On Sunset Beach

Chapter 15

“WELL, now I know how Cleopatra felt, riding on one of those litters, being carried by handsome young men.” Grace forced a smile as the two EMTs lifted her and carried her from the bottom of the steps to the top of the staircase, where Dan and Lucy waited with a wheelchair. “Without the canopy, of course.”

After she’d been deposited into the chair and the footrests adjusted to accommodate her broken leg, Grace wrinkled her nose and frowned. “A wheelchair. I never thought I’d see the day when I’d be forced into using one of these.”

“It’s only temporary, Mom.” Ford came up the steps carrying some of his mother’s belongings that they’d gathered from her hospital room. “Where do you want your stack of get-well cards?”

“It depends on where you’re going to hole me up, doesn’t it?” she grumbled as Lucy began to wheel her down the hall to the family’s living quarters.

“Thanks, guys.” Ford saluted the EMTs before following the chair.

“Good luck,” one of the guys tossed over his shoulder as he headed for the lobby.

“No kidding,” Ford muttered under his breath.

“You got this?” Dan asked.

“Oh, sure.” Ford continued down the hallway. “You’ve got work to do. Go do it.”

“Thanks. Let me know if Mom needs anything.” Dan turned and went down the steps.

“Mom,” Ford called when he reached the open door of the family suite.

“In here,” Lucy returned the call.

Ford went into the living room and found his mother staring out the window.

“I’m trapped,” she told him. “Trapped in an aging body and a cast that weighs more than the rest of me.”

“Mom, it’s only—” he began.

She cut him off. “Temporary. Thank you. You don’t need to keep telling me that. But how would you feel if you were stuck someplace and couldn’t go where you wanted to go, or do what you wanted to do?” She glowered at him.

He could have replied that he was starting to feel a bit of that himself, stuck in St. Dennis, playing Jimmy Olsen when he’d rather be out on the Bay, but he knew better than to even hint at the comparison.

“I understand, Mom, but right now it can’t be helped. So we do what we have to do to get past this, right?” He could have been talking to himself. “Isn’t that what you always told us?”

Grace sighed deeply. “I’m sorry to take it out on you. I’m just so frustrated. I’ve never had a broken bone, never been dependent on anyone to do a damned thing for me, and yet, here I sit. Even need someone to get my tea for me.”

“I know it’s tough on you. I do understand.” He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. “But we’re all here to help you, and none of us mind fetching your tea.”

“Am I going to be stuck up here on the second floor until this cast is off?” Tears welled in her eyes.

“You want to go downstairs, outside, to Cuppachino for coffee in the morning, you let me know. I’ll make sure you get to wherever you want to be, Mom.”

“You’re a good boy, Ford.” She reached out to take his hand. “There are no words to tell you how happy I am that you are here right now.”

“I’m happy to be here,” he said, surprising himself when he realized how much he meant it.

“Here’s your tea, Mom.” Lucy came into the room carrying a tray with a carafe, a cup, and a plate piled high with scones and croissants. “Franca baked these this morning. She thought you might want a snack.”

Lucy set the tray on a small side table on the left side of the wheelchair, within reach of her mother’s good hand.

“Oh, for the love of Pete,” Grace muttered. “Who does she think is going to eat all of that?”

“I’m sure she was thinking you’d be sharing with your son. Your favorite son.” Ford reached for a scone. “Oh, boy. Chocolate.”

“You’re just like you were when you were a kid.” Grace smiled for the first time that morning.

Ford pulled over a side chair and straddled it.

“Careful,” Grace warned. “That chair’s an antique. Queen Anne. Been in—”

“—the family for years. Same as it was when I was a kid.” He grinned at her, took a bite of the scone, and she laughed.

“I may have to marry Franca,” he said before taking another bite. “We should keep her in the family.”

“Every family should have a great pastry chef,” Lucy agreed. “However, Franca’s already married.”

“A technicality.” He finished the scone and reached for one of the napkins on the tray.

“You got crumbs on the floor,” Lucy pointed out.

“We have housekeeping service here, right?” he asked, only half kidding.

Under his mother’s glare, he got up and picked up the crumbs and dumped them into a nearby trash can.

“Mom, can I get you anything else?” Lucy asked.

“No, dear. Now go on to your meeting or you’ll be late. Not the best first impression for a potential client.”

Lucy started for the door. “If you’re sure …”

“Luce, I’m here. I can handle it,” Ford reminded her. After his sister closed the door behind her, he asked Grace, “Want to read my latest article for the Gazette?”

