All Summer Long

by Melody Carlson

  As the three sat together, Julie explained that some of her friends had offered to come sit with her, but she didn’t really feel that close with any of them. “I suppose that’s my own fault,” she admitted, “because Roland is truly my best friend.”

  “I think that’s how a good marriage should be,” Tia told her. “You’re lucky.”

  “You know Roland’s quite a bit older than me,” Julie said. “I’d never really given it much thought until recently, when he started having problems with his heart. That was sort of a reality check.”

  “He’s not that old,” Tia pointed out. “Besides, you said his father was pretty elderly when he passed on. I’m guessing Roland will be around a good long while too.” In an attempt to change the subject, Tia decided to talk about the boat. “I was just thinking about the Pacific Pearl this morning,” she said. “I’m so eager to get back to it and back to work.”

  Julie’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

  Tia nodded. “Yeah. It’s like that boat has gotten under my skin. I can’t wait to see it renovated. It was so fun to rip out all that horrible eighties décor. I can’t even imagine what Roland’s mother was thinking.”

  Julie smiled. “To be fair, it wasn’t completely her doing. She had a good friend who was a decorator, and for some reason, Lucille just gave her carte blanche with it. Roland’s dad put his foot down when it came to the stateroom, though. Said he wouldn’t be able to sleep with all that froufrou.”

  “Good for him,” Leo said.

  “Yeah, the stateroom is what first gave me hope,” Tia confessed.

  “Speaking of the stateroom, I’ve decided it should be a multiuse room.” Julie started sharing her ideas for making it serve as an office, an infirmary, or just a quiet area. “Of course, sometimes it will be a stateroom too.” She pointed at Tia. “When the demo in the rest of the boat is done—well, as much as you guys can do before the carpenters come—I’d like you to give the stateroom a thorough cleaning, clear everything out, and replace the linens and whatnot. Just make it nice.”

  “Sure,” Tia said eagerly.

  “When do the carpenters come?” Leo asked.

  “When I called Murray Brothers a couple of weeks ago, Jack Murray promised to be there by this Thursday.” Julie sighed. “At the time I was disappointed they couldn’t come sooner. Now it feels too soon.”

  “We’ll have the demo done by then,” Leo told her.

  “Really?” Julie’s brows arched.

  “Based on the progress we made Friday, I really think so,” he said.

  “I promised Jack it would be done by then.” Julie sounded relieved. “But I was ready to call him to postpone it.”

  “I’ve been thinking a lot about the new galley,” Tia told her. “I’ve got some ideas that I’d like to put down on paper.”

  “Great. I can’t wait to see them.” Julie glanced down at her watch with a furrowed brow.

  Tia suddenly drew a blank on how to distract her aunt from worrying. “Oh, yeah,” she said quickly. “Uncle Tony and Dad send their love. I talked to Dad last night for almost an hour. Guess what?”

  “What?” Julie asked.

  “Dad told me he’s considering marriage.”

  “Seriously? Vince getting remarried?” Julie’s dark eyes grew wide. “Wow . . . do you think he’ll really do it?”

  “I think he’s serious.” Tia felt a little guilty for sharing this. “Although he did ask me to keep it under my hat.” She giggled, knowing she’d have to come clean with him. “Dad knows I’m not good at keeping secrets. Besides, I don’t think he meant you, Julie. Just people in Norton. You know how gossipy it gets at D’Amico’s.”

  “This is Deanna, right?” Julie asked.

  “Yeah. They’ve been together for a while.”

  “I’ve never met her in person, but she sounds nice. Do you like her?”

  “I actually do. I mean, I sort of didn’t at first. Mostly because she’s so different than I am. She’s kind of a girly girl, if you know what I mean.”

  Julie chuckled. “I saw her photo on Facebook. She’s very pretty.”

  “Yeah. Dad would agree. I think now that I’m sort of out of the picture, well, maybe they’re taking it to the next level.”

  “I’m happy for Vince,” Julie said.

  As they continued visiting, Tia attempted to distract Julie by giving her updates on everyone in the family, going into great detail and trying not to glance at the clock behind the nurses’ station. Finally, out of topics, Tia took a break, sipping the last of her lukewarm latte.

