“I was on the back porch when Zephyr arrived, and Tara ran out to join her without even washing her face.”
“You’re observant,” Chloe said, taking a long sip of coffee. She brightened. “Also, you make better coffee than I do,” she said.
“Not true. Anyway, before Tara left, I was trying to invent a cover story for your whereabouts. I’d decided to say that you fell asleep on my couch last night after we cleaned up after the party.”
“My clever niece would see through that in a minute,” Chloe said.
“I didn’t have to use that story, thank goodness. Want some breakfast?”
Chloe shook her head. “I’d better hurry upstairs, shower and get dressed before Tara comes back.”
She slid out of bed, and Butch ran in to twine through her ankles.
“By the way,” Ben said meaningfully, “I was treated to Butch’s performance in the bathroom this morning. Now I understand why he doesn’t need a litter box.”
“Amazing, isn’t it?” Chloe grinned.
“I mean, there he was, squatting on the toilet seat and—”
“You can spare me the details,” she said with a grimace. “Was he born that way? Is that normal?” Ben regarded Butch with a bemused frown.
Chloe laughed. “I taught him.”
“Brilliant, but how?”
“Oh, it was a kit I bought in a pet store. It includes a toilet seat adapter and herbs that you sprinkle in the litter, which goes inside the adapter, and then when you take the adapter away, the cat’s toilet trained.”
Ben stared at her. “Chloe, you should stop making jewelry and take up toilet training cats for other people.”
“Yuck. Once was enough.” She picked up Butch and kissed Ben on the cheek. “See you later.”
“Yeah. You, too, smart boy.” He scratched the cat under the chin.
Chloe rushed off to begin her day, but she was smiling. She could have sworn Butch was, too.
PATRICE CALLED during the next week and asked Chloe to provide more jewelry. “I have a couple of customers who have been telling their friends about your unique designs,” she said.
“I’ll bring some to you as soon as I can,” Chloe said.
Tara hurried into her office as Chloe was hanging up. She was wearing a skirt—a rarity in her wardrobe—and a conservative white blouse. “Chloe? Can you run me to the museum, or shall I drive myself?”
Chloe glanced up from her work. “I’d love to go into town. I have errands to do.”
“Is it okay if Greg picks me up from the museum at the end of my shift? His mom asked if I could eat dinner with them, and afterward, we’ll all watch the space shuttle launch from their backyard. I’m so excited about it. I never expected to see one.” Tara had been bowled over by her tour of the Kennedy Space Center and had been keeping her fingers crossed that the shuttle launch, long scheduled for this date, wouldn’t be postponed.
“Sure,” Chloe said, who was also looking forward to the launch. She’d never seen a shuttle blast off in all the times she’d summered at the Frangipani Inn, though she’d caught a couple of minor satellite liftoffs years ago.
“Can we leave in ten minutes?”
“I’ll be ready. Hey, Tara, bring the brownie pan that belongs to Jill’s mom. I’ll drop it off at her house this morning before it gets lost in the shuffle.” Chloe shut off her lamp and set aside the necklace she’d been crafting. She didn’t mind stopping what she was doing when it involved time alone with her niece. She’d learned that solid communication often happened when she least expected it—riding in the car, walking to the mailbox to get the mail, even while helping Tara pump up the tires of Gwynne’s old bike.
Shortly afterward, as she and Tara were driving across the bridge toward the blue blur of the mainland, Chloe used the opportunity to tackle a subject that she wished she didn’t feel compelled to mention.
“I’ve been meaning to speak to you about something that concerns me,” she said to Tara, easing into the topic.
“Oh?” Tara turned puzzled eyes upon her.
“Jill and Aaron seemed, well, a bit intense at the fajita party.”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“I heard them talking. Does she ever confide in you?”
Tara considered. “Only that she’s crazy about Aaron and will miss him terribly when he leaves for basic training in the fall.”
This Chloe could handle. “She’ll do fine. She’s pretty, fun, and there’s a whole world of boys out there.”
