The Cliffside Inn

by Jessie Newton

  They burst out laughing, and most of Robin’s tension left her body.

  “They’re really challenging us, aren’t they?” Alice asked.

  “It’s all new for me,” Robin admitted. “The first time I sent her to Rocky Ridge alone, I was freaking out.”

  “I know,” Alice said dryly. “I was on the other end of those forty-one thousand texts.”

  “Oh, it wasn’t that many,” Robin said, giggling. But Mandie was flirtatious, and cute, and she’d developed a lot in the past nine months. Boys noticed her a lot more now, and she’d been flitting around from boy to boy in the spring.

  When she’d met Charlie, though…

  Robin suppressed another wave of worry. “I asked her about sex,” she said, wishing she had something to drink.

  “Alice,” a man called, and Alice held up her hand.

  “Hold that thought,” she said. “Let’s get our table.”

  “I don’t want to talk about this with Kristen,” Robin said.

  Alice turned to follow the guy with the menus, though Robin didn’t need one of those. She’d eaten here dozens of times, and there was nothing better than the fish and chips. They got a table along the railing, with the ocean breeze billowing up from the water. Robin put her purse on one of the chairs while Alice settled in on the other side.

  “She acted like the very idea of doing that was disgusting.”

  “Charlie acts like that too.”

  “So you don’t think…?” Robin let her words hang there. She wasn’t sure why she was so worried about Mandie getting pregnant, only that she was. Intellectually, she knew it wouldn’t be the end of the world. But she also knew having a baby so young would make it that much harder for Mandie to achieve her dreams.

  “No,” Alice said. “I don’t think they’re sleeping together.”

  Robin nodded, trying to take Alice’s belief and make it hers. “Okay, I’m going to go find Kristen.”

  Alice’s phone chimed, and she picked it up. “This is her. She said she just walked in.”

  “Be right back.” Robin wove through the crowd again, easily dodging around people now. She wasn’t worried about getting told she couldn’t skip to the front of the line, and she found Kristen standing just inside the doorway that led back into the surf shop.

  “Kristen.” She hugged the older woman, a warm love spreading through her. Kristen was like the mother Robin had never had, and she loved her with every fiber of her being. “How are you?”

  “It’s so busy here,” Kristen said as she drew back. “But I’m good. How are you, dear?” She smiled at Robin, and Robin wondered what it would be like to have her own mother look at her with such acceptance. She couldn’t believe that she still wanted that, as she was forty-five years old and didn’t need her mother’s approval anymore.

  Or maybe she did.

  No matter what, when her own mother looked at her, it was with a critical gaze. Sharp eyes that saw every flaw. She always had something demeaning to say, and Robin felt like she had never done anything right in her whole life.

  “This way,” she said, pushing her mother out of her mind. “We just sat down.” She kept hold of Kristen’s hand as she maneuvered back to Alice, who stood to hug the woman who had simply accepted them as they were since the moment they’d met, over thirty years ago.

  Kristen sat on the same side of the table as Alice, and Robin faced them both. “Updates,” she said, ignoring Alice’s disgusted look. She even rolled her eyes, but Robin didn’t care. She couldn’t help it if she loved the games and rituals they’d been using since they were teens. “I have something really good.”

  “You go first then,” Alice said.

  “No,” Robin said, grinning at her as a woman appeared with glasses of water. “I’m going last.” She looked up at Laura-Ann. “Hey, Annie.” She smiled at the woman. “How’s that boyfriend of yours?”

  Annie, a tall brown-haired woman, grinned down at Robin as she held out her left hand. “He’s my fiancé now.”

  Robin gave a little shriek as she bolted to her feet and grabbed Annie’s hand to examine the diamond. “Annie. Oh my goodness.” She looked up into the other woman’s eyes, hers wide. “You have to let me plan the wedding. Please, please, Annie.”

  “Didn’t you get my message?” Annie asked with a laugh. “I called last night, literally ten minutes after he asked me.”

