Hope Harbor

by Jill Sanders

  “It’s about time,” her cousin, Steve added. “Can we go now?”

  “Go?” Eve looked at her mother as she pulled away.

  “Yes, dear, we were supposed to meet the lawyer”—she glanced down at her watch— “half an hour ago.”

  “Lawyer?” Eve shook her head. “Why?”

  “To go over Dad’s will,” Gerald added. “All of us.”

  “Not everyone’s invited,” her father said

  “Screw off,” her uncle replied. “Everyone’s going. I’ll make Jon kick us all out.”

  “But,” she started. “Grandpa?” She shook her head.

  “Oh, they came and removed him hours ago.” Her mother waved her hand, then wiped her nose with a tissue. “It will be a few days before we can bury him. For now, the lawyer wants to go over his will while we’re all here.”

  Eve swallowed. She’d never been around death before. Did things normally go this fast? Wasn’t there a mourning period?

  Then she glanced around at the eager faces in the room and knew that it wasn’t the lawyer wanting to go over the will this soon. It was her family.

  Knowing better than to argue with them, she allowed herself to be shuffled into her parents’ car and driven into town. Her eyes strayed to Holly’s old house, but the sexy man was nowhere to be seen. The table saw still sat in the driveway along with a fresh stack of timber.

  The family carpooled down to the small office that housed her grandfather’s oldest friend and one of the only lawyers on the island, Jon Barber.

  “Mom, do we have to do this now?” she asked, feeling weary from the long drive and the sleepless night worrying about the stupid job that she no longer had.

  “It won’t take long,” her mother said, getting out of the car.

  Eve followed everyone inside the man’s small office and was instantly confronted with another argument between her uncle and father.

  “I told you we all wouldn’t fit. Jon told us only the four of us had to come,” her father said.

  “There’s standing room.” Her uncle shoved his wide body into a small space between a file cabinet and a printer. “See,” Gerald added with a smile.

  “Jon, we’re all here. Let’s make this quick before this place heats up with all these bodies in it,” her father added.

  Eve was once again standing and leaning against a back wall, crammed into another room full of people she didn’t really care for. Only this time, she knew there wasn’t anything here for her.

  Whatever her grandfather’s will said, she knew that her family was bound to get it all. Besides, she didn’t want anything. She would much rather have her grandfather back and send everyone off with their wealth.

  That thought made her smile slightly. Spending time with her grandfather had always been her greatest joy. He’d taught her how to fish, how to sail, even how to cook. Somehow, her memories were full of times with the older man, more so than with her own parents. When she’d struggled with algebra, it had been her grandfather who had sat with her and patiently helped her through the worst of it. He’d been the one to help her fill out her college applications and study for her SATs.

  He’d been the only family member who had been there for her. Always.

  When everyone in the room gasped and turned their eyes towards her, she realized she hadn’t been paying attention to anything anyone had said.

  “What?” she asked, frowning at all the glares.

  Jon cleared his throat and repeated his last sentence.

  “Candlewood Inn and all my holdings in their entirety go solely to my granddaughter, Evelyn Candlewood.” Jon continued reading, but Eve’s ears started to ring, and her vision grayed as her lungs burned from the lack of breathing.

  3

  Enlightened

  “Daddy!” Dylan caught his flying daughter, Palmer, as she jumped from his father’s arms to his own.

  “There’s my girl.” Dylan held onto her as he moved in circles. His greatest joy, his five-year-old daughter, squealed with delight.

  “Thanks for taking her, Dad,” he said when he was done spinning in circles.

  “Sure, thing, son.” His father slapped him on the shoulder. “What kind of project have you got going now?” His father glanced at the saw and the pile of wood.

  “I’m adding a pergola over the end of the deck.” He shrugged.

  “Need any help?” His father was always eager to lend a hand, even if it was just picking up Palmer from reading class or time at the library.

  Moving to the small island where his father had retired years earlier had been the best decision Dylan had made. Especially after his wife Kendra’s death hours after Palmer’s birth, leaving him a single father.

