Long Way Home

by Neve Cottrell

  “Well, now I know why you never became a rock star,” she quipped.

  “Isn’t it past your curfew?” Tyler teased. “Wouldn’t want your parents to send out a search party.”

  Alexis tried to ignore the push and pull of her emotions. Although she felt drawn to Ty, she didn’t want to admit it, not to herself and certainly not to him. She wanted to use this trip to focus on mending fences as well as herself. Forge a new path. She did not want her new path to lead to a new man. She wasn’t ready. Eighteen months wasn’t enough time.

  “Now that you mention it,” Alexis said, “it probably is time to go.”

  Tyler fervently wished he could take back his last comment. “No, I’m kidding. It’s early still.”

  “Is that why the bar is slowly hemorrhaging customers?”

  He glanced around and realized that she was right. It was later than he thought. Only Caspian remained at the bar, charming the skirts off two dark-haired women while a few other people lingered over tables in the seating area. Even the groupies were heading out. One of them, Natasha, waved to Tyler as they left. He nodded politely but didn’t return the gesture. He didn’t want Alexis to think that he’d lied. Although he never actually dated any of them, he’d had a few sexual encounters with Natasha in the past. He wasn’t interested in dating her, though, and that seemed fine with Natasha. Although she was pretty, she wasn’t his type. His type was seated across from him and she was one-of-a-kind.

  “Would you object if I walk you home?” he asked.

  “It’s not like it’s a date,” she said, a little too quickly.

  “Of course not,” he said. He knew he should ask more probing questions, but he didn’t want to scare her away. Maybe his own feelings were clouding his judgment, but he sensed that she was attracted to him. Something was clearly holding her back, though.

  “Anyway, I drove my mom’s cart,” she said, “so you don’t need to walk me.”

  “So you’ll come to another show?” he asked, trying not to sound too eager. “I tend to play more this time of year and in the summer. Mangrove Island is becoming quite the hot holiday destination.”

  “Good to know I’m on trend,” Alexis said with a wry smile. “You can text me with details of your Mangrove Island holiday tour.” She gave him her number and he deftly programmed it into his phone. She guessed hers wasn’t the first number to be typed into his phone at a bar since he seemed to have no shortage of admirers.

  He walked her outside to her lone cart. Everyone else had left or intended to walk home. It was a clear night and the stars shone brightly, drawing Alexis’s eyes skyward.

  “God, I forgot how pretty it could be,” she breathed.

  “I haven’t,” Tyler said. When she glanced at him, she saw the flicker of desire in his deep, blue eyes.

  “Thanks for tonight,” she said and slid into the cart.

  “My pleasure,” he said and Alexis could hear in his voice that it truly was.

  As Tyler watched her drive off, he wanted to kick himself. Way to play it cool, he chastised himself. On the other hand, he’d been waiting more than seventeen years to get her attention, so playing it cool didn’t really seem like the right approach anyway.

  His mind went back to her comment about London. Lived. Past tense. But she said she was only here to see family for the holidays. He knew something was up, but he needed to be patient. There was a skittishness to her now that he didn’t remember from high school. Tyler knew there was a story there; he simply would wait until she was ready to tell it.

  Alexis didn’t ride straight back to Rumrunner Road. Instead, she drove to a nearby beach and sat in the cart, gazing up at the stars. The way she felt tonight upset her and she didn’t want to go back to her parents’ house brimming with emotions. She wanted to work through some of her feelings. Her therapist had recommended that Alexis allow herself to ‘feel her feelings,’ but Alexis hadn’t been ready at the time. As she listened to the sound of the waves crashing against the shoreline, Alexis decided that she was ready to try.

  She closed her eyes and let the soothing sound wash over her. The way she felt when she looked at Ty triggered strong memories of Mark. They seemed like polar opposites, though. Alexis had a hard time believing that she could be attracted to two such completely different men. She relaxed into the seat, allowing the memory of Mark to fill her.

