Fortunate Harbor (15 page)

Wanda’s Wonderful Pies did a steady business all morning, and by three o’clock Wanda shooed Dana out the door. A few slices of this and that remained, but since the shop was closed on Sunday and Monday, Wanda wasn’t baking more. She told Dana to rest. The real work would come on Tuesday and Wednesday, when they prepared forty pies for the Statler reception.

Dana considered staying in town. Lizzie and Olivia were at a friend’s birthday party, and since Alice was playing bridge with friends, Dana had promised she would pick them up at six and bring them home for dinner. But with nothing to do except a little shopping, she drove home instead. Outside the front door, flowers drooped from lack of water. Inside the house, laundry cascaded out of the basket. In her bedroom, the bed whispered sweetly. Bed won hands down. She set the alarm and slipped between the sheets.

At five the alarm pulled her from bad dreams. The moment she woke she forgot most of the details, something she had trained herself to do. Of course she had been running. That part wasn’t new. Nor was her pursuer, a man who was larger and faster than she was. More than that she didn’t need to know.

Having the house and the bathroom to herself was a luxury. She let a long shower wash away what was left of the nightmare.

When she got back in her car, she had just enough time to stop for a rotisserie chicken and salad fixings on the way back to town. Wanda had made the girls a luscious chocolate “Vesuvius” pie, and they would be thrilled with dessert.

Plans changed when she turned her key in the ignition and nothing happened. Lately the car had been harder and harder to start. Now there wasn’t even a rumble in response.

Grunting words she would never say in front of her daughter,
she slid out and popped the hood, although she wasn’t sure what she was looking for. As she’d feared, she saw a complicated engine, and despite an auto maintenance class, she couldn’t remember one thing that might help now.

She didn’t hear footsteps until Pete Knight was just a few feet away. Startled, she stepped back.

He held up his hands. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Maybe we should tie a bell around your neck.”

He nodded, casual, nonthreatening. “I was over at Tracy’s house doing some work on her gutters. Saw the hood go up. It’s a distress signal.”

“I wasn’t signaling anybody.”

“Then you have the problem taken care of?”

“Not exactly.” Her shoulders drooped a fraction. “I’m guessing the battery finally expired. I should have replaced it a while ago.”

“Words we’ve all said.” Pete leaned under the hood.

“You don’t have to help,” she said.

He backed away and straightened. “Okay. Would you like me to anyway?”

She imagined Olivia and Lizzie waiting impatiently for her arrival. She imagined the mother who would, by now, be more than ready to have her house back. She imagined trying to call a cab, or asking one of her neighbors for a ride—if any were home.

As if he had all the time and patience in the world, Pet watched her decide. She supposed if Pete Knight had followed his fortunes to Hollywood, the studios would have cast him in Gary Cooper remakes, the strong, silent cowboy putting the world back together all by himself.

“Maybe you and I ought to start over.” She summoned the shadow of a smile. “I’m not always this prickly.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“I’m just used to doing things alone.”

“I know the feeling, but nobody’s expected to be good at everything. Me, I can’t imagine raising a little girl.”

“Me, either.”

This time he smiled, which softened his face. Tracy had told her Pete was ex-military, but now she thought there might be more to the man than following orders and doing his duty. He had a dimple in one cheek that hinted at another side.

“I’m sorry I’ve been so…” She shrugged.

He gave the hint of a nod. “Let’s take a look at the battery. The car’s old enough it’s probably not maintenance free, so it could be low on water.”

Dana had babied the Geo Metro for years, but love wasn’t going to hold it together forever. She watched as he slipped on sunglasses, then leaned over again and began to unscrew battery caps.

“It’s got six cells,” he told her, as he unscrewed. “A couple look about empty. Make that three. There’s a mark inside each, and the water should be level.”

“Water will fix it?”

“You have distilled?”

“No, darn it. And I’m supposed to pick up Lizzie and Olivia in town in a few minutes.”

“I have some in my truck. I’ll get it.”

“You’re really handy to know.”

