by Lee Hollis
“Oh dear Lord, how could I be so dumb?”
“Really. It’s okay. We’re not married anymore.”
“It’s just been so long and he’s had so many women since you two got divorced and I just sort of plum forgot you two had ever been married. How could I forget such a thing?”
Probably because it would require her to stop thinking about herself.
Hayley didn’t say that.
But she really, really wanted to say that.
“Well, I don’t mean to throw Danny under the bus,” Tori said, backpedaling. “He’s not that bad. I mean, he does have a few decent qualities . . . I’m sure we can come up with at least one if we put our heads together . . .”
“Seriously. You don’t have to . . .”
“I got one! He’s awfully good-looking, that’s a start . . .”
Hayley nodded. “Yes. Yes, he is . . .”
“Come on, I’m sure we can come up with one more . . .”
“Tori, I’m acutely aware of the kind of man my ex-husband is. I lived with him for ten years. But I am also relatively confident he’s innocent of Otis’s murder.”
“Of course you’re right, Hayley. You asked me to think of someone and his name just kind of popped into my head. I’m so, so sorry.”
“I should go. It was nice seeing you again, Tori.”
What’s one more little lie?
Hayley was telling the truth about Danny.
She was confident he was innocent.
But on the other hand, it had been years since she had last seen him.
And there was no telling what changes he might have gone through during that period.
Did she really truly know him anymore?
Chapter 17
The Halloween pet costume contest at Dr. Aaron Palmer’s veterinary office was an all-out nail-biter after the final votes were cast.
The tally of the results revealed a tie between two entries. Splitting the vote right down the middle was Leroy in his devil costume looking adorable and Edna’s Boston terrier, Emmett, in a cute Santa’s elf getup.
Gemma and Edna stood side by side, the tension between them palpable as they held their respective pets in their arms, giving the small crowd gathered in the reception area one last look.
Nobody planned for what would happen if there was a tie so the final arbiter was Dr. Aaron himself, who stopped and inspected both costumes thoroughly.
Gemma was bouncing up and down with anticipation.
Leroy was a shoo-in.
The detail of his costume was far superior to the crepe paper and Scotch tape Edna had used to throw together Emmett’s bush league outfit.
Aaron turned to the crowd. “I’ve made my decision. The winner of a three-month supply of doggy treats and a fifty-dollar gift certificate to Petco is . . .”
Gemma took a step forward, kissing Leroy’s whiskers.
“Emmett the elf dog!”
The crowd applauded warmly.
Gemma froze, in a state of shock, mouth agape, a disbelieving look on her face.
Edna fought back tears as she squeezed her tiny Boston terrier to her bosom, overwhelmed by the moment before hugging Dr. Aaron.
Not wanting to appear a spoilsport, Hayley clapped loudly for Edna’s not so well-deserved victory.
Mona wasn’t so politically correct. She swooped in next to Hayley and said in a far too loud voice, “Gemma was robbed!”
Hayley nudged Mona in the side with her elbow and tried to shush her.
“It was rigged, I’m telling you. I can feel it in my bones. I mean come on, Blueberry didn’t even make the final five.”
Hayley glanced down at the pet carrier she was holding. Inside, Blueberry hissed as if on cue to voice his own displeasure. He had been knocked out early, garnering very few votes no doubt due in part to his nasty, unappealing personality, which his colorful clown costume, a last-minute change from his original witch’s outfit when Leroy chewed up the pointy hat, did very little to hide.
Gemma marched over to her mother and muttered under her breath, “I can’t believe he picked Emmett over Leroy! See? He has it out for me. He hates me!”
“I thought I taught you to be a gracious loser,” Hayley said, glancing around to make sure Dr. Aaron wasn’t within earshot.
“Yes, but you also taught me to stand up to injustice, and this is an outright injustice!” Gemma said, gently scratching Leroy’s face as he snuggled in her arms.
“Hear, hear,” Mona concurred.
