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 (71 page)

“Berry, there was no hope for that boat. She had the dry rot so bad, there was nothing I could do for her. Now, I know you wanted something for your boy there, and I thought maybe this might work.”

“Well then, let’s take a look.” Berry turned to Cody and said, “Go get your momma and tell her to come on out here and take a look at what Mr. Small brought us.”

“The oars are nice and light, too,” Louis pointed out.

“This will probably come as no surprise to you, but I won’t be rowing that boat. That’s going to fall to my grand-niece, so she’s the one who has to be happy with it.” Berry turned to the house, where Dallas was coming down the steps behind Cody, who was running excitedly with both dogs at his heels.

“Dallas, this is Louis Small from the marina. He picked up that old boat of Wade’s the other day and took it down there to see what he could do with it.”

“There weren’t nothing to be done with it,” Louis told Dallas. “It was just dry-rotted near everywhere I looked. We just got this in and I thought maybe you’d like to try ’er out. See what you think of it.”

“It’s been years since I’ve rowed, but sure, I’ll give her a spin. Thank you. It was nice of you to think of an alternative.” Dallas smiled and walked around the boat. “It’s nice and small … smaller than the wooden one we had. What’s it made out of?”

“It’s a composite. It’s the lightest boat on the market right now. Weighs less than sixty pounds.”

“Sounds good. Let’s get her down to the river and put her in.”

“Me, too! I want to go, too!” Cody jumped up and down.

Dallas lifted one side of the boat, and Louis lifted the other. “Cody, come see if you’re strong enough to lift one side. We won’t always have Mr. Small here to help us.”

Cody came around the back of the boat to where Dallas stood, and with a nod to Louis, she let her side down. Cody picked it up with both hands, though it was a struggle for him.

“I can help, see?” he said happily.

“I see. I think we’d be able to manage it.” Dallas nodded. “All right, then. Let’s see how she moves on the water.”

Berry followed behind while Dallas and Louis, assisted by Cody, carried the boat to the river’s edge, where Dallas kicked off her sandals and stepped into the water.

“Cody, take off your sneakers and take Mr. Small’s side of the boat so he doesn’t get his shoes wet,” Berry directed, and Cody complied immediately.

“I best get those oars for you,” Louis said as he returned to the truck.

“Lift the boat just a little more,” Dallas told Cody, “so we can get her far enough into the water that she floats.”

“Why do they call boats ‘she’?” he asked.

“I don’t really know, but that might be something you and Berry might want to look up when you’re at
the library.” Dallas pulled the boat farther into the river as Louis brought the oars out to her and placed them in the boat.

“We’ll do that this very morning,” Berry called back to them.

“I want to get in with you, Mom.” Cody was watching Dallas climb over the side of the boat.

“Berry,” Dallas called to her, “I don’t suppose there are any of those old life jackets around?”

Berry shook her head. “I haven’t seen those in years. We’ll have to pick up some new ones.”

“This one time.” Dallas held a hand out to Cody. “But from now on, you do not get into a boat—any boat—without a life jacket on.”

“Perhaps they sell them at the marina.” Berry walked to the water’s edge to watch.

“We got all sizes down there.”

“Wonderful. We’ll stop there after the library and we’ll pick one up,” Berry told them.

“Can we pick up two?” Cody asked. “That way Logan can ride with us.”

“All right. Two it is. And perhaps one for your mother as well,” Berry replied.

“Not a bad idea, though we certainly won’t be taking this little thing into deep water.”

“You never know, Dallas.”

“You’re right, Berry. We should all have life preservers if we’re going into a boat,” Dallas repeated for Cody’s benefit. “Now, let me show you how the oars work.”

She slid the oars into the rests and locked them in. With Cody sitting next to her, Dallas began to row.

“Why do you need two oars?” he asked.

“Well, let’s see what happens when we only use one.” Dallas slid one oar out of the water, then rowed with the other.

“Hey, we’re going in circles,” Cody noted.

“That’s right. And that’s why you need two oars, so you can keep the boat straight, and steer it where you want to go.” She grabbed the other oar, straightened out the boat, and rowed a little farther into the river.

“Teach me!” Cody demanded. “I want to row, too.”

“Let’s see if you’re strong enough …” Dallas let him take the oar on his side of the seat and showed him how to row.

