Saltwater Cove

by Amelia Addler

  Margie got back not too long after that and Morgan insisted on helping with dinner; she wanted Margie to be able to spend some time with her kids. Just as dinner was being served, Chief Hank showed up. It was almost as though he had a sixth sense for good food.

  “I hope I’m not being a bother!” he said as he sat down.

  Morgan had to force herself not to smile. She thought he definitely meant to be a bother. His adoration for Margie was obvious to everyone but Margie – though it seemed like she might finally be starting to catch on.

  It was sweet – Margie was a really nice person. Hank seemed like he was too. He didn’t arrest her, after all. She owed him one.

  Dinner was delicious, and before Morgan had a chance to jump up and start collecting plates, Chief Hank said he had a proposition for her.

  “Are you busy tomorrow? I wanted to take you for a ride along.”

  Morgan bit her lip. “That’s really nice of you, but my dad is coming in, and I was going to take some pictures of the party for Margie.”

  “Oh please, don’t miss out on fun on my behalf,” said Margie. “You can even pick up your dad in the police car. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

  Morgan laughed. “Yeah, I guess. Except I don’t want the poor man to have a heart attack.”

  She carried a stack of dishes into the kitchen. Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to hang out with Chief Hank. He might be able to pressure the people with cameras to actually look into their records. Maybe he even knew them personally – he seemed to know everyone on this island.

  There was a chance that he might get angry with her for trying to find things on her own…so maybe it was best not to involve him. But if she did find a recording showing Brock driving along the road, maybe even striking her mom, would Brock then accuse her of tampering with the evidence?

  As if she knew how to tamper with a video! A picture, sure, but not a video.

  Still, it wasn’t worth the risk in case it did actually become evidence. She decided she’d come clean to Chief Hank.

  When she got back to the dining room she said, “Okay Chief, that sounds like fun. I’m in.”

  A smile spread across his face. “Alright! It will be fun. You’ll see.”

  That night, Morgan was supposed to sleep at the place that her dad rented, but since he didn’t make it to the island, it seemed a bit weird to go and sleep there by herself. Luckily, Margie insisted that she stay the night with them. It was nice because she didn’t have to rush out after dinner. Chief Hank stayed behind too, because Connor asked him to tell some stories about all the crazy things he’d seen as a deputy.

  They sat on the couches in the living room as the Chief told them about some of the stupid (and hilarious) things people did to get themselves involved with the deputies. Everyone thought it was great – except maybe Tiffany, who sat quietly on the end of the couch. She laughed sometimes, politely, but not real laughs.

  She was so different than Jade, and Morgan felt insecure around her. Since Tiffany didn’t say much, Morgan couldn’t work out what she was thinking – so naturally, she defaulted to thinking that Tiffany must not like her.

  Morgan wasn’t quiet and she wasn’t used to quiet people – she’d often say things that came into her head without filtering it first. And it wasn’t that everyone had to be just like her, but if Tiffany were just a bit more open, it would’ve been nice.

  When Chief Hank left, Morgan excused herself to go to bed. She felt a bit like an intruder, and she wanted Margie to get to spend time with her family. Morgan went to her room and shut the door, checking her email and her phone for any messages about videos.

  Still nothing. She drifted off to sleep.

  The next morning, Jade and Brandon arrived early, their car stuffed with DJ equipment. Morgan was excited to see Jade, and headed into the kitchen first thing. Rather quickly, though, she looked for a way to excuse herself; she found herself in the middle of a loud, boisterous reunion between Jade, Tiffany, and Connor, and it made her feel rather awkward.

  She waved hello before grabbing a banana and heading back to her room. She needed to get ready for her ride along anyhow – Chief said that he wanted to pick her up around 9:30. She got dressed, then wasted some time looking at cat pictures on the internet. A bit after nine, she heard a knock on the door.

  “Hey, do you have a second?”

  Brandon. Ugh.

  “Oh, yeah. Just getting ready for my ride along with Chief Hank.”