  “I have a question,” Leo said. “I’ve been hearing all these Italian sounding names as you talk about your family, Tia. Is your name Italian too?”

  Tia smiled. “Well, my real name is.”

  “Christina Louise,” Julie informed him. “Isn’t that pretty?”

  He nodded but still looked uncertain. “Tia is short for Christina?”

  “It was because of my cousin Marcus,” Tia explained. “That’s Uncle Tony’s son, and he’s about three years older than me. His mom, Aunt Karen, used to babysit me when I was an infant. As the story goes, Marcus couldn’t say Christina, so she told him to call me Tina. But he always said Tia instead. Pretty soon they were all calling me Tia.” She shrugged. “It kind of stuck.”

  “Well, it’s a nice name,” Leo said. “It suits you.”

  “I like its simplicity,” she admitted. “I’m basically a simple sort of girl.”

  Julie laughed. “Simple in a complicated, beautiful sort of way.”

  As the conversation continued, Tia could tell that Leo was trying to take his turn at keeping Julie preoccupied. During these times, Tia would sneak a glimpse at the clock. Finally, when it was past 1:00, she asked if Julie was hungry.

  “I don’t think I can eat a thing,” Julie told her. “Not until they’re done.”

  “You need to keep your strength up,” Leo said.

  “How long is the surgery supposed to take?” Tia asked nervously.

  “Three to four hours.” Julie frowned at her watch. “That means it could be another hour.”

  Leo pointed to Tia’s backpack. “Well, I happen to know that Tia has something edible in there.”

  “You guys go ahead,” Julie said.

  “I’d rather wait,” Tia told her.

  “Me too,” Leo agreed. He confessed to how he’d pigged out on the leftovers last night. “I didn’t realize your niece was such a talented chef,” he told Julie. “You obviously knew what you were doing when you brought her down here.”

  Julie glanced at Tia, then smiled. “Yes, well, I did ask my brother about her. Just to make sure she was really up to the task.”

  “You did?” Tia was surprised.

  “It’s not that I didn’t think you were capable,” Julie said apologetically.

  “That’s okay. I’m actually glad you asked Uncle Tony. That makes me feel good. Like you went for real references.”

  Leo told Julie about the people in the elevator yesterday. “I think they were about to mug us for the cannelloni.”

  Tia laughed. “You should have heard Leo promoting dinner cruises on the Pacific Pearl. What a natural PR guy.”

  “That reminds me—we need to get a website up and running. I even texted my sister about it. Melinda’s majoring in graphic design, and she’s already built some pretty cool sites.”

  “Excellent idea.” Julie slowly nodded. “But maybe we should wait until . . . well, after we see how Roland’s recovery goes.”

  “Yeah. No problem.” He nodded. “I mostly just started the conversation with her.”

  “Thanks.”

  It was getting close to 2:00 when a woman in green scrubs approached them. Tia couldn’t read her rather somber expression but suddenly felt worried. Had something gone wrong?

  “Mrs. Sheffield?” the woman asked.

  “Dr. Moore!” Julie eagerly stood. “How is he?”

  The doctor smiled. “The surgery couldn’
t have gone better. Mr. Sheffield is on his way to ICU.”

  “Can I go to him?”

  “He’s still groggy from the anesthesia. They’ll need some time to get him settled in.”

  “Okay.” Julie nodded. “But he’s going to be fine?”

  “It all went very well. No complications.” The doctor smiled wearily.

  “How long will he be in ICU?” Julie asked.

  “Two days. Then five or six more days in supervised care after that. We’ll give you some material to read regarding his recovery. But really”—she placed a hand on Julie’s shoulder—“it’s time for you to take a deep breath and relax now.”

  “Thank you.” Julie’s voice choked. “So much!”

  To celebrate the successful surgery, Tia unzipped her backpack, pulling out a bundle that contained the lunch she’d prepared this morning.

  “That looks like it could contain a baby,” Julie said.

