The Stand

by Lila Kane

  “I’m fine.”

  “Got it!”

  Maddy lifted her head and saw Kara toss off the lid to the box. She pulled out two pieces of the star and shoved them into the pocket of her jacket. “Let’s go.”

  Riley led the way down the hall again, eyes vigilant, keeping the women close. A stabbing pain shot through Maddy’s stomach and she crumbled to the floor.

  “Maddy!” Kara dropped down next to her in alarm. “What happened?”

  “What happened?” Riley asked. “Is it the baby?”

  Maddy gritted her teeth against the pain. “I don’t know. I–” She grimaced as another shot of pain curled her into a ball. Her breath came in a sharp gasp and she wrapped her arms around her stomach. “Riley–”

  “We should get to a hospital,” Riley said. He reached down to scoop her up. “Help me, Kara.”

  “No!” Maddy gripped his arm with all her strength. “No, I think this is part of it. Just help me up.”

  Riley shook his head. “Maddy, we’re going to the hospital.”

  She lifted herself onto one elbow and Riley slid his hand beneath her arm. “We need to finish this,” she whispered. “You said so yourself.”

  Kara opened her mouth to protest but Maddy dragged herself to her feet.

  “I’m okay.” She took a full breath and appealed to Riley. “I promise I’m not going to do anything to hurt the baby. We’ll finish with the stars and then we’ll see.”

  Riley held her gaze, searched for the truth in her eyes. Then he nodded. He touched her stomach softly. “All right. Let’s go.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Nathan felt his stomach drop with relief when he saw the three of them come out of the guesthouse. The rain had eased but the road still stood in a few inches of water. The sky rolled with dark clouds and thunder rumbled. They got into the truck.

  “The quickest way to the top of the Falls is from the trail by the lake.” Nathan turned in his seat. “Are we sure we want to do this now?”

  “We’re sure,” Maddy said from the backseat. Kara reached over and took her hand. Then Grace.

  Nathan put his truck in gear and turned toward the lake. His wheels splashed in the water and spun through the mud.

  “What happens when we get to the top?” Elliot asked. “Put the stars together? That’s it?”

  “Put them together and toss them over the Falls,” Kara told him.

  “And?”

  Nathan squeezed the wheel. “And know that your lives are not controlled by those pieces of metal anymore. It’s like breaking a contract with what you believed all those years ago.”

  The lake was swollen, rising high with rain from two days of storms. Nathan drove the truck to the edge, close to the bridge and the trail to the top of the Falls. Doors opened and he got out, reaching for Grace.

  She stood close, eyes moving toward the trail. Then she tipped her chin up and met his eyes. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to use my crutches.”

  “I’ll help you.” He’d carry her if he had to. They were going to get to the top of the Falls.

  “Stay close,” Riley ordered as he turned toward the trail. “I’ll stay in front.”

  “I’ll be in the back,” Nathan said, holding onto Grace.

  He looked down and saw her lips pressed together in a hard line. Rain pelted them from the sky, creating a sea of mud beneath their feet. She only had on a thick brace and a sock.

  “Grace…”

  She looked up, cheeks pale, and a shiver raced through her body. “I’m fine.”

  “Hold onto me.” He pulled her closer. “Tighter. I’m going to help you.”

  He approached the bottom of the trail with Grace at his side.

  “I don’t think the doctor is going to like this.” She cast him a tiny smile and he tried to return it.

  He brushed his hand down her cheek. “After today, you’re staying off your feet until this is fixed. No arguing.”

  “Trust me, I wasn’t planning on it.”

  The trek up the hill took time in the rain, with Grace moving slowly beside him. He worried about Maddy, who gripped her stomach every few minutes. He worried about Kara, who held tightly to Elliot’s hand and didn’t say a word the entire way. And Grace, who didn’t complain the whole time, but he could see the pain written all over her face.

  When they finally reached the top of the trail, with their group still intact, Nathan allowed himself to believe that today could be the end of it.