  Brandon nodded. “Cool. I was wondering if you could help me set up some of my equipment. Jade would normally help but she’s completely ignoring me.”

  “Uh, sure, I still have some time before he’s supposed to get here.”

  “Great! Thanks. I really appreciate it.”

  Well. Wasn’t he being weirdly polite. Only because he needed something, she decided. Jade told her earlier that week that Brandon was having a hard time booking events – there was a lot of competition, apparently. It was probably going to be a big deal for him to be able to do events at Saltwater Cove, and he needed to get it right.

  They made their way out to the barn. Morgan paused to admire how beautiful it looked – all of the tables and chairs were set up, along with some decorations. Margie just needed to add the plates and the centerpieces and it would be picture perfect.

  Brandon pulled the door of the barn shut and walked over to her. A chill ran down her spine.

  “I’m actually really glad that I have a chance to talk to you,” he said.

  Oh great. He was still using his “nice” voice, and he was standing way too close.

  She took a step back. “Oh really? What about?”

  “Well,” Brandon said with a heavy sigh, “I just can’t stand what they’re doing to you anymore.”

  “What who is doing to me?”

  He pointed in the direction behind her, towards the house. “All of them. Margie, Tiffany, Connor…even Jade. Though she’s my wife, and I promise to keep her secrets, I just can’t keep this one.”

  Morgan crossed her arms. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He took a step closer. “I know you don’t. It’s just that…well, let me show you something.”

  He pulled out his cell phone and opened up a picture. “Now what I’m about to show you is very shocking. But I think you deserve to know.”

  Morgan took the phone from his hand ran her eyes over the picture. It looked like Jade, Tiffany, and Connor when they were younger. A family picture. Margie was there too, looking younger but still very much herself. Behind them all was a dark haired a man.

  Morgan gasped. “Who is that guy?”

  “They didn’t tell you.” Brandon shook his head. “I knew they were hiding it from you.”

  Morgan zoomed in on the man’s face. “But that’s impossible. My mom told me that he died before I was born.”

  Brandon frowned. “That was a lie. Your mom had no choice – it wasn’t her fault. She didn’t know that Jeff was married when she…well, fell in love with him. And stuff.”

  Nausea bucked and rolled in Morgan’s stomach. The room felt too hot. “So that’s Jeff? Margie’s ex-husband?”

  Brandon nodded. “Yes. And he’s very much alive. He cheated on Margie all those years ago, but Margie took him back. They made a plan that if your mom’s baby – you – ever showed up, that they had to…take certain precautions.”

  Morgan’s head was spinning. “I don’t understand. Are you saying that…”

  “I know, it’s a lot to take in. But you’re doing so well.”

  Morgan couldn’t stop looking at the picture. How was it possible that this man was alive her entire life? And her mom never told her? How could everyone lie to her about it?

  “I know that you think Margie is this really nice lady, but she’s really cut throat. She wanted to make sure that you wouldn’t show up and disrupt the image of their perfect family.”

  Morgan realized that Brandon had his h
and on her shoulder.

  “Why did they…I mean, why…” She couldn’t put her thoughts together.

  “I’m really sorry that I had to be the one to tell you this. But they were trying to keep you away from the party so you wouldn’t see Jeff before they could put their plan into action. And I mean – I’m just not the kind of person who’s okay with something like that. I don’t care about how it looks. It’s so wrong for them to treat you this way.”

  Morgan shook her head. “I don’t even want anything from him. I would just want…”

  “I know, I know.” Brandon wrapped his arms around her and stroked her back. “But they just don’t know how nice of a person you are. They don’t deserve you.”

  Morgan’s arms were pinned to her side. She was still clutching the phone in one hand. Brandon smelled weird – like sweat and fruity chewing gum.

  She pulled away.

  “I’m really sorry that you had to find out this way, but I thought you deserved to know.”

  She handed him his phone back just as she heard a car pull up. It made two quick honks.

  “I think Chief Hank is here to pick me up,” she said numbly.