  “Now that’s scary.” Tia chuckled as she peeled the kitchen towel insulation away from the brown paper bag. “That was to keep them cool.” She extracted three hoagie style sandwiches that she’d wrapped in parchment and tied with raffia.

  “This looks interesting,” Julie said as Tia handed her one. “What is it?”

  “Just ham and avocado with a little Dijon mustard on a baguette.”

  “Yum!” Leo exclaimed when she handed him one.

  She also pulled out three bottles of water and a container of sliced veggies that she’d sprinkled with herbs and balsamic vinegar. Before they started to eat, Julie said a quick thank-you prayer—not so much for the food as for her husband. Feeling relaxed and relieved, they enjoyed their picnic lunch together. When they were done, Tia brought out a Ziploc bag of snickerdoodle cookies.

  “My favorite!” Julie exclaimed.

  “I know.” Tia grinned.

  Tia could tell that Julie was feeling antsy as they were throwing the picnic remains into the trash. “Why don’t you go check on him?” Tia suggested.

  “Yes, I think I need to.” Julie gave them both a big hug. “Thank you guys for coming. It was a real comfort. But I’m sure you have other things to do.” She held up her phone. “I’ll keep you posted on how he’s doing. And I’ll let you know if I plan to come home tonight or wait until tomorrow.”

  “Sounds good.” Tia nodded. “Give him our love.”

  “Will do.”

  This time when Leo drove her home, Tia felt like they’d reached the end of a very short season. Although she wished it didn’t have to end, she knew that it was for the best. So when he turned onto her street, she knew it was time to seal the deal.

  “I appreciate you giving me rides lately.” She started to recite the lines she’d rehearsed in her head. “But from now on, I’ll be perfectly comfortable using Julie’s bike to get around. I already checked the distance from her house to the docks on my GPS, and it’s an easy ride.”

  “Well, if you ever do need a ride, just let me know. It’s no big deal.”

  “I really enjoy the freedom of biking,” she said as he pulled into the driveway. “It sounds like Julie will come home today or tomorrow. So if I do need a ride, I’m sure she’ll be able to help.”

  “Okay.” He gave a crooked smile. “Thanks for lunch.”

  “You’re welcome.” She grabbed her backpack from the backseat. “See you around. I plan to be at the boat first thing in the morning to keep working on the demo.”

  “Great. See you then.”

  As she went into the house, she knew that she hadn’t been completely honest when she’d said she’d be at the boat first thing in the morning. The truth was, she planned to ride her bike to the boat as soon as she had time to change her clothes. She just didn’t want him to know it.

  14

  Tia hadn’t been exaggerating when she told Leo how much she liked the freedom of riding a bike. It felt so right to go zipping down the street, the cool air whooshing past her. She was in her element. And despite feeling gloomy about cutting some ties with Leo, she felt very nearly happy.

  She locked her bike to the Dumpster, which appeared to have been recently emptied, then pulled out the makeshift gangplank and made her way onto the boat. Fishing the key from her backpack pocket, she let herself into the main cabin and looked around. Even stripped of the hideous wallpaper and carpet and furnishings, it still looked somewhat dismal. But what she really wanted to look into was the stateroom. Julie had given her the green light to tear into it, and that was just what she planned to do.

  She’d poked around the room a bit last week, enough to discover there was stuff that needed to go. Musty old linens and clothes and personal items that had been left behind in the cabinets and drawers. Nothing of value or importance as far as she could see. She was eager to clear it all out. She grabbed up a couple of trash bags and started to fill them. As always, she was careful to separate what might be reusable to donate to a thrift shop and what truly was destined for the landfill.

  By 5:30, she had removed everything except the mattress, a few cleaning supplies, and a couple rolls of toilet paper. Because the mattress appeared to be in good condition, she went ahead and pulled out a set of white queen-sized sheets and blue lightweight blanket she’d found in the cupboard and neatly made the bed. Feeling pleased with herself, she decided to try it out. Not bad. She told herself as she stood up and straightened it again that it might be a nice place to sneak in a quick nap during a long day of work on the boat.

