Anchored: A Lake Series Novella (3 page)

My
heart sank even further to find out that she was only there for
money. We had managed to keep our lives freeloader-free and I was
afraid that was changing.

“I’m
not asking for a hand out. It would be a loan. After Michael, well,
when it’s all over I’ll have to sell his company. I’ve
already got someone all lined up. I told Michael we should just go
ahead and sell, but he said that until he’s dead and gone he’s
not giving anything up. At any rate, you’d have your money back
in less than a year.”

I
watched Rachel explain how she’s already had to think about
what she’s going to do when her husband dies within the year.
It made me want to write her a check for whatever amount she needed.
But years of being Luke Weston’s daughter and Will Meyer’s
wife kicked in and I approached the situation with a little more of
my head than my heart.

“I’m
so sorry you’re going through this, Rachel. I don’t think
it’s a good idea to just write you a check. It isn’t that
I don’t want to help. I just need to be, well, careful. I hope
you understand,” I told her.

“Yes,
of course. Thank you anyway.” I grabbed Rachel’s hand to
stop her as she began to stand. I wasn’t going to be cold and
heartless and not help at all. I just knew that I needed more
information than she had provided.

“I
think we can help, but that it would be best to send any payments
directly to the hospital.”

“Oh!”
She sat back down, her eyes just a little brighter. “Well, I
don’t have any of that with me.”

“That’s
okay. I think it’s best to give me a few days to consider what
we can do to help and then get back together. I’ll contact you
as soon as I have an answer. Then maybe you can come back by and
we’ll chat?” I raised my eyebrows and gave her a
thin-lipped smile.

Rachel
breathed a sigh of relief and I watched her body relax. “Thank
you, Layla. You have no idea what this means to us.”

“Don’t
thank me yet,” I cautioned. I knew we would help in some way. I
just didn’t know what that was going to look like quite yet.

As
I closed the door behind Rachel that day, my first thought was to
talk to Mom. I wanted to do the right thing but I wanted to protect
Will, too. It wasn’t about the money. I knew Will would want to
see Michael, but I had no idea if Michael wanted to see him. Seeing
as Rachel was keeping her plea for help a secret from him, I had a
feeling Michael’s feelings about connecting with Will hadn’t
changed. More than that, I needed to find out if Rachel’s story
was true.

Now
that I’m sitting here in front of Mom and Eliana, I’m not
sure telling them is the best idea. They’ll tell me not to keep
this from Will but they don’t understand. If Michael doesn’t
want to see Will it will break his heart again. They weren’t
there when my husband cried himself to sleep because his hopes of
having a brother had been crushed. I won’t let him get hurt
again.

“You
know, I can’t even remember now,” I lie. “It must
be New Mommy Brain! But I will tell you this: Tyler and Caroline are
together!”

“Oh
thank God you know! It’s been awful keeping that from you!”
Eliana says with relief. She and Mom look at each other and both give
a sigh.

“Geez!
Everyone knew?” I whine.

“It
wasn’t our choice to keep it from you,” Mom defends. “I
wanted to, but Will said Caroline would tell you when she was ready.”

“Well,
‘ready’ happened today when I walked in on the two of
them canoodling on her porch!” We laugh and spend the rest of
our time together speculating on how long it will be before Tyler
proposes. Then we throw out our own ideas for how we’ll hijack
Caroline’s wedding and help Carol with the planning. It’s
a fun afternoon that reminds me what a lucky girl I am.

I
leave the moms and make my way to the mall to do a little shopping. I
don’t plan on buying a lot since my goal is to have Wes kick me
back into shape.

Wes
.
That’s it.

Four
pairs of jeans and a couple of tops later I’m back in my car
and going straight to Wes’ office. Hopefully he’s there
and not out on the training field.

Wes
started his own security company a few years ago. He hired some legit
guys but also gave jobs to some of the good guys who used to work for
Meyer. A lot of them have steady gigs as personal security for the
high-powered, while some of them work contract jobs for celebrities
who come to town and need someone who knows the area.

I
luck out when I pull in the parking lot and see Wes’ car.

