Page 30 of The Love Shack

“I feel the same about you.” She glanced around with satisfaction. This shelter was hers to run, set up with her requests in mind, and she took so much pride in it. Her life, with the various twists and turns, had gotten her here. “You’re right, I know that. It’s just that thinking about those days, all the humiliation, it makes me sick to my stomach.” Even though no one else could hear them, she lowered her voice. “You can’t know how vile some people got, the things they said about me. The names they called me.”

“Small-minded fools. You have my permission to forget them.” Betty waved a hand as if making them disappear. “Now, if you tell me Lawson was unkind, I’ll march over there right now and set him straight. I won’t allow him to say or do anything to upset you.” Betty tipped her chin and chided gently, “You’re not alone anymore.”

From the moment she’d met Betty, they’d connected in fun and meaningful ways, so Berkley felt free to tease her now. “But your hips hurt. Your feet hurt. How in the world will you march?”

“Ha!” Betty swatted at her, grinning. “Don’t get cheeky with me. Anger is a powerful motivator. If the man needs his butt chewed, I’ll chew it.”

They looked at each other—and Berkley cracked first. But once she started to laugh, Betty did, too, and soon they were roaring with it, disturbing poor Gladys, who wanted to sleep, and even drawing Hero from his nap in the sunshine.

When the two dogs joined in, howling and yapping, things really got out of hand.

By the time they could draw breath, Betty’s face was red, her eyes watering, and the two volunteers nearby smiled at them in curiosity.

“Shh, hush,” Betty said, gasping for breath and fanning her face. “This isn’t at all dignified.”

“You’re the one who said it, not me.”

Betty snickered. “It came out all wrong, and if you ever repeat it, I’ll deny it.”

Still chuckling, Berkley crossed her heart. “Never.”

“You understood my meaning, though. I’ll stop on my way home and give him a piece of my mind.”

“Thank you.” Wow, she could get used to having backup. For the longest time, she’d faced every issue, resolved every difficulty, completely on her own. Now she knew Lawson had defended her, and Betty was ready to do so right now. “It means a lot to me that you’d offer, but it’s not necessary. Talking to Lawson about it...” She couldn’t quite find the right words for how it had affected her, so she settled on saying, “It was nice.Hewas nice.”

New interest showed in Betty’s raised brows. “So you two discussed it?”

She shrugged. “It was the oddest thing, but we were sitting at a secluded section of the lake, away from the beach crowd, and it just sort of happened.”

Turning to face her, Betty demanded, “What? What happened?”

Realizing what she thought brought a rush of heat to Berkley’s cheeks. “Notthat. Nothing likethat.”

“Like what?”

She opened her mouth, caught Betty’s grin and laughed. “When you decide to cut loose, you go all out. Does the rest of the town know about this wild streak of yours?”

“Heavens, no. They think I’m a dragon, and that works for me. A gal has to have her rep.”

Berkley chuckled. “A rep, huh?” She thought everyone should know about Betty’s warm, humorous side, but she’d respect her wishes. Besides, if Betty kept up like this, everyone would find out eventually.

“Don’t change the subject. We’re talking about you and Lawson.”

“Fine, but don’t make more of it than it is. We’re just...”

“Friends?” Betty supplied.

“Not even that, really. More like distant acquaintances from long ago who are now being friendly, but we’re not tight or anything.”

Making a circular motion with her finger, Betty tried to hurry her along. “You were alone on the beach...?”

As briefly as possible, Berkley explained how she’d needed some fresh air and time to think, and how Lawson had chased her down, and then they’d started talking. “I don’t know how it happened, but suddenly it felt right to clear the air. With him, I mean. We’re both living here and it was like this giant wall of awkwardness between us.” Sitting there on a rock, with the foul stench of fish and the too-hot sun, her bikini bottoms wet from the lake, had felt remarkably natural. Enjoyable. And then the words had just tumbled out. “I brought it up, and we talked about it.”

“And?” Betty gently prompted.

“It doesn’t feel so heavy anymore.” She’d carried that shame for so long, as well as guilt for what her mother had gone through with her, and now... Now it didn’t feel quite so awful. “I’m glad I did, because I found out that he’d defended me.” She shared Lawson’s good deed with her friend, giving her all the details.

“My, that young man just keeps looking better and better,” Betty mused.

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