Dogwood Hill

by Sherryl Woods

  Henry gave her an innocent look. “Aren’t kids supposed to listen to their moms?”

  Shanna gave him a hug. “Yes, my darling son, but not all of them do, especially once they hit their teens. As for playing sports, there are plenty of healthy ways to get stronger. Ask Coach Mitchell.”

  “I will,” Henry agreed, his expression turning serious. “I thought I was probably wasting my time playing football, but maybe not. I guess it’s worth at least trying to make the team again. It’s actually fun, when we aren’t getting trounced.” He sighed. “Not that that happens often.”

  Liz took her package from the counter, then paused to give Henry a kiss on the cheek that had him blushing.

  “Congratulations!” she told him.

  Back in her own shop, she straightened up and checked end-of-the-day receipts as she watched for Aidan to come home. Oh, she wasn’t admitting, not even to herself, that over just two short days, she’d figured out his schedule, but the truth was she’d all but memorized the time of day when he took off in the morning and the time when he generally returned. Those quick glimpses had to satisfy her, though, because she was not—absolutely not—going to pursue him or open her heart to him.

  Today, however, the second she saw him crossing the town green, she opened the door and waited to catch his eye, then beckoned him over. There was one thing she needed to say.

  “You did a very good thing today,” she told him, trying not to gape at the way his T-shirt stretched across his chest or the way his worn jeans hugged his long legs.

  He looked surprised by the compliment. “What did I do?”

  She forced her attention back to his face. “You made a young man start to believe in himself. Or maybe I should say in his athletic promise.”

  “I did that? In one very brief team meeting? Who are you talking about?”

  “Henry. I happened to be next door when he came in after school and told Shanna about being named team captain. Even if it’s only a token title just for now, you made that boy’s day. He knows he’s smart, but sports are still new to him. He was never encouraged to play anything before he came to live with Shanna and Kevin. If you’re even half as good at motivating the other players, your team will win the state title next year.”

  Aidan laughed. “I think it’s way too soon to get carried away. Having a good leader as captain is a long way from putting a strong team on the field.”

  “Why did you choose him?” she asked curiously, then frowned. “It’s not because he’s Mick’s grandson, is it?”

  “Absolutely not. I made the decision before I even realized that. He took some initiative at the team meeting that spoke well of his leadership abilities. The other boys responded well to what he said. I made a snap decision, though I did make it clear the title could be temporary.” He frowned. “He does understand that, right?”

  “No question about it,” Liz confirmed. “Still, Henry’s a pretty serious kid who’s had some tough breaks in his life. You gave him a real boost in confidence today. Seems to me that’s the mark of a great coach, not that I have a lot of experience determining what it takes to be an effective coach.”

  “Thanks for saying that,” Aidan said. “I know I understand a lot about playing football and I have a whole notebook filled with plays and game strategy, but working with boys this age is new to me. For all their bravado, their egos are still pretty fragile. I’m not so old that I can’t remember what that was like. I don’t want to do anything to shatter their confidence and self-esteem. I think that’s as much a part of my job as turning them into decent players.”

  “Well, I just wanted to tell you the impact you had on one boy today,” Liz said, backing away. “Have a good evening, Aidan.”

  She turned to go inside her shop to finish closing up and was surprised when he followed her.

  “How was your day?” he asked, glancing around. “I see you got those toys on display. Are you going to be ready for the flood of tourists by Friday?”

  Liz sighed. “I hope so, but there’s no way of telling. I’ve never run a business like this before.”

  “You mean one that depends on seasonal tourism?”

  She smiled sheepishly. “I mean any business. I used to teach elementary school, which is one reason I know a little bit about motivating kids.”

  Aidan looked surprised. “Boy, when you make a change, you do it in a big way. What made you decide to open a pet store?”

  Though she’d had to come up with an answer for a lot of people over the past few months, she still took a moment to frame one for Aidan. “When I decided I wanted to make a fresh start, I decided to embrace it wholeheartedly.”

  “Didn’t you enjoy teaching?”

  “I loved it, but if I’d just changed cities, it wouldn’t have felt like that much of a change.” She didn’t want to mention that being around young children would have been a stark reminder of the family she’d longed to have, the one she’d anticipated being just around the corner, only to discover that it wasn’t in her husband’s plans at all.

  “I grew up with pets and I thought it would be fun to have a store, so I could meet new people all the time. I deliberately chose Chesapeake Shores because it’s a tourist town, yet it’s small enough to get to know your neighbors well.”

  “Any regrets?”

  She laughed. “At the end of almost every month all winter when I was trying to balance the books,” she admitted. “But I’m eager for summer and the onslaught of customers everyone has been promising me. The other business owners have provided a real support system, so I’m far from discouraged. I came here for a change and a challenge. So far I haven’t been disappointed.”

  “Are you always this upbeat and optimistic?”

  She frowned at the question. “You say that as if it’s a bad thing.”

  “Not at all. I’m a big believer in choosing to look at the bright side, but not everyone can pull that off.”

