Summer by the Sea

by Jenny Hale

  “Good heavens!” her mom nearly cried as they pulled up to Jake’s house. “You weren’t kidding, Faith. It’s a mansion.” Her mom’s eyes darted over to the wine, clearly wondering if they’d gotten a sufficient gift. Faith pressed her finger on the bow again. Her mom pulled the car to a stop between a BMW and a Lexus. “Careful when you get out. Don’t ding their doors! Isabella, Nan, stay put. I’ll help you.”

  Faith grinned to herself when she spotted Chuck’s old Ford parked under a tree.

  They all wriggled their way out carefully and helped Nan and Isabella to do the same. Isabella walked next to Faith. She was wearing a white sundress with a bright purple sash that tied in the back, a purple bow in her hair, and a delicate, gold necklace around her neck. She looked so cute. When she got to the grass that stretched the length of the lawn, she started skipping, her golden hair bouncing with every step.

  The house was a far cry from what it had been when Faith had been there with just Jake and his father. The immense yard was littered with bright white tents to keep the sun off, their peaks stretching upward into the sky. The blue sea was calm beyond, its surface glittering in the sun on the other side of all the tents. There must have been over a hundred people there, all holding glasses of wine with little white napkins pressed against the side of their crystal glasses. They were talking to one another, laughing, nodding. From somewhere—she guessed the same outdoor speakers he’d used when it was just them—music was playing softly. Faith steadied her rising nerves by holding onto the bottle of wine, the ribbon pinched between her fingers and the neck of the bottle. Against this backdrop, it seemed out of place.

  Faith looked around for Jake, her eyes stopping at the back door to the kitchen off in the distance. Her heart sped up. She remembered the look in his eyes, the way his breathing accelerated, the softness in his features as he looked down at her. Now, seeing that door from so far away, it made her feel like none of it had been real, as if it had all been in her imagination. Funny how time can change perspective. Before she could ponder it any longer, she felt a lift in her hands as Casey took the bottle from them, the ribbon falling to the ground. Martha scooped it up and put it in her pocket. Jake was coming toward them.

  “Hi, Jake,” Casey said with that flirty smile of hers as she walked ahead of Faith. She held out the bottle. “We brought this for you. Thank you for having us.”

  Faith had to grit her teeth together to keep herself from snapping at Casey.

  “Thank you for this.” He peered down at the wine. “And it’s no problem. Happy to have you here. How are you, Sophia?” he patted Nan on the shoulder. “Let me know if you need anything. There are chairs under the tents if you’d like to have a seat. Martha, it’s nice to see you.”

  Faith waited to see how he would greet her. She willed him to look her way, hoping she’d see something significant in his face.

  He turned to her, and every nerve in her body was on high alert. “Hey,” he said with a grin, and she felt like her heart would beat right out of her chest. His eyes were gentle, like they had been the other night, as if he had something more to say. Instead, he turned back to her family, leaving her breathless. What in the world is happening? she thought. Faith had always been a no-nonsense kind of person. She’d never been a dreamer, a romantic. She’d always been the levelheaded one. But, being around him, she was a complete mess. The feeling scared her, and she almost wanted to leave. She wished she’d had more than a few seconds with him, that he hadn’t said more.

  Jake said he’d get them all a glass of wine, and they started walking away from him toward the tents. She could feel every step she took away from him in her ears, her heart still drumming in her chest.

  “Why did you take the wine and give it to him? You weren’t even involved in buying it,” she whispered loudly over the chatter to Casey, feeling a lot like her younger self. It was a petty thing to get irritated by, but it bothered her.

  Casey looked at her as if she was crazy, and for a second, she wondered if she was. But her irritation won out. If it had been up to Casey, they wouldn’t have even brought wine, and now she looked like she’d had the idea in the first place.

  “Since I was the one he invited, and you weren’t offering it to him yet, I just took it so that we could give it to him in case he got sidetracked by another guest or something. I didn’t want to walk around indefinitely, holding a bottle of wine. And he knew it was from all of us,” she said.

  “But I picked it out. I bought it.”

  “…As a favor to all of us.”

  Faith let it go, but she didn’t want to. She looked out at the ocean and tried to calm down. Her anger was coming back as quickly as the waves were rolling in.

  They found a table and Faith helped Nan get comfortable. Jake was still inside, and she wanted so badly to talk to him. “I’m going to go to the little girls’ room,” she said with a smile to hide the irritation that she felt. They all nodded, and she headed inside.

  It was a long walk across the lawn, and as she got closer, her hands became jittery, her heart beating so fast she felt like she’d just sprinted to the house and back. She took in a big, warm breath of salty air and let it out, focusing on the sound of the tide to calm her. It wasn’t helping. Casey’d gotten her quite upset, and now, mixed with the buzz of excitement at seeing Jake, she was having trouble calming down. What would she say when she got in there? What did she want to ask first? How was she going to ask it? And would she even get a chance to have that kind of time with him today?

