Sea Glass Island (8 page)

“There you go,” Ethan said. “Proof positive that it can be done.”

But while the examples set by Ethan and even her sister were inspirational, Samantha couldn’t quite envision what sort of satisfying niche she could carve out for herself.

Since she had no answers, she announced, “I’m ready for food. How about you? I don’t have Grandmother’s skill in the kitchen, but I am capable of whipping up omelets and toast. Do you have time, or do you need to get to the clinic?”

“Sounds good, and I have time. Greg opens today. I go in around eleven and stay to cover the evening hours.”

She lifted a brow. “Was that a deliberate choice?”

“What do you mean?”

“A noble way to avoid dating on a Friday night?”

Ethan chuckled. “I honestly hadn’t considered that particular benefit. Besides, we rotate, so I’m not always there on Friday nights. Sometimes I cover Saturdays instead.”

“Sounds like a win-win for a man who openly declares he doesn’t want to date.”

“Or I can just be straightforward and say no when people try to set me up on a blind date,” he suggested. “That’s worked reasonably well, too, at least until your family got involved.”

Samantha thought about that as she led the way into the house. As she pulled eggs, cheese and ham from the refrigerator, she wondered what might have happened had she and Ethan crossed paths under different circumstances, without all the pressures of being participants in a wedding, without all the well-meant matchmaking.

As she whisked the eggs, she glanced his way. “Ethan, do you think things might have been different if all these people hadn’t been meddling in our relationship?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you have to admit with everyone caught up in wedding fever, it adds an element of stress to the situation.”

“You mean because it’s so clear that some people would like to see us be the next couple to walk down the aisle?”

“Exactly, though I do think they’re counting on Wade and Gabi being next. But you get the idea.”

“Possibly,” he conceded, “but the truth is our paths might not even have crossed if it weren’t for the wedding. You might not have been pulled back to Sand Castle Bay. You could be packing your bags for Los Angeles or fighting tooth and nail for some Broadway role. The wedding has brought you here and given you a time-out to think about the future. It’s all good, Samantha.”

He took a deep breath, then met her gaze. “Despite the meddling, I don’t regret that we’re getting to know each other.”

“I don’t, either,” she said softly, hoping that her heart wasn’t in her eyes. Because the better she got to know Ethan, the stronger her infatuation became. And given his adverse reaction to any kind of involvement, that was a surefire path to heartbreak.

* * *

Ethan might have told Samantha that he didn’t believe in regrets, but right this second he was deeply regretting that he didn’t have time for another run to drive all thoughts of the tantalizing woman straight out of his head.

Discovering that she had hidden depths and her own share of uncertainties tapped into a long-buried desire to be somebody’s knight in shining armor. He’d thought that working with his group of special-needs kids would satisfy that urge, but apparently that couldn’t compensate for the far more personal role he wanted to play in a woman’s life. At least this woman’s.

“This is bad, Cole,” he lectured himself as he drove home, showered and changed clothes. Since he wanted to stop by the high school en route to the clinic, he wore khakis and a dress shirt, rather than the scrubs he often wore to work.

At the high school, he went to the office and asked to speak to Regina Gentry. “I’m Ethan Cole,” he added.

The teen working at the desk regarded him with awe. “There are pictures of you on the wall outside the gym,” she said, giving him an adoring look. “And you’re, like, a real war hero. Hold on a sec. I’ll page Mrs. Gentry.”

When she’d made the call to the drama teacher, she came back and stared at him as if she were absorbing every detail. Ethan squirmed under the intense scrutiny.

“I’m Sue Ellen, by the way,” she said. “I’m a senior. I just work in here during my study period. My grades are great. I don’t need the extra study time.”

“Good for you,” Ethan said, wondering if this happened to be Sue Ellen the twit, who’d gotten the part in the play over Cass. She certainly had the eye-batting thing down pat.

Thankfully, Mrs. Gentry arrived within minutes, looking flustered. “Ethan, I couldn’t believe it when Sue Ellen told me you were here. It’s been a long time.”

“A very long time,” he agreed, recalling the English class that had nearly destroyed his grade average. He’d never quite grasped all the fuss over Shakespeare, which had deeply offended the woman whose passion was not only for the written word, but for drama.

“What brings you by?” she asked.