  “Papa, you promised,” Palmer said, with a little pout.

  “Oh.” His father snapped his fingers. “Right, I almost forgot.” He leaned closer to her and kissed her on the forehead. “Dylan, Palmer and I would like to know if we could go for ice cream and pizza. In that order,” he added with a smile.

  Dylan laughed and decided he could use a break. He’d worked through lunch and felt his stomach growl with the thought of a slice or two.

  “That sounds wonderful. How about I head in and hit the shower and change, and we can all go together?”

  “Yippee!” Palmer laughed and clapped.

  “How about you come in and show me that new painting you did?” His dad took Palmer from his arms easily. “So, your dad can go shower and stop stinking,” he added as they walked into the house.

  As he stood under the cold spray, Dylan’s mind wandered to the pretty brunette he’d spotted driving up to the inn. She’d about missed the turn, which he was glad of. He would have missed her if she hadn’t.

  He’d looked up in time to see her back up and turn around and had gotten a good glimpse of her.

  Caramel eyes and soft brown hair pushed to the side of her head in a sharp angled bob that held soft curls. He could only make out her face, but his mind filled in the rest of her.

  It had been those eyes of hers. They had locked with his and, in that instant, they’d heated him up from his core.

  The last time that had happened, it had been with Kendra. His heart skipped as it always did when he thought of his wife. There wasn’t a day that went by that he didn’t miss her.

  Every time Palmer made a new steppingstone, he wanted to call Kendra and fill her in on their daughter’s growth. He often just wanted to call her and talk to her about his projects or what he’d done for the day. He didn’t think of himself as lonely, not really. He had his father and Palmer. But seeing those sexy eyes today, with their promise of a good hot time, he realized he’d gone too long without.

  Almost six years was a long time. He had promised himself over Kendra’s grave that he would never love again, but he’d known instantly upon taking Palmer home three months later it had been a lie.

  They hadn’t planned for the baby to arrive that early. They’d had three more months to go, plenty of time to pick out a name. When Kendra went into labor, Dylan had been thrust into a whole new world.

  A world where something that quite literally fit in the palm of his hand relied on him. For everything. So, he’d spent as much time at the hospital as he could, by his daughter’s side, sitting next to the incubator, making friends with all the NICU nurses whom his daughter’s life relied on.

  When he was asked to pick a name, he glanced down at the small baby girl in his palm and decided right there.

  Months later, he was allowed to take Palmer Kendra Steele home to the nursery he and his wife had yet to finish. The house just north of Seattle hadn’t felt like home anymore. So he’d called his dad and, along with some of his buddies, he’d packed up everything he could and donated most of Kendra’s basics items to a woman’s shelter, keeping some of the important things he believed Palmer would want when she grew up. He’d purchased the log cabin on Orcas Island thanks to the lawsuit he’d won over the doctor’s negligence in Kendra
’s death and stashed the rest of the money away for Palmer’s education and life.

  He hadn’t looked back, not until last year, when he’d grown restless and started doing a few odd construction jobs around the island. Starting his own business, Steele Home Repair, had been easy enough now that Palmer attended preschool four days a week in town. He had plenty of time to stay busy. Besides, there was a dire need on the island. It appeared he was the only one living there that knew anything about construction.

  He’d been working for a major architecture business in Seattle shortly after getting out of the Navy, when he’d met Kendra, an interior designer who worked for the same company. Less than two years later they’d been married. They’d lost a son, prior to Palmer, and the stillbirth had caused Dylan such heartbreak, he hadn’t believed he could heal. Then Kendra had surprised him with a second pregnancy. He hadn’t wanted to try again, and instead had been looking at adoption.

  Now, as he sat across from his daughter as she carefully ate the cut-up pieces of cheese pizza, he couldn’t imagine life without her. She was his everything.

  When the bell above the pizza parlor’s door chimed, he glanced up, as did everyone else in the place.

