Sweet Horizons

by Jean C. Gordon

“Arthur. Remember? She has another playdate. I told you last night.”

  “Right.” All Jeff remembered clearly from last night was the coconut scent of Sonja’s hair wafting up from her head on his shoulder as they sat close, his arm around her, watching TV. He didn’t even remember who’d been the murderer in the episode they’d seen.

  Jeff rubbed the back of his neck when Eric shot him an uh, huh look, as if he were reading his mind. “I’ll let Liam know I’ll be out for a while and then take you back to see the bike.” Jeff stepped behind the counter and into the small parts room Liam was stocking.

  “I’ll be heading out with Eric for a while,” Jeff shouted over the blare of Liam’s playlist.

  “He’s here? Can I meet him?”

  “When we get back. He’ll be around town for the next week.”

  “Okay,” Liam said, his disappointment obvious.

  Jeff rejoined Eric and Sonja and led them through the garage area to the back door. There, he whisked the tarp off the bike parked along the back wall.

  Eric whistled. “She’s a beauty. Your sketches didn’t do her justice.”

  Jeff laughed. “Thanks, I think.” He pushed the door open. “Wheel her out, and I’ll get helmets.”

  “South Carolina has a helmet law?” Eric asked.

  “Only if you’re under age 21,” Jeff answered.

  “I’m good without, then. Keys in it?”

  “Yep.” Jeff released the door and got his helmet and a spare off a shelf. “Your helmet’s at the cottage,” he said.

  Sonja nibbled her bottom lip, which he’d learned meant she was either thinking or about to ask a question she wasn’t sure about asking. Like asking for help. Jeff waited.

  “You always wear a helmet, right? For safety?”

  “Yeah, I have since the day I found out I was going to be a father, even though California hadn’t enacted its helmet law yet then.”

  She released a breath. Her concern, like so many things about her, warmed him.

  Eric was on his son’s bike, engine revving when Jeff and Sonja walked out to Jeff’s bike.

  “Which way?” Eric asked.

  “A right out onto Main, right onto Magnolia, and a left onto Seaside Boulevard. We’ll take it and Bayside Avenue in a circle around the peninsula.”

  “Got it.” Eric saluted. He was off before Jeff and Sonja were fully onboard Jeff’s bike.

  A few minutes later they caught up with Eric pulled to the side of the highway overlooking the public beach, an Indigo Bay Police car parked behind him. Jeff and Sonja pulled behind the car and walked over.

  “Nice meeting you, Ben.” They heard Eric say.

  “You, too,” Officer Andrews said.

  “I’ll watch the speed limit the rest of the time I’m here.”

  “Do that,” Ben said, smiling. “If there’s a next time, you’ll get more than a warning. It’s my job.”

  “We’ll keep him in hand,” Jeff said.

  “Thanks. I have to get back to the station to give a kids’ tour.”

  “We know,” Sonja said. “Eva is bringing Shelley with Arthur.

  Jeff, Sonja, and Eric waited for Ben to pull back on the highway.

  “You lead the way,” Eric said. “I don’t want to get in any more trouble with the locals.”

  The remainder of the ride was uneventful.

  “Sweet ride,” Eric said after he’d pushed his son’s bike back into the garage. “I hope Chris likes it.”

  “No question he will,” Jeff said. “It’s a Brewster original.”

  “Still a cocky son of a gun, aren’t you?”

  Remembering what Sonja had said about one-upmanship, Jeff glanced at her before speaking. She was laughing, so he answered, “When you’re good, you’re good.”

  “The cop that stopped me. Think he’ll spread around that I’m here?” Eric asked. “Should I exit out the back door?”

  Jeff couldn’t tell if his friend was serious. Maybe he shouldn’t have told Liam he’d introduce him to Eric when they’d gotten back. “He wouldn’t purposely. But if you really want to keep your early arrival under wraps, you should go out the back.” Jeff shifted his weight. He hadn’t thought about Eric’s privacy. “I sorta promised Liam, the college kid who works for me, that I’d introduce you when we got back.”

  Eric shrugged. “It would get out anyway. Introduce away.”

