The Coast Road Home

by Vickie McKeehan

  “But Heather already did that by suggesting Faye go into chatrooms and talk to guys pretending to be sixteen,” Andy pointed out.

  “And that’s why I used the phrase, ‘another line.’ Saturday night’s failure was the first chink in Heather’s armor. Which is why Heather isn’t looking so smart right about now. Faye knows it was a dumb thing to do. She also knows she was lucky that the man didn’t grab her and force her to go with him. Maybe you could build on that. But if you try to knock Heather down, you’ll only make the girl look more appealing than she already is to Faye. I wouldn’t suggest that approach.”

  Marley leaned in and lowered her voice. “Just remember, you’re on the right track. Because in my experience it’s fairly normal for teens, especially girls, to want to be like the most popular girl in school. Just try to emphasize that Faye should embrace her own individuality. And for the record, Heather thought Putney was childish, and that’s why Faye lost interest in her turtle.”

  “Unbelievable,” Andy remarked, looking over at his sister. “She’s always been a child that needs extra special positive reinforcement. And with our parents dying, I guess she didn’t get enough from me. I was too worried about paying the bills, putting food on the table, than giving her the attention she needed. I guess somewhere along the way she found a role model in Heather.”

  “Don’t do that,” Marley cautioned. “Don’t beat yourself up. I can’t repeat this enough. Peer pressure can be an enormous chunk of teenage behavior. They pay lip service to your edicts and your rules only to buckle the first time a Heather comes along and makes something look more appealing.”

  “Like dumping Beckham,” Hannah reiterated. “When Andy told me, I couldn’t believe it. I never thought Faye would do that, hurt a friend like that. It’s like Faye’s playing follow the leader.”

  “Exactly.”

  “I don’t know how to thank you,” Andy began. “At least now when the social worker shows up, I’ll be able to talk about Faye’s behavior with some insight.”

  “Glad I could help,” Marley said and meant it. She looked over at Gideon and found him staring at her. “What?”

  “We should probably go.”

  “Why so soon?” Hannah wanted to know.

  “I’m taking my driving test in the morning to get my license. Gideon’s right. We should go.”

  “Thank you again for what you did for Faye.”

  “I talked to the kid, that’s it.”

  “We appreciate it,” Andy said.

  “And I’ll stop over sometime this week and look at your yard,” Caleb promised.

  “That’ll be great. And dinner was wonderful. Thank you for inviting us.”

  “Thanks for dinner,” Gideon repeated as they walked out into the night to the car.

  When they were settled in the Enclave, Gideon twisted in his seat. “Back there, you were good with that kid. You gave Andy a lifeline to latch onto.”

  “Sometimes, all anyone needs is a little hope. He’s so worried about her.”

  “Know what we could use right about now?”

  “What?”

  “A long walk on the beach. There’s moonlight.”

  Marley clasped his hand in hers. “Why Gideon Nighthawk, you’re a romantic at heart.”

  “Who knew, right?”

  “You bring out the best in me.”

  “Right back atcha.”

  Twenty-Two

  “If you’re traveling at fifty-five miles an hour, under good conditions, how many feet will your vehicle travel in the time it takes you to react to an object in your path and bring your vehicle to a safe stop?”

  Marley stared past her plate of eggs and across the kitchen table at Gideon while he quizzed her with one of the questions from the DMV handbook. “Four hundred feet.”

  “Correct.”

  She pumped a fist in the air. “Yessss! I think I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

  Barkley woofed in response.

  “How many times did you take the practice test online?”

  She blew a band of hair out of her eyes and stuck out her chin. “That’s not a fair question. Besides, I’ve improved by two hundred percent since that first time when I had more of a red line than a green line with the correct answers. But we’ll see if all that memorizing stuff paid off. Hopefully, I’ll be back here by noon with my new license in hand.”

  “You downloaded the directions to the San Sebastian location, right?”

  “I did. You asked me that after we showered.”

  “Yeah, well, I was a little distracted.”