He left for Tracy’s, and she admired the view. He was wearing shorts, and his legs were long, tan and muscular. She imagined she wasn’t the first woman who had appreciated the way his shorts fit his well-toned, masculine body.

He drove back in his SUV and pulled up alongside her before he got out. He opened the back and retrieved a gallon
jug of water. “We’ll have to jump it afterward, but might be the water will give you a little more life before you have to buy a new one.”

“Do you rescue damsels in distress a lot?”

“Just the ones who look like they’d be good to know.”

“I’m surprised I fit in that category.”

“I’m not sure about you, but I do like your daughter. She just assumes I’m a good guy. I don’t have to pass tests.”

“Ouch.”

“Wasn’t meant to hurt. That’s the difference between adults and kids. Lizzie doesn’t know what kind of world it is out there. I figure you do, and you’re careful for a reason.”

“Any mother raising a daughter should be careful.”

“You won’t get an argument from me.”

She was not quite ready to be swayed, not without a little grilling. “Where are you from, Pete?”

“I own a little place up in Alaska that feels most like home.”

“Alaska?”

He looked up from the battery. “Doesn’t appeal to you?”

“It appeals a lot. I’ve always wanted to visit Alaska.”

“You went the wrong way.”

She laughed. “Didn’t I, though? And you, if Alaska feels like home, why are you in Florida?”

“My place is out in the country. I tried spending a winter alone and couldn’t finish it. So I’m looking for someplace different to hang my hat for the worst part of the year.”

She wondered if that was all he was looking for. Another place or someone to share Alaska with? Then she wondered why that had occurred to her. She lived by one ironclad rule: Don’t get involved. And the moment she started trying to figure out somebody’s motives, she was halfway there.

“What about you?” he asked. “What brought you here?”

“The weather, mostly. Lizzie has asthma.”

“Florida’s good for that? Seems like all the molds and pollens would make it worse.”

“I guess every case is different. Might be that we just need to keep moving around so she doesn’t have time to develop allergies to palm trees and hibiscus.”

He finished filling the cells and screwed the tops back on. “We’ll jump it now, and hopefully the charge will hold awhile.”

Silently she changed the grocery store rotisserie chicken to something she could buy at Randall’s while she left the girls in the car with the engine running. Fish sticks or frozen corn dogs.

Pete hooked up cables in record time and told her to get behind the wheel. The engine started with a reassuring roar.

She rolled down her window, and he came around. “That’ll do it. Just don’t turn off the engine too soon. Make sure it’s had time to run.”

“Will do.” She leaned out. “Not sure what I’d have done without you, Pete. Can I—”

“You’re not going to offer to pay me, are you?”

She was sorry the thought had zipped through her head. She supposed payment had been a way to keep him at arm’s length, to lessen the impact of a neighborly act.

“Can I interest you in some pie?” she asked instead. “Dinner’s not going to be much, I’m afraid, but if you’re still around, we have Vesuvius pie for dessert, disgustingly decadent.”

“Thanks, but one of my fishing buddies has a son playing first base for his Little League team tonight, and I promised I’d watch.”

“That sounds like fun.”

“You and the girls could join me. I think he’s about their age.”

Dana tried to imagine something that ordinary. Sitting in the
stands with a bunch of other parents, cheering on somebody’s son just for fun. Sitting beside Pete Knight, maybe feeling the length of his leg against hers. Lizzie and Olivia laughing and running around under the bleachers.

She opened her mouth to say no, but before she uttered the word, she saw her answer in his eyes. She closed her lips. She hated doing what was expected. Among other things, predictability was dangerous.

“Yeah.” She smiled. “Believe it or not, I like baseball. I’ll ask the girls. If they want to come, we’ll meet you there. Can you tell me where the field is?”

He looked surprised. She thought he might even look pleased. He gave directions. Then he pulled out a handkerchief and cleaned a smear off her side mirror, something she’d intended to do for a week.

Finally he stepped back. “So, if they’re willing, I’ll see you there.”

“Thanks again.”

“My pleasure.”