“You have next week’s article finished already?” Grace set her cup down on the wheelchair’s tray, the crumbs already forgotten.

“I do. Complete with photos.”

“Yes, of course I want to see it.”

“It’s in my room.” He got up and headed for the door. “Back in a minute.”

It actually took him seven, but he’d have thought it was an hour judging by his mother’s impatience.

“What took you so long?” She held out her left hand and he gave her the pages he’d printed out.

He started to say something, but she shushed him. She’d already started to read.

When she finished, she looked up over the frame of her glasses.

“This is a better first draft than the last one.”

“First draft?” Ford frowned. “That’s, like, the twentieth draft.”

“Then permit me to help you out with number twenty-one.”

He might have been more annoyed than he was if not for the fact he could tell, for at least that little slice of time, his mother seemed to forget she was in a wheelchair and had no use of her right hand.

“I can’t write a thing with my left hand, so you’re going to have to make the revisions as I read them to you. Now scoot that chair closer so you can see.” She swung the wheelchair tray to the left so he could lean on it to write.

For the next hour, Grace revised and Ford wrote. At first, it was an exercise to be tolerated, but before long, he found himself asking, “Why write it that way?” and “Why’d you take out that part?” and “Why’d you change that word?” and “Why’d you move this photo to this spot?”

“Why, why, why,” Grace said at one point. “You didn’t ask this many ‘whys’ as a three-year-old.”

But he could tell she was pleased by his interest, so he sat with her until they’d completed the piece.

“Well, that’s quite a repair job, Mom.”

“I hope you’re not insulted, dear.”

“Not really. I guess this is the sort of stuff I should know if I’m going to be doing this for another week or so.” It was on the tip of his tongue to ask how much longer she thought she might be laid up, but he knew better than to ask. She’d assume—correctly—that he was wanting out of the assignment.

Then again, with his reporting duties no longer necessary, he’d lose his excuse to spend time with Carly.

He wasn’t quite ready to examine that thought too closely.

“I’ll call Lucy back upstairs so she can sit with you while I go down to the office and type this up.” Ford stood and returned the chair to its place next to the table under the window.

“No need, dear. I think I’ll take a catnap.” She closed her eyes and rested her head.

“I don’t think you should sleep in the chair,” he told her. “What if you fall out? I think you should sleep on your own bed.”

“And I think you should mind your own business,” she replied, but he could tell by the way the corners of her mouth turned up slightly that she wasn’t offended. “I’ll be fine. Don’t bother Lucy. She has work to do. And so,” she added without opening her eyes, “do you.”

He stood in the doorway. “Do you want me to—”

“The only thing I want you to do is rewrite that article.”

“Right.”

Ford closed the door behind him softly and went one flight down to his mother’s office. He turned on the laptop, pulled up the file, and began to make the changes Grace had suggested.

Suggested, he mused. Probably not the right word for the way his mother had sliced and diced through his article.

By the time he finished and read the article over one last time, he had to admit that it was, in fact, better than it had been originally. He made a mental note of the changes Grace had made and her reasons for doing so, so he’d remember next time. It was late afternoon by the time he finished, and he debated whether to call Carly and drop off a copy right then, when he knew she’d be at the carriage house, or to wait for a few hours so he could stop by the place she rented on Hudson Street.

Hudson Street, definitely.

That would give him time to spend an hour or so on the Bay, something he hadn’t done in several days, and he was itching for not only the solitude but the exercise. He turned off the laptop, left the article on the desk, and headed out to the boathouse.

Carly arrived home to find boxes stacked on her side porch from the door clear down to the driveway. It took her twenty minutes to get it all inside, then another thirty to unpack everything, and yet another to wash and dry the dishes, flatware, pots, pans, and kitchen utensils. She washed the inside of the cupboards and the utility drawers, wishing the air-conditioning repairs had been completed, but once she’d found places for everything, she felt her life taking a turn toward normalcy. Normal, to Carly, who’d lived alone for so long, wasn’t bunking in someone else’s guest room indefinitely, even if that someone was your BFF.

She’d just finished drying the flatware when she heard her phone ringing from somewhere under a pile of cardboard wrapping.

“Hello,” she said once she’d found it.

“Hey, Carly. It’s Ford. I have that article finished and I thought I’d drop it off for you to take a quick look before I send it to the printer.”

“Ah …” Carly hesitated, looking down at her ripped cutoffs and faded T-shirt.

“Listen, since it’s just about dinnertime, if you don’t have other plans, I could pick up something on the way over. They’re telling me here at the inn that Dominic’s makes a killer pizza.”

