Page 27 of The Vineyard Bride

Chapter Eleven

Max clambered aroundthe living room of Lola and Tommy’s cabin, dressed in a diaper and a bright blue t-shirt.His black hair caught the sunlight from the kitchen window, and his sticky hands seemed to touch everything, so much so that Lola finally grabbed him with a wet wipe and cleaned him up again.

“You’re always such a little mess, aren’t you, Max?”Lola cooed, drawing him up on her lap.He smacked his palms against her chest and gazed at her adoringly.“But you get away with everything, don’t you?Just like your mother.”

Lola and Tommy had spent the previous evening babysitting Max, allowing Audrey a night off with Noah.Together, Audrey, Amanda, Noah, and Sam had gone out sailing, celebrating the first week of June with champagne and bathing suits and laughter.Lola and Tommy had stayed in for the night, putting Max to bed by seven and then playing a movie, both passing out halfway through and then laughing about it after they’d woken up to the credits.

“Does this mean we’re officially old?”Lola had asked.

“I’m marrying you, aren’t I?I’m too tired to do anything else but settle down.I’m planning to live out the rest of my life on this couch,” Tommy had told her as he’d elbowed her.

“Guess the magic’s over,” Lola had teased with a sigh.

“Guess so.”

But after that, Lola and Tommy had made eyes at one another and fallen into a glorious romantic night, one that had allowed them to sleep long into the morning until Max’s babbling from the next room had forced Lola out.Now, Tommy was off to teach a sailing lesson as Lola hobbled through the rest of her babysitting duties.Audrey planned to pick Max up by eleven, although it was no secret that Audrey wasn’t exactly the best about sticking to schedules.

At eleven-twenty, Audrey finally texted to say that she was on her way.Lola carried Max to the fridge, where she peered at her current ingredients and tried to drum up some ideas for their lunch.Ultimately, she found herself ordering burritos online, along with a big bucket of guacamole and tortilla chips.It would be delivered by noon.

Audrey bustled through the door of the cabin at eleven-forty-five, her eyes drooping low with her hangover and her smile loose and contented.

“There he is!”she cried as she wrapped her arms around Max and turned him around and around.“Thanks a lot for taking care of him.”

“No problem, honey.We had a good time,” Lola said.“He showed me how well he can walk and make a mess of the house.”

“Those are his two main talents right now.That and eating way more food than a one-and-a-half-year-old ever should,” Audrey teased as she sat at the edge of a kitchen chair and bounced Max on her lap.Lola watched them quietly for a moment, captivated at the beauty of her only child with her only grandchild.Her heart was full.

“How did it go out on the water?”Lola asked.

“It was beautiful,” Audrey cooed.“Just a daydream of a day.Although I have to admit, Amanda and Sam still seem a bit strange and messed up after the accident.They asked me if you’d heard anything more about that car?”

Lola’s stomach tightened.In the wake of Sam and Amanda’s discovery of the Chevy Cavalier on the western edge of the island, Lola had called the police station almost daily, demanding details.It wasn’t all about Amanda and Sam any longer, not now that Beatrice was a victim of the crash.Yes, Beatrice mended more and more every day— but that didn’t mean that Lola and Tommy didn’t remain angry.The woman didn’t deserve this.

“Nothing,” Lola affirmed quietly.“There were no prints in the vehicle.Nothing inside to indicate who might have owned it, either.”

“Wow.”Audrey shook her head.“I think it’s tearing Sam and Amanda up inside.It’s like this mystery, hanging over their heads.”

At that moment, a knock rang out from the front door.Lola opened it to discover a delivery driver wearing a bright red visor and carrying a brown paper bag full of burritos.Lola tipped him for his delivery and then hustled in, dropping the bag on the kitchen table.“Lunch!”she announced.

“You’re such a provider,” Audrey teased.“Just like the old days, when we ate take-out for most meals.”

“Hey.That comment severely undercuts my skills with the microwave,” Lola returned as she removed the burritos from the bag.“I could whip up meals in no time with that thing.”

“Yes, Mother.You were a brilliant microwave chef,” Audrey said, rolling her eyes.

As they ate, their conversation bounced along easily.Lola could always count on Audrey to share whatever feelings lurked in the back alleys of her mind.She supposed having a child at nineteen allowed that sort of closeness.She wouldn’t have traded it for the world.

“Sam and Amanda are totally in love these days,” Audrey breathed between bites.“I know she was scared when she met him.But she’s leaning into it open-hearted these days.”

“Does she talk to you about it?”Lola asked.

“Not as much as she used to,” Audrey admitted.“She wants her love to be private, which makes sense after what happened with Chris.”

“Once you’ve been burned, you have to protect yourself.”

“For sure.”Audrey’s eyes danced toward Max, where he bobbed around on the floor in front of a tiny fire truck.“It makes me sad, sometimes, to think that soon, Amanda might get engaged to Sam and move into his house.What will happen to Grandpa, Max, and me without her?Left to our own devices, we’ll definitely just eat candy and burgers for every meal.”

Lola laughed good-naturedly as she placed her half-eaten burrito on her plate.“But what’s going to happen between you and Noah?”

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