Free Hoping for Love by Marie Force Page B

all.
    “No time like the present,” she said as she shouldered two of the lighter bags and headed for the front porch. She dug the key Owen had given her out of her back pocket and inserted it into the rusty lock. When she twisted it, nothing happened.
    “Great.”
    Dropping her bags onto the porch, she used both hands to try to turn the key, but it didn’t budge. Why was it that Owen’s key worked fine, but hers didn’t? Was this a bad omen? How was she supposed to renovate and manage the place if she couldn’t even get in?
    “Come on,” she whispered, starting to sweat as she gave it one more try.
    “Princess! You’re back!”
    Laura spun around to find Owen Lawry loping up the stairs with a big goofy grin on his adorable face. “I thought you’d forgotten about us.”
    In the moment their eyes met, Laura realized she was in big trouble. She was far,
far
too happy to see him. And in light of her current predicament, she had absolutely no business being happy to see any man, let alone one who’d made it perfectly clear he was a vagabond and a troubadour with no interest in permanence of any kind. While his footloose and fancy-free approach to life was exactly what she
didn’t
need at the moment, his lightheartedness was everything she needed.
    “How bad was it?” he asked, his gray eyes taking a long, measuring look at her.
    “Pretty bad.”
    He closed the distance between them and enveloped her in a tight hug that calmed the turbulence inside her.
    “What happened?”
    Overwhelmed by his nearness as well as the clean, fresh scent of him, it was all she could do to breathe let alone speak as she put her arms around him and returned the hug. “Well, between returning the wedding gifts, filing for divorce, moving out of my apartment and breaking the news to my dad that not only is my three-month marriage a bust but I’m pregnant, too, it was a rather uneventful ten days.”
    He chuckled softly. “I know it’s not funny, but when you put it like that…”
    “What else can you do but laugh?”
    “You can get busy moving forward.”
    Laura could’ve spent all day wrapped up in his sweet comfort, but since it was time to stand on her own two feet, she drew back from him. “Success is the best revenge, right?”
    “That’s what I’ve heard.”
    “Then in that case, I’m in a world of trouble, because I can’t even get the key to work.”
    “Let me help.” He stepped around her, gave the key a wiggle and a twist, and the door swung open. “Madame, your kingdom awaits.”
    “Wait! How did you do that?”
    “It’s all in the wrist,” he said with a wink.
    Offering a sweeping wave of his arm, he welcomed her into the hotel his grandparents had owned and operated for fifty years, the same hotel that had beckoned to Laura since she was a grief-stricken little girl visiting her Uncle Mac and Aunt Linda in the wake of her mother’s death.
    As she crossed the threshold, tears filled her eyes. Remembering the raw pain of that first summer without her mom reminded her of how much this island had meant to her then. It had soothed and healed her. Maybe it would again. She could only hope.
    “Princess? Are you okay?”
    She took a deep breath, summoning the fortitude to continue putting one foot in front of the other. What choice did she have? “Not yet, but I will be.”
     
    Late on Saturday afternoon, Evan strolled on the beach with Grant and Owen while Grace, Stephanie and Laura reclined in chairs, chattering like three long-lost best friends.
    “The girls sure did hit it off,” Grant said.
    “Seriously,” Owen said.
    “I’m glad to see Stephanie relaxing a bit and making some friends,” Grant said. “She’s been so alone for such a long time.”
    Evan nudged his older brother. “You’ve got a bad case for her, bro.”
    “So it seems.” Grant turned his formidable blue-eyed gaze on Evan. “I could say the same for you.” To Owen, Grant said, “Do you think he realizes he’s barely