  ~ ~ ~

  Grace couldn’t help but lean heavily on Nathan. She gritted her teeth, every movement sending pulses of pain down her ankle.

  The rain slowed enough that visibility increased as they neared the river at the top of the Falls. Their group of six moved to the edge of the water and Grace pointed to the rock they’d stood on as teenagers almost ten years ago and made their wishes. Maddy had wished for a family. A real family to love and be loved by. Kara had wished to leave Serenity Falls forever. To find freedom from a place that had brought her so much pain. And Grace…she’d wished to never be left again. To never again have to feel the hurt of being walked out on.

  They’d wished on the stars and believed their lives would change.

  “That’s where we stood,” Grace said. High water rushed between her and the surface.

  Riley got the idea. They were going to end this the same way they’d started it. “I’ll help you.”

  He jumped across first and held his hand out for Maddy. Elliot came next and then Kara.

  “Lean that way,” Nathan suggested, holding her hand.

  Riley reached out and, with a small hop and some extra helpful hands from Elliot, she was on the rock. Once Nathan joined them, their group was complete.

  It had started with three but felt right to Grace to end it with the six of them. Nathan pulled her piece of the star out of his pocket and passed it to her. Kara held out the other pieces. She linked the bottom two and passed it to Grace for the final piece of the star.

  When Grace looked up, all eyes were on her. She held the star in the palm of her hand. Lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the piece of metal.

  “You throw it, Grace,” Kara whispered.

  Her eyes settled on the star again. The complete product of three metal pieces that had been part of her life and her friends’ lives for years. And she never wanted to see it again.

  She lifted her arm, moved closer to the edge and tossed it as hard as she could. It disappeared into the rain, falling to the lake to sink below the surface.

  Nathan took her hand as she turned. “It’s over now,” she heard him whisper. “The star isn’t part of your lives anymore. As long as you believe it.”

  “I believe it.” Grace buried her cheek against his chest and let out a long, slow breath of freedom.

  Chapter 36

  The beginning of August came with warm weather, drawing out their first group of kids to the completed youth center.

  Grace stood inside at the bottom of the stairs, free of her cast for the first day since that week after they threw the star off the top of the Falls.

  “Come sit,” Nathan said, patting the couch next to him.

  “No way.” She gestured to her foot. “No cast, remember? I’m walking wherever I can.”

  He chuckled. “Eventually your feet are going to get tired and you’ll have to sit down.”

  “Until then…” She smiled when Tracy and Kiley came through the open front door. The bullet hole next to it from Dan’s gun had long ago been patched and painted over. “Hi!”

  Tracy came forward for a hug and beamed. “It looks so good! Especially the mural.”

  “I agree,” Nathan said with a smile.

  “Go see everything else,” Grace suggested. “Maddy’s out back in the garden. And the study is finished. All of it.”

  She watched them move further into the house and decided to leave the door open in case anyone else stopped by. White rockers adorned the front porch where Maddy
and Riley had hung baskets with petunias and other colorful flowers. A round table topped with a bowl of fruit occupied the corner of the kitchen. Computers had been set up, books brought in, a piano nestled against the wall in the living room. It was complete. Perfect.

  Nathan left the couch and closed his arms around her. “You did a good job.”

  “So did you. We wouldn’t have gotten it finished without all the work you did.”

  “It was fun.”

  “And hard.” Grace kissed him on the cheek. “Fortunately for me, I got to sit for most of it.”

  “I think you did all the hard work before that,” he murmured and turned his face when she tried to kiss his cheek again. She met his lips and he lingered in that position for a long moment. “Now we can get back to those piano lessons.”

  She grinned. “I know exactly what you mean by piano lessons.”

  “Well, now I don’t need to use the piano lessons to spend time with you. Now, they’re just to make me a more well-rounded person.”

  “You have nothing to bargain with anymore. I’m pretty certain I can navigate the website without your help.”

