Ben’s lips set in a grim line. “If Jill’s the one who stole the coins, then it’s her fault, not yours.”
“She did it because Aaron insisted. He said he could get good money for cob coins. Jill kept telling him that stealing was wrong, that she didn’t want to be part of it, but he insisted that if she really loved him, she’d do it. He said there were lots more where those came from, and Ben would find more to replace them.”
“Did Aaron need the money?” Chloe asked.
“Jill says so. He agreed to pay restitution to the high school principal for the tires he slashed, and his parents washed their hands of the whole situation, said they weren’t going to pay Aaron’s debts because he was eighteen years old and they weren’t responsible for his wrongdoing. So the pressure was on him to raise the amount before he goes in the service, or the principal might prosecute. Aaron figured that hocking the coins was the best way to get quick money.”
“Why didn’t he pawn them right away?” Ben asked.
“He was going to, but then he got in trouble over the surfboard he took from Mr. Garrison. Jill was holding the coins at her house and was scared that someone—her mother or dad—would discover them. Aaron said he’d find another pawn shop, maybe up the coast, or he’d auction them online. Either way, he promised to take them off Jill’s hands, but he got spooked by the surfboard incident and never did. Jill was so angry and felt so duped that she spilled the story as soon as I confronted her.”
“What happened after that?”
Tara swallowed a bite of her pancakes. “Last night when I got to Jill’s house, she was crying and all alone. I figured she was sad because she and Aaron broke up, and we sat down in the breakfast nook to talk about it. I wanted to ask her about the coins, but she was practically hysterical, and then she blurts out that she stole them. She’s like, ‘You can take the coins with you please, I don’t want them and never did.’ She runs upstairs, I guess to her room, and she comes down with the shoe box with the coins in it. I said, ‘Why don’t you give them back to Ben yourself?’ and she says no, she’s too embarrassed, won’t I take them and put them back.”
“What did you say?” Chloe wanted to know.
“Not much, because while we were having this conversation, the phone was ringing and ringing,” Tara said. “Jill said it must be Aaron, but she didn’t want to talk to him, so she’d turned off her cell phone and was letting the answering machine pick up the land line.”
“The persistent caller was me, calling to find out if you were there,” Chloe said.
“I didn’t think of that. Suddenly, Jill dumped the coins out on the table and stuffed them in my shirt pockets. I said, ‘This doesn’t seem right,’ and she said, ‘It’s more right than when I took them.’ I told her, ‘How can I take them back? Ben knows someone took them,’ which is when Jill started to cry. I got wigged out then, all the emotional things about how she abused our friendship and because she did, two of my favorite people in the world suspect I’m a thief, so I jumped up and ran out of the house. It was raining really hard, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to get out of there.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that, Tara,” Ben said, looking uncomfortable.
“It doesn’t matter now,” Tara said. “As long as you believe I didn’t have anything to do with stealing them. Jill said she did it to prove to Aaron that she loved him, that he was pressuring her about other things and she thought he’d stop if she took the coins.”
Chloe exchanged glances with Ben. “We both believe you,” she said as she reached for Tara’s hand.
“I skidded on the curve near Ibis Trail. I remember the Volvo’s wheels leaving the road and the screech of metal on metal. The cell phone was beside me, but it must have been knocked into the back seat. I was probably unconscious awhile, because I banged my head pretty hard on the windshield. The back of the car filled with water, and—and—” She swallowed and bit her lip.
“You don’t have to talk about all that until you’re ready,” Ben told her.
“I’m sorry about the Volvo, Chloe.”
“The important thing is that you’re safe,” Chloe replied firmly. “You scared us both nearly to death.”
“I wish none of it had happened,” Tara said. “Except for getting the coins back, that is. I want to get up and take a shower. Can I? And maybe call my friends afterward?”
“Sure,” Chloe said. “Ben and I will clear out of here for a while.”
“We have a few things to talk about,” Ben said, smiling at both of them.
“Whatever,” Tara said, and they left to go downstairs.
