Page 42 of Patio Lanterns (The Blue Canoe Cottage #1)

Robin

Now redressed, Robin sat opposite Lark at Rick’s kitchen table. Aidan was seated to Lark’s right, placing him directly across from Rick. Either the four of them were about to square off or play a really fucked-up game of Bridge.

Lark pointed at Robin but directed her anger at Rick. “You do know how old she is, don’t you?”

“Yes, I’m fully aware that she’s twenty-eight,” Rick said. “She’s also a grown woman.”

“Who is capable of making her own choices, by the way,” Robin chimed in.

Lark scowled, and a deep crease formed between her eyebrows. Someday, she’d regret getting so worked up, probably while on the business end of a dermatologist’s needle. “Clearly, you’re not because then you’d know what a colossal mistake you’re making.”

Robin searched Lark’s eyes. “Look, I get it. On paper, it might not make sense, but it does to us.”

“It’s not like we went looking for it. It found us,” Rick told her. “And now, here we are.”

“Here we are? This is not a map on a mall directory.” Lark boiled. “Your decisions led you here.”

“And I don’t regret any of them except one,” he said. “I’m sorry, Aidan. I wish I’d told you everything earlier. Believe me, I wanted to.”

Aidan didn’t speak, so Lark piped up. “There’s got to be at least thirty years difference between you two,” Lark said.

“Twenty-six, actually, but who’s counting?” Robin snarked.

“What could you possibly have in common?”

Aidan held up his hands and crudely fucked his fist with his finger. “I think I have some idea.”

“Thank God Mom and Dad are not here to see this,” Lark said. “I do not want to even think about what they would say.”

“Maybe they would’ve been happy for me,” Robin said.

“Happy?” shrilled Lark. “Why in the world would they be happy about their daughter hooking up with a… a… perv.”

“You take that back!” Robin yelped. “Rick’s been nothing but a gentleman in every way.”

Lark shook her head. “This is so like you, Robin. Stupid, reckless, and impulsive. When are you going to grow up?”

And there it was. Robin picked up her glass of whiskey and took a drink.

“Actually, staring into the sun trying to blind myself so that Mom and Dad would buy me a guide dog was stupid. Climbing the tree in front of Aidan’s cottage in the middle of the night was reckless.

Shaving my head at seventeen was impulsive.

But this,” Robin said, smiling at Rick as she gripped his hand, “this might be one of the most sensible, level-headed things I’ve ever done in my life. ”

“Same here.” Rick smiled back at her.

Lark scowled at Rick. “I barely know you, but I expected that a man of your so-called stature would have enough scruples and common decency not to seduce a girl half your age with obvious daddy issues.”

“Wrong on both accounts, sis. I don’t have daddy issues. And I was the one who seduced Rick.” Robin laughed, pointing at the door leading to the backyard. “Right over there, in fact.”

“Ugh!” Lark grimaced. “I didn’t need you to paint that picture for me.”

Aidan pouted. “Trust me, the picture’s much worse when it’s of your own father smashing.”

Rick slammed his hand down. “How about no one pictures anyone at this table smashing,” he commanded. “All you need to know is that I’m crazy about this woman. Our connection is brand new, but we want to be able to explore it further.”

“Do you realize it’s virtually impossible for a couple with a significant age difference to make a relationship last a year, let alone five, or ten, or more?” Lark asked.

“Oh yeah?” Robin challenged. “Well then, explain George and Amal. Or… or… Celine Dion and her husband. They had a twenty-six-year age gap and stayed together for decades.”

“That’s your research?” Lark cringed. “ Entertainment Tonight ?”

“Mine’s just as factually-based as yours,” Robin slammed. “Hearts don’t follow logic. They don’t reason or rationalize. They just feel. So, like it or not, Rick and I are going to keep seeing each other. We don’t need your approval.”

“Mark my word, Robin, you’re going to regret this,” Lark said.

“Maybe not tonight or next week. Maybe not even next year. But there will come a day, maybe in the not too distant future when you’re making Viagra smoothies for this drooling invalid, that you will come to realize what a colossal mistake you’ve made. ”

“Uh, excuse me,” Rick interrupted. “But I do try to take good care of myself.”

“I’d rather experience everything that life has to offer and make a few mistakes along the way than be too afraid to make them at all,” Robin spat.

Lark’s dark eyes narrowed. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means back off and let me live my life,” Robin told her. “I’m done with you bossing me around.”

