He cringed as he saw his childhood home through Julianne’s eyes. When he and his mother had lived there, the trailer park had been neat and well maintained. Now, the place just looked . . . tired. The term vista was stretching it twenty years ago. Today, it was laughable.
“Do you think any of your old neighbors still live here?”
Will wandered over to the hive of mailboxes, checking the names on the slots, but most had worn off. “I doubt it. It was a pretty transient place. Most of the kids who lived here ended up in trouble at some point. All the parents, if they even had one, worked, and there wasn’t much supervision for kids outside school. If it weren’t for the McAlisters, I would probably have ended up in juvie, too. Having a safe place to go when my mom worked gave me opportunities the kids who lived here never had.”
He stood, hands on his hips, and tried to conjure up any good memories of his old home. Sadly, Will couldn’t.
“I can’t believe my mother lived in this dump for nearly twenty years.” He hadn’t wanted her to live here alone when he’d been at Yale, but his mother was stubborn. It seemed stubborn women were his lot in life. “The first dollar I got, I bought her a house.” Unfortunately, that first dollar he’d earned could destroy a dozen NFL careers, including that of his former coach, if it came out how he’d earned it.
“I doubt it was a dump when you lived here. Annabeth may not have been able to give you much, but I’m sure what she could provide was at least clean and tidy.” She lifted Owen out of his stroller and began to point out the birds and the few visible flowers to him.
He wasn’t sure why he felt it so important to take Julianne on this trip down memory lane, but he wanted her to see why their son should never want for anything. Once they’d arrived at the trailer park, however, he’d felt extremely uncomfortable. He was revealing more to her than he’d planned .
“This place made you who you are, Will. Living here pushed you to succeed beyond your wildest dreams. You should never be ashamed of that. Especially not with me.” She stretched up and kissed the side of his mouth. It wasn’t nearly enough for him and he captured her mouth in a hot kiss, tangling his tongue with hers until Owen head-butted him on the jaw.
“Oww!” He rubbed the side of his face. “You’ve definitely got the head of a linebacker. Come here, Cheerio. Let’s take Mommy for a walk to the beach.”
Julianne hesitated. She’d been making progress with her driving, but the beach was a different prospect all together. Will hadn’t been able to coax her off the verandah since they’d arrived in Chances Inlet.
He reached for her hand. “It’ll be okay. Owen and I will be right there with you.”
She slid her small hand into his, trust emanating from her eyes. Since that first night on Sea Island, she’d trusted him. He wasn’t sure what he’d done to deserve her faith, but her confidence humbled him.
Pushing the stroller in front, the three of them trod the dirt path through the woods he’d taken hundreds of times before. Except now he wasn’t a lonely young boy, but part of a family. A family he hadn’t known he’d have over a month ago. Yet the baby in his arms and the woman whose hand he held firmly were now his responsibility. Somehow, that thought didn’t seem quite as daunting as it once did.
• • •
Annabeth waited patiently as Patricia McAlister stirred sugar into her coffee. The two women sat together as they did every month at the local chamber of commerce meeting. Even after nearly a decade of owning her own business, Annabeth still had to pinch herself each time she attended one of these gatherings, amazed that she was included in Chances Inlet’s business community. She’d come a long way from the Seaside Vista Trailer Park, when she drove a school bus and cleaned homes to scratch out a measly living.
Patricia had always been a member of the town’s business elite. She and her husband operated McAlister Construction, Chances Inlet’s only engineering and construction firm, until Donald’s death. Now she’d realized her dream in renovating and operating the Tide Me Over Inn, while her son, Gavin, temporarily ran the construction company.
“So, tell me what’s been going on with the handsome Hank Osbourne? It’s been nearly two weeks since he left. Have you heard from him?”
Annabeth took a sip of her own coffee before answering. “He’s in California with Sophie, so he really doesn’t have a lot of free time to call.” Which wasn’t exactly true. Hank was in California, but rather than call her, he sent long e-mails to her every day, sometimes more than one. The e-mails weren’t flowery or prosaic love letters, but rather detailed descriptions of his day with Sophie, complete with funny anecdotes and exasperated comments about life with a teenager. She replied back, recounting her day in the shop or her time with Owen. As the days flew past, their electronic courtship had taken a more intimate turn and their correspondence now delved into their hopes and desires. Annabeth feared she was falling in love with Hank, and she didn’t know what to do about it.