  “It is a choice, isn’t it?” she said quietly, thinking of the weeks after her husband’s death when bright spots had been few and far between. If there had been any at all, she’d chosen not to see them, deliberately wallowing in her pain.

  And then a very wise friend had suggested she could decide whether to live her life mired in grief, self-pity and regrets, essentially ending her own life right along with her husband’s, or whether she wanted to live as fully as possible. She’d started making plans for the future the next day, eventually choosing a path that excited her in a way nothing else had for weeks. Perhaps even longer, if she were being entirely honest.

  Aidan seemed to be studying her closely. To her shock, he reached out and touched a gentle finger to what she knew were shadows under her eyes.

  “What put these there?” he asked.

  Shivering a little at the tender touch, she backed away a step and forced her brightest smile. “No idea what you mean.”

  He gave her a skeptical look. “Seriously?”

  “Hey, don’t you know it’s never polite to point out that a woman looks as if she hasn’t slept in days?” she asked brightly. “I have about a million lists of things to do running through my head. That’s not nearly as effective for getting to sleep as counting sheep.”

  “No, I imagine it’s not,” he agreed. “Maybe you need to take a quick break, get your mind off all those details for a little while. How about taking a walk around the corner to O’Brien’s? I hear Nell trained the chef, so the food’s bound to be good. I’m getting sick of my limited culinary skills, which tend to rely too much on frozen entrées. If I’m going to preach to my players about the right nutrition, I should practice what I preach.”

  She hesitated. “I really shouldn’t,” she protested, thinking not only of all she had to do, but that spending more time with Aidan was definitely a bad idea. He had a way of sneaking p
ast her defenses when she least expected it. And, the real kicker, he wasn’t planning to stick around all that long.

  “An hour at most,” he countered. “And I’ll stay and help you unpack inventory or whatever you need after we eat. I’m a stranger in Chesapeake Shores. It’s probably your civic duty to see that I don’t eat dinner alone.”

  She laughed at that, then thought of all the people who’d taken her under their wings when she’d first moved to town. There had been very few nights when she’d had to eat alone unless she’d chosen to do so.

  “Okay, fine. An hour, though, and I expect you to haul all the empty boxes to the recycling center for me, so I can get them out of the back room.”

  “You’ll just have to point me in the right direction,” he agreed.

  “I can certainly do that. Give me a second to wash up and grab my purse.”

  As they left the shop, she couldn’t help saying a little prayer that Bree and Shanna were both long gone from their own businesses, because if either of them caught a glimpse of her with Aidan, she was going to face an onslaught of questions at tomorrow morning’s gathering at Sally’s.

  * * *

  Aidan thought he heard Liz groan when they walked into O’Brien’s on Shore Road.

  “Something wrong?” he asked, glancing around at the packed room. He noted then that Liz’s gaze was locked on the bar, where several O’Briens were seated and gesturing for the two of them to come over. He grinned. “Ah, another center for town gossip, I presume?”

  She sighed. “You have no idea. I should have thought of that before I agreed to come here with you.”

  “Liz, we’re two friends and neighbors having dinner. What’s the big deal?”

  She gave him an incredulous look. “Two single friends,” she pointed out. “In a pub filled with O’Briens, who have taken matchmaking to new extremes.”

  “Well, it seems we have no choice but to join them or cause a major stir by taking off. What’s your preference?”

  “We’ll have to go over there,” she said, clearly resigned.

  When she looked as if she was bracing to face a firing squad, he put a hand on her arm to hold her back. “First, remind me of who’s there.”

  “That’s Luke behind the bar. This is his pub. He’s Jeff’s son, Mick’s nephew. That’s Susie, his sister, on the stool at the end.”

  “That’s right. She drew up my lease, though I didn’t meet her when I signed it. She’s also the one who’s married to Mack Franklin,” Aidan recalled, then recognized the man on the neighboring stool. “And he’s right next to her.”

  “And Megan O’Brien is next to him, which means Mick is bound to be here shortly.”

  Aidan chuckled. “I’m beginning to see the problem.”

  “I doubt it,” Liz responded direly, then led the way to the bar, where Mack had vacated his stool so she could sit next to Susie.

  “Interesting,” Susie murmured to Liz, regarding her with a grin.

  Aidan noted that Liz’s cheeks flushed bright pink, but before he could mention that to her, Mack started questioning him about his meeting with the team earlier. Knowing that the ex-player had a real interest in the game and his prognosis for the team’s next season, he filled him in.

  A moment later, Mick appeared and slapped him enthusiastically on the back. “You surprised me today,” Mick said.

  “How so?”

  “Making Henry captain of the team till the end of the year,” Mick said.

  Apparently this was the first some of the others had heard about it. Megan regarded Aidan approvingly. “I don’t know a thing about football, much to the dismay of my husband and my sons, but I do know Henry. That boy was born to be a leader. I’m so glad someone had the sense to see that.”

  “Agreed,” Mick said. His gaze narrowed. “You did see that in him, right? It didn’t have anything to do with who he is, did it?”

