Colleen Coble (11 page)

The festival was in full swing, and Heather had never seen so many people in her life. All in town for an
oyster
festival, of all things. There were more oyster dishes on the menu this week than she could count.

Heather’s feet throbbed and her back ached from carrying the
trays of heavy plates. And people were so demanding. They wanted their coffee just so and their sandwiches toasted to a certain degree. The sooner she was off this dead island, the better. Visions of her and Grant on a white-sand beach floated in her mind.

“Hey, watch what you’re doing!”

The harsh male voice interrupted her pleasant daydream, and she looked at her customer’s overflowing coffee cup. “Sorry.” She grabbed a handful of napkins and mopped up the mess before moving on to the next table.

She froze when she saw the couple with the little girl, then managed a smile. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here, Amy. What can I get you two?”

While Amy perused the menu a moment, Heather eyed Curtis and the child. She recognized him from the picture Grant had given her. The child too. The question was how to get close enough to him to gain better access. And what was Amy doing with him? That might complicate matters.

Amy handed her the menu. “Is there gluten in the lobster bisque?”

“Nope. It’s cream only.” Customers had only asked her that a million times.

“Wonderful. I’ll have that.”

Amy and her weird eating habits. The refrigerator back at the cottage was filled with nasty things like heavy whipping cream and real butter. Even the yogurt had fat in it. Amy had tried to get her to try them, but Heather stuck to her diet of Diet Coke and frozen dinners. She was into easy.

She smiled at Curtis. “And you, sir?”

He folded his menu and handed it to her. “I’ll have a barbeque sandwich.”

“With slaw on the side or on the sandwich?”

“On the sandwich. And coffee. Oh, and you can keep the pickle. I never eat it.”

“Sweet potato fries okay with that?”

“Of course.” He grinned and studied her face. “You’re new here.”

“She’s boarding with me,” Amy said. “Until the festival is over. There are no rooms in town.”

“So this is Heather. I’ve heard about you. Libby and Alec hated to hear you’d been turned away from the inn, but it was a good thing Amy came to your rescue.”

“Amy’s been super to me.” Heather scribbled down their order on her pad and stuck it in the pocket of her apron, then poured Curtis’s coffee.

She had to figure out a way to stay longer. The rooms out at Tidewater Inn weren’t cheap, and she didn’t want to waste her hard-earned money on a room when there was all that space at Rosemary Cottage just sitting empty. Besides, if Amy and Curtis were friends, staying at the cottage might be beneficial in other ways. And she liked the little cottage.

Curtis took a sip of his coffee. “Where you from, Heather?”

“California.” It was the first state that popped out of her mouth, one she’d always wanted to see.

Amy grinned. “You’ve gotten more information out of her in two minutes than I’ve gotten in a week. Until I met Heather, I thought all girls her age chattered a mile a minute.”

Heather resisted the impulse to dump coffee on her head. Instead, she turned and smiled sweetly at Curtis. “Cute little girl you have there. She looks a bit like you.”

“She’s my niece, and she’s the spitting image of her mommy at that age.” He stopped Raine from pulling the sweetener packets out of the holder. “She’ll have a grilled cheese sandwich and sweet potato fries. Chocolate milk. And applesauce.”

“You take care of her?” Someone hailed her from across the room, but Heather ignored the summons. She took off her necklace and handed it to the little girl, who was immediately enthralled.

“Yes. She lives with me.” His expression grew guarded.

“She’s a cutie pie.” Heather put more warmth into her voice than she felt. “I don’t suppose you need a nanny for her, do you? Waiting tables is not for me, and I’ve worked in a day care center. I love kids. I miss being with them.”

Pretty good, if she did say so herself. Her voice held just the right mix of pathos and wistfulness. She fastened her gaze on him and willed him to accept.

Raine started to put the necklace in her mouth, and Curtis stopped her. “My aunt takes care of her. She lives with us.”

“What about time off for your aunt? I’d even be willing to do part-time. Give her a break once a week or something.”

He studied her face, then nodded. “Come by one evening next week. Bring your résumé, and we’ll talk. You can meet my aunt.”

She wrote his address on the back of her pad, then went off to get the loudmouth at the corner table to shut up. Even the customer’s demanding ways couldn’t wipe the pleased smile from her face.

She’d accomplished the first part of her plan. Once she was in the house, the rest would be easy.

E
LEVEN

T
he lobster bisque was every bit as good as she’d hoped, but Amy had struggled to force it down when she wanted to discuss what Curtis had just done. She simmered quietly through lunch until Edith stopped by to pick up Raine as they were finishing.

“Are you
crazy
?” Amy demanded when Edith left with Raine. She was ready to shake Curtis.

The hand carrying his coffee stopped halfway to his mouth. “What are you talking about?”

“You don’t let a stranger watch Raine! If Edith needs a break, I’ll take care of her. I like Heather well enough, but I still know very little about her—and certainly not enough to feel comfortable letting her babysit.”

“Maybe she’s just reserved. It’s not like I was hiring her today. I just told her to bring me a résumé and we’d talk. She seems a nice enough girl. And Raine obviously liked her.” He grinned. “You are still in big-city mode, Amy. This is Hope Island. Most of us don’t even lock our doors.”

“But she’s not an islander! She’s new here.”

“Look who’s talking. You’re not an islander either. Not yet anyway.”

That hurt. “I’ve been coming here since I was a little girl. I consider this place my home. And it’s going to be my full-time home.”

“But you’ve never lived here before now. And everyone who doesn’t live here should be viewed with suspicion?”

She folded her arms across her chest. “Not suspicion, but at least some caution when we’re talking about a little girl.”

“Like I said, I wasn’t hiring her on the spot.” His voice held impatience. “I’m not an idiot, in spite of what you might think.”

