Ria puffed out a breath. One more thing to worry about, but it paled in comparison to worry about her daughter.
Her mother put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed gently. “I know it’s got to be hard for you. I’ll just run in and make up the bed, and then I have to scoot. Mary has an emergency and needs me to come in and cover for her at the bookstore.”
“Go on. I’ll help him settle in.” Mom did so much for everyone, Ria and her kids most of all. But as she hugged her mom and thanked her, a knot of dread settled into her stomach.
Being around Drew while he visited Kaitlyn was going to be tough. She only hoped this week would go fast.
“Listen,” Drew said as soon as she greeted him, “you don’t have to clean. I can do that. I could just use a tour of the place so I can get my bearings.”
Ria looked around. The place wasn’t dirty, but—she checked the bedroom and bath—they needed to put out clean linens. “Why don’t you unpack and I’ll put sheets on the bed and towels out for you at least.” Then she hesitated. “That’s if...can you unpack for yourself?”
“I can unpack.” The words were said through gritted teeth.
“Sorry! I just don’t... You let me know if you need help, okay? Otherwise I’ll assume you don’t. During your whole visit.” She headed into the bedroom as she spoke and pulled the spare set of linens out of the closet.
He came into the bedroom, and she watched him move around touching the furniture, getting his bearings. Strange to see this big, proud man who’d always stridden rather than walked now moving tentatively. “I’ve been doing orientation and mobility training pretty heavily,” he said when he got to the side of the bed where she was. “And I have some limited vision. I do okay.”
“What’s going to happen with Navy?” She dreaded the answer, knowing how much Drew loved his dog.
“They’re letting me keep her. Some grant for disabled officers.” He winced and started taking clothes out of a duffel and putting them in drawers, all by touch. “Hate that term.”
She finished making the bed, watching him furtively. He was still so handsome. And she was still so attracted. Ridiculous.
Of course, the attraction had never been the problem between them, even though she’d lost her confidence about actual intimacy. Even their last fight had been fiery, and when he’d grabbed her shoulders in frustration, she’d wanted to kiss him, and she’d seen in his eyes that he wanted to kiss her, too.
But the physical side of things wasn’t enough. They’d never communicated all that well in actual words, and as the hurt had built up on both sides, their ability to understand each other had declined even further. When people—even good friends—asked what had happened to their marriage, she’d never been able to say exactly. It wasn’t cheating or drinking or abuse. But it had been conclusive, just the same.
“Tell me about Kait,” he said as he moved to the doorway. “When can I see her?”
“Anytime. She’s home from school today, in fact.”
“You let her stay home?” Drew grabbed his cane and started moving around the room, restlessly exploring. “Why?”
Her chest tightened. “She said she has cramps.”
“That’s not an acceptable excuse. She can take medicine for that, right?”
“Right, but—”
“You argue with her and then give in to her. It’s not the best strategy.”
“I’ve been doing the best I can, alone!” She forked her fingers through her hair. “Believe me, I question myself every day, but I just have to make a decision and go on. She looked so miserable this morning that I let her stay home.”
“She’s not going to solve a problem by running away from it.”
“Neither are you,” she snapped. “Look, I get that you’ve had a major challenge with this...this blindness thing—”
He made some sort of noise in his throat.
She pushed on. “But that doesn’t absolve you from responsibility, nor give you the right to question my decisions. She’s more than I can handle alone, Drew, so I hope you can do some good, at least, with this visit.”
She spun to leave, and froze. There in the doorway was Kaitlyn, looking from her to Drew, her face stricken.
Don’t miss Reunion at the Shore by Lee Tobin McClain!
Copyright © 2020 by Lee Tobin McClain
ISBN: 9781488068881
Cottage at the Beach
Copyright © 2020 by Lee Tobin McClain
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Cottage at the Beach (The Off Season) Page 28
