Saltwater Cove

by Amelia Addler

  Something that felt like joy.

  Then, just as quickly as they appeared, they disappeared under the black waters. He watched as a handful resurfaced a few hundred feet away, continuing on with their day.

  Hank had to sit down. He couldn’t believe what just happened – in all of his years living on San Juan, he never experienced anything quite like that. He sat for a moment, absorbing the silence. It was so quiet, he could almost convince himself that they hadn’t actually appeared – but they did! They were alive, they were real, and they were amazing.

  “You have got to be kidding me!” Hank yelled. He started to laugh, quietly at first, then it was out of his control. He laughed until his stomach hurt and tears streamed down his face.

  Hank was never the sort of man to look for signs – he was logical, pragmatic. Corinne always teased him about it, and he’d tell her that it was how he had to think as a deputy. But there was something undeniably magical about that moment. He was literally pleading with his wife, and it seemed that she sent her favorite animal on earth to rescue him.

  Hank started the boat. No, this wasn’t something he could tell anyone about. Not even his kids. They would think that he really went crazy. But in his heart, he knew what it meant. There was no doubt in his mind that Corinne sent those whales. Her voice rang in his head, “That’s enough grumping around. Time to perk up! There’s a new day to be had.”

  He pointed the boat towards home. He had an apology to make.

  Chapter 18

  Though she felt uneasy that Brandon was in the house when she told her sister about Morgan, Margie didn’t have much time to dwell on it. Jeff’s surprise party was only a week away, and she had a lot to get done before then. And besides, it seemed like Brandon was sound asleep. What was the chance he even heard anything?

  After they left the next morning, Margie decided to finish setting up the furniture in all of the bedrooms before the weekend of the party. Her plan was to give Connor his own room, and Jade and Tiffany would share a room; Jade actually insisted on it. It made Margie happy that the girls got along so well now, because when they were younger, they were always fighting. They finally started to behave like sisters the past few years.

  Jade said that while everyone else was in the house, Brandon preferred to have a blow up mattress to himself in the finished basement downstairs; she thought it would be better for him to have somewhere private for a retreat.

  “You know how he is,” Jade said with a laugh. “He needs his alone time.”

  As she set up the air mattress, Margie couldn’t help but run that comment through her mind over and over. Brandon needed a lot of things – not the least of which was to stop being a brat and start behaving like an adult.

  Margie thought that at some point with his poor spending habits and bad attitude, Jade might actually put her foot down. Unfortunately, it wasn’t in Jade’s nature to put her foot down. It was much more in her nature to treat him with never ending kindness.

  Margie finished setting up Brandon’s bed and tried to shake him out of her mind. It was difficult, especially because the last time that they visited, Brandon was especially critical of Jade. Margie wasn’t a violent woman, but the way he spoke to Jade sometimes gave her the urge to jump up and smack him.

  As always, though, she resisted that urge. More for Jade’s benefit than for Brandon’s. If only she’d known what a crummy guy he was all those years ago, maybe she could have convinced Jade to break things off…

  Margie set it out of her mind and spent the rest of the week preparing for the party. She put finishing touches on the barn, made the house sparkle and finalized all of the details with the caterer. To Margie’s relief, Tammy offered to pay for all of the food at the party. It wasn’t that Margie was broke or anything – not quite yet – but she certainly needed to start booking some events, or she’d be in trouble.

  Her plan was to get the word out about the barn once the party was done. The website for Saltwater Cove was up and running, complete with a brochure, and Morgan’s pictures looked amazing.

  Jade also set up a website for Jeff’s party guests. It told them a bit about the island, what to do for fun, and where Jeff and Tammy would be staying, so that they could avoid running into them before the surprise.

  Tammy was adamant that Jeff couldn’t see anyone before the actual surprise party. Even Margie wasn’t allowed to speak to Jeff beforehand – much to her dismay.

  “No!” Tammy said immediately. “You’ll have to be there to surprise him with everyone else!”

