“I’m praying for you, Maxie,” she whispered.
He nodded, let her go. “I love you, Mom.”
Brendon stood at the edge of the yard, hands in his pockets, a hard resolve on his face as Max fired up the car and pulled out of the driveway.
Max looked away. He hadn’t reached the end of the road before the clouds finally broke open and poured out tears over the Sharpe family reunion .
If Grace was lucky, no one would miss her. Especially since she’d stolen the cutest bachelor from the dance floor, luring him out under the sprinkle of starlight to tuck him into her embrace. The wind twined through the trees, fragrancing the night with the scent of evergreen. It all conspired to . . . lull him to sleep.
Figured. But six-year-old Tiger, Grace’s favorite and only nephew, had endured the long day with the toughness of his breeding. After all, he was a Christiansen, and as ring bearer, Theo “Tiger” Christiansen had important duties. He’d managed to not only hand off the ring to his father, Darek, but also stay clean and even smiling through the entire wedding.
Trouper.
Only at the reception did he start to fade, whining his way through dinner and then stealing one of the cupcakes from the dessert table.
Grace pressed a kiss to his curly blond hair. His lips open against her dress, he’d even left a puddle of drool, dampening the fabric. She loosened his bow tie, drew it off his neck.
If she could, she’d never leave. Everything she wanted, everything she needed, was right here, right now. Even with tonight’s near disaster.
Whoever had last used the folk school grill let a hamburger sit on the bottom, charred, yet ready to flame with the next user. Calling in the fire department seemed overkill, but Raina had panicked. They’d doused the grill, saturating Grace’s marinated chicken with hose water.
Thankfully, they still had the ravioli, which Ty cooked to perfection. No one seemed to notice the missing chicken after she’d served the strawberries. She hoped.
Music from the local blues band, the Blue Monkeys, drifted out across the dock and the glistening water, mysterious and romantic.
If Grace simply stayed out here, swaddled in the night, babysitting, no one would notice that she hadn’t danced once and managed to eat dinner in the kitchen. It seemed a better option than sticking around for small talk.
She had no doubt someone would eventually ask her about her plans. Inadvertently surface her failures.
Yes, I’d planned to go to culinary school in July, but no, I didn’t get in. Which is okay because I like working at Pierre’s Pizza.
Really.
Most likely, they’d get stuck on the question “What kind of person gets rejected from cooking school?”
The kind that nearly burned down the folk school building.
She wanted to believe that in His kindness, God had looked down from heaven, seen disaster looming, and saved her from herself. From the dreams of others that said she had to leave Deep Haven to find happiness.
She’d looked around and discovered enough of it right here.
Even with her catering hopes in flames.
“Grace, honey, what are you doing out here? They’re getting ready for the toasts.”
Grace looked up into the worried face of her mother, Ingrid. She wore a long, flowing lilac sundress and a pair of sandals, her blonde hair short and caught back with a flowered headband. Sometimes Grace could still spot the seventies girl lurking inside her mother.
Ingrid slipped off her sandals and sat on the end of the dock with Grace. “He’s so cute when he’s sleeping. It’s the only time I see him still.”
“He reminds you of Darek.”
“So much. And Casper and Owen. All my boys seemed to charge full speed through life.” Ingrid brushed back Tiger’s hair. “You did a great job on dinner, honey. Absolutely delicious. You’re going to be a magnificent chef.”
Grace didn’t look at her, opting instead for the canopy of velvet above. “Tonight the stars seem so close you could pluck them from the sky. The vastness of the universe is breathtaking. Even scary.”
“And yet, God placed each one of them with purpose.”
Grace said nothing. Tiger stirred in her arms, shifting his position.
“Have you thought about when you might be leaving? You need to find a place to live in the Cities, maybe get a part-time job. The summer session starts in a month, doesn’t it?”
Shoot. Even her mother.
Across the inky water, the lights from the Coast Guard station dappled the surface of the waves and gleamed against the anchored sailboats. She often wondered how many truly left the harbor to explore the big lake.
A cool wind brushed over the water, raised gooseflesh on her skin.
She took a breath. “I didn’t get in.”