  “I haven’t checked my business line since lunch yesterday.” Robin hugged the woman she’d known for seemingly ever. “I’m so happy for you. Congratulations.”

  “Thank you, Robin. We don’t have a date yet, but I’m hoping to nail it down with my mother this weekend.”

  “Just let me know as soon as you can, so I can see if I can schedule it.”

  “I will.”

  Robin re-took her seat and said, “I’ll have the fish and chips and a strawberry lemonade.” Real strawberries came in the lemonade, with a dash of puree and syrup, and Robin loved it with every taste bud she owned.

  “Cod, right?” Annie asked.

  “Yep.”

  She went around and took the rest of the orders—everyone got the cod fish and chips—and then Robin looked at Alice. “You go first.”

  “Believe it or not, I have something exciting too,” Alice said, drawing her slight shoulders back into that power stance Robin was well-acquainted with. “Frank didn’t contest any of the addendums to the divorce, and I’m expecting to hear from Susan by Friday. If not then, on Monday for sure.”

  “And it’ll be final?” Kristen asked. “Over?”

  “It’ll be final and over,” Alice said, and Robin could practically see the weight of the world lift from her countenance.

  “That’s amazing,” she said. “Text me the moment you know.”

  “I will,” Alice said. “It’ll be on the group.” She turned to Kristen and covered her hand. “And I’ll call you, Kristen. Okay?”

  “Thank you, dear.” She smiled and when she looked at Robin again, Robin saw her age for maybe the first time. Kristen had lines around her eyes from years of laughing, and far more gray hair than Robin remembered. When she lifted her water glass to her lips, her hand shook slightly. A movement there, then steadiness.

  Robin had no trouble seeing her own age every time she looked in the mirror. She worked hard to keep the extra hairs off her chin and the wrinkles between her eyes from getting too deep. But she’d never seen Kristen quite this old.

  Shock traveled through her system, and thankfully, Annie returned with their cold drinks. “Fish is coming, ladies.”

  “Your turn,” Robin said after she’d unwrapped her straw and taken a long drink of the sweet and sour lemonade. The stuff personified summer for Robin, and while a hint of sadness accompanied the thought of another summer coming to a close, she couldn’t wait for this one to be over.

  Then she’d have her husband back. Her daughters off to school. She could work during the day without having to worry about where Mandie was and if she’d lied about who she’d be with so she could sneak across the channels to Rocky Ridge to kiss Charlie.

  She had never done that, but it was the kind of thing Robin would’ve done—and had done—and she wasn’t so far out of touch that she didn’t suspect her daughter of doing something devious like that.

  “No real update,” Kristen said. “Rueben and Jean are looking to adopt a new dog. Clara actually called on Sunday night to tell me she and Lena have decided that Lena is ready to live on her own.” She wore a proud smile, and Robin had no idea what it would be like to parent a child with Down Syndrome.

  Kristen only had one granddaughter, and that was Lena. Reuben and Jean had never had children, though they had plenty of fur babies.

  “That’s amazing,” Robin said, beaming at Kristen too.

  “Good for her,” Alice said.

  “Clara’s a mess,” Kristen said. “I’m considering flying to Vermont to be with her for a couple of weeks.” Pure indecision raged with fear in
her expression.

  “You are?” Alice asked, shooting a glance at Robin.

  The news surprised her too. Clara and Kristen didn’t particularly get along. Things had been better since Joel’s funeral—at least according to Kristen.

  “Yes,” Kristen said. “I asked her about it, but she had to get to work.”

  “What would you do in Vermont?” Robin exchanged another look with Alice.

  “You know it gets cold there, right?” Alice asked.

  “It gets cold here,” Kristen said, waving her hand. “I wouldn’t go for months or anything. I’m thinking maybe once school starts, and there are less tourists taking up the flights. Then I’ll go.”

  “I think you should,” Robin said, her own mother right at the forefront of her mind again. “She’d probably appreciate it.”

