Almost Home (29 page)

“So what are you going to do first?” Vanessa asked.

“Finish painting my kitchen cabinets and the woodwork in there. And paint my bedroom. And maybe the bath and the upstairs hall. And the—”

“Slow down. Focus on one room at a time.”

“Right. The kitchen and then my bedroom.” Stef forced a smile. “I won’t be entertaining a whole lot, so I’m not in any hurry to do the downstairs rooms. I’ll get to them.”

“So what night this week can we do our sleepover?”

“What?”

“The sleepover. You promised me popcorn and ice cream and s’mores. Grady’s away until the end of the week. I was thinking it would be nice to have company and do some girly things.”

“Promise not to paint my nails ‘Pretty in Pink’ while I’m sleeping?”

“How did you know …?”

“You’re the ultimate girly-girl. You love the froufrou. Me, I’m more the ‘Paint Me Plum’ type.”

“I’ll stock up.” Vanessa picked up her bag and hopped off her stool. “So which night?”

“Wednesday’s good.”

“Great. Bring your pillow and the previously mentioned snacks.” She hesitated at the door. “What kind of wine goes best with s’mores?”

“I’d guess a dessert wine.”

“Champagne.” Vanessa brightened. “Perfect.”

Stef closed Scoop up for the night at seven on the nose and headed for Olive Street and a long night of painting. She stopped at the market and bought copies of all the papers and magazines that had coverage of Saturday’s party, then at the Checkered Cloth for take-out pasta and a salad. When she arrived to the house, she got out all her brushes and her paint, then she sat on the front hall steps while she ate. She told herself she was being just a wee bit morbid—sitting where Wade had sat the last time he was here—but feeling a little depressed, she decided to wallow in it. By the time her phone rang at almost eleven, she had the inside of all the cabinets painted. A record, she thought. Then again, when you’re anxious and worried, you do tend to move a little faster. So what if she dripped a little paint here and there. She was going to replace the counters anyway, so neatness, she decided, didn’t count. Except for the streak she got in her hair when she answered the phone.

“Stef, it’s Wade.”

“Hey, hi.” She tried to sound chipper. “How was the trip?”

“Good. Austin mostly slept on the plane, and Ted had a car waiting for us when we got into Hartford.”

“That was nice of him.”

“Yeah, it was.”

“So, did you get to tour the plant?”

“The brewery, yes. It’s amazing. Top-of-the-line, everything up-to-the-minute in terms of technology. He’s very forward thinking. I have to hand it to him. He’s doing a few things I hadn’t thought of.”

Her heart sank with every word.

“Sounds like quite the operation,” she said.

“It is. I’m really impressed.”

“So did you sign the contract?” Was she really holding her breath?

“Funny thing, Stef. He gave it to me to look over, and when I started questioning certain clauses, he said those were things his lawyers insisted on putting in there and for me to just go ahead and cross out anything I didn’t like.”

“So you signed it.”

“That’s the funny part. When I told him I wanted a little time to look it over, he ripped it up and said the hell with it, that we’d work things out between us. Crazy, huh?”

“Crazy,” she agreed. “Where was Austin during all this negotiating?”

“He was in the day-care center with Mrs. Worth.”

“Mrs. Worth?”

“She runs the center. Think Angela Lansbury in
Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
”

“How do you know
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
?”

“It’s Cody’s favorite movie. We must have watched it fifty times while we were at Berry’s.”

“So the child-care situation looks pretty good.”

“It looks very good. There are only seven other kids and most of them are older than Austin, and Mrs. Worth has two assistants.” He paused for a moment. “Tomorrow Ted’s hooking me up with a Realtor to look at a couple of houses that are available.”

“Great.” The enthusiasm was becoming more difficult to maintain. “So it sounds as if you’re all set. The job is right, Austin’s happy, and you’ll find a great new house. Congratulations, Wade. It sounds as if you caught the brass ring.”

“I guess.”

“So what’s your schedule there?” she asked, when what she wanted to say was,
When are you coming home?
Her heart sank to her knees when she realized that St. Dennis wasn’t his home. His home was going to be in Connecticut before too long.

“Well, tomorrow I’ll be looking at houses. I guess if I don’t find anything, I’ll look again on Wednesday and Thursday until I do.”

