Melissa sashayed off down the hall and he stared after her before shrugging. He’d keep her close and keep a good eye on her, but damned if he was going to fake his interest. Better she knew where she stood. All the same, it was shaping up to be a miserable vacation. The front door opened and closed, and his father and Renee soon entered the great room, hand in hand, looking positively in love. Heath’s chest hollowed for an instant before he drew in enough air to assuage it. Love was vastly overrated.
Leading his fiancée to a chair, Roy then crossed to the bar, rubbing his hands together. “Where’s Melissa?”
“Early night. It was a long travel day.”
“Oh. Well, are you up to spending a few minutes with your old man and Renee? Have a couple of drinks?”
Heath wordlessly offered the freshly made drink he’d poured and dispensed another, remembering Renee’s earlier preference. They’d all consumed a considerable amount of wine that evening, blurring the edges of varying degrees of awkwardness, and while he had been fit to drive, he hoped his father had been too. He abruptly wondered how Ellie had gotten home. Then he remembered her past affinity for walking, one of those trivial things that stuck in one’s memory.
“We took the girls to their respective homes,” his father said. “There’s been some strange fellow wandering around. Nothing threatening, probably just down on his luck, but people are being vigilant.”
Heath stiffened. He told himself it was because of Mia, and that he’d want any woman to be safe, including Ellie. “What’s the word from the police?”
Renee gestured, catching his attention. “They’re aware, Heath. The individual took one of the small cabins near the estuary where the tourists don’t much care for the less enticing scents from the sea, and he’s been made aware that walking the streets late at night makes for suspicion. I think he’s ex-military or something and isn’t settling back into society all that well.”
Heath recognized a compassionate person, as well as a sensitive one, and he hoped Renee had common sense as well. Probably so, considering her former career. But he didn’t like to think about men roaming the streets of Seaside and being a potential risk. “Point him out, if you see him in the next few days.”
Roy nodded vigorously. “We will, son. I didn’t mean to alarm you.”
The conversation turned to other inhabitants of Seaside Heath remembered, and to those he’d never met. The milieu seemed much the same, people looking out for one another as Mia had described, and he thought it was probably a good place for his dad to live out his years. His sister seemed content too, although she showed some ambition, wanting her own photography business. And Ellie—well, her situation didn’t matter to him, but he was slightly annoyed his dad didn’t talk about her again, and neither did Renee. He wasn’t certain how to bring up her name again without giving away anything, not that there was anything to give away. He was thinking like some confused teenager.
“Ellie looked well.”
Renee and his dad exchanged a long glance.
“What?”
“She wasn’t herself tonight, son. We talked about it on the way home. I’ve never seen her so … agitated isn’t the word, but for sure she wasn’t our Ellie. Didn’t you notice?”
“I haven’t seen her for years.” Heath strove to keep his voice level. “She looks fine. Older of course.”
Renee laughed. “That’s unkind, Heath. Of course she’s older. How long has it been?”
“Thirteen years.” That bit of information tripped off his tongue instantly. Maybe he should have included the months and days, except he wasn’t that obsessed. He’d merely added up the time on the road from the airport, kind of like a math problem.
“Well, there you go. I suspect she saw you as older too. When Melissa wasn’t chatting with her.”
Women had a gift for speaking in that carefully neutral tone, conveying the unpalatable, and Heath gritted his teeth, then went with the truth. “Melissa can be cutting. I’ve already spoken with her about it and expect she’ll be more appropriate.”
“I don’t know why she took such a dislike to our Ellie, but Mia was seething.”
Heath hadn’t noticed. It had been awkward enough, breaking bread with his estranged father and pretending not to be aware of Ellie a mere foot away, as well as monitoring Melissa’s bitchiness. But of course Mia had a reaction to what transpired. He sighed. Better not to think about how he’d encroached so deliberately on Ellie’s space. Maybe he could encourage Melissa to go home.