“Hey
you! Where are my girls?” Wes asks as I knock on the frame of
his door.

“Hey!
I’m
great, by the way!” I joke. No one tells you that after you
have kids no one is going to care about how you’re doing. They
only want to see the baby, or in my case, babies. It’s not as
big a deal as one might think because, honestly, I only care about
the babies, too.

“Whatever!
Where are my girls?” Wes laughs.

“They’re
home with Will. I just had lunch with Mom and Eliana,” I tell
him.

“That’s
right. El said she was seeing you today. What brings you by?”

“Well,”
I begin. “I’ll start off with my first reason. I need you
to throw some Marine training at me and help me get back to my
pre-baby size. I want to get fit.”

“Sure!
You’ve put me through enough that I’d be happy to kick
your ass a little bit!”

“Ha,
ha, ha! Very funny!” I punch his arm, one of the pieces of
evidence that Wes will know how to get me into shape.

“What’s
the other reason you’re here?” he asks. I bite my lip
knowing I’m about to ask Wes to keep something from Eliana and
Luke. Wes cocks his head. “Layla?” he says suspiciously.

“I
need an address.”

I
open our front door to what looks like a group of carolers. It seems
that all of our dinner guests decided to show up at the same time.
One by one, Mom and Dad, Caroline, Tyler, Caroline’s parents,
Wes, and Eliana file through the door, offering hugs as they enter.

Caroline
is going back to Los Angeles tomorrow, and I made her promise to come
to dinner before she deserted us again. Her Decorator-to-the-Stars
status is seriously putting a damper on our relationship. It’s
really hard to get in touch with her when she’s gallivanting
all over the country!

“You
guys get a group rate on a cab or something,” Will says walking
into the foyer with both girls in his arms. He doesn’t usually
walk around with both of them, but he knows in less than a minute
they’ll be snuggled in the arms of any one of our friends or
family.

“Can
it and give me one of those baby dolls!” Caroline demands. She
scoops Natalie up in her arms and squeals. “Oh my goodness!
You’re so big already!”

“She
wouldn’t seem so big if you came around more often,” I
chastise teasingly.

“Don’t
you listen to your mommy, Natalie,” Caroline says in a high,
baby-sounding voice as she tickles Natalie’s button nose.
“After you, your sister, and your daddy, she loves me most.”

“Alright,
alright! C’mon in everyone. Can Will get anyone a drink while I
finish getting dinner ready?” We all shuffle to the back of the
house where the kitchen is. We remodeled last year and turned the
kitchen seating area to more of a lounge with couches and short
tables. Everyone always gathers in the kitchen, so it seemed like a
more appropriate design.

Will
opens a few bottles of our favorite wine while I take the roast from
the oven. I let it rest and finished whipping my homemade mashed
potatoes.

“You’ve
outdone yourself again, Layla,” Dad tells me as I return from
laying the girls down for their nap.

“Thank
you!” I smile. “We’re so glad everyone could come
tonight. I know it was short notice, but
Caroline
didn’t tell me she was going to be in town; otherwise, I would
have set this up a while ago.” I smirk at Caroline and she
narrows her eyes at me before we both laugh.

“Well,
because I don’t want to be accused of keeping information from
anyone again, I have a little announcement,” Caroline begins.

Oh
my goodness!
I
think. This is it! Tyler has already proposed and she’s going
to announce it here tonight!

“I’m
going to France!”

Not
the announcement I was expecting, but still exciting.

“That’s
awesome! When? How long will you be gone?” I ask. I watch Tyler
as he smiles at Caroline, so genuinely happy for her.

“I
leave in about two months. We’re still finalizing the details.
And, well, I’ll be gone … indefinitely.”
Caroline’s expression is one of both excitement and
trepidation. I see why when I look at the face sitting next to her.
The smile on Tyler’s face fades. This part of the story must be
news to him.

Before
I can say anything, one of the babies starts stirring and then lets
out a full-blown whale of a cry.

“I’m
sorry,” I say with a breathy laugh. “Motherhood calls.
I’ll be right back.”

