Sea Glass Cottage (18 page)

Jazz yawned in response and crawled closer until the pup was right up next to her master.

“Good idea. We’ll go back to sleep huddled together. I won’t let him hurt you or anyone else,” Isabella muttered to the dog. But she knew those words were a weak reminder of what Henry was capable of doing.

“We’ll go back to sleep,” she repeated, rubbing Jazz behind one droopy ear. “We’ll kick his ass if he shows up here, won’t we girl?”

But there was one problem with that plan. Years earlier she’d gotten a glimpse into what true evil looked like. She knew him to be an attractive man who showed up often bearing a smile and most times, gifts or trinkets geared to impress his quarry.

Good thing she was no longer interested in anything Henry Navarro had to offer.

F
rom a haze of sleep, Thane heard a series of yips and whines coming from somewhere in the room. He rolled over to see that it was barely four-thirty. His first thought centered on Jonah. Was that the boy moaning in his sleep? Was Jonah sick? Maybe it was the ice cream and peanut butter he’d eaten before bedtime.

After he’d eliminated everything else, Thane remembered the puppy. That thought had him zeroing in on the end of the bed. Movement caught his eye as the dog bounded over and started licking the hand that stuck out from under the covers. The action told him she was either missing her sister or needed to go outside. With a reluctant, but resigned motion, Thane got up, wandered over to the patio door in his bedroom and slid back the glass. He watched as Jax scampered out into the backyard and into the darkness.

He stood there on the cold floor, his toes curling as he tried to keep an eye on the canine while she sniffed every blade of grass in the yard.

“Come on, hurry up. It’s chilly out there.”

A few minutes later the pooch came back obviously pleased with herself by the constant wagging of her tail.

“Good girl, Jax,” Thane said as he rubbed her ears. “If you promise to do that every morning instead of peeing on the tile floor, I’ll treat you to bacon and eggs for breakfast.”

In total agreement with the deal, Jax woofed back.

Thane flopped back down on top of the mattress hoping to catch more shuteye. Without an invitation the dog hopped up next to him, burrowed into his body. He didn’t have the energy to make her move and fell asleep with the dog nuzzling the side of his face.

The next time he opened his eyes, Jonah was shaking him awake. “Daddy, I’m hungry.”

“What? Oh. Sure. Eggs. I’ll fix eggs.”

“But I don’t want eggs. I want cereal,” Jonah said stubbornly, standing next to the bed, clutching his puppy. “But Jax wants eggs.”

Thane threw back the blanket, stared at his son’s hair sticking straight up from sleep and his Spiderman PJs. He looked at the clock, noted, they had overslept.

“We need to hustle. This is your fault,” he said to Jax as he scrubbed a hand behind the dog’s ears.

“Do I get cereal?”

As a father, there were times that called for strict guidelines and a stern hand. But after last night’s ordeal with Bobby Prather, Thane decided giving in on a simple request for breakfast was hardly worth a major battle. “Is a bowl of Cheerios more to your liking then?”

Jonah pumped a fist in the air and took off for the kitchen, sliding down the hallway with his dog in the process.

Thane followed and found Jonah scrambling up on a stepladder so he could reach the bowls. Two dishes clattered on the counter.

After searching the pantry for the box of cereal Thane took out the milk and waited for the right time to discuss what he wanted to address before Jonah headed for school. They both were well into digging into the food when Thane said, “I want to talk to you about Bobby Prather.”

“Did you find him?”

“I didn’t but Mr. Cody did.”

“He’s the chief of police. He’s coming to the school next week to talk to our class.”

“Great. Look, I need to ask you something. Since school started has Bobby always said mean things to you?”

“He says mean things to everybody.”

“But he didn’t bother you before school started, right? I mean, we’ve been right here in the same neighborhood since June. Yesterday on the playground was the first time Bobby singled you out, right?”

Jonah bobbed his head up and down, slurped his milk.

“I need to ask a favor. I want you to try to hold your temper when dealing with Bobby, okay? No matter what he does or says, I want you to try and ignore him.”

“Why? I want to bash his face in.”

“I know you do. But fighting him won’t help you or Bobby. Besides, he’s older and outweighs you by a good fifteen pounds. Let’s try another approach.”

“Like what?”

“Let’s try one that’s a lot more difficult, a harder one. I want you to do your best to make friends with him. You and Tommy should ride bikes with him or something.”

“No, Dad! Bobby’s mean. He says nasty things.”

“Bobby says those things because he’s not happy at home.”

“Why isn’t he happy? He has two parents.”

“He just isn’t. Sometimes it doesn’t matter if two parents are in the house. Families are made up out of happy people and sad people. Sometimes sad people rule the day and turn out to be the meanest. Trust me on this, okay? So how about we try and help Bobby out. Why don’t we start slow. How about you invite him over here this afternoon after school?”

“Do I have to?”

“No, you don’t have to. But it would be a nice thing if you did. Who knows? You might actually find you have something in common. You might actually like each other. Think of it as an experiment.”

“Sounds like no fun to me,” Jonah muttered.

“If it doesn’t work, we’ll try something else. How’s that sound?”

“Like no fun at all.”

Inside Sea Glass
Cottage, Isabella woke to a wet, sloppy tongue slicking the side of her face. Jazz looked ready to go for a potty break. The puppy didn’t mind letting her master know it either. It was the dog’s persistent jumping that had her throwing on a robe.

“Okay, okay. I’m getting up as fast as I can.”

Isabella moved over to the French doors and flung them open. The pooch raced out into the sunshine and Isabella followed out onto the terrace, watched as the pup explored her new terrain.

