Love Believes (Sully Point, Book 5) by Nicole Smith Page B

mother died. Anna always said that Holly would mother anyone given half
the chance. Looks like the time had come.
    * * * *
    "I'm interrupting your lunch. Should I come
back later?" William asked.
    "No, I was almost done," Beth said.
"It's chicken soup with dumplings that Julia brought in for me. Cody made
it, and it's delicious. There's more, if you'd like some."
    "Thanks," he said with a smile. "I
came in here because I smelled it and I'm starving. Plus, I wanted to
see..."
    "See what?" she asked as she fixed him a
large mug full of the soup.
    "I wanted to see how you were doing. You've
been so busy this morning, I haven't seen you at all."
    "I'm good. Seriously. I can tell I'm going to
get tired of telling people that long before they stop asking me how I'm doing.
Why don't you tell me about your morning while we eat?"
    He began talking and she watched his face. It was
relaxing, hearing his expressive voice filling the room as he described trying to
handle Milton's extreme ideas. She noticed that his gray-blue eyes changed
color depending on his mood. When he was irritated or angry they were a more
steely gray, but when he was amused or relaxed they were bluer. Seeing him
sitting there, all dressed in black as usual, but this day in a black
turtleneck sweater filled out nicely by his chest and broad shoulders, she
thought he was the most fascinating man she'd ever met.
    "Did you ever act?" she asked, as he
finished telling a story.
    "Early on, yes. I prefer directing."         
    "Because you get to boss everyone
around," she said with a grin.
    "Er, yes," he said and smiled back at
her. "I like having a vision of what the play can be, and then working to
implement that idea. The whole thing becomes a work of art, a painting but in
words and action, creating emotions and thoughts in the viewers. To stir an
audience is a great feeling."
    "I know what you mean. I can't wait to get up
on that stage again. The interaction with an audience is what I loved before,
as opposed to film work."
    "Why did you go to L.A. then?"
    "A moment of defiance. A desire to move
across the country and be out from under the eye of family. I mean, they're
great. But I felt like I needed to grow up, do something completely on my own.
I thought I'd go out there and dazzle the Hollywood crowd with my talent. It
clearly didn't turn out like I expected."
    "Life can throw us some unexpected
curves."
    They sat silently after that and ate their soup.
Beth once again felt surprise at how comfortable she was with him. There was no
need to fill the silence with words.
    * * * *
    Sam and Anna sat at the table in the kitchen nook
and ate bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches. Joshua had already demolished
his banana and the spaghetti with mini meatballs. Sam saw his son taking aim
with another meatball to throw across the table and quickly removed it from the
sticky little hands.
    "Not so fast, son. No need to practice your
pitching skills at meals. Anna, I think he put that banana everywhere but in
his mouth."
    "I'll give him a bath after we finish lunch.
I'm so excited about the adoption news. Holly must be thrilled."
    "Your father wants you to make a dessert for
the dinner."
    "I will. I wonder if your parents will be
here by then."
    Sam looked sharply at Anna. "You didn't tell
them..."
    "About Beth? Of course I did! Why not tell
them? They called to say 'hi' to Josh and wanted to know how everyone was
doing. How could I not tell them?"
    "And now they're coming? Beth is not going to
be happy."
    Anna frowned. "I'd think she'd want her
parents around after something like this."
    "If I know Beth, she's going to be trying to
get everything back to normal. Having her overprotective parents show up is
going to make that more difficult. How did they sound?"
    Anna tilted her head to one side, auburn hair
sliding across one shoulder. "Well...they did sound a bit upset now that
you mention it. And they immediately said they were coming to visit...and your
mother