“Mona, don’t encourage her!” Hayley warned.
The door to the reception area flew open and Danny rushed in, stopping only to stomp the mud off his boots on the welcome mat with cat faces on it. He then raced over to Hayley and Gemma.
“Did I miss it? Did you win?”
Gemma shook her head, disappointed.
“What? I don’t believe it! Who had a better costume than Leroy?”
Gemma pointed to Emmett who was lapping water out of a bowl and getting his headpiece all wet.
“You can’t be serious!” Danny cried.
“Would you all please keep your voices down?” Hayley begged. “Otherwise we’re going to win the award for worst family!”
From across the room, Aaron caught Hayley’s eye.
They smiled at each other.
But the moment was quickly shattered by Danny, who stepped in front of Hayley and blocked her view. “Anybody hungry? How about some nachos at Geddy’s? My treat.”
“Yes! I’m starving!” Mona said, rubbing her belly.
Danny raised an eyebrow.
He clearly hadn’t meant to include her.
“By the way, why were you late?” Hayley asked.
“Oh . . . I ran into some buddies I hadn’t seen in a while and we had a couple of beers and I guess I just sort of lost track of time . . .”
“What buddies?”
“You don’t know them.”
“You may be surprised. I pretty much know everybody in town. Why don’t you try me?”
Danny shrugged. “They’re from Bangor. Don’t tell me you know everybody in Bangor.”
He locked eyes with Hayley defiantly.
“Don’t worry. I met them right here in town. I never tried leaving the island,” Danny sighed.
He wasn’t going to give up any more information.
She knew he was lying.
But now was not the time to confront him.
Instead she reached out and stroked Leroy’s tummy as he relaxed in the crook of Gemma’s arms. “First runner-up. Not half bad, Leroy.”
Leroy tried to get the devil’s horns off his head with his paws.
He was done being a show dog.
“I can tell you’re miserable with those horns, Leroy. Let me help you,” Hayley said, turning to Danny. “Can you hold the carrier for me, please?”
“No. That cat hates me.”
“That cat hates everybody. You’re not that special. Hold the damn thing, will you, please?” Hayley said, sighing.
Everything was a battle.
Just like when they were married.
Danny shrugged and took the carrier from Hayley, but it bounced a bit in the transition and Blueberry hissed again, baring his teeth through the steel mesh.
Aaron suddenly appeared next to Hayley and touched her arm. “Sorry to interrupt.”
“No. Not at all,” Hayley said, smiling, taking in his familiar cologne that used to drive her wild when he would show up at her house.
“We were just discussing the surprising outcome of the contest,” Danny said, standing up straight, head back, like a rooster.
Aaron nodded and smiled. “I know. I’ve gotten a few comments.”
“So what kind of pictures does Edna have of you, Doc? I’m guessing they’re real nasty,” Danny said, sneering.
“Danny!” Hayley shouted, ready to open the pet carrier and unleash Blueberry on him.
Maybe an armful of scratches might teach him a lesson in good manne
rs.
“I totally get what you’re saying. And I agree with you one hundred percent. I purposely chose Emmett over Leroy as the winner,” Aaron said softly.
“What?” Gemma gasped.
“I know it’s unfair, but life’s been a little rough for Edna lately. She pretty much has been running this place, and then you came along, Gemma. You’re so efficient and so talented and so young and suddenly I began relying on you for everything, completely ignoring Edna, who has been with me since I opened my practice. We all know she hardly has any friends, no family, just her dog, Emmett, and this job. She has very little going on in her life. Whereas you have everything in front of you. You’re going to be a very successful veterinarian.”
“Of course she is. She gets all her talent from me,” Danny said, chest puffed out.
“Shut up, Danny,” Hayley said, shaking her head.
Dr. Aaron put a hand on Gemma’s shoulder. “I just hope you don’t set up shop here in Bar Harbor because you’ll probably run my business right into the ground.”
