She took her paints and dirty brushes and turpentine inside. Time for a break. As soon as she got in, Rembrandt scampered over to her. She picked him up and cuddled him under her chin, looking back out at the beach.
Over by the shoreline, a golden dog ran past. Cooper? Must have been because Jane and Mike followed, holding hands and laughing. Maxi was happy that Jane had finally found someone. She could have gone out to say hi, but they looked so involved in each other that she didn’t want to interrupt them.
Maxi cherished her good friends, but now that her life was changing, maybe it was time to make some different friends. She put Rembrandt on the chair and picked up the local paper. Hadn’t she seen a list of events in the paper? She flipped through, finding the small section listing the events. The Purple Blueberry was having a wine tasting tomorrow afternoon. That might be fun to go to. Did she dare?
She grabbed the charcoal pencil from the coffee table and circled the ad then folded the paper and put it on the table so she could find it later. She'd better get busy. She had to clean the place up and had a few pieces of artwork to hang and some throw rugs to put down. She wanted the place to look as good as it could for Jane and Claire tonight.
Mike wouldn’t have thought it possible, but his grandfather had improved since he’d been at Tall Pines. At first he’d been afraid that taking Gramps out of the home he’d known for forty years would make him deteriorate even faster, but it hadn’t. Instead he’d thrived with the care and people to socialize with.
The frequent visits from Cooper and Mike seemed to perk him up even more. Another reason for Mike to give up his apartment in Seattle and stay in Lobster Bay.
“Now you be a good boy.” Gramps smiled down at Cooper. The dog was still damp from his romp on the beach, but that didn’t stop Gramps from petting the dog’s fur. If dogs could smile, Cooper would have been smiling right back at the old man. Gramps looked up at Mike. “Looks like you’re taking him for lots of walks on the beach. He loves that.”
“He’s getting good care,” Mike said. Even though Cooper was now living with Jane because Mike couldn’t have him at the cottage he was renting, he still spent a lot of time with the dog, which had the happy consequence that he also spent a lot of time with Jane.
“Jane sure has been spoiling him. Looks like maybe she’s been taking good care of you too.” Gramps sat back in his chair, sparkling blue eyes assessing Mike and making him a little uncomfortable.
“She’s a good friend.”
Gramps laughed. “Come on now, I think there’s more than that.”
Mike smiled. “Maybe. There’s no reason to rush things.”
Gramps eyed him. “Sure, just don’t let her get away.”
“Don’t worry, I don’t plan to.” Which was really his main reason to stay in Lobster Bay. Mike had never met anyone like Jane. She was sweet and pretty and mature. And even though their relationship was still new, he knew in his gut that she was the one. But Jane seemed a little more cautious, and Mike was taking things slow. Couldn’t blame her—she’d been widowed and hadn’t dated in decades. She was easing into the relationship, and Mike didn’t want to rush and scare her off.
“Speaking of which, she’s probably ready to leave.” Mike patted his leg, and Cooper nudged Gramps’s hand for one last pet then trotted to his side. “See you tomorrow.”
Out in the hall, Mike’s phone rang. It was Tim, his buddy from Seattle. He paused in front of the door to the memory care wing, where Jane was visiting her mother.
“Hey, Tim, how’s it going?”
“Great. How about you? Beach life must suit you, since you haven’t come back yet.”
Mike laughed. “I guess it does.”
“And your grandfather?”
“He’s doing really good.”
“Great! Hey, I found someone who wants to sublet your apartment, so if you’re really serious about staying out there, maybe you can switch over the lease.”
Initially Mike had come to Lobster Bay just to get his grandfather settled. He’d intended to return to Seattle and had been paying a lot of money to keep his apartment there. But that was before he met Jane. “I am serious about staying.”
“Okay. I’ll send you the contact info. Gonna miss you back here. And I’m not the only one.” Tim’s pause made Mike feel uneasy. “There’s some other news too.”
