Find Wonder In All Things (16 page)

Benwick is conspicuously absent, and it is obvious his business partners feel it. They explain that he is caring for an ill relative. Both men spend several minutes raving over John Benwick’s abilities, as well as his character.

The future of this close-knit team, however, is uncertain. The terms of EMP’s sale agreement prohibit the three from developing any competing software for five years.

“We’re not sure what we’ll do next. We’re just taking things one day at a time,” Harville says, skillfully evading the question of EMP’s next phase.

Marshall continues, “We started this as friends having fun, and we would love to continue working together. We’ll just have to see what life has in store for us and make our decisions accordingly.”

Whether they form another formidable software team or strike out on their own, one thing is certain – these three young men took passion and skill, and turned it into a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. They’re set for life.

After that, Laurel couldn’t get enough. She scoured the press for information and found out that James earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from San Jose State University. He met Benwick and Harville at college, and they started their company the year before graduation. Another article announced that software whiz kids James Marshall and John Benwick had made a list of the most eligible bachelors in Silicon Valley, with James being touted as the better catch, given that Benwick was engaged. Then about a month before, Laurel read that John Benwick was grieving the recent loss of his fiancée to a rare and aggressive form of metastatic melanoma.

Laurel had fallen in love with James Marshall when he had nothing, but seeing evidence of his success made her both proud of him and, if she were honest, a little wistful too. At times, it was hard not to regret her decision to stay at Benton all those years ago. She reminded herself that she was a young girl of eighteen at the time, and what he wanted her to do was rash and fraught with the potential for disaster. Her mother’s advice was reasonable to give a teen-aged daughter — although in those first awful months, Laurel wondered whether her mother’s motives might have been more than a little self-serving.

With the perspective of experience, however, Laurel’s views on her decision changed. She now wished that she had been brave enough to take that chance and follow her heart or at least try to find some middle ground. Unfortunately, Laurel could not see any compromise at that time in her life, and her doubts, along with the persuasive arguments of her parents, convinced her to let James go. In many ways, her life path was set when she made that choice. The older women in town called her another ‘Elliot hermit,’ an unfortunate spinster in the making. The rest just called her odd or eccentric — the lady who lived all alone at Uppercross Hollow without a phone, modern conveniences, or anyone to keep her company.

She was a little surprised that some blonde, California girl hadn’t snapped up James already. She had never met another man like him. He was right when he had said she made a mistake, but it wasn’t because he was now rich and successful. It was because no one else had ever touched her heart the way he did.

Chapter 12

“So what do you think about the place?” Virginia Elliot Pendleton twirled around the living room of the house she and Stuart would call home for the next few months.

“I thought you said you rented a cabin,” Laurel replied. “This is like a palace.”

“A palace is not made out of logs. With the wood floors and stone fireplaces, it’s positively rustic, don’t you think?”

Laurel wandered to the wall of glass that opened out to a second-floor deck and an incredible view of the lake. “It’s lovely, Ginny.”

“Thanks.” Her sister seemed pleased with Laurel’s praise, yet she was nonchalant about the relative opulence in which she lived compared to the rest of her family.

“Oh,” she went on, “I meant to tell you earlier, but it slipped my mind — pregnancy brain, you know.”

“Yes?”

“Stu heard from James Marshall, and he invited him down here to stay a couple weeks this summer.”

Laurel felt her stomach sink to her sandals. “James?” she whispered.

“Yeah, you and he had that fling a while back, I remember, and I told Stuart it might be a little awkward for you, but he was so thrilled to hear from him again, and he’d already asked him, so . . . ”

“How did Stuart find him?”

“James found us if you can believe that. It was weird the way it happened. Crosby was looking for a place for us at the same time he was helping James’s sister Susan and her husband find a vacation home around here.”

“Oh?” Laurel said weakly, trying to mask her expression and fiddling with some papers on the counter.

“James told them how much he loved the lake when he was growing up, so when Susan’s husband was discharged from the Navy, they started looking here for a place. We met them while we were house hunting and struck up a conversation. We made the connection, and she told James, and the rest is history. James called Stuart that weekend to catch up.”

“I see.”

“You can handle this can’t you? I can’t imagine it would be awkward for you now. That was so many years ago, and you were just kids. It might be kind of fun to get to know him again since he’s a big millionaire now.”

Laurel said nothing.

“With Carrie and Heather, and now James too, we’re going to have a full house for the month of June,” Virginia went on, wiping off windows with a Windex-soaked paper towel.

Laurel mentally rolled her eyes at the mention of Stuart’s younger sisters. They were nice enough and fun to be around, although they could be a little silly at times. Heather was just graduated from college — tall, slender, and very beautiful. And boy, did she know it. Carrie was her faithful sidekick, one year younger and slightly more animated in personality.

“The whole month, huh?” Laurel picked up the window cleaner bottle and read the label. “Hey, are you sure you should be breathing this stuff? Is it good for little Junior?”

“I’m not breathing it, sister dear, I’m cleaning with it — and it’s fine.” She smiled. “Don’t call him or her little Junior; I’ll get in the habit of it, and I’ll never be able to think of a name. Mrs. Pendleton’s already trying to get me to commit to traditional family names like Opal and Harvey.”

“Junior’s better than those,” Laurel quipped.

“So, the girls are arriving in a couple days.” She led Laurel through the hallway to one of the bedrooms. “I’m going to put them in here. They’ll have to share because James will be in the other guest room here.” She walked further down the hall. “This is the master bedroom, and it has a bath off to the side. Isn’t it great?” Virginia’s voice was full of excitement.

