Now that he had a new mother, maybe he’d spend more time on Ivy’s lap than Grace’s. She should have expected that.
She took the shortcut through the parking lot of the realty office, then cut across the street at the light. Liza lived two blocks off the highway that ran through town, in a cute two-bedroom bungalow with dormers and a wraparound porch.
Raina’s car sat at the curb.
Grace knocked on the front door. “Raina?” No answer, but because she was a local and she’d been inside Liza’s house more than a handful of times, she tried the door.
It opened, and she went inside. “Liza?”
“She’s not here!”
The voice came from behind one of the bedroom doors.
“Raina, what’s going on?”
“Grace?” Footsteps accompanied the tone of surprise. They stopped at the other side of the closed door. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here because Darek is in a panic. He wants me to paddle because apparently you’ve left them with an empty space.”
Silence.
“Raina, are you okay?”
More silence.
“Okay, well, um. Do you want me to paddle for you?”
Silence again. Then, “How was your trip?”
It was . . . heartbreaking? Breathtaking? Life changing?
“I learned a lot about Hawaiian food. In fact, my sister wants me to cater her wedding in six weeks.”
“Six weeks?” The voice came closer.
“Exactly. I have to pull off a dinner for seventy-five, and I need you. You’re my secret weapon.”
Silence.
“Raina, what’s going on? Can I help?”
Grace nearly put her hand to the doorknob, but the door finally opened.
Raina stood there, wearing a lime-green dragon boat shirt, her eyes red, swollen. At least she had team spirit. “I wish you could but . . . no one can help.”
“Why not?”
Raina sat on the bed. “Because God is laughing at me.”
Grace sat beside her. “God isn’t laughing at you, Raina. What happened? You can tell me.”
The look on Raina’s face could make Grace weep. “I think I’m pregnant.”
Grace tried not to gasp, but the tragedy in Raina’s voice only made it worse. “Are you sure?”
Raina pointed to three store-bought tests lined up in a row on the nightstand. Two negatives and a positive.
“Best two out of three?”
“I don’t think so,” Raina said softly.
“But you don’t know for sure.” Grace took her hand, holding herself back from asking who the father was. It didn’t matter, maybe. “Honey, listen. You’re not in this alone. It’s going to be okay.” The tone in her voice made her believe it too. “I learned a lot in Hawaii—more than cooking. Mostly that once I got past the fear and past holding on to what I thought I wanted, there was more waiting for me.” She swallowed, letting the truth rise up. “I know it’s difficult to see right now, but if we trust Him, God can bring us through these dark places, through our fears and even what we think is impossible, to give us more. More of Him. Even more of ourselves, through Him. In fact, He can do more than you can ask or imagine if you let Him.”
She let her own words sink in to nourish her, too.
Raina looked at their hands. “I highly doubt that God is interested in helping me.” She met Grace’s eyes. “But thanks for saying that. You’re right. I can survive this.”
“Well, I’m interested in helping you. We’re teammates.”
Raina drew in a long breath.
“And I know Casper is counting on you.”
That seemed to only make her cringe.
Grace frowned. “What—?”
“Nothing. Yeah, I know.”
“Good. Now, let’s get you back on that dragon boat team where you belong. Evergreen needs you.”
Raina swallowed, looked away. “Okay.”
Grace leaned in to embrace her. “You’re not alone,” she said again.
But when Raina got up, the smile she gave Grace didn’t touch her eyes.
THE DRAGON BOAT VICTORY should have filled the hole inside Casper, should have buoyed him, given him a reason to believe he could build a future here.
Instead, it pinged around the hollow place inside him. The place where, only days ago, he’d let his affection for Raina find fertile soil.
What had happened between them, he hadn’t any idea. One minute she was smiling into his eyes, leaning her face into the pocket of his hand, and the next, she’d left the hospital while he fetched her a vending machine tuna sandwich. He’d driven to her house, found her holed up in her room. She refused to open the door to him, and for a desperate twelve hours, he’d thought she might not even paddle in the competition. Then she’d reappeared, wearing a life jacket, holding a paddle. Except, not the Raina he knew, that he . . . that he’d started to love. He could admit he’d started to harbor hopes that maybe Raina could be the reason he stayed in Deep Haven. So what if he didn’t go back to school, didn’t pursue his archaeology dreams. Couldn’t he be like Darek and build a home here? Certainly two brothers could rebuild and run the resort.