Tyrella and Patricia arrived, one right after the other, and once everyone was settled with drinks and had gotten a chance to meet the visitors, Nora produced their evening’s entertainment. “Clear the coffee table and bring out those old TV trays of yours, Edie,” she said. “And, Jenna, get that old drop cloth I asked you to dig out and newspapers. Tonight we’re painting coasters with alcohol ink.”
Celeste’s eyes lit up. Like Jenna, she loved anything having to do with arts and crafts.
The project turned out to be fun. Nora had provided everything necessary, including aprons for everyone so nobody’s clothes would get wrecked.
Jenna wound up making a set of tiles to use as coasters, done in shades of blue—a couple of seascapes showing the ocean at night under a full moon to represent her new home and a couple with trees in full bloom, bathed in moonlight.
“Those are lovely,” Aunt Edie said. “You do have such flair.”
Flair. Ha! Take that, Damien. “I think I’ll give them to Mom for Christmas,” Jenna decided.
“She’ll love them,” said her aunt.
“I suck at this,” Vanita said, looking at her bleeding blobs of color in disgust.
Celeste looked over her shoulder. “Modern art.”
“Mess,” Vanita corrected.
“I’m not very good, either,” said Annie.
“That’s because you use all your genius in the kitchen,” Courtney told her. “Someday she’s going to have her own restaurant,” she said to Vanita and Celeste.
“I just want my food truck,” said Annie.
“Lose the creep and maybe someday you’ll get it,” Courtney said, and snapped her gum.
Annie bit her lip and stared at her tile. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. You can move in with the Gerards. Emma’s over there most of the time, anyway.”
“Okay, I’ll leave my husband when you leave your job,” Annie replied with a flare of uncharacteristic fire, and Courtney blushed and shut up.
“How’s he doing?” Nora asked Annie.
“He missed his last two AA meetings,” Annie said with a sigh.
“There’s your proof he really doesn’t want to change,” Courtney told her.
“Did I mention that this is often a therapy session?” Tyrella said to Vanita.
“Girlfriends are the best therapy,” Vanita said. “And they usually have really good advice.”
“Honey, your man’s no good,” Tyrella told Annie. “That’s no shame on you. It’s just the truth.”
“I understand your wanting to stay,” Patricia said. “As women, we take our marriages seriously.”
“Are you suggesting she stay with him?” Courtney looked outraged.
“No. I do understand her reluctance to leave, though. It’s hard to let go. And scary.”
“But if you leave maybe a new door can open up somewhere else,” Jenna said. And then you walk through it and fall through the rotten floorboards.
“Everyone has to make their own decision when it comes to their personal life,” Aunt Edie said later when the women had left and it was just her, Jenna, Celeste and Vanita. “You can’t force people to do what’s right for them. And chances are you don’t even know what’s right for them. That’s something everyone has to figure out for herself.”
Too bad you couldn’t force people to make wise decisions. If you could, then both Mom and Gram would have saved Jenna from marrying Damien. But then she wouldn’t have had Sabrina. Anyway, the past was the past.
What about the decisions she was making now? Had it been wise to come here? Was she crazy to keep trying to pull together her aunt’s dream, even when it was looking more and more impossible? But it was her dream, too, now, and she wanted it to come true.
She was still awake long after Celeste and Vanita were happily snoring. She slipped out of bed, leaving Celeste to instantly spread out and take over her side, and walked to the window. The night was dark and still. The moon was casting the dune grass in a soft glow. She caught the flicker of a fire on the beach and had a strong suspicion who was out there.
She couldn’t sleep. Everyone else was asleep. So, of course, it was only natural she take a little midnight stroll. Right?
She pulled on some sweatpants, grabbed her flip-flops and slipped out of the room. She grabbed her fleece jacket from the downstairs closet and made her way over the dunes to where Seth sat propped against a log, legs stretched out toward the fire, drinking beer.
“Want company?” she asked, then joined him without waiting for an answer.
“I guess I do. I thought you and your sister would still be up yakking.”
“She had one too many glasses of wine. It puts her out like a light. She approves of my hunky handyman, by the way.”
“Hunky?”
Uh-oh. Had she just said that?
“You told her I was hunky?”
“Well, you are and you know it.”
He chuckled. “So, you’ve been talking about me.”
“I’ve been telling her about everyone down here.”
“Oh.” No more chuckling. “The house peddler, too, I guess.”
“Yes. My friend Vanita wants to meet him. She claims she’s looking for a rich man.”
“How about you, Jenna? You looking for a rich man? It’d come in pretty handy right about now, wouldn’t it?”
He sounded almost surly. “How much have you had to drink?”
“Not nearly enough.” He took a final swig and crushed the can, tossing it aside.
“I hope you’re going to pick up after yourself,” she said primly.
“Of course I am. I never leave a mess. Only in my personal life,” he added sourly, and grabbed another can.
Yes, he’d been drinking too much.
“How was the hen session?”
“You’re good with the flattery tonight, aren’t you?”
“That’s me. I guess I’m a little jealous. Nice to have friends. Women are good at that kind of thing.”