For a scant moment, Berry thought she was looking into the past, watching herself teach Wade how to row the day she’d bought him the rowboat. She blinked, and the vision—if that was what it had been—was gone.

“You made yourself a sale, Louis,” Berry said. “We’ll take it …”

“I’ll go on back to the marina and I’ll get an invoice made up for you, toss in a couple of life jackets,” her old friend told her.

“We’ll be in later this afternoon. And thank you, Louis. I appreciate it.”

“No worries, Berry.” He returned to his truck. “Happy it worked out.”

Louis drove off, and Berry sat in one of the Adirondack chairs to watch the rowing lesson.

“Boy, am I out of shape for that exercise,” Dallas told Berry after they finished and she’d tied up the boat. “I used muscles I’d forgotten I even had.”

“Cody did quite well,” Berry noted. “For his first time at the oar.”

Dallas nodded. “I was surprised at how well he did, frankly.”

“I recall how you and Wade both loved to take that little boat of his out. I’m so sorry we weren’t able to have it repaired. I did ask Louis to take another look at it and see if there isn’t some way he could salvage it.”

“This one is so much lighter than the wooden one,” Dallas commented. She turned to look for Cody, and when she found him on the pier, ready to step into the rowboat, she called him.

“What, Mom?”

“There are going to be rules, and the rules will be followed,” Dallas told him, “or there will be no more boat, understand?”

He nodded.

“You don’t get into the boat without a life jacket. And you don’t take that boat out by yourself, not ever. It isn’t a toy, son.”

“I know.” He scuffed his toes in the grass.

“Having a boat is a big responsibility. It can be very dangerous under the wrong circumstances.” She tilted his chin so that he was looking into her eyes. “Got it?”

“Got it, Mom.”

“Good. Now come on in and get ready to go to the library.”

“Wait till I tell Logan!” Cody shot off toward the house.

“There goes one extremely happy boy.” Dallas put
an arm around Berry’s shoulders as they followed him. “Thank you, Berry.”

“It’s my pleasure, dear.” Berry patted Dallas’s hand where it rested on her shoulder.

The summer was turning out so well for them, Berry reflected while she waited for Cody to gather his things for the library. Dallas was happily at work on her screenplay, and with luck, she should be able to get the backing she’d need. Cody was having the time of his life. And she, Berry, was having more good days than bad, the uncertain nature of her mortality put aside for now. Not that there was any urgency, but at her age, one did think about such things from time to time. The problem was that before Dallas and Cody arrived, Berry was thinking about it almost nonstop. Since their arrival, she’d barely considered it at all.

All the more reason to want them to stay for as long as possible
, she thought.
That’s one way to keep my mind off eternity and focused on the here and now
.

Ally met her halfway to the back porch, and Berry smiled just to see the happy way the dog ran to join her, as if she were the most important and wonderful person in the world.

Well, to her, I suppose I am. How nice to be so important to someone. Some
thing, she reminded herself, dogs not being people, which to Berry’s mind was strictly a matter of opinion, now that she had a dog. Ally was just one more happy by-product of Dallas’s decision to spend the summer in St. Dennis.

If Berry had her way, Dallas would jump at that second chance with Grant and find a way to make it work. Any idiot could see they belonged together. One of Berry’s greatest dreads was that Dallas would make the same mistakes she herself had made, and drive the man she loved into the arms of someone else because she was too preoccupied with her own ambition to compromise.

And oh, Berry had loved that man with all her heart. Even now, the memory kept her awake sometimes at night, when the might-have-beens and the what-ifs tortured her soul.

A second chance? Not going to happen—even though in her heart of hearts, she knew she’d walk over hot coals for the opportunity. When a man said he’d never forgive, most likely he knew what he was talking about. And Archer Callahan had never been a man to toss words around carelessly, whether words of love or words that wounded. No, there’d be no second chance for her. Not because she wouldn’t consider it, but because the last words Archer had spoken to her, those many years ago, still rang in her ears.

“I’ll never forgive you, Berry, and I hope to God I never see you again.”

She’d never forgotten, and she was pretty damned sure he’d never forgiven.

“Berry, are you coming in?” Dallas called from the porch.

“I’m on my way.”

