Nerd and the Marine (21 page)

So far, her firewall held, but she’d
been forced to update it on a regular basis while she was at the
lake. Ed didn’t have any more luck than she’d had finding the
hacker. He had supplied her with an Ed-like virus she attached this
time. She’d asked a cop cousin to drive by her house often, too.
With that problem hopefully out of the way, she could concentrate
on Mitch. With a groan, she stood. The firewall was
easier.

Pacing into the kitchen, she
remembered the full fat, rich chocolate ice cream someone had
hidden in her freezer. She'd buy them another one. Yanking a spoon
from the drawer, she located the treat. Plopping into her favorite
armchair, she pried the lid off and dug in. Bentley whapped his
tail against the floor, but Lainy shook her head at him.

“
Sorry, pal, but chocolate
isn't good for dogs. Besides, there isn't enough to share.” She
gazed with dismal interest into the scantly layered pint bottom.
Her shoulders sagged as she dug into the icy remnants. How did
people survive being in love? How did people with spouses overseas
survive for months and months on end?

She’d thought falling in love would be
all roses and chocolate and stolen kisses. Not stolen e-mails and
uncertain thoughts and laptop computers built and sent to a man
thousands of miles away. Those were better than her previous
experiences which had been both unfulfilling and
shameful.

Should she wait to tell him about her
relationships face to face? Or could she chicken out and tell him
over an e-mail? With a nervous gulp, Lainy spooned up more of the
treat.

She peered into the carton in her
hand, and realized it wasn't enough. She needed far more chocolate
than this offered. Springing to her feet startled Bentley who
bounded off the floor with a growl.

“
It's okay, buddy, we need
to go to the grocery store,” Lainy soothed him. Patting his head,
she dropped to her knees and hugged him. Bentley pressed into her,
his wet nose cold against her neck. He snuffled against her and the
heat and warmth of his dog body consoled her. He let out a pitiful
whimper and Lainy laughed. So this was what having a dog was all
about. She still needed chocolate, but not half as much
now.

When she pulled up in front of the
store, she almost bonked noses with another woman who had finished
helping a little boy from her car.

“
K.C.”

“
Lainy.”

They clasped arms as both women kept
the other one from falling, huge grins splitting their faces. Lainy
stared at Max’s business partner as the other woman watched her son
introduce himself to Bentley, who Lainy assured them was kid
friendly.

“
I didn’t know you were
coming up to the lake.”

K.C.’s lips turned up a bit at the
corners and Lainy sighed inwardly. Blonde, sweet, a surgeon by
training, K.C. Gilmore was every bit as beautiful as her own
sisters. She was also sweet, intelligent, and fit in with the
Morrison family like she belonged.

“
I hadn’t planned to come,
but we had a hard day today and Max put his foot down.”

“
My brother put his foot
down? Wow, it must have been bad.”

K.C. grimaced. “Let’s just say he took
one look at my frustration around two o’clock today and said, ‘You
need to go home, pack, and get you and Ryan up to the lake.’” She
broke off to grin. “I didn’t argue.”

“
No, I wouldn’t
either.”

“
This little break is just
what Ryan and I need.”

“
I’m glad. Is Max coming,
too?”

“
Yes. I just talked to him.
He finished up at work and is on his way now.”

“
Are you staying with me?”
Lainy put a hopeful note in her voice so K.C. would know she and
Ryan were very welcome.

“
No, with your
grandparents. Treeny is in the next room because Max is staying
with Will and Rachel.” K.C. squeezed her arm. “But thank
you.”

“
You both know you’re
always welcome at my place.”

“
We know, and we’re
grateful.”

Twenty minutes later, she left the
store with a wave to K.C. and Ryan, laden with brownies, chocolate
bars, more ice-cream and some decadent hot chocolate. Bentley
received a dog chew for his patience, which he set to as soon as
she handed it to him. She'd also thrown in some eggs, bread, cereal
and a few other necessities, since she'd have had to come here
soon, anyway. So what if it was nearing eight thirty at night? Best
time to shop. No lines.