“Ellie can take care of herself.”
Roy nodded. “She can indeed. Her parents are away and she manages just fine without them. Although she spends time with us when she can.” The older man smiled with contentment. “We treasure her.”
“I’d heard she struggled the last year of high school. Mia told me.” Heath couldn’t contain his curiosity any longer and maybe his dad had heard gossip. Older people tended to recall things like it was yesterday.
Leaning back against the cushions, Roy closed his eyes, patting Renee’s knee. Blinking his lids open, he said, “I think you’re right. We weren’t as close as we are now, but Mia was upset about Ellie. Long time ago, now. I don’t know if I ever knew the reason. You know how teenaged girls keep their secrets. I suppose you’d transferred schools by then.”
Heath felt Renee’s eyes on him and raised a shoulder as if bored with the subject. “You’re right. Long time ago. I’m glad she’s doing well with the floral shop.”
“Maybe you could give her some pointers. From a financial viewpoint.” Trust his father to push.
“Maybe.” Like Ellie would want him within an inch of her, let alone want to hear his financial acumen. She’d made that clear tonight, as though she was the injured party from long ago, although she couldn’t be sure he knew her secret. Good thing he hadn’t told Mia anything. The taste of that secret soured his mouth and he threw back his drink to wash it away. “I’m off to bed. Planned to check my work email, but I’m done in.”
Roy and Renee both stood with him, and his dad caught him in an awkward, one armed hug. “I’d like for us to have some time alone to really talk.”
Non-committal wouldn’t cut it this time, not with Renee looking at him, this time with both a plea and a warning in her eyes. But Heath didn’t want to get into it with the old man and spoil the wedding either, and the kind of talk that would transpire would do just that. There were too many people who’d be affected. He decided to stall and hopefully avoid his father when all was said and done. “You’re not going away immediately after the wedding, right? And I don’t leave until two days after. Let’s do it then.”
Roy hesitated, then took his arm away and Heath breathed in deeply. “Sure. That’ll work. Right afterward though, because we’ll be leaving the following day. Unless we find there’s some spare time in between. When the women are fussing with the arrangements.”
He’d make certain he was too busy, but Heath nodded. Too much time had passed to mend bridges. It wasn’t about forgiveness anymore, not totally anyhow. He had a particular opinion of his father, set all those years ago, and he’d made a life that didn’t include either parent. Or the girl of his dreams. Heath didn’t see the need to change it. He’d never shied from hard work, but inflicting pain on oneself in an impossible repair attempt of a relationship wasn’t his idea of time well spent.
“Good night.” Setting his glass down, he strode down the hall, aware silence once again filled the great room.
* * * *
The double bed was comfortable, if smaller than what he was used to, and the bedding of good quality. Heath piled another pillow under his head and stared at the ceiling, the ambient outside light slanting through the partially opened blinds to pattern the room in mysterious shadow and form. Melissa no doubt slept the sleep of the plotter just down the hall, and he supposed Roy and Renee had gone to the master suite on the other side of the house. The thought of being out on the water and renewing its acquaintance wa
s the only soothing thing he could cling to, and he decided he’d find time to rent a boat.
His body stirred restlessly and he reached to adjust himself behind the light fabric of his boxers. He normally slept naked, but it felt strange to do so under his father’s roof, and he wondered, not without a degree of ruefulness, if he wasn’t indeed retreating into this childhood. The memory of Ellie waiting at the table in the restaurant, the way her huge brown eyes locked with his, imparting a message he daren’t interpret with Melissa and the rest of them filing in, sifted to the surface of his thoughts. He’d barely hung onto his control as his immediate instinct had been to gather her up and taste that full mouth. Heath hadn’t meant it the way Renee interpreted, the comment about Ellie looking older. Nope, she’d definitely grown into a woman any red blooded man could appreciate, away from the artifice of the big city lifestyle. Damned if he hadn’t missed it, unaware until tonight.
