The Chesapeake Diaries Series (187 page)

“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 …”

Chapter 22

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.”

“I know. Stef is about dead on her feet trying to keep up. She said there’s been a steady stream of kids in the shop from lunchtime right through till dinner.
She’s had to reorder from her suppliers three times this week.”

“But that’s all good, right?”

“Of course. Even Carlo at Cuppachino has had to bring in extra counter help this week. Not that that’s a bad thing. It’s been business bonanza here all week long.”

“Maybe we’ll do those discount tokens again,” Lucy said, thinking out loud.

“Just make sure everyone knows you’re doing it so we’re all well stocked. Barbara at the bookstore said she was sold out of bestselling hardcovers by Tuesday and had to put in rush orders to get in enough books to last the week.” Vanessa added, “But I can attest to the fact that everyone who’s participated in this token thing has gone home every night with a smile on their face. We all think you’re a genius for thinking of it.”

“I’d love to take the credit, but it was Susanna’s idea.”

“Then please tell Susanna we all think she’s brilliant,” Vanessa told her.

Lucy did just that, at her first opportunity.

“I’m glad it’s worked out so well.” Susanna had been all smiles. “My friends come back from shopping every day and tell me what fun things they’ve found. Of course, it helps that you have some terrific places to shop and to eat here in St. Dennis. I’m thrilled to know that this week has been so much fun for our family and friends.”

By Friday, Lucy’s head was about to explode. The tents had all been set up and the chairs and tables delivered. The new gazebo had been perfectly sited and the roses Jason had planted in April and had
tended so carefully had burst into bloom as if on cue, and the beds he’d designed and planted had filled in nicely with colorful, fragrant flowers. The rehearsal and dinner afterward was casual and fun, and everyone was in high spirits.

“Everything’s going right on schedule,” Madeline whispered to Lucy. “I’m almost afraid to say the words out loud.”

“Then keep it to a whisper,” Lucy replied. “I can’t believe there hasn’t been at least one thing that went wrong.”

“Well, except for that pony taking off across the lawn with the four-year-old on its back yesterday,” Madeline reminded her.

“Amazing that kid held on, and to think he’d never been riding before.”

“No one’s called in sick all week and all of the deliveries have come on time. It’s almost as if the inn and everyone in it are under some sort of magic spell.”

Madeline’s comment reminded Lucy of something she’d been meaning to discuss with her mother. She had the chance later that night. Grace was in the family room with Trula, who was on her way to bed.

“Big day tomorrow,” Trula all but sang. “We’re all having such a good time, Lucy. Everyone is so enjoying being here this week. You’ve certainly gone above and beyond to make sure everyone has a good time.”

“Thanks, Trula. It has been unlike any wedding I’ve ever done before.” Lucy sat in a chair that faced her mother.

“Well, as I told your brother, you should certainly
give some consideration to expanding your wedding business,” Trula said.

“Don’t be surprised to see a lot of what we did this week make its way into the premium wedding package offered here before too long,” Lucy told her.