Laurel Cove

by Sarah Turtle

  “Geez, Willa, I wasn’t pretending to be nice to you just because your dad died.”

  Willa pulled off her glasses, squeezed her eyes shut and pinched at the bridge of her nose before replacing her glasses. “I promise I wasn’t purposely accusing you of something so horrendous. It’s my own insecurities ruining everything again.”

  “Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself. We share a unique history together and it makes sense that you’d be apprehensive about it, but I want you to trust me when I tell you that we’re going to be okay.”

  “It may take some time for me to get used to that concept, but will you stick with me through the process?”

  “Of course. I’ll always be here for you.” Brynn’s smile spread across her face. “Speaking of which, are you here to take me up on the offer of making plans to do something together?”

  Willa ran a hand through her hair and awkwardly shifted her weight from one leg to the other. “Uh, yeah, I know you’re probably busy working, but I was thinking that because Griff will be gone for a while, maybe you could use some help around here.”

  “I did give him a list of things that I needed him to do before he left and of course he slacked off and got nothing done, so if you’d be willing, I’d appreciate the help.”

  Willa’s face lit up with a wide smile and she opened her arms out. “What would you like me to start with first?”

  Brynn chuckled. “Right now, I think it’s best if you go back to the house.”

  “Are you sure there’s nothing I can help with now?”

  “Willa,” Brynn took her hand and spoke softly even though no one was in earshot, “you’re still wearing the clothes you had on at the funeral.”

  She looked down at the severely wrinkled black pants suit that she was still dressed in, and was embarrassed that she had forgotten to clean herself up before her impromptu visit to the gym. “I fell asleep on Shannon’s couch last night.” She didn’t want to admit to Brynn that she had become so inebriated that she couldn’t leave even if she wanted to.

  “I’m glad you stayed. It worried me that you might be alone last night.”

  Willa wondered then if Shannon thought the same way and encouraged her to drink enough to make sure that she would have no choice but to stay. It also allowed her to have a full night’s sleep, which she would have had difficulty with alone, with her father’s remains looming above on the mantle. “She has been so supportive throughout this week for me. I have no idea how to repay her for the kindness.”

  “She doesn’t expect anything in return. Shannon is a natural nurturer and that’s why she makes a great doctor and an even better friend.”

  “You’re right; I have to get used to a place where people do things for each other for no other agenda than because they care.”

  “You also need to begin showing a little care for yourself. Go get cleaned up and relax for a while. Meet me back here this evening and allow me to take you out for dinner.”

  “That sounds lovely, but how did this go from me giving you a hand, to you buying me dinner?”

  “There are a couple of things that I need help with tonight when I close up. That is, if you’re willing to come back here with me after we finish eating?”

  “I would be delighted to have a meal with you, and to offer as much help as you need.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Willa stood in the driveway, staring into the trunk of her tiny sports car. Griffin had made a comment about how Brynn’s wheelchair would never fit in it, and now she could see that he might be right about that. She tried to picture the dimensions of the wheels and how long the seat was in comparison to the depth of her trunk, but the compartment space seemed too small. She climbed into the driver’s seat and looked to the back of her car, but because there were only two doors and barely enough space for passengers to squeeze back there, she didn’t think that the chair would fit there either.

  Her open hand came up and she slapped the top of her steering wheel with enough force to need to rub the pain away from the palm afterwards. She cursed the fact that if she were in the city right now, it would be so simple to get a car and a driver at her door within minutes, but she hadn’t thought about transportation until the last minute when she remembered that Brynn wanted to go out for dinner. A glance at the clock on her dash showed that there wasn’t much time, but she might be able to pick up ingredients at the grocery store, and possibly fumble her way through cooking a meal at Brynn’s house. A sigh of frustration escaped from her just as the answer to her problems came into view, as she looked up at the garage door.

  She moved her tiny car over to the other side of the driveway and went back into the house to get her father’s truck keys. As she opened the door leading to the garage from the house, another wave of memories flooded her. An antique rocking chair in the corner of the room, with well-worn armrests, was her father’s favorite location to repair lobster traps and paint buoys. If she ever needed to find him, he was sure to be hard at work in this spot, with either a length of rope or a brush in his hand.

  Willa made her way over to the truck and gripped the metal handle. Opening the door came at the risk of opening the floodgates of her emotions, but she willed the strength to keep it together. She pulled herself up into the seat and the door creaked shut, showing the age of the rusty hinges. The old pickup was the first and only vehicle that her father had ever owned in his lifetime and it was already well past its prime when he bought it. It wasn’t that he couldn’t afford a new one; it was that he didn’t see the point in getting rid of something as long as it could be fixed. Willa shook her head at how many times that old truck had to be repaired over the years.

  When she started earning a high enough income from adapting the screenplay versions of her books to films, her Father’s Day gift to her dad was an unlimited account at the local garage to keep his truck running. The locals may have been believing that she was frivolous by spending unheard of amounts of money on her sports car, but if they only knew how much went into rebuilt engines, replaced axels, rust repair, and the countless other expenses to keep that old truck legally registered, they wouldn’t judge her so harshly.

