went through as a kid. Maybe the stress of starting my own business brought it on. I don’t know. I probably need a little therapy or something.”
Those words of Wyatt’s replayed in her mind. “It’s not your fault, Grace.” She closed her eyes as a feeling of peace moved in like an autumn fog. She allowed it to roll over her. Allowed it to soothe her spirit. It wasn’t quite forgiveness he’d granted. It was the complete absence of blame. However she defined it, it was freeing.
“Well, I’m here whenever you need to talk.”
“Thanks.” Grace glanced around the shed. “Right now I think I just want to get this space back in order.”
Molly moved toward the life jacket hanging from an oar. “Well, I guess the least I can do is stay and help.”
* * *
It was nine o’clock by the time Molly made her way home. She’d texted Adam earlier to let him know to eat supper without her.
Her mind was still spinning with the fact that the governor’s son had been under their roof for more than three weeks. He’d been a regular mystery man since his arrival. But when she thought of what he’d suffered as a child, she couldn’t blame him for keeping secrets. Also, it came as no surprise that a child who’d been unable to defend his mother had chosen a career in which he protected people.
As they’d put the garage to order, Grace hadn’t said anything more about Wyatt. Unlike Molly, she wasn’t one to process things verbally. Instead they’d talked mostly about the sale of the inn and Grace’s plans for her new house.
Boy, a lot sure happened when Levi left town. In two days, when he and Mia returned from their honeymoon, they’d have a lot of catching up to do. Molly would be glad for things to settle back to normal.
But then, things would never really settle back to the way they were, would they? The inn was selling. Levi was moving to LA. Molly and Adam were moving to Italy. And Grace would be here alone, trying to make a go of her business.
The realization put a pinch in Molly’s chest.
When she pulled into the driveway she parked beside Adam’s car and entered the house through the side door. Adam was in the living room reading the New York Post on the sofa.
“Hi, honey, I’m home.”
“Hi, sweetheart.” Adam lowered the paper, and Molly leaned down and placed a kiss on his lips before she plopped down beside him. “Wow, what a day. How was yours? Did you get through that chapter that was giving you fits? I was right, wasn’t I? The protagonist needed to get on her motorcycle and let her hair down. Or was it the hero’s motorcycle? I can’t remember. So what’d you decide to do, huh?”
Adam folded up the newspaper, set it on the coffee table, then sat back, searching her eyes for a long moment. “Did something happen today?”
Molly turned fully toward him. “Oh, Adam, wait’ll I tell you.” She spilled Grace’s story, all of it somehow taking three times as long as it had taken her sister to tell. He listened quietly, nodding and frowning at all the appropriate moments.
When she was finally finished he said, “That is a lot. Is Grace all right?”
“She’s a little shaken, but I really fear what’s going to happen when Wyatt leaves. I think she’s in love with him. She didn’t say so—she might not even realize it yet. This is all new to her, and I think Wyatt loves her too, but he has a life somewhere else. It’s all so sad.”
Molly was surprised that she was getting teary. A lump swelled in her throat, and those tears . . . Despite her best efforts one of them spilled over.
“Honey . . . what’s wrong?”
“I’m—I’m just worried about Grace, that’s all. She’s having panic attacks and she’s about to lose her first love!”
“That is hard.” Adam brushed the tear away. “But are you sure that’s all it is?”
“What else would it be?” The tears just kept coming, one after the other. Her lips trembled.
“You tell me.” Adam gazed at her with those knowing eyes.
Molly searched her heart and latched on to the one thing that had weighed heaviest on her mind. “You know what’s wrong with me? Everything’s changing, that’s what.”
“Tell me what’s changing.”
“Everything! Levi’s moving to LA, we’re moving to Italy, and Grace is buying a house and staying here all by herself.”