Summer by the Tides

by Denise Hunter

  Maddy’s heart gave a squeeze at the thought. Emma and Nora weren’t the only sisters who hadn’t put the past behind them, but Holly was the only one who knew it.

  “It’s not always that easy, though, is it?” she said.

  That last summer here had left Maddy completely untrusting of love. She’d been guarded at best in the relationships she’d had leading up to Nick. And that particular relationship hadn’t exactly helped matters.

  Maddy sighed. “I guess not. I finally got the courage to put my heart on the line with Nick, and look what happened. I’m feeling more guarded than ever. One step forward, ten steps back.”

  “How are you feeling about all that? I know it’s only been a few days.”

  “Honestly—I’m beating myself up for not seeing it sooner. There were signs. The way he guarded his phone, the times he just kind of disappeared, the way his eyes strayed. How could I have been so blind?”

  A long pause ensued.

  Maddy shifted the phone. “Are you there?”

  “Yeah . . . Listen, Maddy, can I be completely honest with you?”

  “Well, nothing good ever comes after that question.”

  “It’s just . . . I’ve noticed you can kind of bury your head in the sand sometimes. Maybe you did that with Nick. Maybe deep down you knew something was wrong, but you ignored it to protect yourself.”

  Maddy bristled a little.

  “I mean, I understand why you’d do that,” Holly continued. “You’ve been hurt in the past, and it’s only natural you want to avoid pain.”

  What she said had a ring of truth, Maddy had to admit. She’d sure ignored all the signs where Nick was concerned.

  “Fair enough,” she said. She knew Holly only wanted what was best for her.

  “I know this thing with Nick hit you hard, but you can’t give up on love, Maddy. With the right person, it’s truly a wonderful thing.”

  Maddy laid her head against the sofa back. “I don’t know if I believe that. I was already skeptical, and this thing with Nick just put me over the edge.”

  “I know, honey. But give yourself a little time to heal, and keep an open mind. God has someone special for you, I just know it.”

  Maddy gave a wan smile. Holly was the ultimate romantic. She lived on romance novels and the Hallmark Channel. “We can’t all have a Jacob in our lives.”

  Holly gave a breathy sigh. “He is pretty wonderful, isn’t he? But he’s not an anomaly, Maddy. There are other terrific men out there if you just let yourself open up a little bit.”

  “So you say.” The muted sound of a car’s engine filtered through the window as it passed the house. It seemed to be slowing nearby.

  Maddy twisted on the sofa and pulled back the gauzy curtain. Whatever Holly was saying was lost on Maddy as she watched a car swing into Connor’s driveway. A minute later the headlights went out. Even under the darkness of night she recognized his lazy gait as he approached his house. Someone was keeping late hours.

  “Maddy, did you hear me?”

  “What?”

  Holly chuckled. “Where’d you go? I just gave some of the wisest advice of my life.”

  “Sorry. Gram’s neighbor just got home. Connor—the man who helped lure me here.”

  “Lure? That’s putting a harsh spin on things.”

  “I just don’t trust the guy.” She watched as he mounted the porch steps and disappeared into his house.

  “That doesn’t exactly distinguish him from any other male you’ve met.” There was humor in her tone. “Could it be you’re just a little jaded, my dear?”

  “It’s not men I don’t trust. It’s love.” But in the aftermath of her experience with Nick, she wondered if that first part was true.

  She watched the house next door, for what she wasn’t sure. “I just know he was in on Gram’s scheme.”

  “So what if he was? Maybe he saw a little old lady trying to put her family back together and decided to give her a hand. Is that so awful?”

  “Yes.” A light came on upstairs in Connor’s house, and Maddy let the curtain fall back into place.

  “Either way, this was your grandma’s doing. I’m no expert, but you might be shifting some of your frustration from her to this guy. Sometimes it’s easier to blame a stranger than someone you love.”

  Ouch. “All right, you might have a valid point. But I still don’t trust him.”

