Red Lines (17 page)

He chuckled. There was no way of telling how many glasses of wine the actress had had, but he was certain in the daylight and sober she wouldn’t be saying half of this. “Well, I’m flattered. Really, but I might not be as fun as you think.” He glanced around for Jeff.

“I find that hard to believe.” She slid a hand along his arm, spreading warmth through his dress shirt. “Maybe we’ll get another chance to work together.”

“Maybe.” He grinned.

“Nice meeting you, Evan Carlson.”

He nodded. “Nice meeting you, Julie Monaco.”

She walked back to the rest of the party, and Evan wondered for just a second what it would be like if this was his life. If he accepted Hollywood, if he bought a house out here, if he attended parties every night, and dated actresses. Would he ever have any normalcy or peace? He knew all the answers staring into the canyon—hell no, nothing could compare to what he had found.

“Were you just talking to Julie Monaco?” Jeff almost stammered and shoved a beer in Evan’s hand.

“Want me to introduce you?”

“No, I don’t need another client.”

“I don’t mean for work.” Evan nudged him in the shoulder. Julie was gorgeous, he thought even prettier in person. If he weren’t with Haven, he would have waited in line to meet her too. She was subtle and mysterious. It worked for her on screen.

Jeff laughed. “Not tonight. I can’t. Hey, listen. I saw a few studio heads at the bar. Want to move in that direction?”

He’d rather stare at the canyon and count window lights, but this was for work. “Sure. Lead the way.”

For the next three hours, Evan mixed and mingled with every executive, writer, producer, and director at the party. By the end of the night, he had met absolutely everyone in attendance.

Jeff looked happy in the car on the way back to the hotel.

“You did great tonight.”

“Thanks.” Evan knew this was another part he had to play.

“I appreciate you going. I know your heart wasn’t in it, but I think it was important for the studio execs to see you in action. They’re banking millions on you, and now they know you can deliver when you have to. You’re not just a cowboy, boots, and beer guy.”

Evan turned toward him, his face shadowed in the car. “Is that what people think of me?”

“Not exactly, but you’re from east Texas.”

“You’re from east Texas,” Evan retorted.

“But I’m not the one carrying the movie on my back. It’s a little different.”

Evan wondered how much Jeff was keeping from him. It was his job to filter information, but right now that didn’t feel good. He didn’t like being in the dark.

“You never told me anyone was nervous I couldn’t pull this off. Is that what this party was really about? Dress me up and show me off?” He had liked Jeff up to this point, but he was getting angry.

“Evan, it’s my job to keep that stuff away from you, right? You don’t need to know all the behind-the-scenes politics. All you need to know now is that you successfully eased everyone’s minds. You looked like James Bond tonight, not John Wayne, and that’s the point you had to prove. You were meant to be Dexter Red, and now everyone else knows that too. It’s better you didn’t know ahead of time.”

He settled back into his seat. Was this true? Did people think he was a good-time, fun-lovin’ Texas cowboy all the time?

The car stopped in front of the hotel and Evan jumped out.

“Man, wait, don’t be mad. I swear I’m looking out for you and your career.” Jeff attempted to step from the car.

Evan landed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m not mad.” He stepped back. “You opened my eyes to some things I had forgotten to take a look at. Have a good night. We can talk tomorrow.”

The agent looked as if he was going to follow Evan into the hotel, but eased into the car.

“All right, man. If you say so. I’ll call you in the morning.” He closed the door and the car rolled out of the parking lot.

Evan strolled into the hotel and sat at the bar.

“Two shots of tequila.” He held up his fingers at the bartender. He had some thinking to do.

T
HE AIR
was warm on her face, but Haven knew summer had left. It felt like fall was on the way. She had taken her coffee to the porch and watched the boats steer out of the harbor. She missed that odd combination of diesel and salt drifting off the water.

Her mother had left at seven for her drive to Nags Head to meet the attorney. She refused to let Haven ride with her, even if she tried to bribe her with shopping and lunch. Haven realized she probably wouldn’t see her until suppertime. With a ferry ride and a trip north on Highway 12, it was almost half a day of traveling.

After last night, she didn’t know what to think about her parents. Her mother was determined to seek legal separation and vengeance. This version of Maura was a person Haven didn’t know existed.

Her father—she had no idea. What if he was planning a similar attack? Or what if he was completely heartbroken and remorseful. She knew she was grasping at nostalgia, but she wanted him to be regretful. Maybe he was working on a way to salvage his marriage. She decided she better get dressed and find out. She finished her cup of coffee, showered, and walked to the store.

The screen door creaked liked it always did, and there were boxes in the hall from a recent delivery. Her first instinct was to try to haul them into the storage room and start the inventory process, but she reminded herself she didn’t work here anymore. Nell was still recovering from her surgery and Travis was at Wave On, so she didn’t know who Denton had hired to run the register during the day. Something that had once been ingrained in her existence was suddenly foreign to her.

She tiptoed down the hall. Her palms were clammy, her breath quickened. Dad. This was just Dad.

She tapped on the office door and closed her eyes when she heard him call out, “Come in.”

Slowly, she stepped inside the office, knocking as she pushed on the door. “Hey, Dad.”

