Gypsy Beach (21 page)

“I’m gonna go talk to Roby and see if I can
figure out exactly what he’s after. I’m sure it’s cash, but who
knows. The whole thing is insane. Roby may have a deed, but it’s
unregistered. According to the great state of North Carolina, the
Inn never really existed to the Deed Registrar. Of course, it
always existed to the Tax Office, but because most public officials
can’t get their heads out of their asses they never put two and two
together. Taxes were paid about half of the time until Sienna paid
them off and got it out of probate. This could be a disaster.
Gypsies took over that beach during the Depression, and I can’t
figure out who the fuck owns what. Roby seems just as nutty as
Sienna’s grandmother.”

“Hey, watch it,” Ryan barked.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, she’s perfect. You’re
happy. I’m thrilled for you both, but Ry-man, Gypsies aren’t
exactly the most ethical people. You just make sure she’s not
taking you for a ride. This Roby guy is a character, but he swears
her grandmother did him wrong, and if I don’t find something to
prove otherwise, he’s gonna own that Inn unless she pays him for
it. I’m talking the current appraised value.”

“She took out a loan to make the repairs, and
she’s struggling to pay that back before she has renters. She can’t
make a mortgage, and I don’t have anything to give her to help.
She’s my only customer right now.” Panic seized Ryan as he
considered Sienna losing her home.
I stayed in my van some and
in these gross hotels the rest of the time.
No, he would not
let her lose the Inn. It was the only place she’d ever really been
at home, the only soft place in the whole cruel world where she had
been accepted. He’d been hoping to run it with her, but whatever
happened, wherever they lived, if he did convince her to marry him,
he would not let her lose the Inn that had raised her.

“Yeah, well, just don’t get yourself too
involved, Ryan. God only knows what Alexa will pull next, and this
mess Sienna’s gotten into, I’m just not sure I can get her out of
it. I’ll let you know when I’ve talked with Roby and gotten a look
at that deed. I’ll come by tomorrow.”

“Do you want to stay with us?” His mind was
reeling over the information John had force fed him, but if he was
coming all the way to Gypsy Beach to help, Ryan at least owed him a
place to sleep.

A derisive chuckle sounded in his ear. “I
think I’ll get a hotel near the courthouse, you know, outside of
the, ‘Oh Ryan, oh Ryan, oh Ryan, yes, yes, yes,’ splash zone.”

“Funny.” Ryan rolled his eyes, not
particularly in the mood for John’s forthright demeanor or his lewd
jokes.

“How’s my baby girl doing?” John changed
course quickly.

“Evie’s great. Sienna took her to the library
while I work on these decks.”

“You sure that’s a good idea, man? You really
trust her?”

“I’m not going to tell you to fuck off
because you’re my best friend and you’re helping me out, not to
mention the fact that you’ve basically gotten me through the last
ten years of my shit life, but if you ever ask me that again, we’ll
be rethinking our relationship. You got that?” Unmitigated gall
reverberated in Ryan’s tone.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. You just be careful.
I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Returning to his work, Ryan tried to navigate
through the issues surrounding the ownership of the Inn. Nana had
lived there since before Sienna’s birth. Surely that counted for
something. Clearly she had paid Roby along the way. There had to be
a fighting chance for Sienna to take full ownership without paying
him any more money.

“You look like you know what you’re doing
there, son.” Frustrated with the distractions, Ryan lifted his head
and shut down the air compressor.

“Can I help you?” He tried to modulate his
voice to a more pleasant sound.

“Name’s Owen Sanders. I own two rental houses
about a mile up the coast. We’re friends of the Montgomerys. Mac
says you’re the man for making our storm repairs. But we’re wanting
it done soon, and you don’t seem to have much of a crew.”

Ryan extended his hand to the gentlemen who
appeared to be in his late 50’s and very well off. The designer
dress pants, monogrammed shirtsleeves, and Patek watch were dead
giveaways.

“Haven’t needed a crew on this build,” he
lied. “I’d be happy to give you an estimate on the houses. If I
need a crew, I’ll get one. Won’t be a problem, sir.” Earning more
money was of utmost importance. Maybe he could somehow get enough
to pay off Roby and pacify Alexa.

