hand, and leads me up the stairs to my room. He’s silent so I know he’s digesting and thinking.