“Oh, I think I remember your family.” Pink cap lady took off the cap, and shook her curly gray hair. “Didn’t you live over on Seagrass Drive for a long time?”
“Yes, that’s where we lived. My parents are Frank and Denise Lewis.” Karyn hoped she wouldn’t have to keep reintroducing herself, but it didn’t seem like she could avoid it.
“So are you married, dear?” the eldest-looking woman in the group asked. She wore a bathing suit of flaming orange.
“Susan, what kind of a question is that to ask?” Pink cap lady wrapped her ample frame in a towel.
“Well, it never hurts to know. Just in case.”
“Just in case what?”
“I might know somebody suitable for Karyn here.” The lady in the orange swimsuit gestured in Karyn’s direction.
Karyn had faced off against cranky editors, sullen fashion models, neurotic designers, and reporters with the personalities of barracudas, but never anyone like these ladies. “Oh, no, I’m not married. I’m not worried about that right now.” She couldn’t even pay the bills and most of her worldly goods were in storage, except for the things she’d lugged from her car into Yellow Cottage last night.
“What about Tyler Hopkins?”
“Oh, no, no Tylers,” Karyn interjected. “The last man I dated was named Tyler.”
“That’s all right, we’ll find someone for you.” The oldest woman nodded as if a good man were a cure-all for whatever ailed Karyn. Hadn’t she just heard Karyn’s objection? The woman didn’t seem hard of hearing.
Karyn glanced at Aunt Fay, who appeared to be enjoying the exchange. “Aunt Fay, help?”
The woman responded with her rich chuckle. “Oh, they’re just having fun. You need to relax a little.”
The instructor approached, carrying a portable MP3 player with speakers. “I’ll see you Monday, then, Miss Fay?”
“See you then.” Fay smiled at the woman as she left. The gaggle of children Karyn had seen a few minutes earlier gathered at the fence, their mothers drawing closer. It seemed like the number of children had multiplied.
“And this crew,” Fay said as she looked at the teeming group on the other side of the gate, “is here for the morning swim time. Some parents wait to go down to the beach, and some would rather just use the pool. I have a local kid here who’s a certified lifeguard who should be here by now.” Fay studied her watch.
“Do you still have the boat ramp?”
Fay nodded. “And the fishing dock. That’s the one Virgil was fixing last night before supper.”
The older women gathered next to Aunt Fay and Karyn. Pink cap lady beamed, her cap now probably tucked into the tote bag slung over her arm.
“We’ve got it figured out.” She nodded.
“What figured out?” Karyn asked.
“Brodie. Brodie Reed.” She beamed. “He’d be perfect for you. You went to school with him, I’m certain.”
“Like I said, I’m not wanting to date or anything. I don’t have a job right now and—”
“Do you like children?”
“Um, yes, but—”
The woman in the orange swimsuit whispered into the pink cap lady’s ear. Her expression grew serious. “Oh, that’s right. No, he won’t do at all.”
Great. Someone bringing up the accident. But she didn’t mind the objection. She didn’t want to go out with Brodie Reed, or anyone at this point in her life.
“We forgot. Brodie has a girlfriend. Jenny Lankford. Sweet little thing, works at the Visitors Center.”
“No, she doesn’t,” another woman spoke up. “She teaches school.”
The women went back and forth about Jenny and her profession, and what a responsibility it would be to take on motherhood and marriage at the same time. Brodie Reed needed a special woman, a very special woman indeed.
Karyn gripped her coffee cup a little more tightly, its contents likely stone cold by now. Girlfriend? The idea made her almost shiver. But she’d just objected to dating anyone. A relationship was out of the question, especially now. She didn’t need the emotional entanglement, especially with her life looming uncertainly in front of her.
So the idea of Brodie having a girlfriend shouldn’t bother her. At all.