“Could we speak privately?” he suggested, noticing Sue Ellen’s avid interest in their exchange.

“Of course,” she said, leading the way into the hall. “I’m afraid there are students in my classroom, so it will have to be right here.”

“This is fine,” he said. “I wanted to speak to you about Cass Gray.”

Her expression immediately turned somber. “What a sad, sad situation,” she said, her voice laced with pity. “She had such a promising future ahead of her.”

“And you no longer think that’s the case?” he asked, annoyed by her condescending tone.

“How could it be? No one wants to see someone without an arm onstage. It’s uncomfortable. The audience will be so focused on that, it will ruin the production.”

She said it with such pious certainty that Ethan nearly lost it. He made himself tamp down his anger. Yelling wouldn’t accomplish a thing. He needed to educate her, instead.

“Do you think when I’m sewing up a bad gash in my clinic, my patients care that I have no leg?” he inquired.

She blinked at the softly spoken query. “It’s not the same thing. They come to you for medical care, not to be entertained.”

“Let’s go at this from a different direction,” he suggested. “Is Cass a good actress?”

“Of course. I had such high hopes for her before she was injured.”

“Isn’t a good actress supposed to be capable of engaging the audience in the play, making them forget all about reality?”

“Yes, but it’s hard to ignore that the child has no arm, Ethan. It would be cruel to put her in front of an audience and allow people to feel sorry for her.”

“I think it’s just as cruel to rip her dream into shreds without even giving her a chance.” He leveled a hard look into her eyes. “You crushed her spirit.”

“Well, I never intended to do any such thing,” she said indignantly. “I just did what I thought was best for her and for the production. I didn’t want her subjected to ridicule.”

“Is the person you cast a better actress?”

She hesitated at that. “Sue Ellen’s a beautiful girl. You met her just now. I’m sure you saw that for yourself.”

“That isn’t what I asked. Is she as talented as Cass?”

She looked flustered by the question. “She’s quite competent,” she said eventually.

“And you’re not the least bit worried that she’ll blow her lines and be subjected to ridicule, as you put it?”

“I intend to work closely with her,” she insisted. “She won’t blow her lines. Sue Ellen has the lead. I can’t very well take it away from her now.”

Ethan sighed. “Look, I didn’t come here to get you to change your decision. I was just hoping to give you another perspective on some possibly unintended consequences of what you did when you kept Cass out of the lead and even out of the cast.”

“She needed a reality check,” Mrs. Gentry insisted. “Better that it come now, rather than down the road from someone who won’t care about her as people here do.”

“I disagree. If she has no talent, a time will come when she needs to face that,” Ethan told her. “I don’t think it was up to a high school drama teacher to destroy something she’s worked toward for years, and certainly not based on whether or not she has an infirmity.” He held her gaze, his expression unrelenting. “Just something to think about.”

He turned and walked away, then stopped and faced her again. She was still standing exactly where he’d left her, obviously shaken. “By the way, I have to ask,” he said. “Were you focused on my missing leg while I was delivering
my
lines, Mrs. Gentry? Or did my message come through loud and clear?”

She looked vaguely chagrined by the question. “You made your point, Ethan. I’ll think about what you’ve said. I’m not so old I can’t learn from my mistakes.”

He gave a nod of satisfaction. “All I’m asking.”

* * *

Ethan was sitting behind the desk in his office catching up on patient notes when the door burst open and Cass came bouncing in, the color in her cheeks high, her eyes sparkling.

“What did you say to Mrs. Gentry?” she demanded. Though she tried to sound indignant, it was evident she was thrilled by the outcome.

Ethan feigned innocence. “What makes you think I said anything?”

“Sue Ellen was all gaga because you were in the office. She couldn’t stop talking about it. She told everybody you came to see Mrs. Gentry. The next thing I know Mrs. Gentry apologized to me.
She
apologized to
me!
It was crazy. I never thought she’d do that.”

“Are you going to be in the play, after all?”

“No, but she promised she’d consider me for the next one. I’m going to work with her on this one as, like, an assistant or something. She wants me to run lines with Sue Ellen, as her understudy, which totally sucks, but hey, somebody definitely needs to do it.”

“You can live with that?” Ethan asked, though it was evident that she was eager to put her previous disappointment behind her.

