Page 99 of Summer on Sunshine Bay

Luke grinned. “Sounds like my passengers have arrived.”

Lila laughed and patted his chest. “Have fun.”

“You too.” He lifted her hand to his mouth and brushed her knuckles across his lips. His eyes met hers. “Go now before I kiss you again.”

“I could be convinced to give you one more kiss, you know.”

“Lila,” he growled.

“Luke,” she mimicked him, and then took off with a wave, happier than she’d been in a very long time.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Eva opened the door to her daughter. “Lila, what’s wrong?” It was seven in the morning. “Come in.” She ushered her inside.

Lila looked around her apartment. “What’s going on? Why are you taking down your wallpaper? And when did you start taking down your wallpaper? It didn’t look like this the other night I was here.”

“I’m not sleeping. The menopause, you know. So I decided I might as well do something productive with my time.”

“Like redecorating your apartment in the middle of the night?”

“My wallpaper’s as old as what was up in the restaurant. And after seeing the state it was in…” She shuddered. “But surely you didn’t come to talk about my redecorating plans. Is everything all right? David’s okay?”

“He didn’t die, if that’s what you mean.” Lila smiled and walked back into Eva’s bedroom. “Is there a reason all your bedding is on the floor?”

She sighed. “Night sweats.”

Lila sat down on the mattress, patting the spot beside her. “I know Zia wants you to go the natural route, but maybe you should talk to Dr. Alva about starting the hormone replacement therapy now.”

“You sound like your father,” she said, ignoring the quick stab of pain at the mention of James. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong, or would you like a tour of the apartment?”

“David and I canceled the wedding. I mean, we’re canceling the wedding.”

“Oh darling, don’t listen to your grandmother. David’s not going to die…I mean, I’m almost positive he won’t.”

“Uh, that’s not what you said at the family tea. I think you said he had a thirty percent chance of dying.”

“Is that why you’re not going to marry him? It’s my fault, isn’t it?”

“No, I was just teasing you. We were getting married because of the baby. But we don’t love each other, not the way we should. It’s not fair to any of us, the baby, David, or me.”

“And you’re not worried anymore about you and David sharing the baby? You’re not scared you’re going to scar the baby like me and your father did with our fighting over you?”

She shook her head, linking her fingers with Eva’s. “I was. But I realized, with some help from my cousins, that marrying someone because you’re afraid of something that might never happen isn’t a good enough reason to get married. And I know from watching you and Dad this week that it would be harder on our baby if David and I were unhappy.” She gave Eva’s fingers a gentle squeeze. “I hate seeing you and Dad like this, Mom. You’re both so unhappy, and you don’t need to be. I’m so sorry I said what I did to you the morning after the shower. I was being overprotective of Dad.”

“I know you were. And it was hard to hear, but in the end, you were right, weren’t you?”

“It’s my fault. All of it. I got Sheena to call Dad and ask him to come home. I thought, if he was back in London, it would remind him of what he was giving up. I saw your face that day on theCaptain Joewhen he told us his plans. You were panicked, you were scared, and I was scared for both of you. You as much as Dad. I wanted to protect you both. Because I know you love him as much as he loves you, and I know it would break your heart to hurt him.

“And then when Dad called on the Fourth, I told him you were at Last Call. But Mom, I didn’t do it to hurt you or Dad. I honestly didn’t.”

Eva wrapped her arms around her daughter. “All I ever do is hurt you and your father. Please don’t cry, darling.”

Lila pulled away from her. “No, don’t say that. Don’t ever say that. You were and are the best mother any daughter could ask for. Never once did I doubt how much you loved me. I knew I could come to you anytime about anything, and you would support me. And Mom, the only reason you hurt Dad is because he loves you and wants to be with you, and you—”

“He wants to marry me, Lila.”

Her daughter’s eyes went wide. “He proposed?”

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