  “That’s what a girl likes to hear. I texted Wally to make sure the car was even ready for me to pick up. Just got a text back. It’s a go. Woohoo! I’m getting my Scout back. Can you believe it? It’s been so long since I’ve sat behind the wheel that I talked Keva into coming with me today. Good thing for me that her day off landed on Monday. She says there’s a lot of stop n’ go lights between here and there.”

  “Stop n’ go lights?” Gideon was beginning to get the gist. “Are you nervous about driving, Marley?”

  “A little. Okay, a lot. But that’s why I talked Keva into coming with me. Do you know she has a major crush on Malachi Rafferty?”

  Gideon shook his head and stood up, almost tripping over the dog. He brought his plate over to the sink to rinse it off. “Small towns are a network that churns out rumors by the hour. Don’t believe half of what you hear.”

  “It’s not a rumor. I saw it for myself at the bar Saturday night.” She took the last bite of her eggs, churning out an idea. “I told Cord I’d planned a party. I should get everyone together. I’m thinking Andy should meet your Shiloh.”

  “She’s not my Shiloh. What is this fascination with pairing up everyone you meet? Is that some kind of fixation after settling into a new place?”

  “It’s a defense mechanism. Avoidance really.”

  He clucked his tongue. “Psych majors.”

  “Watch it, buster. Believe it or not, patients used to refer to me as their doctor, just a different kind than you are, but I put in the hours and the grad school research to get there.”

  “Fair enough. But that brings me to another point, which is, why would you want to give it all up?”

  That question stumped her. “Not today, Gideon. I’m all ginned up to get my license.” She got to her feet to load her plate into the dishwasher. “I’m not starting the day off with an argument.”

  “I’m not asking you to. The question is fairly simple. Why throw away all those years of schooling and hard work? Why give up helping people? Do you really think Leo and Riordan would want that? Would your parents?”

  She tightened her jaw. “I know they wouldn’t. My parents were proud of Aaron and of me. They wanted us to succeed and worked hard to make sure it happened.”

  But she held up a hand before he could say another word. “This is not the time to discuss it. For a variety of reasons.”

  He took her shoulders. “I’m not trying to fight or make you mad or sad.”

  “Good. Because I don’t need that right now. I’m leaving Barkley on his own. That’s enough to worry about.”

  “I’d take him with me, but a hospital is no place for a lively puppy. He’ll be fine. Put him in the laundry room.”

  “I can’t do that. Maybe I’ll take Barkley over to Ellie’s, see if she can dog sit for a couple of hours.”

  “That’s an idea. Stop being so nervous. You’ll do fine.”

  “Easy for you to say. You have your license.”

  He placed a kiss on her forehead. “Good luck taking the test. Want me to drop you at Wally’s?”

  “That’d be great.”

  She didn’t talk on the way over to the gas station, and neither did Gideon. The silence between them felt awkward.

  After hopping out of the SUV, Marley kept having second thoughts about the weird way they’d left things. But when she spotted Lilly opening up, there was no time to dwell on fixing it.
“Aren’t you glad I’ll be out of your hair after today?”

  Lilly grinned. “Car’s need repairing all the time. No one’s really out of our hair if you get my drift. Don’t you know that by now?”

  “Ah. You’ve got a goldmine here, lady. What’s the damage? Let’s hope I have enough room on my credit card to handle this.”

  Lilly went to a folder on the wall, flipping through the paperwork. After several long minutes, she finally went to the register to ring up the tab, handing off the receipt with the list of parts Wally had used and the cost broken down into categories.

  The bill was as long as Marley’s arm. “That’s not as bad as I thought,” she said, handing off her plastic to pay for it all.

  Wally appeared in the doorway to stand behind his wife. “Not only does she look good, but she also purrs like a kitten.”

  “I’m not sure if you’re talking about my Scout or Lilly,” Marley quipped.

  Wally slung an arm around his wife’s shoulders. “This beautiful lady is the light of my life. She always looks good. But sometimes she does not purr like a kitten but chooses to roar like a lion. Am I right? The kids and I usually deserve it.”