It’s
not time for their nap to be over, so I tip-toe into the nursery and
find that Claire has lost her thumb under her long sleeve. On top of
that, she’s had an explosive diaper. Natalie, who can sleep
through anything, is still gently purring in the other crib. I change
Claire’s diaper, put her in pajamas with shorter sleeves, and
rock her for a few minutes before I lay her back down. Now that she
has her thumb and a clean bum, she drifts back to sleep peacefully.

Stepping
off the last stair I hear Tyler and Caroline arguing in the front
room.

“How
could you drop a bomb like that in front of everyone? Why did you
keep that from me?” Tyler says in a strong tone just above a
whisper.

“I
only found out the other day that they want me to work on several
projects while I’m there. There’s an ambassador and even
some celebrities. George Clooney is having his whole Lake Como home
remodeled and the firm wants me to lead the redesign!” Caroline
counters.

“Clooney’s
place is in Italy.” Silence fills the space after Tyler’s
observation. I can imagine the blank look on Caroline’s face.
“Are you kidding me? You’re going to Italy, too?”

More
silence and I see the edge of Tyler as he paces around the room
before finding a place hidden from me.

“I
don’t know why you’re so upset. We already talked and
said that we could work the whole long distance thing out.”
Caroline is trying to explain herself but falling short. I’m
her best friend and even I can’t back her up on this.

“That
was when it was for six months max. Now I’m supposed to just
wait until you decide you’re done gallivanting all over Europe?
I can’t believe you would do this to us, Care!”

“I
can’t just say ‘no’ to them. This is a huge
opportunity for my career, Ty. I need you to understand that.”

“All
I understand is that you didn’t have enough respect for me …
for us … to talk to me about this first. You don’t think
I’m thrilled for you to have this opportunity?” Tyler
breathes a heavy sigh. “Of course I am.”

“Then
what’s the problem?” I can’t believe Caroline just
asked him that.

“The
problem is that I would have been willing to have a conversation
about it with the woman I thought was just as much in love with me as
I am with her. But because you went about it the way that you did,
I’m not sure if you’re that woman.”

Tyler
steps into the foyer and is startled by my presence. He opens his
mouth to say something, but I think he’s at a loss for words. I
give him a tight-lipped, sympathetic smile before he walks out the
front door.

When
Caroline emerges she is wiping the evidence of their emotional
conversation from beneath her eyes.

“Hey,”
I say softly to her.

“Oh,
hey. Sorry about that,” she says. She takes a cleansing breath
and regains her composure. “He’ll come around.”

“I
don’t know, Care. It was kind of a crappy thing to do,” I
tell her honestly. “Why didn’t you just tell him before?”

“It’s
complicated, Layla,” she says dismissively.

“It
doesn’t sound complicated. It sounds like you first told him
you would be gone for six months and now you’re telling him you
don’t know when you’ll be home.”

“So,
what? You’re married with kids and now you know everything
there is to know about relationships?” Caroline crosses her
arms in front of her defensively to match her tone.

“Wait.
What? Is that what you think
I
think?” I
furrow my brow at Caroline’s response. “What I’m
saying has nothing to do with me being married. It has to do with
basic common courtesy.”

“Yeah,
well, not everyone has the fairytale romance you and Will had, you
know.”

“First
of all, I wouldn’t call what Will and I went through a
fairytale. Secondly, what is going on? Since when have you and I not
been able to be straight with each other?”

Caroline
stands there just staring at me. I search her eyes looking for some
clue, a hint of something that would tell me what she isn’t
saying. I’ve never seen Caroline like this before, and it’s
kind of freaking me out.

Suddenly
I am scared that maybe she is right. Maybe having kids is going to
eternally change things between us. Maybe we will never connect in
the same way we have for almost ten years now.

Caroline
walks to the door and lets her hand linger on the knob for a moment
before she speaks. “Can you just tell my parents I walked back
to the house?”

Not
sure there is anything else I could say, and feeling that perhaps
what we all need is some time to breathe, I nod my reply and watch
her walk out the door.

“Hey,
babe. Did Caroline just leave?” Will asks as he approaches me
from behind.