Driftwood Lane (17 page)

Ben slung his book bag off with his newly uncasted arm.

“Careful of your arm.”

“Hey, little man.” Jake stopped by the check-in desk. “Got your cast off just in time for spring break.”

“My arm feels so light, and Meridith said we’re gonna celebrate.”

“That so?”

Jake didn’t look at all upset now, smiling at Ben.

“Where we going?” Max asked.

“It’s up to Ben,” Meridith said. “It’s his big day.”

“Atlantic Café!”

She remembered passing the place in town. “All right. Does anyone have homework?”

“Not even
my
teacher is that cruel,” Noelle said.

“Okay then, let me grab my purse and we’re ready to go.”

“Can Jake come?” Max asked.

Meridith’s hand paused on her purse. She pressed her lips together. Maybe if she pretended she hadn’t heard.

“Yeah, he drove me to the hospital,” Ben said.

So much for not hearing. Meridith pasted on a polite smile. “I’m sure Jake’s busy.”

“Actually, I missed lunch.” His lips tilted in a cocky grin, and his eyes challenged hers. “I’d love to go.”

The kids whooped and were out the front door. Jake followed, and Meridith locked up behind them. They all stuffed into the van, a loud, excited bunch in the back. In the front, nothing but silence.

She hated having someone upset with her, and though Jake denied it, the signs were there. The way he spoke only when necessary, the way he avoided eye contact. Just like now. Being with him was always awkward, but now a new tension hovered.

Fortunately, the ride was short, and when they reached the restaurant, it was loud and busy enough that the children wouldn’t cause a distraction. The hostess led them to the tall booths at the back.

Meridith and Jake scooted in first, opposite one another, then Max and Noelle, and Ben on a chair at the end.

Meridith studied the menu, finally settling on the spinach salad as the server approached.

“Hey, Jake, how you doing?” She flashed a dimpled smile.

“Hey, Dawn.”

“How you doing, kiddos?”

Meridith asked a question about the salad, though Dawn seemed more interested in making eyes at Jake.

“That sounds good. I’ll have the spinach salad.”

“Wow, taking a walk on the wild side.” Noelle rolled her eyes. “I’ll have the Brownie Supreme.”

Jake ordered buffalo wings, and Max and Ben each ordered a Brownie Supreme.

“Wow, that’s a lot of ice cream, kids,” Dawn said. “Sure you can handle it?”

“I got my cast off today,” Ben said.

“We’re celebrating,” Jake added.

Dawn’s eyes lingered on Jake longer than necessary and said clear as a bell she’d like one private celebration to go, please.

“Well,” Dawn finally said, “seeing as how your arm is newly healed, how about coming back to the kitchen and scooping your own ice cream?” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I might even let you have an extra scoop.”

“Sweet!” Ben said.

“Can I come?” Max asked.

“Me too?” Noelle asked.

Dawn tucked her order pad into her back pocket, though Meridith wasn’t sure how she squeezed it in. “Aw, sure, why not?”

Because it was a health code violation?

The children bounced from the booth and trailed behind Dawn, leaving Meridith fully aware that she and Jake were alone. Painfully so. Not even a water to sip.

She tucked her hands in her lap and twisted the engagement ring around her finger. Pretended to be fascinated by the restaurant’s décor. Green vinyl booths. Framed Nantucket photos. Nautical artifacts. Lantern-style hanging lights. Behind her, someone’s silverware clattered to the tile floor.

She focused on her breathing. Three seconds in—the smell of fried onions and savory seafood—three seconds out.

“How are the kids doing?”

There was that confrontational tone again. What was up with him?

“They’re fine. You see them yourself. It’ll take time—grief is a process—but we’re managing.”

“How’s your fiancé feel about taking on three kids?”

None of your business
was on the tip of her tongue, but she wasn’t making Ben’s celebration more tense than it already was. Besides, maybe if she made casual conversation, he’d drop his attitude.

“I haven’t exactly told him yet.” She flickered a look at his face, but he gave nothing away.

“Really.”

“You know, I just felt maybe I could ease into it.”

“Don’t think you can ease into parenting three kids. What did he think you came for, if not to take guardianship?” Jake spun the saltshaker in circles on the wood table.

“I came because there was no one else. I wasn’t planning to assume guardianship initially.”

