At Last (The Idle Point, Maine Stories)

by Bretton, Barbara

  Sometimes Ruth felt like she was drowning in secrets.

  Be grateful for what you have, Ruth.

  She thought about the monthly letter she had posted like clockwork, letters filled with love and pride for Noah and more guilt than she could sometimes bear. The life she might have had written clearly between the lines.

  How often had she cautioned herself over the years to give thanks, to be satisfied. Be grateful for the blessings she had been given and not the blessings she had been denied. She was a fortunate woman. She lived well and without worry in the big house on the hill. She had friends who cared for her, charity work that fulfilled her, a son whose existence was a miracle.

  And she still had Simon.

  He loved Noah more than the boy realized. Noah was the reason Simon got up in the morning, the reason he kept the Gazette running. Noah gave meaning to every breath he took. When Simon had had that first heart attack at Christmas time, it was Noah who made him fight his way back when it seemed as if the end was at hand. What they were experiencing now was classic father-son behavior. Two male lions fighting for dominance. One, an aging patriarch; the other, a fierce young hunter. What they both needed was space and time for it all to work itself out naturally.

  Nothing good would come of forcing the boy to remain in Idle Point this summer. Nothing good would come of forcing him to work at the Gazette. Simon was wrong in this and she would wait a few days for the situation to cool down, then tell him exactly that. There would still be plenty of time to get Noah to Colorado.

  The truth was, Ruth wouldn't rest until he was gone.

  #

  Everyone was either still asleep or already working, Noah thought as he drove down the main drag and headed out toward the highway. The only person he'd seen was Laquita Adams coming out of the old motor court next to Eb's Stop & Pump. He'd heard the stories about Laquita when he was home for Christmas but he hadn't wanted to believe them. The sight of her in last night's clothes and last night's makeup as she stumbled toward her car gave him an unsettled feeling in the pit of his stomach.

  He remembered her as a round-faced girl with pretty dark hair and a soft manner. Smart, but quiet about it. All caught up with her houseful of brothers and sisters who seemed to be in her care one way or the other. They said her parents were kind people but forgetful. Once a baby was out of diapers, they turned all of their attentions to the next one in line.

  "Wonder what they'd do if they didn't have Laquita around?" Don had said the other night when they met up with each other near the bowling alley.

  It looked to Noah like they didn't have Laquita around all the time, not if she spent the night with Rick from the hardware store. What the hell was she thinking? The guy was old enough to be her father.

  He caught up with Don near the bowling alley and linked up with a crowd of almost-familiar faces. Don had pretty much caught him up with who'd been doing what around town. It sounded like Laquita slept with anybody who asked which was her business even if it was wrecking her reputation.

  Funny thing, Noah worrying about someone's reputation. He'd been going out of his way to trash his own rep since the day he first left Idle Point. Tim and Joe were working at the supermarket. Terri and Joann fried burgers beneath the golden arches while Ethan took orders over at Patsy's luncheonette. They all acted like they were glad to see Noah again but it was clear they viewed him as an outsider, even though he'd been born there same as they had. He couldn't blame them. He didn't feel much of a connection himself.

  Don's parents owned a fishing boat and Don went out with his father every morning during summer vacation. He told Noah he could go with them. All he had to do was be down at the docks by four a.m. Noah liked him, mainly because Don didn't seem to care that Noah was Simon's son. He liked Noah despite that fact. Don didn't sweat the small stuff like whose father did what for a living. He worked hard and played hard and figured everyone else did the same. "We go over to Hidden Island just about every night," he had told Noah as they walked toward their cars after the bowling alley closed. "Bring a six-pack with you and you're in."

  Noah grinned as he considered the idea. It would piss off his father big time. His son and heir chugging beer with the locals on Hidden Island, the most notorious makeout spot between here and Kittery. The only thing that would piss him off more than that would be if Noah found himself a minimum wage job right there in town. A job that wasn't at the Gazette.

  No doubt about it. That would be a first-class ticket out of there.