“Sometimes you only want a special boy,” Tara said.
“At Jill’s age, there will probably be a dozen or more such boys before she settles down. Perhaps you could talk to her about playing the field.”
A long silence. “I tried that, but Jill told me to mind my own business. She and Aaron are in love, and I’m such a kid because I don’t understand how it is when you really love someone.” Despite her blithe delivery of the words, Tara appeared troubled.
“Tara, I hope Jill won’t make any decisions she’ll regret when she’s older and more mature.”
“Me, too.”
“Do you—well, would it be a good idea if I spoke to Jill’s mom?”
Tara turned horrified eyes on her. “Oh, my gosh! No! I’d be so embarrassed, and if Jill found out you’d said anything, she’d hate me! She’d think I ratted on her.”
“I doubt—”
“Honest, Chloe, she would. You’ve got to promise me you won’t say anything to Mrs. Pettus when you take the brownie pan to their house. I’d die if you did.”
Chloe sighed. “Okay. I’ll keep quiet.”
“Not a word?”
“Not a word,” Chloe assured her.
Tara, mollified, faced front again. “Jill will be all right, no matter what her problems with Aaron. I’ve certainly made decisions that I now realize were dumb. I’ve learned from them and moved on. Like about this summer, when I decided to get away from home for a while. That was a bad decision that turned into a good one, wasn’t it? It’s fun being with you and Ben, and I met Greg, and maybe he’s going to visit me in Farish sometime.”
“I’m happy that you don’t regret coming here,” Chloe said warmly.
“Why would I?” Tara said, staring at her wide-eyed as Chloe braked to a stop in front of the museum.
Chloe smiled at her. “I can’t imagine,” she said, and the two of them laughed.
On her way home from town, instead of heading toward the Frangipani Inn on Beach Road, Chloe drove the other way toward Stuart’s Point. The road led past Ibis Trail, a sanctuary where birdwatchers frequently congregated. Salt marshes bordered both sides of the road, edged with saw grass and populated with various forms of wildlife. Here, far away from the usual tourist attractions, it was possible to appreciate the way Florida had looked before the developers arrived. Pristine and unspoiled, quiet and unhurried. And because of the preserve, this small area would stay that way forever.
Stuart’s Point was an unguarded, gated community, with big homes that lined meandering, palm-lined lanes. Chloe found the Pettus house readily, since Tara had described it in detail. Jill’s mother, Lorena, an older, more staid version of Jill, greeted Chloe at the door.
“I brought this back,” Chloe said, holding out the pan. She had printed out a copy of her fajita recipe and tucked it inside.
Jill’s mother smiled. “Please come in.”
Chloe started to shake her head, but Lorena appropriated her arm. “Jill has spoken of you so many times. Let’s sit in the living room.”
Chloe allowed herself to be propelled into a large open space whose main feature was an enormous waterfall cascading over native coquina rock set into the wall. She took in high ceilings, polished bamboo floors that seemed to go on forever, an aviary positioned between living and dining rooms.
“Your house is wonderful,” Chloe said. Outside, a jewellike swimming pool was set in the midst of a tropical bower. The ocean view beyond was as stunning as
the house’s interior.
“Thanks, but this place is my husband’s doing. He’s an architect.”
Lorena expressed delight at the fajita recipe, saying that no one believed her, but she loved to cook. “Aren’t teenagers the toughest critics around? When Jill says she likes something, it must be fantastic.”
Chloe didn’t stay long, making the excuse that she had work to do at home, and Lorena slowly walked her to the door. “Thank you, Chloe, for giving Jill a job for the summer. She’s got a fierce streak of independence, wanting to buy her own car when she can use mine almost anytime.”
Chloe complimented Lorena sincerely on daughter’s willingness to work and her eagerness to please. “I’m grateful for Tara’s and Jill’s help at the inn. They earn every cent of their money.”
“Another thing about this job,” Lorena said more thoughtfully. “It’s good for Jill to have something constructive to do. I don’t like her spending too much time with Aaron.”