“Well, Mac says you’re the guy. You think you
could meet me up there tomorrow at eight to discuss what needs to
be done?”

“I’ll be there,” Ryan assured him. The man
gave him an embossed notecard clearly made for keeping in their
beach rentals. The addresses were printed along the bottom.

Weary hope tried to emerge within him. If it
hadn’t been for Sienna, he would have called himself a fool for
hoping at all. Something about having her back in his life made him
believe that maybe he could figure everything out. If the work
wasn’t enough to pay off Roby for the appraised value on the Inn,
there was only one other thing he could do, but given the
complexities of his custody case it would be extremely risky.

“I just know it was that ex-wife of his.
She’s vicious, Mac. She had those investigators go through the Inn.
How does she know Ryan and Sienna are back together?” Molly had
been pacing and fretting most of the morning.

“We don’t know that she does, but I’d say
you’re right about the investigator rifling through Ruth’s
place.”

“So, she must know about Sienna!”

“Nah, not necessarily. She might know Ryan’s
who’s rebuilding the Inn. That might be why the investigator was
scratching around. She’s wanting to know how much money he’s
making. You said she was a gold-digger. They’ve all but called her
that in the papers. And now that’s played right into Upton’s hand
with his nonsense about crime on the beach.”

The following afternoon, Ryan sat on a quilt
in Sienna’s front yard watching Evie draw on an old chalkboard
Sienna had located in the basement of the Inn. While she
methodically wrote out the letters of her name with an old piece of
yellowed chalk, Ryan dragged his fingers through Sienna’s long
hair. She was laying in his lap in peaceful contentment. He’d given
her a slightly abbreviated version of what John had discovered.
He’d downplayed the importance of the dates on the deeds and prayed
that after John talked to Roby today, he’d magically discover some
contingency that would undermine the claim completely.

The rhythmic roll of the water and the warmth
of the sunshine made it far too easy to pretend that there was
nothing more than a peaceful sunset on their horizon. Evie’s happy
chatter about what she was drawing and Sienna’s soft sighs
completed the serenity the afternoon afforded them. With each deep
breath he drew, Ryan could smell the chili that Sienna had
simmering in the kitchen. She’d been working on it all day, and he
was counting the hours until dinner. It smelled delectable. She’d
insisted that they prepare a meal for John since he was helping
them out. Still irked about John’s lack of trust and his obvious
prejudice, Ryan had begrudgingly allowed her to cook all
morning.

He refused to focus on the contingency plan
that he’d discussed with Owen Sanders while he’d worked up the
estimates for the storm repairs on the rental houses. Sanders had
readily agreed, but Ryan wasn’t quite ready to pull the trigger. He
had to check with John first, but he had Sander’s deposit for the
work he wanted done in his pocket and that brought a great deal of
peace. The work on the rental houses wouldn’t come near the price
on the Inn, but he would make this all work out somehow.

After he talked with John, he planned on
cashing the check in his wallet and driving into Wilmington to look
at engagement rings. He didn’t care if they’d only been together a
week. He’d been in love with her for a decade.

Listening for John’s Porsche to pull up, Ryan
heard his cell ring where he’d left it on the kitchen counter.
Sienna sat up so he could get it before it went to voicemail.
Revulsion automatically washed over him when he saw who was
calling. He fought not to vomit.

“Evie,” he called as he stepped back outside.
“Mommy’s on the phone.” Per the detailed temporary custody
agreement he’d demanded, the parent that had Evie was not allowed
to refuse a call from the other.

“Here she is.” He handed the phone to Evie
after his three-word greeting, which was far more than Alexa
deserved.

Sienna gave him a sympathetic smile as she
stood and wound her arms around him, weathering the foul mood that
had set upon him suddenly. He held her close, feeling her warmth
and inhaling deeply of her heavenly scent. Another wave of
contentment soothed his soul.

“Yesterday, Sienna took me to the playground,
and to the library, and she read me lots of books. And I saw the
turtles. And Sienna let me color on a big board with chalk. And
Daddy gave me a bath with lots of bubbles. And he likes to kiss
Sienna a lot.”

Ryan tried not to cringe at Evie’s
informative speech to Alexa about what she’d been up to. Sienna
bristled in his arms. “We did nothing wrong.” He wished his own vow
would alleviate the gnawing anxiety in his gut.