  Satisfied that her work for now was done, she took the bulging trash bags out, and after tossing a couple in the Dumpster, she left the recyclable one on a covered area of the deck. Still not ready to leave, she retrieved her backpack from the cabin and locked the door, then settled down in one of the wooden deck chairs, situating it to look out over the boat-filled docks. She pulled out her sketch pad and pencils, and after gazing at the peaceful scene for several minutes, she started to sketch.

  Feeling inspired, she worked quickly for nearly an hour. Noticing how the light was changing and worried she’d soon be in shadows, she paused to take some photos on her phone, then returned to her sketch.

  Nearly two hours had passed when she finally stood and stretched. If she wanted to make it home in daylight, it was time to leave. But for a moment, she considered just spending the night here. Why not sleep in the stateroom? That way she’d be ready to get back to work in the morning. Except that she was hungry. She was just about to close her sketch pad when she heard a loud clunking sound on the starboard side. Curious to see if something had collided with the boat, she hurried over to peer down the side.

  “Leo!” she exclaimed when she recognized the occupant of a small rowboat. “What on earth are you doing down there?”

  He grinned up at her. “Same question back at you.” He tied his boat to a ladder that was suspended from the Pacific Pearl and quickly scampered up.

  “Is that your boat?”

  “One of them.” He hopped onto the deck.

  “One of them?”

  “Yeah. This is my exercise boat. Manpowered.” He scratched his head. “Seriously, what are you doing here?”

  She explained about cleaning out the stateroom, pointing to the trash bag still on deck. “It felt good to get it done.”

  “Nice work.” He picked up her still opened sketch pad, studying it closely. “Did you do this?”

  She shrugged. “Yeah . . . I mean, who else would’ve done it? I’m the only one here. Or I was.”

  “This is really good, Tia.”

  “Oh, well, it’s okay. More like exercise.” She smiled. “Like your little boat.”

  He looked at her with a curious expression. “For someone who calls herself ‘simple,’ you’re not.”

  She frowned. “No, I actually am simple. As in, I like simplicity. I prefer a simple lifestyle. Uncomplicated, you know?”

  He laid her sketch pad down and nodded.

  “I told you what I was doing here,” she said. “How about you?”
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  “Oh, I like to pop over sometimes. You know, after being away for a day. Just to be sure everything’s okay.”

  “But you came by rowboat?” She peered out toward the foggy bay. “From where exactly?”

  “From my house.”

  “You rowed from your house?”

  He chuckled.

  “Seriously?”

  “You don’t believe me?”

  “No, I believe you. I just can’t quite wrap my head around it.” Did Leo really have a bayside home? If so, he was obviously wealthier than she realized. That would be a good thing where Natalie was concerned. Perhaps he could afford that big diamond after all. “You live on the waterfront?” She could feel herself fishing.

  “You could say that.”

  She remembered some waterfront condos she’d noticed on her bike ride down here. That was probably where he lived. Not that they looked inexpensive. As far as she knew, nothing was inexpensive in this area.

  “You’re not curious about my house?” He had a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

  She picked up her sketchpad and pencils, slipping them into her backpack. “Sure, I’m curious.”

  “I can show it to you if you’d like. It’s only a short boat ride away.”

  She looked out over the bay with the fog steadily creeping in. “You won’t get lost in this fog?”

  “Oh, this is nothing. Besides, I have my GPS.”

  The idea of taking a rowboat ride was actually rather appealing. And yet . . . what about her resolve? “I, uh, I have my bike here. And it’ll be dark in an hour. I should probably go—”

  “Come on,” he urged. “Besides, I want to show you something.”

  “What?” She studied him, trying to determine his true motives. But it seemed like he wanted nothing beyond good honest friendship. And remembering his generous support with her and Julie today, what right did she have to judge him?

  “I’ve been working on that coffee table we rescued last week. It’s looking pretty good.”

  “Okay,” she said suddenly. “If you’re sure it’s just a few minutes away from here.”

  “Yeah. If I row fast.” Just like that, she was sitting in the bow of his rowboat, watching as he put his shoulders into the oars, rapidly cutting through the water.