Laurel nodded, smiling at her sister. She put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Virginia returned the one-armed hug. “You know, I worry about you up in that cabin all by yourself, especially given Mom’s problems. I don’t want that to happen to you.”

“Oh, don’t worry about me.” Laurel waved her hand in dismissal. “I’ve been told that as long as I’m growing and changing, it’s not the same as hiding away.”

Virginia flopped down on the bed. “But are you growing and changing? Or is it just more comfortable to stay here?”

“Mom and Dad need me, and I hate to spend too much time away from home until Spring is out on her own. She’s going to need help with college applications and all that. We both know Mom is no good with those things; she’s already crying about her baby leaving home. And Dad doesn’t do details; you know how he is. He’s got so much on his plate with the marina . . . ” she trailed off.

“It’s that bad?”

“Well, I mean, he’s scraping by, but the marina is old and things need repairing. The restaurant needs a menu update and new décor. There are only so many times I can re-paint the walls to freshen up the look a little bit. It’s just all starting to look shabby, especially compared to the new place they’re building across the lake.”

“Sounds like you’ve got a lot to keep you busy then. If I were a good daughter, I’d help more. But now I’ve got the move to deal with, and the practice to keep track of, and the dental office to re-do . . . ”

“And the baby in the oven,” Laurel reminded her.

“Well, there’s that,” Virginia agreed.

With a shrug, Laurel went on. “It’s fine. You gotta do what you gotta do.”
Besides, it’s not like I have anything better to do.
She tried not to let bitterness creep into the back of her mind.

Virginia rolled over onto her back. “It’s a risk, you know, moving back here. Not a financial risk — I think the dental practice combined with the orthodontics Stuart wants to develop will be a great success, but I don’t want to get embroiled in all that Mom and Dad mess like you have.

“I don’t mean to criticize you; honest I don’t. It’s just . . . it’s just not for me. I can’t deal with them.”

Laurel shrugged. She’d like to get out of that mess too, but somebody had to help out, and somehow it had fallen to her. She supposed it was just her lot in life.

Chapter 13

The next week saw the arrival of James Marshall at the lake. Virginia and Stuart were excited about seeing their old childhood friend, and Carrie and Heather felt all the anticipation that the appearance of a rich, single guy could bring. Plans were made for a celebratory dinner at the Brownsboro Inn, the nicest restaurant in the local small town. There they would meet up with Susan and Gary, James’s sister and brother-in-law, who had recently moved to the area. Laurel dreaded that first meeting with James, but it ended up going well enough.

She waited along with Stuart’s sisters, who were already on the deck at Pendleton Place, as they were beginning to call it. Before long, they spied a black BMW snaking its way up the mountain road. The excitement from the girls was palpable, though Laurel kept her emotions hidden from view.

“I wonder if he’s as handsome as his picture in
Forbes
,” Carrie wondered aloud. “I don’t remember him being that attractive when we were growing up. Didn’t he used to clean tables at your father’s restaurant, Laurel?”

“Hmm? Oh, yes, he did — one summer.”

“Was he good-looking then?”

“I suppose.”

“Well, you know they always stage the photos in magazines to put people to their best advantage,” Heather sniffed. “But I always say money makes men better-looking.

Carrie laughed.

Heather went on, “I’d be more interested in whether he has any personality at all or if he’s just one of those engineering geeks who can only talk about computers and Star Trek.”

“He’s not like that,” Laurel said in a quiet voice.

“Oooh, really?”

“He’s a musician, actually . . . a guitarist. The software his company developed records and mixes music tracks.”

“How interesting,” Carrie remarked. “Maybe he’ll play the guitar for us. I wouldn’t mind having a millionaire serenade me around a summer night campfire.” She giggled.

They heard the crunch of gravel down below and the slam of a car door. The sound of men’s voices and warm greetings drifted up when Stuart and James saw each other for the first time in several years. The door below opened and banged shut. Laurel felt her heart beating against her ribs, but she forced a neutral expression and followed the girls inside to face her past.

“Heather! Carrie! Laurel!” Stuart called up the stairs. “Come say ‘hi’ to James. The prodigal friend has returned!”

The girls bounded forward with welcoming embraces and exuberant hellos.

“And of course, you remember Laurel.”

James stepped around the girls, and Laurel had to stop herself from gasping. He looked good . . . really good. He’d always been tall, but he had filled out the way men do in their late twenties. His shoulders were broader than she remembered, but his hair was still that rich brown color; she had forgotten how pretty it was. He looked at her with those captivating eyes she remembered so well, but in them, she saw only intellectual interest. There was no anticipation, no emotion. Well, that was to be expected, she told herself. He had surely moved on years ago from whatever attachment he had to her.

With a brief smile, he said hello, and made a vague ‘good to see you again’ comment. Then he turned to Stuart. “Where do you want me to put this bag, Stu?”

“Oh, here, I’ll take it. Heather, get James a beer would you? I’m going to go see what’s keeping Virginia.”

“Sure thing,” Heather took James’s arm and led him into the kitchen area. “Wait till you see the view from the deck. Laurel and I were just talking about it when you drove up.” Laurel watched him as he walked, but she stayed put, unable to follow. She sat down on the couch with a heavy thud.

Stuart came down the hall a couple of minutes later and gestured to her. “Hey, Sis, come here a sec.”

“What’s wrong? Is she okay?”

“She’s sick. It’s like morning sickness but not in the morning. It isn’t a problem normally, but today seems to be a bad one. I guess she overdid it with the cleaning or something.” He glanced over at the clique in the kitchen. “I’d stay with her myself but . . . It’s just that with James coming in today and the dinner at Brownsboro tonight . . . ” He hesitated.