As she drove off, she wondered about that. Did Pete Knight just like helping people? Was he an old-fashioned guy who saw service as his duty? Or had there been more to getting her back on the road again? And if so, what?

She wondered what it would be like to have a normal life, to accept help and friendship without questioning the motive behind it.

She suspected she would never know.

Tracy was sorry she had to attend Henrietta’s banquet alone. She’d been told to bring a guest, but when she sheepishly resorted to inviting the other women at Happiness Key, they turned her down. Wanda knew she would be exhausted; Alice was playing bridge; and Dana was babysitting. Even Janya, who rarely left home unless she was working, was going off to dinner with Rishi.

For one split second Tracy had even considered inviting CJ or Marsh. She hoped she never felt
that
desperate again.

She’d planned an hour to shower and dress, but by the time she got home she had half that. Henrietta had promised to take the “official” tour at six, but for most of the day she had shadowed Tracy, asking questions and offering suggestions. Tracy liked the woman just fine, but Henrietta’s interest in every aspect of the program had doubled the time it took her to finish all the details. Now she was afraid she was going to be late.

At home she showered in less than a minute and sprinted
half-naked into her bedroom to pull on the dress she’d chosen, a Nina Ricci strapless sheath with a bolero jacket. The simplicity belied the price, and anybody who knew clothes would understand that. It certainly wasn’t new. She was out of the designer world now, but the dress was classic enough to remain in style. She slipped on the appropriate undergarments, then carefully stepped into the dress and even more carefully zipped it.

Right up to her waist.

She sucked in a breath, and the zipper slid to the point where she had to reach over her shoulder to finish. Except that as she reached, she realized that if she continued, she would have to wear the dress forever, because unzipping it was going to be impossible. If she wanted to eat, if she wanted to breathe, she had to find something else.

She reminded herself the sheath had always fit like a second skin, but previously, she had been too vain and foolish to let that stop her. She unzipped it with some effort and went back to her closet for another look.

She didn’t have time to try on everything appropriate. She reached for a green silk dress with a bow that tied over her breasts and draped gracefully to a skirt that poufed over her hips. So, okay, this one hid more of her body, and it was cute, not sexy, something she’d been forced to buy for her role in a friend’s wedding, but the dress was still a designer original, and she could breathe as often as necessary. Anyway, who was going to notice her tonight?

She did her makeup in record time, left her hair down, and fastened on dangly diamond earrings and a small pendant. Since her shoes still fit, she chose her favorite peep-toe pumps. The woman who looked back from the mirror was not elegant
or provocative. She looked fresh, friendly, even pretty. Unfortunately, she still looked like somebody’s maid of honor.

There was no time to do anything about that. Tracy threw the necessities into a little purse that went with the shoes and silently congratulated herself on attending the banquet alone.

At the rec center, she parked in the staff lot and gathered the scripts for the children doing presentations on the tour. If anybody got nervous, she could hand them their lines.

She started toward the front door, reaching the public lot just as a familiar rental car brushed past and screeched to a stop in a space in front of her. A rental car she’d last seen parked in front of Marsh’s house.

Instead of kicking the tires, she stepped around the rental, head held high, as if she hadn’t noticed that Sylvia had nearly run her over when there were dozens of empty parking spaces along the row. She hadn’t expected Sylvia to show up tonight. Yes, Bay was one of the guides, but Tracy had, at most, expected to glimpse Marsh as he delivered or retrieved his son.

The driver’s door opened and Sylvia stepped out. “Oh, Daisy. I’m sorry. I didn’t see you until it was too late to change course.”

The passenger door flew open, too, and Bay popped out. “Tracy!” He circled the car and threw his arms around her waist. Tracy could not ignore him.

“Hey, kiddo, you all prepared for the tour?” She ruffled what was left of his hair after a swim team buzz cut.

“Bay, you’re going to mess up Daisy’s sweet little outfit.” Sylvia looked stunning. Her midthigh-length dress was the palest possible shade of blue, with tiny straps and a ruffle along her breasts. The fabric seemed to be rows of ribbon, and it fit as if it had been tattooed onto Sylvia’s perfectly proportioned body. Her blond hair fell in symmetrical waves past her shoulders.

