With This Fling (Summersweet Island 5)

“She really is fine. She’s just worrying about other people instead of herself, like always.” Emily rolls her eyes before she walks by me as well, pulling me out of my depressing thoughts.

I calm down a little when I know nothing too serious is happening with Wren, who is currently whispering something in Shepherd’s ear, while he still has his arms wrapped tightly around her.

“I feel like you’re avoiding your plus-one.”

Letting out an annoyed sigh when Dean walks up next to me, I shake my head without taking my eyes off Shepherd and Wren. He suddenly lifts her up in his arms and spins her around in a circle. My heart starts beating faster when Owen joins them a few seconds later, and the three of them cling to each other in a group hug while they talk with their heads bowed together in the center.

“And I feel like you didn’t hear the part where I said no,” I remind Dean as I watch Birdie and Palmer walk up to the trio.

The girls spend a few seconds talking animatedly back and forth, with wild hand gestures, smacks on the arms, and one hair-pull. And then suddenly, Birdie is wrapping her arms around her sister and scooping her up in a hug. That champagne I quickly drank is suddenly churning in my stomach, because I’m pretty sure I know exactly what’s happening right now.

“You okay there, sugar?” Dean’s voice is filled with concern instead of sarcasm.

The fact that I like it and don’t have the urge to punch him in the throat for calling me that again momentarily distracts me from the scene unfolding in front of me. “No. Yes. I don’t know, but we’ll go with no,” I reply to him.

Dean chuckles softly, his arm brushing against mine as he brings his bottle of beer up to his mouth.

I’m sidetracked by his close proximity and how good he smells, and I feel my traitorous body swaying in his direction so I can breathe him in. Thankfully, Birdie raises her voice with Wren right then, snapping me back to reality and stopping me from sniffing this man’s shirt in public.

“Wren, do it! I promise you aren’t taking anything away from my night. Like I’d give a shit about that!”

My eyes guiltily fly back across the room to my family when Birdie finishes scolding her sister, after being locked on Dean’s mouth while he licked his lips from his sip of beer. My heart starts beating faster when Birdie turns away from her sister to loudly address the rest of the guests.

“Can I have everyone’s attention please?”

A hot flash from hell chooses this exact moment to start wreaking havoc on my body, and I grab the front of my cotton sundress and start fanning myself with the material. Everyone in the room turns in their seats or where they’re standing to look at Birdie, but my eyes are glued to Wren’s face. Shepherd yanks her back into his arms and peppers her face with kisses, and I know. I knew sixteen years ago what was going to come out of my daughter’s mouth before she even said it, just like I know what’s going to come out of it right now.

“I’m pregnant!” Wren announces to the room, her overjoyed face going blurry on me when my eyes immediately fill with tears once I hear it confirmed out loud.

The entire room erupts into a chorus of whistles and cheers, and my daughter looks across the room at me with happy tears running down her own face and a huge, beautiful smile stretched across her cheeks.

“After Tess in two months, and then Shepherd and Wren, it looks like you’re going to have three grandkids soon! Congratulations, Grandma!” someone in the crowd shouts in my direction.

Everyone in the room cheers again, but all I hear is a loud hum in my ears as my heart pounds faster and panic overwhelms me.

What the hell is wrong with me? I’m deliriously happy, and this is just absolutely wonderful news! Quit being an idiot, Laura!

I really am happy. Wren deserves to have everything she’s ever dreamed of, and Shepherd is going to be the best father in the world, who would rather die than ever even think of walking away from her, Owen, and the baby. As a mother, I couldn’t be more ecstatic for her.

But as a woman who just a few weeks ago felt like she was in the prime of her life, I kind of want to throw up a little.

Wren finally rushes over and gives me a big hug. I push aside my bullshit for a minute, hold her in my arms, and I rock her back and forth, telling her how happy I am for her, and I mean it. I squeeze her tightly to me, so thankful our family has been so blessed, until she slips out of my arms and moves right back into Shepherd’s.

I smile… and I congratulate my future son-in-law… and I make a joke to Owen about changing dirty diapers… and I laugh when he dry heaves. Everyone is happy, and laughing, and teasing Wren for being a wreck after getting a call from the doctor as soon as she walked into the hotel this evening. She knew she wouldn’t be able to keep it from Shepherd but worried it would take the spotlight off of Birdie and Palmer. It all feels so wonderful, because my family is growing even bigger, just like I always wanted.

I’m not at all thinking about what Karen said—while the words “old” and “alone” flash over and over in my head—as champagne is passed all around for a toast and everyone in the room takes turns hugging Wren and shaking Shepherd’s hand. I’m definitely not picturing myself letting my dyed-blonde hair go and allowing the gray to completely take over… while I’m sprawled on my couch, looking exhausted and grandmotherly in my Nana’s Sweethearts sweatshirt. My grandchildren will be running circles around me, I’ll eat dinner by four and go to bed by eight, after taking a nap during Jeopardy, talking to myself and all the cats I’ll probably fill my empty house with.

Now is not the time to fall apart, Laura! This is a joyous occasion!

“Congratulations, this is good news,” Dean says as I turn my face toward his, wishing I could ask Donny Richards what it felt like when he was having a heart attack, because I think I might be having one now.

“Yep, it sure is! It’s wonderful! So good! Sooo good.”

Dean’s eyes study mine for a few seconds, and I shake out the numbness in my right hand while my breath starts panting out of me faster. And then I realize it would be my left side going numb if I was dying of a heart attack, and a few giggles escape out of me.

“You want more champagne, or something stronger?” Dean suddenly asks, his serious and concerned eyes still locked on mine, making some of my panic over being an old, dried-up grandmother switch over into panic that I like his concern for me a little too much.

I’m thinking about sitting on this man’s face, and now I’m going to be a grandmother again. No one wants a grandmother of three sitting on their face. That’s just gross for all parties involved. Oh, hell… I think I’m going to cry again, and these won’t be happy tears.