  Willa turned the key in the ignition and closed her eyes for a moment, recalling the way it felt the first day she learned to drive in that very seat at sixteen years old. The memories continued to come to her the entire ride to Brynn’s house as she was reminded of first dates, camping trips, drive-in movies, and being dropped off at elementary school every morning for years. There was no possible way that she could sell this truck, even if it meant that she had to have it stored somewhere in the city.

  “Griff isn’t here,” Willa repeated to herself on the way up the walkway to Brynn’s house, and yet her stomach shook nervously. She raised her hand to knock, but the door opened before her knuckles met the wood.

  “Damn, you sure did change your sense of style after Hollywood got a hold of you.” A glimmer of admiration shone in Brynn’s eyes as she marveled at the simple, yet elegant black cocktail dress that Willa wore.

  Willa blushed, so she quickly diverted the attention back on Brynn. “I’d say you made the more drastic change.” She leaned down and straightened the collar of Brynn’s button up dress shirt. “I can’t remember a time when you wore anything other than a jersey for whatever sport you playing for the season.”

  “Hey, it was my duty as team captain to show my school spirit by representing the sport.”

  “Your mom confessed to me once that you hated doing laundry so much that you wore your uniform just to have less clothes to wash.”

  Brynn raised her hands up in surrender. “Guilty and I admit to still hating to do laundry.”

  “Don’t worry; we all detest it.”

  Brynn checked her watch. “We should get going. I have reservations for us.” She motioned for Willa to start down the ramp in front of her.

  Willa hesitated, feeling as though she should let Brynn go ahead of her. She stepped aside aw
kwardly and pushed herself against the porch railing to leave enough room for Brynn to get by.

  Brynn rolled her eyes and smirked. “Go on. I promise I won’t ram into your ankles,” she insisted. Willa did as she was told and proceeded down the wooden ramp as swiftly as her heels and the opening of her form fitted dress would allow. She could tell by the sound of the wheelchair breaking behind her that Brynn could have gone much faster without her in front, but even as children, she had always treated Willa with a chivalrous respect.

  “Oh, you got the truck out on the road, huh?” Brynn observed as they rounded the corner to the driveway.

  “I figured it would be better than my car because of what Griff said yesterday.”

  “Don’t pay attention to him. He was just being a jerk. My chair disassembles into smaller pieces.”

  “Well, it’s okay because it will fit fine in the bed of the truck.”

  “You do realize I can’t get up into that seat?”

  “Oh,” Willa paused, trying to figure out the situation, “but you ride in Griff’s truck?”

  “He lifts me into the seat. I doubt you can heft me up there, especially in that skin-tight dress.”

  Willa’s heart sank. She had allowed herself to be bullied into believing something that wasn’t even true. She considered going back to switch out the truck for her car, but she was concerned about the timeframe for the reservation. Her fingers tightened around the tiny sequined clutch purse in her hand, as she fought an internal struggle with herself to figure out a solution.

  “Since I was the one who offered to take you out for dinner, do you mind if we take my car?”

  Willa’s head tilted and her eyes narrowed. “Of course. I didn’t know that you…” She trailed off, not wanting to imply that Brynn wasn’t capable of driving, though she couldn’t understand how.

  Brynn pressed a button on her keychain and the garage door raised up to reveal an all-wheel drive car. “Hand controls, if you hadn’t figured it out yet.”

  “Ah, right.” Willa took ownership of her ignorance with a nod.

  Fascinated, she observed the entire process from the open passenger door, as Brynn slid inside, broke down her wheelchair, and packed the pieces into the back seat. Then she got in and sat back, to take in the experience of learning the control system of having an accelerator and brake on a pole that extended up from the floor of the car.

  “You can try driving it sometime if you want,” Brynn offered as she backed the car out onto the street.

  “Knowing me, I’d probably panic and do something wrong.”

  Brynn laughed. “The pedals are still down there if you need them.”

  “Hmm, that’s good to know, but it would be safer for both of us if I just watch.”

  “Your style may have changed, but your personality hasn’t.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “You’ve always been eager to learn new things, but too timid to try them out.”

  Willa turned to look at Brynn with her mouth dropped open wide in a show of sarcastic insult, but then folded her arms across her chest and pouted her surrender. “You’re right. The only risks I take are the fake ones that I put my characters through in my stories.”

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s not a bad trait, and it can be easily remedied if you’re up to the challenge. Maybe we could go on a couple of adventures this week, if you’ve got the time?”

  “I suppose,” Willa flashed her a warning glare, “but it better not be anything to do with jumping out of an airplane.” She pointed a finger in Brynn’s direction so that she would know how serious her threat was.

  Brynn chuckled. “I promise that I wouldn’t expect you to do something that I can’t, and in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not very skilled at jumping.”

  Willa shifted so that she leaned her elbow on the armrest molded into the car door. Even though her eyes followed the scenery along the side of the road that they passed by, she was completely disinterested in the view.

  “Everything okay over there?” Brynn asked. “You got really quiet All of sudden.”

