Stillwater Rising

by Steena Holmes

  At first, she’d called it Stillwater B&B and welcomed her first guests. Word spread about her quaint rooms and sweet service, and her calendar quickly booked up. She kept the name Stillwater B&B for over a year but had a basket on her front reception desk where customers could give name suggestions. She decided to choose a winner on the anniversary of her husband’s passing.

  That night, she sat on her front porch with the basket beside her and went through all the name submissions. There were some good ideas, but nothing stood out to her. Shelley had a small party planned for the following day to announce the new name, so she knew she had to pick one, but unfortunately, nothing sounded right. Just as she was about to head inside, a motorcycle drew up along her front walkway. There was only one man in town who rode a Harley, but Shelley wasn’t sure why Blake Casser would be coming to her place, this late at night.

  He held a package in his hands, tightly wrapped in plastic, but looked a tad bit uncomfortable as he stood on her porch.

  “It’s a bit late for a visit, isn’t it?” Shelley eyed the package in his hands.

  “Afraid word will spread?” A twitch of a smile played with Blake’s lips.

  Shelley didn’t say anything, but she couldn’t hold back the laughter. Blake was a special one in her eyes. He was a badly scarred man with a hole in his heart, and she loved him like a son.

  “Will you be here tomorrow?” She’d sent him an invite, knowing full well he wouldn’t show. He never did. It was rare for Blake to leave the lighthouse. It was his sanctuary, he said.

  “I’m not one for crowds,” Blake hedged before he sat down beside her. He still held the package in his hands.

  “Then I’ll expect you for dinner.” She didn’t leave any opening for him to disagree. Besides, she knew he wouldn’t pass on a home-cooked meal. He rarely did. She had him over at least once a week for the past few years. They kept one another company.

  “Have you picked a name yet?” He eyed the basket she’d set down on the ground.

  “I can’t seem to. Nothing fits,” Shelley sighed. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “Maybe this will help.” Blake handed over the package.

  Shelley carefully lifted off the tape and unwound the mounds of packaging and gasped when she saw what he’d brought her. Tears filled her eyes, and she was at a loss for words.

  Blake had given her a sand-glass sculpture he’d made, but it was unlike anything she’d ever seen. It was in the shape of a heart that encased a smaller shard of glass inside. It was beautiful. A heart within a heart.

  “How did you do this?” She outlined the edges of the smaller heart within the glass with her finger. It looked like a bubble had formed inside the sand glass, a bubble in the shape of a heart.

  “This was all Mother Nature. I just smoothed the edges a bit to give it more of a defined look. I thought of you and George the moment I saw it.”

  Shelley could only nod. Her throat swelled as she struggled to hold back her emotions. George used to love working with Blake in his shop; it had been the only thing that kept him going those last few months before the cancer took hold and he couldn’t do anything without too much pain.

  “He used to say to me, ‘She’s my heart.’ He talked about wanting to create something for you, something that would show you this, but nothing seemed right.”

  She shook her head. “I knew. I always knew. Because he was mine as well.” The tears slipped down her face, and she wiped them away with the palm of her hand. “This is beautiful.”

  “Is the name okay?” Blake’s voice hesitated a little.

  Shelley glanced up at him in confusion. “Name?”

  He pointed to the bottom of the heart. Shaped in a square and etched onto the glass were the words Seaglass B&B.

  “Seaglass.” The name rolled on her lips and resonated in her heart.

  George used to tell her that the color of her eyes while they made love reminded him of sea glass, capturing the way the water would be absolutely still and perfect. He used to tease her that he could stare into her eyes forever and remain perfectly happy.

  It was perfect.

  Shelley squeezed Blake’s hand, unable to express in words how she felt. To have this gift, the night before the anniversary of George’s death, meant the world to her.

  Charlotte always got misty-eyed when she told Shelley’s story and was pleased to see that it affected Debbie the same way.

  “I’ll have to ask her when we go back if I can see the statue.”

  “She’d love that. And be sure to take a drive up to the lighthouse. The artist still lives there and has a wonderful collection. I have some of his sculptures in my home and office.”

  “Mayor Stone?”

  Charlotte glanced over to where she heard her name being called. Charity waved at her and Charlotte waved back. “Guess it’s time to start. Feel free to join us, or if you’d like, relax on the beach and watch us having fun with our teddy bears.”

  She made her way down to the water and was almost instantly surrounded by small children. She looked around for little Ellie but didn’t see her. She squashed down the disappointment and focused on the children that were there, all with their teddy bears and stuffed animals.

  “Are we ready to have some fun?” The tingling sensation of cautiousness still hovered, but she ignored it. After all, what did she have to fear? These were just children. Small children with cute stuffed animals who wanted to have fun.

  What could go wrong?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  JENNIFER

  When Jenn received a text from an unknown number to meet a group of like-minded individuals down at South Beach, she was a little skeptical.

  She knew practically everyone in town and had most of their numbers in her phone.