“Daddy.” Evie tugged on his jeans. “Mommy
needs to talk to you.” She handed him the phone.

Ordering himself not to put up with any of
Alexa’s bitching, Ryan took the phone. Sienna was staring up at him
in wide-eyed horror. He drew a deep breath.

“What?” He huffed.

“I love how you pitch a God-almighty fit just
because Bill wanted to take her for ice cream, but you can fuck
your little high-school fling in front of her and that’s just
fine.”

“I’m hanging up, Alexa.” Her rants no longer
frightened him. He’d been inundated with them endlessly for the
last five years.

“Wait!”

Ryan called himself stupid for halting.
“What?”

“I’m sorry I said that.”

Laughing at the absurdity of that, he shook
his head. “What do
you
want?”

Losing a little of her flagrant audacity, she
strangled over the words, “Mama’s not doing well. I came back from
Paris early.” He heard a genuine shudder of breath as if Alexa were
really crying. “She’s had another stroke, Ryan. Daddy says he
doesn’t think she’s gonna make it through the weekend. And she
knows. That’s the worst part. She knows she’s dying right now. She
asked to see Evie one more time. Can I please come get her or meet
you somewhere? Please. I’ll sign another two weeks with you or
whatever John keeps getting me to do, if I can just get her and
take her out to Emory so Mama can tell her good-bye. I’ll bring her
back when she passes. I swear… it’s not…it’s not gonna be long.”
Another muffled sob tugged at Ryan’s heartstrings.

He’d never been a big fan of Mrs. Baldwin as
she was just as uppity and conniving as her daughter, but she had
gone downhill quite a bit in the last year. She’d had a stroke,
just before Alexa had filed for divorce, that had left her bound to
a wheelchair. The doctors had told them that she wouldn’t last
another year. It appeared they were correct.

“I’m not lying. You can call and talk to
Daddy at the hospital if you want. I swear.”

Assuming it would be easier to deal with
whatever John discovered on his trip out to Roby’s farm without
Evie around, Ryan sighed. “Yeah, okay, fine. John’s on his way
here. I’ll square everything and meet you with her in Florence
tomorrow. But you’re bringing her back here next week. No more shit
with my truck, and no more flying off and abandoning her. Be
civil.”

“Okay, fine.” Alexa hated to negotiate as
that generally meant she was having to give up something.

“And call off your dogs, Alexa. You’ve taken
me for everything. The money’s gone.”

“Don’t push your luck, Ryan.” Her derisive
sneer returned with a vengeance, but he had to try. “I’ll see you
tomorrow.” She ended the call. As always, he felt like he’d been
siphoned dry after talking to her.

Evie lifted up her hands as soon as Ryan
shoved the phone in his pocket. He gathered her up in his arms and
drew Sienna in as well. He hugged them tightly, desperate to hang
onto them both.

“Evie, Gram is sick again, and she had to go
back to the hospital. Mommy would like for you to go back to her
house for a few days so Gram can see you, but then Daddy and Sienna
will come back and get you, okay?”

“Did they give Gram medicine?”

“They are giving her medicine, baby, but I
think you would really cheer her up.”

“I can draw her a picture and bring it to her
with Mommy.”

Ryan kissed his precious little girl’s head.
“I think she would really like that.”

Sienna tore several pages out of one of her
sketchbooks, and Ryan located the bag of crayons he kept for Evie
in his truck. She sat at the kitchen table coloring get-well
pictures for her grandmother.

Ryan kept constant watch out the windows as
the sun began its decent into the water. John still hadn’t made an
appearance, and Ryan’s nerves were getting to him. He didn’t want
to think about handing Evie back over the next day. He didn’t like
these visits that didn’t have an exact ending date. If her mother
hadn’t passed by the next weekend, he was getting his little girl
back.

Just as Ryan and Sienna had decided to go on
and eat, John’s Porsche pulled up beside the Suburban. Ryan held
the new front door open, wondering what on earth had held him up
for so long.

“First of all, the whole damn county is
nuts.” John huffed as he dropped his briefcase and flung his
sportscoat on a nearby chair.

“Uncle John,” Evie cried as she raced into
the sitting room to welcome her godfather.