Blue Heaven (Blue Lake) (11 page)

“We were kids when we dated,” Daniel said.

“She said she was like a mom to Bob.”

“Her mother was like a mom to Bob. Along with my grandmother and half the town’s female population. Jane cared about Jane. Then and now and always.”

She mulled that over. Daniel and Jane seemed perfectly comfortable with each other, friendly even, and yet, each had slightly negative things to say about the other. At least to her. She hoped he wasn’t thinking she was jealous, or that she cared. Maybe she did, a little, even though she didn’t want to.

Back at Blue Heaven, Daniel decided to get some shots of the beach. The full moon was so bright there was no need for a flashlight as they walked down the steps Daniel had built. Eva was grateful for the handrail, and for the sweater she’d grabbed out of the bungalow before going down to the water with Daniel.

When they got to the shore, Lily was there, her arms folded, staring out at the moon’s reflection in the lake.

Daniel shot her in profile, her features barely discernible by the light of the moon.

“The romantic getaway of a lifetime,” he said for the benefit of the camera.

Lily turned around and glared.

“Did I say you could film me?”

“Turn it off, Daniel,” Eva said.

“No, that’s fine, I can edit her out. Although I don’t remember you asking any of us for permission to film today, Lily.”

“Hey, don’t, Daniel,” Eva said as Lily stomped off.

“I was kidding,” he replied. “That girl is so touchy.” After filming the moon and the water for a few more minutes, he turned off the camera and set it on the steps.

“Want to go for a walk?” Daniel asked.

“No,” Eva said. A romantic moonlit walk sounded lovely. But she had better not. It was bad enough they’d spent the day together.

“I should really go see if Lily wants to tell me what happened today.”

“Bob already told me.”

“When?”

“While Bob and I checked the museum roof repairs.”

Right. She’d forgotten.

“Well? What happened?”

“They were kissing and things got a little intense and he took her obvious pleasure in what was happening as permission to move to the next level. She freaked.”

“I thought it might be something like that.”

“I also gave Bob strict instructions to keep his hands, and his mouth, to himself.”

“Really?” Eva wondered how you could tell an eighteen year old to do that, and if there was a chance in hell they’d listen.

“I told her that girl is bad news and that he should steer clear.”

Eva resented Daniel’s assessment.

“Maybe she’s a virgin. Maybe she’d never been felt up before. Maybe she’s got Catholic guilt or something. I know I did when I was her age. That doesn’t make her
bad news.
”

Eva wasn’t sure why she was becoming so upset with the Daniel/Bob version of events. It was just that men were so, what was the word, so obvious in their single-minded quest for sex?

Daniel was quiet for a minute after Eva’s outburst.

“Okay, now I suppose you think I have
issues
too?”

He went over and picked up his camera. “We all have issues. I didn’t mean to criticize Lily. It’s just…she’s more than a handful. I don’t want Bob to have to deal with all her drama. If that sounds cold, well, it’s also realistic. Bob’s a simple guy. He wouldn’t hurt her. I don’t want him to be hurt, because, let’s face it, he’s the one who’s interested. She’s not. So, he should just back off. That’s all I was saying.”

He started up the steps. Eva followed.

“Okay, I see your point,” she said. “You’re trying to protect him.”

“I dated Jane. I know about girls with issues. They are so not worth the trouble they bring.”

Eva didn’t want to get angry at Daniel. She saw that he cared about his brother. But she cared about Lily. And Jane. Daniel, in her opinion, was giving both of them a raw deal.

She sighed. This was not the time to talk to Daniel about Lily. He likely didn’t even mean the word the way it sounded, as if Lily’s intrinsic worth was wrapped up in her inability to be sexual with Bob. She didn’t want to get into the Jane thing. Daniel and Jane obviously had different perceptions of their earlier relationship, but the important thing was that they’d let it go, they’d moved on, they were friends. Eva admired that.

“You’re probably right,” she finally said. “Bob should keep his distance. And I should talk to Lily to see if I can figure out a way to help her—if there’s more wrong than the simple fact that she’s just not that into Bob.”

“Ouch,” Daniel said.

Eva walked toward the lakefront door, leaving Daniel to walk to his car alone.

