by Dana Mentink
Rosa drove them to town, dropping them as close to the beach as she could before heading to the hardware store. She scooted in ten minutes before closing time to buy the last two plastic tarps in the store and another half-dozen paint brushes, rollers and a can of primer. A quick mental calculation told her they’d just passed the forty-five-hundred-dollar mark. Not much in the way of funds left. Probably didn’t matter anyway at this point, but she would abide by the contest rules. Arms full, she passed a shelf piled high with white overalls and painter’s caps. Rosa’s heart squeezed.
Where are you, Pike?
She forced herself onward and plopped the purchases down on the counter. Mr. Sorenson gave her a radiant grin. “Guess I’ll be ordering more tarps. Maybe I’ll even sell out of those white overalls if you stay in town. Tried to get him to stock up when he was here, but no dice.”
She blinked. “Pike was here? When?”
“An hour or so ago. Came in for a lighter. Didn’t know he smoked. Did you?”
She felt a tingle of unease deep inside. “No, I didn’t. Thank you, Mr. Sorenson.”
“Anytime. If that contest goes on much longer, I’m going to assign you your own parking place.” His delighted chortle followed her out of the store.
A lighter.
She couldn’t dislodge the tension from her mind. Dropping the supplies in the car, she realized she didn’t know what time to retrieve her father and aunt from the festivities. She picked her way down to the beach where a campfire blazed, shooting golden sparks into the darkness.
Julio approached her with a can. “Care to make a donation?”
Eager to preempt the dissertation she knew was coming, Rosa dropped a couple of quarters into the slot. Julio apparently saw another potential donor approach, as he gave her a quick head bob and trundled off.
Bitsy, she was relieved to note, was smiling and chatting, the life and soul of the circle of people who sat in camp chairs and took turns incinerating marshmallows. Her plastic-wrapped cast was propped up. Manny sat quietly, looking content just to be within Bitsy’s orbit, listening to the ebb and flow of conversation. It was all so very cheerful, the couples snuggled together under blankets, the crackle of the fire, the hum of laughter.
Rosa stood in the shadows—unwilling to intrude, she told herself. Her hesitation was more likely due to a rising sense of melancholy at the realization that she was on the outside looking in. Beach campfires were a place for couples. She suddenly felt very far away from the party.
Deciding she would check in later, Rosa backed away, trudging across the sand, which infiltrated her grimy sneakers until she took them off. Down the beach, another flicker of light advertised a smaller campfire and she meandered along the shore in that direction.
The ocean was calm, having spent its fury the previous day. Now the waves licked delicately at the sand with tongues of white foam. The raucous gulls had settled down in their concealed nests and there was only the sound of surf and Rosa’s feet plowing across the wet ribbon of land.
She came upon him quite suddenly. Pike stood in the undulating smoke from the fire. He stared for a long time at the piece of wood in his hand, caressing it before he tossed it into the flames.
“Hey,” she said, quietly.
Pike jerked in her direction. “Rosa. What are you doing here?”
“Out for a walk.” Her pulse had revved up a notch at the sight of him. “Nice night for a campfire.”
He didn’t answer, staring into the flames.
She moved closer, toward the warmth, close enough to confirm that the kindling was not driftwood or logs. “Pike,” she gasped. “Please tell me that’s not Poppy’s Dream.”
“It is.”
She ran forward to pull the wood from the flames, but it was too late—the beam shone white gold as the fire consumed it. Horror constricted her breathing as she regarded the pile of wood waiting to be burned. Poppy’s Dream lay like a bier of discarded bones awaiting the funeral pyre. “But it’s your dream, Pike. How could you burn it?”
“It’s not my dream anymore.” His voice was flat and dull. “My dad sank her, sent her to the bottom of the ocean to defraud the insurance company.” He balled his hands into fists as he watched the smoke curl and twist.
“That was your dad’s choice, Pike. You can’t punish yourself for his decision.”
Something inside him leaped to life. “Don’t you get it, Rosa?” he barked. “I became a lawyer to be like my dad. My job is the law and my father...” His voice broke. “My father was a criminal.”
She moved closer, reached out for his hand but he shied away. “Your dad. Not you.”
“Everyone knew the truth but me. I loved him, worshipped him. He sank my boat and he knew it meant everything to me.” He grabbed up a piece of wood and heaved it into the fire.
She could not hold back a cry.
“And all the time, he lied. He sank Poppy’s Dream and he lied to me. I thought Manny was a hypocrite, going after Dad when he had his own sins to bear, but he was right all along.” Pike’s voice rose to a shout. “He was right all along.”
“Listen to me,” Rosa said, desperate to free him from the grip of his despair. “People are weak and stupid sometimes. You can’t destroy yourself because he disappointed you. Poppy’s Dream can be restored. It can be rebuilt, and if that’s your passion, you should do it.”
He shook his head. “Why, Rosa?” he said, the words throbbing with emotion as he stared at her, eyes reflecting the blaze. “Why should I try anymore to hold on to that ridiculous dream? There’s no reason except insanity.” He swung around to grab another piece of the boat from the pile and send it into the fire.