This would have been the perfect opening to mention her own concern about Jill and her boyfriend, but she had promised Tara. “I understand,” was the most Chloe felt comfortable saying. Lorena, however, was inclined to be talkative.
“You have to be so careful with teenagers,” she commented with a rueful smile.
“Very true,” Chloe murmured. She rested her hand on the doorknob, eager for a quick escape.
“Tell me, Chloe, what’s your opinion of Aaron?”
Chloe squirmed at this loaded question. “I’ve just met him,” she said.
Lorena sighed. “The one good thing is that he’ll be leaving soon.”
“That’s what Tara said,” Chloe replied. She couldn’t wait to be out of there. “And now I really must run along.”
“Maybe we could get together one of these days with the girls,” Lorena suggested. “Perhaps take them out to a nice lunch at a good restaurant. I’ve enjoyed knowing Tara so much.”
“It sounds like fun,” Chloe said. She liked Lorena tremendously, despite her discomfort at being put on the spot about Aaron.
BEN WAS WASHING paintbrushes in the spigot beside the back porch when she arrived at the Frangipani Inn. “What are you doing today?” he asked.
“I just left Jill’s parents’ house. Lorena and I had a chat.” Chloe was more agitated than usual, and Ben picked up on it.
“Oh?” He stopped rinsing brushes, regarding her with raised brows.
“I doubt that Lorena likes Aaron any more than I do. That’s not such a big surprise.” She paused. “Say, do you want to have dinner together? And watch the launch afterward?”
“Launches are always beautiful at night, and this one is scheduled for nine o’clock. Sure, I’d like that.”
“Stop in around seven. I’ll make spaghetti sauce.”
“I thought you didn’t like to cook.”
“All I have to do is brown some ground beef and throw in sauce from a jar. I can handle that.” Chloe smiled at him, continued into the house and settled down to work. The afternoon went quickly, and when Ben showed up in the kitchen after she’d started the pasta, she told him that Tara was going to eat with Greg’s family.
“That means it’s just you and me, darlin’,” he said as he wrapped his arms around her.
“Careful,” she warned with a laugh, “or you’ll get spaghetti sauce all over my shirt.”
“Which would be a good reason to take it off, wouldn’t it?” he said mischievously, unbuttoning her top button.
She rebuttoned it. “Not,” she retorted with good humor.
After they’d gorged themselves on spaghetti, salad and French bread, Ben helped her clean up.
“We’ll see if we can find a secluded spot in the dunes, lie back on the blanket and get naked,” he said.
She eyed him doubtfully. “I hope you’re joking.”
“Yes, about the blanket,” and she snapped her dish towel at him.
“I was only trying to find out if you were listening,” he said reprovingly.
“We should pack a cooler with some sodas and potato chips,” Chloe suggested.
Ben went to find the cooler, and then he and Chloe joined others who were thronging down the boardwalk to the beach. Someone had set up several tiki torches in the sand, and one of the park rangers was giving a talk about the space program.
“Let’s get away from everybody,” Ben said, leading her back into the dunes and winding along on a path past a grove of oaks. Here there were no people, and Ben spread the blanket out. Chloe sprawled on it first, and he glanced down at her with a half smile. “I haven’t forgotten my original idea of getting naked,” he said.
“Well, I have. With people around? And kids and dogs and who knows what? Sit down, Ben Derrick, and stop blathering.” She laughed up at him, and as if to prove her point, a dog romped by with its tongue hanging out.
“Shorty! Come back here,” shouted its apparent owner, who with a gaggle of children in tow was laboring southward at the edge of the surf.
“See? They didn’t even know we were here,” murmured Ben. He sat beside her and took her hand.
“All right, what happens now?”
“You take your clothes off.” He waggled his eyebrows at her.
She couldn’t help laughing at his persistence. “I mean about the launch.”
“Some people will have radios or maybe small battery-operated televisions, and as the countdown to launch progresses, they’ll start chanting. We’ll probably hear them down the beach.” Ben opened a bag of potato chips and offered her some before helping himself to a handful.
