“Are you sure you want to do this? It’s not too late to change your mind. Chase is devastated, and so am I. I’m going to miss you so much.”
“I’m sure Chase is far from devastated. He’ll be fine. I will miss you though. But I’m only going to Chatham. It’s just a ferry ride away. I’ll come visit.”
“You’d better. You really think this is what you need to do?” Abby looked curious as if she was trying to figure out why Beth was going.
“I do. There’s not enough here for me. I want what you and Jeff have and I don’t think I’m going to find it here. And I’m going to be smarter about relationships and not hope for something that is never going to be there.”
“What do you mean? Who are you talking about?”
But Beth didn’t want to talk to Abby about Chase. That was too close for comfort. “Oh, it’s nothing. There was someone I was interested in and I thought maybe he was interested but it never went anywhere and I invested too much time in hoping and waiting and I don’t want to waste any more time.”
Abby looked like she was going to say something but instead she just nodded. “You have to follow your gut. Do what you think is best. Selfishly though, I hope you might just get this out of your system and come back.”
Beth felt her eyes water suddenly as the emotions she’d been trying to disregard made their way to the surface.
“I’ll be back for your shower in a few months. I can’t wait for that,” Beth said.
“Well, I hope to see you sooner than that, but if I don’t, we’ll be in touch. Call me, Facebook me. I’ll be here.”
A week later, Beth was settled in Chatham. She was staying in her friend’s guest cottage for the time-being until she found a more permanent year-round rental. The people at her new job were nice. It was a larger office and there was a receptionist as well as a bookkeeper. Beth’s role as office manager was to oversee them and to support the two brothers that owned the company. They were talented builders and completely different personalities and between the two of them they kept her very busy. So busy that she didn’t have time to miss Chase.
That came when she went home at night and was by herself. Her friend Jane was happily married and they did things together, but Beth had a lot of alone time and it was hard not to think of Chase and to wonder how he was doing and if he was missing her.
20
Chase was a mess. In the two weeks that Beth had been gone, he hadn’t slept well and was generally miserable. He missed her more each day. He realized how he’d taken for granted that she’d always be there in the office and that seeing her at the end of the day was what he looked forward to more than anything else. Marie was doing a fine job, Beth had trained her after all, but she wasn’t Beth.
But what shook him to his core, was how much he missed her, not just her being in the office but just Beth herself. He missed spending his Friday nights with her. It was like a part of him was missing. The realization shocked him and made him doubt himself. How could he have taken so long to understand this? He still questioned if it was real and his biggest worry was that it was completely one-sided. Surely, if Beth had any kind of feelings for him, she wouldn’t have left, would she?
He closed his eyes, imagining Beth’s face, her hair, that color that was so unique to her, like a light-filled, flickering flame, and her lips. When she wore that one lipstick, her favorite one, it made her lips pinker and he regretted that he’d never had the chance to kiss them. He worried that he was losing his mind and was imagining something that wasn’t there at all. As usual, when he needed to sort things out, he called his sister Abby.
“What are you doing?” He asked when she answered the phone, Saturday morning.
“Eating leftover cake for breakfast. What about you?”
“Feeling like visiting my baby sister, if she’s not too busy?”
“Come on over.”
A half hour later, he was sprawled across Abby’s living room sofa while she sat on the love seat looking at him with concern.
“So, what’s bothering you? Clearly something is on your mind.”
“Well, I wanted to run something by you. It might sound a little crazy.”
“I’m okay with crazy. Spill it.”
“Well, I really miss Beth,” he began.
“I know, so do I. Something awful. Is the woman she found for you doing an okay job? I know you were so used to having Beth there.”
“Oh, Marie’s fine. It’s not that. It’s just, well, I miss Beth. More than I expected to.”
Abby sat up straighter. “Really? You don’t mean just working for you? Was there ever something between the two of you?”
“Between me and Beth? No, we’ve only ever been friends. But, I think, well I know, that I’m an idiot for not trying for something more. We’ve spent a lot of time together and I just really miss her.”
“That’s so interesting. Did you ever think about asking her out? Do you think she would have said yes?”
“It only recently crossed my mind, after Lauren and I broke up and I started to see her in a new light. But I wasn’t sure of my feelings and I like her too much as a friend and an employee to screw that up. And then she left anyway, so I don’t know. Maybe I should have just gone for it. Did she ever say anything to you?”
“About being interested in you? No. But, there was someone she was interested in. She said she was fooling herself that he was interested and she wasn’t going to waste her time waiting around.” Abby thought for a moment. “Her leaving felt really sudden. Did you guys have any kind of a disagreement? Did anything happen?”
“No! We never disagreed. I’ve been going over it, too, trying to figure it out. The last conversation we had, before everything changed, was at the pub. Jim texted me asking if Beth was single. He wanted to set her up with a friend of his.”
Abby narrowed her eyes. “Did you tell her this? Did you give her the impression that you thought this was a good idea? Please tell me you didn’t do that.”
“I might have said something like that.”
“Chase, you are an idiot. You do realize she probably heard that loud and clear as ‘I am not interested in you, go out with someone else.’”
“Oh. You really think so?”
Abby nodded and Chase saw frustration and sympathy in her eyes.
“I really am an idiot,” he agreed.
“So, what are you going to do about it?”
Chase grinned. “I guess I need to go check the ferry schedule.”