“You bet she will!” Danny barked before Hayley pressed the heel of her boot down hard on his toes until he finally got the hint and clammed up.
“I had no idea . . .” Gemma said, touched by his sincerity.
Hayley was touched too.
She had forgotten about Aaron’s inherent sweetness and kindness.
Danny couldn’t take it anymore. He just had to pipe up again. “I don’t see why anybody should get special treatment. Sometimes life just isn’t fair.”
“You’re right, Danny. I was probably wrong to let Edna’s dog win. But in the scheme of things, I figured it was just a silly little contest and I knew it would mean so much to her,” Aaron said.
“I’m glad you chose Emmett. Really, I am,” Gemma said, smiling, flush with excitement over her boss’s glowing compliments.
“I knew you could handle it,” Aaron said, patting her on the back.
“Better than her parents, that’s for sure,” Hayley said, eyeing Danny before turning and smiling at Dr. Aaron.
Their eyes held a gaze for a moment.
Maybe a moment too long.
Hayley looked deep into his eyes.
Was there a hint of regret in them?
Had they completely moved on from each other?
Were they truly over each other?
Danny, disturbed by what he was watching, tried to break it up with a loud hacking cough. “Excuse me.”
But it didn’t work.
Even Gemma noticed and looked away, pretending she wasn’t aware of what was happening.
But then, out of nowhere, Crystal Collier, the aggressive, ballsy lawyer who was, according to Liddy’s firsthand eyewitness account, dating Dr. Aaron, appeared and slipped her arm through Aaron’s and possessively drew him close to her side.
“What did I miss?” Crystal purred, glaring at Hayley with a look that pretty much said keep your hooks out of my man.
“Crystal, do you know Hayley Powell?” Aaron asked. “And her husband, Danny?”
“Ex-husband,” Hayley said, a bit too quickly.
Danny grimaced at the swiftness of her clarification.
“I know her by reputation,” Crystal said coldly.
“Yikes. Now I’m worried,” Hayley laughed, trying to keep the conversation light and ignore Crystal’s obvious disdain for her.
“I’ve read a few of her columns. I’d try one or two of your recipes if I wasn’t so busy. But to be honest, they’re all so fattening and I try to focus on healthier options,” Crystal said, her words dripping with judgment.
“What can I say? I love to eat,” Hayley said, rubbing her belly.
“I can see that,” Crystal said in the most disparaging tone she would muster.
There was an awkward silence.
Hayley just wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole at this point.
Crystal finally broke the tension as she squeezed Aaron’s arm. “Darling, we’re going to be late for our dinner reservation.”
“Right. We better go. You all have a good night. Gemma, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Aaron said.
As she whisked Aaron away, Crystal never relaxed her grip on his arm.
She was clearly warning off anyone who might try to foolishly trespass onto her territory.
Gemma watched them go and then muttered, “What a bitch.”
“Gemma, you know I don’t like you calling anyone that,” Hayley said.
“Your mother’s right, Gemma,” Danny scolded.
“It’s not a nice word and I don’t want to hear my daughter using it. So I will. That woman’s a grade-A all-out first-prize-winning bitch!”
Gemma laughed.
Even Hayley couldn’t help but chuckle.
“And if there was ever any doubt, that woman has nothing on you, babe,” Danny said, snaking an arm around her lower back. “You are one hot mama and she’s just jealous!”
“Thank you, Danny,” Hayley said, letting her guard down just a bit.
“You’re welcome. Now let’s go get some nachos. Oh, FYI, your couch is murdering my back. Is there anywhere else you might consider letting me sleep tonight?” Danny asked, trying to be offhanded and casual.
Hayley’s guard went right back up.
“You mean like my bed?”
“Well, if that’s an invitation . . .”
“I’m inviting you to sleep on the floor,” Hayley said, shaking her head.
“Can’t blame a guy for trying.”