  “Well listen – don’t say anything to them. Probably the best thing you can do is leave and never speak to any of them again. Make them worry that you found out the plan. Ghost them.”

  “Ghost them?”

  “Yeah, just disappear. Or…you could get revenge on them all.”

  Two more honks.

  “Revenge? I don’t…I don’t want anything from him.” Morgan felt like she was repeating herself. She didn’t know what else to say.

  Brandon’s eyes grew wide for a moment. “I mean – what I meant to say is that the best revenge is living a great life, right?”

  She shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”

  He pulled the barn door open. “Well, have a good day, okay?”

  Morgan nodded and slowly walked out of the barn.

  “Hang in there,” he called out after her.

  She threw a hand up to wave. She didn’t want to look back. She didn’t want to go hang out with Chief Hank, either, but the alternative was going back inside Margie’s house. And that seemed like a bad idea, since as the shock wore off, the anger she was so familiar began to engulf her.

  Chapter 20

  The morning before the party flew by. Margie had a hundred little details to pull together and not quite enough time to do them all. Jade volunteered to help, which was lovely, and even Tiffany and Connor pitched in. By 4 o’clock, there were still a couple of things they didn’t get to, but Margie made everyone stop what they were doing to get ready for the party. The guests were to arrive at 5 o’clock, and Jeff and Tammy would be there at 5:30 sharp.

  The cover story was that Tammy really wanted to see where Margie was living now. Apparently, Jeff put up quite the fight with her, saying he didn’t want to come along, but Tammy was eventually able to convince him. Margie wasn’t sure why Tammy decided to share that piece of information with her – she tried not to let it hurt her feelings. Was she really so bad that Jeff wouldn’t at least stop by and say hello?

  As she got ready, Margie sent a text message to Hank to see how everything was going. Unfortunately, he didn’t answer.

  Maybe he was busy; she didn’t have time to dwell on it. Margie slipped into the light blue dress that she bought for the occasion; she had met Jade on the mainland to go shopping. It was quite a fun day, and Margie loved the dress that she found. She applied a touch of makeup and added a few curls to her hair – nothing too fancy, just a little bit more than usual. She was the hostess, after all and this was the barn’s debut event!

  Tammy insisted that the guests should not drive themselves so there wouldn’t be a bunch of cars parked on the property to signal Jeff that something was going on. Margie certainly had the space for it, but she understood. Instead, a trolley picked up guests at several spots in town and dropped them off at Saltwater Cove. The last drop off was at 5:20. Margie anxiously peaked into the barn – it was full of life, booming with laughter and twinkling lights and excited voices setting the tone.

  Margie’s heart swelled. It took all summer, but the barn was complete. It was beautiful. She wished that she could send a picture to Mike, but she knew that it was impossible to contact him. She snapped a picture anyway – maybe he would check the website and end up seeing it after all.

  She rushed back to the house and waited at the window. Jeff and Tammy didn’t arrive on time, which was fine, because there were a few guests who came rather late and ignored the no cars rule. Connor was able to show them where to park so that their cars weren’t visible.

  Finally, at 5:48, the doorbell rang. Margie checked her reflection in the hallway mirror one last time – nothing was out of place. She took a deep breath and smiled, trying to calm her nerves.

  “Hi!” she said as she opened the door.

  “Hi, so good to see you!” replied Tammy, immediately going in for a hug.

  Jeff offered a nod and a wave. “Hi, good to see you.”

  “Hello Jeff, so glad you could make it!” Margie ignored his formality and pulled him in for a hug. It wasn’t like Tammy had anything to worry about – she was quite beyond trying to win him back.

  “Of course. Why are you so dressed up? Are you going out clubbing later?” He laughed to himself.

  Margie and Tammy exchanged looks, but said nothing.

  “I’m, uh, going to dinner with some friends in a bit. But come on in, I’ll give you the tour the house, and then we can take a peek at the barn!”