“Oh?” Mike looked down at Cooper, who was looking up at him, his brow slightly wrinkled as if he sensed Mike’s concern.
“Tiffany is apparently taking a trip to Lobster Bay.”
“What? Aww, come on! Does she still think we are getting back together?” He could not have been clearer to her that their relationship was over. Should he have been more forceful? Maybe he should have yelled instead of calmly discussing it with her. The girl did seem to thrive on drama.
“She said she’s going there for some art gallery opening, but of course she was asking if you were still out there.”
Darn! The last thing Mike wanted was Tiffany hanging around trying to get back together. But there really was a new art gallery opening up—Maxi was showing some paintings at the opening. Was it possible that Tiffany really was coming out for that and not to get back together? She hadn’t messaged him since a few weeks ago when he’d had to make it brutally clear. It was possible she was asking if he was still there so she could avoid him. Wishful thinking, perhaps?
Thoughts of the gallery made him think about Maxi and James. Mike made a mental note to try to persuade Jane to talk to James. He had a feeling the guy was sincere and totally lost without his wife.
He hung up with Tim just as Jane was coming out the door.
“Something wrong?” Her blue eyes were dark with concern as they flicked to the phone in his hand.
Mike took her hand. “Of course not. That was Tim. I might have someone to take over my lease in Seattle.”
Jane smiled. “Really? So you really are going to stay?”
“I think so. There’s a lot of benefits to staying in Lobster Bay.”
Jane nodded and stepped past him to lead the way down the hall.
“Good, Cooper will be happy about that,” she teased over her shoulder.
Mike fell in step with her. “Hey, speaking of happy... I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind hearing James Stevens out.”
Jane’s smile faltered. “You really think I should talk to him? I know you and Rob mentioned it this morning, but I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“I think you should hear him out. Honestly, the guy was hurting. I’m convinced he didn’t do anything wrong and really wants her back.”
Jane stopped and turned to him. “Really? Why?”
“Just a feeling. When you see the guy, you’ll see what I mean.” Mike put on his most sincere face.
Jane rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine. But only because you’re vouching for his innocence. I still think he’s a louse. But I’ll talk to Claire, and if she agrees, then maybe we’ll see what he has to say.”
Chapter Eleven
“What should I wear to meet with Jane and Claire?” James glanced back at Picasso, but the cat was no help. He barely slitted an ice-blue eye at him from his position curled up on the bed.
James was regretting setting up the meeting, even though it was probably his best chance of winning Maxi back. The frigid tone in Jane’s voice when he’d called made him realize that convincing them to help might be difficult. But why was she so cold toward him? Was it just that she was acting standoffish in support of Maxi? He’d done nothing wrong.
Now the thought of meeting with both Jane and Claire, who he assumed would be equally icy, terrified him.
“Clothing is important, and I want to make a favorable impression so that they can see their way toward helping me.” James laid out some slacks and shirts on the bed and stood back. Slacks might be too formal. Where were his old jeans?
He pushed to the back of the closet where the clothes he hadn’t worn in years still hung. One
pair of jeans was all faded. That wouldn’t do. He picked a stiff dark indigo pair that he’d hardly worn and brought that out to the bed.
Picasso perked up. Perhaps sensing that his white hair would make a mess on the dark blue, he stretched and wandered over to the jeans.
“Don’t even think about it.” James whipped the jeans off the bed and laid them on a chair. Undaunted, Picasso sat on his haunches and started to wash behind his ear.
James pulled his tie rack out of the closet and laid it on the bed. He picked out a blue paisley tie and held it up. “Maybe this one?”
Mew! Picasso swatted at the tie.
Okay, apparently he didn’t like the blue tie. James held up a yellow one. “How about—”
Merow! Picasso lashed out, ripping the yellow tie from his hand and then batting all the others off the bed.