“Not a problem,” Tracy said, looking back down at Bay. Silently she prayed he
would
mess it up, so she would have an excuse to go home and change. So what if she couldn’t breathe or eat? At least the sheath would give Sylvia a run for her money.

“I gotta go!” He pushed away.

“I’ll see you downstairs,” Tracy promised. She started to follow, hoping Sylvia would take the hint, but Sylvia kept pace beside her.

“You look
so
comfortable,” Sylvia said. “It’s hard to know how to dress in this heat. Too cold inside, too hot out. But I just had to wear this dress. Marsh is so fond of it.”

“You may be a little chilly,” Tracy said, since about 99 percent of Sylvia’s skin was exposed. “And a little dressed up to watch Bay tell visitors about swim team.”

“Oh, Marsh and I are going to the banquet. Didn’t you know? He’s agreed to be on the board next year. I suppose that will make him your boss?”

Tracy wasn’t sure which was worse. Marsh and Sylvia together at the banquet, or Marsh on the rec center board. Or possibly her almost insurmountable urge to push Sylvia into the row of prickly shrubs beside the entrance.

“You know, what you do here is so admirable,” Sylvia said. “Playing games with children. Camping. Hiking. Or whatever it is they pay you for. I always thought jobs like yours were done by much younger women. You know, sorority girls working their way through college.”

Just a little to the right. One well-aimed shove, then a horrified apology.
My goodness, I am so sorry I stumbled, and there you are, facedown in the bushes….

Tracy glanced at Sylvia. “I have a degree in recreation, and
a
job
. How’s your job search coming? It can’t be easy finding one now with the economy and, well, everything….”

“What do you mean, ‘everything’?”

Tracy considered all possible answers, including the one in which she would push Sylvia into a metaphorical prickly shrub, which in this case was the job from which Sylvia had just been fired.

Once upon a time she might have taken pleasure in that. Okay, not that long ago. Apparently she still wasn’t beyond
thinking
about it, but now she seemed to be too mature to follow through.

She supposed that was a good thing, although there was very little immediate satisfaction built into it.

“Everything,” she went on, although grudgingly. “You know, trying to relocate to Florida after Manhattan. Making new contacts. I’m sure it feels like you’re starting over.”

“Oh, not at all. I have connections everywhere. It’s a matter of time and finding just the right place.”

“I wish you luck.”

Sylvia stopped and took Tracy’s arm—and not with a friendly grip. “Listen, don’t play with me, Tracy. You want me out of Florida. Don’t pretend otherwise. You want my husband, and you want my son. Don’t think I don’t know.”

Tracy shook her off easily. “Marsh is your
ex
-husband, so in case you missed that class in law school, that means you are no longer married to him. And I’m not trying to steal your son. I’ve just filled in for you when you were too busy to be a mother, which was, until recently, all the time.”

“You don’t know a thing about it.”

Tracy expelled a long breath. “Listen, Sylvia, we can fight over Marsh. I’m game. But I’m
not
fighting over Bay. I would
never do anything to hurt that kid. As little enthusiasm as I have for being nice to you, for his sake, let’s try to get along. He adores you. I can live with that.”

“You don’t have to. I don’t see Marsh breaking down your door, and Bay doesn’t need anybody to fill in for me. I’m right here.”

“Then I suggest you enjoy what he wants to show you tonight and stay out of my way, okay?”

“And you stay out of
ours
.”

Tracy knew better than to utter another word.

Inside and fuming, she made the rounds, making certain children were stationed appropriately and everything was running smoothly. Although by now Henrietta had toured every nook and cranny, Tracy was impressed with her enthusiasm when, dressed in a lovely peach silk suit, she moved along the official route escorted by Woody and Gladys and several members of the present board. She listened and nodded, speaking to each child and calming their stage fright with casual questions.