“Haven? What in heavens are you doing here?” He pulled the glasses from his face and laid them on the desk. He looked tired and older than she’d ever remembered seeing him.

“I—uh—I came to check on Mom.” She closed the door behind her. No matter who was out in the store, this conversation needed to be kept private.

He nodded. “Ahh, and how is she?”

“How is she?” Haven moved into the foldout chair in the corner.

“Yeah, how is she? She won’t return my calls. She locked me out of the house. Won’t answer the door. How is she? Seems like a reasonable question.”

“Dad, I don’t think you can ask me that.”

He stood from his chair and walked to the front of the desk where he rested against the edge. “Then why are you here?”

“I don’t know.” She expected her eyes to sting and her throat to clamp shut, but it didn’t happen. Now that she was talking to him, looking at the worried lines on his face, the dark circles under his eyes, the apprehension was gone.

“I couldn’t
not
come see you.”

Denton stared at her, and she wanted to slug him and hug him. He was still her father, but he was the man who had destroyed her mother’s life. Ruined her family.

“Haven, I don’t know what you know.” He paused. “But no matter what happens, you’re still my daughter. You’re my only child, and I don’t want you to be hurt by all of this.”

“Don’t you think it’s too late for that? I’ve already been hurt. You cheated on Mom.” There. She said it. She finally said the words that had been clawing to get out for months.

Her father exhaled deeply. “I did.”

“And that’s it?” She expected a big apology, or groveling. Something. Anything. “For months this has been going on and that’s all you can say?” She glared at Denton.

He opened his mouth to speak, but instead closed his eyes. “You’ve known, haven’t you?”

“Yes,” she replied sheepishly.

“So, that’s what happened.” He sighed. “All summer I tried to figure out why you suddenly couldn’t stand to be around me. You knew.”

Haven was determined not to feel guilty about the way she treated her father. Her tongue clamped to the bottom of her mouth.

“I thought you resented the store, being stuck here, but I was way off.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how you found out, but it was never my intention for you to get hurt.”

“And what about Mom? Did you care about her feelings when you were with Betra? Did you ever think what would happen?”

Her throat tightened and she looked around the office for bottled water. She didn’t know if she could keep this up much longer, but something was fueling her. Months of hostility. Regret that she could have stopped the vengeance path her mother was on. Hurt from feeling betrayed.

“I still care about your mother. I will always care about her. But, things have been different between us for years. I don’t expect you to understand the complications of marriage.”

“I’m not ten. Don’t try to tell me this is too much for me to handle.”

“I’m sorry. This isn’t the most comfortable conversation we’ve had.”

“I just don’t know why you did this, Dad. Why?”

“I think maybe it’s best your mother and I start living our own lives. Lives we really want to live.”

She shrank in her seat. He had already given up. “But don’t you want us to stay a family?”

“Honey, it’s not that simple. You’re right. You’re
not
a little girl. You’ve moved out. You’re living your own life. Walking your own path. We have to do the same. We’ll always be family, but I don’t think your mom and I can patch this up. And if I’m being honest, I don’t know that I want to.” He rubbed his tired eyes. “Haven, it’s not
just
an affair.”

He was supposed to fight for Maura, fight for the family, fight to spend Christmases together and birthdays, fight to be there when Haven got home. Just fight. She blinked before standing to leave. She didn’t want to admit what his words meant. He had found something with Betra, something he wanted. Something he couldn’t get anymore at home.

“I-I don’t know what else to say, Dad. It sounds so final.” Just saying that made it seemed cemented, as if she had been part of ending the relationship.

“I’m afraid it is.”

“I’ll let you know when I’m leaving the island.” She pulled on the doorknob.

“Haven, you can call me. You know that.”

She nodded and walked out of the office.

I
T DIDN’T
feel like there was much she could do to glue her family back together. Her father was resolved to let things fade away into a new life, and her mother was hell bent on taking him to the bank.

Haven climbed the stairs to the wraparound porch and sat on the swing. The tomato plants her mother always touted had withered, and only a few shriveled brown leaves hung from the vines. A white cabbage moth landed near the top of the plant and rested its wings.

It was only last night she had taken the ferry home, but it didn’t feel like home right now. She wasn’t needed, and what was worse, she wasn’t wanted.

The rope that tied her anchor to the ship had unraveled. It wasn’t all at once or with the sharp tug of a storm, but it had been wearing the fibers threadbare over time. Months, and if she really thought about it, for years. But this week, the last strand had torn free. There was nothing holding her to Perry Island, except that her heart knew it was home. It would always be home.

Her legs drifted over the herb garden and then along the wooden planks of the porch. She stopped in mid-swing.

There was one thing she could do while she was here to make this trip worthwhile.

She hopped in the rental car, turned the key, and drove around the cove to her house. She pulled up underneath the cottage. She still couldn’t believe it was all hers. Technically, she knew it was Evan’s, but he had put it in her name.

She jogged up the steps and opened the bottom apartment. One day, she wanted to combine all four units into her dream house, but that seemed like a lifetime away. She reached under the bed, pulled out her extra suitcase and a duffle bag, and started packing pictures and books. She stuffed her graduation album from Carolina into the bottom of the suitcase.