Maybe he should have come back sooner, connected with his father to appease Mia and seen Ellie to get her out of his system, because he suspected his busy, successful world with its underlying emptiness had been a colossal waste of time. Except the old man would have been involved in not-so-marital bliss with whatever their names were, and wouldn’t that have been a horror show? Life was shit, he decided, and let his mind stray back to wondering if Ellie’s hair was as soft as it appeared. And if her breasts were as full as the material of her dress suggested they were, fitting snuggly across the mounds. The only benefit of Melissa’s snide remarks was the way Ellie sucked in presumably calming breaths, showcasing those splendid female attributes.
The heat of her against his leg, right through the fabric of his dress pants couldn’t possibly still resonate, but Heath touched his thigh anyhow, tracing the area, wishing she was in bed beside him so—god dammit! He rolled onto his side and punched the inoffensive pillow, pushing his face into the cool fabric. He wasn’t rubbing one off to the thought of Ellie Scott. Her sweet yet sultry appearance was misleading as he had good reason to know, and he’d fight this draw with all he had, because he was going back to Chicago in the next short while. Back to pick up his life away from comfortable little coastal towns and welcoming family. The only family member he cared to connect with could come and visit him—he’d send Mia a ticket.
As for the person who bothered him on a level he refused to acknowledge past this moment, he’d be content not to assuage his curiosity. Ellie had been pregnant, and obviously decided Heath would be the better catch—it didn’t matter who the real father was, despite the faceless and not-so-faceless individuals he’d obsessed over—and he’d caught her out. He’d avoided making love with her, no, avoided having sex with her so her plan didn’t come to fruition, passing him off as the father. Walking away had been the best choice, then and now. He’d get through the next several days and move on like he always did.
Chapter Five
Ellie flinched at the slamming of her front door. She couldn’t remember if she’d locked it or not. If she had, only one other person had a key.
“Ellie! Ellie, you here? It’s me,” Mia said from the small foyer, sounding mildly out of breath.
Hurriedly, Ellie shut the photo album she kept from her high school years, one she had no reason to be reminiscing through in the first place. Nothing good could come from revisiting the past. Especially, if that history pertained to Heath. She shoved it on a shelf under her coffee table just as Mia came rushing into the living room.
Alarmed, Ellie sprang to her feet. With her face pale and chest heaving, it looked like Mia had sprinted all the way from her apartment. “Mia, what happened?” She didn’t need to ask if she was okay. She already knew she was far from it. “Come, sit down.” She guided Mia to the couch and handed her the glass of wine she’d been sipping on for the past hour. “Drink this.”
Unladylike, Mia downed the glass and placed it on the table in front of her.
“Feel better?” Ellie asked.
“A little.”
“What has you so frazzled, honey?”
Mia slipped off her flip-flops. She proceeded to lean back on the cushion, curling her legs under her bottom. “I was making my way down the stairs from the apartment to the back alley on my way here. When I stepped off the bottom step, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I had a sort of unsettling feeling.”
“What kind of feeling?” Ellie asked, urging Mia on. She was tempted to get them both another glass of wine—possibly something stronger for Mia to help calm her nerves—but Ellie didn’t want to leave her friend’s side. “You’re scaring me.”
Mia let out a long breath. “I’m not sure exactly what I felt. Just that I wasn’t alone.”
“Did you hear something? See anyone?” Only the ice cream parlor shared the alley with Ellie, and they weren’t to open back up until the end of the month. Nobody else had a reason to be wandering around back there.
“No, not at first. I just had an eerie feeling. I made a beeline to the main street, knowing there would be more people out enjoying the warm weather. But before I could turn the corner, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. It was someone hunkered down next to Frozen Confections.” Mia shivered. “I think he’s been watching me, El.”
“What makes you think that? You need to tell me everything.”
“I can’t put my finger on it, except three or four days ago I was running along the waterfront. It was late, probably around ten or so. Nobody was out, but I was okay with that. You know me, I always run that late. Been doing it since I was a teenager.”
