Page 63 of Escape to Lighthouse Cove

“So, spill.”

Becca’s expression was friendly but avid as she plopped herself down at Grace’s kitchen table several days later. “Who came on Ned’s ferry to see you? Because he left pretty darn quick after.”

“Did he?” Grace tried to sound unbothered, but this little bit of news made her heart leap. She’d wondered if Brad might have gone to stay with Noah. She’d hoped he wouldn’t have, that Noah wouldn’t have let him, but she realized she couldn’t be sure and realizing that had been as hard as accepting that Noah and Brad had been friends.

“He did,” Becca confirmed. “And you clearly don’t want to tell me who he is, so…” She waited expectantly for Grace to do just that.

“He’s my ex-husband,” she told Becca as she switched on the kettle. “Or soon to be. He texted me this morning to let me know he’s signing the divorce papers.” Which had beensucha relief. Three days after Brad’s sudden arrival, Grace still couldn’t decide whether he’d been serious about getting back together. Had he really missed her? She suspected he had, which made her feel strangely sad. For better or worse, they’d been married for twelve years. They’d said vowsaboutbetter or worse. She hadn’t walked away from it lightly, and yet she had walked away. She’d needed to, for both her own sake and that of her son.

In the three days since he’d first spoken, Jacob had said a few more words. They came haltingly, shyly, but at least they came. She’d asked him about Brad, but it was obvious he didn’t want to talk about it, and Grace didn’t need him to. She understood that he’d taken Brad’s threat literally, and that he was scared of his own father. What that meant for any relationship he had with him in future she didn’t know; it wasn’t a door she was willing to close permanently, even if it was closed for now.

As for Noah…

“Your ex-husband?” Becca’s green eyes rounded. “Why did he come all the way up here?”

“To see me.” Grace reached for tea bags. “He said he wanted to get back together, but I’m not convinced that he did. In any case, I didn’t, and he’s gone now.” She released her breath in a shuddery rush. “Which is a good thing.”

Becca eyed her speculatively. “And Noah?” she asked. “What’s going on there?”

Grace shook her head. She knew Becca and her mother had seen her and Noah, along with Jacob, going up and down between the lodge and Grayhaven, but they were both dying to know more.

But what more was there to tell them? Noah hadn’t come to see her or explain anything in three whole days. Admittedly, she hadn’t gone to see him either and maybe she should have, but in truth she hadn’t known what she would have said. Seeing him so pally with Brad had shaken her, even if it shouldn’t have.

Noah had told her himself that he hadn’t liked the person he’d been back in New York. She really did believe he had changed… but hadshe? Because the last thing Grace wanted to do was tie herself into knots to please a man the way she had with Brad, and all without realizing it. So she’d decided not to go up to Grayhaven and trip over herself apologizing and explaining… what? Wasn’t Noah the one with the explaining to do?

And so far he didn’t seem all that eager to explain.

“Nothing’s going on with Noah,” she told Becca, and her friend raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“Oh, really?”

Grace shrugged. “I don’t know what’s going on, then,” she amended. “A few days ago, I might have answered differently. But my ex-husband coming back seems to have thrown a wrench in the works.”

Becca shook her head, looking confused. “Why, if he’s gone now?”

Grace stared at her for a long moment as the kettle began to whistle shrilly. “I don’t know,” she admitted slowly. “It just… has.”

Whyhadn’t Noah come to see her? Or why hadn’t she gone to see him? Suddenly it seemed silly, stupid even, that neither of them had made enough effort. Were they going to torpedo their fledgling relationship, as well as all their barely-there plans for the island, simply because of the fear that the other person had changed their mind?

Weren’t they both better, stronger, than that?

At least they could be.

“I think it just brought up a lot of things for both of us,” she told Becca. Her insecurities about losing herself to a relationship, to a man, and Noah’s, that he still was the kind of man he didn’t want to be. Grace knew it with a certainty she felt right down to her bones. He was afraid she thought he hadn’t changed, and maybe he was afraid thathethought he hadn’t changed.

Either way, she realized one of them had to make a move.

“Becca,” she said suddenly, “can you watch Jacob for me for a little bit?”

Becca grinned, understanding her perfectly. “Of course I can.”

Noah strode down the path from Grayhaven with determined, resolute steps. He wasn’t sure whether he was facing his hoped-for future or the firing squad. He should have come sooner, he thought, but then Grace should have come sooner, too. Why had they both shied away from explanations? Were they afraid that explanations wouldn’t be enough?

Maybe they wouldn’t. Understanding something wasn’t the same as accepting or forgiving it. Maybe Brad coming all the way to Lighthouse Cove Island had been an unfortunate wake-up call for both of them.

But then again, maybe it hadn’t. Maybe, at least, it didn’t have to be.

And so here he was, heading down the hill, hoping for a happy ending.