  Lilly nudged him with an elbow, but then kissed him briefly on the cheek. “Sometimes, it is hard to tell if he’s talking about me or some engine.”

  Wally placed a kiss on Lilly’s hair. “In this case, I’m referring to Marley’s International Harvester. I don’t get to work on those very often. The engine’s in very good condition. Come on, you must be anxious to see what I’ve done with it. She’s all gassed up and ready to hit the road. Don’t take that literally this time.”

  Marley took the ribbing in stride. “I don’t intend to drive off the road again. Thank you.”

  She followed him outside the service area and let out a huge gasp when she caught how shiny the Scout looked. She walked along the passenger side, running a hand over the smooth finish from front to rear bumper. “Wow, you did an amazing job. The yellow color is showroom quality.”

  “It’s not an exact match, but it’s pretty darn close.”

  “Good enough for me. I don’t know how to thank you. You were so diligent getting the parts. I don’t know how you found everything you needed, but I’m grateful. I’m having a party this weekend. I’d like it if you and Lilly could come.”

  “Sure. Sounds nice. When do you want that surfing lesson?”

  “Any day is good for me. Not today, though. Today I get my driver’s license. In fact, I need to get moving. Catch you later. See you and Lilly Saturday night.”

  She took the Scout for a short test drive before swinging by Ellie’s and begging her to watch Barkley.

  Ellie was eager to help. “My schedule is tight today. But what if I dropped him at Hollis’s place when I have to leave to clean Perry Altman’s house? I’d take the dog with me, but Perry has this nervous poodle that doesn’t like other dogs. But at Hollis’s house, they could keep each other company. And Hollis could use something to do. He’s getting awfully bored laid up.”

  “I hate to be a bother.”

  “It’s no bother, really it isn’t. It’ll work, you’ll see.”

  With that settled, Marley headed to Keva’s house to pick her up. Keva was waiting in the driveway. “I thought you said eight o’clock.”

  “I did, but it’s been a crazy morning. I forgot about getting Barkley a sitter.”

  Keva twisted in her seat to peer into the back. “I don’t see him.”

  “No, he’ll end up with Hollis Crow.”

  “Are you nervous? You look frazzled.”

  “Gee thanks. But I am a little,” Marley admitted.

  “I’m along for support. What can I do to keep your mind off those questions?”

  “Talk to me. About anything. What’s Bodie’s deal anyway? How did she end up here? And why is she so off men?”

  “Bodie is a friend of Gilly’s. They met at nursing school. But Bodie didn’t like nursing enough to finish. She met this guy, and they moved to Silicon Valley. When Bodie got dumped by said guy, Gilly suggested she start over here in Pelican Pointe. Logan helped her get a place to live here. Let’s see that was back in February, I think.”

  “Yes, but why is she so angry?”

  “If you ask me, she has plenty of reasons. For one, she helped this guy make his company a success from start to finish. And then, right before he took it public, the asshole dumped her. Flat out left her hanging, without any warning.”

  “The guy must’ve had someone else waiting in the wings.”

  “Probably. But he didn’t use that as an excuse. One night he slept there as usual, and by the end of the next day, he didn’t come back. Turns out, he’d hired movers to come into the loft to haul all his stuff out.”

  “That’s cold.”

  “Brutal. And because they didn’t have a formal written financial agreement in place between them and they weren’t married, he basically cleaned Bodie out to get the business up and going. But then when he knew he was taking the company public, he got sneaky and emptied their joint accounts, and he took away her share of the stocks so she wouldn’t benefit from the IPO.”

  “Ouch. Greedy bastard. Was that even legal?”

  “I’m told that Bodie’s exploring the legal side of that with Kinsey. In the meantime, Bodie’s working her butt off to replenish her bank account and recoup what he took from her until Kinsey can sue his ass.”

  “You think you know people.”