She leaned back in her chair and sighed. “I didn’t mean to imply that. You’re great with Raine.”

At her softened tone, he exhaled. “I guess we both need to step back a second. You say to be cautious, and I’ll agree to that. Okay?”

She nodded. “So does Edith need an occasional break? I’d be glad to help out. I want to get to know Raine better.” When he didn’t answer, she took a stab at what his problem was. “I’m not trying to take her away, okay? I just want to get to know her. And I want to tell her who I am.” She folded her arms across her chest.

He put down his fork slowly. “I’m not sure that’s wise.”

“Why not? I think she could love me, and I already love her for Ben’s sake. I want to love her for her own sake too, and I need to know her.”

“Most anyone would love you, Amy.”

The words, spoken in a low voice, took her aback. She didn’t know how to respond, though she was probably taking the sentiment with more feeling than he meant. He was just being nice. “I don’t know about that. So can I help? Can I tell her I’m her auntie?”

He sat staring for a long moment before he finally spoke. “I’ll think about it.”

“How long?” She knew she was being pushy, but Curtis struck her as one of those people who carefully thought out everything. That wasn’t bad, but she had already lost a year. She didn’t want to waste another moment of getting to know her niece.

“A few days.”

Today was Saturday. “Monday then. You can prepare her if you like.”

He looked at her. “You are basically saying you’re going to tell her whether I agree or not.”

She thrust out her chin. “I am. I’ve agreed not to tell my parents just yet until I think it through, but we are going to be a part of her life. There’s no way you can stop that.”

His jaw flexed. “This is happening so fast. I don’t want her confused or upset.”

“What can be upsetting to find out you have an aunt and grandparents? It’s not like we’ll be saying anything bad about Gina. I’ll handle it gently. I know children.”

“Looks like I don’t have much choice.”

When he put it that way, she felt bad about the corner she’d boxed him into. But none of them had chosen this situation. It wasn’t something that was planned, but what a wonderful thing to realize she still had a piece of Ben. It was cause for rejoicing, not for sadness. But she couldn’t tell Curtis all that was in her overflowing heart. He thought it was about control when it was all about love.

Why was it so hard to be herself, to be transparent? When she went to church, she put on a smile and never let anyone see her heartache. She was always “fine.” It was the way she’d been brought up. Her parents had taught her to “buck up” and to look on the sunny side. And she did, for the most part, because she was naturally optimistic. But hiding her thoughts and who she really was had gotten to be a bad habit.

Curtis leaned back. “Let’s call a truce, okay? It’s too nice of a day to squabble.”

She nodded and rose. They walked out together into the sunshine of the spring afternoon. The breeze brought the scent of saltwater and flowers to her nose.

“I know a great spot on the hillside to watch the kiteboarding. We can talk about what to investigate while we’re watching them.”

Amy nodded. Once they were out of the crowd, she would talk to him about what he’d just agreed to do. He led her along the crowded sidewalks to the edge of town. Dunes rolled along the edge of the maritime forest and made a grand seat for the show taking place offshore. Brightly colored kites rose on the breeze, lifting their riders high above the foaming sea. Sightseers with their striped beach chairs lined the water just beyond the tide line. The occasional cheer rose above the roar of the surf.

It was only when he rolled out a bright blue sheet from his backpack that she knew he’d planned this all along. Not that she minded leaning back on the sloping dune with him.

She would have to focus to keep her attention on the reason she was spending time with him.

Curtis was intensely conscious of how close Amy was to him where she lay stretched out on the sheet. He’d seen the way she glanced at him when he pulled out what they needed for the afternoon. Those green-gold eyes didn’t miss much. If he’d thought he could hide the fact that he’d been looking forward to spending the day with her, he’d been mistaken.

The sun heated his arms, but that wasn’t the reason he was warm. What was it about her anyway? He’d taken one look at her and had been instantly drawn to her. He wanted to know what she was thinking, what made her tick. What had her life been like growing up?

He cleared his throat. “So you and Ben were the only kids, right?”

She nodded. “He was eight years older.”

He would have guessed she was older. Not because she looked
it, but because she was wise and smart. Ben had been brash and immature. “There was just Gina and me too. She was three years younger than me.”

“You grew up here?”

He shook his head. “We summered here, though, until we were adults. When I signed on with the Coast Guard, I moved here. Gina followed a few years later. I grew up in Manhattan. Big old brownstone.”

Her eyes widened. “That costs the earth. I’m surprised you made a comment about my parents and their money. You’re from the same background.”

“My dad was a self-made man, and he always expected us to do the same. There was no silver spoon in my mouth. He insisted I get my first job when I was twelve, delivering newspapers. Anything I wanted, I had to buy myself with money I earned.”

Her gaze warmed. “Smart of them. Did they squawk when you joined the Coasties?”

“Nope. They are proud of me.”

“You’re lucky. My mother was scandalized when I told her I was going to be a midwife.”

“You’re a nurse too, right? They should be proud you want to help people.”

She shook her head. “I was besmirching the Lang name. They wanted me to go into the family business of banking.” She gave a mock shudder and laughed. “Numbers give me hives. Half the time I couldn’t tell you if my patients pay me or not. As long as I have enough money to carry the mortgage and buy food, I’m happy. When I hold that newborn in my arms, I can feel God smiling at me.”

He could barely take his eyes off her. The sunlight brought red lights out in her hair, and she glowed as she talked about her life’s work. “And Ben? What did he think of your career?”

Animation surged to her face. “He hated coming to the clinic. All those mothers and babies gave him hives.” She laughed. “But it was his fault. He told me to follow my dream and not let my dad’s expectations get in my way.”

“I think you’re pretty special to do what you do. You get called out in the middle of the night and hold life in your hands.”