The saltshaker stopped. “What do you mean?”

He’d lost the attitude. Those eyes bore straight into hers. The light overhead cast a warm glow on his face.

“They may be my siblings, but I’d never met them, and I knew they had an uncle they were close to. I only planned to stay until he returned.” She could hardly believe she’d been there almost six weeks. So much had changed.

“What happened?”

She shrugged. “He never returned, never so much as called. And the more I heard about him, the more I realized he wasn’t suitable. I mean, his own sister has been dead for almost two months, and he hasn’t a clue.”

Jake looked away. His jaw hardened, and a shadow danced in the hollow of his cheek. She felt spurred on by his reaction.

“The children could’ve used some familiarity, you know? Someone who knew and loved their parents. Clearly, he’s self-absorbed and irresponsible. I can’t leave the children with someone like that.”

She felt better just saying it. Better than when she’d told Stephen, who only seemed interested in the bottom line: when was she coming home?

“So you”—he cleared his throat—“initially planned to give him guardianship, then changed your mind when he didn’t show.”

“Well, that’s part of it. I don’t think he’s suited for the responsibility of three young children. He goes gallivanting over the states all summer, and what kind of life would that be for the children?”

“Maybe he’d settle down.”

“Eva and my father apparently didn’t think so. Besides, he hasn’t even called in two months. Why would I think he’d make a huge lifestyle change?” She twisted the diamond upright and folded her hands on the table. “Anyway, I’ve grown fond of the kids. It won’t be easy, but I’m not putting these kids through—”

“Putting them through . . .”

She’d almost gone too far, said too much. He wasn’t Stephen, she couldn’t confide in him, trust her wounds to him.

“They deserve a safe and settled childhood. Every child deserves that, and I’m more than capable of providing it.” Confident words from someone who’d often felt like she was crumbling these past weeks.

“What about your fiancé?”

The children were rounding the corner carrying their sundae dishes, mounded high with whipped cream.

“Stephen will come around.” Even as she said the words, she whispered a prayer that it was true.

Jake put the ball up and watched it swoosh through the net. Around him, the night was dark, but fortunately Wyatt had left the porch light on when he and Willow left.

Jake dribbled the ball around the court, faking to the left, then put up another shot. The ball bounced to the ground as Wyatt’s Dodge Caliber pulled into the drive. Jake moved aside as the garage door lifted and waved at his friends as they passed. Willow stepped from the car, stunning in a blue dress. “Hey, Jake, how are you?”

“All right.”

“Liar,” Wyatt said. “I can see right through you.”

“Come in for a while,” Willow said. “It’s chilly out here.”

After a nice night out, the couple probably wanted to be alone. He should’ve left long ago. “No thanks, I need to get back.” He tossed the ball to Wyatt.

“Be there in a minute, hon.”

“Night, Jake,” Willow said before entering the house.

Wyatt dribbled the ball to Jake. His sport coat flapped in the breeze. “Okay, what’d she do now?”

“How do you know it’s Meridith?”

“Same way you knew ‘she’ was Meridith.”

He had a point.

“HORSE?” Wyatt tossed the ball to him.

He couldn’t usurp Wyatt’s whole evening. “Make it PIG.” Jake dribbled to the edge of the drive and put up a shot. Score.

He tossed the ball to Wyatt. “Meridith is selling Summer Place.”

Wyatt put up the shot and made it. “She tell you that?”

“Not exactly.” Jake dribbled the ball to the free throw line.
Swish
.

“Found a Realtor’s business card and papers from an inspection.”

“‘Found’ them?”

He shrugged. “Launched a little investigation.”

“You snooped through her private stuff. Dude.”

“She’s selling Summer Place.” Jake planted his hands on his hips, watched Wyatt’s shot bounce off the rim.
P
.

“What about the kids?”

“Isn’t it obvious? She’s taking them to St. Louis. I can’t let that happen.” Jake missed a long shot and tossed the ball to Wyatt.

“Wonder what her fiancé thinks about that. It’s not every guy who would agree to raising someone else’s kids.”

“She hasn’t told him.”

“You find that out by snooping too?” Wyatt missed his shot.

Jake gave him a look. “I asked.”

“Novel idea.”

Jake lined up for a three-pointer and made it. “She was going to turn the kids over to ‘the uncle’ initially. But when he didn’t return, she decided it was up to her to raise them.”