# # #
The pavilion roof was in worse shape than Brodie expected. It was probably as old as he was, maybe even as old as Piney Breezes itself, circa 1975. Not good at all. He’d have to get Tyler Hopkins out here, plus one of the other guys on the fire department roster who sometimes served as Brodie’s carpentry assistants or subcontractors. They’d have to rip off all the shingles, plus the tar paper, and then cut out the damaged wooden structure of the roof decking before replacing everything else.
Brodie could see the pool area from the pavilion’s rooftop, where Karyn and Fay chatted with a group of the sweet old biddies from town. One of them looked in his direction. He aimed his focus at the decrepit rooftop underneath him.
The phone warbled on his waist. Mom.
“Hey, Mom.”
“You have one angry little girl wanting to speak to you.”
“Hello to you too.”
“Seriously, Brodie. Trista’s fit to be tied that you left her behind this morning. You know she wanted to come with you to the campground,” she chided.
“I told her it was fine with me if she stayed up with Dad to see the full moon, but she needed to get up without arguing if she came with me to the campground. I tried getting her up at seven, and she wouldn’t budge. So Dad told me to let her sleep.” Brodie mopped his forehead with the back of his hand. He could hear Trista protesting in the background.
“Well, your father was called out on a charter, so I’m bringing Trista to the gallery with me.” She sounded as if it were a concession.
“Bring something for her to do. Give her a job. Have her sort your pencils and pens, or paint brushes.” He’d tried to explain to his mother about Trista, but sometimes she just didn’t get it.
“I wish she would just listen.”
“Mom, she does listen.”
“Here, hold on. She wants the phone.”
The phone crackled as they passed it. “Daddy, you left me.”
“I said I would, didn’t I?”
“I tried to get up. I really did.” Her voice made his heart melt.
“I know. But that’s why I didn’t want you being up so late. I knew you’d have a hard time getting up this morning.” He didn’t regret leaving her behind. He’d meant what he said, but it was so hard when he heard her voice.
“Grandpa said I just needed extra beauty sleep.”
“Not too much, though. Listen, behave for Grandma today. I’ll come get you when I’m through with what I’m doing right now, okay?”
“Okay, Daddy. Love you.”
“Love you more.”
“No, love you more.”
“No, I love you more.” He loved their little farewell ritual.
“So how soon will you come by?” Mom asked when she took the phone back.
“I need to take some measurements, and take a quick survey of other projects. Then I need to call the guys and get a dumpster out here. Hopefully by one the latest.”
“All right, then. See you later.”
To say Mom wasn’t happy would be an understatement. She lived by the all-powerful calendar. Deviations from whatever she’d penned into her notebook turned her world up on end, even if a little. Add a dramatic eight year old to the mix and the results weren’t pretty.
Mom meant well most of the time, but she couldn’t kick her granddaughter out of the family like she’d been kicked out of day camp.
Also, he was still in the doghouse with Jennifer for forgetting about last night. He’d found himself roped into taking her to The Cove on the waterfront tonight to make it up to her. What he’d really wanted to do was sneak on the boat to an isolated inlet and surprise her with a picnic supper at sunset, but Jennifer said she didn’t feel like “eating outside tonight.” And sin
ce his cooking skills were limited, he figured eating at The Cove was in order.
Brodie managed to climb down from the pavilion roof without incident. He made his phone calls and reserved a small dumpster to arrive Monday morning. There might be a mess while he worked on the campground structures, but it couldn’t be helped.
Fay and Karyn left the pool area and ambled off in the direction of the boat dock. That was his next stop as well. Virgil might have fixed a board in the dock, but Brodie had a feeling if it was in similar condition to the pavilion roof, he’d find another big job awaiting him.
Brodie followed the path along the road that led to the boat ramp. Fay and Karyn stood on the dock, watching one of the boats head off from the Pine Breezes boat ramp. Fay waved at whoever was on board, then said something to Karyn, who laughed.
They all did a lot of laughing together. Then Karyn turned to face him directly, and smiled.
“Where’s your little ray of sunshine this morning?” Fay called out.