  Jeff walked Eric and Sonja to the shop area in the front of the building where, through the doorway, he saw not only Liam, but also two other guys his age and Meg huddled at the counter around one of their cell phones.

  “Sorry,” Jeff said. “I didn’t think about him calling friends.”

  “It’s okay. It’s no secret I’m going to be at the rally.”

  “Hey,” Jeff called over to the group. “What’s so interesting.”

  “Holy …” one of Liam’s friends said. “It’s Eric Slade.”

  “Yep, pay up. I told you he and Jeff were old friends.”

  The other kid dug in his pocket.

  “Wait,” Jeff said. “No bets here.”

  Liam frowned and his friend smirked.

  Jeff introduced Eric to Liam and Meg, and he and Sonja stood back letting Liam introduce his friends.

  After meeting Eric, Meg left the guys, now huddled around Eric talking about his movies, and joined Jeff and Sonja, her expression serious. “Liam was searching for one of Eric Slade’s movies to prove some point to the guys, and he got a weird weather alert. What’s the name of the ship Jesse and Lauren are on?”

  Dread rippled through Jeff and he sensed Sonja tensing beside him. He choked out the name.

  “That’s what I thought,” Meg said. “The ship almost got caught in a storm that looks to be turning into a hurricane.”

  “But it didn’t?” Jeff shot out. Sonja took his hand and squeezed it.

  “No, it was able to dock at Nassau in the Bahamas.”

  Every muscle in his body felt as if it was deflating with the breath he released. Sonja swayed slightly. He released her hand and wrapped his around her waist in support. “You okay?” he whispered, dropping a light kiss on the top of her head.

  “I am now.”

  Meg looked from him to Sonja and back with a confused expression on her face. “Now,” she continued, “it looks like the hurricane is heading in this direction. I thought you might want to know that. For the rally and stuff.”

  “Thanks.” I think.

  Meg returned to where Eric was holding court with the guys.

  Sonja gazed up at him. “As my grandmother used to say, I feel like I’ve been through the wringer and hung out to dry.”

  Jeff laughed as much as a tension reliever as at the old homily.

  He pulled out his phone. “Guess we should check the weather forecast.” Jeff looked up from the screen. “It looks like the hurricane is heading in this direction.”

  C H A P T E R 12

  The B&B front desk phone rang and Sonja jumped. She’d been deep in thought about what she would do if Hurricane Arlene did make landfall on or near the Indigo Bay peninsula, as one weather report on last night’s news had speculated. It wasn’t quite a prediction, but two of the rally participants had called and asked about her cancellation policy. One had cancelled. The other said he’d hold off until he’d heard from the rally sponsors: Eric and Jeff.

  The phone rang again. If she didn’t answer it, she couldn’t get another cancellation. Knowing that wasn’t reasonable, Sonja picked up the receiver, “Morrison Mansion Bed & Breakfast. Sonja speaking. How may I help you?”

  “Hi, Mom.”

  “Lauren! Where are you. Why did you call this number?”

  “Take a breath, Mom. I tried your cell, and it went right to voicemail.”

  Sonja took her daughter’s advice, gulped a breath and exhaled slowly. She was more keyed up than she should be. A direct hit on their coast was only one of the possible hurricane trajectories the weather people were talking about. Lauren’s une
xpected call didn’t automatically mean something bad.

  “Mom, you still there?”

  “Yes. I forgot to charge my phone last night.”

  “We’re on a layover at the Baltimore airport. We decided to cut the honeymoon short to get home ahead of Hurricane Arlene.”

  “What time do you want me to pick you up? It’ll be good to have you home, especially for Shelley.”

  “Jesse has that covered. He’s already talked with his father.”

  “Jeff’s picking you up?” He hadn’t said anything to her. They hadn’t even talked this morning.

  “No, Eric. He has to come to Charleston anyway today.”

  “Oh, okay.” Jeff wasn’t arranging things behind her back, expecting her to fall in line. Sonja shook her head. Why would he be? She was way too on edge about the opening and the cancellation she’d gotten. But she couldn’t totally quash the thought in the back of her mind that she should have done her own advertising, rather than relying on Jeff and the rally for her bookings. And it was only one booking. She still had a couple days to fill it. “So what time should we expect you?”