“That sounds great. I love pizza.” She pulled the elastic from her hair and shook it out, wondering if there’d be time for her to grab a really quick shower. Even her hair felt dusty. “But I have to warn you. The house is a mess. I’m a mess …”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you in about twenty minutes or so.”

“Right. Twenty minutes …”

She wasted no time heading for her room, pulling the sweaty tee off as she all but jogged down the short hall. Twenty minutes wasn’t much time, but she could at least get the sweat off. She popped into the bathroom and turned on the shower, then went into her bedroom and shed the rest of her clothes, mentally counting down the minutes.

Exactly twenty-seven minutes later, the doorbell rang. She’d had time to trade her grubby tee for a clean tank and her cutoffs for a pair of cute khaki shorts. There was no time for makeup—not even mascara—but that couldn’t be helped. At least she wasn’t a disgusting sweaty mess. She’d have to be satisfied with that. She pulled her damp hair into a high ponytail and opened the front door.

“Hi.” She stood back to let him enter, pizza box in one hand, a file folder in the other, and a brown paper bag under one arm.

He held up the box. “I hope pepperoni is okay.”

“My favorite.” She smiled and closed the door behind him.

“Mine too. Where …” He looked around.

“Come on into the kitchen.”

He followed her through the living room and the dining room, where the table was already piled high with Carly’s papers.

“Home office?” he asked as they passed by.

“Yes. It’s a great space where I can spread out to work.”

“What are you working on?” He held the box while she cleared the kitchen table of paper wrappings and empty boxes.

“The book on Carolina Ellis. I’m giving it one last look over before I email the second half on to my editor. She’s already worked over the first half.” She made a mental note to send it to her mother as well, and to send the complete work to Dallas. She gestured for Ford to set the box down and took two plates from the cupboard where she’d placed them only an hour earlier.

He held up the bag. “Bottled water, or wine?”

“I think water, thank you.”

He opened the refrigerator door to put the wine inside, then whistled.

“Whoa, Mother Hubbard. That’s some empty cupboard.”

Carly laughed. “Hey, I just moved in. Give me a few days to load it up.”

“Well, at least you have the staples. Apples and a bottle of wine.” That sexy mouth curved into a smile and Carly felt the temperature in the room rise about ten degrees.

“Do you think it’s cooler outside? The air-conditioning guy doesn’t come until tomorrow.”

“I think it’s probably about the same as in here but with mosquitoes … and those green-headed flies are swarming today.”

“What?” She frowned. “Why?”

“Why are they swarming?” Ford shrugged. “Just that time of year, I guess. And there’s a land breeze, so they’re coming this way from the marshes.”

“So we’ll eat in here. Have a seat.” She unscrewed the lid of one of the water bottles he’d set on the table and took a long cool drink. “Thanks for thinking to pick up water. Wine with pizza is generally an unbeatable combination, but in this heat …”

“Water. Right.”

She grabbed some paper napkins from the counter and took the other chair. “The pizza smells wonderful.”

He opened the lid and turned the box in her direction. She lifted out a piece and immediately took a bite. “Oh my God, whoever told you this was good was not lying.”

“Best I’ve had in a long time. There wasn’t pizza like this where I’ve been.”

Before she took another bite, she asked, “You know, that’s at least the second time you referred to having been ‘someplace.’ Where were you?” She smiled. “Or is that a state secret?”

He chewed slowly, as if deciding how to answer. Finally, he said, “I think I mentioned that I’d been in Africa.”

Carly nodded. “Right. You did. So the question should have been, why were you there and what were you really doing?”

“I was part of group that was sent there to back up the Peacekeepers, who are, for the most part, under-armed at best, totally unarmed at worst.”

“So was it part of your military service?”

“Yes.”

“And are you out of the service now?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t like talking about it, do you?”

“Not so much. It was a job, and that job is done.”

“Would you go back?”

He hesitated longer than she’d expected. “I guess it would depend on the circumstances.”

“What were the circumstances that sent you there in the first place?”

He set the pizza on the plate, his expression dark, his voice weary and grave, his words direct. “People were being slaughtered in their homes, villages being burned to the ground. Little boys were being kidnapped and made into soldiers. Little girls were being forced into prostitution.” He shrugged. “There are places in this world that are very ugly right now, where ugly things happen to very good, beautiful people. Even to the people who go in to try to help …”

A sadness washed over his face momentarily. Something in his expression made Carly feel like crying, and she didn’t know why.

“Anyway, you do the best you can to keep the killing at a minimum. Or at the very least, to keep the bad guys aiming only at each other.”

“That was the short version, wasn’t it.”

