Tidewater Inn

by Colleen Coble

  “No?” Curtis knocked Josh’s hat off. “I don’t know why you don’t ask her out, man.”

  Josh retrieved his Dodgers hat. “It would mess up the working relationship. What if it didn’t work out but we still had to work together? Besides, it’s better to be alone. Then I can do whatever I want, when I want.”

  “In Genesis God says man was not meant to be alone,” Alec said, “that a woman completes him. My mom always reminded Dad of that when he complained about something.” Alec grinned at the memory.

  “All my parents did was fight,” Josh said. “Until my mother lit out for somewhere else with another guy. I never saw her again.”

  “Sara’s not like that,” Curtis said. “If you don’t ask her out, I will.”

  Josh stiffened. “Oh, come on now, that’s not playing fair. She wouldn’t go with you anyway.”

  “Want me to ask and see?”

  “No. Just lay off, okay?” Josh’s good-natured grin was gone. “I’ll ask her if I get good and ready.”

  Alec had never seen his friend so serious. Who knew Josh’s joking hid so much pain? He put his hand on his friend’s arm. “Okay, we’ll lay off. But think about Sara, okay?”

  “Someone mention my name?” Sara was smiling as she joined them. She looked different out of her uniform, happy and carefree with her honey-colored hair blowing in the wind.

  Josh shot them a warning glare. “We were just wondering where you were.”

  She lifted the dish in her hands. “I made my famous sweet-potato casserole. It’s about the only thing I know how to cook.”

  Josh’s face was red and he didn’t look at her. Alec decided to take pity on him. “Hey, Sara, would you make an effort to be a friend to Libby? I think she feels a little out of place. Her family has been less than welcoming.”

  “I’d be glad to.” A smile hovered on Sara’s lips. “We talked a little out on the island today. I’m glad you’re interested in her. I like her.”

  He wanted to protest that he wasn’t interested, but they’d all know he was lying.

  NINETEEN

  Libby stood slightly apart from the happy crowd populating the churchyard. She wanted to be part of the group, but so far no one had taken notice of her. What was it the Bible said about friends? A man who has friends must himself be friendly.

  She pasted on a smile and approached the closest group of women. “Can I help? I have a really great coating recipe for fish.” She targeted her question to the only familiar face, Sara, who’d been on the Coast Guard boat.

  Sara smiled. “Hello, Libby. I’m glad you’re here. I’m terrible at cooking. What do you need for your breading? I’m a good gofer and I can rustle up the ingredients.”

  “Cornmeal, flour, paprika, pepper, and onion powder.”

  Sara held up her hands. “Whoa, whoa, I need to write that down.” She pulled a scrap of paper from the purse at her feet and jotted it down. “Be right back.”

  The other ladies smiled and spoke to Libby as she waited for Sara to return. Their friendliness was a balm to her, and several told her they’d been praying that Nicole would be found. Her pulse blipped when Alec came across the lawn toward her.

  He smiled when he reached her. “You any good at cooking fish?”

  “I can fix fish that will have you begging for more,” she said. “I have a special breading I use. Sara went after the ingredients for me.”

  “I can’t wait to taste it.”

  Surely he hadn’t come over to make small talk. She searched his expression. “Any news?”

  “I’ve been thinking about that beach cam website. Can we retrace exactly what you did? Did you copy the video to start to save it?”

  She shook her head. “I tried to save it to my laptop and it wouldn’t work. So I decided to look at the coding and copy it that way. I had just gotten in when it blipped, and everything was gone.”

  “Maybe someone else was there too. And the trace got misdirected to you. Curtis says it’s possible.”

  “I wish I could believe that. I hate that something I might have done has hindered finding her kidnappers. How can I prove my innocence to the sheriff and everyone else?”

  “I don’t think you can unless we find the men responsible.”

  “It feels impossible.” She glanced around. “This might be a good time to question people, don’t you think?”

  “Good idea.”

  She nodded toward Horace’s secretary. “I thought of a few other questions for Mindy.”