  Willa sighed and redirected her attention back to Brynn. “You may have had the last twenty years to get used to your situation, but to me, it’s still new. When you make jokes about yourself, I can’t help but feel like the jab is aimed at me for putting you in that position.”

  “You’re not the only one to feel that way. I’ve had this conversation with just about everyone in my life at some point. The thing is, I need to stay lighthearted about being the way I am, or else reality sets in, and I get down.”

  Willa reached across the center console and rested the back of her hand against Brynn’s side. “I’m sorry. I was only thinking of my own feelings and not how it affected you.”

  “Let’s make a deal. In the future, I’ll try to make a conscious effort to keep the wisecracks about my disability to a minimum, but I would also like for you to try to be open-minded about potentially making some jokes about it yourself.”

  Willa stared back at Brynn with raised eyebrows. “I don’t know about that.”

  “It might be good for you to help alleviate the guilt you think you have. They say that laughter is the best medicine, after all.” Brynn took the opportunity at a stop sign to offer Willa one of her genuine grins that made any sort of misunderstanding between them fade away.

  “Oh, all right, but I’m not going to force something. It has to come to me naturally, or else it’s not going to happen.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Willa had become so engaged in conversation with Brynn that she hadn’t noticed that they had crossed the bridge over to the mainland until they reached the downtown section of the bustling community. “Oh, I didn’t know we were coming all the way out here for dinner.”

  “What did you expect? That I would take you to The Anchor to eat?”

  “Possibly.” Willa let the word fall slowly out of her mouth.

  “I can’t believe you would assume that I lacked enough class to take you somewhere extravagant.”

  “Hmm, well, the last time you took me out, it was for a hotdog and popcorn, but I suppose I could let that slide since it was the best that money could buy at a high school concession stand.”

  “If I didn’t need two hands to drive this car, I’d reach over and backhand your shoulder right now.” Brynn flashed her a playful grin.

  “Good to know. Remind me in the future to always have disagreements with you while you’re behind the wheel.”

  The streets were swarming with summer tourists visiting the area, and musical performances at the college in town brought even more people than usual to the business district. Brynn slowed the car down and scanned the area.

  “There’s no way you’re going to find parking on this street this time of evening.” Just as the words came out of Willa’s mouth, Brynn pulled into a spot in the very front of the restaurant. When Willa looked at her with amazement, Brynn pointed to the sign above the parking spot. Willa arched her head to get a better look and then caught sight of the blue sign with the wheelchair symbol on it.

  “Guaranteed parking is the best perk out of them all.”

  “That would come in really handy in New York.”

  “Maybe I could go down and visit you someday. If you wanted, that is.”

  “I’d like that a lot, actually.”

  Brynn smiled and motioned to the backseat. “I need you to get out first so that I don’t whack you in the head while taking my wheels out of the car.”

  “Oh, right,” Willa said. She started to open her door when she noticed the amount of people passing by on the sidewalk. She paused briefly to pull down the visor and expose the mirror behind it. She checked the state of her makeup and readjusted her hair over her shoulders.

  “Now this is definitely a new side of you that I haven’t seen before.”

  “If I had known ahead of time that we were leaving the island, I would have prepared you for what we mig
ht have to deal with, if my fans notice me out there. It could mean random photos and autographs, just to warn you.” Willa exited the car and made her way over to Brynn’s open door to give her the space to get out, while still being able to talk.

  “I can handle that, but I did book a private room for us to dine in, so you won’t have to worry about being interrupted by anyone while we eat.”

  “Private?”

  “Yeah, I hope you’re open to unique dining experiences.”

  “It sounds intriguing, but it’s the privacy that I’m looking forward to.”

  When Willa heard private, she assumed that Brynn scored one of the more secluded booths in the back corner of the restaurant, but they soon passed by all of those tables that were already filled with other guests. As they were ushered through a door next to the kitchen entrance, Willa remembered that there was a large room available to rent for parties or other events with a group of people too big for the regular dining area.

  They had both been in there once for a classmate’s middle school birthday party. The one memory Willa had from that day was that the girl’s mother insisted that they all wear pink princess birthday hats. Brynn was angry and pouted the whole time, so Willa gave her the frosting off her slice of cake to cheer her up. She turned back to glance at Brynn, and it occurred to her that she would offer up her entire dessert to keep that smile on her face, even if just for a fleeting moment.

  They approached the event room and Willa hoped that Brynn didn’t pay for the enormous space, for the sake of avoiding the recognition of random strangers. While she would appreciate the solitude, it would feel strange sitting at a table meant for a couple of dozen people. Her concerns were laid to rest, though, when they turned and entered a small room no larger than a walk-in closet. The hostess closed the door behind them and Willa looked between her and Brynn for the answer as to why they were confined in a tiny empty space together.

  The hostess excused herself and slipped between Willa and Brynn to disappear behind a black silk curtain that was the same color as the black walls, making it blend in to the point of being invisible. “Come right in,” the hostess urged them to enter. Willa followed, knowing that Brynn would make her go first anyway, and she held the satin fabric aside so that Brynn’s wheels wouldn’t get caught on the bottom of it.