Coming Home to Love (Lakeside Porch Series Book 2) (22 page)

“I just need to stop for now. You were really deep, which you know I love, but today it hurt. I don’t know why.” She managed a half smile and met his eyes. “I’m sorry, I was enjoying that so much.”

He looked around for his clothes. “Rest a minute,” he told her and got dressed. “I’ll make tea, unless you need me to stay here with you.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll be out in a minute for the tea.”

As he set the kettle over, she called from his bathroom, “Do you have Tylenol or something?”

“Yes, in the medicine cabinet. Need help?”

“I’m good. Thirsty for that tea.”

When she joined him, she was fully dressed with her hair in a ponytail and her arms folded across her middle as if she were still hurting.

“I’m worried about this. How bad is the pain? What do we need to do?”

“It’s nothing. Really,” she insisted.

“You’re holding onto yourself.”

“I’m chilled. Fallout from the bad surprise.” She gave him a sexy smile. “And the disappointment at having our pleasure cut short. Forgive me?”

“There’s nothing to forgive. I want you to see your doctor.”

“If I have even a twinge after the Tylenol kicks in, I will call her first thing in the morning.”

“And you will let me know one way or the other.”

She bit back annoyance. “I will. Please don’t worry.”

He could see, from the way she avoided his eyes and the determined set of her mouth, that asking any more questions would escalate into an argument.

Chapter 10

Justin maneuvered the Saab to a smooth stop at the curb just as Manda and her older sister breezed through the double doors, each dragging a bright pink suitcase.

Gianessa sucked in her breath, and Justin reached for her hand and held it protectively. “Trouble.”

Joel had implored Justin and Gianessa to come with Manda today, worried that the much-anticipated reunion of the sisters could be a disaster.

The sisters were both five foot eight and slender, with long legs and cheekbones that turned heads. Manda was a dark-haired, blue-eyed, natural beauty. Lyssa was a mess. She had teased her lifeless red hair into Texas Big Hair, ringed her eyes with kohl, and smudged the eyelids with garish green eye shadow.

Justin speculated, “That’s more than alcohol. Her body is vibrating, and I doubt it’s nervousness at meeting us.”

“Manda joked about a marijuana maintenance plan. Look at how pasty her skin is, Justin. Either she’s not eating well, or she’s not eating.”

“Darling, she’s killing herself.”

Gianessa turned to face him.

“Sorry about the ‘darling.’ It slipped out.”

She pressed his hand. “No, I know you’re upset. I am too. Somehow we need to handle this so Manda and Joel have a beautiful wedding.”

“Yes, and we will.” Justin switched off the motor. “Maybe we can do something to help Lyssa, too.” He popped the trunk, and swung out of the car.

As he approached Manda, he saw three little worry wrinkles in the center of her brow. He hadn’t seen them since the day he’d met her, when Joel’s condition was still a dark unknown for them. Justin renewed his vow to do all in his power to erase those worry lines and keep them away.

“Justin, meet my sister, Lyssa,” Manda said, her voice straining to be cheerful.

Lyssa snapped her hand out for Justin to shake.

His humor took over. “Quick Draw Doughty, is it?” He gave her a firm handshake.

Lyssa laughed and told him in her adopted Texas twang, “Hey, Uncle Justin. My little sister has been tellin’ me all about y’all.” She waved wildly to Gianessa in the front seat. “Hey, Gianessa.”

Gianessa’s smile was frozen on her face. Lyssa didn’t seem to notice.

Justin busied himself with Lyssa’s suitcase and carry-on bag, grateful he could escape into his role as chauffeur for the next fifteen minutes.

At the canal side restaurant, he stayed behind Gianessa and Manda as they climbed the wide stone steps. Gianessa had her arm around Manda’s shoulders. Manda looked like she would burst into tears.

“We’ll have a delicious, healthy salad and iced tea right now,” Gianessa told her. “We can tell Lyssa all about your gown and the plans you have for the ceremony. How does that sound?”

Manda gave a wooden nod. “I can do that.” Her toe caught on the top step, and she would have stumbled if Gianessa hadn’t steadied her. “Thank god you and Justin are here.”

“Of course we’re here. We’ll help you figure this out. You and Joel are going to have a beautiful wedding. We’ll see to that.”

Manda rushed ahead to tell the hostess there were four of them and they wanted a table on the upstairs porch.

Gianessa turned to Justin and reached out a delicate hand.

He squeezed it in support. “You take care of Manda, I’ve got Lyssa.” He stayed at the entry until Lyssa caught up, then steered her through the tables and onto the porch, held her chair for her, and drummed his fingers on the back, waiting for her to sit.

