Page 68 of The Magic of Sea Glass
He lifted her chin, those blue eyes swallowing her. “I’ll be right there with you every step of the way.” His gaze locked with hers, and, his face serious, he whispered, “I won’t let you fall.” Then he leaned down cautiously, hovering as if asking her permission to kiss her.
Lauren swallowed, oddly calmer than she probably should’ve been. She closed her eyes, and his soft, gentle lips met hers in an explosion of electricity through her body, making her feel alive for the first time in a year. His hands found their way to her face, caressing it lightly as his lips moved on hers. It felt new and right at the same time. It was such a wonderful feeling that there was no room in her mind for anything but the present. What was happening? She pulled back and stared at him in wonder. He was like magic for her soul.
He offered her a soft smile.
Milton jumped up between them, lightening the mood considerably, and it got both of them laughing. Lauren sniffled as she rubbed the dog’s head.
“We both really like you,” Brody said, giving Milton a pat.
Milton barked and they laughed again. Lauren soaked in the feeling of it, never wanting to let go of that relief.
* * *
“I don’t know how to be with someone,” Lauren admitted to her mother on the phone. She’d originally called to elicit some advice about the wedding, but she’d been stalling, telling her mom about her new feelings for Brody.
“You don’t have to do anything. Just enjoy yourself.”
“I don’t know how,” she repeated. The dress she’d ordered online to wear for the wedding had been delivered and was now draped across her bed. It was a deep shade of beachy turquoise with a fitted waist and flowing hem that would fall perfectly just above her ankles. She turned away from it.
“It’ll come back to you.” Her mother seemed surer than Lauren.
“I have something else to tell you. I’ve just been so busy that I haven’t had a chance to call,” Lauren said, rushing the discussion to an end to avoid that subject as well. What Joe had said was much more baffling. She filled her mom in on how Joe had called her Grace. “How did he know your name?”
“Maybe it’s just a really odd coincidence.”
“Maybe. It just seems like an awfully big coincidence. He could’ve said any name. But he said yours.” Lauren stuck to the notion that she didn’t believe in fate or good luck or any of those things, but the longer she stayed at the Tide and Swallow Inn, the less secure she was in those beliefs.
EIGHTEEN
The unique cocktail of fear and shame had waited to rear its ugly head until Lauren had managed a full night’s sleep. It had surfaced in the wee hours of the morning, probably because she’d admitted her feelings about Brody to her mother on the phone, coupled with the fact that the wedding had no official planner. She’d texted Stephanie late last night and told her to come over today. Stephanie was on the way, and she still didn’t know exactly what she would say to her. She’d busied herself with office tasks all morning, and now the sun had fully risen and was streaming through the window, but it didn’t do much to lighten her mood.
“Hey,” Stephanie said, coming in.
Lauren quickly got up and locked the door behind her to keep the film crew out, returning to Mary’s desk. She braced herself for whatever Stephanie had to say to her, but instead, Stephanie sat down silently, looking both exhausted and overwhelmed.
“I owe you an incredible apology,” Lauren said.
The rims of Stephanie’s eyes were red, which made Lauren feel like the lowest person on the planet. How could she have allowed her grief to get the better of her like this?
“You haven’t explained or anything. I have no idea what’s going on.”
“I’m so sorry. When I saw you in that beautiful dress, I lost it.”
Dave drummed on the locked door, interrupting them. “Let me in, Lauren. You’re in breach of contract.”
Stephanie went to get up, but Lauren stopped her. “We’re doing a confidential fitting and you can’t film her while she’s unclothed,” Lauren lied.
Stephanie’s face crumpled in confusion.
“If he doesn’t get this conversation,” she whispered, “he most likely can’t use the footage of me running out of the bridal shop because he won’t have a way to tie up the storyline, and neither of us want that in the episode.”
Stephanie sat back down.
Quietly, she explained to Stephanie why she left Sugar and Lace and her reason for running out of the shop. When she finished, both of them sat across from each other, tears in their eyes for different reasons.
“I can try to get my old partner, Andy, to send someone to fill in for me,” she said, feeling awful about putting Stephanie in this position.
“I don’t want someone else,” Stephanie said.