  “You don’t have to trust him. He’s just a neighbor, and now that your grandma’s turned up safe and sound—thank the good Lord—you can finish your business there and come back home.”

  “You’re right.” Maddy settled back into the couch. “I don’t have to associate with him. I have enough on my hands with this house and my sisters.”

  “Just focus on that.”

  “I will. I absolutely will.”

  But an hour later, as she tossed and turned in the bed, it was thoughts of Connor that persisted. Thoughts of those enigmatic gray eyes. Thoughts of his calm response to her accusation yesterday. He was like sand on her skin after a day at the beach. No matter how hard she tried to get rid of it, it just kept turning up in unexpected places.

  Chapter 8

  Two days later Maddy was focused on the tasks at hand. After enjoying coffee and dawn on the deck, the sisters headed upstairs. They’d spent the last two days cleaning out their rooms, but the task of cleaning the attic still loomed.

  Maddy opened the diminutive door at the end of the hall, flipped the light switch, and headed up the narrow staircase. She’d played up here as a girl on rainy days. Sometimes Emma and Nora would humor her with a tea party, or they’d dress up in some of Gram’s old hats and coats, laughing at the old-fashioned styles.

  Over the years there’d been a lot of talk about renovating the attic. The house was crowded when all six of them were there. But big talk in the summer faded away once it was August and they were all back in Charlotte, back to their normal lives.

  Maddy reached the top of the stairs and stopped at the sight. “Oh my gosh.”

  Ever impatient, Nora edged around her. “What in the world?”

  “What is it?” Emma edged in for a view. She gasped.

  There were piles and piles of . . . stuff. Boxes, small pieces of furniture, mystery objects draped in white sheets like ghostly relics. A beam of light flooded in through the small window at the end of the room. Pippy took off, tail wagging as she rooted about. Dust motes danced wildly around her.

  Emma halted her gum chewing long enough to sneeze.

  “When in the world did all this happen?” Maddy asked. “There used to be just a few boxes and that old rocking chair.”

  “Well, that was a long time ago.” Nora took a few steps into the room, making the floor squeak. “I’ll bet Mama sent Daddy’s stuff here after . . .”

  The sentence hung out there like a live wire, no one willing to grasp it.

  “This is going to take forever to go through,” Emma said.

  “Maybe we don’t need to actually go through the boxes,” Maddy said. How much easier would it be to just haul the boxes to the dump unopened? Most of the furniture could go as well.

  “We can’t do that,” Emma said. “There’s probably memorabilia here that Gram wouldn’t want to part with. Letters from Grandpa, things from Daddy’s childhood.”

  “Well, maybe she shouldn’t have left it all to us then,” Nora said.

  “That’s cruel—even for you.” Emma gave Nora a dark look. “These are Gram’s memories; we can’t just trash them.”

  “Emma’s right,” Maddy said. “She’d be heartbroken.”

  Nora crossed her arms. “Well, she’s not going to have room for a bunch of boxes if she moves into a little apartment.”

  “Which is why we have to sort through them,” Emma said firmly.

  “I see you’ve finally learned to speak up for yourself,” Nora said.

  “I learned that when I don’t, some people will just take whatever they want from me.” />
  Nora opened her mouth to retort.

  “Stop.” Maddy held up a hand. “Please, can we just call a truce or something? You don’t want to kiss and make up—fine. But I refuse to hang out in this minefield between the two of you for days on end.”

  There was a long, awkward pause while Nora looked everywhere but at her sisters.

  Emma gave a self-righteous sniff.

  “Fine by me,” Nora said finally.

  “Of course it’s fine by you. You’re not the one who—”

  “Emma,” Maddy said sternly. “You can go back to hating each other when we’re finished. For now, let’s just handle business, all right? For Gram.” And for her own sanity, though she didn’t say that.

  Emma pursed her lips. “Fine.”

  The doorbell rang, and Maddy knew a convenient escape when she heard it. “I’ll get that. Why don’t you two make a plan on how to tackle all this, and I’ll bring garbage bags back with me—we’re going to need plenty of them.”