  Hope Harbor was a small enough town that everyone knew everyone. Seeing the Candlewood family shuffle in, he rolled his eyes in his father’s direction. Everyone in town knew about the Candlewoods. Then he remembered Reggie Candlewood had passed away last night. The older man was the only Candlewood Dylan could tolerate. Dylan had considered the old man a friend. He’d done a few small jobs up at the inn when the old man had called him for help.

  Then Dylan spotted the pretty brunette. Yup, the rest of the package was as sexy as those caramel eyes. She was wearing tight blue jeans and a long flowing cream sweatshirt and holding a jacket around her like she had just stepped into a freezer. Her eyes were glazed over as if she’d just been given some bad news. They were dry and not red, so Dylan didn’t think that she had been crying, but she looked almost like she was in shock.

  He watched Grace Candlewood push the woman into a booth and, after talking to her, moved to the counter to order a pizza with the rest of the group.

  He realized, looking between the two women, that this woman was Grace’s daughter, Evelyn. He’d heard about the woman, about her job in the city and her recent divorce. He didn’t know all the details, since he tuned out most of the gossip that spread around the island.

  “I’m going to go pay my respects,” Dylan told his father. “Can you watch Palmer for a moment?”

  “Sure thing,” his father said easily as he helped Palmer cut up her pizza.

  His daughter was very particular with her food. She had to have each piece the exact same. Dylan was hoping she would outgrow the phase, but they were going on three months now, and he was becoming an expert in food cutting.

  “Hi.” Dylan stopped next to the booth. When Evelyn’s eyes moved up to his, he could see that she was, indeed, in full shock. Her skin was almost translucent. Her eyes looked dark and very lost. She was having a difficult time breathing and was on the verge of passing out.

  Grabbing a pitcher of water from his table, he poured her a glass and shoved it in her hands as he sat next to her. When she didn’t drink the water and only stared at him, he took her hand in his and moved the glass up to her lips.

  “Drink, it will help,” he said softly.

  He watched her closely as she took a sip, then another. She closed her eyes and proceeded to down half of the glass.

  “Better?” he asked when she set the glass down.

  She glanced over at him, her eyes running over his face. He noticed the moment that recognition crossed her eyes. They went from lost to heated in a blink, making him smile.

  “There it is.” He chuckled. “Your family, no offense, are idiots.” He glanced over to the group crowding around the counter, all shouting their orders as if they were at the stock market instead of a ma-and-pop pizzeria.

  Her gaze followed his. “I… they’re upset.”

  He turned back to her. “At?” For as long as he’d known any of them, they had always seemed upset.

  “Me.” She sighed. “My grandfather.” She shrugged and took another sip of the water.

  “Why?” he asked, unsure of why he needed to know.

  “I…” Her eyes turned to his.

  Just then, Palmer rushed over and jumped on his lap. “Daddy, ice cream. You promised.” His daughter put her little hands on either side of his face and squished his cheeks until he made a kissing face. Then she leaned forward and placed her little lips on his. “Please, you promised. I ated all my pizza.”

  He chuckled. “You ate,” he corrected.

  “Yeahuh, I did.” She nodded, her eyes moving slowly over to Evelyn.

  “Palmer, this is Evelyn Candlewood.” He motioned towards Evelyn. “My daughter, Palmer,” he said proudly.

  “Hi.” Evelyn’s eyes were bright with happiness as his daughter took her offered hand and shook it.

  “You’re pretty,” Palmer said softly and then tucked her body against his chest.

  Evelyn chuckled. “Palmer, you just made a very bad day better,” she said with a wink.

  “I’d better…” He started to get up, then remembered why he’d come over there in the first place. “I’m very sorry to hear about Reggie. He was a good friend.”

  “Thanks,” Evelyn said. “I…” She stopped him from leaving. “I didn’t get your daddy’s name?” she said to Palmer.

  Palmer giggled and held onto him a little tighter. “It’s Daddy.”