  She’d met him at work, of course, because that’s where she spent the majority of her waking hours. Her desk had been in its normal state, strewn with books, files and empty coffee cups. As usual, she’d been reading through a contract and fighting off a headache. A knock at the door had interrupted her and she’d glanced up to see her boss.

  “Hi, Hal. What’s up?”

  Hal Brookman was an older gentleman and a senior partner at her law firm. He was a familiar presence in her doorway, often stopping by to chat about world events or American pop culture. He was a huge Seinfeld fan, even though it had been off the air for years, and enjoyed quoting his favorite episodes. This particular day, Hal was accompanied by a man Alexis didn’t recognize. He wore dark trousers, a cashmere sweater and black boots and, although stylish, he looked completely out of place in the firm’s formal offices.

  “So sorry to disturb, Alexis, but I would very much like you to meet Mark Steamer. Mark is in-house counsel for our new client, Biomyte.”

  Alexis stood up to shake his hand. “Alexis MacAdams, nice to meet you.”

  “Alexis is a key member of our team. Her work is impeccable.”

  “Thank you, Hal,” said Alexis.

  “You have the oddest English accent I’ve ever heard,” Mark remarked.

  Alexis opened her mouth to answer, but Hal cut her off. “Alexis hails from the States. She joined us from our New York office a few years ago. She is — oh, how would those Yanks put it — our resident ballbuster.”

  “I’ll keep a close watch on my balls then.” Mark blushed, realizing what he’d said.

  Again, Alexis opened her mouth to speak, but Hal seemed to have a case of verbal diarrhea. “I’m afraid Britain hasn’t quite won her over. She finds Wimbledon boring, won’t touch Marmite and, if memory serves, she refused to listen to the Queen’s speech at Christmas last year.”

  “Refusal to listen to the Queen’s speech should be grounds for deportation, surely,” Mark said.

  Alexis smirked. Hal didn’t realize Mark was mocking him.

  “Hal’s right,” Alexis interjected. “Instead, I draped myself in the American flag and watched Top Gun while eating a hot dog and stroking my pistol.”

  Mark’s smile broadened and Alexis’s life as she knew it was over.

  Chapter Six

  Alexis didn’t have to wait long to hear from Tyler. The next morning he texted her his show schedule, as well as a link to Lottie’s Greenhouse with a question mark. Lottie’s Greenhouse was a lovely garden center and landscaping company that hosted special events throughout the year. It was where she’d gone to see Santa as a child and where they’d go for their Christmas tree every year.

  Sitting at the kitchen table nursing her second cup of coffee, she clicked the link to see whether he expected her to sit on Santa’s lap. The link took her to a page about a Winter Wonderland skating rink available now through January second. Alexis bit her lip. A skating rink definitely seemed more like a date than two classmates catching up.

  “You’re up late again this morning,” her mother’s voice said from behind her.

  “I am on vacation,” Alexis said defensively.

  “I’m not making a point about your work ethic, dear. When you were younger, you were always up before the sun.”

  “I think I used to hear Dad getting up,” Alexis said, although it was true that she liked to wake up early. ‘The early bird gets the worm’ was her private mantra and it had served her well in law school when the library study cubicles were all taken hostage by nine o’clock.

  “Well, you’re sleeping through it now,” her mo
ther commented wryly. She walked to the counter to pour herself a cup of coffee. “Betsy called to see if you’d like to do some Christmas shopping with her.”

  “Today?”

  She shrugged. “Seems so. I left her number there,” she said, pointing to a piece of paper on the counter. “She also wants to confirm that you’re going to Owen’s Nativity play at the preschool. Apparently, he insisted on your attendance and she needs to tell them how many tickets.”

  “Clearly, he recognizes his core fan base. When is it again?”

  “Tomorrow morning, assuming you’ll still be here,” Tilly said archly.

  Alexis didn’t take the bait. “I’ll be here.”

  “Great, then you can let her know when you return her call.” Tilly slurped her coffee. “So how does it feel being back here? Bored yet?”

  Alexis rolled her eyes. “I’m not twelve. I don’t get bored.”

  “You roll your eyes as well as any twelve-year-old.”