“Well, good luck with finding a place.”

“Thanks.” Another pause. “Look, I’ll be back there before the weekend. Maybe we could go to dinner or something.”

“That would be great.”

“I’ll give you a call and let you know when.”

“Good. I’ll wait to hear from you.”

“Okay, then. Talk to you.”

She wanted to say,
Wait, don’t hang up. I miss you. Talk to me for just a little longer
. But she knew that wouldn’t do. Instead, she said, “Right. I’ll talk to you …”

She disconnected the call, then opened a bottle of water and sat on the kitchen floor.

“This totally sucks,” she said aloud. “And it’s going to suck more and more as time goes on.”

Holding her fist to her gut to stop the sick feeling in her stomach from spreading all through her, Stef tried to figure out why she’d put herself in this situation when she knew how it was likely to end.

“Because it’s always been Wade,” she said. Just like she’d told Vanessa. It had always been Wade.

She finished cleaning her brushes and started to close up the house when she found the magazines on the counter. She’d meant to tell Wade that they’d made the cover of
Celeb Today
, but she’d forgotten. They had magazines and tabloid papers in Connecticut, she reminded herself. If he’d already seen it, he, too, had forgotten to comment. She took a long look at the photo before tucking it into her bag to take home. Just as Vanessa had pointed out, she and Wade and Austin did look like a happy family, like two people who were deeply in love and their little guy who was basking in their glow.

“Fantasyland,” she mumbled, and turned out the lights.

Stef wasted a good part of Tuesday morning trying to decide what to make that day, but nothing intrigued her. She was done with chocolate for a while, and she’d done the usual fall flavors with apples, walnuts, maple, and pumpkin. She was tired of fall. She wanted something … fun. Unfortunately, she’d gone through her recipe box twice already and nothing said “fun.” She checked her freezer and found she
had enough there to get her through the day. Maybe tomorrow she’d feel inspired. Today, she just felt tired.

“Stef, mind if I run out to the post office?” Tina stuck her head into the back room. “I want to get my sister’s birthday present mailed today.”

“Go on. Take your time. We’re slow today anyway.”

“I can stop and pick up lunch for you on the way back.”

“Great.”

“What do you want?” Tina stood in the doorway.

“Whatever you’re having will be fine.” Stef shrugged.

“I’m having PB and J that I brought from home.”

“Oh. Well …” Stef tried to think of something that she wanted, but nothing came to mind. “Skip it. I’ll run out later.”

“Are you sure? ’Cause I don’t mind …”

“I’m sure. I don’t know what I feel like eating, but thanks anyway.”

“I won’t be long.” Tina hung up her apron and took off out the back door.

“Maybe a milk shake. Vanilla.” Stef nodded as she went into the shop. She got as far as the ice-cream case when the bell over the door rang. She looked up just as a tall, good-looking guy with curly dark hair came in.

“Hi,” he said brightly.

“Hi,” she returned the greeting.

He walked to the counter and smiled. “The sign says all your ice cream is made on the premises. Are you the ice-cream maker?”

“I am.” She returned the smile and slipped her apron over her head.

“What’s good today?” he asked.

“Everything’s good.” She tied the apron strings behind her back. “Depends on what you’re in the mood for.”

He gazed into the case and seemed to look over each container. “Salted caramel. I never heard of that.”

Stef grabbed a plastic spoon and scooped some up, then passed the spoon over the top of the cooler. The man tasted the ice cream, then grinned.

“That’s pretty amazing stuff. I’ll have a bowl. Two scoops, like the sign says.” He leaned on the counter near the cash register.

She dished the ice cream. While he was pulling out his wallet he asked, “So what do people do around here for a good time?”

“Not a whole lot during the week in the off-season.” She took the bill he gave her and handed back his change along with his purchase. “But this coming weekend there’s going to be a haunted house tour. Are you staying in town …?”

“Just for another couple of days. I saw an article about what a nice place St. Dennis is, so I decided that the next time I could take a few days off, I’d come down, check it out for myself.”

“Well, if you’re looking for peace and quiet, you should get plenty of that this week.”

“If you were here for a couple of days, what would you be doing with your time?”

