Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 58952 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 295(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58952 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 295(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
So, she replied with a more generic, and truthful, version. “I’m happy with my life, yes.”
“I’m so glad,” Ashley said softly, genuinely. “You deserve to find someone special.”
As her sister got into her car and drove away, Lauren had the thought that she wanted that with Chase. So much. But whatever happened after this weekend was ultimately up to him, and she wasn’t sure that he was ready or willing to take a leap of faith with her.
But at least they had this one last night together, and she intended to make the most of it. To show Chase just how good they could be together, if he’d just open himself up to the possibility.
The rest would be up to him.
Chapter Twelve
Feeling much more optimistic about her relationship with Ashley, Lauren walked back into the inn through the front door after seeing her sister off. She’d checked her cell and had received a text from Chase that he’d returned from his walk, and found him sitting at the dining room table with Betsy, drinking an iced tea and eating one of the homemade chocolate chip cookies set on a plate in front of him.
Surprise lit up his eyes when he saw her. “Where did you come from?” he asked, his tone light and relaxed. “I thought you were in the garden out back.”
“I was,” she said, taking a seat in the chair next to his. “I walked Ashley out front from the backyard’s side gate, so it was easier to come in the front door. What are you two up to?” She glanced from Chase to Betsy sitting across the table, hoping that the older woman was behaving herself.
Betsy beamed at her. “I was just regaling Chase with stories of your acting debut in high school as Wendy Darling in Lost Girls. You were superb!”
Lauren refrained from rolling her eyes at the other woman’s praise. Superb was definitely overselling Lauren as an actress, even if it had been a high school play.
The corner of Chase’s mouth quirked up in amusement as he finished his cookie. “You didn’t tell me you were a theater geek.”
She shrugged. “I wasn’t. Not really.” She arched a playful brow his way. “If you haven’t noticed, there aren’t a lot of things for kids to do around here, which was why I took drama class my senior year.”
“You were a very good actress,” Betsy insisted. “And singer, too. Remember that karaoke contest you won at Jake’s Pizzeria?”
Lauren groaned at the memory, feeling her cheeks warm in embarrassment. She’d just turned twenty-one, and after one too many cocktails she’d had enough liquid courage running through her veins to accept her friend’s dare to sing “Baby One More Time”. Yes, she’d commandeered the stage, complete with a bump and grind routine that had the crowd, and the boys, hooting and hollering and egging her on.
“Not really my finer moment,” she said, ducking her head. “I was pretty toasted and way too uninhibited.”
“I would have paid money to see that,” Chase said, chuckling. “Look at you, so full of all these secret, hidden talents.”
He was teasing her, of course, but his comment made Lauren think about what her sister had said to her. About how everything had come so easily for Lauren. She’d never thought of things that way before, or how inadequate her sister must have felt, even if it had been misplaced. It was crazy to her that they’d each had their own insecurities when it came to the other.
Betsy stood up. “Well, it’s been nice chatting with you two, but I’ve got to head to the market and pick up a few things,” she announced. “Would you like a lemonade or iced tea before I go, Lauren?”
She smiled at the other woman. “Iced tea would be great.”
Betsy went into the adjoining kitchen and moments later, returned with a drink for Lauren, and then she was out the door, leaving her and Chase alone.
She took a sip of her sweetened tea and glanced at him, unable to miss how mellow he seemed to be, which she was grateful for. She wasn’t sure what to expect after their earlier discussion about his turbulent past, then his pensive walk. She’d anticipated the possibility that he’d have erected those emotional walls again by the time he returned to the inn, or be in a more somber mood, but that wasn’t the case.
“How did things go with your sister?” he asked as he absently wiped away the condensation on his glass with his long fingers. “Good, I hope?”
She nodded, then told him about her conversation with Ashley, about her sister’s genuine apology, and how things really had gone down with Greg and their affair, and everything else they’d discussed. He listened intently, asked a few questions, and by the time she was done he had a gentle smile on his lips.