  “Not until about two or so. We have a long layover and Eric’s business here isn’t until early afternoon.”

  “Okay. Do you want me to tell Shelley or do you want to surprise her?” Sonja heard garbled words in the background. Lauren must be checking with Jesse. Sonja was proud of the way Lauren was so at ease making joint decisions with Jesse. There was a time when the disappointments Lauren had experienced with her father had made her think that she had to do everything herself.

  Kind of like her mother echoed in Sonja’s head.

  Lauren came back on the line. “Wait on telling her. There’s no way you’ll get Shelley down for a nap if she’s all excited about us coming home. And she’ll be cranky if she doesn’t have her nap.”

  “Okay. Text me when you’re on your way from Charleston.”

  “I will. Bye.”

  Sonja hung up.

  “Grammy, no fit.”

  Sonja started. Had she really forgotten about Shelly in the sitting room putting together one of her puzzles? She rushed into the other room. “Let’s see.”

  “No fit,” Shelley repeated.

  The puzzle was a new one, and the little girl was trying to put the last piece in upside down.

  “Try turning it the other way.” Sonja guided Shelley.

  “Yay.” The little girl clapped when the piece dropped right in.

  “How’d you like to go outside and play?” Sonja had done enough make-work tasks inside the B&B. There was really nothing left to do.

  Shelley nodded, and they headed out the sitting room door, after Sonja had double checked that she had her keys with her. Shelley headed for her sandbox and Sonja for the garden shed for her knee pad and gardening gloves. She’d dusted away enough nonexistent dust inside this morning. She might as well tackle nonexistent weeds in the flower beds. The sound of a vehicle coming up the driveway stopped her.

  “Come on, Shelley, let’s see who’s here?”

  “Papa?” she asked.

  “I don’t know.” She didn’t think so. He’d be at the shop.

  They rounded the corner of the house to see Jeff’s truck pulling in. Sonja grabbed her granddaughter’s hand as she started to dart toward the vehicle. “Yes, it is, but we have to wait for him to stop his truck before we go to him”

  “Okay.”

  Jeff stopped and got out.

  “Hi,” she said. “What brings you over?” She bit her bottom lip. Had she sounded like she didn’t want him here? Probably not. Sonja was starting to wish the grand opening was done and over with.

  “You talked with Lauren?” He met them on the lawn.

  “Yes, just now.”

  “When I talked with Jesse, he asked me to pick up the hurricane shutters he’d backordered. He got an email this morning that they were in at the hardware store. And just in time.”

  Sonja looked up at the nearly cloudless crystal blue sky.

  “Most of the weather models are predicting the storm will hit the peninsula or nearby now,” he continued. “I’ll unload the shutters by the side of the house, and Jesse and I can get to work putting them up this afternoon.”

  “Jesse Daddy?” Shelley said.

  “Lauren asked me not to say anything.” Her feelings of things flying out of her control, the anticipation of being in the path of the hurricane with little to do but put up shutters and hunker down, added an unintentional bite of irritation to her words.

  “Oops. Sorry.”

  Sonja calmed herself. “Yes, Jesse and Lauren will be home after you take your nap.”

  “Nap now.” Shelley tugged her hand.

  “That’s a first,” Jeff said in an overly jovial voice.

  “Let me talk to Papa first. Then we’ll have lunch and nap.”

  “Papa stay?” Shelley.

  “I can’t stay for lunch.” Jeff ruffled the little girl’s blond curls. “But I’ll be back later.”

  “Okay, later.” Shelley took off running from them toward the front walkway to the B&B.

  Once Sonja saw what the little girl’s intension was—skipping up and down the walkway—she asked. “Do you have to put the shutters up today? Jesse and Lauren will just be getting back.”

  Sonja followed Jeff’s gaze from the three-story mansion to his truck and back.

  “It’s a big job, and we have the duplex and the cottage, too, as well as the shop.”

  “I know, but we’ve had close calls with hurricanes other times since I moved here. They haven’t been too bad. Some wind. A couple of days of rain.”