“You know what?” Lyssa said. “Can y’all order me a soda and a salad with chicken? I’m going to stretch my legs a few minutes.”

Justin waved his arm back toward the front door. “Just don’t fall in. You wouldn’t want to ruin Manda’s wedding now, would you?” His tone went beyond sarcastic to menacing.

Lyssa glared at him and flounced out.

Manda squeezed her eyes shut.

Gianessa drew a waiter with her magnetic smile and arranged for ice water all around, three iced teas, and one ginger ale. “And we’ll be ready to order when you come back with those.” She gave him a wink that mobilized him.

Justin nodded his agreement, although the waiter took no notice of him. He made a mental note of the young man’s name. Gregory.

He relaxed for a moment, knowing that he and Gianessa were a good team. Together they would help Manda find her way out of this nightmare.

He took heart that Lyssa’s spring break came early enough for Manda to rethink her wedding party. That detail was easily fixed. The emotional toll on Manda and the impact of addiction on Lyssa were not so easy.

Gianessa put a gentle hand on Manda’s arm.

“If you need to cry, Manda, I have plenty of tissues in my tote bag.” Gianessa pressed a few into Manda’s hand.

Manda choked out, “Gwen tried to tell me this could happen.” She held the tissues to her eyes and sobbed. “And she was right.”

Justin’s gaze follow the canal path beyond the benches and shops busy with families. Near the bridge, he saw Lyssa’s red hair, a puff of smoke, and a shaking white hand that sheltered a toke. He debated a moment then decided that if she were arrested, he would not bail her out.

He watched the scene until their waiter approached, straining under a heavy tray. He hesitated at the drama and looked to Justin for direction.

“Good man, Gregory,” Justin told him. “That’s exactly what we all need.”

Gregory lost no time distributing the water and drinks. He tucked the empty tray under his arm and looked directly at Justin’s nose. “What can I bring you folks?”

Justin gave him the order for four salads of varying descriptions, knowing what he wanted, what Gianessa usually ate, what Lyssa had requested, and what Manda would ask for in her sunniest mood. “And these women are starved,” Justin said in a conspiratorial tone.

“I’ll get that order right in for you, sir.”

Justin reached across the table for Manda’s hand. “Good lord, what a mess.”

Manda grabbed onto his hand and implored him, “What am I going to do?”

“One solution is to buy your sister a beautiful dress and make a backup plan. I’m sure Sara would serve as your maid-of-honor or Gwen or Gianessa, all reliable women who love you and honor your marriage to Joel.”

Manda sat up straighter and reached for her iced tea. She met his eyes over the rim of her glass and gave him a little nod.

Gianessa followed suit, and Justin joined them.

Gregory delivered their salads, and Gianessa beamed her thanks.

Justin spotted Lyssa coming back up the path. She concentrated on every step. “She’s on her way now, and she’s high. I say we eat our salads, perhaps go for a stroll after lunch, and then what? Do we want to shop for dresses today like we planned?”

Manda stiffened.

Gianessa looked doubtfully from Manda to Justin and back again. “I just need to eat something right now,” she told them.

“Agreed.”

When Lyssa appeared in the entryway, Justin stood up and motioned her back to their table on the porch. He held her chair, and Lyssa stumbled into it. She set about devouring her salad without a word to anyone.

Justin ended his phone call and turned to Gianessa. “She’s been admitted. She passed the intake, which is good news and bad news.” He thanked her and took the cup of hot chocolate from her hands. They sat on stools at the island in his kitchen.

Their after-lunch stroll on the towpath had heated up when Lyssa chided Manda for planning a sober wedding reception, not even champagne for the toast. The argument escalated until Manda screamed that she wouldn’t let Lyssa come to her wedding, let alone be her maid-of-honor. At that point, Justin and Gianessa intervened, pointing out the effect of Lyssa’s addiction on her sister and her sister’s wedding plans.

“It was a nightmare, Justin. How did you ever keep your cool?”

“I was shaking inside, sweetheart. It was all I could do not to throw her in the canal.”

“This was supposed to be the weekend that Lyssa and Manda reunited after six years and Lyssa got her gown as maid-of-honor for Manda and Joel’s wedding. How could it go so horribly wrong?”

“Manda had unrealistic expectations. Denial, I suppose, forgetting how the disease turns us into monsters.”

“Us? Why did you say that?”