“We are more communal than you men,” she said.
“So, how’s the commune?”
“Good. We’re trying to convince one of our members to leave her husband.”
“I’m sure he’ll appreciate that.”
“He’s abusive.”
Seth popped the tab on his beer. “If he is, then she should get out of there. I met enough of those assholes in the joint.”
“Maybe you should talk to her,” Jenna suggested, suddenly inspired. “Give her a man’s perspective.”
“She doesn’t have any other men in her life? No dad? No brothers?”
“I don’t know.”
“She probably does. She’s just not ready to listen.”
Jenna frowned into the fire. “Aunt Edie said as much.”
“Your aunt’s a smart woman.”
“Most of the women in my family are.”
“But not you?”
“Not always.”
“Well, I’m not one to talk,” he said.
“You were young.” And noble.
“And dumb. And impulsive. Being impulsive gets you nowhere.”
She found herself wishing he’d be impulsive and kiss her.
He shifted his gaze from the fire to her face. “I’ve learned a thing or two about not giving in to every crazy thought that comes into my head.”
She was having a crazy thought right now. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. What are you doing out here, Jenna?”
She realized she’d been leaning in toward him. She seemed to be making a habit of that lately. She pulled back. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“I hear warm milk’s good for that.”
“I don’t like warm milk.”
“What do you like?” His voice was soft.
She felt his breath on her cheek. Then he was whispering in her ear. “Go to bed.”
No kiss. Instead, he stood and poured his beer out on the fire, making it hiss. “It’s getting late.”
Chapter Sixteen
To Do:
Party with the girls
Don’t go crazy on the slots
Sabrina was off to the beach right after breakfast to start work on her castle with Caroline, but Celeste decreed that there would be no castle visiting until her sister had been turned into a living work of art.
“You’re getting awfully bossy in your old age,” Jenna teased her. “Who’s the older sister here?”
Celeste grinned. “It’s my turn to be bossy. You bossed me around enough when we were kids.” She sobered. “You also watched out for me. I used to have nightmares,” she explained to Vanita. “She always let me sleep in her bed when that happened.”
“That was no big deal,” Jenna said, shrugging off the cloak of nobility. Noble was taking the fall when your sister shot someone.
“She was always helping me,” Celeste continued. “Taking on mean girls who picked on me, helping me with my homework.”
“Yelling at you when you read my journal,” Jenna added.
“Okay, so it wasn’t all perfect. But close enough. Now, quit stalling and let’s get those brows waxed.”
The eyebrows were waxed, the nails got painted and the hair color updated. Then out came the eggs and lemon juice for Vanita’s egg facial.
“My face is set in cement,” Jenna complained, trying to move her mouth.
“She can still talk. Put on more,” teased Celeste.
At last Jenna was prettied up, painted up and had slipped into shorts, a nice top and sandals. “Oh, yeah. There’s the sister I know and love,” Celeste said, giving an approving nod.
The Sand and Surf Festival was a big deal with what seemed like every foot of beach occupied by a team of builders erecting some sort of sand creation, and people from all over the county present to enjoy the spectacle. In addition to all manner of traditional castles, there were other creations, too—Neptune’s Court, complete with mermaids and starfish; a farm sporting a pig, a horse and a farmer and his wife and sand cornstalks; a sand submarine; trolls; and sand sea monsters galore. Jenna’s favorite was a sandscape labeled Reverse Safari that had jungle animals in a jeep checking out the humans’ campsite.
The revelers strolled among the various creations, enjoying everything from cotton candy to shaved ice. At the water’s edge, children and dogs raced back and forth, playing tag with the tide. Several people had set up campsites and were enjoying picnic lunches or a beach fire.
“This is too cool,” Vanita said, looking around. “I want to move to the beach. Maybe I’ll open up a little shop down here.”
“Or write that novel you keep talking about writing,” said Celeste.
“Next summer I’ll come down and spend my whole vacation,” Vanita vowed. “I’ll stay at the Driftwood Inn and write. Fresh air, walks on the beach. No office drama. This is the life,” she said to Jenna.
“Oh, yeah. No drama here,” Jenna said, thinking of everything she still had to pull together if she and her daughter and Aunt Edie were going to survive.
They’d all gotten corn dogs and were watching Sabrina and Caroline try to keep their castle walls from collapsing when Brody found them. He was wearing shorts, a T-shirt and sandals and Ray-Bans. Oh, he did fill out a T-shirt nicely.
“Who’s that?” Vanita asked as he waved to Jenna and started walking toward them.
“I bet that’s the Realtor,” Celeste said, checking him out over the top of her sunglasses. “You sure are getting a nice man collection, big sister.”
“I’m not collecting,” Jenna replied. No, sir. Not her.
Introductions were made and plans shared. “The casino, huh? I didn’t know you were a high roller,” Brody said to Jenna.
“I’m not. I’m not even a low roller. This is my sister’s crazy idea. She’s sure I’ll win big and live happily-ever-after.”
