Lucas was tired of the whole thing. Right now he wanted to blurt out that his parents didn’t have a problem, that he’d married her because he loved her. But that would only scare her away.

He swallowed. “I’m not sure what’s wrong between them. They just fuss a lot.”

“You said your mom left for a while. Did they have a fight?”

This was going to be harder than he thought. “I don’t know. I really don’t know what the problem is. That’s why I need your help.”

Her fingers intertwined with his, and he felt the wedding band.

“Don’t you feel you can talk openly with your parents?”

He cringed. He was getting himself in deeper and deeper. “I’m not a talker—you know that much about me.” The seagulls cried out, and another wave hit the shore. “Not good with words, and don’t think they’d want me interfering anyway.”

He needed to make sure Kate was subtle with his mom. Otherwise Kate would find out it was all a ruse. “You’ll need to get to know my mom before expecting her to open up.” Good luck with that. He couldn’t imagine anyone his mom would be less likely open up to.

An instant later panic struck. What if his mom confronted Kate about her mom? No. As soon as the panic hit, it evaporated. His mom didn’t confront people. She killed silently with subtle digs and innuendos, God love her.

“That goes without saying.”

“And leave Jamie and Brody out of it. I don’t want them stressing about our parents.” Or setting Kate straight about their fussing.

“If they live with your parents, they know what’s going on. Even young children pick up on conflict. It affects them more deeply than you realize.”

Her voice held a tone of sadness. He looked at her, but she turned onto her back, withdrawing her hand, and closed her own eyes. Lucas had a feeling there was a load of hurt backing up that statement, and he wondered if Kate would ever trust him enough to share it.

Lucas took Kate’s hand as they climbed the steps of the White Elephant. The week had passed quickly. It was hard to believe tomorrow it would be over. His Spontaneity Day with Kate had proved to be a challenge. She seemed unacquainted with the idea of letting things happen and had spent most of the day trying to figure out what they were doing next.

Now, she looked tired and sun-drained, her cheeks reddened from their walk through ’Sconset. Maybe he’d order room service so she wouldn’t have to go back out for dinner.

They entered the lobby floor and passed the registration desk. Kate stopped suddenly by a woman at the desk, withdrawing her hand from his.