No disasters ensued; no child got so nervous that he or she couldn’t remember what to say. The displays looked lovely, and even the nursery, with the lights turned low, didn’t look like a place from which a responsible mother would run screaming and clutching her newborn against her chest. She saw Marsh at a distance when she was finally heading upstairs from the pool area to the gym, where the banquet was being held. She steeled herself to spend an entire evening trying not to watch him sitting beside Sylvia, gauging whether Sylvia’s crusade was working.

On autopilot, she nearly ran straight into another man.

She stepped back, and her eyes widened. “CJ!” She glanced around, saw they were too close to others for the rest of what she’d been about to say, and jerked him into the nearest corner.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded.

The faintest hint of a smile played on his lips. “Attending the banquet. How about you?”

“What kind of game is this? You can’t be here without an invitation.”

“I have an invitation.” CJ’s gaze flicked behind her, and the smile bloomed. “Nanette!”

Tracy’s head jerked around of its own accord. At their rear, a radiantly smiling Henrietta Claiborne was coming up fast.

“Nanette?” Tracy grabbed the jacket of CJ’s suit, a very nice suit indeed.

“I’ve always called her Nanette. All her friends do, TK.”

“Don’t call me that!” But it was too late to say another thing. Henrietta was now in earshot.

“CJ! CJ!” Henrietta took both of CJ’s hands and leaned forward to kiss him on his cheeks. “I am so glad the government finally came to its senses! But what a terrible ordeal they put you through.”

“I’m looking ahead now. And speaking of looking, you look wonderful. You’re getting younger.”

She grinned. “I see you’ve met our Tracy. She’s the darling of the rec center, aren’t you, Tracy?”

CJ didn’t allow Tracy to answer. “I can’t believe you don’t know….”

“Know what?” Henrietta’s eyes were sparkling. “A secret? Someone’s kept a secret from me?”

“Tracy’s my wife.” CJ’s gaze flicked to Tracy when she gasped, then back to Henrietta. “That is, she’s my
ex
-wife, I’m sorry to say. I forced her to divorce me when I was afraid I was going to be in prison the rest of my life. She came here to start over.”

Henrietta looked shocked. “But I never met her. You,” she added, looking at Tracy now. “Why not?”

“I have no idea,” CJ answered smoothly. “She had a busy social life of her own, didn’t you, TK? We weren’t always together at the same events. Maybe that explains it.”

“Tracy, why didn’t you tell me you’re married to my good friend CJ Craimer?” Henrietta demanded.

“But I’m not…” Tracy tried again. “Anymore. And I had no idea you, umm…even knew CJ.”

“Of course I do. We have a million friends in common, and we were once on Hydra together for a lovely week-long house party.” Henrietta snapped her fingers Zorba style and hummed a few bars before she leaped back in. “When I heard he was in town, I made sure he was invited tonight. How silly, though, since of course, you two are here together.
I
didn’t even have to invite him.” She was beaming again, this time like a satisfied matchmaker.

Tracy was afraid that next Henrietta was going to launch into a solo from
Fiddler on the Roof
. Before she did, Tracy knew she had to correct the impression that she and CJ were about to retie the marital knot, because the only knot she wanted to tie anywhere in her ex’s vicinity was a noose.

“We’re not together,” she said bluntly. “Not here, and not at all.” She thought of Gladys. She thought of the center. And on the heels of both, she thought that she really did like Henrietta and didn’t want to be unkind when the woman clearly wanted to help. Tracy struggled to find an acceptable way to state her feelings. “There’s been too much… We’re both…”

“What TK’s trying to say is that she’ll need some convincing before we have a genuine reconciliation,” CJ said. “But I understand. I put her through a lot.”

“Oh, my dear,” Henrietta told Tracy, shaking her head.

Tracy tried to imagine how tonight could get any worse. Im
mediately, as if all the heavenly hosts had planned for the moment, she got an answer. When she looked up, Maribel Sessions was heading toward them, her expression as predatory as Sylvia’s.

“Let me guess,” Tracy said softly. “Your date, CJ?”

Henrietta wisely took in the situation, then put Tracy’s arm through hers as CJ went to intercept the other woman.

“I know how to fix this.” And before Tracy could stop her, Henrietta proceeded, in great detail, to tell her.