Troubled Waters (The Lake Trilogy, Book 2) (15 page)

“I’m the car!” Will declares.

“Yeah, well I’m the shoe because you can never have too many shoes!” Caroline adds.

“I’ll be the hat…because I’m classy like that,” I say, taking the small silver top hat to my head and tipping it, giving us all a good laugh.

“Ok, I’ll be the banker, too,” Caroline says.

“No way! You are the worst banker ever!” Will protests.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Caroline says coyly.

“Shall I remind you?” Will begins. “One: you forget to give people their properties. Two: you also forget to give people their $200 when they pass Go. And, three: you don’t know how to make change, which is weird for a girl who sure knows how to spend money!”

“Ok, ok, ok! You’ve made your point!
You
can be the banker!” she says giving in.

“I’m going first,” I say. “And don’t argue with me because it’s my house!” We spend the next several hours playing, eating, talking, and laughing. I explain Furtick’s place in our family with a bit more detail and how much I’ve come to love him, which leads me to start referring to him as my Bonus Uncle. I also brag on Will and tell Caroline about him heading up the crew that built the dock. He takes almost no credit for it and tells her how Luke stepped up to make it happen. “That’s because he believes in you!” I say, cutting his self-deprecation off at the pass.

Luke really has become like a father to Will. It makes me happy that Will has him. Despite whatever differences they may have had, Luke is a lot like my dad. He’s strong, filled with deep conviction, and has the ability to love fiercely. He’s a man filled with character and integrity, which makes him the kind of man that Will can confidently model himself after.

At two in the morning Luke says it’s time for Will to go home and us girls to at least pretend we’re going to get some sleep this weekend. We do have a lot to do tomorrow, but I only see it as a day filled with cooking, laughing, playing more games, and eating more food than anyone should eat in a single day.

“I can’t believe you won!” Will says to Caroline as we pack the last pieces of the game away.

“I told you. I know what I’m doing!” she says with feigned sweetness. We walk Will to the door and Caroline gives him just as big a hug as she did when she first saw him earlier today. “I’m so happy that you’re here. It was just awful when you were gone,” she says softly into Will’s neck. “My world just got a whole lot better.”

“I love you, too Caroline,” Will says echoing her tenderness.

Releasing her, Will takes my face in his hands. “But not as much as I love you,” he says sweetly, followed by a kiss.

“Aww! I missed your disgustingly sweet displays of affection,” Caroline gushes, her sweet sarcasm reminding me of Gwen.

“Ok, you two. Don’t stay up too late. I’ll be over in about,” he checks his watch, “six and a half hours.”

“Ooh, 8:30. Sleeping in I see!” I tease him. Will gives me another quick kiss and is gone all too soon. I grab Caroline’s bag and finally lead her to my room. We ready ourselves for sleep and collapse on the bed.

“Are you ready for your present?” she asks.

“Oh, right, I forgot.” I still have a hard time receiving gifts, but I’m working on it since Claire and Will have been diligent in their efforts there. Caroline pulls out a Kindle cover with her school’s logo on it. “Oh that’s so cool! Thank you so much!”

“Now, whenever you’re reading, which I know is all the time, you’ll think of me!” She reaches over and gives me a tight hug. I grab my Kindle from my side table and immediately put the cover on.

“It’s perfect. Thank you,” I say hugging her again. We settle ourselves into the bed, facing each other. There really is nothing like a good old-fashioned slumber party with your best friend. “I’m so glad you’re here. And I’m so glad that we told you about Will. I’m sorry I had to lie to you. I wanted to tell you right away, but…”

“It’s ok, Layla. I totally understand. Kudos to you for being able to keep this a secret! I’m still in shock! When did all this go down?”

“I accidentally ran into his mom on campus last month. At first I thought I was imagining things. You know, too stressed from not talking about Will being gone. Then when I saw her again I just couldn’t stay away. I followed her and it all got exposed from there. I wanted to tell you, but there’s still so much at stake. This whole thing with Marcus has made things very difficult.”