Berry picked up her bag and a magazine she’d dropped on the ground next to her chair and walked
toward the house, where Dallas and Cody waited. They, along with Wade—and now Ally—were all she had. They’d see her to the end of her days. She didn’t figure she had the right to ask for anything more than that.

Diary ~

Well, what a week this has been. I’ve been working around the clock—well, not really but close enough—to get all the ads lined up and all the articles written about the upcoming Discover St. Dennis weekend. So much to do—so little time! I think the grand marshal this year is going to be not only a big surprise, but a huge hit! I’m so glad I thought of it, frankly, and should pat myself on the back. And I will, as soon as I have a few moments to indulge myself
.

But a curious thing—Dallas came to me with a photo she’d found of her great-aunt and wanted to know if I knew who the man in the picture was. Well, of course I knew—it was Archer. Dallas says she’s never heard of him. Now, how odd is that? Berry and Archer were best friends from the time they were children, lovers for a long time after that. Everyone assumed they’d marry, but, no. So how is it that Berry has never spoken his name to her closest living relative? Unless the loss was so great that she cannot speak of it—the thought of which set my little wheels in motion
.

To intervene—or not to intervene? That is the dilemma …

~ Grace ~

It took a great deal of willpower on Grant’s part not to call Dallas that afternoon: Wasn’t there some rule about how soon was too soon to call? He’d been out of the dating scene for just long enough to have heard that there was such a rule, but he wasn’t sure what it was. He’d hesitated several times between patients, then finally, muttering, “Who makes up these rules, anyway?” gave in and dialed her cell number. He was sorely disappointed when it went to voice mail, but was determined not to hang up until he had his say.

“Hi. It’s Grant.” Like she wasn’t going to know that.
Moron
. “Just called to say hi. And see how you’re doing today. And … well, I guess that’s really all. You can call me if you want. I’ll be at Paige’s softball game tonight, but you could call my cell or just leave a message or … well, or I guess I could call you tomorrow.” He paused. “Maybe we could have lunch tomorrow. Just something quick. We don’t have to go anywhere special. I just like to look at you.”

Figuring he’d already sounded about as lame as a man could possibly sound, he topped it off with, “I guess I’ll see you.”

Anything else he might have said would have been cut off anyway, so he just left it at that.

He was neutering a borzoi when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. There was no way he was going to get to the call, so he simply let it go to voice mail. Of course, he suspected it might have been Dallas, and of course, as luck would have it, it was.

“Just to let you know I got your message,” he heard her say when he played it back. “I … ah, I’m sorry I missed your call.” Pause. “I’d love to grab lunch tomorrow. I’ll stop at the clinic for you at noon, unless I hear from you with other plans.” Pause. “Tell Paige I said good luck tonight.” Another pause. “I … ah, I like to look at you, too.”

He played the message back three times, smiling through each recitation, before returning her call.

“Damn, I hate voice mail,” he grumbled as he was forced to leave another message. “Dallas, noon tomorrow would be great. I’ll see you then.”

He pocketed the phone, and went back to work.

He couldn’t decide if it was easier, or harder, this time around. On the one hand, the expectations were different, or at the very least, he tried to convince himself that they were. Actually, what he wanted to do was to convince himself that he had no expectations of her or of their relationship, but he’d heard a little voice inside singing,
Liar, liar, pants on fire
, every time he repeated the phrase “no expectations.” The truth was that this time, he wanted it all. He wanted her to love him again, he wanted them to be so happy together that the past would no longer matter, and he wanted her to stay in St. Dennis and live happily ever after with him. Just thinking about it
being a possibility made him happy … until he remembered that the odds of any of this happening were pretty damned slim, which of course meant it really wasn’t a possibility after all.

She’s having lunch with me tomorrow and that’s a start
, he told himself. After reflecting, he corrected himself.
Last night was the start. This phase
—date me, fall in love with me again—
this is phase two
. The solution seemed pretty simple once he’d broken it down. He just had to keep Dallas in St. Dennis for as long as possible, and spend as much time with her as he could. That was his only shot at winning her back, and he was going for it. He knew there was risk involved—knew exactly what he was risking—but he couldn’t dwell on that. Once he acknowledged that there
was
a risk, he banned himself from thinking about it. Why confuse the present situation with facts?