  He chuckled and ran his hand over his daughter’s hair, which was half out of the ponytail he’d painstakingly put in her thick hair earlier that morning. “Dylan Steele.” He held out his hand. “I own the cabin… near the turnoff.”

  He watched as Evelyn’s face flushed, her cheeks going a pretty shade of pink. Damn, she was even sexier when she blushed.

  “If you need anything.” He glanced towards her family as they argued over their drinks. “I’m just down the road.”

  “We are…” Palmer corrected him, her tiny hands going to his face once again and rubbing over his chin, reminding him that he’d forgotten to shave again that morning.

  Dylan laughed and held his daughter tighter. “Correction. We are just down the road.” He nodded to Evelyn and turned back to his own booth so he could finish his pizza and then take his daughter to get ice cream across the street. Like he’d promised.

  While he finished the last slice of his pie, he watched Evelyn interact with her family. If she was anything like them, he couldn’t see it. She sat in the corner, quietly nibbling on a slice of pizza while everyone argued around her, voices raised as if they were the only people who filled the small space. As if their voices were more important than any others.

  He could easily understand, along with everyone else within earshot, that the family was not happy about Reggie’s will. Before he left the pizzeria, he thought he understood that Evelyn had been given the inn, but with all the bickering, he wasn’t completely sure.

  “What was that all about?” his father asked, motioning to the large family as they all shuffled into their cars and drove away. The three of them were still sitting out on the front deck of the ice cream parlor, enjoying the warmth of the evening and the cold treat. Palmer was tucked in his lap, half-asleep as she tried desperately to finish off the small cone she had. He knew that before they made it home, she would be fast asleep.

  “Sounds like Reggie stirred things up with his will,” he answered, catching sight of Evelyn as she climbed in the back seat of her parents’ car. She looked just as lost and sad as she had when he’d approached her in the pizzeria.

  “Reggie was the only good thing that family had,” his father said with a shake of his head. “I remember Eve from before you moved here. She’s a lot like her grandfather. Good heart. Course, I haven’t seen her in years.” His father shifted and smiled down at Palmer. “She’s out
.”

  Dylan glanced down at his daughter, who had dropped her remaining ice cream on his shirt and was fast asleep, her little head resting on his chest.

  He tried not to jostle her as he attempted to clean up the mess.

  “I’d say she likes school,” he added with a smile. “Every day when she comes home, she’s completely drained.”

  “She has a fan club,” his father said, surprising him. “Three little boys follow her around like she’s the queen of preschool.”

  Something stirred deep in Dylan’s chest, and he felt his stomach roll at the thought of losing his daughter to a boy.

  “Easy.” His dad broke into his thoughts. “She’s five, not sixteen.” He chuckled. “You have plenty of time with her.”

  “It’s already gone by so fast.” He wrapped his arms around his daughter and held onto her. “It was just yesterday I finally got to bring her home.”

  His dad sighed. “And it was just yesterday I was watching you take your first step,” he agreed. “All we can do is enjoy every moment we have.”

  Dylan was a perfect clone of Dan Steele. Even though the man’s hair had turned silver years ago, it was as thick as Dylan’s and just as unruly at times. His father had been one of the best engineers at Boeing and in his earlier days had spent time in the Air Force, flying cutting-edge planes. He’d retired and then moved to Orcas Island after Dylan’s mother had died in a car accident. A drunk driver had taken Dylan’s mother shortly after he’d married Kendra. Not a day went by that he didn’t miss his mother, and he thought about her as much as he thought about Kendra.

  “Think she’ll stick around?” he asked, suddenly. He hadn’t realized he’d turned his thoughts back to Evelyn. “I mean, from what I hear, she’s got a decent job in the city.”

  His father shrugged. “Choosing to stay in the city and work a job for the man or come home and deal with that…” His father motioned to where the cars had disappeared.

  “Right.” Dylan couldn’t explain the sadness that surfaced at the thought of losing the one person on the island who had caused a spark to ignite in him for the first time in years.