“Please tell me you carried your pepper spray,” Ellie said. Seaside had always been a safe town with the occasional teenage rebellion of course, but everyone took precautions as time drew closer to the tourist months.
“Work ran longer than usual, which had me getting home a lot later. I was trying to get my run in since I’d had to miss the night before because I was meeting with my boss, going over ideas for dad and Renee’s wedding. I don’t like to miss two nights in a row. Rushing out the door, I forgot it. But I didn’t forget my keys. That’s a plus.”
“No, it’s not. That’s it, I’m buying you one of those small cans you can put on your key ring. Kills two birds with one stone.” Ellie had already had this talk with Mia, but Mia being Mia always forgot something. It was a wonder she’d survived alone out in California those few years. “Now, back to your run.”
“I had my ear buds in, jamming to Mumford & Sons. I was passing where Henry Johnstone keeps his tour guide boat when I caught a glimpse of a man. He was leaning against the railing, facing the water. As I approached him, I didn’t think anything about it. But the closer I got, he turned toward me. He resembled someone who’d been living in the woods for the past year. Hair down to here.” Mia gestured to her shoulders. “A wooly beard that would put the Duck Dynasty boys to shame. And I’m not sure how I know this, but he came across as a man who hadn’t smiled in a very long time.”
Mia stayed quiet for a moment, seeming to be mulling something over. Ellie was about to ask if she was leaving something out about the mystery man—who she now knew wasn’t just a rumor being passed around town—when Mia closed her eyes and shook her head, as if clearing her thoughts.
“Now that I think about it, it was silly of me to run screaming in the night. It’s all because of dad. He put all these thoughts in my head, warning me of a stranger wandering the streets after dark. You know how much of a worry wart he is.”
“Doesn’t hurt to be cautious though. You never know about people,” Ellie said.
“I’m fine.” Mia brushed her long braid off her shoulder. “What about some more wine?”
“Sure. Be right back.”
The kitchen was situated in the back of the house. Ellie gathered the wine bottle and another glass for Mia. When she returned to the living room Mia was sitting cross-legged, the same photo album Ellie had been looking through laid open across her lap.
Without glancing from the book, Mia asked
, “What did you have this old thing out for?”
“I was purging my closet and stumbled upon it.” She flat out lied. She purposely had rummaged through her closet in search for that treasured part of her childhood.
“Oh. My. God.” Mia squealed, holding the book up for Ellie to see. “Look at my hair! I can’t believe I let you talk me into a perm. Worst. Haircut. Ever.”
They both chuckled, causing Ellie to splash a few drops of wine on the coffee table. Using the bottom of her ragged T-shirt, she wiped it clean. After handing Mia her glass, Ellie palmed her own wine and joined Mia on the couch.
Mia’s mouth went wide. “You have a picture of Jacob Palmer, star quarterback for the Pirates? He was like the most popular guy in school.”
Ellie shrugged. “We went on one date when we were sophomores. He gave me one of his senior pictures.” If she recalled correctly, Jacob was the last guy she’d dated in high school. After that, she lost interest in any guy who wasn’t Heath. How sad that was, she thought now. She’d missed out on a lot those couple of years. All of her spare time went to him.
“You did? Why didn’t I know that?”
“It was one time. We decided there wasn’t a spark and we really just enjoyed each other’s friendship.”
“No spark?” Mia shook her head in disbelief. “Not possible.”
Mia continued flipping through the album, pointing out old friends—some they kept in touch with and others they were glad to see move on.
Katriana Miller’s senior picture—the one where she was posing on the docks giving her most provocative look—was on the next page.
Mia wrinkled her nose. “Eww. Why do you have a picture of her in here? I know we were all friends at one time, but she’s evil.”
“I’m a pack rat. I keep everything. I guess to remind me of the good and bad.” And Katriana was definitely the bad.
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