  It was impossible; Margie definitely wasn’t going to tell Tammy what was going on with Morgan. And it seemed that Tammy wasn’t going to budge. Margie settled on speaking to Jeff as soon as possible.

  It could have been worse. Initially, Morgan volunteered to be the party photographer as a sort of present. Margie avoided discussing that with her for a long time – she couldn’t think of how to tell her no. Then, out of nowhere, a stroke of luck hit: Morgan’s dad decided that he was coming up that very same weekend to visit.

  “I feel so bad that I won’t be there like I said I would be,” said Morgan.

  Margie was adamant. “No, absolutely do not feel bad. We’ll have plenty of pictures, and you need to have fun with your dad!”

  “He’s just coming out for the weekend, so I think I’ll stay with him so I can be out of your hair. He told me I’ve overstayed my welcome with you.”

  “Don’t say that!” replied Margie. “You’re always a welcome part of the family.”

  Morgan smiled, but didn’t seem to feel the weight Margie put on those words.

  On Friday, Tiffany and Connor arrived on the same ferry. Margie anxiously waited at the ferry landing.

  “Hey guys! Over here!”

  Connor caught sight of her and excitedly waved. Tiffany dipped her sunglasses down and waved. She looked fabulous – high heels, a pinstriped dress and a black blazer. Margie giggled to herself – she thought Tiffany looked great, but she also knew that if Jade were there, she would’ve teased her for looking so “city,” as she called it.

  “Hey Mom!” Connor pulled her in for a hug.

  “Hi sweetheart.” She squeezed him tightly, then hugged Tiffany.

  “We haven’t been here in forever,” Tiffany commented. “How is it possible that it looks exactly the same?”

  Margie laughed. “Wait until you see Uncle Mike’s old house. And the barn! It’s all different.”

  “Did you do it all yourself?” asked Connor as he loaded their luggage into the back of the car.

  “No,” Margie said slowly. “I had some professionals do the tough stuff – the plumbing, the electric. I had one contractor who gave me a hard time, but a friend of mine went and – well, eventually he finished the job.”

  “And that girl? The one that’s living with you?” asked Tiffany.

  “Yes, Morgan. Morgan Allen. She’s been staying with me, and she’s been a big help too.”

  Connor cocked his head to the side. “Did I hear about this?”

  “I’m sure I told you honey, she’s the girl whose mom was killed on the island by a drunk driver a few months ago.”

  “Oh yeah,” he said. “Did they ever find who did it?”

  “Sadly, no. Well, they think it was this drunk driver. But I know the police are still working on it.”

  Just then, Margie remembered that Hank had sent her two text messages. She completely forgot to answer – it wasn’t intentional at all, but it might seem that way to him. She was in the middle of something when the messages came through. Margie bit her lip and reminded herself to answer him when she got home.

  Yet as soon as they got home, Margie forgot about responding again, and instead got swept up in showing Tiffany and Connor the property. They were both impressed by the barn’s transformation, and Tiffany appreciated the feminine touches that Margie brought into the home. Connor was most astonished by the beautiful view of the ocean.

  “I think Un
cle Mike must’ve cleared some trees out of here,” he commented. “Whenever we used to visit, I don’t think that you could see out like this.”

  Margie nodded. “That’s entirely possible.”

  As they got settled in the house, an unexpected guest arrived: Morgan.

  Margie’s heart rate picked up when she saw her come through the door. How would her kids react to their half-sister?

  “Hi everyone!” said Morgan. “I’ve heard so much about both of you, I feel like I know you already.”

  Oh boy. Hopefully Jade had a chance to tell Tiffany how much she liked Morgan; Tiffany did not take making friends lightly.

  Tiffany smiled and offered a handshake. “It’s nice to meet you too. Morgan, right?”

  “Yes, thats me!”

  Connor came over and started talking with a mouth full of cookies. “Nice to meet you, I’m Connor.”