  “I honestly had no idea who he was when I appointed him captain,” Aidan said for the second time that afternoon. “He stepped in, showed some initiative and spirit, and I decided on the spot to recognize that. I wanted to send a message to all the boys that they’ll be rewarded for their actions on and off the field.” He shrugged. “Punished, too, for that matter, but we didn’t get into that.”

  Mick nodded. “I like that. I know Kevin and Shanna appreciate it, too. Kevin called me right before I came over here to tell me how excited Henry is. Do you know anything about how he came to live with them?”

  Aidan shook his head.

  “Shanna was married to the boy’s dad. Henry adored her, but when she and his father divorced, she was forbidden from having any contact with Henry. It about broke that woman’s heart and left a little boy with no one he could count on except a couple of strict grandparents who didn’t know what to do with him.”

  Aidan frowned. “What about his father?”

  “He had a serious problem with alcohol. It tore up his liver. After Shanna moved here and got together with Kevin, Henry’s grandparents saw that Henry’s best chance for a normal life was with Shanna and Kevin. They kept him in touch with his biological daddy, but when he was gone, they adopted Henry. He’s blossomed since he’s been with them. We’re all real proud of him and glad to count him as an O’Brien.”

  The story reaffirmed what Aidan had already guessed, that the O’Briens were good people whose lives centered around family, no matter how that family might have been cobbled together. Once more he had to wonder if there would have been room in their hearts for him if only his mother had paved the way years ago by telling Thomas O’Brien he had a son.

  * * *

  Aidan was still thinking about his connection to Thomas O’Brien the next day when Coach Gentry pulled him aside before that afternoon’s practice session.

  “Rob mentioned to you about the after-school club you’ll be sponsoring next year, right?”

  “The one that works with the bay preservation foundation,” Aidan said.

  “That’s the one. I know you have practice with the team this afternoon, but the club’s meeting after school. It’s the last meeting of the year. Thomas O’Brien’s going to be speaking to the students to thank them for their work. I thought you might like to stop in and say hello. Any chance you could get there by four? That’s when we’ll be winding down. Thomas has arranged for refreshments to be sent over from the inn. You won’t want to miss those.”

  Aidan knew there was little to be gained by postponing the inevitable. He had to be in the same room with Thomas at some point. Just like that Sunday dinner at Mick’s, it might be best to be surrounded by other people.

  “I’ll do my best to make it,” he promised the coach. “It may just be for a couple of minutes, though. I don’t want to cut practice short and set a bad precedent. The team needs to take these sessions seriously, even if the season is months away.”

  “Understood.”

  Though the meeting was on Aidan’s mind the rest of the day, he managed to push it aside long enough to get the team started on a series of drills. He asked Henry and another PE teacher, who’d volunteered to help out, to record the results while he ran over to the school to drop in on the end-of-season party.

  Thomas had just wrapped up his speech and, while a table was set up with refreshments, the kids were all gathered around him asking questions, clearly inspired by whatever he’d said to them before Aidan’s arrival. With their serious expressions and earnest questions, it seemed they thought of him as a sort of rock star of the environmental world.

  Aidan hung back, watching Thomas and listening to him as he interacted with the students. He wasn’t even the tiniest bit condescending, but rather took their questions seriously and answered them thoughtfully. When he caught sight of Aidan, he sent them off toward the refreshment table, then made his way over to Aidan. He
held out his hand.

  “I hear you’re taking over with this gang next fall,” he said, shaking Aidan’s hand with a firm grip. “It’s an incredible group. They’ve done a good job this year.”

  “I may be new to the area, but I already understand what a great cause it is,” Aidan said. “I’ll do my best to encourage the kids to continue doing whatever they can to help.”

  “Awareness is always the first step with something like this. People tend to be careless with our resources until they understand the consequences. Then most people are more than willing to do their part to protect them.”

  Aidan had the feeling Thomas was just warming up, so he was grateful to have a team outside waiting for his return. “I’m going to want to hear a lot more about this and what activities you’d like us to take on next fall, but I’ve got a bunch of players on the field doing drills. I need to get back to check on them. I just wanted to say hello and let you know you can count on me.”

  “I’ll do that,” Thomas said. “Maybe we can get together a few times over the summer to brainstorm.”

  “Sure,” Aidan replied, though the prospect filled him with a sense of dread. Suddenly it felt as if everything was moving too quickly. He’d wanted to find his father, maybe even see him from time to time, but this was already more intense than he’d envisioned.

  Of course, he thought with a sigh, maybe that was because of the huge secret that stood between them. He knew exactly who Thomas was, but the older man knew him only as the new football coach and sponsor of an after-school club. Once the truth was out and that dynamic changed, who knew what might happen?

  * * *

  Liz opened the shop’s doors on the Friday morning of Memorial Day weekend not knowing what to expect. There was a familiar trickle of regular locals who stopped by before noon, mostly to pick up the organic pet food she stocked. Cordelia was among them.

  Liz smiled at the older woman, who was wearing a flowered print dress and bright yellow sneakers. “You look very perky and springlike today,” she told her. “How are you, and how is Fluffy?”