“Wait a minute.” Aidan fidgeted in his seat. “If you two end up getting married and having a kid, is that gonna cut into my inheritance?”

“Relax,” Rick told him. “I think you might be getting ahead of yourself.”

Lark’s head whipped around. “Is that what this is all about, Robin? You being pissed at me for putting your inheritance in a trust? Because if you really need money that badly, I’ll write a cheque right now. Hell, I’ll gladly give you my share of equity in the cottage…”

“If you think I’m only with Rick for his money, then I’ve got two words for you.” Robin glowered. “Fuck… you.”

Rick leaned on the table. “Say whatever you want about me, Lark, but I’ve had more than my fill of you belittling Robin,” he told her.

“Not only does she have a strong sense of who she is and what she stands for, but she’s one of the most extraordinarily clever, thoughtful, and loving people I’ve ever met.

She more than proved that tonight in front of this entire community.

I will absolutely not tolerate her being disrespected in my home. ”

Robin squeezed his forearm. That’s my man.

“And Aidan, the same goes for you,” he continued.

“I know this came out of left field, and it’s going to take some time to accept, but like it or not, Robin is important to me.

And so are you. It’s possible for those two things to co-exist peacefully in my life, and I hope that somehow we’ll get to the point where they will. ”

Aidan picked up his glass of whiskey, chugging until it was bone dry.

“Aidan,” Robin said. “Believe me when I say Rick really struggled with this. He was torn up about what this might do to your relationship, and frankly, so was I. But please, don’t shut him out now. Not when he’s finally in a place where he could be happy again.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know, Robbie.”

“I know you understand how hard it is to hide your true feelings from someone so you don’t cause them any more pain,” she said, making a point to throw a glance in Lark’s direction. “So maybe cut your dad a little slack, hmm?”

Aidan stared at Robin. Check and mate.

She then pushed her chair back and stood up.

“I think it’s time the four of us returned to the party.

And when we get back, you better believe I’m going to hold this man’s hand and dance with him, and I don’t care who stares and whispers.

Because tonight is supposed to be all about celebrating, and that’s what I intend to do. ”

Lark had not uttered a word since Rick shut her down. She got up from the table in silence and left with Aidan at her heels.

Rick and Robin trailed far behind, leisurely strolling to the Blue Canoe Cottage hand in hand. “Well,” she finally said, “that actually went a lot better than I expected.”

“You’ve never been sexier than when you stood up to your sister back there,” he growled. “I love it when you get that fire in your eyes. It gets me so hard.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Keep talking like that and we’re going to end up fucking up against a sycamore tree before we get there.”

“A sycamore, hmm? I’ve definitely got to add that to the list.”

“What list?” she asked.

“Of all the things I want to do with you someday. Ride a gondola in Venice. Scuba dive in Fiji. And maybe, just maybe, we can somehow manage to fit in a dinner date at the Firefly Inn.”

“Ah yes.” She smiled dreamily as she pictured living a fantasy life with this man. “Going on a date does seem like a reasonable place to start, now that we’re official.”

“We are?” Rick laughed. “Forgive me, but I don’t think we’re technically official until we actually make it official.”

“Oh? I wasn’t aware of that. And how would one go about making it official?”

“Well, I suppose I’d have to ask you, officially, to be my girlfriend.”

“Your girlfriend?” she smiled. “I mean, you know I’m really not into labels, right?”

“Right,” he said glumly. “I knew that.”

The distant din of the party got increasingly louder as they approached, drowning out the rhythm of their footsteps on the gravel.

The gathering at the Blue Canoe was still going strong.

The air was filled with laughter and happy chatter, as music played and smoke from a campfire wafted.

People still milled about, and conversations spilled into every corner of the yard and down to the dock.

Before they entered the fray, Rick stopped short at the end of the driveway. He turned to Robin, taking both of her hands in his. His soft, almost boyish expression was so open and full of tenderness, his eyes a window to all of the love he had to give.

“I understand that you’re not into labels, but you see, the thing is, I really like you a lot, and I’m serious about wanting to make this thing work,” he said.

“So, at the risk of sounding corny and maybe even a little old fashioned… Robin Pelletier, would you do me the honour of officially becoming my girlfriend?”

She sighed in relief. “Oh God, Rick, I thought you’d never ask. Yes, of course I will.”

He leaned in, and they sealed it with a kiss. Official indeed. Robin was one smitten kitten, her heart convinced that they’d find a way to make this feeling last a long, long time.