When they reached the foyer, Chloe was reminded of that first night here when Ben had saved her from the mouse and exterminated the palmetto bug. Now they knew each other in a different way than they had then, a better way. They had endured difficulties in their relationship, repaired and mended it. She felt closer to Ben than she ever had before.
Ben opened his hand to show her the coins. They gleamed in the stream of sunshine coming through the parlor windows. “Thank goodness everyone’s all right,” he said.
Before Chloe could reply, they heard someone drive into the inn’s parking area. It was Lorena Pettus with a penitent-looking Jill in tow.
Chloe opened the back door as soon as they stepped onto the porch. “Come in,” she said gravely. She introduced Ben to Lorena, and suggested that they all go into the parlor.
“We stopped in to make sure that Tara is really okay,” Lorena said after drawing a long breath. Chloe could only imagine how difficult this was for her and for Jill.
“And to apologize,” Jill added. “I shouldn’t have taken those coins. It was wrong, and—and it caused everyone a lot of problems, including me. I’ve broken up with Aaron for good. He managed to convince me—” Here Jill couldn’t continue. She pulled a tissue out of her pocket and wiped her eyes.
Chloe, though she felt her trust had been abused, couldn’t help feeling pity for Jill. She herself had endured unhealthy relationships, unduly influenced by a smart-talking guy. Any woman could be a victim at any age. It had happened to Zephyr, as well. Even though Jill had barely begun her dating experience, she was certainly not immune.
“What Jill means to say,” Lorena went on carefully, with a sideways glance at her daughter, “is that she’ll understand if you prefer never to see her again. She likes Tara very much, and she wishes they could go on being friends, but if you don’t approve, she can accept that.”
“I want to try to be friends,” said Tara, freshly showered and dressed in record time. She had been walking down the stairs when Lorena had begun her speech, and she came into the parlor now.
Jill sniffed and put away her tissue. She offered a tentative smile. “You mean it? You can forgive me?”
“I understand, sort of, why you did what you did, Jill. It’s up to Chloe and Ben to forgive you.”
“I—um, well, I’ll try,” Chloe said. She glanced at Ben. He sat on the couch with his arms folded across his chest, listening as everyone else spoke.
“I feel so—so guilty for what I did,” Jill whispered. “It’s like a pain right here,” and she pressed her fingers against her chest. “It’s a physical hurt, knowing that I caused all of you so much trouble.”
“I can understand that one,” Ben said. “I’ve been there myself.”
“Would it be okay if Jill and I go out on the porch and talk?” Tara asked.
“Yes,” Lorena said. “But only for a few minutes.”
The two girls left the room and went outside, where they murmured in low tones.
“I’m sure Jill is telling Tara the latest developments about Aaron,” Lorena said to Chloe and Ben. “The police stopped by our house this morning. They’ll question Jill about that surfboard that was stolen, and we’re going to take her to the Sanluca police station this afternoon to tell what she knows. Aaron may be part of a burglary ring that has been stealing from houses up and down the coast for months.”
“Does that make Jill an accessory to his crimes?” Ben asked.
“She insists that she knew nothing about it. She’s been through a lot with Aaron, and I wish I’d known all of the things she’s been telling me this morning. I’d have put a stop to that romance long before now,” Lorena said. She looked tired, defeated, and Chloe’s heart went out to her.
“One thing you don’t have to worry about,” Ben said. “I haven’t reported the theft of the coins to the police, and as far as I’m concerned, it never happened. As long as Jill enters counseling, I’m willing to forget the whole thing.”
Lorena managed a wavering smile. “Her father and I are committed to getting her the help she needs,” she said.
After the girls came back inside, Lorena and Jill left. Ben stood with his arms around Chloe and Tara, watching the pair go.
“Jill and I are going to cool it for the rest of the summer. When I come back next year, maybe we can pick up where we left off,” Tara said.