  As she passed a group of men wearing dress trousers and pressed shirts, she stopped to get herself together, pretending to look at the flowers nearby. The men’s ties flapped in the ocean breeze, and she heard one of them say, “Can you believe Jake’s plans for Corolla? Laughable. What a terrible idea.”

  “I’m not sure it would go over well with the current landowners. They like it the way it is. He’ll never get it off the ground. The Board of Supervisors will stop him at every turn,” another one said. She understood this, glad someone had some sense on the matter, but their criticizing Jake made her feel a little uncomfortable at the same time. It was true. They didn’t need any more Tides Wine Bars going up.

  As she moved away and the conversation faded, she just caught one last comment.

  “They’re outnumbered,” the first man laughed. “Jake owns half of the Outer Banks, it seems. I wonder how many he can wine and dine on the Board.”

  Jake owns half of the Outer Banks… She repeated it in her head. She’d heard it correctly, but she wanted to say it to herself to really understand it. It drove home the fact that he’d made a lot of money doing what he was doing. Although, that still didn’t make it right. She walked past the table where they’d had dinner together. It was filled with glasses of champagne and wine, more napkins, little hors d’oeuvre plates and silver forks, the chairs askew, some filled with people in fine clothes and designer sunglasses. It was so different than the serene, calm place she’d visited just a few nights before. She liked it better then. She grabbed the doorknob and twisted it open.

  The kitchen and living area were full of people standing so close together that Faith had to say “excuse me” to make them step aside. The round kitchen table had been transformed by the caterer with white tablecloths, and silver platters, an enormous chocolate fountain in the center with bright, artful arrangements of fruit on either side. Shrimp and clams and other little seafood bites sat on more platters along the bar where she’d watched Jake cook for her.

  The chatter of the crowd faded away as she remembered the quiet of that night. She’d loved getting to know him, hearing his stories, finding out more about the man who worked hard all day just because he loved it, the man who could make her feel at home faster than she’d ever imagined possible, the man who could make her stomach flutter with nerves. As she surfaced from her thoughts, she looked around for Jake but couldn’t find him.

  “Faith!” Chuck was waving to her as he m
ade his way through the crowd. “Fancy seein’ you here,” he said as he reached her. His gray hair was combed, although it looked like the wind outside had gotten to it. He had on a button-up shirt and a pair of trousers. Given that most of the men were wearing ties, it was still quite a casual outfit, even though she was willing to bet it was quite formal to him.

  “How are you?” she said with a smile, genuinely pleased to see him.

  “I’m okay. I’m only here for the free cake,” he teased.

  She smiled wider.

  “How are you?”

  “I’m fine. I’m looking for Jake. Have you seen him?”

  “He may be in the dining room,” he said, and, after a quick thank you, she went straight there to see.

  The dining room table was covered in light blue linens, with various sized glass vases lining the center. Each one was filled with white seashells and starfish, more white tea candles than she could count sprinkled in between them like stars in the night sky. The rest of the table was covered in more platters, more finger foods. In the corner was a caterer’s table, adorned with pleated white linen and displaying an assortment of wines. She walked over to peer at the labels and she was pleased to see that they were all local wines.

  “I’m sorry,” she heard Jake’s voice behind her and turned around. “I got caught by a group on the way in. I’ve been stuck over by the pool table.” He made a face as if it had been horrible, and she laughed. When she did, she saw that softness again on his face. “You found the wine,” he said, after clearing his throat.

  “Yes.” She turned back toward the wine table as a nervous impulse.

  “See any you like?” he asked, walking up behind her and looking over her shoulder.

  She could smell his spicy scent, and it made it hard to process his words or find any of her own. He’d never know how she felt if she didn’t tell him something. She had to tell him something, but the words were all getting jumbled in her head. She turned around to face him. They were so close that it wouldn’t take much effort to tip her head up and kiss him. He leaned forward, and she felt a swing of nervousness through her head. She worked to keep her breathing even, and she could feel her mouth drying out, which worried her as he was leaning in toward her, but she didn’t want to stop him. At the last second, he reached around her and grabbed a glass off the table and then righted himself.

  “I’ll fill a glass for your mom and your grandmother if you’ll get Casey’s.”

  Faith could not believe she’d just misread that. It took her a minute to collect herself. The more she thought about it, the more ridiculous she felt. Why would he kiss her? He hadn’t really seen her since saying he wanted to be friends, so why had she imagined things had changed? She tried to analyze her reasons, but she came up empty. Jake must have noticed her silence because he looked at her again, his eyes roaming her face, and it hit her: She was feeling this way because, when he looked at her, there was something there. She wasn’t crazy. She could see it right on his face. He knew it too because as this idea registered in her mind, he caught himself and turned back to the wine.

  She knew she had to say something. “Jake?”

  “Yes?” He turned back toward her. His “yes” wasn’t a question but, rather, a statement, as if to say, “tell me.” Was he waiting for her to make the first move?

  Without overthinking it, she said the first thing that came into her mind. “I enjoyed being with you the other night.”

  He nodded, his eyes on her. She was hoping for a response, something to encourage her to go on.