  She took the attic stairs, feeling a little cowardly. Oh well. Let the two of them sort this out. Hopefully by the time she got back there’d be a nice frosty silence, and they could work in peace. Maybe they’d have a super-productive morning. And maybe Maddy could keep an analytical frame of mind as she sorted through her parents’ things and not be pulled into the emotional riptide of the past.

  When she opened the front door, there was no one there. A small brown box sat on the porch. She went out into the already sultry morning and picked it up. It wasn’t Gram’s name on the address label, but Connor Sullivan’s.

  She looked toward his cottage. The morning sun cast a long shadow over the front of his house. She couldn’t tell if he was home, as his driveway was on the other side.

  Given the hour he’d been rolling in the last few nights, though, he was likely still in bed. She’d walk the package over and leave it on his porch. He’d never even know it had been left here by mistake.

  Maddy went back inside, slipped on her sandals, then grabbed the box. The package was light, and the contents didn’t bump around inside as she took the porch steps. The sender—a Tara Duval from Whiteville, North Carolina—had drawn two red hearts beside Connor’s name.

  Maddy rolled her eyes. Maybe it was his girlfriend, and the long trip back and forth is what kept him out so late.

  The ground between the cottages was sandy and unlevel, hospitable only to clumps of tall grass, sea oats, and the scrubby blanket of red firewheel. A fresh breeze of salty air filled her nostrils and tugged on her long hair.

  She had to admit the warmth of the sun felt good on her skin. When she’d been a young girl she’d played on the beach for hours a day, her skin turning deep golden brown, her nose freckling in a way she’d hated.

  She’d been envious of the way the sun had browned Emma’s freckle-free skin. And Nora, always cowering in the shade, had been jealous of them both.

  Connor’s house was quiet as she approached. She walked silently up the porch steps and set the package on his welcome mat, avoiding the large picture window on the far side of the door.

  But as she straightened, a movement caught her eye. The deep shade of the porch made it easy to see inside, and she spied someone. Maddy’s gaze sharpened on a woman who seemed to be kneeling in prayer, her full torso lowered to the floor, arms extended forward. But then she changed positions, easing her rear end skyward into what Maddy realized was a downward dog position.

  As the woman came upright, eyes closed, Maddy had a silhouette view. She quickly took in a lithe figure, ponytailed blond hair, and a fresh, young face that put her in her early twenties.

  Maddy edged away from the window and down the steps before the woman—or worse, Connor—could spot her peering through the window. How embarrassing would that be?

  She treaded carefully across the sandy terrain. The woman must’ve come home with Connor the night before. Maddy had heard his car pull in well after midnight while she’d been lying in bed trying to go to sleep. She seemed too young for Connor, whom Maddy placed in his midthirties.

  She thought of the box she’d left on the porch and wondered how the young woman would respond if she discovered the package, so obviously from another woman who was smitten with Connor.

  Oh well, she thought. That was Connor’s problem, not hers. Heaven knew she had enough of her own.

  * * *

  A loud thump pulled Connor from a sound slumber. He squinted at the clock and saw it was just past nine. He’d managed to sleep in on his day off.

  Correction: morning off. Monday was the marina’s slowest day, and he routinely left his capable staff to manage the docks. The same couldn’t be said of the restaurant, however.

  When Cheryl had said there was no one she could consider leaving in charge, she hadn’t been kidding. And while Monday wasn’t a particularly busy day, problems seemed to manifest when he wasn’t there to oversee things. Plus, he needed to make the next week’s schedule and be there for deliveries.

  He’d have to arrive by eleven. But maybe he’d find time today to look over the résumés he’d received in response to his newspaper ad. Maybe he’d even fit in an interview or two and find the perfect person to temporarily fill Cheryl’s position.

  He couldn’t keep up this pace indefinitely. It had only been three days since Cheryl left, and he was already exhausted. He was no longer a twenty-year-old who could burn the candle at both ends with little consequence.