  Mindy was sitting on a lawn chair by herself with a glass of iced tea in one hand and a novel in the other. She seemed oblivious to the hubbub going on around her. Libby had to speak her name for the woman to look up from her book.

  Though Mindy smiled, her gaze wandered back to her book, then up again. “I thought you two would be around here somewhere.”

  “Did your house have any damage?” Alec asked.

  She shook her head. “Mine’s on a hill. The storm surge didn’t reach me.”

  Alec glanced around. “Is Horace here somewhere too?”

  “He and his son both came. His wife is in Virginia Beach.” She looked at the book in her hand again.

  Libby took the hint. “I am trying to figure out what all Nicole did when she was here. Did she mention any of her activities when you talked to her?”

  Mindy thought for a moment. “She went parasailing.”

  “Who took her out?” Alec asked.

  “Brent. I think he was a little smitten.”

  Libby gasped, and Alec straightened. She stared up at him. “Don’t you think Brent would have mentioned that to us? He only mentioned talking to her in the ice-cream shop.”

  “Yeah, that seems odd.”

  Libby glanced across the lawn to where Brent stood talking with friends. “I’m going to ask him about it. What day did she go out with him, do you remember?”

  “I think it was last Saturday.”

  Libby started toward Brent, then saw Sara standing by the grills with a basket of items in her hands. “I’d better do my part with the fish first. Sara went to all the trouble to get me the ingredients.”

  “I think I want to watch this,” Alec said. His lips twitched.

  “You think I can’t cook?” She tried to put indignation into her tone, but her smile gave her away. “You had plenty of my avocado dressing. Did you bring a dish?”

  “I can make a mean bowl of microwave popcorn, but that’s it,” he said. “I don’t think there’s much demand for popcorn.” He took her arm and steered her back to where Sara waited. “I think everyone wants something more substantial.”

  “I like popcorn,” she said. The moment the words left her lips, she wanted to recall them. They sounded flirtatious, as though she was angling for an offer. His fingers seemed to warm as they tightened on her arm, but it had to be her imagination.

  He cleared his throat. “Listen, I know your mind is on finding Nicole, but when this is all over, you want—”

  “Alec, I need your help,” Pearl said. “We need a few more tables hauled up from the church basement.”

  “Sure thing, Pearl.”

  Did he sound relieved? Libby watched them go and wished he’d finished his question. Had he been trying to ask her out?

  Brent seemed to be deliberately avoiding him. Alec tried to catch him alone several times during the fish fry. Every time Alec neared him, Brent moved off to talk with another friend.

  Libby’s fish was a success. She stood talking recipes and food with several of the women from town. It warmed Alec to see how quickly she had made connections. Maybe she wouldn’t sell out and leave. She gave a little wave when she saw him, and then spoke to a couple of women before joining him.

  “Everyone liked my fish,” she said, a trill in her voice.

  “It was terrific.” He took her arm and moved her out of the way of men carrying chairs back to their cars. “I’ve tried to talk to Brent, but he’s jumping from place to place like a nervous cricke
t.”

  “Where is he now?” She glanced around. “There he is. Heading to the street. And he’s alone.”

  “Let’s get him.” He grabbed her hand and they hurried after Brent. “Brent, wait up!”

  Brent appeared not to hear, but he broke into a jog. Alec let go of Libby’s hand and ran after him. He reached Brent as the younger man opened the car door. “Hang on there, Brent. We need to have a little chat.”

  “I’m in a hurry,” Brent said. His gaze went past Alec to Libby, who was rushing toward them.

  “This will only take a minute.”

  Her cheeks pink, Libby reached them. “Glad we caught you, Brent. We heard something today and wanted to ask you about it.”

  “Yes, I took Nicole parasailing, all right?” He shrugged. “It was no big deal.”

  “Mindy mentioned that she’d told us?” Alec wished he’d instructed her to keep a lid on it. He would have liked to gauge Brent’s reaction to their discovery.

  “Yeah. So what?”

  The kid was cool. Too cool. Alec couldn’t put his finger on why it bothered him. “It’s odd you never mentioned it. Were you afraid you’d be implicated in her disappearance?”

