groomsmen, but he’d wondered what he was going to do all day before the wedding began. Spending the day with the boys would be fun and a welcome change from the hectic pace of his job in the Lodge’s kitchen.
A few hours with the boys dispelled any notions he had about having a relaxing day. By the time they’d cleaned the maple syrup off the kids, run around in the yard with them for a few hours, scrubbed off mud from playing in a puddle, brokered more than a few peace treaties when fights broke out, and got them down for a nap, Taylor was ready for a nap of his own.
“It’s not as easy as it looks, huh?” His dad shot him a sympathetic look from his blue leather recliner. “I usually need about a week of rest after they spend a night here.”
Taylor laughed as he eased his aching muscles into the matching recliner. “I don’t know how Cammie and Darren do it.”
“Practice.” His dad grinned. “You have to work into it.”
“Were we this much work?” Taylor leaned back and kicked out the footrest. “I don’t remember ever having that much energy.”
His dad chortled. “There were four of you, and every one of you were just as energetic as Cammie’s boys. Your mom and I used to collapse into bed every night and wonder how we were going to do it all again the next day.” He smiled, and a far-off look came over his face, as if reliving those days.
“We were that bad?” Taylor asked.
His dad sat upright, pushing the footrest in. Suddenly serious, he looked straight at his son. “I wouldn’t change a minute of it.” He ran his hand through his thinning brown hair and cleared his throat.
Taylor stilled, wondering what his dad was going to say to him. “Dad? Is everything okay with your heart?” His father had experienced some chest pain the year before, but after a full battery of tests, the doctors had proclaimed him fit as a fiddle. Taylor had wanted to come out to see him when it happened, but his father had protested, saying it was unnecessary. His parents told him everything was fine since then, but had that been true?
His father sighed and Taylor’s own heart seemed to stop. “Dad. What is it?” Usually calm in a crisis, Taylor barely recognized his own voice as the pitch rose with his growing panic.
“Shh.” His dad cast a furtive glance at the room off the hall where they’d put Jason and Andy down to nap. “If you wake them up, they’ll be crabby tonight and we’ll take the blame.”
Taylor sighed in exasperation, but spoke at lower level. “Dad. What aren’t you telling me?”
His dad shook his head and stared at his hands in his lap, then locked eyes with Taylor. “There’s nothing wrong with me. Your mom is worried about you.” He expelled his breath sharply. “I’m worried about you.”
His father’s admission hit Taylor harder than the bad news he’d steeled himself against.
“I’m fine. I told you that last night. Everything’s going great at work.”
“Yes, I know. At work. We know you love your job at the Lodge.” His father stared at the ceiling and then back at him. “But what about outside of work? Do you have friends? People you can talk to? You always had these huge groups of friends when you were growing up. Now you barely talk about anyone in Willa Bay. Your mom and I thought maybe this Meg girl was special to you, but then you stopped talking about her too.”
“I have friends,” he blurted out.
“But are you happy there?” His dad stood and paced around the living room, obviously uncomfortable discussing personal matters with his son. “We need to know if you’re happy.”
“I like living in Willa Bay.” The question rang in his ears though. Was he happy? Last spring, he would have had no problem answering that question with a resounding yes. Now, it wasn’t so easy. He missed having Meg in the kitchen with him every day—missed seeing her. Everything had changed when she’d left, and he’d spent the last couple of months floating along. He’d tried to fight his feelings for her, but he couldn’t shake them—a fact that hadn’t escaped Sam’s attention on their date. If Sam saw it, did everyone else?
“Did something happen with Meg?” his dad asked.
“No!” Taylor got up too, pacing the opposite side of the room from his dad. “Nothing happened with her. We’re just