She thought it over for a moment, then said, “If I had nothing to do for a few days, I’d probably go to
Book ’Em and pick up something I’ve been wanting to read, then I’d hole up someplace and read. I’d only come out for walks along the Bay at dawn and at sunset, and meals.” She added, “Fortunately, we have some excellent restaurants in town. There’s Café Lola, if you like fine dining. There’s the Checkered Cloth for casual stuff—soups and sandwiches and takeout. They’re both up on Charles Street. Captain Walt’s down on the other end of the boardwalk, past the marina, if you like seafood.”

“I guess I’ll have a chance to try a little bit of each while I’m here. Thanks for the suggestions—” He paused. “Can I ask your name?”

“It’s Steffie.”

“Steffie. That’s nice.” He smiled back at her. “I’m Greg.”

“Nice to meet you, Greg.” She watched him take a seat at one of the tables. “So what do you do that keeps you from taking time off during the summer when everyone else is vacationing?”

“I have a boatbuilding business up near Chestertown.”

“I guess summer would be your busiest time. Hence the fall vacation.”

“That’s the way it goes.” He ate for a moment. “You know what, this is the best ice cream I ever tasted. You should sell it to supermarkets. You’d make a fortune.”

Stef grinned. “Too much trouble. Besides, I like my shop. I like coming to work every day. I like seeing all my friends.” She shook her head. “I don’t want to change the way I work or the way I do things. I built
this business by myself, for myself. I’m happy the way things are.”

“But think of all the money you could make.”

“I do just fine. Besides, money isn’t everything.”

“Well, I admire a woman who can do what you’ve done.”

“Thank you.”

He appeared to be about to say something else when Grace bustled in.

“I just picked up the pictures I took at the party from my son. He has one of those printer things at the inn and I couldn’t wait to show you.” Grace waved a small white bag.

“Oooh, would I. Hand ’em over, Miss Grace.” Steffie took the bag and peered inside. “You were a busy lady. Look at all these.”

“Daniel said to pick out the ones you want and he’ll run off duplicates. You can share them with your parents and Dallas and Grant.”

Steffie and Grace were poring over the photos when Tina returned.

“Oh, pictures from The Party. Let me see what I missed.” Tina nudged between the two women. “Oh, my, how gorgeous is that dress? And who’s this over here?”

“Excuse me.” Greg approached the counter. “If I could trouble you for a glass of water …”

“Oh, sure. Sorry.” Steffie got him a bottle from the cooler and handed it over.

“I heard you mention Dallas … that wouldn’t be Dallas MacGregor?”

When Stef nodded, her customer said, “I heard there was a big party here over the weekend.”

“Yes. She lives in St. Dennis now.”

“You were there?”

Stef nodded.

“Wow, I met someone who knows Dallas MacGregor. I’m impressed.”

“You’ll be even more impressed when I tell you that Steffie’s brother is engaged to Dallas,” Grace told him.

“Unbelievable.” He shook his head as if he was finding it hard to believe. “So was the party as much fun as the magazines made it look?”

“Every bit,” Steffie said.

“I think there was something on one of those entertainment TV shows, too,” he mentioned.

“There were cameras everywhere,” Grace told him. “News crews, you name it.”

“Well, nice that you had a good time.” He turned to Steffie. “Good luck to your brother and his fiancée. I think I’ll take your advice and stop in at that bookstore and pick up something to read, then later hit one of those restaurants you named for dinner.”

“They’re all up on Charles Street—that’s the main street,” she told him. “Except for Walt’s.”

“Right. You said earlier that’s down near the marina.”

She nodded.

“What do I owe you for the water?” He held up the bottle.

“It’s on the house.” She waved him away.

“Thanks. Maybe I’ll see you again before I leave town.” Greg moved toward the door.

“Stop back anytime.” Steffie smiled, then turned her attention back to the photos.

“Who was that guy?” Tina watched Greg leave.

“Just some off-season tourist looking for a few days of R and R.”

“Was it my imagination, or was he flirting with you? Maybe just a little?” Tina asked.

“Your imagination.” Stef held up the next picture in the pile. “Oh, look at Cody and Paige. How cute are they …”