Seaview Inn

“Who were you talking to?” her mom asked.

“Nobody.”

“I heard your voice.”

“Must have been the radio,” Kelsey said.

Her mother’s gaze narrowed. “You’re lying, Kelsey, and you’re not very good at it, so don’t do it.”

Kelsey winced. “It was just a friend from school.”

“The baby’s father?”

“Why would you...?”

“You’re actually talking to the father of the baby?” her mother continued as if Kelsey hadn’t even attempted to deny it. “Why?”

“I never said—”

“Kelsey, how does this man feel about your being pregnant? What kind of man leaves you to deal with something like this all alone?”

“Mom, you don’t know what you’re talking about, so drop it, okay?”

“After your father, I think I do know a thing or two about men who can’t handle responsibility. You don’t want someone like that in your life, Kelsey. Forget about him now. You have your grandmother and me. We can see you through this.”

“This isn’t your life, Mom, and Jeff isn’t Dad. Far from it, in fact. I’m the one who doesn’t want to get married. I’m the one who’s having trouble facing all this. I don’t want a baby now. I’m not ready. I’d have an abortion, but Jeff got furious when I even mentioned the possibility, so I promised him I’d think about everything before I did anything that drastic.”

Kelsey felt awful when she saw the look of dismay that crossed her mother’s face. “I know you don’t believe in it, either, but how can I bring this baby into the world under these circumstances?”

“Sweetie, we don’t always get to choose the circumstances, but a child is a blessing, no matter when it comes along.”

“Really? Tell that to some poor woman who’s been raped.”

“Kelsey!”

“Well, it’s true. There are circumstances when it’s not a blessing, when the timing’s all wrong or the people are all wrong together or a thousand other reasons. Shouldn’t I have the right to say this is not right for me?”

She could tell her mother was struggling to be fair, to be impartial, even though she had very strong opinions of her own. And the truth was, after her initial desperate reaction to the pregnancy, Kelsey hadn’t been able to see herself getting an abortion, either.

“You do have a right to make your own choice, but only when you’ve weighed this very, very carefully,” her mom said. “This is one of those times when you can’t go back and undo an impulsive decision. You have to live with it for the rest of your life. And, to be honest, I’m probably not the best one to help you decide. We’re talking about my grandchild here. I might not have chosen this moment for him or her to come along, but that’s life. Things happen. We deal with them.”

Kelsey felt tears welling up. “I don’t want to deal with them. I don’t want to deal with this,” she said, and threw herself into her mother’s arms. “How did I screw everything up so badly?”

“I think we both know the answer to that,” Hannah said, a hint of levity in her voice. “Why don’t you tell me about Jeff? That might be a good place to start. You’ve never even mentioned him before, but he must be important if the two of you are about to have a baby together.”

Kelsey didn’t know how she felt about Jeff anymore. A part of her loved him. Another part was furious with him for his role in this predicament. Because her feelings about him were so conflicted, she said, “Could we go for a walk on the beach, instead? I think that’s what I need right now.”

Her mom looked as if she wanted to insist that they sit right here and talk, but eventually she relented. “Maybe a walk will do us both good,” she conceded. “Watching the waves come in, knowing they’ll still be doing the same thing tomorrow and the next day and long after we’re gone helps to put things in perspective. Problems never seem as huge and overwhelming by comparison.”

Kelsey gave her mom a wry look. “I was just thinking that maybe for a little while it would make me feel like a kid again.”

Hannah grinned. “Okay, that, too.”

“I remember the last time I was here, not for Grandma’s funeral, but before that. I was a junior in high school, I think, and you let me come down by myself during spring vacation.”

“Hardest thing I ever had to do, watching you get on that plane,” Hannah admitted as they slipped into sandals and walked across the street to the beach. “I knew you were old enough and responsible enough to travel alone, but it was terrifying for me. We’d never been separated for more than a couple of days before. I sat at the airport until the plane was in the air and then sat by the phone at home until you called me that afternoon. That was, without question, the longest week of my life.”

Kelsey regarded her with surprise. “Really? I thought you were glad that I was spending time down here, getting to know Grandma and Grandma Jenny.”

“I was. I wanted you to know the rest of your family, to feel that connection to them.” She gave Kelsey a rueful look. “I think I was scared you’d fall in love with Seaview Key. A lot of people who leave New York in the middle of winter and discover it’s possible to be warm in February develop an infatuation with Florida. And to someone who didn’t grow up here, Seaview Key does have its charms.”

“Like being able to walk to the beach from your house and having everyone in town know who you are,” Kelsey said, pausing to kick off her sandals and dig her toes into the cool sand at the water’s edge. “I couldn’t believe it when I went to the store with Grandma and every single person said hello and called me by name. They all knew who I was. At least, the locals did. It was kind of cool.”

“I didn’t think so when I was a kid and every one of those people would call my house if they saw me misbehaving,” her mom countered. “I’d walk in the door and your grandmother and Grandma Jenny would be waiting for me, ready to let me have it.”

“I guess that would suck.” Kelsey grinned. “Did you misbehave a lot?”

“Enough,” Hannah admitted.

“Tell me,” Kelsey begged. “Come on, Mom, spill everything.”

“I am not going to give you ammunition to use against me,” Hannah retorted indignantly, but she was grinning.

“I’ll just ask Grandma Jenny,” Kelsey threatened. “I bet she remembers every bad thing you ever did.”

“I don’t doubt it. She always took great pleasure in telling me I’d messed up.”

Kelsey’s mood sobered. “Mom, you know she and Grandma really loved you and were proud of you, right?”

Hannah stared at her. “What makes you think that?”

“They told me. When I was here, they asked a million questions about your job and your friends and all the places we’d been. I wish they’d visited us more in New York.”

“I invited them, but they hated it the one time they came,” her mother replied defensively. “I offered to send them plane tickets every single Christmas, but they always came up with an excuse and it always had something to do with the inn.”

“It was their business, Mom,” Kelsey said impatiently. “You, of all people, should understand about responsibility. Until you got sick, I don’t think I ever remember you taking a real vacation.”

“We traveled all the time,” her mother protested.

“Only if you had to go somewhere for work. I hated those trips. When I was little, you’d leave me shut up in the hotel with some babysitter. When I was older you let me go sightseeing, but it was no fun doing that all alone while you were working.”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“It was exactly like that,” Kelsey insisted. “Sure, we went to all sorts of exciting cities, but you never had any fun and I was always lonely.”

Her mother looked crestfallen. “I’m sorry. I never realized you felt that way. I always thought how amazing it was that you were getting to travel to places I’d never even dreamed of when I was your age.”

Kelsey felt guilty about ruining her mom’s memories of those trips. “It wasn’t all bad,” she told her. “Room service could be pretty awesome. It certainly spoiled me for staying in your basic motel.”