“Okay,” he said, “here’s the story. You all deserve to hear. it I haven’t been doing research on a book, though I suppose I’d better come up with a plot involving a small town, now that the rumor has gotten around. Savannah didn’t invite me here to do my research. She had no idea that I was going to show up on your doorstep.”
The twins looked at him in curiosity, Ernestine in suspicion. “Then what are you doing here?” she demanded.
“I met Savannah on Serendipity Island, and I fell for her,” he answered simply. “Hard. And, no,” he added with a quick glance at the twins, “we didn’t have an affair on the island. We talked and we danced, but that’s about it. She left thinking she would never see me again, but I missed her so much that I came looking for her. I wanted a chance to get to know her better.”
“You mean you came a courtin’?” Miranda asked, her voice squeaky.
Kit was startled into a laugh. Savannah blushed and wondered where in the world her daughter had picked up that phrase.
“Yeah,” Kit said, “I guess I came acourtin’. Just like ol’ Froggie.”
“And now you’re getting married.” Miranda sighed happily as Savannah gulped. “Cool.”
“Your mother hasn’t exactly given me an answer yet,” Kit murmured, looking apologetically at Savannah.
Savannah still couldn’t believe Kit kept talking about marriage. They’d only known each other for only a few days!
He must be crazy. But then, she must be, too. Because she knew that if Kit proposed right now, her answer would be yes.
If, that was, he could convince her that he was asking because he loved her, and not because he’d felt pressured into action.
She glanced at her mother and was startled to see a glint of tears in Ernestine’s eyes. “Mother?”
Ernestine looked away. “You’ll do what you want, of course.”
“Mrs. McBride, what have I done to make you dislike me?” Kit asked, looking directly at her.
She refused to meet his eyes. “Nothing. If you want to take my daughter and grandchildren off to California, I guess that’s up to them.”
Savannah almost groaned as a light went on in her head. Now she thought she understood at least part of Ernestine’s hostility toward Kit. Ernestine knew her daughter very well. She would have taken one look at Savannah and Kit together and known that some powerful emotions were at work between them.
It had been only the four of them for so long, comfortable in their small town routines, all of them secure, if not wealthy, on Savannah’s salary. This was Ernestine’s home, her family, her life. And Kit threatened that.
Kit must have had some of the same thoughts. His tone was gentle when he spoke, his expression kind.
“I never said anything about taking your family to California—at least not permanently,” he reminded her. He gestured around the rapidly emptying parking lot, ignoring the people who stared at them from a distance as they climbed into their cars. “Despite the gossip, this seems like a nice place to raise a family. A writer can work anywhere—in Los Angeles, California, or Campbellville, Georgia.”
And then he smiled winningly at Ernestine. “But even if we all chose to move somewhere else, there would always be a place for you,” he assured her. “You’re an important member of this family. They depend on you. They need you. I can’t imagine that they’d ever let anyone take them away from you.”
The twins shook their heads in fervent agreement. Savannah smiled and kissed her mother’s cheek, knowing that the lines around her mother’s stern mouth had been caused by years of work and struggle.
“I love you, Mother,” she said to the woman who had always wanted only the best for her daughter and grandchildren.
Ernestine blinked rapidly and muttered something brusque and incomprehensible. She wasn’t entirely won over, Savannah thought, but she was getting there.
Kit was very good at this sort of thing.
Kit turned back
to the twins. “As for the rest of that garbage you heard, that’s all it was. Garbage.” Your family business is just that Your business. No one else’s. Your mom doesn’t owe apologies or explanations to anyone, and neither do you. Right?”
The twins nodded slowly.
“You’re great kids, both of you,” he added, his face softening. “Your mother and I haven’t talked much about her past, but I know that she is a very special woman. And a wonderful mother. I know she’s very proud of you both, and that you must be proud of her. Any man who wouldn’t want to be part of this great family would be badly misguided.”
“Our father didn’t want us,” Michael said, his plaintive tone betraying an old hurt. “Grandma said.”
“Then it’s most definitely his loss,” Kit said firmly.