Page 7 of Through the Dark Night
“It’s good to be back.”
“When did you get in?” Lauren asked.
“Just yesterday. I slept in the inn last night, but it needs a lot of work. I don’t really want to spend another night lying in bed, wondering how many eight-legged visitors are in the room with me.”
Lauren laughed with her and then set the coffee down on the counter and rang it up.
It wasn’t that much, and Shannon felt a little bad taking the donuts for free, but Lauren had insisted.
“I see my wife is using you as a guinea pig,” a deep voice said as Lauren finished running Shannon’s card.
“Ms. McKay, this is my husband, Cannon.”
“You can call me Shannon. You’re old enough to have children of your own.”
“And we do,” Lauren said with a smile.
“I almost lost her and the kids, but there’s something special about this town. If you’re coming in for a second chance, it seems to be conducive to that.” Cannon had put an arm around Lauren’s shoulder, and Lauren looked up at him like he hung the moon and stars.
“I’m glad things worked out for the two of you,” Shannon said sincerely, and just as sincerely, she wished they had worked out for her.
“You can’t do it by yourself, though,” Lauren said, biting her lip as though guessing Shannon’s problem. “Both of you have to be on board with it.”
“Yes,” she said, saying nothing more. Instead, for lack of something to do with her hands, she reached for a donut and took a bite.
It was buttery soft and sweet with just the right amount of apple cider tanginess to make it burst on her tongue.
“Oh my goodness,” she said, a little embarrassed because her mouthwas full, but she just couldn’t help herself. “This is amazing.” She didn’t think she’d ever eaten anything like it. “I’m not sure if it’s the texture, the sugar versus just enough of a tangy taste to make it interesting, or the scent that just seems to permeate everything that makes it amazing. Whatever you did, keep this recipe.”
Lauren laughed. And Cannon said, “I told you so.” He shook his head and looked at Shannon. “Lauren’s always afraid that her stuff isn’t good enough. I keep telling her she’s the best baker on the lake, but she just doesn’t believe me.”
“That would include Chicago, and I know there are places in Chicago that I just can’t compare to.”
“I have to respectfully disagree,” Shannon said. She had lived in Detroit, but it wasn’t like she’d never been to Chicago. And she definitely had never tasted anything like this there.
“Well, it’s good to know. Your vote has been duly taken into consideration.” Lauren grinned.
Shannon couldn’t answer, because she had taken another big bite. She really was thinking about getting a dozen donuts to take home with her, trying to convince herself that she really needed food to survive. Which was true, but she didn’t need to eat donuts all day. She didn’t come here in order to gain enough winter fat to be mistaken for a bear come spring.
“I’m glad you’re back in town. Grace and Claire are both back as well, and I bet that both of them would like to meet with you. I think it would provide some closure for us, if you’re ever willing.”
“I definitely think that would be something that we could do in the future. Let me get my sea legs under me first. I have some things I need to do at the inn.” Shannon wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Maybe talking to the girls would bring some closure, if not for her, for them. Maybe it would be good for her as well though. To know exactly what happened. At the time, she’d been devastated, upset, and had tried not to blame anyone, to place blame where it didn’t belong. And then, she’d been so eager to get out of town, it hadn’t occurred to her that the girls might need to talk to her.
“I ran from it for a long time. I think Grace and Claire did too. It wasn’t nearly as bad once we stopped running and talked to each other.”
Shannon didn’t answer. She truly did have a donut in her mouth, but she didn’t know what to say to that either. It seemed like she had spent a lot of her adult life running. She’d run from Raspberry Ridge after the tragedy, and now she was running from Detroit after her husband left and her kids had scattered.
“I don’t want to run. In fact, I think my new mantra is I need to stand and face everything.”
“It’s okay to be vulnerable too. I needed to learn that lesson when Cannon and I went through what we did. I thought I could stand on my own and I didn’t need anyone else, and he proved me wrong.”
“That’s an awfully nice way to put it,” Cannon said, giving his wife a kiss on the top of the head before moving away from her. “I was working too much. That was the bottom line. I’m glad Lauren gave me a wake-up call. Because we’ve been happier now than we ever were before. Sometimes it just takes a little bit of reevaluation in your life to figure out where it’s off track and how to get it back.”
Shannon nodded. “I guess I’m reevaluating my life right now.” That was all she was going to say. Lauren was probably right about being vulnerable, but sometimes a person had to work up to that. She wasn’t ready to share everything with people that she barely knew. Plus, she didn’t even know if she was able to be honest with herself yet.
She took the coffee and wrapped up the second donut.
“I can give you a bag for that,” Lauren offered.
