The Chesapeake Diaries Series (168 page)

“I don’t know where I went wrong,” Grace deadpanned. “I tried to raise her right, Clay.”

“Oh, stop it, you two.” Lucy laughed. “I don’t bake and I almost never cook because I’m never home when it’s time to eat.”

“Are you telling me you eat out three times a day?” he asked.

“I don’t usually eat very much in the morning and I’m usually too busy at lunchtime to stop. I generally stay at the office until seven or eight—”

“Sorry to interrupt, but I need to keep track of the time. I promised my granddaughter I’d take her to Scoop after lunch.” Grace glanced at her watch, then put the box down on the table. “Oh, my, it’s much later than I thought. I guess the two of you can finish up this one little room without me.”

“No problem, Miz Grace,” Clay told her.

“I don’t remember you and Diana talking about going to Scoop today.” Lucy frowned, fully aware of what her mother was attempting to do.

Ignoring Lucy, Grace went up on her tiptoes to give Clay a smooch on the cheek. “Thank you very much for all of your help. You can tell your mother that she raised a fine boy.”

“Will do.” Clay smiled and turned to Lucy. “You might want to pick up that box your mother was holding.”

“She’s not fooling me one bit,” Lucy grumbled, and wrapped the ornaments she’d been holding in tissue and put them into the box with the others. “Transparent as new window glass.”

“What?” Clay asked.

“She’s just trying to throw the two of us together, that’s what.”

“Works for me,” he muttered. “Does it bother you that I’m here?”

“No, it doesn’t.” Lucy exhaled loudly. “It’s just that she’s so blatant about it.”

“I think she thought she was being subtle.”

“About as subtle as …” Lucy paused. “I’m glad you’re here, and I appreciate all your help. You could be somewhere else, doing something more interesting.”

“No place I’d rather be, LuLu.” He turned and held out an ornament. “Nothing else I’d rather be doing.”

Maybe it was the sincerity in his voice and in his eyes, or maybe it was just that he looked so damned good, but before she could talk herself out of it, Lucy put down the ornaments and took three steps toward the tree. Clay met her halfway and opened his arms to her, folded her inside. For just one moment, she felt safer than she had in years.

“Thank you, Clay.”

“For …?”

“For being you. For being here today. For being here …” She swallowed hard. “Just for being here.”

“I’ve always been here for you, LuLu,” he said softly.

“I know,” she whispered. “I know that now.”

“So anytime you need me …”

She nodded.

There was commotion in the hall outside the library, and Lucy turned as the door opened.

“Oops. Bad timing.” Her brother stood in the doorway. “I’m interrupting—”

“No, no, Dan,” Lucy broke from Clay’s embrace. “I was just thanking an old friend for helping us out.”

“Right.” Dan was obviously not buying that, but she let it ride. “We’re taking a bunch of trees over to the firehouse for recycling. I thought I’d take this one, but I see you’re still working on it.”

“We need about five more minutes,” Clay told him. “Just a few more ornaments and the lights, and she’ll be good to go.”

“Dan, how are you doing with dates for the Magellan wedding?” Lucy asked.

“I’m working on it,” he told her. “It’s not as easy as it sounds, getting people to agree to give up the week they’ve had for years. In some cases, twenty years or more. We have people who came here as kids who come back every year with
their
families. They want the same week, even the same rooms. We’ve offered comps for a different week, but for some people, it’s been a really hard sell.”

“I understand, but at the same time I need to get back to Susanna with a couple of dates before she gets antsy and decides to go elsewhere.”

“I definitely don’t want that to happen. I’ll just keep making phone calls.” Dan turned to Clay. “I’ll pull the pickup around to this door.” He pointed toward the front of the building. “You can bring the tree out when you’re ready.”

“Want me to go with you over to the firehouse, help you unload the trees?” Clay asked.

“That would be great. Thanks,” Dan replied.

“Okay, see you in five.” Clay passed a handful of ornaments to Lucy as if they hadn’t just been caught cuddling by her big brother.

She made a point of looking for the lid to the box they’d just filled. “I guess most of the houses that were on the tour have had their decorations taken down by now. One of these years, I’m going to make a point of being home the weekend of the tour so I
can see the houses all dressed up. Mom said the old Enright mansion was on the tour this year.”

“The highlight of the tour,” Clay told her. “People are still talking about it.”

“Damn, and I missed it. I would love to have seen that place all fancied up.”