  He chuckled and brushed her hair back from her cheek. His grin widened. “I’ll teach you how to play the guitar.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know…”

  “How about French lessons?”

  “No thanks.”

  He grinned. “Spanish?”

  “What do I need to know Spanish for?”

  “So you can talk to people in Spanish.”

  Grace dropped her arms and leaned against the stair rail. “And when am I going to do that?”

  “When we go to Brazil?”

  She opened her mouth. “What?”

  “Brazil.” He stepped closer and offered a charming smile. “Or Spain. Or Mexico. Wherever you want to go.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “What?”

  “You always talk about traveling, going somewhere else, but you never have. I’m taking you. Soon. Wherever you want to go.”

  “Nathan…”

  “Don’t even think about arguing. It’s happening, so you might as well enjoy it.”

  Her wide eyes lifted to his. “Really?”

  “Really.”

  She smiled. “We have to wait until after the baby comes.”

  “Definitely.”

  “Good. Maddy would never forgive me if I wasn’t here. And I really, really want to be the aunt that gets to spoil him.”

  “Him?”

  “I’m telling you, I think it’s a boy.”

  “I’m going to go with a girl.”

  Grace laughed and tugged on his hand, pulling him toward the back door. Sunlight greeted them, as well as the rest of their friends. Maddy had put her expertise to good use and filled the garden with a variety of flowers. She sat in a comfortable chair with lemonade, and one hand over her stomach.

  “Everyone loves it so far,” Grace said.

  Riley moved over to give her a hug. “See? I told you it would be great.”

  “What’s your favorite part?” Kara asked her.

  Grace sat next to Maddy and tilted her head. The sun shone warm on her face. “The piano in the living room. In fact, everything about the living room. Just like Grandpa would have done it if he’d been here.”

  Kara smiled and dropped a hand on her shoulder. “My favorite part is the study. I love all those books. I could stay in there all day.”

  “And yours is the garden, Maddy?” Grace asked.

  Maddy grinned. “Of course.”

  Elliot came up and put his arms around Kara. “I like the rec room. Anyone up for a game of foosball?”

  Riley turned. “Definitely. I was the champion of that game when I was a kid.”

  “Only because you never played me,” Elliot returned.

  Maddy stood as well. “I’m hungry.”

  Grace chuckled. “Me too. I think I’m having sympathetic hunger pains.”

  “How about a picnic?” Nathan brushed his fingers down her arm. “I’m really good at those.”

  “A picnic sounds good.”

  Grace turned her face to the sun and closed her eyes. The youth center was everything Grandpa would have wanted, everything good he’d given her and her two friends.

  She felt a tickle on her hand and opened her eyes. Nathan stood in front of her. “Are you coming?”

  “I am. In a minute. You can go in if you want.”

  He took her face in both his hands, making her heart flutter. “No, I’ll wait for you.” He dropped a soft kiss on her mouth. “Forever.”

  For a sneak peek at another Lila Kane book, turn the page for book one of the Keller Wedding series.

  Chapter One

  Life just couldn’t suck any worse today.

  It wasn’t only that she had to be at work at 5 am. It was that she had to do it on June 15th.

  The day Anna Keller was supposed to get married.

  She parked her car in one of the spaces behind the bakery, headlights still on. The sky was only beginning to see hints of light, but otherwise the world was quiet.

  No, not completely quiet. Anna spotted another car in the lot. Her sister, Jillian. She was the only one Anna knew who actually liked to be up before the sun, and did it with enough enthusiasm she barely even passed for human.

  Anna shuffled through the door in her moccasins and leggings. Her cake decorating clothes.

  After all, it wasn’t her wedding day anymore. She’d change for the ceremony later. Grudgingly.