  And what did like-minded individuals even mean?

  Every time she went to hit the delete button on that message she stopped, for some unknown reason. It was a puzzle, and puzzles had always fascinated her.

  She’d found, throughout the years, that her first thought was always the right or closest one, even though she’d spend hours thinking of other possible scenarios for situations. So her first conclusion in this instance was that the text was about the school and the like-minded part had to do with that group Merille mentioned.

  Really, what else could there be?

  She really didn’t have time to deal with any of this today, though. The Stillwater Fair started this week. The Teddy Bear Picnic was going on right now down at the beach with activities to follow throughout the day until the fair’s kickoff Thursday night with a parade and fireworks. Baskets and boxes of items filled her kitchen counter, ready to be packed in her SUV and taken downtown. She didn’t have time to meet anyone at the beach . . . except, a part of her really wanted to.

  The garage door slammed shut, and Robert’s footsteps thudded loudly on their floor.

  “How much more?”

  Jenn glanced at the remaining boxes on the counter and shrugged.

  Robert shook his head before he picked up more boxes and made his way to the door again, muttering to himself along the way.

  “Need help?” She probably should have gone and opened the door for him. It was the least she could have done. She hadn’t asked for his help today, figuring that he would want to keep his distance from her after last night, but once again, he’d proven her wrong.

  After their talk last night, Jenn had gone to have a long soak in the tub. She knew Robert was vegged out in front of the television in their bedroom, as she could hear the low drone over the water jets. When she’d gotten out, he’d already fallen asleep, so she headed downstairs, poured herself a glass of white wine, and read a book. It wasn’t until almost two o’clock in the morning when she realized the time and crawled her way up the stairs and into bed.

  She was back to looki
ng at that text message when Robert came back in.

  “Everything okay?”

  She closed the screen and placed the phone in her pocket. She still wasn’t sure what to do with it, but if she somehow ended up at South Beach in time for the meeting, then she would go.

  “Everything’s fine. Someone wants to get together if I have time, that’s all.”

  Robert grabbed the remaining box while Jenn collected the bags. “Oh yeah? Who’s that? Charlotte?”

  Jenn shook her head. “I imagine she’s too busy with the Teddy Bear Picnic today.”

  She followed him out to the garage and couldn’t believe how full the back of the SUV was.

  “What all are you bringing anyway?” Robert shut the truck door, and they hopped inside.

  “Just the usual for my booth on the grounds.” As part of the official welcoming committee, Jenn always manned the welcome booth, one of the first booths people saw as they walked onto the grounds. Normally she loved setting up the booth and being front and center when people walked in; in fact, it was probably her favorite part of the whole weekend, but this year she’d asked others to take care of it for her. She planned to oversee its setup and ensure they maintained enough giveaway bags for everyone who entered the grounds, but she didn’t want to be there to meet people. Not this year.

  “I don’t remember you having this much last year.”

  “It’s the same as last year. I just decided to bundle it all up instead of making repeat trips like in previous years. I won’t be around as much, so I’d rather the booth have more items than not enough.”

  Robert reached his hand across for hers.

  “I’m glad you’re not doing it this year. We’ve never really enjoyed it as a family, all together. Actually”—he looked at her before turning his attention back to the road—“we never even enjoyed it as a couple. We should this year.”

  “How?”

  “Just the two of us. Like when we were younger.” He squeezed her hand.

  Like when they were younger. That brought back a lot of memories. They would spend the day walking the grounds, going on the rides, and playing the games until he’d won her the largest stuffed animal around. They would walk from one beach to the other, sometimes going out on the water in the small boats people rented out for the day. They were so in love back then, wrapped up in one another. It had been a good time for them.

  “What about Charity?”

  “No doubt she’ll be too embarrassed to hang out with us and will be off having fun with Amanda and their friends. Let her make memories of her own. She needs them.” He paused. “We all do.”

  Jenn swallowed hard. Building new memories meant a life without Bobby. She knew she had to accept that, but she didn’t want to.

  She bit her lip from the sudden roller coaster of emotions that hit her and stared out the passenger window.

  “Jenn?” Robert squeezed her hand again.

  “Bobby loved the fair. He would have been tall enough to go on most of the rides himself this year. He was so looking forward to that.” Her voice caught as a sharp knife stabbed her heart.

  “Bobby loved life. He would want us to love it too.”

  There was silence between them as they made their way down Second Street Bridge.

  “I’m sorry,” Jenn said as she broke the silence. This time she squeezed her husband’s hand.

  “We’ll just take it a moment at a time, okay?”

  Jenn nodded. “Okay.”

  The scene in the parking lot at the community center was alive with activity. Robert edged his way to the sidelines, where the sparse parking area was allocated for booth holders.

  “It’s like a zoo in here,” he muttered.

  By not using the school grounds this year, space was limited. The midway rides and booths took up the majority of space.

  “Are you sure your welcome booth was to be set up in here? I thought you said some were going to be on South Beach.”