  Alexis felt her cheeks burn hot. She may have become a successful lawyer in a big London law firm, but one snide comment from her mother made her feel as small as a thumbnail. She wished she could extract all the hurt and misunderstandings from her family dynamics and start over. A clean slate. No preconceived notions. Her phone buzzed again. Another text from Tyler.

  “Galleon at six followed by Lottie’s,” it read. “You in?”

  Well, he certainly was persistent. She glanced at her mother’s pursed lips and rigid face, a face that seemed so resistant to change, so unwilling to forgive.

  “See you there,” she typed back, and then she dialed her sister’s number.

  Alexis stood in the middle of a mobbed JCPenney, wondering what possessed her to accompany Betsy to a mall on the mainland right before Christmas. Too much holiday cheer and sisterly guilt rolled into one, no doubt.

  They tried in vain to carry on a conversation while walking through the endless throng of people. The regrettable underbelly of Christmas. Christmas songs hurt her ears as young and old alike rudely jostled one another. Although Alexis was used to the hustle and bustle of a big city, in a place like this it aggravated her more. Probably because she expected better of them. Or maybe because she’d already spent enough time on the island to forget the reality of crowds.

  “Brian is definitely the competitive one,” Betsy was telling her as Alexis strained to listen. “The kid used to victory spike his baby bottle when he finished it. I was glad I wasn’t breastfeeding anymore.”

  Alexis glanced around them in annoyance. “You must be off the deep end wanting to come shopping this week.”

  She turned to look at her sister, but instead of annoyance, she saw a flicker of nostalgia in Betsy’s brown eyes. “I don’t get to the mainland for shopping very often. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a little booked up with three kids, a husband, and a salon.” Her eyes turned toward two small children tugging on their mother’s shirt. She was visibly relieved to be without children for the day. “Besides, this whole scene is sort of interesting.”

  Alexis bumped into a large man passing her in a hurry. Obstacles everywhere.

  “Look, this might be some kind of sociological experiment to you, observing gorillas with credit cards in our midst, but it’s giving me a migraine,” Alexis huffed.

  Betsy stopped walking and a woman stepped onto the backs of her shoes. The woman cast the sisters a dirty look before veering around them. “By all means, let’s put our efficiency caps on. What is it you would like to accomplish here?”

  “I’d like to find that scooter for Brian.”

  Betsy blanched. “The scooter? Why?”

  “Oh, did you already buy it?” asked Alexis.

  “No, it’s expensive. And he’s getting other presents.”

  “I don’t mind buying it.”

  Alexis noticed Betsy’s irritation but didn’t understand it. Then Betsy shocked Alexis by dropping her bags right in the middle of the bustling crowd and pointing a finger at Alexis.

  “Why are you here?”

  Alexis blinked. “Because you invited me.”

  “No, I mean why are you on Mangrove Island? Why did you come back?”

  Alexis’s heart began beating harder. “Excuse me?”

  “No one has the balls to ask the mighty Alexis why she has fallen so far from grace that she needs to flee Mount Olympus and join us mere mortals on our insignificant land mass.” Betsy’s angry hands flew to her hips. “Well, I do. So tell me Alexis, why are you really here? I’m finding it hard to believe it’s because you missed us when you haven’t been in touch in God knows how long.”

  Too exhausted from the pain-inducing environment to be reasonable, Alexis immediately shifted into bitch mode. “I’m surprised you could make a mythological reference. Where’d you learn about Mount Olympus? In a cartoon?”

  “Still a smug little bitch. You haven’t changed one iota.”

  “Changed from what? I’ve got news for you, Elizabeth,” Alexis sneered, using her sister’s much-hated given name, “the fact that you and the rest of the family labeled me an apple, doesn’t make me an apple.”

  “Label you?” Betsy roared. “We didn’t have to label you. You were all too happy to tell us who you were. Too good to cook, too good to sew, too damned good. I’m surprised your built-in hoi polloi alarm didn’t go off when you set foot in this mall.”