  He showered and dressed, scored a fresh cup of coffee in the kitchen, and joined his sister on the sunny deck. Lexie was typing away on her laptop.

  At the squeaky slide of the patio door she turned. “About time you got your lazy butt out of bed.”

  “Would’ve slept longer if someone wasn’t thumping around the house.”

  “Sorry. It seems the harder I try to be quiet, the more apt I am to drop things.” She returned to her laptop, her fingers clicking on the keys.

  “Working on an assignment?”

  “An eight-page paper.”

  She was taking a full course load over the summer, living with their sister, Tara, and her family. Lexie served as built-in babysitter to repay them for room and board, an arrangement that worked well for all of them—unfortunately. Connor could really use her help at the Landing right now.

  Her fingers stilled. “Thanks for letting me crash here last night. I haven’t had a full night’s sleep in over a week.”

  “Lily still teething?”

  She gave him a hopeless look. “I love my baby girl, but the child wails like a siren.” She shifted her laptop. “I did the dishes and picked up the kitchen a bit. You should really hire a housekeeper or something.”

  “It’s not that bad.” Annie had always called him a clutter bug. But he suspected she secretly enjoyed picking up after him and fussing about it.

  “Before I forget,” Lexie said. “There was a package on the porch. It’s from Tara. Too bad she didn’t know I was coming. I could’ve saved her the postage.”

  “Right. She said she was sending some kind of oil for muscle aches.”

  Lexie laughed. “You’re getting old, brother.”

  He rolled his eyes, but couldn’t deny it when exhaustion left him feeling like he’d been hit over the head with a bat. He wished Tara had sent him something for that.

  His sister was the nurturing sort, always sending him things in the mail. “You’d think she lived across the country instead of an hour away.”

  “Let her mother. That’s what she does.”

  “I already have a mother.”

  “Well, she’s all the way in Florida.”

  “Believe me, she does plenty of mothering from there.” His mom and dad, happily married and busy with their ministry, checked in with him at least once a week.

  “Any luck finding a replacement for Cheryl?”

  “I got a couple résumés over the weekend. I’m hoping one will pan out.”

  “Maybe I can help out a few hours this
weekend after I get this paper turned in.”

  He gave her a wan smile. “I’m really hoping to find someone by then.”

  “How long will Cheryl be out?”

  He tipped his head back and closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth of the sunshine. “Not sure. They really don’t know the severity of the stroke’s effects yet. It could be a month or longer. I have to be prepared for that.”

  “It might be hard finding good temporary help, especially with things so up in the air.”

  “I know.” He’d been praying fervently for the right person, though. Surely God would answer his SOS.

  “Well, when you do find someone and have spare time again, there’s someone I want you to meet.”

  Connor slid her a dark look.

  “Don’t you look at me like that.”

  “Did you get your oil changed?”

  “Yes, I did, and stop trying to change the subject. I only have your best interests at heart.”

  “Why does everyone think they know what’s in my best interest?”

  “If by ‘everyone’ you mean your loving sisters, it’s because we do.”

  “I think I’ll stick to my own devices, thanks just the same.”

  “By that, you mean you’ll continue to work long hours and close yourself up like a hermit in the evenings?”

  “Finally on the same page.”

  “Connor . . .” She sighed softly, giving him a pitying look.

  “Uh-oh, here it comes.”

  “It’s been three years . . .”

  “Yep, there it is.” He took a long sip of his coffee, letting the warmth soothe his throat.

  “I know you loved Annie, hon, but she’s gone. She wouldn’t want you to live the rest of your life alone.”

  “I’m well aware.” He gritted his teeth and tried to keep his frustration from showing. He knew they meant well, but his sisters . . . They just didn’t get it. And he hoped they never did.

  “You’re going to have to jump back into the dating pool at some point. Or at least ease back in, one toe at a time.”

  “Are we talking about dating or swimming?”