“I’m not going to let you do that,” she said. “You’re being an idiot.”
“Then let me be an idiot in peace. Go away. I don’t want you here.”
The words cut into her, stinging like salt water on a wound. I don’t want you here. I don’t want you. To her surprise, instead of crushing her spirit, they kindled something altogether different. If Pike would not listen to reason, then she would hammer it into him. As he reached down to grab one of the boat’s ribs, she took aim at his middle section and ran at him, hitting him from behind with all the energy she could muster.
Cy would have been impressed with her tackle. Pike slammed down into the sand, face first, and she knelt across his shoulders until the oxygen hissed out of his lungs.
“You’re going to listen to me, Pike Matthews, because I’m smarter than you are and I’m not letting you up until you do.”
He grunted something and tried to rise, but the shifting surface did not afford much leverage, and Rosa’s weight kept his cheek pressed to the grit.
“I’m telling you this,” she said in his ear, her own pulse thundering louder than the surf as the truth issued forth, “because I love you. I don’t know why. You are an idiot sometimes, and arrogant. You don’t appreciate the proper condiments on your hot dog and you can’t operate a screwdriver to save your soul. But something about you is special, do you hear me?”
Her throat went dry at what she’d just admitted, but there was no going back. “Not the lawyer part, but something in your soul that I saw that day on Poppy’s Dream when we sailed together. Do you remember that day? How you felt? How everything was right inside you?”
Pike went still, his breath puffing at the sand, grains sticking to his cheek. No answer, but grief crimped his lips together and she was pained to know she’d had a part in it. No going back.
She let go with one hand, to stroke his hair, unable to resist. She bent closer. “I know what it feels like to be betrayed by someone you love. It hurts so bad that you think you might die.” Tears sprang into her eyes and she put her head down, touching her forehead to his cheek. “But you’ll be better for it, stronger because of what you’ve been
through, like when you sand away the old paint and primer to find the good wood down deep.” The crackling fire mingled with her pulse as she hoped and prayed that he would understand. “Are you hearing me, Pike?”
In a surge of motion, he pulled up his knees and got to his feet, sending her sliding to the sand on her bottom. Towering over her, hands on hips, he glared. “Are you crazy?”
She got to her feet. Crazy. No doubt she was for spilling her guts.
Sand stuck to his face in a gritty streak. “You just tackled me. That’s how you handle someone dealing with emotional trauma?”
“It seemed like the thing to do.”
“Because you didn’t have a stapler handy? Or nonstick spray?”
“You’re hardheaded and you wouldn’t listen.”
“Hardheaded?” He gaped. “You’re calling me hardheaded?”
“That’s what I said, Matthews.” She stood, brushed off her jeans and faced him. “I apologize for trying to get you to see reason. By all means, go back to burning your boat, Pike. Torch it all, and in the morning maybe you won’t regret it. Then again, maybe you will, you big dope.”
His mouth opened in an O but nothing came out.
“Speechless, counselor? I will alert the media.”
He grabbed her arm and spun her around, pulling her body close to his. “You are the most infuriating...”
She tried to yank away, but he held her fast. “Boat burner,” she said.
“Irrational...” His fingers tightened on her shoulders.
“Screwdriver dropper.” She could not stop looking at the curve of his mouth.
“Rosa...”
“What?”
“I should have told you sooner, but you are just so exasperating.”
Blood pounded through her temples and her breath came in gasps. “Told me what?”
“That for some impractical, lunatic reason that I cannot fully explain, I love you, too.”
The words circled in the air, teasing her, taunting her.
Then he kissed her, his palms cupped around her face, until she pulled away. Her breath came in shuddery gasps.
He gazed at her with wide eyes. “When I’m with you, I feel like the man I was meant to be.”
She’d been deposited in a dream. Somehow, during her walk along the beach, another universe had sucked her in—one where Pike loved her back. It must not be real, but his touch on her face was too exquisite to be imagined.
Tears trickled down her cheeks and he brushed them away with gentle fingers.
“Rosa, I want to be perfectly honest here. I’m a mess.”
“Join the club,” she whispered.
He stroked her hair, her neck, tracing the line of her jaw. “My situation, at the moment, has gone completely belly-up. I’m going to have to make some changes in my life. Will you still love me then?”
She twined her arms around his neck, feeling the quick, steady beat of the blood pumping through his throat. “Yes, Pike, I think I will.”
“In spite of the established fact that I am an idiotic, hardheaded, screwdriver-dropping, boat burner?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
They kissed again, mingling their past and future, letting loose the mistakes and sorrows, until only joy remained.
“How did this happen?” Pike said, dazed.
“I’m pretty sure it was your fault.”
“It’s crazy that we love each other.”
“Yes.”
A smile broke across his face like an unsteady wave. “I think all great love stories are a little crazy, don’t you? Antony and Cleopatra. Lucy and Desi. Sonny and Cher.”
“Kermit and Miss Piggy,” she breathed.
He pressed a kiss to her lips. “Black & Decker.”
She giggled. “That’s a tool company.”
“Who cares?”