“Come on,” she scoffed. “I deserved to get the lead, but Mrs. Gentry told me she was wrong. That’s huge. Teachers usually don’t admit stuff like that, not to their students, anyway. I guess I can cut her some slack.”

“Then I’m glad it worked out for you,” Ethan said. “I have to say, though, I was looking forward to seeing you onstage, knocking everyone dead with your performance.”

“You’ll probably get to,” she said with a hint of laughter in her eyes. “Sue Ellen is so not going to learn those lines. Mrs. Gentry will freak. Sue Ellen will puke. And,
bingo,
I’ll go on.”

Ethan couldn’t help laughing at the welcome return of her self-confidence. “That’s the spirit. You might want to temper it around Sue Ellen, though.”

She gave him an impatient look. “I’m not stupid,” she said. “Gotta go. I need to memorize those lines.”

“I still expect to see you here on Thursday.”

“I’ll be here,” she promised. “I figure I’m going to owe you from now till forever because of this.”

“You don’t owe me a thing,” he said. Just seeing a smile back on her face and a spark of excitement back in her eyes was reward enough.

8

“I
am going completely stir-crazy,” Gabi told Samantha on Friday night. “Do you realize I have not been anywhere or done anything without Dani since she was born? Other than that day you gave me a break to get some work done at the office, that is.”

Samantha regarded her sister with amusement. “I’m pretty sure that was your choice,” she reminded her. “Wade’s offered to stay home with your daughter. Grandmother’s offered. So have I, for that matter. You’ve turned us all down, with some very inventive excuses, I might add.”

Gabi regarded her with annoyance. “Are you making fun of me because I’m behaving like every other new mom in the universe by being overly protective of my baby?”

“Something like that, especially since Wade and Grandmother both have more experience with babies than you do.”

“Okay, so I wasn’t ready then,” Gabi conceded.

“But you are now?”

“I am so ready,” Gabi said fervently. “I want to eat an entire meal, uninterrupted. I want to get a manicure and maybe even a pedicure. I need to get my hair done. I need to shop.”

Samantha chuckled. “Okay, it’s not sounding as if you’re looking for a date night with Wade. I was going to suggest I keep Dani tonight so the two of you could have an evening to yourselves.”

“Wade has already claimed Dani for the night. He’s taking her over to his sister’s so the kids can dote on her. Now the question is, will you go on a girls’ night out with me and keep me from calling him every ten minutes to check on the baby? Despite what you think, I do recognize that I need to chill out.”

“I can do that,” Samantha said readily. “What about Emily? Is she coming along?”

“She’s having another of her powwows with Grandmother and Boone over wedding details. What they could possibly have left to plan is beyond me, but checking things off her list, then double-checking them, seems to make her happy. Who am I to question that?”

“Says the master list-maker,” Samantha teased. “I’m betting you already have a timetable for tonight written down in your day planner.”

“It’s on my smartphone, but yes,” Gabi admitted without a hint of apology. “Those organizational skills of mine are being put to good use these days.” She gave Samantha a sly look. “I can spare some time to work on a new PR campaign for you, though.”

Samantha stilled. “Is that what tonight is about? Is this your sneaky way of trying to fix up my career again?”

“No, tonight is about manis and pedis and pampering,” Gabi insisted. “The rest is just mental doodling, something to think about while we’re getting pretty.”

“If you say so,” Samantha said, but her enthusiasm for the evening ahead had dwindled just a little. “What makes you think my career needs another boost? I haven’t said a word about work.”

“Precisely,” Gabi said. “And since you’re usually brimming over with excitement when things are going well, I find that silence pretty deafening. So do Grandmother and Emily.”

“But you’re the designated interrogator?”

“No interrogation,” she promised. “Just an offer to pitch in if you want my help.”

“Let’s just stick to the makeovers, dinner and girl talk, okay? Talking about my career will just depress me. I have a lot of things to figure out.”

“Talking it through might help,” Gabi said.

“Actually I did talk a few things through with Ethan.”

Gabi didn’t even attempt to hide her surprise. “When did you and Ethan have this little heart-to-heart? Last night when he showed up at Boone’s and dragged you off?”

“Then, and again this morning,” Samantha revealed.