Wyatt made the shot. “She was going to give them to you?”

What an idiot he’d been. If he’d just come back and told her he wanted the kids, maybe he’d have had a prayer of convincing her he was the best person for the job.

“Gotta say, you’ve risen to the occasion. Never thought I’d see the day you’d settle down, much less take on your niece and nephews.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Though obviously Eva had felt the same, as Meridith had so kindly pointed out. Shoot, even he hadn’t realized he was capable of that level of responsibility. “I guess losing Eva showed me what’s really important.”

“Too bad Eva didn’t see this side of you before. It’s kind of shocking she agreed to leave them to Meridith.”

“Not really. Blood was everything to Eva. After being raised in foster homes, she wanted her kids raised by a relative. That pretty much narrowed it down to me and Meridith. I guess I did a pretty good job convincing her I wasn’t father material.”

“Why don’t you just tell Meridith who you are, man?”

“Because she thinks the uncle is irresponsible and self-absorbed.” Jake missed.

Wyatt snorted. “She tell you that?”

Jake scowled.

Wyatt put up another shot, this one from the left side—Jake’s weak spot. The ball swished through the net.

“Besides, after I’ve been there all these weeks incognito . . . I don’t think it’s going to go over well.”

Meridith may have been skeptical of him at first, but she’d come to trust him. And not only with the repairs. Just that she’d opened up at the café was proof of that.

“Anyway, I still don’t know for sure she doesn’t have bipolar disorder.”

“The kids want to be with you, though, right? That has to count for something.”

Jake shot and missed, then passed Wyatt the ball. “You’d think. But kids have to be fourteen to make that decision legally. Noelle won’t be fourteen until next February, never mind the boys. Maybe the fact that Meridith’s planning to take them from their home would sway the judge?”

Wyatt dribbled to the free-throw line. “It’s not going to look so good that you’re working there under false pretenses.”

The thought had occurred to him more than once. “I am a licensed contractor.”

“Not to mention the way you finagled your way into her home. You’re living there, dude.”

“I wanted to be near the kids. It’s for their own good.”

“Not sure a judge would see it that way.” He put up the shot, and it rolled around the rim before falling through the net. “I think you should wait until she tells her fiancé. I have a feeling it’ll hit the fan.”

Jake put up the ball. It hit the backboard, bounced off the rim, and landed in Wyatt’s hands.

“PIG,” Wyatt said.

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

Twenty-five

Jake entered his room and unbuttoned his shirt. Meridith and the kids weren’t home from church yet, and he wondered if she’d keep them on the go all day again. Golf lessons, bike riding, a trip to Sconset. It had just been him and Piper the day before. He’d given the dog extra attention on his lunch break, and looking into her big brown eyes, he’d wondered if she missed Eva and T. J. Poor thing didn’t even know what had happened to them.

He heard the front door open, then the kids clomping up the back stairs. He laid his dress shirt across the doily-covered dresser next to a shell-filled vase.

He hoped to sneak some time with them today. He was worried about Noelle. Her feisty behavior had changed. Rather than being excited about a week off school, she seemed sad. A normal part of grief, he knew, but she didn’t have anyone to talk to.

By the end of this week he’d be finished with the two jobs Meridith had agreed to. He dreaded leaving the kids. Even if he didn’t spend much time with them now, at least he was present. He could see for himself how they were doing. If he couldn’t stay and work on the house, he wouldn’t see them at all. The thought nearly tore him in half.

“Knock-knock.” Noelle stood in the doorway, looking way too grown up in her bright pink sundress. Her hair was growing out, and her bangs swooped to the side, falling over one of her sad brown eyes.

“Hey, squirt,” he whispered. “Where’s Meridith?”

Noelle padded into his room and sat at the desk. “Downstairs making cinnamon rolls. She’ll be awhile.” Noelle’s toes played with the rug’s fringe. She’d painted her toenails the same pink as her dress. She and Eva used to paint their nails crazy shades like green and purple.

“Where are your brothers?”

She shrugged. “Outside, I guess.”

“Church okay?”

“Sure.”

Jake lowered himself to the bed’s edge and planted his elbows on his knees. He studied his niece’s face, so like her mother’s. Her skin was still winter-pale, the freckles from last summer faded.