The Chesapeake Diaries Series 7-Book Bundle: Coming HOme, Home Again, Almost Home, Hometown Girl, Home for the Summer, The Long Way Home, At the River's Edge (186 page)

“Hi.” He answered on the first ring. “I was hoping this would be you.”

“Hi. How are you?”

“Mildly hungover. Wade brewed some mean beer for Jesse last night and he made everyone taste it.”

“I thought the brewery wasn’t built yet.” She frowned. “Did I miss something?”

“He bought some home-brewing setup and was experimenting. I’ll bet everyone in town has a headache this morning. Including your mom.”

“My mom doesn’t drink beer,” she told him.

“She did last night.” He chuckled. “And from all appearances, she enjoyed it.”

“I’m having a hard time picturing that, but I know
you couldn’t be making it up.” Lucy pulled her legs up under her and tried to picture him … where? “Where are you?” she asked.

“Sitting on the back steps drinking a bottle of water. I just came in from walking across the back field. I wanted to see how the barley was doing.”

“How’s it doing?” She was glad she asked. She could see him sitting there, taking long drinks of water until the bottle was empty, at which time he’d toss it end over end into the recycling bin he kept outside.

“Pretty good. I think we’ll have a decent harvest.” He paused to take another swallow. “So how did it go last night?”

“It went well. Bonnie did a great job setting it all up.”

The silence that followed was painful. She knew what was coming next.

“When do you think you’ll be able to come back?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t know how long Bonnie is going to be up north. Bob’s leg is badly fractured and they had to put a rod in it. She’d doing a terrific job considering that she’s at the other end of the state, but on game day, it’s tough on the rest of us. We have a full book from now into June.”

“What about Robert Magellan and his fiancée? Weren’t you supposed to meet with them and with Gavin soon?”

“Yes, but they’re going to have to be content with Dan and Madeline in my place. I just can’t see a free day on my calendar. Madeline can handle it. She’s done a lot this past week. She has good skills. Not a whole lot of imagination, but she’s well organized
and that’s critical.” Lucy sighed. “I know that’s not what you wanted to hear. Believe me, I wish I could say I’d be back in a few days, but it’s going to be weeks.” She hesitated, then said words she never expected to hear herself say. “I miss you. I want to be with you.”

“I miss you, too, LuLu. Do what you have to do, then come home. I’ll be waiting …”

On the Tuesday of the week before the Magellan guests were to arrive, a happy Lucy got off her plane at BWI and hurried to pick up her luggage. She had an appointment at the inn in the morning with the woman for whom she was planning the July anniversary party, but she planned to spend the rest of tomorrow with Clay. She caught the shuttle to the car rental facility, and had just taken a seat when her phone pinged to announce a text. She opened the message and found a picture of Clay standing out in front of the car rental lot that he’d obviously taken with his phone.

She laughed and texted back:
See you in …

“How long?” she asked the driver.

“Maybe five minutes,” he replied.

“Thanks,” she told him, and completed her text.

When the van arrived at the lot and the driver opened the door, Clay was standing there, waiting for her.

“You didn’t have to do this,” she said after she’d kissed him soundly. “But I love that you did.”

“I couldn’t wait to see you.” He grabbed her suitcase. “I’ll bet you paid a hefty fee to fly this baby. Did you bring one of your assistants home in this?”

“Just clothes and stuff that I’ll need,” she told him.

They chatted all the way to the inn, Clay filling her in on what was going on in St. Dennis, she telling him about the NFL players who attended their teammate’s wedding the weekend before.

Clay parked in his favorite “No Parking” spot near the inn’s back door. When he started to take her bag from the back, she said, “Leave it. It’s going home with you tonight, and so am I.”

He slammed the hatch closed and smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

“For now, let’s go in and have dinner. I need to see my mom and she’s going to want to see me, but I’m not finished looking at you yet. I can’t believe how tan you are already.”

“If you spent as much time outside as I do, you’d be tan, too.”

“I hope you’re using sunscreen,” she said as they went inside, where Grace was waiting for them in the lobby.

Lucy had called her mother when they reached the Bay Bridge, so Grace knew when to expect them.