Gabi’s eyes widened. “Hold on. Did you go home with Ethan last night? I could have sworn you slept in your own bed at Grandmother’s.” Her mouth dropped open. “Or did Ethan stay at the house?”

“Wipe that mental image right out of your head,” Samantha scolded. “I’m not likely to bring a man I hardly know into my bed under Cora Jane’s roof. She’d tan my hide and load up her shotgun to ensure a wedding.”

Gabi laughed. “Yeah, I think that’s why Wade refuses to stay over, too. And we’re already committed to walking down the aisle once Emily’s big shindig is behind us. So, when did you and Ethan continue your conversation?”

“We went for a run together this morning,” Samantha said casually as if it were an everyday occurrence. “The coastline is especially pretty just after sunrise. In fact, everything has this lovely golden glow. I’m thinking I’d like to check out Sea Glass Island if we go running again. All those beautiful bits of colored glass that wash ashore must look amazing in that light.”

“And how does Ethan look at daybreak? Amazing?” Gabi teased.

“Oh yeah!” Samantha replied with a heartfelt sigh before she could stop herself. “The man is a god!”

“So much for any attempt to claim that you’re past that old high school crush,” Gabi said. Her expression turned worried. “Samantha, be careful.”

The genuine concern in her sister’s voice was troubling. “What do you mean? I know what I’m up against. Ethan doesn’t do relationships.”

“But you do,” Gabi reminded her. “Just not for the long term. Add in the distance, and I see a rocky road ahead. Ethan had his heart ripped out once. I’d hate to see it happen again.”

Samantha didn’t even try to hide her surprise. Why hadn’t it occurred to anyone to worry about Ethan
before
they started throwing them together at every opportunity?

“So you’re worried about him, not me?” she said, trying to clarify.

“I’m worried for both of you.”

“Well, you can stop worrying. We both understand the situation. I’m here for another ten days or so. We’re not going to do anything crazy in such a short time. We’re having fun. That’s it.”

“Bedroom fun?”

“That hasn’t come up,” Samantha admitted, then thought of the undeniable attraction always simmering just below the surface whenever they crossed paths. “At least not yet.”

“Sweetie, some men might enjoy casual sex without giving it a second thought. I don’t think Ethan is one of those guys.”

“And I’m not one of those women,” Samantha retorted heatedly. “Come on, Gabi, give me a little credit here. I don’t go around seducing men, then deliberately set out to break their hearts.”

“I’m just saying—” Gabi began, but Samantha cut her off.

“I know what you’re saying. I’ll be careful.” She gave her sister a plaintive look. “It’s just that being around him, after all those years of fantasizing about him...” She smiled. “It’s better than I ever imagined.”

Gabi regarded her with dismay. “This has gone way beyond fantasizing, hasn’t it? You’re falling in love with him, aren’t you? I’m not sure any of us really anticipated that before we stuck our noses into this. I know I just wanted a little payback for the way you all pushed Wade and me together.”

“I’m not sure I know what real love even feels like,” Samantha replied. “But, yes, maybe.”

“What do you see happening next?”

Samantha sighed at that. “I have no idea, but since Ethan is pretty adamant about not ever getting involved with anyone, it’s probably a moot point.”

“Samantha, that’s his brain talking, not his heart. If his heart and his libido get involved, the man will fall like a ton of bricks no matter what his head is telling him.”

“I think we’re a long way from that happening,” Samantha said realistically. But, that said, she couldn’t help hoping just a little that Gabi was right and she was wrong.

* * *

“Samantha, is that you?”

Samantha heard the familiar voice as she waited for Gabi to come out of a dressing room in the boutique and whirled around. “Mrs. Gentry!” she exclaimed with genuine delight. She’d worked with Regina Gentry on two summer productions years ago right here in Sand Castle Bay. She’d learned a lot from her, more than she’d learned from the teachers at her own school. “How are you?”

“I’m just fine,” the drama teacher said. “And I don’t need to ask how you’re doing. I see you on TV all the time. You’ve done us proud.”

“Hardly,” Samantha replied. “But thanks for saying that.”

“You must be home for the wedding. It’s the talk of the entire town. Everyone here is so happy for Boone and Emily. Theirs has been quite a romance. It’s nice to see someone finally get their fairy-tale ending.”

“
Finally
being the operative word,” Samantha said. “It hasn’t been easy for either of them.”