Back at her cabin, she had barely set
her bags down before her sisters, sisters-in-law, mother,
grandmothers, and Treeny and K.C. showed up on her front door
step.

“
We heard you have
chocolate,” Laurie announced.

“
I just got home, how'd you
know?” She glanced suspiciously at K.C., who shook her
head.

“
Greg went for toilet
paper. Why the kids go through so much more here at the lake, we
can't figure out, but he saw you at the checkout. You'd finished
before he could wave, but he saw Bentley.”

“
Oh.” Lainy shoved her
bounty at them.

“
Chocolate is the first
step, now talk.” Dory peeled the paper off a chocolate bar. She
sighed at the first bite. The others dug in while Lainy
talked.

“
You got this e-mail and he
says you're very important to him?” Rachel wiped brownie frosting
from her lips.

“
Yes. But he had to leave
in ten minutes, so couldn't say more.” Lainy frowned and forked up
more brownie. She didn’t mention the
Why
e-mail. Her mother, doll that she
was, had already whipped up another batch of brownies and had them
baking in the oven. Her grandmother discovered the ice-cream and
distributed bowls.

“
Well, next time you're
unsure of these things, you need to let us know what's going on.”
Melly’s scold wasn’t as effective with the melted chocolate ringing
her mouth.

“
Exactly. Our husbands will
look after the kids, and we'll bring chocolate,” Melissa, Tom's
wife, declared.

“
Your granddad is currently
tucking Ryan into bed for me. Not that I can offer you any advice,
but maybe I’ll learn something.” K.C. grinned at Lainy and Lainy
was thankful for her and Treeny’s presence. At least neither of
them had much more knowledge than she did in all this messy love
stuff. There was comfort in not being the only inexperienced love
fool around.

“
My, yes. You need your
girlfriends around when you're so unsure of love. Do you love him,
Lainy?” her Grandmom Melody asked with a sympathetic
look.

Lainy stared into those eyes unlike
hers and the face nearly identical to her own. She thought she
loved him. But how to be sure?

“
Tell us,” Laurie coaxed,
and her mother seconded.

“
I think I love him, but
how do you know?” Fear kept her from sending the e-mail about her
past. Wouldn’t she be brave enough to send it if she loved him? Her
family loved her and surrounded her now, but she’d never told them.
She stabbed the brownie in front of her, wishing it held the
answers to her life.

“
You're in a far more
challenging situation, love,” her mother said and her grandmother
finished the thought. “He's thousands of miles away and you've
never met in person. That doesn't mean you can’t love him. But it
does mean you may need to wait until you meet in person to truly
know.”

“
What do you
mean?”

Grandmom Melody squeezed the shoulder
of Granda Elizabeth, who said, “What she means is enjoy this
courtship, this time of getting to know one another and leave the
love stuff until you're together. Right now is the most amazing
time of your relationship. Well one of the most amazing. Your first
few years of marriage are fun, too. And bringing home each
baby.”

“
And seeing each baby leave
the nest, finally,” her mother added which set off a round of
laughter.

The timer dinged and Dory removed the
brownies from the oven. She set them on the table so the aroma
would make them groan, which it did.

“
Like Granda said, Lain,
enjoy your getting to know each other time. You can't hurry this
part, even if you wanted to, because Mitch is across the world,”
Dory said.

“
Yeah, like you were
patient in your courtship,” Laurie pointed out.

“
Or you. ‘Mom and Dad,
we're expecting our first baby’ and you were what, fifteen?” Dory
shot back.

“
I was nineteen, thank
you.”

“
Nineteen, I don't think
so,” Melly sputtered.

“
I think you were closer to
seventeen, dear,” their mom broke in and Laurie
shrugged.