“Yeah, what’s his deal?” she asks, twisting her face with her question.

“He’s got some crazy crush on me, but don’t tell Will. He doesn’t know the extent of it,” I say putting it lightly. I really don’t want her to worry. “I think he thought he could pick up where Will left off. Since I can’t tell him about Will, I’m not sure how we’re going to deal with him. He hasn’t been around in a while, and I have Furtick as my permanent shadow, so I’m feeling relatively in the clear…for now.”

“Well, let’s put all that aside this weekend. We’re going to savor every second we all have together. Layla?” she begins. “Thank you for trusting me. I know it was a big deal to let the cat out of the bag, and I want you to know that you can absolutely rest assured that I will carry this secret as long as you need me to. You’re the sister I never had and I would never do anything to betray you.”

“I know, and thank you. Thank you for being so trustworthy. There isn’t anything I can’t tell you. I never had a friend like that until I met you. It means more to me than you’ll ever know.” We reflect each other’s smiles and drift off to sleep. My heart is full of love and peace and, for now, all is right in my world.

This is by far the best Thanksgiving of my life. I’m spending the day with my love, my future-future mother-in-law, my best friend and her family, my Bonus Uncle, and…my parents.

It took some time, but I remember the moment I knew Luke and Claire had successfully filled that parent-shaped hole in my heart. Claire and me crying on the stairs to my finished basement, Luke and Will standing by watching me love and embrace Claire, telling her that she was the best mother. The finished basement, wall-hung photos of my parents, trunk full of memories…they were the most amazing tangible gift I’ve ever received. The best gift that day was the heart and soul knowledge that I could let Luke and Claire be my parents and I didn’t have to feel guilty about it. They embody what it means to be a parent in every sense of the word and I couldn’t be a luckier girl for it.

“So, Caroline,” I begin with an already teasing tone. “Are you going to spill the beans about this boy toy of yours?” I ask, pulling ingredients from the fridge.

“Oh, so you’re interested in
my
love life, eh?” She cocks her head to one side in the cutest Caroline way. “Well, he’s studying film and is an actor, but who
isn’t
an actor out there! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked to be someone’s model. Then I stand up and they’re like ‘
Oh, you’re short, never mind
.’ Whatever! One thing I can tell you about Californians is that they tell you like it is. There is no sugar-coating going on there!”

“So does Layla need to send Tyler and Chris out there to check on the worthiness of this guy?” Will teases.

“I don’t know, Will, he could give them a run for their money!” she says.

“Does this boy have a name?” I ask.

“His name is Ryan and he really is just about the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen.” She takes out her phone and pulls up what seem to be a dozen pictures of Ryan.

“He’s cute. He’s no Will Meyer, but he’s cute,” I comment as she swipes through her phone’s camera roll.

“Thanks, baby,” Will says, followed by a kiss to the top of my head as he passes me.

We spend the rest of the day making food and grilling Caroline on Ryan and when I might get to meet him. We discuss the possibility of him meeting Will as John Holland and decide to put that on the back burner until there’s more to their love story.

Furtick passes through the kitchen and I give him a look that he immediately recognizes as “
Is there any new development on Marcus?”
  He shakes his head, grabs a few baby carrots from the relish tray and makes his way out of the kitchen and on to the porch

I watch him for a while through the window and think how happy it makes me that he’s taking some time to relax. He and Eliana are engaged in a steady stream of conversation and both look pretty happy. I watch Eliana tuck her hair behind her ear and smile. Is she flirting with him? I don’t know, but whatever they’re talking about, whatever she just did, elicited the biggest smile from Wesley Furtick I’ve ever seen.