  “It’s tough out there finding anyone who isn’t a rat bastard. Which brings me to Gideon. He doesn’t seem like a rat bastard.”

  Marley thought of last night and the romantic walk on the beach. The rest of the evening had been as glorious as they could make it. They’d made love, and it had been perfect. But Keva’s story about Bodie reminded her that all too often reality could bite without warning. Focusing on the unfamiliar road to San Sebastian, she did her best to keep up with Keva’s banter.

  “I’m asking if you two are serious. You do maintain separate residences.”

  “We’re in no hurry to be more than what we are. We enjoy each other’s company. We have long talks about books and movies. We’ve discovered we like doing the same outdoor stuff. Gideon’s a good man. He’s no rat bastard, that’s for sure.”

  “You’re lucky.” After realizing what she’d said, Keva sputtered out an apology. “Sorry. I didn’t mean you were lucky…all the time just with Gideon.”

  Marley spared a glance at Keva. “Does everyone in town know? Nevermind. What a stupid question. Of course, they know. Why wouldn’t they? People google everybody these days.”

  “And you resent them knowing about the shooting?”

  “No. no, I’m just tired of putting people on the spot when they find out because they don’t know what to say. There’s nothing to say. And it makes people feel awkward like they’re trying to find that one eloquent way to express sympathy, but they can’t. Besides, I’ve heard it all.”

  “But not from the people here in town. They mean well,” Keva pointed out.

  “I know they do,” she said, pulling into the parking lot of the DMV. She went up and down the aisles, trying to find a place to park. “Why is it so crowded?”

  “This is California, honey. The DMV is always like this. Didn’t anyone tell you?”

  “But I made an appointment ahead of time.”

  Keva thought that was hilarious. “Doesn’t matter. Did you bring anything to drink or snack on?”

  “No. Should I have?”

  “That’s okay. There’s a convenience store across the street. You go get in line. I’ll run over there and get enough provisions to keep us hydrated.”

  Four hours later, Marley emerged in a triumphant walk toward the exit. She exchanged high-fives with Keva.

  Keva looped her arm through Marley’s as they walked back to the Scout. “You came, you saw, you conquered the DMV. Woohoo!”

  “I did. I’m in shock. I breezed through it
in ten minutes after waiting three and a half hours to take the test.”

  “Want to celebrate? We could explore that retail shop I was telling you about. What do you say?”

  “Let’s do it. Let’s do some more damage to my credit card. I deserve it.”

  Three hours later, she pulled the Scout past Gideon’s Encalve parked in the driveway and angled her vehicle into the garage for its very first time. Having transportation again somehow made her feel more complete. Because she could hop into her own wheels any time she wanted and go wherever she wanted, it felt like she’d come full circle. Parking her dad’s SUV in the garage finally made her feel like she was home.

  The detached garage had a walkway that led to the back door. Barkley bounded out of the car as soon as she opened the door, straight onto the lawn to pee.

  She grabbed her shopping bags and headed into the house through the sunroom.

  And stopped.

  In the sunniest part of the house, Gideon had set the table with candles and supper. He offered her a glass of chilled champagne.

  “I thought you’d never get home. What took so long?”

  “Nevermind that. What is this?” One look at her good dishes decorating the table and all the food he’d bought, and her lips bowed into a smile. “What are we celebrating?”

  “You passed your driving test for one. And for good measure, we’re celebrating life in general.”

  “I like the sound of that.” She tilted her head to study him. “Did you have a good day?”

  “I did. No major or minor surgeries to deal with. And I felt bad about how we left things this morning between us. Perry Altman provided the pheasant and Murphy pointed me to the Bollinger Special Cuvée.”

  Barkley came rushing in behind her. “Oh, no. Grab him before he goes right for the food.”

  Gideon made a dive for the dog just as he bolted out of reach. Marley dropped her bags and tried to corner the pooch, heading him out of the sunroom and away from the nice table.

  Barkley thought it was great fun to be chased through the kitchen. He darted around furniture, skidding on a rug in the dining room, knocking over a chair.