“That could be arranged.”

“Really?” She stopped what she was doing. “How?”

“I happen to have an in with the Enrights.”

“Do tell.” She fit the lid onto the box and turned back to face him.

“My sister’s hot and heavy with Jesse.”

“So?”

“So Curtis is out of town visiting a granddaughter in Pennsylvania and Jesse has the key to the house. I have it on very good authority that the decorations are still up.” Clay grinned. “All it would take is a phone call.”

“Make it.”

Still grinning, he took his phone from his pocket and hit speed dial. Brooke didn’t answer but he left voice mail.

“How old is that phone?” Lucy asked when he’d closed it over.

“I don’t know.” He shrugged and started to slip it into his pocket. “A couple of years, maybe.”

“Let me see that thing.” She held her hand out and he dropped the phone into her palm. “Clay, this phone is, like, from the Dark Ages. No Internet … no email …” She looked up at him.

He took the phone back and put it into his pocket. “I don’t want to read emails or use the Internet on my
phone. I just want to make and receive phone calls. Maybe send a text once in a while, but that’s it.”

“Dark Ages,” she whispered, and he laughed.

“I have thought about getting something newer, but I don’t spend that much time on the phone. Besides, I like this one. It folds over.”

“I think some of the newer ones fold over,” she told him.

“Maybe I’ll look around next time I’m near the phone store.” The phone in his pocket began to ring. He glanced at the screen then answered it. “Hey, Brooke—we need a favor …”

After he explained what he wanted, he asked Lucy, “What are you doing this afternoon?”

She hesitated. “I need to stop in to see Vanessa Keaton. I don’t know how long I’ll be.”

“Brooke, how ’bout tomorrow afternoon?” He glanced at Lucy and asked, “One o’clock?”

“Perfect. Thank you, Brooke!”

“Lucy says thank you. See you then.” He put the phone away.

“Thanks, Clay. I’m really excited about seeing this place. I used to walk past it on my way to Miss Harriet’s for piano lessons and I’d dream about what the inside looked like. I can’t wait to see.”

“Like I said. All it took was a phone call.”

“Hey, Clay, you about finished in there?” Dan called from the lobby.

“We’re good. I just need to get the tree out of the stand,” Clay called back to him. “Give me one minute.”

Clay turned the tree over and pulled off the stand.

“I’ll take that,” Lucy told him. “I’ll clean it up and
put it back into the closet with the decorations. Thanks again for your help.”

“Don’t mention it.” Clay hoisted the tree onto his shoulder. “I’ll pick you up at twelve forty-five.”

“I can’t wait.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed the side of his face. “I’m so excited. Thanks so much for making that phone call.”

“Whatever it takes, LuLu.” He leaned down and kissed her on the mouth. “Whatever it takes …”

At three o’clock, Lucy opened Bling’s door and stepped into Vanessa Keaton’s shop, which, for all its upscale merchandise, still retained a cozy, inviting vibe. Vanessa was stacking sweaters, and when she saw Lucy, her face lit up with a smile.

“Lucy! I heard you were in St. Dennis this week.” Vanessa put down the pile of sweaters. “So good to see you.”

“I couldn’t resist a chance to come in and see what new goodies you got in since my last visit.” Lucy scanned the shop’s walls, where shelves held bags and sweaters and shoes. She made a beeline for a tan leather tote. “Oh, this is perfect.” She opened the bag and looked inside. “And yes! Interior pockets!”

She looked up at Vanessa. “It’s so annoying when you have to go to a meeting and you have to carry a tote with your files and you have to carry a handbag, too. You can’t put your handbag stuff into the tote because it all rolls around together on the bottom and you can’t find a thing. But these pockets organize quite nicely. There’s even a deep pocket for a wallet or e-reader.”

Still smiling, Vanessa leaned on the counter. “You’d make a fabulous salesperson, you know that?”

“It’s perfect.” Lucy held it up. “Does it come in black?”

“Absolutely.” Vanessa pointed to the wall behind Lucy. “Three short steps away …”

“I’ll take it.” Lucy plucked the bag from the wall shelf.

“Easiest sale I made all week,” Vanessa said. “Thanks, Lucy.”

“I love it. I’m so glad I stopped in today.”

“How long are you staying this time around?” Vanessa took the bag from Lucy and began to wrap it in tissue.

