East Hope (30 page)

“So, who's the redhead?”

Will eased Mary Beth's coat from her shoulders. She turned and lifted both hands to his face, smoothing his brows. “I think she likes you.”

“Mary Beth.” He shook his head, pulled away, and carried her coat to the hooks by the door.

She cocked her head and smiled. “Someone you know well?”

“Hardly. Come on. Let's go up and I'll make some soup.” Mary Beth was leaving later that afternoon. She had extended her visit, and they had been together over a week. Will couldn't deny that the sex had been great, like a second honeymoon, like getting to know her all over again. Each day it had become easier to be with her. She told him about her job, the apartment in New York, her friends. He showed her the town and they ate dinner in some of the nicer restaurants that remained open into the fall. The days when he was busy at the store, she went down to the beach on her own, and one day she went by herself to Belfast.

As her departure grew nearer they firmed up their plans. Mary Beth was pleased to hear that Will had contacted Jack Mathews about recommendations. Will had explained that he missed teaching. He would interview for jobs when he got to New York. Knowing this, Mary Beth had accepted his wish to work at Taunton's until after Columbus Day.

“I guess a few more weeks won't matter,” she had said on their walk back from the beach. “Still, I can't see that you'll have much to do this late in the season.”

“There's quite a bit of paperwork in closing the books for the year. There won't be many customers. I told the librarian that I'd help out for a bit in their tutoring program.”

“Working with the students?”

Will nodded. “I owe Edna a favor. She's sent a lot of books my way.”

“What if they knew about Habliston?”

“What's that supposed to mean? You say it like I'm some kind of sex offender.”

“I didn't mean anything. You know schools are so careful. They have to do background checks in New York.”

“This isn't New York,” Will said testily.

“Don't be a grump.” She had leaned into Will, giving him a teasing nudge, as if trying to improve his mood and reassure him that all would be well when he got to New York. She assured him that he would love her building, a prewar, on a side street with plenty of trees. They both seemed to remain careful with each other, tenuously offering compromises, their footing still a little unsure. He still hadn't told her that Taunton's was for sale. Then they had rounded the corner and found Caroline standing on the front steps of the store.

“Why is she bringing you cookbooks?” Mary Beth asked now, following him up the stairs into the apartment. She settled into his chair by the window while he poured a can of soup into a pan.

“She edits cookbooks. Now she's working on one of her own.”

“I see.” She interlaced her fingers and leaned back in his chair. “How's your writing, by the way? You haven't said anything about your novel.”

“There's nothing to say.”

“You haven't been writing?”

“Mary Beth, I discovered that I'm a reader, not a writer.”

“But you've always liked to write.”

“Sure. Articles for journals. Fiction is different. I know that now.”

“Maybe you'll change your mind when you get to New York.” She got up and went to the refrigerator. “Let's have some of this cheese. Are there any more crackers?”

Will didn't answer, but reached for the box of crackers from the cupboard. He carried them to the table with one bowl of soup. Mary Beth followed with the other bowl and the cheese that she had arranged on a platter.

“This morning was lovely,” she said. They had spent several hours on his little beach.

“All this could be ours,” he said, gesturing toward the view outside.

She pushed the plate of cheese in his direction. “What do you mean?” They sat at the table by the window, as had become their habit.

“Penny's dad is never going to be well enough to run it. She asked me if I would consider buying it.”

Mary Beth pushed abruptly back from the table. “You promised me you're coming to New York.”

“I am. This would be for vacations. I've given it a lot of thought. It could be a seasonal business. I could get some part-time help. We could spend summers up here.”

“Aren't you forgetting about my job?”

“In the beginning we could come on weekends. I'd still live in New York and could come up now and then to check on it. We could have days off here. You said yourself that you love Maine.”

“That doesn't mean I want to live here.”

“It would be a great investment.” He explained that the field behind the building, as well as the woods beyond that led down to the water, could never be developed. Though the store faced the road, there was room to expand the building on either side.

“How long have you been thinking about this?” Mary Beth pulled her chair in again. She looked wary.

“Penny asked me a few weeks ago. I can't stop thinking about it. This place has always felt so right.”

“Why did you wait until now to say anything?”

“I guess I wanted to know where we stood.” Will was aware that they had made too many decisions separately, one of the problems in their marriage.

“I thought we'd decided on our plans.” Her eyes hardened. “Has this time together meant nothing to you? You said you wanted to be together.”

“I do. You know I do. It's just that this seems like such an amazing opportunity. I really love it here. I was hoping you would too.”

“A visit is one thing.”

“Please consider it. If only as an investment.”

Mary Beth picked up her spoon and started to eat her soup. “It's not only the money. We need to build a life together. That means living together.”

“I know that.” He thought of their nights in this apartment, the warmth of her in his arms. “I'm just asking you to think about it,” he said.

“We'll talk about it when you come to New York. You might feel differently when you get away from here. Don't forget there's a whole other world out there.”

Will looked out at the water. A large cloud covered the sun, and the bay had turned a steely gray. “It feels good to be with you again,” he said. And it had been good having her in East Hope. He leaned back in his chair and gazed across the water. Caroline's house stood out, a bright white. He turned back to Mary Beth. “Do you ever see us with children?” He watched her face, wanting the truth. He wasn't sure he could imagine it himself.

She reached for his hand and he let her take it, but her face betrayed nothing. “That's something we should talk about too.”