“I know we don’t do this as a habit, but I’d like to say grace before we eat,” Luke says surveying the table full of family and friends. I can’t help but think that Luke may have thought he’d never see this in his own home, and the fact that we’re all here makes me so happy for him. We all bow our heads in approval and anticipation of Luke’s prayer. “God, we’re so thankful for all that you have given us. Life. Love. Friends. Thank you for this abundance of food, and may we remember that there are so many who will go without today. Amen.”

We all give a collective Amen and begin to pass plates and serving bowls. Our plates are full of turkey, green bean casserole, turnips, mashed potatoes and gravy, and sweet potato. The girls discuss the deals we’ve been scoping out in the Black Friday sales papers, and I’m pleased that I don’t have to convince Caroline of how fun it will be. The boys talk about the upcoming game and try not to think about how much money we’re going to spend in about eight hours.

*****

Sunday comes all too quickly. Caroline’s parents left bright and early for the drive home, so we’re taking her to the airport so she can fly back to California. I have treasured every second of having her here. Even though I’ll have to refer to him as John when we speak or text, it feels so good to have a friend that I can talk to about Will.

Caroline and I both cry as we say our goodbyes on the curb of the drop-off zone at the airport. I hug her tightly and make her promise to text me when she gets back to her apartment. Will gives her a huge hug, lifting her from the ground, and thanks her for her unwavering friendship.

Will and I climb into the back of Furtick’s Jeep and we’re off as soon as I know Caroline is safely inside. Because of the insane airport traffic, Furtick insisted on driving us rather than following. It was a valid point so Will and I didn’t argue.

“Furtick, would you mind taking us to Stir? We’d like to grab some dinner,” Will says. I love the way he can take command of even the most insignificant situations. He’s not wishy-washy about it. It’s after seven and we haven’t eaten, so of course we’d want to have dinner.

“Of course, Mr. Holland,” Furtick replies.

“Would you like to join us, Furtick?” I offer. Will gives me a bit of a scowl but lets it go when I give him one of my own. How could we not invite him? After all he does for us, it’s the least we could do.

“No, thank you, Miss Weston. I’ll wait in the vehicle and keep an eye out after I’ve done a sweep of the restaurant, but thank you for the invitation,” he declines politely.

“Ok, but you can change your mind if you want,” I say.

Will and I are escorted to a quiet table in a dimly lit corner. As far as dining locations go, it doesn’t get much more romantic than this. Our server appears almost immediately and takes our drink orders. We’ve eaten so much over the past four days that I seriously contemplate having a side salad and water, but after reviewing the menu I’m reminded of how much I love this restaurant.

When the server returns with our drinks, Will orders their Brie Leek Tartlets appetizer for us to share. He knows they’re my favorite so he doesn’t even have to ask if I would like them. I could make a meal of them! After another once-over of the menu I decide to indulge and order the chef’s signature dish: braised beef. I know I won’t be able to finish the whole thing, but it’ll make great leftovers. When it arrives I take the first bite and am reassured of my choice.
Oh, so good!

“So…how was your Thanksgiving?” Will asks, grinning from ear to ear because he already knows the answer.

“It was amazing. Thank you so much!” I answer excitedly.

“What did I do?”

“Letting me tell Caroline opened my world back up. I’ve been trapped in this alternate universe where I’m in love with
John
, not Will. Sometimes I felt like I was supposed to pretend life before now didn’t exist. I don’t want you to ever think that I don’t love every single minute of my life with you here, but…that was life with my grandmother. I wasn’t allowed to talk about my parents, so it was like I had to pretend I never knew them. I like being able to stay connected to parts of my life before Will Meyer died.”

“I understand,” Will says taking my hand. “It’s important that you still have that connection with the things that were wonderful about our life in Davidson. You are all I need. You are my life, my everything. Not that I don’t love Caroline or our friends. It’s just not as important to me that I have them in my life now, but I don’t fault you for that need. I want to give you everything, Layla, and if telling Caroline is what you needed, I wanted to give that to you. I don’t want you to feel trapped.”