He didn’t know why he’d included himself. He shook his head. “She knew Lyssa was still drinking and using. Yet she pinned her hopes on Lyssa coming here, reconnecting with her, helping to plan the wedding and standing up with her on the most important day of her life.”

“A setback like this is the last thing Manda and Joel needed.”

Justin put his arm around Gianessa and kissed her temple. “They’ll be fine. Tony and Phil are with Joel, and Manda is at a meeting with her sponsor Gwen, which is exactly what they both need.” He rubbed her back with calming circles. “And Lyssa may or may not accept the help she’s given at the rehab. But an intervention was the right thing to do, don’t you think?”

“Short of throwing her in the canal, yes.” Gianessa’s laugh was full of irony. “We couldn’t just go shopping for a bridesmaid gown and pretend everything was fine.”

“You do know I suggested that simply to show the absurdity of it?”

She looked up at him through her eyelashes, a smile curving her lips. “I’m catching on to your strategies.”

“And I’m wondering, did you have the rehab on speed dial?” Justin teased.

Gianessa looked at him like a child who’s been caught snitching a cookie. “I—yes, I have the hospital number in my phone, and I knew they could connect me with the rehab. We were just lucky they could take her today.” She closed her eyes with a sigh, possibly of exhaustion or relief or both.

Justin gave her a covert glance and, from the peace on her face, concluded she did not even suspect his sudden, generous contribution to the hospital, which had gone a long way toward making an intake counselor and a bed available. He said heartily, “Yes, before she changed her mind.”

Gianessa frowned suddenly and covered her ears. “I can still hear Manda shriek at Lyssa and see those cyclists swerving off the path to avoid running into them.”

He stroked her arm. “That’s enough drama for one day. How about a stroll along the lakeshore?”

Gianessa looked at him with a question in her eyes.

“What is it? What would you like to do?”

“I’d like to climb up to that spot on the Cushman grounds, up near the birches where you can see the whole lake. Would you like to?”

Justin’s smile radiated from his heart as he reached for her hand.

Gianessa stood utterly still, gazing at the lake, allowing its strength and permanence to soothe her troubled thoughts. “I love it here,” she said to Justin.

“I do as well. I’d like to enjoy this view every morning and every evening.”

“You know, until you brought me here, I’d look at our lake—Chestnut Lake—and think, ‘It’s not my ocean.’ Now I can see its beauty, and I love it, whatever mood it’s in.”

She drank in the sight of the deep blue water. A cluster of islands crowded together in the northeast corner of the lake, each one a little mound covered with evergreens. The shore curved gently south from there, as far as she could see. “I didn’t give it a chance. It is gorgeous.”

Years of living by the Pacific had trained her eye to see the vast ocean, not to appreciate this pristine lake in a finger-shaped valley carved by a glacier. That life by the Pacific was gone, and she had come around to giving this life her full attention. Intuition prompted her to meet Justin’s gaze. “You’re going to build your dream house here, aren’t you?”

He blinked. “I—yes, I am. First, though,” he said with a nod toward the old mansion, “that’s coming down.”

“You’re really going to demolish it?” She wasn’t surprised. She’d actually wondered what the holdup was.

Justin nodded. “They’ve just assigned the crew. They’ll start next week.”

“It’s a big job,” she guessed.

“Wrecking ball, asbestos abatement, a horrible job. People who are in that business know what they’re doing.”

She gave him a smile. “It’s a sure thing. Not like rehab.”

He pursed his lips. “We can hope for Lyssa’s recovery. I hate seeing Manda in so much pain. I caused her pain like that when I couldn’t be found after Joel’s accident.”

“Justin, you were in the hospital for a serious condition that—thank god—turned out to be treatable.”

“Thanks to you. Between my illness and my bankrupt spirit, I thought I was dying.”

“You’ve come a long way in a few months.” She looked admiringly at his physique. “You’ve worked hard, and it shows.”

Justin touched her cheek and reached his fingers into her hair. “You are a wise woman and very good for me. Do you know I’ve fallen in love with you?”

Gianessa’s breath caught. Her emotions fell all over each other: happiness, love, a touch of fear, faith. She met his kiss and let him enfold her with his strong arms.

“What do you suppose we should do about this?”

“I want to enjoy it a day at a time,” she told him, hoping he wanted more, not daring to say she did.

He nodded. “Let’s come back here after the mansion is gone,” he proposed.

She could tell from the flush on his cheeks and the heat in his eyes that he wanted her in his bed.

A smile warmed her whole being. “Let’s.”

“How’s your young man?”

The coffee caught in Gianessa’s throat, and she coughed, helpless to end the tickle.