  “No. I was out of town the day she was kidnapped. Is that all?”

  “No, that’s not all!” Libby put her hands on her hips. “What is with you, Brent? You’re oh-so-smooth. Can’t you just say what you think for once? Every time I talk to you, I can tell there is so much going on in your head.”

  “I’m thinking of nothing but my future,” Brent said. He pushed his car door open wider.

  “I get that my coming derailed some plans. It derailed my life too, but you all seem to forget that. And the other thing you ignore is that none of this is my fault! If I had lobbied for our father to leave me that property, then I could see your attitude. But I didn’t.”

  Brent started to get in the car, but Alec blocked him. “Why didn’t you tell us you spent time with Nicole? You never answered that.”

  “It didn’t seem important.” For the first time, Brent looked uncertain.

  “What are you hiding?” Alec stood in the way of the door shutting. “Come on, Brent. We’re not letting you go until you tell us the truth. What did Nicole have to say that day?”

  “We didn’t spend that much time talking. We were parasailing.”

  “You traveled together. Did you know who she was?”

  Brent’s jaw tightened. “I didn’t know she was Libby’s business partner, if that’s what you mean. She asked me about the property, said she had someone interested in buying it. I already had their offer on the table though, so that was no big news.”

  “Why do you want to sell it instead of keeping it in the family?” Libby asked. “Did you disagree with our father’s goal of preserving Hope Beach’s peace and quiet?”

  “I want to get off this podunk island,” Brent said. “With that kind of money, I could go anywhere, do anything.”

  “You have quite a large amount of money coming even without the inn,” Libby said.

  “A million dollars will be gone in a heartbeat,” Brent said. “That’s nothing in today’s economy.”

  What planet was this kid living on? Aware his jaw was hanging open, Alec shut it. “You could go to Harvard, start a business. Buy a house just about anywhere. What do you want to do that would require more than a million?”

  Brent’s eyes flickered. “You wouldn’t understand.”

  “Try me.”

  “I’d like to build ships. Cruise ships.”

  It was a goal Alec could admire. “So get a job doing that. You don’t really know anything about building ships. Start at the bottom and work your way up. There’s virtue in that. Starting a business when you’re ignorant of how to go about it is sure to result in failure.”

  “It doesn’t matter now, does it? I’ll have to make do with my paltry million. But don’t worry. I’ll figure out a way to accomplish my goal.” He gave Alec a cold stare. “If you’ll move away, I’d like to go.”

  Alec shrugged and backed off. The guy wasn’t going to tell them any more. They watched him leave.

  “I think there was something more between him and Nicole,” Libby said.

  “Me too. Let’s talk to Vanessa.”

  TWENTY

  The TV blared in the rec room, where Brent had apparently been in a hurry to watch some kind of shoot-’em-up film starring Bruce Willis. Libby and Alec walked through the inn in search of Vanessa. When they failed to find her, Alec stopped to snag bottles of water from the kitchen. Delilah was whipping cake batter and handed over the spoon when Alec begged for it.

  “Have you seen Vanessa?” Libby asked.

  Delilah slid the cake pan into the oven. “She said something about going for a swim.”

  “It’s after dark,” Libby said. “Isn’t that dangerous?”

  Delilah shrugged. “She’s done it for years.”

  “Sharks are out now.” Libby shuddered at the thought.

  “The most dangerous time is just as it’s getting dark,” Alec said. “That’s when they go out to feed.”

  “Does she know this?” Libby asked.

  “Sure. Anyone who lives here knows the danger. But Vanessa isn’t one to let anything stand in the way of what she wants to do.” The spoon was licked clean and he put it in the stainless dishwasher. “How are you doing for money, Delilah? There are a lot of us to feed.”

  She hesitated. “Okay.”

  He pulled out his wallet. “Here’s another hundred.” He pressed it into her hand.

  Libby caught a glimpse of his wallet and realized he’d given her all the cash he had. It shamed her to realize she’d given nothing toward food. Yes, the place was hers, but still. Alec didn’t owe them anything. No money had been requested, but he’d handed it over without being asked. More than once.

