Last Chance Harbor (10 page)

“That’s ridiculous. Logan wouldn’t let that stand in the way of giving you the job.”

“Still, I appreciate it. It’ll take me years to catch up to what I had before Bethany. But I’m game.”

“I know you are. But if you want to find this woman, stick with Scott.”

“Come on, Cord. Talk about ridiculous… That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard of. We were in the same unit together.” Ryder pushed up the sleeves of the hoodie he wore, held out his bare arm decorated with the bl
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s. He tapped it with his other hand. “We got these together after training in Fort Benning. This says we’re a band of brothers. I’ve trusted you with my life in combat.”

“And you think I’d lie to you about this now? Lead you down the wrong path, give you erroneous info now? Is that it? Look, if it weren’t for Scott I wouldn’t be standing here today. That’s a fact. I’d be dead by now or in prison.”

“What are you talking about?”

“If Scott hadn’t intervened it might be me who ended up a ghost haunting this town. But I changed my life into what makes me happy. After Nick and Ben dragged me here from a jail cell in Houston, I was messed up.” Noticing the confused expression on Ryder’s face, he added, “I tried to commit suicide, Ryder. Twice. I was so screwed up back then over what happened with Cassie I couldn’t think straight. I couldn’t see anything straight, feel anything but the guilt I was carrying around. Scott was the first one who clued into my depression and saved me. Then I met Keegan. She rescued me from my second attempt.” Cord nodded toward Smuggler’s Bay and the water beyond. “I got drunk one night, waded out too far into the water. I didn’t want to live, Ryder. But Keegan saved me,” he repeated.

“You’re serious about this?”

“I am. There’s a reason you’re on Scott’s radar. If I were you, I’d take the time to find out what it is.”

Landon Jennings had
spent his whole life in Pelican Pointe. Up to the day he’d finished high school, he hadn’t been anywhere much at all. The son of rancher, Euell Jennings, Landon and his older sister, Eleanor, were well-known around town. There’d been a time when the Jennings family wielded plenty of power using cattle and timber and money as their bargaining chip. Owning the largest spread in and around Santa Cruz County along with the best stock went a long way to fattening their bank accounts. Their businesses during the fifties—a grocery store, a feed store, the bank—all thrived. Profits went hand in hand with their position and standing in the community.

But by the early seventies bad investments had forced Euell to begin selling off the land to pay off his debts. It didn’t take long till there was nothing left to liquidate except the house and outbuildings. In a matter of years, the family went from a respected place of honor to barely scraping by to finally losing everything.

Spoiled by her father since her mother’s death a decade earlier, Eleanor was used to getting what she wanted. Maybe it was for that reason she considered herself above everyone else—a combination between an heiress who’d come from old money and a celebrity who expected superstar treatment.

Whatever it was, Eleanor took the news about the family’s reversal of fortune exceptionally hard. With the delusion shattered and the bank days away from foreclosing, the rancher decided to do the only thing he thought would put everything right. He went out to the barn one warm summer evening—the barn that was about to belong to someone else—removed his rifle from its case and aimed the gun barrel at his head.

The next morning Eleanor was the one who found her father like that with half his face blown away, leaving him almost unrecognizable.

After that day, his sister had never been quite the same. She never seemed to recover from their father’s suicide or the knowledge that he had squandered away what she thought rightfully belonged to her. There was no old money anywhere and no new money on the horizon coming in.

Eleanor’s classic attitude had always consisted of one common trait. Rules were for other people to follow and not meant for her.

The embarrassment of no longer being part of Pelican Pointe’s “first family” was too much for her to bear. The humiliation of it all caused her to drink heavily. Before long she turned to drugs. Always a high-strung woman to begin with, after her father’s death, she slipped across the line until she was finally picked up for theft at a grocery store in San Sebastian.

The first time the police caught her stealing, Landon had hocked everything he owned to bail her out of jail—a television, his stereo, jewelry belonging to their late mother—it didn’t matter as long as he got Eleanor out of that awful place.

By the second time it happened though, Landon had wised up. He’d seen Eleanor for what she was. He’d been a hundred miles to the north away at college knowing full well Eleanor was never going to change. He’d gone to UC Davis to experience a little breathing room. There, he’d been able to escape his sister’s continuous drama by finding a job working at a landscape company to pay his tuition and make ends meet. He realized he liked the solitude of gardening and growing things.

While Eleanor had continued to spiral downward back in Pelican Pointe, Landon ended up with a degree in horticulture and a new woman in his life who loved plants and growing things almost as much as he did.

