Find Wonder In All Things (20 page)

“I thought I recognized you! How are you, Dr. Edwards?”

“Cooper, please. No need to be so formal.” He clasped her hand in both of his. “I’m fine, just fine. And you’re doing well, I see.”

“Yes.”

“How’s your father?”

“He’s good — still at the marina of course.”

“I haven’t seen him in ages. I remember when he wrote me you were coming to Benton, but I never had you in class.”

“I’m not much of a history buff, I’m afraid. I took the bare minimum requirements, and I was out of there. I think I had Dr. Pinehurst for those.”

“Yes, well, you’re forgiven if you spent your time learning to make this beautiful pottery. May I look?”

“Oh, of course.” She gave him the spiel about natural dyes and lead-free glazes.

“Are you living here in Lexington now?” he asked, turning a pitcher over and looking at the price on the bottom of it.

“No, I’m still living in the same area where my family is. In fact, this is my younger sister, Spring.”

“Hello, Spring, how are you?” He gave her a friendly, but disinterested smile.

Spring bobbed her head in a curt nod. “Hi.”

“And my brothers are around here somewhere.”

“Ah, yes — the mischievous twins. I’ve heard some great stories about them.”

Laurel laughed politely and took in the appearance of her father’s friend while he looked over her work. Cooper Edwards was handsome for an older man. About her height or maybe a wee bit taller, his dark hair was trimmed short and streaked elegantly with gray at the temples. A goatee and wire-rimmed glasses gave him a scholarly appearance. He was fit; he looked like he might have been a runner, and his slender hands had a manicured, well-kept look to them.

“I think I’ll take this one.” He held a pitcher out to her. “It’s lovely.”

“Thank you. It’s one of my favorite designs, too. I love the blues and greens in it.”

He fished out his wallet and paid her in cash. “I’ll have to get down there to see your father sometime soon. You’ll tell him I asked after him, won’t you?”

“I will. I’m sure he’d be happy to hear from you,” she said in an absent-minded manner as she wrapped and bagged his purchase.

“Well, take care then.” He took her hand in both of his and winked at her. “It certainly was good to see you again.”

“Bye.” Laurel stood and watched as he walked away, looking once over his shoulder and tossing her a final charming smile.

“Well, he seemed nice.” She turned back to her pad of receipts and put the carbon between the next two sheets of paper.

“I didn’t like him.” Spring wrinkled her nose in disdain.

“Why not? He was friendly.”

“He creeps me out.”

“Oh, Spring, you’re just being obstinate. He’s a friend of Daddy’s.”

“Hmm,” Spring said noncommittally. “Whatever . . . ”

“Boy, I’m starting to hate that word,” Laurel mumbled under her breath.

“Who was the old dude holding your hand?” Crosby bounded up and picked up an orange and red bowl. “Oooh, I like this one. I haven’t seen it before.”

“He said he’s a friend of Dad’s from school, and he teaches at Benton.”

“An old prof of yours, then?”

“No, I wasn’t ever in his classes.”

“How did he know you?”

“Well, my name is on the front of the table. And I think I met him once or twice a long time ago.”

“You doing any good today? Sold any dishes?”

“Yeah. How ’bout you? You get any leads on prospective landowners?”

“Got several interested in the new development that’s opening up across the lake — you know, next to the newer, bigger marina. Gave out a bunch of my cards too. Maybe something will come of it.”

“We can hope.”

On the drive home, as Crosby and Dylan slept and Spring buried her nose in a book, Laurel considered her new acquaintances. What different feelings they provoked in her! Susan and Gary were very nice but stirred up a fevered kind of anxiety inside her. It was hard to talk to them without constantly remembering their connection to James, but with time, maybe she could overcome that. She was glad she’d met them and could see why James was so fond of them. Like him, they were good people — forthright, plainspoken, and yet, kind too.