  Jenn glanced down at her list where she’d written everything down. Everything but where her booth was to be located.

  She glanced over at the midway and then back at Robert with a sheepish grin on her face.

  “Would you believe me if I said I can’t remember?”

  The look he gave her said no. She racked her brain trying to remember what she’d been told. Normally her booth was at the school, where all the families visited for the kid activities. She remembered someone mentioning that her booth should be set up in the midway near the community center because most people would stop there first this year since the South Beach venue was a last-minute addition.

  But it made more sense for her to be at South Beach instead. Right?

  “Why don’t you text whoever is manning the booth this year,” Robert suggested.

  A quick intake of air, a shake of her head, and her fingers started to tingle.

  “Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Robert reached across and pulled her into his arms.

  She felt like such a fool. She was about to have a panic attack over something so small.

  She rested against his shoulder for a moment before she pulled away.

  “Let’s go down to the beach.” She gave him a small smile, as if to confirm she was okay, while inside she was shaking like a leaf.

  Maybe it was the growing crowds or the plethora of rides within the midway. Maybe it was the signage everywhere she looked . . . but whatever it was, it was throwing her off.

  This would be their first Stillwater Fair without Bobby. The first one where he wouldn’t be holding on to her hand as they walked through the midway, where she wouldn’t take a photo of the painting on his face, where they wouldn’t share a cone of cotton candy together.

  She wasn’t the only one feeling this way either. She could see it in the eyes of parents who walked down Main Street as they drove past. They could dress it up all they wanted, decorate the town with streamers and balloons, but the grief was still there. Still palpable. Heavy. Dense like the fog over the bay in the early morning.

  Both Shelley and Anne Marie stood by the entrance from the South Beach parking area and waved when Jenn noticed them. Robert was at the back of the SUV, getting ready to unload.

  “We weren’t sure if you got lost or something.” Shelley smiled while she gave Jenn a hug. She then waved to a group of teenagers who stood around in a circle.

  “We’ve rounded up some helpers for the day.”

  “I thought you’d be at your store today.” Jenn handed Anne Marie a bag.

  “I needed a break. The shop has been busy all morning. When I saw Shelley here, I figured maybe I could help.” She gave Jenn a hug.

  “Anne Marie,” Robert said as he grabbed boxes from the trunk and handed them to the teens.

  “So nice to see you, big brother,” Anne Marie said. “We were starting to wonder when you’d show up.”

  “I forgot we were down here. We went to the community center first,” Jenn explained.

  This brought a puzzled glance from both Anne Marie and Shelley.

  “But it was your idea to put the booth here.”

  “My fault,” Robert butted in before Jenn could say anything. “I wanted to check something out at the center first.”

  Thank you, she mouthed to him when Shelley wasn’t looking. Anne Marie caught it, though, and smiled.

  “Robert, we need some help with setting up the booth, if you wouldn’t mind?” Shelley stopped in front of where their booth lay in pieces on the sand.

  “I tried to get it started but . . .” Anne Marie set her stack of boxes down on an empty picnic table.

  “Since when did you know how to pick up a tool?”

  “Since my brother decided to ignore my requests for help when things broke down in my shop.”

  “That’s why you call someone for help.”
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  “I did.” Anne Marie stuck her tongue out at him.

  “A professional.” Robert shook his head in disgust and turned his back on her.

  “I thought you were. At least, that’s what you claim to be on your business cards.”

  Robert rolled his eyes and stared up into the sky. Jenn knew what he was doing. He was mentally counting to ten.

  Jenn set her bags down and looked around, needing to ignore the sibling rivalry. If the two could last one minute without getting into an argument or a showdown on who was right and who was wrong, she’d be surprised.

  Ever since their parents had passed away, things had never been the same between Robert and Anne Marie. Jenn knew there was a lot of hurt festering between them over the care their parents had received in the retirement home before their deaths. Anne Marie felt they’d been neglected, but Robert swore they received the best care possible, because that was what he’d paid for.

  This side of the tiny island was really beautiful. It was one of her favorite spots to walk. Up to the left, on the cliffs, the top portion of their home was visible from down here. On one side of the sidewalk was the sand that led out to the bay. Playground structures, picnic tables, and assembled booths stood on the other side of the sidewalk. The setup didn’t look too crowded, and it seemed like early-morning walkers were enjoying the booths as they strolled along the pathway.

  She knew Charity should be around here, as she was helping with the Teddy Bear Picnics. Jenn scanned the beach and saw, down the beach to her left, a group of children and blankets spread out on the sand.

  Off to her right, down a way, was a group of people standing together. Someone from the group waved, and Jenn looked around her to see whom they were waving to.

  Then she remembered the text she’d gotten this morning.

  When she noticed a figure break away from the group and walk her way, Jenn turned to her husband, his sister, and Shelley.

  “I’m going to grab some coffee from the shack down the beach. Would you like one?”