Island Food & Spirits by Hayley Powell
A few Sundays ago, I was having trouble gearing up for some serious fall housecleaning so I decided to have a shot of caffeine to rev up the old engine. I wasn’t in the mood for plain old boring black coffee so instead I went all out and make a festive Pumpkin Spiced Coffee with a touch of Kahlúa to put an extra little pep in my morning step.
Well, that drink certainly bolstered my energy all right. But not to clean the house. Pretty soon I found myself making a batch of Pumpkin Pancakes. My kids weren’t even home so I ended up eating them all myself.
By lunchtime, I was lying prone on the couch, moaning from overstuffing myself and then nodding off to sleep for an unscheduled midday nap.
When I woke up, it was well past three in the afternoon. My belly was still full and I was feeling lazy, but I knew the house wouldn’t clean itself. I was in desperate need of some fresh air and exercise to clear the mind and get my muscles working for the daunting job ahead.
So I called my buddy Mona and convinced her to come with me on a three-and-a-half-mile walk around Witch Hole Pond in Acadia National Park. Since it was flat and there were no hills, Mona begrudgingly agreed to accompany me.
It was a crisp November afternoon. We were walking at a leisurely pace, admiring the breathtaking views and catching up on some local gossip. There weren’t a lot of people out circling the pond.
A couple walking their dog.
A family bundled up in winter coats and gloves on one last bicycle ride before storing them until spring.
And one lone hiker with a fur hat pulled low over his ears and covering most of his face to ward off the cold. He kept his head down when he passed by us in the opposite direction.
We were about three quarters of the way around the pond when we realized we needed to pick up our pace as the sun was already beginning to set and Mona didn’t want to get caught on the trail after dark, especially since she had a crippling fear of bears. Once when she was six, a man dressed up as Smokey the Bear for the firemen’s parade tried giving her a piece of candy and she got so scared she threw up all over him.
Even though she had nothing to worry about because bears rarely came out of the woods onto a park trail, Mona was starting to panic. And the more jittery she got and talked about encountering one, the more nervous I actually started to get.
We were almost back around to the car when Mona stopped suddenly.
“Did you hear that?”
&nb
sp; “Hear what?”
We heard some rustling.
Like an animal approaching.
“That!” Mona screamed.
We started walking faster and faster.
Darkness was rapidly falling upon us.
We heard more rustling and stopped in our tracks.
We looked around and then, out of nowhere, we heard something fast approaching us in the dark.
We both screamed and took off running, our arms flailing.
Whatever was behind us was gaining on us.
When we reached my car, I didn’t even have time to fish out my keys, but luckily I had forgotten to lock the doors so we jumped in, heaving and panting since neither of us was in tip-top shape. I scrambled to manually lock all the doors to keep the creature out.
“It was a bear, I swear it was a bear!” Mona yelled, almost crying.
“Let’s just get out of here!”
And then, something was at the driver’s side door pounding on the window.
Mona and I screamed bloody murder.
“It’s trying to get in the car to maul us to death!” Mona wailed.
We had both seen Leonardo DiCaprio torn up to pieces in that movie The Revenant and were sure we were about to suffer the same fate.
Mona had her whole head in her lap, covering it with her hands, praying the Maine black bear would not figure out how to open the door.
And then I heard the bear say something like, “Please, I just need to talk to you.”
Wait, the bear said that?
I turned and looked out the driver’s side window.
It was the man in the fur hat we had passed on the trail.
And he was holding my car keys up in his gloved hand.
I must have dropped them on the trail during our walk.
He quietly explained that he found them on the path and backtracked to see if they were mine, since he had only seen two cars in the parking lot next to the bridge that crossed to the park trail and one was his. When he caught up to us, we just ran away from him.
I gratefully accepted my keys back and apologized profusely to the man for running away. If not for him, we would have been stuck out all night in the dark with all those marauding Maine black bears.
Now Mona and I always make sure we do our walking when there are plenty of hours of sunlight left!