In contrast, Cooper was a bit of an enigma, and somehow, that also drew her interest. Her father would be glad she had spoken with Dr. Edwards. She believed they once had been great friends although, over time, they had drifted apart.

Laurel had to admit she was charmed by the man. He was pleasant, well mannered, and probably quite interesting to talk to. She wondered though . . . He had asked after her family but hadn’t mentioned any family of his own. But that intriguing train of thought was interrupted when Dylan woke up and put in a
CD
, and the two of them had a great time belting out ’80s tunes all the way home.

Chapter 17

The next weekend, Laurel went out on Dylan’s boat with Ginny, Stuart, and her brothers. As Dylan steered past a couple of jet skis and a pontoon, a sudden shout from Stu startled her out of the pleasant lethargy brought on by the sun, the drone of the motor boat, and the wind in her face.

“Hey, Dylan, turn the boat around! It’s James.”

Laurel’s eyes popped open and she squinted in the direction Stu pointed. Another boat bobbed in the wake and Laurel’s eyes were immediately drawn toward one of the boaters, shirtless and leaning over the stern, pulling in a ski rope. He turned in response to the shout and held up his hand in greeting, a toothy smile gleaming in his tanned face. James had developed quite an outdoorsy look to him since he’d arrived, and Laurel thought it suited him. She turned her attention to the rest of the group and saw two men and a woman she didn’t recognize scattered about the boat, but it was difficult to discern their features given the distance. Laurel surmised they could only be the famous EMP think tank and found herself very curious about the people who knew more about the man James had become than she did. She was interested — but undeniably apprehensive — when Dylan indicated a small beach where they could all meet up.

They tied up at a little dock floating just a few feet from an area of dirty sand, flat enough to hold a few chairs and maybe a little hibachi grill.

“Hey, Stu, imagine meeting you here!” James came up and the two shook hands, James reaching up to clap him on the shoulder. “Hi, Virginia,” he nodded. He looked at the rest of the party. “You guys need to come over and meet the California crew.”

He led them over, and Stu whistled. “Nice boat, James.”

“Oh, it isn’t mine. I rented it for a couple of weeks. Not much use for it when it’s just me, but I thought it might come in handy while I had guests. Had to show them the best of the area, and a boat’s the best way to do it.” He turned to his friends.

“Stuart, this is Eric Harville and his wife Millie, and this is John Benwick. Guys, meet my old buddy Stuart Pendleton. This is his wife, Virginia, and her brothers, Dylan and Crosby Elliot, and her sister Laurel.”

Eric gave a small start of recognition at Laurel’s name, and cast a quick surreptitious look between her and James. Then he stepped forward and held out his hand to her. He was an average-looking guy with a pleasant aura about him. “It’s nice to meet you.” He turned to the others and shook hands with them as well. “This is quite a big crowd for just one family,” he remarked.

“We have another sister too,” Laurel replied with a serene smile, “but she’s seventeen and too cool to come out with us old folks. She went to the movies with some friends.”

“Wow, lucky you,” Eric grinned. “I have no sisters or brothers at all — except for these two bucket-heads. Millie and I think of them as the brothers we never had. She’s only got one sister.”

Millie Harville stepped forward then. “Hi, it’s so good to meet you. Any friends of James, you know, and all that. I’ll be glad to have a couple of women to talk to finally! I can only stand computer and sports talk for so long before I just wig out!” She was the classic California girl: blonde hair, perfectly straight teeth, bubbly personality, and a cute figure.

“Are you the ones with the baby?” Virginia asked, suddenly interested. “Is he with you?”

“Oh no, we got a babysitter for today.” Millie shook her head. “We couldn’t bring him out here. All this hot sun and deep water — that life jacket would have just made him miserable. And you know if he’s miserable, we’re all miserable!” She giggled. “I heard you’re expecting your first.”

“Yes.” Virginia beamed.