“You could land in that lucky five percent,” Brody said. “But I wouldn’t hold my breath.”
“Oh, well. It will be fun, anyway,” Celeste said.
“They’ve got a good restaurant there. How about I take you ladies to dinner?” Brody offered.
“Great idea,” Celeste said before Jenna could answer. “That way you’ll have more money to invest in the slot machines, sis.”
Invest, right. “I’m only taking ten dollars,” Jenna said.
“In that case we may as well have dinner late, because you won’t be staying long afterward,” Brody said.
“Fine with me.” Okay, that made her sound like a party pooper. “But it’ll be fun to go out to dinner.”
“Are you sure you want to pay for all of us?” she asked Brody later as Celeste and Vanita helped the girls with their sand castle.
“Absolutely. I’m looking forward to hanging out with three beautiful women. Anyway, it’s been a while since I’ve been to the casino. Should be fun.”
It probably would. With Sabrina spending the night at Nora’s house, Jenna was free of responsibility. And Aunt Edie was currently engrossed in a gory murder mystery, so she didn’t have to feel guilty for leaving her alone.
Well, not too guilty, anyway. She suspected that her aunt would have loved to tag along and get some cheap thrills watching her lose her ten dollars, but Brody was already paying for dinner for three women. She didn’t want to add another meal to the tab.
The Sea Winds Resort and Casino was a mile outside of town, set back from the highway and perched on the shore. Much of the area had once been marsh. Now it was all landscaped, with smooth, paved road.
“Check out the speed limit,” Brody said.
“Twenty-one miles an hour? That’s weird,” said Celeste.
“Twenty-one. Oh, I get it,” said Vanita. “Like the card game. Pretty clever.”
And just plain pretty, Jenna thought as they drove over a pond thick with lily pads.
The resort hotel was big and impressive, and the restaurant provided a million-dollar view. Being at the beach, it also offered plenty of seafood, including salmon, crab cakes, crab legs and shrimp scampi. The women all ordered crab legs. Brody opted for steak.
“I so need to move to the beach,” Vanita said after she’d popped the last bit of crab in her mouth.
“I can make that happen,” Brody told her.
“Maybe you’ll win big tonight and come up with a down payment,” Celeste said. “Speaking of winning, let’s hurry up and finish so we can get to the casino.”
And say goodbye to our money, thought Jenna. But, oh, well. What was ten dollars when she needed thousands?
They finished the meal with chocolate lava cake and coffee, then made their way to the other end of the resort.
The casino area of the resort was one gigantic playland of brightly lit machines and people happily pushing buttons on them. Zips and whirs greeted Jenna as she and her posse and their escort walked in. This was the goofiest idea her little sister had come up with since the time she begged Jenna to go into Seattle and audition for America’s Got Talent. Jenna had refused to wear a giant yellow duck costume and sing “Rubber Ducky,” and Celeste had pouted for a week.
At least Celeste wasn’t asking her to make a fool of herself publicly. And all those big, grown-up toys did look fun.
“It has kind of a carnival air, doesn’t it?” she said to Brody.
“Yeah. It does. And it can be exciting. But you can lose on carny games, so I never spend beyond what I’ve set as my limit for the night.”
“Well, mine’s ten dollars,” Jenna told him.
“
Twenty,” Celeste corrected her, handing over a ten. “It’s the least I can do to help Aunt Edie. If you win big, I’d better get a free room for life.”
“I’m not sure how big you’re going to win on twenty bucks,” Brody cautioned. He dug out his wallet and took out a twenty. “So I’ll contribute something to the cause.”
“Me, too,” said Vanita, pulling out another ten.
“Guys, I don’t want to take your money,” Jenna protested.
“Never turn down free money,” Celeste told her.
“We’ll all split it if I win,” Jenna promised. As if she would. Everything she knew about gambling wouldn’t even fill a shot glass.
“Nah. You keep it all. You need it,” Brody said.
“Can I get that in writing?” she teased.
“Hey, I’m a man of my word.”
“Now, come on, let’s see if you get lucky,” Celeste said, moving her toward the back of the room where the dollar machines were.
They passed a machine with a pretty picture of perfume on it. “Parfume Adore,” she read, and started for it.
“No, that’s only a penny slot,” Celeste said, pulling her away. “We want a bigger jackpot.”
“Oh, look, there’s Willy Wonka.”
“Keep moving, high roller,” said Brody. “We want the dollar slots.”
At last they were to the big-money machines. “If you’re going to win anything you’re probably going to win it on the mega slot,” he said.
“I had no idea you were such a big gambler,” she said to him.
He shrugged. “I come in once in a while and drop a few dollars here or at the card table.”
The slot machine he and Celeste positioned her in front of wasn’t as cute as the one with the perfume bottle on it, but once she started playing it was certainly as much fun as the other machine had looked.
“Hit the max button,” Brody instructed her. “It’s going to cost you more but the payout is better.”
Gambling 101. “Okay,” Jenna said, ready to try.
The numbers on the right-hand side of the machine began to climb.
Welcome to Moonlight Harbor Page 25