Page 26 of The Magic of Sea Glass
“Just not at the same time,” Brody teased. “Although, I am really great at multitasking.”
Stephanie gave him a playful punch in the arm.
Brody laughed. “Don’t worry, Stephanie. We’ll be all ready to gobeforethe ceremony. Promise.”
“You’d better,” Stephanie said with a playful warning.
“So we’ve got ourselves a wedding!” Mary said as she clapped her hands excitedly. The others were beaming—even Lauren, but she was quite possibly the only one panicking on the inside.
* * *
“You’d like Mary, Mom, she’s really nice.”
On her midday break, Lauren held the phone with one hand as she brushed the sand off the bottom step of the boardwalk leading from the inn to the beach and took a seat. Her eyelids were heavy from the long morning, the sun too much for them.
Things with her mother had been a little strained since she’d lost Mason. Unable to handle her grandparents’ death when both of them had passed within a few months of each other during the last year, she’d only made a couple of fleeting trips home from New York. She’d been so consumed with her own grief over Mason that she was barely able to console her mother, and this put a huge strain on their relationship and filled her with guilt. Her father, John, told her that he’d look after her mom if Lauren promised to look after herself. She tipped her head back and closed her eyes.
“I’m glad you found someone kind to work for,” her mother said, though her voice sounded off, as if she were distracted. It had seemed like that a lot these days. “And how’s the actual job?” she asked with a note of uncertainty in her tone.
The last time Lauren had spoken to her mother had been when she’d told her that she’d sold Sugar and Lace. Right now, her mother didn’t seem any more convinced that Lauren had done the right thing than she had then.
“I think it’s helping me, for the most part,” said Lauren.
“For the most part?”
Lauren told her mother about the wedding she’d been roped into planning and how she wasn’t looking forward to it.
“The truth of the matter is that you’re a fantastic event planner,” she said. “You were able to take your little company and turn it into a massive organization. That talent is what you need to tap into now.”
She’d always admired her mother’s no-nonsense approach—until this past year. That was when she needed a little coddling and empathy. But she hadn’t gotten it. It wasn’t her mother’s fault; she just wasn’t built that way.
“Yeah, you’re right,” she said, though she knew her mother’s words were easier said than done. “Are you okay, Mom? You seem distracted, like you have something you want to tell me.”
The hesitation gave her pause.
“No, nothing,” her mother said.
There was another beat of silence. Lauren dug her feet into the sand, her toes landing on something smooth. She leaned down and ran her fingers through the spot in question, retrieving a bottle-green piece of rounded glass.
“Well, honey, I should probably go. I’ve got to get the roast into the oven.”
“Okay,” Lauren replied, guessing she’d misjudged her mother’s tone. Perhaps she was just holding her tongue about Lauren’s recent life choices. She lifted the piece of glass up to the light and admired its translucency. “Yeah, me too. Mary’s coming to get me as soon as she’s done helping an elderly couple find transportation to one of the tours of the island.”
“You couldn’t help her?”
“She forced me to take a break.”
“Maybe she senses that you need it,” her mother said.
“Maybe,” Lauren agreed, still appreciating the rare find. “I’ll call you later. Tell Dad hi for me,” she said before ending the call. She stared down at the clear, oblong piece of glass with little bubbles inside that made it look as if it were full of champagne, and her mind went immediately back to the evening of her engagement to Mason.
“I still can’t believe we’re getting married,” she’d said as he handed her a fizzing glass of bubbly on the small terrace of their apartment that overlooked the bustling street below.
“Think you can put up with me forever?” he asked with that grin of his that could melt her heart in a second.
“I don’t know,” she teased him, “that’s a long time.”
If she could go back to that moment, she’d have told him, “Yes. Forever. I’ll take nothing less.”