“No. It was a tragedy what happened to Jenny Farmer, but at least she and Boone had their son before she died. I know that boy is the light of his dad’s life.”

Samantha smiled. “B.J.’s great.” Wanting to change the subject and thinking of what Ethan had told her about one of his teens, she asked, “How’s the high school drama department these days? Are you working on a production?”

“Indeed, we are.” Her eyes lit up. “In fact, why don’t you stop by rehearsal one afternoon and talk to the students? I know they’d love the chance to speak to someone who’s made a career of acting. Not that most of these young people will ever travel down that path, but I have a few who want to give it a try.”

“My time’s pretty booked up with wedding details,” Samantha told her, not sure if she wanted to try to put on an optimistic front when her career was currently in such turmoil.

“An hour,” Mrs. Gentry pressed. “Surely you can spare an hour to inspire some young people.”

“When you put it that way, how can I refuse?” Samantha conceded reluctantly. Maybe she’d get a chance to meet this young woman Ethan had told her about, too.

“Monday afternoon at three-thirty in the auditorium?”

“I’ll be there,” Samantha promised, giving her a wry look. “It’s nice to see you haven’t lost your powers of persuasion.”

“I certainly hope not. I’ll see you then.”

She scurried off, obviously fearful that Samantha might change her mind if given half a chance to reconsider.

Samantha watched her go. Maybe talking about her career—the struggles and the triumphs—would be good for her, too. It might help to put things in perspective, maybe even remind her why it had once mattered to her more than anything.

* * *

“Was that Mrs. Gentry who just took off?” Gabi asked when she stepped out of the dressing room, her arms loaded with the clothes she’d been trying on. “I thought I recognized her voice.”

“It was,” Samantha confirmed. “And she just convinced me to talk to the kids in her next production on Monday afternoon.”

“Next thing you know she’ll have you directing the play,” Gabi predicted. “I’ve heard all about how she doesn’t give up when she wants something.”

“Well, that’s one thing I can guarantee she won’t get,” Samantha said flatly. “I’ve never harbored a secret desire to direct.”

“I thought a lot of actors wanted to get behind the camera at some point in their career, tell other people how a scene should be done.”

“Some do,” Samantha said. “I’m not one of them.” She glanced at the assortment of skirts, blouses, slacks and dresses Gabi was holding. “Nothing fit?”

Gabi grinned. “It all did,” she said triumphantly. “So I couldn’t decide. I’m so excited to be back to my old size I’m buying all of it.”

Samantha laughed. “Good for you. I guess that ice cream sundae I’ve been craving isn’t in the cards when we leave here.”

“Who says? I deserve a celebration after fighting for months to lose that baby weight. And I have room to spare in these clothes, so one sundae isn’t going to ruin what I’ve achieved.”

“So, how’s our checklist for the night coming?”

“Hair’s done. We’ve had out manis and pedis,” Gabi said. “Dinner at Boone’s Harbor was fantastic, though I wish he’d let us pay for the meal. I’m all shopped out. If I weren’t nursing, I’d suggest a drink, but ice cream sounds much better, anyway. I can’t tell you the last time I allowed myself to indulge in a sundae. The only treats I’ve had the past couple of months are the warm doughnuts Wade brings me with coffee in the morning. I refused to give up those.”

“What you didn’t want to give up was having Wade drop by for a morning kiss,” Samantha accused.

Gabi blushed. “Well, that was a perk.”

Unexpected tears filled Samantha’s eyes at the talk of such tender intimacy between her sister and the man she loved.

“Sammi?” Gabi said worriedly, using an old childhood nickname. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

“I don’t know,” Samantha said, swiping impatiently at the tears.

“You must have some idea,” Gabi said, pulling a package of baby wipes from her purse. “No tissues, but I have these.”

Samantha grinned through the tears. “You are such a mom.”

Gabi looked startled for an instant, then chuckled. “Yeah, I am. Now tell me what’s going on.”

Samantha didn’t even have to think about it. She wanted what Emily and Gabi had found—the love of her life, a family, a place to call home.

She’d always thought of New York as home. She loved the vibrancy, the lights, the nonstop bustle. When she’d been onstage, she’d felt invigorated. The sound of applause washing over her had been like music to her ears.