More Than Love (NG3)

32 - More waiting

Laney woke the morning after the gallery to her mother calling her name. She rolled over and put her pillow over her head. She had been having a pleasant dream. Although she didn't remember it, she felt happy. Maybe she was happy because she kissed Reed.

"Laney. Wake up."

She woke reluctantly to her mother's voice every morning in high school. She would start sweetly coaxing her and end up yelling through the door like she was.

"Mo, let her sleep. Sky could be in labor for hours."

"What!"

Laney threw off her sheet and jumped out of bed. She flung open her door. Her mother's face was in the doorway as she exclaimed, "Sky's in labor! When?"

"Hari just called to say they were going to the hospital."

Laney yawned. "What time is it?"

"It's ten-thirty. The day's half over."

Her parents were waiting for her when she came home. She sat while they told her many times how proud they were. Maureen added, "Sasha must have been so proud."

Paul added, "Jake too."

"Sometimes I wish things were like they used to be. It's a lot of pressure to make some many people proud."

Maureen said, "Don't let your sister hear that attitude." She sounded like she wanted to end her warning with young lady. Laney felt twelve. She couldn't regret meeting her birth parents because Sasha led her to Reed. If it was fate, she would have met him at the wedding.

"Laney, don't you think so?"

"What?" Both her parents were staring at her.

Maureen said, "I was saying Sasha's husband is a nice man."

"Mom, he's not her husband. They've been divorced since I was eleven." And Reed was sixteen.

"Shame they seemed like a nice couple."

Laney's stomach clenched as she remembered she knew there was a bonus to their friendship. Reed did not know, and she couldn't tell him.

"Laney, what's wrong with you? How much champagne did you have? You drove home."

"I'm fine. Just overwhelmed. What were you saying?"

"It was nice of Jake to buy your painting. Diane wants to come see my gardens."

"So now you're best friends with my birth grandmother." She put her hands over her face. "When will this end?"

Paul rubbed her back. "Lane, everyone loves you. You should feel glad."

"I know." Maybe she was tired. "I'll call Jake tomorrow and thank him."

"You know, his mother is only a few years older than me."

Paul said, "Sasha's step son seems like a nice young man."

It was the opening she needed. "He asked me to dinner."

Maureen said, "A date?" Laney nodded. "He's your stepbrother."

"No, he's not. I told you his father hasn't been married to Sasha for fourteen years. Besides, steps are not blood."

Paul asked, "Do you like him?"

She looked her father in the eye. "I do. A lot. I met him in Maine, but he didn't know who I was. Now he knows and I want to get to know him better."

"See something good. Make sure he respects you."

"I will."

Her mother would freak out if she knew Sky slept with Hari on their first date. They weren't strangers, but her mother was probably a virgin on her wedding night. Gross. Why did her mind go there?