  How was she supposed to summon enthusiasm for someone else’s wedding when everything involving weddings made her feel like vomiting? Only six months before she was supposed to walk down the aisle, she’d discovered her fiancé was cheating on her. Not only had she felt betrayed, but she’d felt stupid for not seeing it sooner. When he was in the shower, she’d tossed his wallet and keys in a bowl of cake batter and left him.

  Weddings had lost all of their appeal since then.

  Pretty unfortunate considering her family ran a wedding planning company. With her mother at the helm and all her siblings running various parts of the operation, she was surrounded by wedding bliss. And damn it, she couldn’t exactly stay away from weddings when they were part of her life every single day.

  Anna washed her hands at the sink, the scent of lemon surrounding her, and dabbed them on a towel before grabbing an apron. She frowned at it. It was the one her sister, Poppy, had given her as an engagement gift.

  She closed her eyes and took a few calming breaths. This, too, would pass. She had to keep reminding herself of that. It was a good thing she hadn’t married Tom, but that didn’t mean his betrayal hadn’t hurt. It had been six months. But six months going to everyone’s wedding but her own made moving on next to impossible.

  In fact, lately she’d been thinking she might need a fresh start. She was thirty years old and ready to settle somewhere. Preferably nowhere near her ex-fiancé.

  Anna opened her eyes and glared at the apron before turning it inside out and tying it on. Whatever. She’d buy a new one later. Burn the old one if she had to. That jackass Tom had ruined what was supposed to be the best summer of her life. Not even baking consoled her lately.

  She pulled her hair back loosely with a clip, cinched a bandana over the top of her head, and docked her iPod to listen to music. Pat Benetar blared through the speakers, and Anna sang along, pretending to feel empowered as she slid over a bowl.

  She didn’t want the cake done too early, so she started with cookies. The wedding was a late morning ceremony followed by a luncheon reception in the barn at Beckett’s place. It was a popular location for weddings even if it did sound casual. If fact, it was where she had wanted to get married before Tom had insisted on a hotel in the city.

  She gritted her teeth, rolling the fondant so flat she had to start over. “Shit.”

  She turned the music up to distract herself. After another try, the fondant was the right thickness and she
embossed it before cutting circles to layer on top of the cookies. Better.

  Anna made up her own lyrics to the next song, putting some power into her voice. Fake it till you make it, right? Eventually the feeling of betrayal would go away. Eventually she’d feel normal again.

  It was barely 6:00 when her oldest sister, Jillian, breezed in, tablet in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

  Anna stood up straighter and said, “Ready to report, drill sergeant.”

  Jillian flashed a smile. “Funny.”

  “It’s early. I haven’t had any coffee. My decorating hand isn’t as steady without all that caffeine.”

  “That’s what this is for. I heard you pull up.” She passed the coffee over, then nestled her glasses on top of her head. “So…how are you doing?”

  “Peachy.” Anna covered her irritation by taking a long swallow of coffee before filling a bag with icing.

  “Liar.”

  Anna glared. “I did mention I hadn’t had any caffeine, right? You sure you want to mess with the bull this early on?”

  Jillian’s lips twitched, but she didn’t push it any further. “Need any help?”

  Anna lifted a brow. “You? In the kitchen? I didn’t know you could be so funny this early.”

  “I meant I’d see if Summer or Mom could come help. And it’s not that early for me.”

  Of course it wasn’t. Jillian was just like their mother. Orderly. Precise. She was the wedding planner—the one who organized it all and kept their whole operation running. Jillian hardly ever had a hair out of place and never, ever forgot anything. She never would’ve ended up with a man like Tom.

  But being an organized soul meant Jillian had also remembered what today meant to Anna. She’d come to check in on the baking, but she’d also come to check in on her. Anna had to appreciate her big sister for that even if it pissed her off at the same time.

  Anna blew out a breath, searching deep for that mantra again. This, too, would pass. But why the hell did it have to be so hard?

  “I’m good,” she said, waving Jillian off. “I’m getting to the cake in just a minute and it won’t take long.”

  Besides, she was going to be terrible company and she knew it.