  He could pump gas for Eb at the Stop & Pump or maybe bag groceries for the summer people at the new Food Basket at the corner of Main and Dock Streets. He could caddy for the old farts at the club or, even better, shovel dog shit like Gracie. That appealed to him. Not the dog shit part, but he liked Doctor Jim and being around Gracie didn't sound half-bad.

  Besides, give it two weeks and he'd be on his way to Colorado.

  #

  Gracie jumped at the sound of Doctor Jim's voice.

  "What is with you, young lady?" he asked as she bent down to retrieve the syringe she'd dropped. "You're more nervous than Jasper Dawson's hound the day he was fixed."

  "Just clumsy, I guess." She disposed of the syringe in the special receptacle then reached for a new one. The Siamese on the table in front of her meowed nervously. "I'm sorry, Lady," she said, bending down and kissing the cat on top of its head. "You should be glad Doctor Jim's giving you the injection."

  "If I didn't know better," said Doctor Jim as he took the new syringe from her, "I'd think you had a boy on your mind."

  She laughed but it didn't sound quite as convincing as she might have hoped. "Who has time?" she countered. "You run me ragged around here."

  Gracie whispered soothingly to the protesting cat while Doctor Jim quickly administered the shot.

  "The Chases' boy has certainly grown up, hasn't he?"

  Gracie gathered up Lady in her arms and feigned temporary deafness.

  "I hear all the girls in town are buzzing now that he's back."

  "I'm glad they have time to buzz," Gracie snapped. "I have more important things on my mind." She quickly turned away so he wouldn't see that she was blushing the color of the Idle Point Volunteer Fire Department's one and only engine. "I'm going to put Lady back in her cage."

  She hurried toward the back of the building where the boarding kennels were located. If Doctor Jim knew that Noah Chase had called her at work a little while ago and asked her to meet him for lunch she'd never hear the end of it. He'd probably think it was a date or something stupid like that and blow it all out of proportion. It wasn't a date, she told herself. Dates called you a few days in advance. They came to your house and picked you and up and met your family. They didn't call you at 10:22 on a Wednesday morning and say, "Why don't we grab a lobstah roll at Andy's and sit out on the rocks?" The sound of Maine was still there in his voice and it made her smile.

  "I don't care if it's a date or not," she told Lady as she made the animal comfortable then locked the cage securely. She was going to have lunch with Noah. That was all that was important.

  She was on her feet and heading for the door at the stroke of noon. "Lock up for me, Martin," she asked the lab technician. "I have an errand to run."

  Her hands shook as she applied eye shadow and mascara in the car. She ran a brush through her hair, wishing she were blond and blue-eyed and beautiful. Why hadn't she worn something more appealing than her favorite pair of threadbare jeans and a green tank top. Her sneakers looked terrible, worn and stained. She kicked them off. She didn't have much going for her, but she did have nice feet. She fumbled around in the glove compartment and pulled out a bottle of hot pink nail polish. Maybe she could dazzle him with her pedicure. She wondered if there was time to race home and change then decided against it. No matter what she did she wasn't about to transform herself into the type of girl who could attract someone like Noah. It just wasn't going to happen.

  She'd been in her element at D
octor Jim's office. She drew her strength from animals, caring for them, learning what made them tick. People were more problematic by far. Take her out of the animal hospital and put her in Noah's world and she'd be in big trouble.

  "It's not a date," she told herself as she started the car.

  "It's not a date," she repeated as she zoomed toward Andy's Dockside Shack, Home of the World's Best Lobster Roll.

  "It's not a date," she whispered as she pulled into a parking spot.

  Then she saw him and once again she was lost.

  #

  The first thing Noah noticed when Gracie climbed out of her car was her smile. She had beautiful teeth, perfect and even and white, and her smile was wide and genuine. He'd seen the other kind and he knew the difference.