Inside, Lily sat watching television. Eva tried to talk to her.

“You okay?”

“Sure. Just bored. There’s nothing on television.”

Okay, so Lily was a bit of a brat. After a day of driving around, eating ice cream, and enjoying dinner downtown, she was still bored. Teenagers were tough. Eva didn’t know how Daniel had done it with Bob, and at such a young age.

Lily’s feet were bare, as they had been down at the beach. Eva didn’t know how she could walk on the rocky shoreline without shoes, but Lily said when you grew up on the lake, you got used to it. She wondered if Lily had been down at the lake looking for her own coastal town.

“So whereabouts on the lake are you from?”

“Not too far from here,” Lily said.

“Really? What town?”

“Why does that matter?” Lily shut down again.

“I guess it doesn’t,” Eva said. But she knew something was really bothering Lily. She wished she knew what it was.

“Let’s celebrate,” Eva said. It was an impulse, but her instincts were all she had when it came to Lily.

Lily looked up from a rerun of an old sitcom.

“Why?”

“Well, maybe celebrate is not the exact word. Just have a free day.”

“Wasn’t that what today was supposed to be?”

“Nope. We were working. And you deserve a bonus for doing all that filming.”

Eva had gotten the idea from looking at Lily’s bare feet.

“We should have a spa day. Get our hair cut, mani-pedi, whatever.”

“You mean it?”

“Yeah. We can get the laundry going tonight and finish it in the morning, and then take the afternoon off for pampering.”

Lily held up her hand. Her pretty manicure had been destroyed by all the work she’d done. Her fingernails had tones of peach, blue, and yellow.

“I could use a facial,” Lily said.

“Let me call some salons in Port Huron and see if I can book us appointments.”

“When do you think Daniel will have the video posted?”

“He’s going to work on it tonight. Maybe later.”

“I can’t wait to see it!”

Eva went to load a heap of towels, while Lily gathered up shopping bags of sheets and toted them into the laundry room behind Eva.

“Why do we have to wash these when we bought them new from the store?” Lily pulled the linens out of their packaging, snipping tags as she went along.

Eva hoped the video would bring in more business. So far, July and part of August were booked, but she needed customers in June if she didn’t want to use all her emergency funds paying her bank loan.

Chapter Fifteen

Eva’s phone rang. She checked caller ID. Daniel.

“Hi.” She walked toward the office and her laptop. Maybe he had the video up already.

But no, he told her, he’d given the hours of footage to a friend from high school who was going to whittle it down to a couple of minutes.

“It seems a shame to waste it all,” Eva commented.

“And it’s really good. Lily has a gift for shooting.”

“I’ll tell her you said that.” Eva was just relieved that Daniel had warmed back up to the girl.

“I was thinking…” Daniel said hesitating.

“What?”

“Do you think maybe we could make a movie of the town, you know, for the museum? Or maybe I could get a website built?”

“Of course.” Eva wished she’d thought of it first. “I’ve been so busy with my own marketing, but I’ll have time this summer to get something online for the museum. And it should have a name. Bryman House?”

“I like it,” Daniel said, his voice warm.

“Good.” Eva liked collaborating with Daniel this way. If only it was always this easy.

“So I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said.

“Maybe for a bit,” she replied. “I’ve made some appointments for Lily and myself in Port Huron. Girl stuff.”

“Oh? Well, after you girls get your hair done, or whatever it is you’re up to, why don’t you meet Bob and me for dinner and a movie?” Daniel said.

Eva had learned that going to Port Huron in Blue Lake was a major event. And she would have stayed in Blue Lake, but they didn’t have a day spa. Or a movie theater.

“That might be fun.” Lily had mentioned something about a vampire movie.

“Let’s do it for the kids,” he said.

“Well, sure, okay. For the kids,” she said.

Eva hung up, her spirits buoyed. She immediately began justifying her happiness. This wasn’t a date. It was for the kids. And it would be a shame to waste a professional blow dry. Her hair, naturally curly, got absolutely frizzy living so near the water.

She went to find Lily, to ask about the movie project. Actually, since he was going to be using her work publicly, Eva would talk to Daniel about paying Lily for her filming.

