“There’s nothing strange about that,” Robin said defensively. “Love is known to inhibit clear thinking.”
“One thing is perfectly clear: the longer you wait to tell him, the worse it looks.”
Kait wasn’t saying anything Robin didn’t already know. She’d been wrestling with her conscience for weeks to no avail. Her fear of disappointing Wade had completely overtaken the discomfort of keeping something from him. “It’s too late to worry about that. I just have to hope that when I do tell him, he’ll understand.”
“I still say you’re making too much of it. If Wade loves you, it won’t matter.”
That was part of the problem. Robin was still in the dark about how Wade felt about her. His actions spoke of deeper feelings, but he hadn’t yet said the words she longed to hear. “Wade isn’t my main concern right now. It’s meeting his mother.”
Kait came to her feet in one smooth movement. “I know this won’t be easy for a worrywart like you, but try to have a good time. Wade’s mother can’t help but love you.”
Robin’s smile was a little watery as she pulled Kait close for a hug. “I feel bad about leaving you on your own at the shop tomorrow.”
“I’ll be fine. My mom is coming to help in the morning, and our wedding cake is delivery with no set-up.” Kait walked to the bedroom door. “I better get going to UPS. Friday evening traffic can be dicey.”
“The box for Piper is on the coffee table.”
Once Kait departed, Robin slid into the dress and did a final check of her hair and makeup. She was rolling her overnight bag into the living room when the buzzer rang. Leaving it by the couch, she walked over to open the door. The preoccupied expression on Wade’s handsome face vanished when he saw her. He was only twenty-nine, but there were already flecks of gray in his otherwise black hair. Robin privately thought it lent an air of distinction to his appearance.
“You look lovely,” he said, leaning close to kiss her.
“Thank you.” She touched the dimple in his left cheek. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
He laughed as he reached for the handle of her luggage. “Just one bag? I’m impressed.”
“Yep. I travel light.”
“I passed Kait on the road,” he said while she locked up the apartment. “Where’s she going in such a hurry?”
“I bought a birthday present for Piper, and then forgot to mail it. Kait’s doing it for me.”
“You forgot something? That doesn’t sound like the super-organized woman I know.” He opened the passenger door of the Jeep and then walked around to take care of her bag. When he joined her inside, he said, “Mom is excited about us coming. She’s talked of nothing else all week.”
Robin had thought of nothing else all week. The stress of meeting Wade’s mother was made worse by her anxiety of not measuring up to expectations. It raised long-buried memories of being taken by social services as a child to visit potential foster families. She would never forget the anxiety inherent in those sessions. There had been times she’d been so nervous she could hardly form sentences.
“I’m looking forward to meeting her.” She was trying to think of something to add to that bald statement when she heard the bleep of Wade’s phone.
“This better not be anyone from work,” he said as he grabbed it out of the cup holder and glanced at the screen. “It’s just Reece. He’s already on his way. That’s great. He can warm up the crowd for us.”
This information did nothing to reduce Robin’s already high stress level. “I didn’t realize Reece would be there.”
Wade sent her a quick, apologetic glance. “Did I forget to mention it? Sorry, darling. I’ve had so much going on this week. I guess it slipped my mind. Anyway, it’s not a big deal. Reece is a great guy. You’ll like him. Everyone does.”
This wasn’t the moment to contradict him. Robin’s opinion of Reece had already been formed and was unlikely to change. What she had to figure out was whether the addition of another person (even if it was someone she disapproved of) would take some pressure off her. If so, then Reece’s undesired presence could be viewed as a possible advantage. She might even have cause to be grateful to him. That was something she’d never expected to happen in a million years.
Chapter Four
Reece and his father had always been close. Although they no longer saw each other on a daily basis, they spoke on the phone several times a week. He’d been as surprised as everyone else when his father walked away from the company he’d built from the ground up. Even after a year, it still felt weird for Reece to sit behind the gun-metal gray desk in his father’s office. It was the same place he’d spent so much time as a little boy, face pressed against the glass window, eyes on the horizon, dreaming of the day he would earn his wings.
He was the first to arrive at the stately Federal-style mansion located along the Vernon River on the outskirts of Savannah. Built in the 1930s, the home had been a testament to the wealth of its merchant owner. Half a century later, an ambitious developer had found it abandoned, a relic of former times and the family who could no longer afford it. He’d restored it to its former glory and then some.
Maxine’s live-in housekeeper showed Reece into the central hall running from the front to the back of the house. From there he passed through a pair of mahogany pocket doors into what the original owners would have called the sitting room. He found his stepmother perched on the edge of a white leather sofa with an air of expectancy that brought to mind his aunt’s earlier comments.
“Reece! I’m glad you got here first. You can tell me about Wade’s girlfriend. Is she nice?”
The full-court press for information had begun. Reece exchanged an amused glance with his father as he sat down in a wingback chair near the fireplace. “I haven’t met Robin, but Wade had nothing but great things to say about her. Uncomplicated was one of the words he used.”
She wiped away an imaginary film of dust from the coffee table. “That can mean anything.”
His father spoke from behind an issue of Golf Digest. “You’ll know exactly what it means soon enough.”
Maxine sat back and folded her hands together in her lap. “I know you think I’m being ridiculous, but this is the first time Wade has brought a girlfriend home since he was in college. That means he’s serious about her. I do hope she’s the right kind of girl. He needs someone who’ll understand how important his work is to him. Wade is well on his way to being one of the top marine biologists in the state.”
“Wade is smart enough to know what kind of person he needs in his life.”
His father’s attempt to insert logic into what was clearly an emotionally-charged situation earned him a frown.
“I can think of many examples where a smart man married the wrong woman, Carlson.”
The magazine was lowered enough to reveal his father’s grinning face. “I know at least one who didn’t. Now stop worrying. You haven’t even met the young lady yet.”
Reece felt it was time to start being a buffer. “Isn’t it great about Addison having a baby?”