  Margie allowed them to walk in front of her so she could quietly grab her phone off of the table and hit dial. She called Brandon, then hung up. It was his signal to get everyone to quiet down.

  Margie made the tour of the house fast and led them outside. For some reason, she felt her heart racing as they approached the barn. It was silly, but she couldn’t help it. She didn’t know how Jeff was going to react. It didn’t seem like he was in a particularly good mood.

  They got to the barn and Margie was pleased that they couldn’t hear anything – not even a whisper from inside.

  “Well come on Jeff, help her with the door!” said Tammy.

  Jeff shrugged. “Margie’s a big girl, she can handle it.”

  Margie ignored the comment. Jeff always used to have something to say about what she ate, or how a dress was tight here or tight there. One relief of the divorce was the she didn’t have to field those comments about how she looked anymore.

  In one swift motion, Margie pulled the door open, revealing the party group as they shouted, “Surprise!”

  Jeff’s jaw dropped and he looked to Tammy, then back at the crowd. Music started to play, and Margie watched as Jeff disappeared to say hello to everyone.

  Well, at least that part all worked out. She looked at her phone to see the time. It was just after six; Morgan’s dad should have arrived and hopefully, they would be busy for the rest the night. Margie still felt nervous for some reason. She desperately wanted to get Jeff alone so she could talk to him, but obviously, he’d be in high demand for quite some time. Dinner was being served at seven, and Margie hoped that maybe she could get him alone after that.

  She tried her best to relax and not worry about all of the small details that she didn’t get to. The barn looked lovely, and people seemed to be enjoying themselves. Margie knew about half of them, but the other half were strangers.

  Tammy said that she thought it was smart to invite as many of Jeff’s business associates as possible – otherwise he would get upset. Margie felt a bit bad for Tammy – she was rather young, much younger than Jeff, and Margie knew for a fact that Jeff held it over her head.

  Margie’s friends were astonished that she held no ill will toward Tammy. But how could she? She was a sweet woman who tried her best to keep Jeff happy. No one knew better than Margie how difficult that was.

  Tammy insisted on a sit down dinner, which the caterers promi
sed wouldn’t be a problem. Dinner was served mostly without a hitch, save for one incident where it seemed that there were not enough vegetarian dishes. Margie was able to field the issues in the catering kitchen she’d had installed in the back of the barn. It was large and gave them plenty of room to figure things out – Margie was pleased with herself for having the idea to have the kitchen – and they found the missing meal.

  Before dessert, Margie saw her chance to talk to Jeff alone. She watched as he got up from the table and headed towards the bathroom, and though she felt a bit silly, she stood there and waited for him to come out.

  “Oh my gosh!” he said when he opened the door. “You scared me.”

  “Sorry Jeff, I just really need to talk to you. It’s important.”

  He sighed, watching as a waitress walked by carrying several plates of cake. “Alright, I’m supposed to be on a diet anyway so I should avoid dessert.”

  Margie led him out of the back of the barn and towards the outlook on the water.

  “I don’t want anyone to overhear us.”

  “Oh?” he replied, hands in his pockets. “This sounds serious. Sorry I didn’t return your call – it’s been really busy recently.”

  “It’s okay.” She pulled out her phone and opened a picture of Morgan. Her hands were shaking. “So, I don’t really know how to tell you this, but a young woman has been staying with me.”

  He leaned over and looked at the picture. “Cute kid.”

  “Her name is Morgan Allen. Her mother was Kelly Allen, who passed away quite tragically on the island a few months ago.”

  Margie fumbled with her phone, trying to pull up a picture of Kelly Allen. Her hands were so cold, despite the pleasantly warm evening.

  Finally, she found it and handed it to him. “The first time that I came to San Juan, when Mike gave me the house, I saw Kelly’s picture in the newspaper.”

  Jeff took the phone from her so he could look more closely. Margie studied his face, but he remained expressionless.

  “Do you recognize her?” Margie asked softly.

  “No, can’t say that I do,” Jeff said, handing the phone to her. “I think I’m going to head back to the party now.”