  Jeff’s face took on a baffled expression. “You said you like to have everything in place.”

  Sonja’s shoulders slumped. “I do. I mean I thought I had. I haven’t gotten any weather alerts calling for full-out hurricane preparations.” Of course, her phone was upstairs charging. But this was Jeff’s first hurricane season here. He might be overreacting.

  “We can’t wish the storm away,” Jeff said in a soft tone that she should let soothe her as she was sure he intended.

  “Reality is that with the latest projections, Hurricane Arlene could hit us as soon as late tomorrow night.”

  Tomorrow. July 3. Sonja’s throat constricted so she couldn’t say anything, if she’d wanted to.

  “Tell you what. I’ll unload the shutters now and decide later if we need to install them today or if it can wait until tomorrow. I’m meeting with Mayor Strickland, the Independence Day committee, and some of the other sponsors at the City Hall at one. I’ll know better what’s going on after that.”

  A chill ran through Sonja despite the warm summer sun beating down on them. “They’re thinking of cancelling things, aren’t they?”

  “I’ll know better after the meeting.”

  Sonja nodded. She should be more concerned for all of their safety, rather than for her business. But her mind kept circling back to how much she’d staked on the B&B’s grand opening. She watched Jeff walk back to his truck and start unloading the shutters. Including her relationship with Jeff. The grand opening was her one last self-imposed barrier to letting go and loving Jeff.

  Later, after Jesse had texted that they were almost there, Jeff returned to the B&B. He shut off his truck and sat thinking about the meeting, searching for the right words to tell Sonja what the committee and sponsors had decided.

  She opened the door before he knocked.

  One look at her face told him he didn’t have to tell Sonja. Her expression said it all.

  “Everything is cancelled, isn’t it?” she said without even greeting him.

  He stepped in, closed the door and put his arm around her shoulder. “Not everything. But the rally is. All the forecasts now have Arlene making landfall at or near Indigo Bay late tomorrow or early Saturday morning. I emailed the people who were registered for the rally as soon as the meeting was over.” Those that hadn’t already pulled out because of
the storm. When they’d talked this morning, he hadn’t had the heart to tell Sonja about them.

  “Yeah, I’ve gotten eight more cancelled reservations. That makes nine out of 15 rooms., Fourteen if I don’t count the suite, since Eric’s already here. I expect I’ll be hearing from the other five shortly.”

  He tightened his one-armed embrace. “I know how hard you’ve worked. It’ll still come together. It’s just the beginning of the summer. And you have some reservations for after the fourth, right?” Jeff’s stomach tensed when Sonja didn’t lean into the embrace in that way that made him feel as if she was leaning on him for his strength. As he’d expected. To acknowledge they were in this together as businessowners and a couple.

  He continued his pep talk. “What’s a couple lost days?” He didn’t want to think how many more lost days there would be in clean-up if the hurricane did hit.

  Sonja made a little strangled sound in her throat and ducked out from under his arm. He was about to ask what he’d done when he heard voices outside. Eric and the kids. He’d been so into reassuring Sonja that he hadn’t heard Eric drive up.

  Jeff opened the door.

  “Hey, Dad,” Jesse said.

  “We didn’t interrupt anything, did we?” Eric said with a sly look, nodding to the stairway Sonja had bolted up.

  Jesse looked confused at the comment and Lauren thoughtful. Had Sonja said something to Lauren about Sonja and him? He and Jesse didn’t talk about women, except in general. Never had, except when Jesse told him he’d asked Lauren to marry him. But women talked about that kind of stuff, didn’t they?

  Jeff blinked. The other three were staring at him. “She went up to see if Shelley is awake from her nap. Come on up. You, too, Eric. Jesse and I need your help with something if you’re up to it, old man.”

  “Old man? I’ll have you know that I still do most … some of my own stunts.”

  “Ha, what we need you for doesn’t involve any vehicles. Just strength and stamina.”

  Eric smirked an innuendo.

  “The hurricane shutters,” Jeff clarified, taking in the still blue sky outside. “And if the weather reports are even close to accurate, we can’t get them up too soon.”