  “And I’m glad I’m here now…” She wanted to say more, but she didn’t, still worried about his lack of response. Now, looking at him, she worried that he’d closed up. That carefree man she’d seen at Bodie Island, who’d kissed her, joked with her, told her stories—Jake was different now. She’d never had to deal with anything like this before. She liked him so much better when she thought he was a handyman. Was he more of that person or the one standing in front of her now with all the fancy guests and tables of wine? He seemed to notice her thoughts and she worried that he could read them again.

  “I think we should get this wine out to your family before they think we’ve gone missing,” he said, turning back toward the table and grabbing a bottle. Faith didn’t move at first. She wasn’t finished. She wanted to tell him her feelings. But when she finally turned around, he’d filled all four glasses and he was handing two to her. “These are for you and Casey.”

  Jake gestured for her to go first and she went ahead of him. The moment ha passed and she wondered if he’d just wanted to get out of the conversation. They entered the crowd again, and he came up beside her to help her get through. People stopped him to talk, and he politely listened, smiled, and then gracefully left the conversation as he made his way outside.

  “What is this party for?” she asked as they stepped into the calmer atmosphere in the backyard.

  “I’ve just broken ground on a resort in Frisco,” he said, nodding hello to someone. “They’ll have everything money can buy at their fingertips. I’ve developed a plan with my team that will consist of a neighborhood of sorts, with high-end cottages, all waterfront but with the amenities of a resort.”

  Frisco was right down the road. It was a small, uncluttered village, a place that offered an escape from the hustle and bustle of growth in the area. All the villages in the Outer Banks backed up to one another, and creating high-traffic areas in one location would certainly impact the others. The Outer Banks was only a slim strip of barrier islands, and one had to go through each village to get to the next. The whole strip was only about thirty miles wide at its widest points. Creating large resorts would certainly clog up the roads and pull in more commerce. Faith’s head began to pound.

  Another person stopped him to ask where he’d gotten the clams. They were delicious, he’d said. Jake directed him to the caterer.

  “There will be high-end bars, swimming pools, a clubhouse with a gym. I’m very excited about the project.” He raised a wineglass filled hand up to another man walking by. “Sorry for the mayhem,” he smiled. “All that to say, this is a party to celebrate the start of Whelk Resort, and these are all the people involved—town council, investors, architects—all of them.”

  Jake’s explanation made her sick to her stomach. He’d been so proud of the Tides, having even helped to build it, and now it was really happening: he was building more atrocities. Jake clearly knew how to make money, but even if he was right about this idea that people would flock to these places if they were here, didn’t he realize what he was doing? The Outer Banks would lose its charm, and its beautiful natural landscape would be spoiled. She didn’t want it to be just another beach location with cookie cutter high-rise hotels and no parking to speak of, with no charm of its own. If he had his way, would he develop the whole area? She hoped not, but it was looking that way. She wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, and she hoped that maybe he’d thought about what she’d said the other night and been concerned by it, but her views seemed to have little impression on him.

  Before they could reach the tent, Isabella came running toward them, her dress ballooning in the breeze as her white sandals pattered along the grass. The purple bow in her hair had come untied, the two ends dangling long on her ponytail. When she reached Faith, she said, out of breath, “I’ve been down on the beach. It’s so pretty!”

  Faith tied her bow for her. “It’s a pretty place down here.”

  “Jake,” Isabella said, tugging on the elbow of his shirt, sloshing the wine precariously in its glass. He bent down so as not to spill it, beads of condensation from the heat sliding down the glass. “Do you have a bag where I can put some seashells? You have so many on your beach!”

  “I do,” he smiled at her, tiny creases showing at his eyes. “And you know what else I have? I have a book that shows all the different kinds of shells and tells you their names. Maybe when all this is finished, we can look up the shells
you find, and I can tell you what they are.”

  There were many people out there who had books about shells just like Faith’s, but the fact that Jake had a seashell book like her did seem quite the coincidence. He lives at the beach, she tried to convince herself, surely someone got it for him as a gift or something. But she took it as a sign, a little ray of hope.

  “We were wondering where you’d gone off to!” Casey came swishing over, her sundress giving her maddeningly perfect curves. She took one of the glasses from Jake. “I want to show you something on the beach. Do you mind walking with me?” She took the other glass of wine from his hand and gave it to Faith, who now balanced three glasses in her fingers. Casey grabbed Jake by the arm. Then, over her shoulder, she said, “We’ll be back in a second.”

  Faith watched them walk away. Without even realizing it, Casey was doing it again—swooping in and stealing the one person Faith showed interest in! At this point, she didn’t care anymore that she’d be leaving next week. She just wanted to have a chance to have her own happiness, however short-lived it was. Why should she have to sit like a bump on a log while Casey had all the fun? She was tired of that. Snapping out of it, she realized she was still holding three glasses of wine. She looked over at Nan who was already looking in her direction. She’d probably seen the whole thing.

  “You doing okay?” Faith asked, as she neared Nan, trying to keep things calmer than in her head. She handed her mom a glass and then the other to Nan.

  “Yes,” she said slowly. “You?”

  It was a loaded “you.” She’d seen for sure.