Brodie held up both palms. “Wouldn’t get up. She stayed up late, watching the full moon with her grandpa. I tried.”
Fay held up a hand. “Say no more. Bring her out any time you like. She's not a bother here, and she loves the place.”
“I'd bring her out this afternoon, but I need to head out soon. Dinner plans.” He regretted the mention as soon as the words were out of his mouth.
“Ah, with Jenny.” Fay nodded.
“Dinner. Yeah, well, I'm sort of in the doghouse.”
Karyn stood on the dock, her fingers tapping a rapid-fire rhythm on the sides of her coffee cup, her face wearing an inscrutable expression. She appeared to study the surface of the water that lapped at the pylons of the dock.
He shouldn't feel uncomfortable talking about his plan in front of Karyn. In spite of the renewed friendship they'd seemed to strike up, it was clear they'd both moved on with their lives. There was nothing wrong with that, nothing at all.
Chapter 4
“Did you hear what I just said?” Jenny’s voice jolted Brodie’s attention away from the view outside The Cove. They’d finished their meals, and his taste buds still tingled over the fisherman’s feast platter he’d just eaten.
“No. Sorry. What did you say?” He turned his focus toward the woman sitting across from him. Jenny, who’d been a surprise to him nearly a year ago when she walked into Chincoteague Bible Church one early summer Sunday morning. A teacher who’d come from across the Chesapeake Bay to teach in the local school system, she’d intrigued him from the start. Pretty, caring, full of faith—stuff he liked in a woman. But lately,something about her felt a bit “off,” as his mother would put it.
He recognized the signs even now, the ones his older brother had told him about. A woman, hoping and waiting for a marriage proposal. She wasn’t perfect, but she’d slid into his life and captured his attention like no one had since Megan.
All except for her relationship with Trista. Maybe that was reason for the off-ness.
Jenny blinked at him, and took a sip of her ice water, then swallowed before continuing. Her eyes bored into him, an even more startling blue because of the eyeliner and mascara she’d applied with precision, he was sure.
“I said, I’m worried about Trista. Her behavior, and development.”
“She’s a handful.”
“She’s more than a handful. I’ve seen signs that concern me, for autism.”
He couldn’t believe his ears. “Autism?”
“I know.” She raised her right hand, her brackets sliding toward her elbow with a clink. “It’s not very common in girls. But. . .”
“But what?”
“I don’t want to overstep. I don’t know what her teacher has said at the close of this past school year, but I’m surprised no one has suggested a referral for services.”
Brodie inhaled sharply, then let out a puffing breath. He’d actually had a conference, right before school let out, with her second grade teacher—Trista had repeated first grade because of difficulties—and the teacher had suggested an evaluation, both physically and psychologically. At the time, her pediatrician had suggested a watch-and-wait approach.
“You’re mad.”
“No, I’m not mad.”
“Of course no one likes to hear distressing news about their child.”
He reached for Jenny’s left hand and held it between his. “Jenny, it’s all right. Thank you. I know you’re concerned, and you’re trying to help.”
But it did rankle him a bit, for some reason, that Jenny had brought this up. For someone who was a teacher, Jenny had never hit it off with Trista.
She glanced down at their hands. “I know. I’ve been wanting to say something for a while.”
“I’m glad you did.” But he wasn’t sure he was glad.
“I really care about you, Brode.”
He let his thumbs caress the back of her hand. “I care about you, too.”
She smiled at him, her eyes shining more than the last rays of the summer sunlight reflecting off the water outside. She remained silent.
“Dessert tonight?” their server said at the edge of the table.
Another deep breath. He wanted a slice of The Cove’s signature chocolate cake, but didn’t want to continue the current conversation. His parents assured him to take all the time he and Jenny wanted on their date tonight.
He glanced at Jenny. She shook her head.
“Not tonight, but thanks. We’re ready for the check.” Was that a flicker of disappointment in Jenny’s eyes, not so much over passing up dessert, but for him not saying that one four-letter word that wasn’t “care?”
