Lori smiled faintly. “Thanks. I have a date later.”
“Oh.”
Lori frowned. “Now, don’t you start. I get enough of the disapproving looks from everyone else in the family.”
“I didn’t say anything,” Hannah reminded her.
“I got the message anyway.” Her cousin scowled as she tossed her gray leather bag beneath the desk. “None of you know Zach, but all of you disapprove of him. It’s not fair.”
“How can we know him when you haven’t even brought him around to meet us?” Hannah asked reasonably. “No one even knew you were dating him until last week.”
“Yeah, right. Like I’m going to bring him here to be grilled by everyone in the family. God knows what Mimi or Pop would say to him.”
Hannah shrugged. “That’s true, of course, but it’s just the way it is here. Maybe if the family got to know Zach they’d b
e less disapproving.”
“Or maybe they’d still hate him,” Lori muttered.
“That’s possible, too, I guess. And if they do, well, maybe you should consider the reasons why.”
Lori planted her hands on her hips. “You’re saying I should let the family decide who I can or can’t date?”
Hannah sighed. She was making a mess of this, probably butting in where it was none of her business. But still she felt compelled to offer advice in hopes that she could help Lori avoid the mistakes she herself had made. “I didn’t say that. It’s just— Well, you know what kind of mess I got into when I married too young and somewhat impulsively. I’d hate to see you get into that sort of situation.”
“Yes, well, I’m not you. And Zach’s not Wade. And thanks for giving me credit for having some intelligence.”
Hannah frowned. “I like to consider myself reasonably intelligent. I still made a mistake by marrying Wade.”
“So now you’re going to give me advice?” Lori looked pointedly at Hannah’s baby bump. “Thanks, but no, thanks.”
“Hey!”
“Good afternoon, ladies.”
Hannah wasn’t surprised that Andrew had showed up exactly when he’d said, at precisely one-fifty. He’d changed from the shorts and T-shirt he’d worn for fishing into a white short-sleeved shirt and khaki pants. She didn’t know how he’d managed to keep his hastily packed clothes so crisp and tidy or look so put together and professional even after a morning in a fishing boat. Whatever magic he used, it worked for him. He looked great, making her glad she’d taken a little extra care with her own appearance that morning. She wore a loose plum-colored top and cream linen drawstring slacks—summery, comfortable and easy to move out of the way for the ultrasound.
She turned the desk over to her now-rather-sullen cousin, trying and failing to meet Lori’s eyes. Maybe she should have kept her mouth shut, she thought regretfully. She supposed nobody could have talked her out of getting involved with Wade either, but she sure wished someone had tried.
She stopped in the store to speak with her mother on the way out. Her dark hair hardly touched with gray, fifty-three-year-old Linda Bell handled the register in the bustling convenience store with an ease Hannah had always admired. Her mom might have married into the resort business, having grown up the daughter of a physician and a school principal, but she’d taken to it with the same enthusiasm as the rest of the extended family, making the store her own realm while her husband ruled over the grounds outside.
Leaving her mother-in-law to run the register for a few minutes, Linda walked to the end of the sales counter to give Hannah a hug. “You’re leaving for the doctor now?”
Hannah nodded. “I’ll let you know as soon as I’m back.” She knew her family would be anxious to hear the results of the test.
Her mom looked a bit wistful. “You’re sure you don’t need me to come with you? I’m sure Mimi could handle things here for a little while,” she added though she didn’t sound entirely confident as she glanced at the customers filling plastic handbaskets with supplies from the shelves.
“I’ll be fine. The appointment won’t even take very long,” Hannah assured her. “Afterward, I’ll pick up my car and come straight back to the resort. You’re needed much more here.”
Her mom nodded to concede the point. “Still, I’m glad you aren’t going alone. I’m sure that tire-slashing incident was just random yesterday, but it still made me nervous.”
Hannah shook her head indulgently. “I’m not going to stop running errands just because some punk flattened my tires. If my car hadn’t been ready to pick up this afternoon, I’d have just borrowed someone else’s and driven myself to the doctor.”
“Yes, I know you would,” her mom said wryly. “But I’m glad Andrew is going with you today. Thank you for volunteering, Andrew. Someone else would have taken her if you weren’t here, of course, but I have to admit it’s a big help to us that you’re available.”
Andrew drew his attention away from a couple of young boys nearby to smile at Hannah’s mother. “It’s my pleasure. I’ve never been very good at doing nothing. I prefer making myself useful.”
Before she could reply, Andrew moved to block the doorway as the two boys tried to exit. “Maybe you’d better pay for that candy before you leave,” he suggested to them, nodding toward the pockets of their colorful board shorts.