“Right. No tie. That’s exactly what I was thinking.” The cat might be on to something. Rob and Mike hadn’t been wearing ties last night. In fact, they’d been dressed pretty casually in T-shirts and jeans. James eyed the button-down shirt he’d selected. Too formal? He didn’t want Jane and Claire to feel like they were in a business meeting. Maybe it was best to dress like Mike and Rob. Did he even have any regular T-shirts?
James rummaged in the bureau, eliciting more interest from Picasso, who managed to jump on top of it so he could look down into the drawers. No doubt he was looking for the cashmere sweater vest.
The closest thing to a T-shirt was a polyester short-sleeved shirt with a pocket on the left front side. That would have to do.
James put the rest of his clothes away, got dressed, and checked himself in the mirror. He glanced over at Picasso for approval. The cat simply blinked and curled up in a ball.
“Right, not exactly the look I was going for. Maybe Jane and Claire can give me some guidance.” He straightened his collar and patted the cat. It felt good to have someone to talk things over with, but Picasso was no substitute for Maxi.
Feeling like he was going to the gallows, James straightened his collar and grabbed his wallet. He glanced back at Picasso. “I’m off to see what I can do to get her back. You hold down the fort.”
On the way out, James double-checked the bureau to make sure he hadn’t left the cashmere sweater drawer open.
“Hello, James.” Jane stood with her arms crossed over her chest, trying to be polite and wondering why she’d agreed to talk to James about Maxi. If it wasn’t for Mike and Rob convincing her and Claire to give James a chance, they would have turned him down outright.
“Jane, Claire. Thanks for talking to me.” James cleared his throat, clearly nervous. Good. After what he’d done, he should be. But still, Jane had an inkling of a doubt about James's guilt. Mike seemed convinced that James had done nothing wrong, and if James had cheated, why would he go to the effort of arranging this meeting?
He’d clearly thought hard about it, judging by the outfit he was wearing. It looked like he was trying to be less formal. Either that, or he hadn’t had a chance to do laundry since Maxi left.
“How about we go out on the back porch? It’s much more scenic, and Brenda made some lemonade.”
They headed out back and sat at one of the little tables. James glanced nervously at Sally, who was up on a ladder, hanging little crystal chandeliers from the ceiling. Maxi had said it would give the inn an upscale look and be perfect for weddings. At first Jane had thought they would be too fancy, but they were so small and not loaded with crystals. They gave the porch a chic look without seeming out of place.
“So what do you want?” Claire blurted out, her distaste for James obvious.
Jane poured lemonade into tall glasses while James fidgeted to come up with his answer.
“Well... I ... uh... I ran into Mike and Rob, and they said maybe you could help. I don’t know what I’ve done to make Maxi so mad, but I want to get her back.”
Jane’s left brow quirked up. “You don’t know what you’ve done?”
James looked appropriately confused. “No. Honestly. Well, okay, I know I’ve been working a lot, but I was trying to clear up a project so we could take a trip. Maxi always wanted to go to Italy, and I thought it would help cheer her up. And then I guess we haven’t been as close as usual, but I thought maybe she was just in a funk with no kids at home. I tried to encourage her to get back into art, and then I had a few other things...”
He was rambling now, spilling it all out.
Claire cut to the chase. “And is that why you took up with Sandee Harris?”
“What? Took up?” James looked from Claire to Jane. “What do you mean?”
Claire slapped the business card she’d pocketed at Splash on the table and pointed at the number written in ink. “Why else would you have her personal number?”
James squinted. “Personal number? That’s not a phone number.”
Claire sat back, crossing her arms over her chest. “You can’t weasel out of it that easy.”
“I’m not weaseling out. That’s not a phone number.”
“So you deny meeting with Sandee Harris in a cottage, then?” Jane asked.
James looked sincerely baffled. “No. I did meet with Sandee. It was supposed to be a surprise.”
Claire snorted. “I’ll say!”
