Page 15 of A New Year In The Presidential Suite

When they finally stopped dancing, Lori and Griff gazed at one another.

“That wasn’t bad, was it?” Griff asked.

“No,” Lori managed to say, though never in her life had she felt this relaxed or natural in another man’s arms. Not since Nick. Jarred by the thought, Lori realized she hadn’t thought of her husband this entire evening.

Back at the table, Griff ordered a beer for himself and a lemonade for Lori. Sitting comfortably, catching their breaths, Lori let out a sigh of happiness. “Thanks. That was fun. You really do know how to dance.”

“You stepped on my toes only once,” teased Griff.

Lori laughed but couldn’t help wondering if Griff had experienced the same sense of peace as she had while they danced.

They were enjoying the party atmosphere when Griff’s cell rang. He checked it and clicked onto the call.

Lori watched his face as he listened. The happiness that had appeared most of the evening evaporated, his eyes widened, the color in his cheeks had disappeared.

“Yes,” he said. “Yes. Right away. See you soon.”

He ended the call and turned to her. “It’s my grandfather. He’s had a stroke. I’m going to try for a late flight back home. I’m sorry. I’ve got to leave right now. You stay and enjoy yourself.”

“Is he going to be okay?” Lori asked, as shocked as he.

“They don’t yet know how bad it is,” said Griff, getting to his feet. “I have your number. I’ll call when I can.”

He hurried from the room.

Lori stared at his receding figure and let out a sigh of disappointment. The evening was ruined.

CHAPTER EIGHT

GRIFF

Griff sat on the plane, relieved he was able to take a red-eye flight to San Francisco. The idea of hanging around at a party, knowing his grandfather was in the hospital, was a disturbing thought. Maybe leaving was for the best.

He liked being with Lori Hamlin, but that was a tricky situation. For one thing, it was way too soon to be with anyone after being humiliated by Cassandra. Besides, Lori had made it clear from the beginning that she wasn’t ready for a new relationship. And he wasn’t about to become involved with anyone else. He needed time to sort some things out. Besides, he and Pete had a lot of work ahead of them. Now, more than ever.

He pulled out his cell phone and thought about texting Lori, wondering what to say. After a while, he slid his phone back into his pocket and decided he’d wait until he could update her about his grandfather’s condition.

Staring out the window of the plane as it pulled away from the gate, Griff thought of all the times his grandfather had been there for him. Even on the occasion when he got drunk at a school dance and had to be picked up. There were no angry words, just talk of disappointment, which hurt more than anything else his grandfather could’ve said. But that was the kind of man he was. Not many hugs, though. Those came from Sarita. Still, he’d always known his grandfather loved him.

Thoughts of his grandfather dying made Griff’s eyes water. He hoped the strong man he knew and loved would recover. Sarita had said it was too early to tell.

CHAPTER NINE

LORI

Lori awoke and lay in bed listening to the sound of the waves hitting the shore. The cries of the birds heralded a new morning. The last few days seemed like a dream to her, like something out of a romance novel with her as the main character meeting a “handsome knight” coming to the rescue of her, a “damsel in distress”. Cinderella’s magical evening ended abruptly at midnight. Hers hadn’t even made it until then.

But the evening was more than a couple of hours with a man who’d attracted her in every sense. It was a wake-up call for her to move ahead with her life. For that, she’d always be grateful to Griffin Sawyer.

Lori climbed out of bed with new intentions to find joy in her life again. If it was with another man, fine. If not, she was fine with that, too. It had been too long since she’d had a belly laugh or danced solo in her living room. She was lucky. She had a house, a job, and enough side hustles to get by. So what if the house needed fixing and all that work was sometimes exhausting.

Smiling with new possibilities, Lori gazed out at the beach, the swimming pool, and the palm trees and knew how lucky she was. She dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, put on her sneakers, and headed out to the beach.

There, she stood by the frothy edges of the water and gazed up at the sky at the seagulls and terns swirling in white-winged circles, greeting the morning with their cries. Waves splashed next to her feet. She looked down at the tiny bubbles in the sand. Someone had told her that they indicated trapped air coming to life. She felt it only appropriate to decide to come to life, too.

She walked along the beach staring down at the tiny footprints left behind by the sandpipers and sanderlings and found a seashell. She picked it up and put it into her pocket, a reminder of her new year resolution.

“ ’Morning,” came a voice nearby.