  Margie looked at the three of them standing there and felt momentarily frozen. She shook herself out of it. “Morgan, isn’t your dad supposed to arrive soon?”

  “Oh yeah, I didn’t get to tell you. His flight was canceled. Now he’s not coming until tomorrow in the afternoon. But he was able to get off of work on Monday, so he just extended his stay a bit.”

  “Where is he traveling from?” asked Tiffany.

  Margie took the chance to step away. This wasn’t good – not at all. What if Morgan wanted to hang around the barn and take pictures now as the party started? She absolutely could not see Jeff before Margie had a chance to talk to him – and then to Morgan, too! It was a very delicate matter, and Margie didn’t want anything to go wrong.

  She looked up – the kids were still talking, and Connor was saying something about how much he loved the Oregon coast. Margie pulled her phone out – it was time to finally answer Hank.

  “I’m very sorry I didn’t write back sooner – things have been so hectic and it completely slipped my mind. Would you have just a few minutes to chat? I have a big favor to ask you.”

  His reply came almost instantly. “Of course. Do you want me to call you? Or I can stop by if that’s better.”

  She didn’t want there to be any chance of the kids overhearing her. She popped her head into their conversation. “Hey, I just need to run to the store to grab a few things. I’ll be right back, okay?

  “Okay!” They answered before getting back to talking.

  Margie rushed to her car, and once the door was securely closed, she called Hank.

  He picked up after two rings. “Hello?”

  “Hi Hank. The thing I need to talk to you about is…a little strange. I was thinking that maybe we could meet. I could even stop by your place if that’s convenient?”

  “Oh! Sure, that would be fine. When were you thinking?”

  “I was thinking…right now?”

  Hank laughed. “Luckily my place is still pretty clean from Amanda’s visit. Come on over, I’ll send you the address.”

  Margie got off the phone and anxiously waited for his text. It was true that she needed to stop by the grocery store – but it could’ve waited until tomorrow. She felt bad lying about it – but she felt bad about everything right now. They just needed to get through the next twenty-four hours without any major catastrophes and then everything would be out in the open.

  Hank’s address came through and Margie plugged it into her GPS. It was only a few minutes away, which was a relief. Despite the short drive, it felt like it took forever to get there.

  Margie hopped out of her car immediately after parking. Hank was ready for her – he appeared at the front door almost instantly.

  “Hey! It’s nice to see you.”

  She smiled. “Thanks for having me on such short notice. I promise this won’t take long.”

  “No, please.” He opened the door for her. “I have nothing else to do, and I’d love to give you the tour, and actually, there was something that I needed to…”

  “I’m sorry Hank, I don’t have a lot of time. I don’t want the kids to get suspicious. But I have a strange favor to ask you.”

  “Anything you need.”

  Oh wow. That seemed very…resolute. What if she was going to ask him to do something awful? What if she wanted a million dollars, or to ask him to egg Jeff’s car?

  “Well, I can’t really tell you the full story yet. But I will, I promise. I don’t mean to be so secretive, it’s just that it’s not my secret to tell, and first…” Her voice trailed off.

  He put his hands up. “There’s no need to explain. I trust you.”

  Well. Margie felt a little flutter in her chest. That didn’t sound like the words of a man who despised her. Maybe he hadn’t found out about Morgan’s paternity? Maybe he was just busy or something. For him to say something like that definitely made it seem like he didn’t hate her. But when she finally told him the truth, there was no way he’d trust her again.

  “I need you to keep Morgan away from the surprise party tomorrow. Again, I promise that I’ll explain why later, it’s just that –”

  “No problem. I can talk to her about her mom’s case or something.”

  Margie cringed. “Uh, maybe not something so sensitive?”

  “You’re right,” Hank said with a frown. “Not my best idea. I can take her on a ride along?”

  “Oh! You’re on duty tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, so I can pitch that to her. Do you need her to be busy the entire night too?”

  Margie shook her head. “No, her dad should be coming at some point tomorrow, so just until then. But she just can’t come to the party. Or see the guests.”