  “I think she would too,” Kristen said. “So it’s not about me. It’s about her.” She nodded, and Robin took that as an indication that her update was over.

  Annie arrived with blue baskets of fried fish and French fries, and Robin’s mouth watered. She reached for the vinegar and salt and doused everything though the chef here seasoned his food perfectly.

  “Robin, you didn’t even taste it.”

  “I know what I like.” She shot Alice a look that said, I’m not twelve and you’re not my mother. “Okay, my update is that I got the name of AJ’s boyfriend.”

  “No, you did not,” Alice said, her voice awed. “What is it?”

  “And,” Robin said. “Eloise is due back in the cove this weekend.” She grinned at the two women across the table from her. “I can’t wait. I can’t believe she’s moving here.”

  “That inn is going to need a lot of work,” Kristen said.

  “It sure is,” Robin agreed.

  “What’s his name?” Alice asked again.

  Robin leaned forward, sparks dancing through her veins. She loved a good secret. “Peterson. His name is Peterson.” She looked between Kristen and Alice, pure life dancing within her. “Now we just need to find a reason AJ needs to come to Five Island Cove—with him.”

  Chapter Four

  Alice Kelton hummed to herself as she moved around her office. She liked to keep things fresh by getting up and analyzing them from different angles. She often found that she could see solutions easier that way.

  She only had a few clients, and they didn’t need anything too terribly difficult from her. One had asked her to review a couple of contracts she’d received from a publisher, just to make sure she wasn’t being taken for a ride. Another had asked her to help settle a property line dispute. That was the one Alice was currently researching, as she didn’t know everything there was to know about property law in Five Island Cove.

  She’d studied family law the most, and she’d intended to help women with divorces, parents with custody issues, legal guardianship issues, as well as family estates and trusts.

  Her knowledge of most of that had been rusty, but Alice had dedicated a few hours every day over the past two months to brushing up on her skills in the legal system in Five Island Cove.

  She currently had one client that fit exactly what she’d studied in school, and it was a case where a twenty-year-old daughter had filed a protective order against her step-father. In Alice’s mind, and for the only year she’d practiced law, she’d have represented the daughter. But this time, her client was Bruce Rogers, a forty-seven-year-old single father who lived on Rocky Ridge—right next door to Alice’s father.

  Alice didn’t care how the clients came to her, as long as they kept coming. To her surprise, the moment she’d set up a rudimentary website and put one notice on The Islands, which was basically an online classifieds section for Five Island Cove, she’d had a fairly steady stream of clients.

  She could work on eight or nine cases if they were as small as the ones she had now. Bigger cases took more time, but earned her more money.

  Frank had been true to the agreement they’d made in June, and Alice still had access to the bank accounts. The mortgage on the beach house—her real house now—had been paid every month on time. She drew money for groceries and activities, and she’d just texted Frank about the school shopping she’d do with the children next week.

  The following week, school would start, and Alice wasn’t sure she was ready for her kids to leave the house early in the morning, travel by ferry to Diamond Island, and attend tenth grade. At the same time, she remembered how incredibly grown-up she’d felt doing exactly that, and she reminded herself that Charlie and Ginny had been ferrying themselves all over the cove for the majority of the summer.

  Today, they’d gone to Friendship Island, as the rumors circulating around the cove were that someone had bought the old inn there and was reopening everything. Alice actually wanted to see that come true, as she had some good memories of Friendship Island. It was actually the closest island to Rocky Ridge, and when she’d been a teenager, a short, ten-minute clipper ride would get her to the sister island.

  It too had black sand beaches and white sand beaches. The tropical feel on one side, and sheer black cliffs on the other. Alice liked the juxtaposition of Friendship and Rocky Ridge, because so much of the world seemed to exist in opposites like the islands did.

  Her phone rang, and Alice knew it would be a client before she even looked down. She’d gotten a special number just for business, and her second cell phone never left the office. She picked it up, unsurprised by the “unknown” sitting on the screen.