Shelby had caught his eye as they’d sat next to each other in floriculture class. After the two decided to get married, Landon had brought his new wife back to the only town he knew, the town where he wanted to prove himself.

Landon looked over the rim of his first morning cup of coffee at the woman he still considered his bride.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” he stated with some emphasis. “I’m willing to help the new principal out anyway I can, but I draw the line at selling her Eleanor’s house.”

“I’m not sure why this is upsetting you so much. It’s a house, Landon, not a memorial to your sister. I’m sure Cooper, Caleb, and Drea will understand selling it is a way to finally put the past behind them and move on. Why can’t you see that? In fact, if you need a push why don’t you talk to them, get their thoughts. Caleb and Drea are right here so it won’t take much effort there. You won’t have to go far to have a sit down with them face to face. Since Cooper is off traipsing the globe and won’t get back from wherever he is until summer, you’ll have to settle for Skype or sending him a long email.”

“You really don’t see the problem here?”

“I really don’t. I’m not sure why you do. The house deserves to have someone take care of it instead of sitting there the biggest eyesore on the block.”

Landon grimaced. “I mow the lawn a couple of times a month May through October. I’ve never once pushed that chore off on the kids.”

“You know that isn’t enough. This young woman is making a new start here. I think the house could use a new start, too. It’s time, don’t you think?”

“Okay, if the kids don’t have any objections I’ll pitch in and help with the makeover myself. It’s the least I can do.”

“There you go. Don’t you feel better at the idea of paying something forward, goodwill to be sure?”

“I suppose. But the kids haven’t weighed in yet.”

“Don’t worry. They will.”

The day started
with a wintery marine layer keeping the sun out and the chill in. Jacket weather, Landon decided as he caught up with Caleb, his legally adopted, twenty-three-year-old son, who was busy loading one of their delivery trucks.

“Got quite a few stops to make this morning?” Landon asked, taking in the hardworking man he thought of as his own and had since the boy had celebrated his fourth birthday.

“The usual. Taking the rest of Ryder’s order out to Taggert Farms this morning then stopping at Promise Cove to drop off Jordan’s supply of seedlings. She always orders herbs this time of year. Why? What’s up?”

Landon told him about Julianne Dickinson’s interest in the house.

“Someone wants to actually buy it? Why?”

“That’s what I said. Nick Harris and Patrick Murphy cautioned us all to do what we could to make sure the school principal feels welcome whenever she starts work here. It never occurred to me that she’d want Eleanor’s house. There isn’t even a ‘for sale’ sign in the yard. I guess that’s why I’m surprised she approached me like she did.”

“I never saw it coming either,” Caleb admitted.

Landon rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve been stewing about it since last night. Let’s face it. If she doesn’t buy it, with the school opening in the fall, there’ll be others interested in moving into town and looking for real estate. If I don’t sell it to her, there’ll be other people asking.”

“Makes sense. Now that locals have the prospect of sending their kids to a neighborhood school they’d be looking to settle here again,” Caleb reasoned in agreement, understanding the town was growing and changing. “Still, the woman’s biting off an awful chunk of work.”

Wiping the sweat from his brow despite the cool temperatures, Caleb added, “But if you think I’ll be upset to see it go, think again. I haven’t been back inside that place since I was fifteen and swiped a bottle of beer out of the fridge, snuck in there to finish it off without you knowing about it.”

“Yeah, you took two that night. Don’t forget the one you gave to your friend at the time, Steven Hedeby.”

Caleb grinned. “Yeah, I was trying to impress the jock football player. Why does it not surprise me that you even know about the beers? Never could sneak anything past you or Mom.” He closed the rear door to the van and went around to the side, faced the man he considered his father. “Look, Drea and Cooper feel the same way about that house as I do. If someone wanted to tear it down, start from scratch, I wouldn’t stand in their way.”

“You mean that?”

“Sure I do. You can ask Drea, get Cooper’s take all you want, but I’m telling you they won’t care anymore than I do who ends up with the place or what they ultimately do with it. You might want to mention the history there. How unhappy we all were. Although I’m certain there are plenty of people who’ll be willing to line up and share all the scurrilous details about Eleanor.” After making sure he hadn’t forgotten any part of the order, Caleb reached to slide the side door closed. “Could you put in a condition for me though, to the new owner?”

“A condition? What’s that?”

“See if you can get them to agree to repaint the outside.”

Curious, Landon lowered his gaze. “Any particular color?”

“Anything will do except that awful pink and purple.”

Landon smiled. “Sure. I’ll see what I can do.”