  The second thing he noticed was her body. She was long and lean and graceful, strong and still feminine. He liked the way her waist curved in and her hips flared out and the way her legs seemed to go on forever. Her hair was a deep rich brown—he hadn't realized how beautiful it was yesterday when he saw her in the office—and it shimmered with red and gold highlights in the sun. Her breasts were small and round and they jiggled softly with each step. He felt every step deep in the pit of his belly, an awareness that shook him right down to his shoes.

  She wasn't the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen but she did something to him no girl had ever done before: she made him feel unsure of himself, as if he'd have to try harder somehow to make her happy. As if making her happy was the only thing in the world worth doing.

  Then he caught himself.

  This isn't a date moron. You just want to ask her about a job.

  Somehow he seemed to have forgotten that fact in the time it took for her to walk from her car to where he stood leaning against the side of Andy's Shack.

  "Sorry I'm late," she said as she approached. "Mrs. Daggett showed up with one of her Siamese and..." Her words dissolved into soft laughter and Noah found himself laughing with her even though he didn't get the joke.

  She wasn't like anyone he'd ever known. Her jeans were patched, her feet were bare, but her toenails were polished a glossy hot pink. She smelled of soap and shampoo and faintly of Siamese and the combination dazzled him.

  "I ordered you a lobstah roll," he said, wincing at the way he said lobster. They used to tease him at St. Luke's about that. "I figured you'd be short on time."

  "Great," she said, smiling up at him as if a lobster roll was the best thing going. "Lemonade too?"

  "If you want."

  "A big one," she said, "with lots of ice."

  He grinned. "Anything else?"

  "Not right now but you never know."

  Joey Anderson, whose mother taught at Idle Point Elementary, had Noah's order waiting for him. "You're with Gracie Taylor?" he asked as he rang up the bill.

  Noah grunted something noncommittal and handed Joey a ten-dollar bill.

  "Gracie's a good kid," Joey said, "but real serious about things. If you're looking for a good time, why don't you row over to Hidden Island one night. The whole crowd's there. Just make sure you—"

  "Bring a six-pack," Noah said, pocketing the change. "Don told me."

  "Hey, Joey." Gracie joined them. She reached for the drinks and some paper napkins. "How're you doing?"

  "Could use some days off, that's for sure." He grinned at Gracie and Noah found himself moving a step closer to her. "Any chance you'll be at Joann's party tomorrow night?"

  Gracie shook her head. "I'm on late shift tomorrow but I'll be thinking about you."

  "You're invited too," Joey said to Noah. "You can bring someone if you want." He looked from Gracie to Noah then shrugged. "Or not. Whatever."

  If the invitation made Gracie uncomfortable, she gave no sign of it.

  Noah followed Gracie across the parking lot and out onto the beach. The tide was low, exposing the rounded backs of rocks that had been around long before the Chases or anyone else discovered Idle Point. It was what he liked most about the beach; the fact that it belonged to nobody but itself.

  "Be careful," Gracie called over her shoulder. "The rocks are slippery."

  "Yeah," he said. "I've noticed." Twice he'd almost landed on his ass.

  Not Gracie. Her bare feet gripped the rocks as she walked like she was born to it. A brisk wind was blowing in from the ocean and her slender body bent into it like a willow. No missteps, no awkwardness. She didn't spill a drop of lemonade. He wanted to stop in his tracks and just watch her move. The idea made him feel hot with embarrassment and something else, something deeply unsettling, that he couldn't identify. Or maybe he didn't want to. He never thought things like that. A girl was pretty or not. She had a great bod or she didn't. She was fun to be around or a total drag. He'd never wanted to stop time so he could watch a girl walk in the sunshine.

  #

  Gracie found them a spot on a boulder halfway between Andy's Shack and the water.

  "Here?" Noah asked. He didn't sound very enthusiastic about it.

  "Sure," she said, settling down on the leeward side. "If we're quiet and don't disturb them, the seagulls will land near us and crack open clams and mussels while we eat."

  "That's a good thing?"

  She grinned up at him. "I think so." Funny how she felt more sure of herself here on the beach than she'd felt just minutes ago in the parking lot. "I love low tide," she said as he sat down next to her. "It's like watching the ocean reveal all of her secrets."