Chloe munched for a while, then twisted the top off a bottle of cola. “Have some,” she offered, and they companionably shared the same bottle until all the cola was gone.
“Do you ever miss it? Alcohol, I mean?” Chloe asked Ben.
“No, though I used to enjoy drinking a beer now and then. Why do you ask?”
She shrugged. “It’s something I wondered about. I’ve had addictions of my own,” she said as Ben’s brows lifted clear into his hairline.
“Not to substances,” she hastened to add. “To people. Or rather, to certain people who need my help. I get a rush from looking after them, enjoy their praise, and in some cases actually require it. Even when they take advantage of me, I don’t want to give them up. To my own detriment a lot of times,” she added.
He studied her face curiously. “Like now?” he asked softly. “With Tara?”
She shook her head and crumpled up the potato chip bag before tossing it into the cooler. “Tara’s making progress, and she’s short-term. No, not with Tara.”
“With me, then?” Ben asked gently. “Are you trying to tell me something, Chloe?”
She was aghast that he had mistaken her meaning. “No, Ben, I’ve never—I mean—”
“Sweet Chloe,” he said, brushing a bit of sand off her face. “If you ever feel that I’m too much responsibility, that I’m in your way, tell me. I wouldn’t harm you for the world.”
“Oh, Ben,” she said. “You’ve given and given to me and Tara, and I’m forever grateful.”
He kissed her tenderly, and her arms went around his neck. “I can’t stay away from you, Chloe,” he said as he slid his hand inside her shorts. “If it is possible to be addicted to a person, then that’s what this is, but so far I haven’t found anything wrong with this. With us.”
She focused on his face above her. “Nor have I,” she said.
He kissed her, kept kissing her until she thought she would die of wanting him. Her mind filled with images: herself at sixteen, meeting him on the beach; Ben thanking her back then when she’d poured his coffee with her hands trembling because she’d been so attracted to him; the serious way he had talked to Aaron and Greg about underage drinking. So many memories, so many moods. She took his hand, placed it on one of her breasts. Needing him to touch her in intimate places, needing the reassurance that she meant something to him.
They heard people down the beach chant
ing the countdown, and a dog barked, but they were so well hidden away in the dunes that no one noticed the two of them.
“Dearest Chloe,” Ben murmured, kissing each breast. By this time her shorts were somewhere on the blanket, and she hoped they weren’t going the way of her lost swimsuit. She pulled the edges of the blanket over Ben and her, effectively blending them into the cover of oaks.
Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one—
The sky erupted golden when the rocket blasted off, its trail blazing red and silver and yellow as it arced over the ocean. The blast started a rumble deep inside the earth, shaking the ground where they lay.
“Ooh,” sighed the crowds as the rocket spun away, and “Aah” as Chloe began to wish that she and Ben could be lost in space together and never return to Earth. But, she decided, inner space had proved to be even more intriguing, considering how it could bend to accommodate all sorts of people.
Under the blanket, as the rocket sped into the night, Ben held her close for a long time. Tucked into their own secret hideaway, they were utterly private and discreet. She traced the lines of his face with her finger as if she were sculpting him; he curved himself around her, his angles to her curves.
“So, uh, what did you think about the launch?” he ventured.
“I felt the earth move,” she said truthfully.
He laughed and kissed the tip of her nose. “I hope the experience will be as moving next time,” he said.
“It probably will, but meanwhile, could you please help me find my clothes?”
“Against my better judgment,” Ben said, reaching down inside the blanket and coming up with her shorts.
“Judgment had nothing to do with it,” Chloe said, but she was smiling all the same.
Chapter Twelve
The next day, Chloe was hulling strawberries that Zephyr had brought early that morning when an unfamiliar car nosed into the parking space normally reserved for her Volvo. Curious, she peeked out the window and saw a tall woman step out. The visitor stood staring at the inn for a long moment, then seemed to pull herself together before determinedly setting off along the path leading to the front door.
The Treasure Man Page 16