Soon they headed away from The Cove and back toward town, where Jenny rented a small bungalow once owned by his late great-aunt Edith and her husband.
He focused on the road ahead, gently twisting and lit by the twilight.
“I bet the beach walk would be beautiful tonight over at Pine Breezes,” Jenny finally said, breaking the silence.
He didn’t want to go for a stroll on the beach walk, not at the campground, even though he was sure Virgil and Fay wouldn’t mind. A week ago, if she’d proposed the same after supper, maybe he would have. And, he’d have been the one suggesting it. A beautiful woman, a beach at twilight. He remembered their kisses, masked from prying eyes by the dunes.
His pager began beeping. “Looks like we’ll have to cut it short tonight.”
An emergency, somewhere, and as a volunteer EMT, he’d committed himself to always being available.
“I understand.” Her voice held a flat tone. But it wasn’t the fact he’d gotten an emergency call that caused her demeanor to go downhill.
They pulled up to her house, where a solitary light glowed on the front porch.
Jenny turned to face him as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “Good night.”
“Good night.”
She leaned in for a kiss, and he didn’t stop her. Her kiss was sweet, stirred him a little, but something else made him pause. She must have sensed it, because she pulled back.
Jenny left the truck without saying anything more.
# #
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Uncle Virgil was insisting, even as the sound of wailing sirens grew louder.
“No, you’re not.” Fay paced the front room.
“Here’s an aspirin.” Karyn held it and a glass of water toward Uncle Virgil, whose face appeared ashen where he sat in his easy chair. She hoped her voice didn’t sound as scared as she felt.
“Thank you.” He took the pill, sipped and swallowed, then closed his eyes.
Karyn breathed a silent prayer. For the older man not to continue to quip about how the chest pains were nothing, just a byproduct of Fay’s too-hot enchiladas, this had to be serious. She took a seat on the couch, the side closest to Virgil’s chair. The siren’s sound hurt her ears, and she glanced over her shoulder out the front window.
She glimpsed flashing lights and an emergency vehicle that stopped in fron
t of the house. Fay shot outside.
“Help, please—I think he’s having a heart attack.”
A pair of EMTs entered the house, one of them Brodie. Her own heart leapt, but it shouldn’t have. She scurried over toward Aunt Fay.
The two women kept out of the way while he and his fellow responder began to work on Virgil. Oxygen, vitals, a short conversation about his symptoms. Radioing to the hospital, telling them they had a sixty-five-year-old male en route, possible myocardial infarction.
All the while, Karyn kept her arm around Aunt Fay.
“I’m going with him,” she kept insisting.
“We don’t have room in the ambulance,” said the other guy working on Virgil. “But you’re welcome to meet us at the hospital.”
“I’ll drive you,” Karyn offered.
“No, I’ll drive myself. We need someone here at the campground, all the time.” Fay’s words came out a bit sharp, but Karyn ignored that.
“What about someone from church going with you?”
“I’ll drive myself.”
Karyn gave up, and hugged Fay. “I’ll be praying.”
“Thank you. I will too.”
“Call me when you get there? Please?”
Fay grabbed her bag and car keys. “I will. Please, call the church phone roster to get the ladies praying.”
“I sure will.”
With that, they were gone and Karyn was left to herself. She went straight to the kitchen, where Fay and Virgil kept the land line phone, and called the first name on the church phone roster, and delivered the news about Uncle Virge. She promised that either she or Fay would call with an update when they knew more.
One thing she missed about this area was the way people took care of each other. She might as well lock up their house, and head back to her place.
A small cluster of campground guests had gathered at the house and were chatting among themselves. They looked up at her as she descended the front steps.
“What happened? Did he fall?”
Karyn shook her head. “We’d just finished supper and were cleaning up. Uncle Virgil started saying his chest was hurting, and he couldn’t breathe. He thought it was heartburn, but Fay insisted we call for help.”
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