  "All I see is dead fish."

  "I see dead fish too, but there's so much more if you know where to look." She caught herself and shook her head. "Sorry. Like you really want to know my thoughts on low tide at Idle Point."

  "Maybe I do," he said and there was something in his tone of voice that made her heartbeat leap forward. "I don't know a whole lot about low tide at Idle Point."

  His voice was deep and the sound of it made her feel the way she did on nights when the moon was high. A little wild. A little crazy. Not at all like her careful, cautious self. She'd never felt this way before and it scared her. She'd seen enough of life to know what kind of trouble a girl could get into if she let herself follow her emotions. Her father was like that, making decisions spurred by demons she'd never understood. She'd watched him bring home one wife after another, searching in vain for the happiness he'd known with her mother.

  But she wasn't her father. Her feet were planted firmly on the rocky shoreline of Idle Point. She wasn't about to let her life take her by surprise. She had plans for her future and she knew how to make her dreams come true. She also knew she should take a giant step away from Noah Chase right now but she couldn't move. Or maybe it was that she wouldn't move. Not while the boy she'd loved since she was five and a half years old was only inches away from her.

  He asked questions about the docks and the fishing and she found herself telling him more than he ever wanted to know about the history of lighthouses. He even remembered Sam the Cat, then laughed when Gracie told him her official name was now Samantha the Dowager Queen of Idle Point

  "You love it here," he said.

  "It's my home."

  "It's my home too," he said, "but I don't feel much of anything for it."

  "Big surprise." She took a sip of lemonade. "You haven't really lived here since we were in kindergarten."

  "Remember when you used to come home with me after school? I wanted to show you my stuff but—"

  "Your father wouldn't let you." She bit off a piece of lobster roll and chewed slowly.

  "You knew about that?"

  "Gramma Del told me. I kept bugging her about why I couldn't see your electric train set." She kicked his ankle lightly. "Don't look so embarrassed. It's not like it was a big secret or anything."

  "I never could figure it out. I mean, it's not like my old man is that big a snob."

  Gracie laughed. "I'm not so sure about that."

  "I had some of the other kids over and—" He muttered an oath. "Sorry, Gracie. I didn't mean to hurt
you."

  "Old news," she said. "I don't know what their problem is but my family doesn't like yours any better your family likes mine." Who cared what they thought anyway? It all seemed as far away and unimportant as the price of tea in China. The only thing that mattered was that Noah was back in Idle Point, sitting right here beside her on a sunny afternoon in June.

  They watched quietly as a seagull landed a few feet away from them and began to hammer at a clam with his long, sharp beak. When that didn't work the gull picked up the clam and flew a lazy circle around the spot before dropping the clam onto the rocks below. The clamshell shattered open and the bird returned to enjoy his feast.

  Gracie laughed softly as another seagull tried to steal the bounty but was scared away in a flurry of squawking and ruffled feathers. "Gramma Del used to take me down to the beach when I was little. We'd walk along the shore and she'd teach me the names of the birds and the different shellfish."

  "She taught me the phases of the moon," Noah said, "and all about the tides. The house isn't the same without Del."

  "She doesn't think we should be friends." She regretted the words the second she uttered them.

  "I thought she liked me." He sounded hurt and Gracie couldn't stop herself from placing her hand on his forearm.

  "She used to," Gracie said. "She thinks you might be trouble."

  "She might be right."

  "And she might be wrong."

  "Don't bet on it."

  He looked so sad when he said those words that Gracie felt compelled to explain. "Gramma Del worries. She just doesn't want me to spend time with any guy."

  "Neither do I."

  His words hung in the air between them. He looked down to where her fingers rested lightly against his skin. She thought about moving her hand away but didn't. The breeze off the ocean was sweet and soft against her bare arms and legs. They stayed locked in position for what seemed like forever and then Noah leaned closer to Gracie and Gracie moved nearer to Noah and the lemonades and lobster rolls and lighthouses were all forgotten.