“So nice of you to pick up our girl, Clay,” Grace said after she’d hugged her daughter. “I hope you’ll stay and let us feed you. There’s a pretty full house, but I’m sure there’s at least one table for two in the dining room.”

“That would be great, Mom. I could eat a horse. But aren’t you going to join us?” Lucy asked.

“Perhaps for dessert and coffee. Right now I’m due to interview one of our longtime guests.” Grace held up a notepad. “One of the families who was displaced due to next week’s festivities agreed to stay this week
instead. The patriarch of that family has been coming here for seventy-five years, and his entire family is here to celebrate his ninetieth birthday on Friday. I think his kids and grandkids and great-grandkids are already starting to gather for dinner in the dining room, but he agreed to chat with me for a few minutes and let me take his picture for the
Gazette
.”

“What fun. We’ll be inside if you decide to join us later.” Lucy took Clay’s hand as they went into the dining room. After they were seated, she nodded toward the back of the room, where several tables had been pushed together to form a single long one. “That must be the family Mom was talking about.”

Clay turned to take a look. “They’ve been coming here for seventy-five years? Do you recognize anyone?”

Lucy studied the faces right down the line, then shook her head. “No, but remember, I haven’t spent a summer here in twenty years, and there are a lot of children there. Like Mom said, kids and grandkids and great-grandkids.”

They ordered drinks and dinner at the same time and watched the room fill up with diners.

“I guess Gavin’s reputation has been growing,” Lucy said.

“There was a great write-up in the
Baltimore Sun
last weekend.”

“Mom emailed it to me.” She smiled up at the waitress who placed her salad in front of her. “They had nice things to say about the inn and its ambience too and they—”

Movement from her left caught her eye, distracting her as an elderly man in a wheelchair was brought
into the room and positioned at the head of the table where the large family sat. Lucy found herself staring at the man who was pushing the chair and felt the blood drain from her face.

“What?” Clay turned to follow her gaze. “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

“No, it’s all right.” She shook her head. “It’s nothing. For a moment, I thought maybe I recognized …”

“You thought what? You think that’s him? The dark-haired guy in the navy blazer pushing the chair? Is he the guy …?”

“No, no. Just for a second … but no. All I remember about that man was that he had dark hair and an athletic build, which pretty well describes at least fifty percent of the men who stay here.” She nodded in the direction of the man they were discussing. “He just happens to fit the description, but he’s too young.”

She watched the man as he maneuvered the wheelchair to the table. A little girl of five or six jumped from her seat and skipped to him, and he lifted her up and planted a kiss on her cheek.

“No,” she told Clay. “That’s not him.”

“You’re sure.”

“Positive. And to tell you the truth, I don’t know if I’d recognize him after all these years. People change.” She reached for Clay’s hand. “I’m going to be here a lot this summer. Neither of us can start looking at every guest as a suspect. We’re both going to have to accept the fact that he’s out there somewhere, maybe, but he’s not here. It’s more than likely that he never came back because he was afraid I’d recognize him and would call the police.”

“I hate the thought of him being out there.”

“So do I. But I’ve come to the conclusion that I can either spend the rest of my life looking back—in which case I won’t be looking ahead—or I can leave it in the past, where it belongs. And frankly, I’ve had enough of the past. I can’t change what happened. All I can do now is live in the present and look forward to the future.” She smiled and pulled him closer. “You’re my present, Clay. Let’s focus on now. Us. Tonight.…”

“And the future …?” he asked.

“Will take care of itself.” She kissed him lightly on the lips. “We’ll have the summer, Clay. Let’s take it one day at a time, and see where it leads …”

At one in the afternoon on Sunday, a stretch limo made its way up the long drive from Charles Street to the inn and parked in the front of the building. If there’d been any hope of shielding Robert Magellan and his bride from the photographers that flanked the very edge of the property—having been warned by Gabriel Beck and his officers that trespassing would not be tolerated—it had been tossed aside as Robert, Susanna, Robert’s young son Ian, Trula, and Father Kevin Burch took their time getting out of the car. The photographers knew there’d be a big payday when Robert walked with his bride-to-be and his cousin down to the water’s edge and pointed out several sights across the Bay.

Lucy watched from the steps, and sighed. If Robert and Susanna weren’t concerned that by tomorrow the pictures would be all over the Internet, she shouldn’t be either.