She did not know how much time passed while she lingered there in the circle of his arms, wreathed in the smoke from the dying fire, until she heard a discreet clearing of a throat. Bitsy and Manny stood, hand in hand, watching. Bitsy’s smile was enormous, Manny’s expression somewhat dubious.
“We thought we saw you going this way, Rosa. Fancy meeting you, also, Pike.” Bitsy laughed. “I guess the beach is made for lovers.”
Pike tightened his arms around Rosa’s waist. “I guess you’re right.”
Manny poked a toe at the pile of boat parts ready to go into the fire. “I know this boat.”
She felt Pike stiffen and his chin dropped.
Manny looked from the ruins to Pike. The fire crackled and hissed. “Was a shame to sink it. She was a beauty. Prettiest little boat I ever did see.”
Pike looked at Manny. “You were right about my father.”
Rosa wondered at what it must have cost Pike to push out those words.
Manny locked eyes on Pike and searched his face. He gave a slight nod. “Being right isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” He took the photo packet from his pocket and tossed it into the fire, and all four of them watched it burn, sending up flames of red and green as the evidence blackened into ashes.
Rosa could not speak. She had never been more proud of her father than she was at that moment. Pike let her go and walked over to Manny, offering him a handshake.
“Thank you, Mr. Franco.”
He shook Pike’s hand. “Past is past. On to the future. You’re going to take care of my princess?”
“As much as she’ll let me.”
One more long look passed between the two men. Rosa didn’t know what they resolved in that silent moment, but when their hands parted, something had changed.
Manny wrapped an arm around Bitsy’s shoulders.
“I can’t believe it actually worked.” The older woman sighed.
Rosa was glad to return to the warmth of Pike’s side. “What worked?”
“Oh, never mind.” Bitsy yawned widely. “Time to go home. I’m exhausted and I think there’s sand in my walking boot.”
“I’ll drive you,” Rosa said. “Be there in a minute, okay?”
Though she did not think it possible, Bitsy smiled even wider and a giggle escaped her lips. “Of course. Take all the time you need.” Manny took her elbow and they sauntered away.
Pike lifted an inquiring eyebrow. “Why do I get the feeling she’s up to something?”
“You never know with Aunt Bitsy. She’s crafty.”
They stood watching the fire cast its sparks into the night sky. “I may never have enough money to restore Poppy’s Dream,” Pike said with a deep sigh.
“Maybe not, but as long as you’ve got the pieces, then there’s a chance.”
He turned her to face him. “Rosa Franco, you are an amazing woman. I don’t know why I didn’t see it before.”
“I don’t know why, either,” she said, and he covered her grin with a kiss.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
THE DAY BEFORE the contest deadline, the telephone call came. Rosa heard the serious timbre in Bitsy’s voice so she put down her sandpaper to investigate, leaving Pike attempting to thread curtain rings onto a rod in the West Bedroom while dropping every third one. He had been absent from the project for long periods of time, and Rosa got no explanations in spite of all her prying. He was, in a word, different, as if the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders, a little flame lit inside that made his chocolate eyes glow and a smile turn up the corners of his mouth. He had even attempted whistling, an off-key, warbling affair. She could not stop looking at him, awestruck at the thought that she’d both lost her heart and found it again in one man.
But something prickled at Rosa’s practical self. She had a business to run. There had already been a small job offered to Dollars and Sense, starting after the contest wrapped, a r
esult of the publicity they’d received, plus a few telephone inquiries. And Pike had a law practice to tend to, with an office already established and a small client base that he dared not lose. So what would happen when they parted ways to tend to the logistics of their jobs? He had not asked her to stay or mentioned any plans for a future together.
And what about Manny? She and Cy had still not come up with a plan.
Rosa shoved her bangs out of her face and went to investigate Bitsy’s phone call. She waved Rosa in. “Thank you very much,” Bitsy said, as she hung up.
“Well, that’s that.” Bitsy blinked hard. “The inn has been sold. The deal will close next week.” Rosa didn’t ask the particulars. She knew the news was both welcome and painful.
They embraced, and this time it was Rosa who offered comfort in the kitchen of the old house where Bitsy had taken them in so many years ago. “I’m sorry.”
Bitsy sniffed. “Me, too, but at least it didn’t interfere with the contest, and maybe this buyer will see some value in the old bird rather than tear her down.” Her eyes drifted upward. “Oh, Leo. What would you say if you knew the Pelican was no longer ours?”
Rosa squeezed her hands. “He would understand. I know it.”
Bitsy chewed her lip. “What about the...” She pointed a finger in the direction of the Captain’s Nest. “I want to protect Leo’s reputation. It’s the only thing I can offer now.”
Pike appeared in the kitchen, white hat and overalls glaring in the sunlight. “It’ll be okay, Bitsy. I promise. Rocky and I came up with a plan to dispose of those things.”
“You did?” Rosa gaped. “What are we going to do? Hide the booty in the window seat?”
“That is not for you to know at the present time, young grasshopper,” Pike said, bending to kiss her on the nose. “As I see it, we have another priority right now. By my watch we have only twenty-three hours until the judges arrive, right?”
“Yes,” Rosa agreed. She could practically hear the clock ticking away.