  “Alice Kelton,” she said, making her voice professional and polite at the same time. Friendly, she reminded herself. Robin had called her on the business line once, and she’d said Alice came across a little cold. “How can I help you?” she added in a chirp.

  “Ms. Kelton?” a woman said, and Alice immediately moved her fingers to increase the call volume.

  It was already all the way up, and she switched it to speakerphone as she said, “Yes, ma’am.”

  “I’m wondering—this is Louise Harrison.”

  “Hello, Louise.” Alice moved around the desk to her chair and sat down. She could hear something tumultuous in the woman’s voice. But more than that, Alice could feel the unrest, even through the phone line.

  “I feel like I need a lawyer,” the woman said. “Someone mentioned you grew up here, and that you could maybe help me.”

  “I’m happy to have a quick conversation now,” Alice said. “To let you know. I am a lawyer, but I don’t know everything. There are different branches of the law, and there are some things I simply don’t have experience with.” Alice had vowed to be completely transparent with herself and her clients, no matter what. “Or we can meet. I can come to you. You can come to me. I know some people would rather discuss personal things in person. Then I can give you an idea if I can help you or not.”

  “It’s my husband,” she said.

  “Okay,” Alice said when Louise didn’t continue. Anything could come after that, and Alice didn’t want to assume anything.

  “He’s very sick, and we need help with a will. Power of attorney.” Louise’s voice broke, and Alice frowned as she struggled to keep her own emotions in check. She wished she would be devastated if Frank became ill enough to warrant worrying about what was in their will. At this point, though, Alice was barely getting to the point where she could get a text from him that didn’t send her into an ornery mood.

  “I can help with that,” Alice said very quietly. “Why don’t you give me your address, Louise, and I’ll come Monday morning.” Alice puttered around the office on the weekends, and she’d meet with clients if she had to. She wasn’t sure this warranted taking her from her children on Sunday, though, and Saturday was practically over.

  “That’s fine,” Louise said. She rattled off an address on Sanctuary Island that Alice struggled to write down fast enough. She repeated it back to Louise, who confirmed it. Then she said, “Oh, my daughter’s coming. I have to go. Nine o’clock?”

  “See y
ou then,” Alice said, but Louise was already gone.

  Alice set the phone on the desk and tapped the space bar on her keyboard to wake her computer. If there was one thing she loved, it was making a new file for a new client. She loved printing out consent forms and making notes for herself and the initial research she needed to do. She’d done a couple dozen wills in the years she’d been with her firm in New York, and while it had been sixteen years, she felt confident she could help Louise Harrison.

  With everything printed, a folder properly labeled and ready for Monday morning, Alice decided she’d done enough for one day. She went into the master bedroom and changed from her shorts and tank top into a bathing suit. It wouldn’t get wet, but wearing a swimming suit by the pool made her feel like she was truly experiencing summer.

  Thankfully, she’d put on ten pounds since her friends had stayed in the house with her, and Alice thought it was probably all the lunches she, Robin, and Kristen had attended together. She wasn’t nearly as stressed, and she’d been sleeping better than ever.

  “Once the divorce is final, everything will be even better.” She made herself a non-alcoholic drink, picked up her sunglasses, and went outside to the pool deck. Charlie had talked her into buying a Wi-Fi speaker, and he’d hooked her phone to it. All Alice had to do was open her music app and tap on what she wanted, and before she knew it, her jazzy songs came through the speaker on the table down on the end of the row of chaises.

  She relaxed into the chaise behind her, a sigh leaking from her lips. She was slowly making her way toward being able to pay her own bills, and if there was one thing Alice wanted more than anything, it was to be completely free from Frank.

  Right now, she had to rely on him, but one day—one day soon—she wouldn’t.

  With that thought in her head, Alice closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth of the summer sun on her skin. She soaked up the vitamin D, feeling her cells rejoice that she’d gotten them out of the house for a little bit.