Page 59 of Whisper of Temptation (Whisper Lake 4)

“Wait, so Austin’s grandpa and your grandma were together?”

“Yeah.” Sara still wasn’t sure that she’d wrapped her head around it. “Well, for a summer they were.”

Jess picked her needles back up and shrugged slightly. “A summer is plenty of time to fall in love.”

Sara might’ve argued with her last week, but after meeting Austin, she had to agree. It didn’t seem that time played much of a factor in love.

“Hey, sorry I’m late. Some of the kids’ parents were late picking them up.” Brynn mumbled as she dug into her bag and took a seat beside Jess. When she looked up and saw Sara, her face lit up. “Hey! What are you doing here?”

Her exclamation garnered another round of shhhs.

Sara and Jess filled Brynn in on the breakfast and the connection between her Grandma Betty and Austin’s Grandpa Cliff. And Sara revealed to her friends how the Princess and the Pea was her Grandma Betty’s favorite book and that Cliff had come home from the war, bought the B&B that her grandma had stayed in and changed the name to the Princess and the Pea.

Brynn’s eyes were watering by the time they finished. “How romantic. It’s like the Notebook.” The trio were silent for a moment before Brynn added, “Well, the beginning at least.”

Sara smiled and was about to ask them if they’d known Austin’s grandpa. She wanted to know what he was like. Who was the man that had been her grandma’s first, and maybe only true love? After breakfast, she’d started to ask Austin several times, but never did. She wasn’t sure what his relationship with him had been. Or how he felt about his grandpa’s relationship with Sara’s grandma. Mrs. D had said that he hadn’t met Austin’s grandma until years later, but still, Sara didn’t know if it was appropriate.

As much as she felt like she knew him, she had to admit that he didn’t talk about himself much. Or at all. She’d shared more with him than she’d ever shared with anyone in her life, but he really hadn’t. He hadn’t mentioned anything about his ex, or his parents, and he’d only spoken of his grandparents when discussing the B&B.

Maybe the connection she was feeling was one-sided. It was obvious that he was attracted to her, and he enjoyed spending time with her. But if he wasn’t being open with her, then was what she felt as real as she thought it was?

“Hey, look who I found.”

Sara heard Ali’s voice, which was several octaves higher than usual, and looked up to see her standing with Chrissy.

In the few days that Sara had been in town, she’d seen quite a bit of Chrissy. Trevor and Chrissy’s two youngest, Kimber and Cassidy had been inseparable at the summer program. They were the three amigos. Because of that they’d met up at the festival and also sat together at the softball game. Every time she’d seen her, the woman looked like she was doing a photo shoot. Her clothes, hair, makeup, demeanor, were perfect. Flawless. She was June Cleaver and Martha Stewart on steroids.

But tonight, her eyes were rimmed with red. Her shirt was wrinkled and she had on two different sneakers. One that was white with blue stitching and the other had red stitching. It could’ve been on purpose, but Sara doubted it.

“Are you okay?” Sara asked, immediately concerned.

Chrissy’s expression was tight as she took a seat next to Sara and Ali sat on the other side of Brynn.

“I’m getting a divorce,” Chrissy said as if the words sounded foreign to her own ears.

Sara knew the feeling.

“Mrs. D was walking by my house when I was served with the papers. She saw me crying and told me that she’d expect to see me at the meeting tonight.” Chrissy explained to the women, speaking at a hushed level.

“I’m so sorry, Chrissy,” Brynn reached over and squeezed her hand.

Sara hadn’t met Chrissy’s husband, but she’d heard that Jim Caldwell traveled a lot for work. A lot. Ali said that months would pass and no one would see him.

“Didn’t you say you were getting a divorce?” Chrissy turned to Sara.

Actually, Trevor had said, but Sara nodded anyway.

“How long were you married? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Eight years. But Jack was in the military and only home for about a year of that.”

Chrissy nodded. “I was married sixteen and I think Jim’s been home about the same amount.”

A woman who was in a group adjacent to them cleared her throat as she shot a disapproving glare their way.

“Get the stick out of your ass, Muriel. Our friend is having a situation.” Jess shot back at full volume.

Muriel’s lips pursed and her expression morphed from objection to shocked appall. She huffed as she turned her back on Sara and her friends.

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