James shook his head, his face red. “It’s not what you think. I was meeting with Sandee because I was looking to buy a cottage on the beach. Maxi has mentioned many times over the years that her dream is to have a little studio and paint on the beach. There aren’t any commercial studio spaces on the beach, so I thought if we bought a cottage, she could use it for that.”
Claire’s shoulders relaxed, but her eyes were still full of suspicion. Jane couldn’t blame her. She remembered that when Peter cheated, he’d been full of excuses. But this was different. “So why did you need Sandee’s personal number?”
“This?” James tapped on the writing, and Claire nodded. “That’s not her personal phone number. That’s the price for the cottage.”
Claire frowned and snatched the card up. “One million two hundred eighty-five thousand nine hundred seventy-nine.” She glanced at Jane. Jane felt like an idiot. That was about the going price for small oceanfront cottages like the one she’d seen James at. Why hadn’t she thought of that before?
“So you’re not having any affair with Sandee?” Jane asked.
James made a face. “No. She’s hardly my type. I like women that are classy. Like Maxi.”
He had a point. James had always been worried about appearances, preferring Maxi to dress in conservative clothing. Sandee with her brassy blond hair, low-cut shirts, and fake boobs was hardly conservative.
Apparently Claire wasn’t quite convinced. “What about when you pretended that you didn’t see her downtown?”
James looked sheepish. “I panicked. That was another one of her surprises. I got her a kitten.”
“You did?” Jane was incredulous. Maxi had mentioned many times that James didn’t want animal hair on his suits, and he’d gotten a kitten?
“She’s been acting down in the dumps lately, and I knew she wanted one.” James brushed a few white hairs off his shirt and sighed. “I bought a lot of those sticky tape rollers, too, but they don’t work very good.”
Jane glanced at Claire. Her expression was a mix of skepticism and dawning realization that there had been a big misunderstanding. Had they misjudged James? He looked so lost and forlorn and eager for them to believe him. He’d adopted a kitten, for crying out loud! He’d clearly been very nervous coming here. A man who had been cheating wouldn’t bother to put himself in that position. She’d made a big mistake, and now she needed to make up for it.
“We’re seeing Maxi tonight. We’ll talk to her,” Jane said.
James’s tight expression dissolved with relief. “I’d really appreciate that.”
“She’s not gonna just go back that easy,” Sally piped in from atop the ladder.
James frowned and turned in his chair.
“But if she left because she thought I was cheating...”
“Yeah, I know.” Sally descended the ladder. “But now she’s doing things she couldn’t do before. She’s got a little freedom. And she’s probably gonna feel silly for thinking that of you. You might meet a little resistance.”
“But surely she won’t be mad still. Maxi is quite reasonable, and I know she loves James,” Jane said.
“I know. But I have an idea. One that could work out better in the long run. I should know. I’ve seen this happen with lots of couples once they get to empty-nester age. They grow apart. But if you play this right, you could bring the two of you back together and solidify your marriage for the long haul,” Sally said.
“Seems like Maxi coming back to the house would help with that,” James said.
“Ayuh. And she might do just that, but...” Sally scrutinized James’s outfit with a scowl. “Then you’d fall back into your old ways. Your relationship needs a shake-up. Maxi’s already changing, and now you need to follow suit.”
“She might be right. Things get stale when you’ve been together a long time, and Maxi’s been antsy for a while, I think,” Claire said.
“This would be the perfect time for a new start,” Jane added.
“Ayuh,” Sally said. “It’s the perfect opportunity. Now you don’t want to push Maxi. She’s likely all worked up and will tend to think you are lying if you start pushing about how you didn’t cheat. You’ll put her on the defensive, and you don’t want that. Let Jane and Claire clear the path. They can vouch for you, and that will go a long way to her believing it.”
“Okay, that sounds easy. And then what?”
Sally cocked her head to look at his outfit again and shook her head. “Then... I think you’re going to need a makeover.”
Making Waves Page 7