“Just till Sunday.” Lucy opened her wallet and handed over a credit card.

“I heard you’re planning a big wedding.” Vanessa ran the card through the machine and returned it along with the slip for Lucy to sign.

“Everyone in town has apparently heard about it.” Lucy made a face. “We’ll see. We’re still in the talking stages. But I hear there’s to be another wedding soon.”

“Isn’t it great?” Vanessa held up her left hand to show off her sparkly ring. “I can hardly believe it myself, but yes, Grady and I are getting married in a few weeks.”

“How are your plans going?” Lucy asked as if she didn’t know that Vanessa was stumbling where the wedding reception was concerned.

“More slowly than they should, I’m afraid.” Vanessa leaned on the counter and sighed.

“Anything I can help with?”

“Oh, if only.” Vanessa sighed. “I could never afford you, and I know your time is valuable and that you won’t be here …”

Lucy waved a hand dismissively. “I always have time to help a friend. We can make time to talk over what you want to do, if you like. Maybe I could help you to streamline things. Consider it a wedding gift.”

“I just can’t seem to make up my mind about anything and the day keeps getting closer and closer …” Vanessa’s eyes began to take on a desperate look.

The bell over the shop door rang and several middle-aged women came in.

“This is the place where I got those darling tops last summer,” one was saying. “Oh, and there’s Vanessa!”

“Oh, hi,” Vanessa greeted the ladies. “Nice to see you back again.”

“I’ve been telling my friends all about St. Dennis and about how fabulous you are and we just had to take the trip down today.” The woman placed a hand on her chest and said. “I was here in September. Margo? Elizabeth, New Jersey?”

“Of course. Margo.” Vanessa nodded, and only someone who knew her could tell that she had no recollection of ever having seen this woman before.

“I’ll leave you to your customers.” Lucy patted Vanessa’s hand. “But how ’bout we try to get together before Sunday morning?”

“Are you free tonight?” Vanessa asked. “I mean, if you didn’t have any plans, maybe we could sit down for a while …”

“Sure. Do you want to come to the inn …?”

“How about at our house? That’s where the wedding is going to be. One of the problems I’m having is
how to decorate the rooms to look like a wedding is taking place. And since it’s the weekend before Valentine’s Day, I know everyone will be expecting red roses, which I so do not want to do.”

“I understand,” Lucy assured her. “Would seven be too early?”

“Seven is perfect.”

“I’ll see you then.” Lucy gathered up her purchase.

“Oh, yay! I’ll call the girls!” Vanessa all but beamed.

“The girls?”

“Steffie, Mia, Brooke. This will be so much fun!”

“Vanessa, are these sweaters on sale?” Margo from Elizabeth, New Jersey, called.

“Go take care of business,” Lucy told Vanessa. “I’ll see you tonight at seven.”

“Thanks, Lucy. I so appreciate this …” Vanessa came around the corner of the glass case and did a little dance. “I’m going to have a wedding and now it will be perfect …”

Lucy laughed. “I can’t promise perfect, but I can promise perfectly organized.”

“At this point, I’ll take it.” Vanessa gave Lucy a quick hug. “I can’t wait to see what you’ll come up with.…”

Chapter 10

“So nice you’re getting out for an evening with girlfriends,” Grace said as Lucy buttoned her coat in the lobby.

Lucy looked up, puzzled. “I’m just going over to help Vanessa organize her wedding plans, maybe give her a few pointers.”

“Well, it’s nice that you’re doing it, and I know Vanessa will appreciate any help you can give her. The girl just seems overwhelmed. The wedding, a baby on the way …”

“Who’s having a baby?” Lucy opened her bag and checked the contents. A notebook, a pen—just in case she needed them—her reading glasses …

“Vanessa.” Grace folded her arms across her chest. “Didn’t you know?”

“No. I wouldn’t have guessed. She didn’t look pregnant …” Keys? Where did she put the car keys?

“Just a very few months, from what I understand.” Grace smiled. “It will be lovely to have a new baby in the family.”

“Vanessa’s family? Is there something I don’t know about our relationship with her?” She could hear the
keys jingling in one of the pockets in her bag, but couldn’t find the right one.

“Family in the greater sense, dear.”

Lucy located the keys in the bottom of the center pocket—what was the purpose of that big center pocket, anyway?—and kissed her mother on the cheek. “I’ll see you in a while,” she said. “I doubt I’ll be more than an hour or two.”