As the Pettus car disappeared from sight, a carload of teenagers screeched to a stop in the parking lot. “It’s Suzette!” Tara said with glee. “And Greg and—oh, it’s Marta and Julie.” She ran outside to greet her friends, all of whom trooped through the house to the front porch, where someone produced a cooler full of soft drinks. “They’re left over from last night’s party,” Suzette said. “We brought them to drink while we cheered you up after your accident.”
Exclamations ensued as Tara elaborated on how she’d gone off the road into the marsh and how Ben had rescued her.
“It’s good that they’re gathering around Tara after her accident,” Ben said. “I wonder if any of them knows how close it was.”
“They’ll hear about it.” Chloe paused. “Naomi and Ray want to thank you in person. They may visit soon.”
“Good. I’d like to meet them.” He grew quiet.
“You were wonderful last night,” Chloe told him. “I haven’t thanked you properly for saving my niece’s life.”
“We can take care of that tonight, if you’re free.” He grinned at her.
“Seriously, Ben. Tara would have—would have died if you hadn’t found her. And gone in after her.” She didn’t have the words to express her gratitude to this man for saving Tara. She would never have the words.
“I had help,” Ben said with conviction. He explained how Ashley had appeared in her blue dress, how seeing his daughter in the Volvo had driven him into action. “Maybe the vision of Ashley was only my own imagination or the way my mind dealt with my indecision. We’ll never know, but I was scared before I saw her, Chloe. Afraid I’d fail again.”
“You’re a real hero, Ben. No one in town will ever forget what you did,” Chloe said with great conviction.
Ben’s eyes went soft, and he moved around the back of Chloe’s chair. He put his arms around her before bending to kiss her nape. “Let’s get out of the inn,” he murmured close to her ear. “Make some time for ourselves.”
“Good idea,” Chloe replied, taking heart that things were comfortable between them again. She felt a surge of relief, followed by an overpowering and incredible happiness.
“We could slip off for a walk along the beach,” he suggested. “Alone.”
Hand in hand, they escaped out the back door, around the annex and through the dunes. The smell of sunbaked sand and the salty tang of the air underscored Chloe’s happy mood. Near the high-tide line, newly exuberant, Ben crouched and offered an impromptu piggyback ride. Chloe laughed and climbed on. He carried her a hundred feet or so down the beach, finally dumping her near one of Zephyr’s marked turtle nests.
Ben took her hand and pulled her over to a large driftwood log. “Let’s sit while we discuss a few things.” He slid over to one side of the log to make room for her, and then he slid the recovered coins from his pocket.
“I’d like to make a necklace for you out of one of these,” he said. “A memento of the summer.”
Her heart sank. “Are you going somewhere?” she asked him as loss, heartbreak and misery crowded out the joy. In that instant, she foundered in grief. Felt bereft.
“No,” he said slowly. “Only out on one of Andy’s boats now and then.”
Realization of his meaning struck her, and she stared at him. “You mean—you mean you got your job back?”
“I sure did. While I was bringing Tara up from the sinking car, Andy drove up on his way home to his house on Manatee Island. He watched the whole rescue. We talked while you were with Tara in the cubicle in the hospital emergency room. He said that he no longer had any doubts about my ability to function under pressure, that he wants me to work with him again. Of course it helped that one of his divers quit last week because of family issues, but he’s chosen not to hire someone new. I’m going to send Andy a whole case of Kit Kat bars as a thank-you present.”
“Oh, Ben,” Chloe said, unable to keep from laughing. “It’s what you’ve been waiting for.”
“There’s something else I’ve been wanting, Chloe.”
Her laughter trailed off as she sensed a new purpose and seriousness in his attitude.
“I’ve been ready to make a commitment to you,” he said slowly, “but without a real job or a future, I was sure you wouldn’t want me.”
“Want you? Ben, I’ve wanted you ever since I was Tara’s age!”
“That was then. This is now. We’re older and wiser, and we’ve been tested by life. I got to thinking about that, and it occurred to me that those shards of sea glass that you pick up on the beach have been scoured by the sand and made more beautiful than the original object. They’re like us, Chloe. When we met before, we were new, unscoured by life. We’ve struggled and endured and perhaps become better people in the process.”