  She had a hundred tucked back for emergencies. This wasn’t an emergency, was it? But her fingers dived into her wallet and pulled out the folded bill tucked behind her driver’s license. “Here, take this too, Delilah.” She had to force herself to release it into the other woman’s hand.

  When Delilah smiled, Libby felt lighter somehow. Her chest was warm. So this was how it felt to give. When was the last time she’d given so freely? Had she ever done it?

  Delilah blinked rapidly and bit her lip. “Thank you, both of you. You’re very generous. Some of the folks can’t afford to give anything. Old Mr. Carter, for instance. All his pension money is in the groceries that have spoiled in his refrigerator. He feels terrible about it too, poor guy. And Vanessa and Brent can eat me out of house and home. Especially Brent. He expects peanut M&M’S to be in constant supply.”

  “I’ll tell them to kick in some money,” Libby said.

  “Oh no, don’t do that! They’ll know I said something.”

  “I’ll just ask if they have,” Libby said. “I’ll be very diplomatic.”

  Delilah began to smile. “There’s cocoa fudge in the fridge.” She pulled open the refrigerator door and pulled out the pan.

  “Is this from the box of Hershey’s cocoa?” Libby asked. She took a piece and bit into it. The flavor took her back to a time when she’d stand at the stove on a chair and stir the fudge while her mother gave directions. “Oh my goodness, I haven’t had this kind of fudge since I was a little girl.” She licked her fingers. “I’d better leave before I eat the whole pan.”

  “You could use a little fattening up,” Delilah said.

  “I think she looks pretty perfect,” Alec said. His face reddened when Delilah laughed. “We could watch the movie with Brent while we wait. Maybe he’ll say something more about Nicole.”

  Libby started to agree, then had another thought. “Which room was my father’s when he stayed here? I’d like to look through it.”

  “Of course.” Delilah wiped her hands on her apron. “He had a big suite on the third floor. In fact, his room was the only finished space on that floor.” She grabbed a ring of
keys hanging on a hook by the back door. “It’s locked, so use the red key. It’s clean. I make sure of that every week.”

  Libby’s pulse skittered as she took the key ring. “Where are the stairs to the third floor?”

  “At the end of the hall, down past my quarters. Take your time. Vanessa won’t be in for another hour.” Delilah pointed. “Use the back stairway.”

  Libby led the way up to the second-floor hall, then back to the third-floor stairs. “Why would he put his suite up there?”

  “I think he wanted a retreat where he could play the piano without disturbing anyone,” Alec said.

  “Piano?”

  “He played beautifully. There are some tapes of him playing. They must be around here somewhere.”

  “I would love to hear one. All of them, actually.”

  The attic stairs were steeper than the main flights. The stairwell was closed as well. Alec reached past her to flip on the light. The steps creaked as she mounted them to the landing in the attic. It had been beautifully restored to highlight the maple floors, exposed rafters, and large windows that let the starlight shine in.

  “How nice,” she said, taking in the decor. The chairs went well with the camelback sofa and antique tables. “He had good taste. Chippendale chairs?”

  “I think so. You would know better than I would.”

  There was a flat-screen television mounted on one wall. A bookcase filled with books was on the opposite wall. There was a small kitchenette with a microwave and coffeemaker beside it.

  “Looks like his bedroom was through there.” Alec pointed to a door on the other side of the cabinets. “Or do you want to look around here first?” He walked over and switched on the table lamps.

  The warm glow illuminated the table. Libby frowned and went to inspect the purse. “That looks like Nicole’s bag.” She picked up the Brighton bag and opened it. Nicole’s favorite lipstick, Burt’s Bees Fig, was in the top pocket. She pulled out the wallet and glanced at the driver’s license. Nicole’s face smiled back. “It is Nicole’s! What was she doing up here?”

  The contents of the purse lay strewn on the coffee table. “Nothing out of order?” Alec asked Libby. The find had shaken her. Her high spirits vanished.