She'd had an awesome day.
Damn.
Every minute had been exactly as she would have wanted—if Gray had brought her to his parents' home a year ago as a precursor to a proposal.
Instead he'd brought her to say goodbye.
Irritability swept away her contentment. Maybe she could bang around some dirty pots in the kitchen. Lori turned to Angela seated at a rattan table with a glass of milk. "I feel guilty sitting out here while they're doing the dishes."
"Fair's fair. We cooked. They clean. They're probably almost done, anyway. Just enjoy holding Magda. They grow up too fast." Angela sipped, bracelet jingling as replaced the glass. "Thank you for coming today."
"Thank you for including us."
"That's not quite what I meant, dear."
"I know."
Footsteps hammered on the overhead deck as the men and children thundered down the wooden plank steps, fanning out onto the yard. Gray tossed a football underhanded to his brother as they divided into teams along the shore.
Magda squirmed in Lori's lap. "Doc!" she squealed and pointed. "Doc!"
Gray turned, smiled and gestured for Magda to join them. "Send her on out. I'll watch her."
Lori eased Magda to the ground and walked her across the porch, the sticky hand so dear clutching hers. Lori nodded, pushing the door open. "Go ahead, sweetie."
Magda bolted forward, arms pumping, her strawberry jumper a blur as she sprinted toward Gray. "Doc!"
"Hey, Miss Magpie. Come be on my team." He tied a bandanna around Magda's head and dubbed her his copilot. Game calls, teasing shouts and laughter drifted through the screens.
Lori sank back to the swing, wrapping her arms around her waist, her lap too empty. "It's so idyllic here."
"I'm a lucky woman."
"Yes, you are."
Angela nudged her milk away and fished a roll of antacid tablets from her pocket. Absently she thumbed one free and popped it in her mouth. "But it wasn't all luck. I've worked hard."
Ah, finally the other shoe drops. She'd wondered when Angela would weave in her bid for a new daughter-in-law. "Of course you have. Relationships are work."
More than even she could tackle. She'd worked like crazy to earn Gray's love a year ago, just as she'd worked to gain her parents' attention, and it still hadn't changed a thing. Of course she knew him better now. Should she have worked harder to understand him then rather than simply judging?
Angela rolled the pack of tablets between her fingers as she stared out over her family. "There were times I wasn't sure we could hold it all together, but we did. I'm very proud of that."
Gray launched into the air, catching the football. Ball tucked to his chest, he snagged Magda under the other arm. He ran, the little girl squealing as her bandanna-covered head bobbed with each jostling step. His powerful legs pumped, those khaki shorts leaving too much muscled thigh in view for any normal woman to ignore. Lori's emotions were anything but normal around Gray.
Draining another swallow of milk, Angela waved to her older son as he sprinted past. Her hand fell to her lap. "I'm going to miss having him close."
Me, too. They'd been apart for a year, yet she'd taken a strange comfort in knowing she might run into him, could drop in if the crazy notion took hold. Which it had. She'd almost caved more than once.
Angela stuffed the antacid roll in her pocket. "You do know you've gotten closer to Grayson than anyone else ever has. Probably closer than he's let even his own family get."
Lori fidgeted on the suddenly uncomfortable wooden swing. "I'm not sure we should be—"
"Why not?" Gray's mother raised her hands and leaned back. "I realize we don't know each other well, but time's running out. Consider it one last desperate measure from a concerned mama."
While Lori wanted to be resentful of the intrusion, she understood motherly concerns better every day. Parenting brought a host of worries with all those blessings, and she wouldn't trade a moment of it. She'd just never expected to tackle it alone.
An ache lodged firmly in her stomach, and she eyed the glass of milk with longing. "How did you do it, Angela?"