She gazed at him, knowing that what he said was true. Her problems with the men in her life, her role in perpetuating their problems, had made her stronger. Had helped her to recognize a promising relationship when she finally found it, and that was a major step forward in her life. So many of the men in her past, guys on whom she had pinned her hopes and who had left her disappointed, all those she hadn’t been able to save from themselves—they were nothing now.
He didn’t stop talking. She wished he never would.
“I love you, Chloe Timberlake. You’re a sweet sorceress who spends her days conjuring beauty out of glass and metal. Is it any wonder that you’ve created love where none existed? I want you to marry me. I want to make you pregnant so you can have my babies. Our babies, part of me and part of you. Can you? Will you?” He appeared nervous, which struck her as amusing. Everything, she was realizing right now, had been clear in her own mind for a long time.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and stared deeply into his eyes. She saw devotion and caring and, most of all, love. “Of course, at least to the first part. I’ll marry you, but as for babies—well, let’s just say that I’ll have to get used to the idea. After my experience in being a temporary mother to Tara for the summer, I’m not sure I’m cut out to have a family.”
“You’ve been wonderful with Tara. You’ll be a terrific mommy.” He spoke with the utmost sincerity.
“And you will be—you were—a great dad, Ben.” She was serious now, searching his eyes for a hint of the old pain, the hidden suffering. She saw none.
“As long as you’re with me, Chloe, I can handle any challenge.” He sounded convinced of that; she only hoped it was true.
“Even twins?” she asked impishly. “They run in my family.” Naomi and Ray had Jennifer and Jodie, and her mother had also been a twin.
“Two for one would be a bonus,” he replied with a twinkle.
“I’m game if you are.”
“Can’t wait till you toilet train our kids. You’ve had experience with Butch.”
“Ha! You can’t train kids using a pan of kitty litter sitting on top of the toilet. What do you do when it’s a baby, anyway?”
“I’ll be glad to give you pointers when
the time comes. I know all about it. So, do you want a ring made out of sea glass? Or would something more traditional suit you better?”
“Must I decide right now?”
“You’ve only had sixteen years to think about it,” he teased. He reached into a shirt pocket. “Would you wear this? Or is it too old-fashioned?”
She stared down at the emerald-and-gold ring that he’d found on the wreck in Key West. It gleamed in the sunshine, shining with promise.
“Oh, Ben,” she said, her heart filled to the brim. “Of course I would.”
He lifted her hand and slid the ring onto her finger. It fit perfectly. “It’s yours. You’re mine. What could be better?” His lips curved into a smile.
“You’re turning me into a traditional, ordinary sort of woman,” she said warningly and with some surprise.
He laughed. “That, my love, you will never be, but in the past few minutes you have agreed to some traditional, ordinary things. Like getting married. Like having children.” He pulled her close, kissed her cheek.
“We can live at the inn,” Chloe said. “We’ll run it as a bed and breakfast, for a while, anyway. Tara can visit next summer. You wouldn’t mind, would you?”
He shook his head. “Tara is welcome anytime as long as she doesn’t chew ice.”
Chloe started to laugh. “If that’s your only objection, we’re okay.”
“You won’t miss Farish, Chloe?”
“No, Ben. I’ve found my true home here in Sanluca with you.” Secure in her newfound bliss, she could say this and mean it.
The sun was setting in the west, casting the rippling surface of the ocean in molten light. From the porch of the inn came the pealing laughter of Tara and her friends. Chloe and Ben and Tara—all three of them had been castaways from their previous lives. All three lost, in a way, but now found.
Sometimes the treasures that mean the most are hidden deepest in our hearts, Chloe reflected. The shifting sands of our lives don’t always part voluntarily to reveal what lies beneath. Sometimes you have to dig deep, and have to have faith that something of value will eventually surface. And it could be a long wait.
The Treasure Man Page 22