  Hank studied her for a moment, but if he had any doubts, he wasn’t showing them. “Okay. I can stop by tomorrow morning and see if I can get her to bite.”

  “Actually,” Margie twisted her hands together. “I was hoping that you could stop over right now. And just act like – well, you know, that it just came to you? Or something?”

  “Oh.” Hank shrugged. “Sure, no problem. Anything you need. I can head over now.”

  Margie bit her lip. “But won’t that look suspicious? That we both get back there at the same time?”

  Hank cracked a smile. “You evil masterminds think of everything, don’t you?”

  “No,” said Margie with a sigh. “Unfortunately not. Okay, I’m actually going to run to the store so I have something to bring back. I told them that I was going to the store.”

  “An airtight alibi,” quipped Hank.

  She suppressed a smile. This wasn’t funny. But seeing him again was nice.

  “And you can come, in maybe like, an hour or so? Oh! Stop by for dinner. My son and daughter just got in, and I’m making a pot roast.”

  “Say no more, you’re right, one of your amazing dinners is the perfect excuse as to why I would randomly stop over.”

  Margie laughed. “Thanks Hank. You’re a lifesaver. I’ll see you soon.”

  She got back in her car and headed to the store. As nervous as she was about this entire situation, she felt calmed by the fact that now she had Hank on her side. He seemed so unwaveringly loyal too. It was…nice. He put on a tough guy image, but he was quite a lovely man.

  Glad that she had an ally, Margie set out to finish the rest of her plan.

  Chapter 19

  It was a bit awkward talking to Tiffany, but Morgan found Connor to be an open book. She kind of expected them to be that way – Jade told her all about how they were growing up and how they were now.

  “Tiffany’s really serious. So sometimes she can come off as…I don’t know, harsh?” Jade told her. “But she’s not harsh, not at all. She has a really good heart. She’s just…careful. She doesn’t open up to people easily.”

  Morgan wasn’t so sure about Jade’s judgements – it seemed that sometimes, Jade gave people the benefit of the doubt who didn’t deserve it. Brandon, for example, wasn’t the friendliest guy, but Jade seemed to adore him. Maybe that was the plight of overly nice people: they attracted outcasts, people w
ho nobody else could put up with. They could see the good in them, but no one else could.

  That was how Morgan’s mom always was. She tried to teach Morgan to look for the best in people – even though this theory often led to her being taken advantage of. She was trusting, and even if someone did use her, or lie to her, she didn’t get angry. Not really.

  Morgan got angry on her behalf. In fact, Morgan felt angry most of the time now. She couldn’t believe that the police still hadn’t proven that Brock killed her mom. She knew that Chief Hank was trying, but he was pretty tight lipped about updates. He probably thought they were never going to solve it and she should just let it go.

  But how could she? The last week, Morgan went into Friday Harbor and made a plea to every business owner in the area asking if they had camera footage from the night her mom died. They told her that they would look into it, but so far no one called or emailed.

  There was one possible breakthrough – Morgan spent an entire day going up and down the surrounding streets and talking to homeowners, too. It turned out many of them kept cameras on their properties. Some were simple doorbell cameras, but others were complete security systems. Everyone she spoke to said they were willing to look back and see if they still had recordings from that night. With all those cameras, someone had to have something.

  “What did you go to school for?”

  Morgan startled. She didn’t realize that Tiffany was talking to her because she was lost in her own thoughts. “History. But I still have a semester to finish. I left school after my mom died.”

  Connor’s face fell. “Oh. I’m so sorry to hear that.”

  “It’s okay, I can go back.” Morgan didn’t want to depress the mood, even though she was very good at doing that. “It’s just…hard. And what am I going to do with a history degree anyway?”

  Tiffany and Connor both laughed. Good – she had to remind herself not to weave her mom’s death into every conversation. But it was tough, because to her, it felt like everything in her life was still entangled with the tragedy. It was almost all she could think about, even though the rest of the world moved on.