“More or less.”

Mostly less, she thought, but she let it go. They ate in silence for a few moments before he looked at the stack of cardboard boxes and asked, “What are all those boxes from?”

“The stuff I ordered online. Everything came today and had to be unpacked and washed and put away. That’s what I was doing when you called.”

He looked her over. “You don’t look so sweaty to me.”

“I jumped in the shower the second I got off the phone,” she admitted.

“That bad, huh?”

“You have no idea.”

Ford laughed, the dark moment having passed. “You wouldn’t believe how long a person can go without a hot shower. But if you’re out of polite society long enough, it’s not as much of an issue.”

They’d finished the pizza and tossed the napkins into the empty box. Carly carried their plates to the sink and rinsed them before setting them on the counter.

“No dishwasher?” Ford asked.

“You’re looking at ’er. But it won’t be too bad. Most of the time, it’ll just be me here by myself.”

“Now, that doesn’t sound like much fun.”

“It’s okay. I have a lot of work to do in a very short period of time. When the idea of the gallery was first proposed, the town council was thinking of combining the opening with the house tour they do at Christmas each year, which would have given me months to get this thing organized.” A strand of hair slipped out of the elastic to hang into her face. She pulled off the elastic, smoothed back her hair, and redid the ponytail. “When I spoke with Ed the other day, he made an offhand remark about some people on the council wanting it sooner, possibly for some town holiday at the end of the summer, but I’m trying not to think about it because I’ll panic. One month is simply not enough time.”

“Well, the carriage house is just about finished, right?”

“Aside from the HVAC work—which should be done by Friday—the only thing left is the security system. I meant to call your friend today, but I got distracted with moving. I’ll call him tomorrow.”

“Assuming he can do what you need, at the right price, within a few weeks’ time, you could be ready by the end of the summer. I’m guessing the town holiday is Discover St. Dennis. It’s a full weekend, Friday through Sunday. It’s actually a festival the town started about ten years ago to bring new faces into town—you know, drum up the tourist trade, attract the day-trippers. I haven’t been around for it the past few years, but they used to have sailboat races and a big picnic down in the park and a footrace for charity early in the morning, that sort of thing.”

“I can see where someone would think that would be a good opportunity to unveil the exhibit, but I need more time.”

“I thought we just walked through what still needed to be done.”

“That’s just the building. There’s still the exhibit catalog. Thank God the book is finished. That’s a huge weight off me.”

“Tell me about it.”

“It’s about Carolina the woman as well as Carolina the artist. I wanted it ready to go a week or two before the exhibit. I thought if I could get some highprofile publicity, it would spur on sales of the book, which would in turn generate interest in the exhibit. I’ll have to call in a few favors, but I know some people in PR who I think I can count on to give me a hand where the promo is concerned.”

“So what still has to be done?”

“The catalog of paintings for the exhibit.”

“What’s involved in that?”

“I’ve read through the journals and made notes on all the paintings Carolina described as she was doing them. I have to match up the notes with the actual works, so that next to the photos of the paintings in the catalog, I can quote Carolina, what she said about each. And then I have to write a coherent narrative for the introduction.”

“I feel your pain there,” he muttered.

“What?” She stared at him before laughing. “And speaking of your temporary career, weren’t you going to show me the latest article?”

“Right.” Ford stood and retrieved the folder from its place on the counter. He opened it, and handed Carly the several pages it contained.

She skimmed each page before going back to the first and reading through to the end.

“It’s really good. You hit every point we’d wanted to make. You could have a future in this, you know.”

She handed the folder back to him.

“For the love of God, please don’t let my mother hear you say that.” He pretended to look horrified. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she broke another leg if she thought it would get me to take over the paper.”

“You don’t really think your mother fell on purpose?”

“Of course not.” He dismissed the thought. “But you have to admit, it was awfully convenient.”

“If she’d fallen while you were away, would you have come home?”

“Good question. I hadn’t thought about that. I’d like to think I would.” He seemed to be thinking about it now. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I would have. If I didn’t come back, the responsibility for the paper would fall on Dan and Lucy. Dan has his hands full with running the inn and raising his kids. Lucy has a really full event schedule, so I have to think I’d have come home. Besides, my mom never asked much of any of us, so if she needed me here, I’d be here.”

“Even if it meant leaving behind whatever it was that you left?”

“There wasn’t anything left to leave, Carly.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean …”

“It’s okay.” He smiled sadly. “But that’s a story for another time.”

“Will I hear it?”

“I think you will. But we’ll drop it for now.”