A little nervous about the day ahead, Isabella stood there and realized how long it had been since she’d last held a job. Before her ex, that was for sure. The idea of starting to work again after all this time made it difficult for her to build up any real excitement. But she’d already committed to River Cody. That meant someone was counting on her to show up on time. Because of that she’d go through with it. After fifteen minutes waiting for Jazz to finish her business, Isabella gave up on the dog and went into the kitchen to start coffee.

As she listened to it drip through the automatic brewer, Isabella found her thoughts drifting to Henry Navarro. She considered calling Logan or Thane to talk things over with them but decided she didn’t want to interrupt their regular routines. After all, Logan had twins to help care for and Thane had to get Jonah ready for school. It didn’t make sense to complain to them about her ex and the uneasiness she felt. Where was the careful prep she’d done for the past several years? She’d taken enough self-defense courses for six people, learned to shoot a variety of weapons, and trained her head to defeat the ex who had such a hold on her. 

But despite all that, during quiet, peaceful moments like this morning, memories often overran her thoughts. Maybe because this time of day, when she’d had trouble sleeping the night before, she’d think back to times when her life hadn’t been this serene.

Annoyed with her focus, she called the dog back into the house, turned the locks, and went into the bathroom to shower. While the water sluiced over her body, she thought about Thane. He was so unlike her ex. Thane exuded self-confidence without the haughtiness and malice she’d rarely seen in a male. In her mind, Thane brought out masculinity in an attractive way each time he interacted with his child.

Out of the shower, she fiddled with her hair, tried a new style by putting it up in a bun and decided it looked ridiculous that way. She let it trail down to her shoulders.

Moving into the confines of her closet, she suddenly realized if she rode her bike, she had to pedal down the hill to the museum—a fact that impacted her choice of outfit. Standing among a sparse selection of jeans and dresses, she sifted through hangers and wondered what ensemble would work best. River hadn’t mentioned a dress code and she hadn’t thought to ask.

She decided to play it safe and settled on a longish flowered skirt, paired it with a pink crop top and a bold orange jacket.

Over two toaster waffles with maple syrup, Isabella sipped her coffee, enjoying the solitude—except for the slurping sounds coming from the corner of the kitchen. She chuckled at the way Jazz had taken to her water dish and food. “Nothing wrong with your appetite,” she noted in the dog’s direction.

When it came time to leave, she grabbed the leash she’d picked up at Murphy’s Market from the peg in the entryway and checked her image in the mirror. At the last minute she decided to tie her hair back instead of leaving it down. Pleased with the outcome, she grabbed her purse and called to the dog.

“You’ll have to stay at Thane’s today,” she told Jazz on the way to where her bike was propped up at the side of the house. But then she stopped in her tracks. “What am I thinking? I can’t ride my bike. You’d have to follow me and you’re too little for that. You’d never be able to keep up. We’ll walk to work.” She started down the hill with Jazz at her heels. “Today, you’ll get to spend time with Jax and then I’ll pick you up after I get done with work. You’ll see, the time will pass quickly.”

Once she reached level ground, she thought long and hard about buying a car. But the day was so beautiful with the water glistening in the bay that it signaled all the advantages of being able to walk such a short distance to a job.

For a Tuesday Ocean Street seemed busier than usual. People were out and about early. Flynn McCready stood on his stoop holding a broom and grunted as she strolled by. She waved to Dan Jenkins at the bait shop who was in the process of helping a customer load bags of ice into his pickup.

Malachi Rafferty, owner of the T-Shirt Shop, said hello as he dragged his sign out onto the sidewalk. The ad made sure everyone knew that if you bought three shirts he’d give you a nice price break for the money.

Jazz had to stop several times to sniff each tree along the route and, at times, fought the leash. Near the pier the pup wanted to bolt toward the bay. Isabella couldn’t figure out why until she caught sight of Scott standing at the end of the wharf. That explained Jazz’s reaction just like the night before, she decided.

It was the smell of crab cakes cooking inside The Pointe wafting on the breeze that made her remember she hadn’t bothered to pack a lunch. Ah well, she’d get back into the rhythm of going to work soon enough. She’d run over to the Diner whenever she got hungry.

When she spotted Thane at the end of the block walking Jonah to school she waved for him to wait. She and Jazz caught up with them just as Jonah darted off to talk to his friend, Tommy.

Thane cocked his head and eyed the golden brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. “Hey there, you look beautiful and all ready for your first day on the job I see. Love the skirt.”

“Thanks. The Archers must be great at potty training a dog. Jazz didn’t have a single mishap overnight.”

“Same with Jax. We’ll have to find a way to repay their efforts.”

“Agreed. Well, she’s been fed and shouldn’t give you any trouble. Oh, look, Thane, there’s Bobby Prather.”

“I’m about to head inside now to talk to Julianne Dickinson.” He told Izzy about his plan to befriend the troubled boy. “If it goes well this afternoon, I’d like to see if Bobby’s parents will let him come to a sleepover this weekend at my house.”

Isabella stared at him. “You know what? You get more and more handsome every day that passes.”

“Really? Why?”

“Because you’re an amazing human being, Thane Delacourt, add in the fact that you’re completely in tune with who you are as a father, and it makes me want to…”

About that time a voice from a nearby house broke up what promised to be an interesting offer. Logan came running up. Instead of finishing her thought, Thane watched as she waved over her shoulder.

“Gotta get to work. Take good care of my dog. See you guys later...”

He watched her walk away and glared toward Logan. “Did anyone ever tell you that you have rotten timing?”

“Hey, you heard the woman. She has to get to work. She has no time to play kissy face with the likes of you standing in the middle of the street.”

Thane shot him a sarcastic bent. “What would the town do without that artful bulletin from Logan Donnelly?”

“It’s a gift, I know. I wanted to thank you for your help last night looking for the Prather boy. Did you see the way the town came together in such a short amount of time?”