Millie took her arm, already forming the alliance of two women sharing the experience of new motherhood. “Have you been feeling well? Oh my gosh, I was so sick at first, but then it got better later on . . . ”

Laurel, having nothing to contribute to that conversation, turned to the last member of the party.

Of the three men, John Benwick was the most stereotypically ‘nerdy.’ Thin and pale, he wore retro-looking, horn-rimmed glasses and stood at the edge of the crowd. His hairline was starting to recede slightly, but he was far from unattractive. He was very pleasant-looking in that gentle, beta-male sort of way. He gave Laurel a cautious smile. “So you’re Laurel Elliot. James hoped we’d get to meet you while we were here.”

“He did?” Laurel was genuinely surprised. She thought James would have done his best to avoid her and make sure his friends did the same.

“He said you were an artist — a potter.”

Laurel nodded. “Guilty as charged.”

“My fiancée was an artist too. She worked in graphic design, but she painted china as a hobby.”

“Yes, I read that she passed away recently. I’m so sorry.”

A sad smile crossed his face. “Thank you. It’s not been an easy time. Fiona was a wonderful woman. The world lost an incredible person when she left it. She was Eric’s cousin; did you know that?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, I guess it’s one of the reasons the three of us have stayed close, even after the buyout.”

“I can imagine. It’s good to have friends to lean on in times like that.”

“I have a book that Fiona published: a coffee table book of her work. Would you like to see it sometime?”

“Yes, of course I would. Did she have a certain style that she preferred?”

“Her favorites were Asian designs. There’s so much Asian influence in the art on the West Coast.”

Laurel felt a prickle on her neck and turned around, only to see James eyeing her and John as they talked. When he caught her looking, he quirked his lips in a little smile and turned back to his conversation with Crosby.

“James has a lot of fond memories of this area from when he was a kid. He’s talked about it a lot over the years. That’s why Eric and I couldn’t say no when he invited us to join him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he decides to settle down here someday.”

Laurel groaned inwardly. Watching James settle down with a wife and kids in her back pocket sounded like hell on earth to her
.
Unable to think of a fitting reply, she was relieved when Virginia called to her.

“Laurel, hey — come here a sec.”

“Excuse me.” Laurel smiled apologetically at John, and then went to join her sister and Millie, who had been chatting with their heads together for several minutes.

“Millie has invited all of us for supper tonight. Isn’t that nice?”

“That’s all right with you, isn’t it James?” Millie called over her shoulder.

“Is what all right with me?” he called back.

“If we all descend on your place for supper,” Virginia answered.

“I don’t know what you’ll find there to eat, but it’s fine with me otherwise,” he replied.

Millie rolled her eyes in mock exasperation. “We’ll stop and get something on the way home — maybe spaghetti and salad? Oh, can you do spaghetti, Virginia? Will your stomach take it?”

“It sounds great. What time?”

“About 7:30 or so?”

“We’ll be there. Laurel, can you stop at Dad’s and pick up a couple bottles of Chianti?”

“You can get wine here? I thought it was dry.”

“Oh . . . um . . . our dad . . . ” Virginia began.

Laurel chimed in. “Dad keeps wine on hand for company. He won’t mind a bit.”

“I mean . . . I know I can’t have any,” Virginia went on, her equilibrium returning. Even after all those years, the mention of her dad’s contraband still unsettled her. “But I thought everyone else might enjoy some.”

“Sounds wonderful. I think I’ll splurge on one glass tonight, even though I’m still nursing.” She giggled again. “Speaking of Trevor, we’d better be getting back soon. You know, time to feed the little prince. If I don’t get there in time, I’ll be pretty miserable, and so will his babysitter.”

“I imagine so,” Virginia replied. “Thanks for the supper invite. We’ll get some wine and dessert together and see you around 7:30.”

“See you then.” Millie beamed. “Good to meet you, Laurel!”

The rest of the party said their good-byes and parted ways.

Laurel climbed in the boat and sank down onto the rear seat.