She could sense that he was ready to leave—wanted to leave—so she stood.

“Oh. Your wine.” She started to open the refrigerator door, but he reached out for her hand and held it.

“Save it for next time.”

“Okay.” She’d been hoping there’d be a next time.

“What do you do on the weekends for fun?”

“Fun?” She pretended to not understand. “Weekends?”

Ford laughed and drew her to him. “I was thinking maybe a real dinner out, you know, a Saturday-night thing. We could work on the plot of your catalog.”

She laughed. “It has no plot.” Her heart began to race as his arms closed around her. “It’s a catalog.”

“Still, there are things you might want to discuss.”

“Actually, there is something I’m not sure about, something I discovered about Carolina.” Her mind flashed back to Stolen Moments, and the story it told.

“What?”

“I think I’ll save that for Saturday.” She smiled and tugged on the collar of his cotton shirt, drawing down his face until that sexy mouth was hers. She kissed him, holding on until he began to kiss her back. His lips were soft and oh so sweet, just as somehow she’d known they’d be, and something inside her wished the kiss would go on until they couldn’t breathe. His arms tightened around her and pressed her against him until she swore she could hear his heart beating.

As a first kiss, it was a bell ringer.

Then it was over, and those lips were whispering in her ear. “Thanks for dinner.”

Carly leaned back and laughed. “You brought dinner.”

“Right. Well, then, thanks for sharing it with me.” He kissed the side of her face. “Looking forward to Saturday.”

“Me, too.”

“Call tomorrow about the security system.”

She nodded and unlocked the front door. “Will do.”

“I’ll let him know.”

“Thanks.”

He leaned back in for one more kiss, then he was out the door. Carly leaned against the jamb and watched until the lights from his car disappeared at the end of the street.

Well … She exhaled as she closed the door and locked it. She’d been wondering what it would be like to kiss him, and now that she knew, she couldn’t wait to kiss him again. She went into her room, opened the closet, and looked over the clothes she’d brought with her. She wanted to knock ’em dead on Saturday night, and nothing in the closet fit the bill. She made a mental note to hit Bling between now and their dinner date. Vanessa always had something killer in stock, and killer was exactly what Carly had in mind.

Well, this is certainly a fine kettle of fish I find myself in. Note to self: When asking Alice to intervene, be more specific. Giving her carte blanche—i.e., “I’d do anything …”—should come with a caveat. And I know Alice’s hand was in this—literally. I swear that I saw her right before I took that tumble, felt a little nudge right between the shoulder blades. Which is interesting because in her life here on earth, Alice never set foot in the inn. An agoraphobic, she rarely went into her own backyard except to tend to her herbs, and then only because there was no one else to do that for her. Nice to see she’s getting out more these days.

When I said I’d do anything, had I said, “I’d give an arm and a leg …?” I can’t recall.

I suppose I shouldn’t complain too much, since the end result is what I was looking for. Ford has taken over for me at the paper. Of course, I’m going to have to milk this thing for all it’s worth. If he finds out I have voice-recognition software on my laptop, he’ll be wanting to drop off his notes so I can write the articles myself, and that simply won’t do. I need him to work on his skills so he can feel confident in his ability to take over for me permanently. Between you and me, his first two attempts were far better than I let on—but I know my boy, and I know how he reacts to challenges. If he has to work at something, he puts his whole heart into it, but if it comes easily to him, he loses interest. He’ll make a fine newspaperman, as fine as his grandfather and great-grandfather in their day. The St. Dennis Gazette is his destiny, as the Inn at Sinclair’s Point is Dan’s. I just need to find a way to make that as clear to him as it is to me. I know this is where he’s supposed to be just as surely as I know that Carly Summit is the one for him. Stubborn boy! He’s been to interview her twice already and he’s barely even mentioned her name beyond the article.

But something is going on with him. The light surrounding him isn’t as dark as it was when he arrived home. Perhaps he’s finding some peace. He’s spent a lot of time out on the Bay, and when I ask him, he says he’s revisiting places he used to go. I suspect he means places he used to go with his father. Daniel always made a point to do things with Ford, who, as the youngest, seemed to be left behind by his older brother and sister. They had a special bond, and I believe that he, of the three children, suffered the most when Daniel died.

Whatever it is that is haunting him now, whatever the cause of the darkness, I sense the same sort of grief that emanated from him when his father passed. I have tried to rely upon my own powers to see into his heart, but as always, my powers fail me when it comes to Ford. I’m hoping that he’ll find a way to put that sadness aside. I would hate for him to go through life carrying so great a burden.

~ Grace ~