  “If by cooking you mean tossing iceberg lettuce with string cheese and full fat mayo, then you’re absolutely right. I am too good to do that.”

  Betsy crossed her arms. “Oh, come on. That was a one-time experiment and you know it.”

  “What are you really worked up about? The fact that I got out in the first place or the fact that I’ve returned successful?”

  Betsy snorted. “You and I clearly have different definitions of success.”

  Alexis studied her older sister’s flushed face and willed her own anger to dissolve. Taking a deep breath, Alexis drew enough strength to walk away from the argument before it escalated further.

  “I’m going to get Brian that scooter,” she said evenly. “I’ll find my own way back to the island.”

  “Do me a favor,” Betsy called after her. “Don’t say the scooter’s from you because when you disappear again, I don’t want him to be reminded of you every freakin’ time he rides it.”

  Betsy snatched up her bags and stalked off in the opposite direction.

  Alexis seethed all the way through the shopping center. Hot, angry tears sprang from her eyes and she could barely see where she was going. Tired of fighting the crowds, she took refuge on a bench and closed her eyes to ease her pounding head.

  She absolutely hated lashing out at her sister. Betsy was clearly harboring deep resentment and Alexis didn’t really blame her. Her eyelids fluttered open and she took a moment to observe the shoppers more closely. She noticed a family of five trying to walk together despite the tide of people rushing around them.

  “Single file line,” she heard the father say. The three children scrambled into formation with the youngest at the front. Between that and the man’s crew cut, Alexis guessed they were a military family.

  “You look like you need a strong coffee,” an elderly man said, setting himself down beside her. He rested his cane on the end of the bench.

  “A strong drink,” she agreed. “Not sure it should be coffee, though.”

  He chuckled. “A woman after my own heart.” He took note of the absence of shopping bags. “Having trouble with gift ideas?”

  Alexis shook her head. “Not the kind of problem that would stress me out.”

  The elderly man smiled kindly. “I always accompany my wife on her shopping trips. Helen, she’s a real worrywart. What if little Jimmy is too old for this toy? What if I insult Janie with the size of the sweater I buy her?”

  “Let me guess, it always turns out fine.”

  He leaned back against the bench and sighed. “Always. She gets herself all worked up for nothing.”<
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  “I’ll bet you love being on the receiving end of that,” she commented.

  He scratched his chin. “You know what? That’s my job. I love her and that’s one of the ways I give her what she needs.”

  “You’re very sweet.”

  “Hey, I didn’t say it was a one-way street. She puts up with a lot of my nonsense, too. Nobody’s perfect, not even close.”

  Alexis watched as two little girls skipped ahead of their mother, singing and holding hands as they went. She and Betsy had never been that close. In fact, she couldn’t think of a single activity that they liked to do together. They didn’t even listen to the same music. Alexis had plenty of memories of disagreements and aggravations, but not much else, yet Betsy seemed to have so much bitterness stored up over Alexis’s voluntary alienation. Was it because she viewed the departure as a personal rejection or was it because Betsy actually wanted Alexis in her life? The former seemed more likely.

  “Do you know where the nearest bus stop is, by any chance?” Alexis asked.

  “Sure do. You got plans?”

  “I do, actually. I need to get back to Mangrove Island to meet a friend.”

  “Mangrove Island?” he queried. “Such a nice place. My wife and I have spent time there over the years. Good fishing.”

  “You couldn’t choose a better place for it.”

  “Don’t I know it.” He gave her directions to the nearest bus stop and Alexis thanked him before standing to leave.

  “I just need to do a little shopping first,” she said. “I came all this way, I don’t want to leave empty-handed.”

  “Good luck,” said the elderly man.

  “Merry Christmas,” she called over her shoulder as she hurried to find the much-desired scooter.

  Her phone rang as she studied the directory and, when she saw Ty’s number on the screen, an involuntary smile tugged at her cheeks.

  “Hey, stranger,” she answered.

  “Wow, have you fled to Madison Square Garden?” he asked.

  “Noisy, huh? It’s a shopping center. Betsy keeps a car on the mainland for excursions so I went with her.”