Trula shepherded Ian directly to the inn, and they were followed by the limo driver, who carried her bags. She hugged Lucy and pointed the driver to the lobby.

“I’ll get some help for you,” Lucy told him. “Trula, Mom’s been watching for you. She was at the front desk, last time I saw her.”

“I’ll find her. Oh, there she is.” Trula beamed, obviously as happy as the wedding couple that this week had finally arrived. She guided the three-year-old into the inn, and Lucy heard her call, “Hello, Gracie! Ian needs the bathroom. This way, Ian … let’s go with Gracie.…”

Lucy flagged down two of the bellhops and asked them to assist the limo driver. In a matter of minutes, the flurry of activity had begun. A second limo carrying the wedding party arrived, and several women and two men got out. Soon the lobby was filled with laughter and chatter at the desk as everyone signed in, got their keys, and admired the inn.

This is going to be a very long week
. Lucy sighed. She walked down to the water’s edge to greet the wedding couple, and to invite them to come inside for the welcome luncheon she’d had prepared for them.

“Lucy!” Susanna waved to her and opened her arms for a hug. “Isn’t the weather glorious?”

“It is.” Lucy returned the hug. “It’s supposed to be beautiful straight through until next week.”

Even the normally reserved Robert had a hug for Lucy before introducing her to Father Kevin.

“Lucy’s the person who’s making this all happen,” Robert told his cousin. “She took Susanna’s wish list—and it was a whopper—and made it all come true. Lucy, meet Father Kevin Burch.”

“It’s Kevin,” the priest said as he offered his hand. “And I’ve heard wonderful things about you. I’m
looking forward to the week. I understand you’ve arranged golf and sailing. Where do I sign up?”

Throughout the afternoon, the parking lot continued to fill as more and more guests arrived. Either Lucy or Daniel was there to greet everyone as they signed in, and both made it a point to try to remember the names of each of the guests. By four in the afternoon, all of the Sunday arrivals had checked in, and were eagerly exploring the inn and the printed agenda of the week’s proposed activities that everyone received with their room keys and their welcome gift bags.

“I can’t believe you managed to pull this all together, Lucy.” Susanna held the list of daily things to do in her hand.

“I had excellent assistants,” Lucy admitted. “No one person could have arranged all this in six months. Unless, of course, they did nothing else. Madeline here at the inn was a godsend. She kept track of everything here in St. Dennis, and my staff out in Los Angeles helped keep track of things.”

“Well, whatever you did, it worked.” Susanna was glowing, the perfect picture of the happy bride-to-be. Lucy prayed that nothing would happen during the week to dim that joy.

And for the most part, nothing did. All the instructors Lucy had hired—for golf, sailing, tennis, and boating—had satisfied students. The golf course and tennis courts were filled morning through dusk, and the boats the inn had chartered for fishing went out every day with enthusiastic would-be fisherman. The older children learned how to sail, and the little ones looked forward to their pony rides and story
hours. The ladies enjoyed afternoon tea every day—the first had been so well received that Gavin had suggested they offer it every day, much to Susanna’s delight. Gavin himself had been a huge hit, preparing every meal as if for royalty, and the guests had been impressed enough that some had already booked weeks toward the end of the summer to return.

The hit of the week, however, had been the shopping trips into town. Every one of Susanna’s women guests had made it to Charles Street, where they cashed in their tokens for discounts on clothes and food and books and antiques.

“Honestly, I can’t keep madras anything in the shop this week,” Vanessa had confided to Lucy. “Every pair of shorts, every little sundress … gone. Not that I’m complaining, but I’d have stocked in twice as much merchandise if I’d known ahead of time what a preppy crowd this was going to be.”

“I’m so happy to hear that you’re doing well,” Lucy’d replied.

“It’s not just me,” Vanessa told her. “Every merchant in town is saying the same thing. Brooke says by four in the afternoon, there’s not a cupcake left in her shop. And Stef has had to double the amount of ice cream that she’s been making. O Susanna has been a huge hit.”

“Susanna and Robert loved that idea.” Lucy grinned. “And it certainly didn’t hurt that the ice cream is delicious. We’re serving it at the wedding reception on Saturday.”