Lily stood at the washer, wearing a baggy pair of sweatpants that Eva was sure must belong to Bob, loading several pair of jeans into the machine.

Eva hadn’t realized she’d been on the phone with Daniel through an entire cycle of laundry. But the neat stack of towels on the folding table told the story. And there was another story here in this room, too.

“Could you loan me, like, a robe or some pajamas?”

Eva felt saddened that she hadn’t paid much attention to Lily’s lack of wardrobe before. She’d given the girl the hoodie she’d appropriated on her first day at Blue Heaven, plus a few old shirts for layering, but that had been the extent of her generosity. Lily had probably been sleeping in T-shirts. And after today’s episode with Bob, she’d be feeling vulnerable.

“Of course. Why don’t you go take a bath? It’s been a long day.”

She’d find Lily some pajamas, make her another hot chocolate, and tell her the good news about the footage she’d shot today. And the movie tomorrow would be the cherry on top.

Lily left the room, holding the sweatpants up so they didn’t fall to her feet.

Eva went into her room and found some yoga pants, a terry cloth robe that was way too long for her, and a couple pair of camisole and brushed cotton pajamas, one with shorts and one with long bottoms. Lord knew she had more than enough to spare Lily a few things.

The bathroom door was closed. She could hear the water running in the tub. She put the stack of clothes on the hallway table, knocked on the door. “Use the lavender bubble bath,” she said. “It’s super relaxing. And I’ve got your robe and things out here on the hall table.

“Thanks,” Lily called.

Eva again wondered whose child she was and if her folks were worried that she’d left. Eighteen or twenty-eight, Lily would always be somebody’s child. Eva remembered the fluffy bunny slippers her mom had brought her for Easter. She’d been busy getting ready to move to Florida, but had taken the time to fill a basket for her only child, as she did every year. The slippers had been cute but too small. They were somewhere in the back of her closet. Maybe they’d fit Lily.

After she put the slippers next to the pile of clothes, she went to switch the jeans from washer to dryer and fold the new cottage linens. One less job for Lily to do.

Waiting for Lily, she checked reservations on the website again. A few more had trickled in, but by now she should really be fully booked. Then Lily walked in, freshly scrubbed and wearing the bunny slippers and robe.

“Video up yet?”

Eva closed the computer and shook her head. “But Daniel loved your footage.” She walked with Lily into the kitchen and got out the milk for hot chocolate, happy when she noticed the can of fake whipped cream on the shelf. Bob liked to point the can at his mouth and squirt, so Eva never knew if there would be any left. She’d gotten into the habit of buying a can a week.

Lily sat at the tiny kitchen table, the moon shining in through the little window, waiting for her hot chocolate.

“This won’t be as good at the one you had at Sanchez’s,” Eva warned, scooping the powdered cocoa into the pan with the milk.

“We were kissing,” Lily said.

Eva already knew that, but she didn’t say so. Lily would hate it if she knew they’d been talking about her.

“And he kinda put his hands…well, I panicked.”

“That’s okay. You’re entitled to feel your feelings any time a boy does anything to make you feel uncomfortable.”

Eva poured the hot drink into two mugs and sat down across from Lily.

“Everything okay now?”

Lily nodded, sipping her chocolate.

“Good,” Eva said, and then told Lily about dinner and the movie.

Lily put her mug down. “It’s weird,” she said.

Eva waited. This was the longest conversation about something personal she and Lily had ever had.

“I’m, you know, attracted to him. But it’s just no good.”

Eva knew exactly what Lily meant. She was not going to press Lily on the details. If Lily wanted to talk, she knew Eva was there to listen.

“Bob understands,” Eva said. “He saw how upset you were. He won’t kiss you again.”

“This is so hard,” Lily said.

“I know, honey.”

“Thanks for the pajamas.”

“If we have time tomorrow, we’ll go shopping. You probably need a few things.”

“I could use some undies,” Lily said, then giggled. Then she yawned.

“It’s been a long day. I’ll fold the jeans for you.”

Still, Lily sat at the table.

“Do you want to sleep in here tonight?” Eva said.

“I wouldn’t mind,” Lily admitted. “But it might hurt Bob’s feelings.”

“Well, if he noticed, we could say you fell asleep watching television.”