Anchored: A Lake Series Novella Read Free Page A

ounces, and Claire was five
pounds, four ounces. Good sizes for twins born at thirty-six weeks,
but still so small.
    “Mostly,
but I’ve started pulling out a few three to six months. They
seem to swim in them, but they’ll get there. Thank you, again.”
I pack the gifts back into one bag and put all the folded tissue in
the other and set them next to me on the floor. When I sit up there
is a small square box sitting on the table before me. Mom and Eliana
are wearing face-splitting grins. I cock a suspicious eye up and
immediately refuse the gift.
    “The
girls do not need jewelry, too! I know you love them, but really,
moms, I have to draw the line somewhere.” I say it as sugary
sweet as I can. I don’t want to hurt their feelings but there
has to be a limit. I figured I should set it now while the girls have
no clue. If I wait until they’re aware, Will and I will be in
big trouble.
    “It’s
not for the girls. It’s for you.” Mom smiles that sweet,
Claire smile of hers, making me want to cry even before I see what it
is.
    I
pull the small, velvet jewelry box out of the slightly larger box it
is nestled in and creak the top open. With my free hand I cover my
mouth in shock while tears fill my eyes and overflow.
    “Oh,
mom,” I breathe out only slightly above a whisper. Cushioned
inside the box is a necklace almost identical to the one I gave
Claire our first Christmas together. Strung neatly on the silver
chain are four beads, each representing my own little family by our
birthstones: topaz for Natalie & Claire, alexandrite for me, and
tanzanite for Will.
    I
want to speak, but my heart is in my throat and I can’t seem to
catch my breath. I am completely and utterly overwhelmed.
    “I
… this is,” I begin but the words get tangled up in my
effort to keep from bawling right there in the middle of the
restaurant. So I stand and round the table where Claire stands to
meet me. My arms wrap around her like a vice. I bury my face into her
neck and let out a few sobs of pure joy before composing myself
enough to speak.
    “I
love it, Mom. Thank you so much.”
    “Now
you have an idea of what I felt that Christmas morning.” She
moves her collar and reveals the necklace I gave her all those years
ago now. Luke has added more beads over the years, but centered among
all of them are the birthstone charms I started the piece with.
    Eliana
wipes the tears that have fallen from her eyes as she smiles at us
brightly.
    “There
was a time my tears would have been from a place of sadness for
thinking I would go the rest of my life without having what your
family has, Claire. Who would have thought I would get to be a part
of it one day? Now my tears are from utter joy,” Eliana says
before she hugs us.
    The
three of us stand there in a group hug and I can’t help but
giggle at how silly we must look to the restaurant patrons. It makes
me so happy to see how far Eliana has come since I met her. Her
relationship with Wes has been wonderful for her personal growth.
She’s strong now and readily expresses her feelings …
all of them!
    We
take our places at the table just in time as Stacey approaches with
our lunches. And before I can ask, Stacey takes my empty glass and
tells me she’ll return with a new drink in a minute.
    “So,
Layla, you said you had something you wanted to talk to us about. Is
everything okay?” Mom asks before she takes the first bite of
her salad.
    I
look at both her and Eliana and twist my mouth to the side,
considering where to start. It was just a few days ago when Rachel
Meadows came to see me. I had no idea who she was from her name
alone. But when she told me Michael Meadows, Will’s brother,
was her husband, my heart raced.
    The
last—and only—time we saw Michael, he made it abundantly
clear that he was not interested in developing a relationship with
Will. He said his piece and walked out of our lives. We had heard
from his mother Victoria that he got married, but it was really