Caroline accepted Dr. Carney's hand and the gentle pull up from the examining table. She smoothed the sheet across her lap and waited while the doctor studied her chart. She had to come to the obstetrician for her September appointment.

“I'd like to see you gain a little more weight. Now that you're past the queasy stage you probably will.” Caroline nodded, but then wrinkled her brow. “Blood pressure's a little elevated. I wouldn't worry about it. You're probably a bit tense from driving here. The fog's been bad all day.”

“I haven't felt the baby move yet.” Caroline was almost afraid to say this.

“Eighteen weeks? Hmm. You will soon. Everything is normal. Heartbeat is just fine.”

“You're sure?”

“You're into your second trimester. The biggest hurdles are behind you.” Dr. Carney patted Caroline on the arm. “Listen, get dressed and get on your way. The only thing you need to worry about is getting home before dark in this kind of weather. I'll see you next month.”

Caroline dressed as quickly as possible and went to the outer office to make her appointment. The receptionist was talking on the phone while communicating by hand signal to the woman ahead of her, pointing at one date and then the next, and finally she wrote out a date on the reminder card. The patient took the card and stepped aside.

“Yes, yes. I understand. I'll remind the doctor,” the receptionist said, still speaking into the receiver, and then placed the phone on her desk. “Be just a moment,” she told Caroline, and disappeared down the corridor to the examining rooms. Caroline fished her calendar out of her handbag so as to be ready to write down the date for her next visit. The waiting room had emptied, and she could see that it was quickly growing dark. She waited, but the receptionist didn't return. She tried to focus on her womb, wishing again that she would feel the baby move.

“Sorry, dear.” The receptionist came back and picked up her pencil. “She'll want to see you in another month. What time of day works best for you?”

By the time Caroline got to the parking lot it was four thirty and rapidly growing dark. The fog was not too heavy here in town, but she worried about what she would find when she turned off the main road and started toward the water. She settled herself in the front seat, relieved to be in her sturdy old Volvo. In her handbag was a list of ingredients for two recipes that she had been wanting to try. One was for cookies for a care package she planned to send to Rob. However, instead of stopping at the grocery store, as she had intended, she decided to skip all of her errands in order to make it home before dark.

As soon as she turned off Route 1 on the road to East Hope, the fog thickened, as she had expected. At first it moved around her in sickening swirls, and then it magically lifted for a few minutes, giving her a better view of the road. Gradually it grew denser, and Caroline turned on her lights. Instead of making it easier to drive, the light made it harder. She was being sucked down into a sea of clouds. The sensation was one of floating, not pleasantly, with a fear of the abyss. It was almost like drowning in some kind of deep silence. Twenty feet of visibility, at most, lay ahead. When she made the turn onto Salt Marsh Road, the painted lines on the roadway disappeared altogether.

She had six miles to go, six miles of winding road, including a narrow causeway dividing the tidal marshes and the mouth of the Hope River. Caroline gripped the steering wheel and leaned in toward the windshield. She wanted to pull over, but at this point she couldn't tell whether there was any shoulder. Slowing the car to a crawl, she bit her lip and prayed.
Please,
she thought,
please
. What was she to do? Stop in the road? Hollis had told her that the fog could come in and settle for days at a time. She couldn't wait it out. Besides, it had grown colder, and the big cardigan sweater that had seemed cozy earlier that afternoon would never be warm enough to get her through the night. She was too nervous to look at the gas gauge, not wanting to take her eyes off the nightmarish scene ahead. Would a tank of gas keep a car running with the heater on all night?

Suddenly she was aware of lights behind her. She didn't dare increase her speed, but she knew she had to pull over to let this person pass. She put on her blinker, held her breath, and eased the car slowly over to the right. With relief she heard the crunch of gravel and drew to a stop. She was thankful she had not driven into the marsh. The car behind her passed and stopped just ahead of her. The driver appeared to be getting out, and the figure of a man emerged from the cloud. With shaking hands, she lowered her window.

Will rested his hand on her door and looked in. “I thought I recognized your car. Are you okay?”

“Oh, thank God it's you,” she said, greatly relieved to see his familiar face. “This is awful. You must think I'm crazy, but it's like I've completely lost my nerve.” Caroline had never liked driving in poor visibility. She felt especially vulnerable now. “Maybe it's because of the baby. . . .”

“I'd offer to drive you, but your car might be hit if you leave it here.” He looked out into the swirling mist. “Do you think you could follow me? I'll take it slowly. I've driven this stretch a lot.” His voice was encouraging.

Tears of relief welled up. She swallowed. “That would be wonderful. Yes, I'm sure I can do that.”

He looked behind them. “We're taking a risk just sitting here. Once we get across the causeway there'll be no danger of taking a swim.”

“Thank you. I didn't think I'd ever get home.”

“We're not there yet.” He smiled and touched her shoulder gently. “Just stay behind my lights—think of it as a little Maine adventure.”

Caroline watched his thin frame disappear into the fog and then saw the comforting sight of his brake lights and left-turn signal. She put her car into gear, checked for lights behind her, and eased back onto the road. It was impossible to see the outline of the green Jeep, but just knowing that the red lights were his allowed her to continue. Will drove slowly. Other than the familiar rumble of the motor, and the sound of her own breathing, the car was dead silent. A few minutes later the road curved to the right. They approached the causeway, where a single line of boulders was the only barrier between them and the open water. Caroline kept her eyes on his lights.