“
I have no regrets. I think
things work out the way they're supposed to. And, Lain, I don't
think you would be able to do this any other way.”

“
What? Why?”

“
E-mailing and pictures are
elements you're comfortable with. In person, Mitch would freak you
out, so you'd never get to this stage,” Melly answered.

All the ladies nodded. “You all agree
with her?” Lainy flung a hand out to indicate Melly.

“
We do,” Granda said. “You
and Mitch are doing this exactly as you should. He may not be any
better at courtships than you are, love, and needs to take this
slowly, too.”

“
He's probably never been
loved, so slow is wonderful for him, as well,” Grandmom Melody
pointed out.

Lainy felt stupid as she glanced
around the table and noticed all the other occupants, except for
K.C. and Treeny, who looked as lost as her, nodding. Neither of her
single friends had contributed much to the advice flying around.
Why did love have to be so complicated?

With a sigh she cut into the new pan
of cooling brownies. How did one know and understand this whole
love bit? Because it sure seemed well beyond her. Give her a
difficult motherboard any day. She'd even take a badly wired house
over this whole love stuff.

“
How do I know?” she
repeated.

“
You just do.”

“
There's no right or wrong.
Unfortunately, sweetie, there's no formula. You have to rely solely
on your feelings,” Dory said in compassion, stroking her hand up
and down Lainy's arm.

“
That's why this is so
difficult for you,” Melly explained. “Because there’s no formula,
or intellect, or studying needed. Love is based on
emotions.”

“
But at least she's eating
chocolate - someone taught her well,” Grandmom Melody stated
proudly.

“
Yes, yes we did.” Laurie’s
voice held complacency. “She's been through this with us, so she
has a basis.”

“
No, I don't because this
doesn't make any sense to me.”

“
If it did, no one would
have problems or be lonely. Love doesn't make sense, it just
exists. Unfortunately, the only person who can determine whether
you're in love or not is you.” Granda rubbed Lainy's
hands.

“
I'd say you're well on
your way,” her mother declared, surveying the remains of their
chocolate fest.

“
I can't believe you
thought to do this all by yourself.” Rachel sent a quelling look at
Lainy.

“
We’re here to help. Well,
I’m here to eat chocolate.” Treeny grinned at her, and Lainy
returned the gesture. With a wave of her hand, Treeny indicated the
other women. “But everyone else can help you sort all this
out.”

“
Exactly, this is what
we're for,” Zara, Ed's wife, added.

“
Falling in love is a lot
of fun. But often you need to hold on and enjoy the ride.” Lainy
could see the wisdom in Grandmom Melody’s words, but didn't know
how.

“
You can't get off until
the ride's done anyway, so enjoy it while it lasts,” Dory
said.

“
And if you're lucky, the
ride will only get better. Sure there'll be some rather alarming
dips, and you might have to climb some pretty steep inclines, but
the ride is most definitely worth riding,” Laurie
explained.

Lainy could see her family all had
excellent marriages. They loved their spouses and made this romance
business look easy. She hated it. Disappointment and bitterness and
disgust, those were emotions she had experienced so far. It wasn’t
encouraging.

“
Enjoy Mitch and savor your
time together, love. Don't rush this part, because you might be
with him for the rest of your life,” Granda Elizabeth
said.

“
If that doesn't fill you
with terror, he's probably the right one,” her mom
explained.

“
Living without him fills
me with terror.” Lainy whimpered. But did he feel the same way?
Could he love her – a nerd? When would he know? Would he still love
her after she revealed her past?

“
Well, that's another good
indication he's the right one,” Dory exclaimed.

“
But what if he's not what
I think or I'm not what he thinks?” she asked, desperate, wanting
to throw her deepest fear out, but not sure she wanted the answer.
Treeny grimaced, and reached out to lay a hand on her arm. When
Lainy’s eyes met hers, she recognized the same fears floating in
Treeny’s ice blue orbs.