Chatham had always been one of Beth’s favorite towns on Cape Cod. It reminded her a little of Nantucket with its pretty Cape style house, lush lawns and beautiful beaches. On the weekends, she’d been enjoying exploring her new town and loved to go on long walks, taking pictures of the lighthouses and all the seals sunning themselves on the rocks. There were so many seals all over the Cape now that great white shark sightings had become a daily occurrence in the summer months, but she hadn’t seen a shark yet.
It was almost four in the afternoon when she made her way back to her cottage. She’d had a good walk, almost an hour and she was ready for a hot shower and maybe a Hallmark movie. As she got closer though, she saw a familiar looking truck in her driveway. It couldn’t be though. It must be a friend of Jane’s or her husband. But then the truck door opened and Chase stepped out and took a step towards her.
“Hi Beth.” He grinned, but he didn’t seem as sure of himself as he usually did.
“Chase! What are you doing here?” She gave him a hug and he squeezed her tight and then let go.
“Would you believe I was just in the neighborhood?” He teased.
She laughed. “Right. Seriously, why are you here?”
Chase took a breath. “This is harder than I thought it would be,” he began. “This might sound crazy, if you’re not feeling the same way that I am, but I just had to know. Do you have feelings for me? Is that why you left?”
Beth didn’t say anything. She didn’t know what
to say. Chase took her hands and pulled her a little closer to him and looked deeply into her eyes. When he spoke again, his voice shook a little, “Here’s the thing. I miss you, more than I ever imagined that I would. It’s just not the same without you there.”
“Marie’s not doing a good job?” Beth was confused at first.
He smiled. “It’s not Marie. I just miss you. I miss you in the office. I miss going for Friday drinks with you. Since you’ve left, I’ve realized that I don’t just miss you as a friend. I want more than that. A lot more.”
Beth held her breath. It was hard to believe that the words she’d always longed to hear were finally being said. She was scared to trust it.
“How do I know you mean this? That it’s not just a fleeting feeling? Until something better comes along? I don’t want to ruin our friendship.”
“I don’t either. I wanted to ask you out weeks ago when I felt something shift, but I didn’t trust it then. I’ll admit that I wasn’t sure enough of my feelings and I didn’t want to hurt you ever, if I didn’t see it going anywhere. You mean too much to me, as a friend and as an employee.”
“But you feel differently now?” Beth felt the flicker of hope expand.
“Let me show you.” Chase pulled her closer and brought his lips down to hers and he showed her. To say there were sparks was an understatement.
“Okay, you’ve convinced me.”
“Come home, Beth. Come back to Nantucket. Come back to work for me and let’s just be together. We can take it as slow or as fast as you want. I’m yours, however you want me. If you want me, that is?” He looked a little unsure and Beth laughed, put her arms around his neck and drew him down to her.
“I want you,” she whispered, and then she showed him how much.
Chase stayed over that night. They walked down to Main Street and had a wonderful dinner at the Impudent Oyster and then walked over to the Chatham Squire to listen to some live music. It was the most magical night that Beth could remember. They stayed up until the wee hours of the night, talking, and laughing and kissing.
When she woke the next morning, she wondered at first if it had all been a dream. But then she saw Chase still sleeping peacefully and her heart swelled.
She gave her notice that Monday, worked her two weeks and moved home to Nantucket that Saturday. She and Chase were inseparable and two weeks after she moved home, he surprised her on Friday when they were having a beer at their favorite pub.
“Why don’t you give up your place for good and move in with me?”
“Really? You don’t think it’s too soon?”
He leaned over and kissed her before saying, “You’re over most nights anyway and I miss you when you’re not there.”
“All right. I’ll move in.” It felt right and Beth finally knew to trust her gut.
21
The night before Thanksgiving
Abby and Kristen arrived at Kate and Jack’s house a little before seven. Abby had a bag of apples and two cans of pumpkin puree. Kristen had a bottle of chardonnay, French onion dip and a bag of ruffled chips. Kate happily took the bottle from her when they walked through the door. They followed her to the kitchen and set everything on the counter. Kate poured the wine while Kristen tore open the bag of chips and Abby settled herself on one of the chairs facing the island.
“I’m sorry I can’t offer you wine, but I have a nice herbal tea,” Kate offered her.
“Sure, that sounds good. I can make it if you like.” Abby started to get up.
“Sit and relax. I’ll just throw a cup of water in the microwave.” Kate handed a glass of wine to Kristen and got the pre-made pie crusts out of the fridge.
“Where’s Jack?” Kristen asked. “I thought he’d be here.”
Kate laughed. “He heard you were both coming over to bake pies and he decided to get out of the way. He went out for pizza and beers with his brother and I think a few others.” She handed Abby her hot tea when it was ready and a bowl of sugar. They all knew her sweet tooth was out of control these days.
Like they did every year, the girls got together the night before Thanksgiving to make apple and pumpkin pies. Their mother took care of the rest, the turkey and all the side dishes. They were going to have a bigger group than usual this year. Rhett and his daughter Michelle were joining them, as well as Beth and Chase. Everyone approved of Beth, she was a huge improvement over Lauren and Kate had a feeling, since they’d been happily living together for a few months, that they might be the next to announce an engagement. Though she supposed the rest of the family might think that about her and Jack too. They’d casually talked about marriage once or twice but Kate didn’t feel any urgency to get engaged. She was happy living with Jack and it seemed like they were in a good place.
“How are things going with Tyler?” She asked Kristen. One never knew with Kristen how things were going in her relationships as she didn’t talk much about it. But she seemed mostly happy since they’d started dating. Kate liked Tyler. She only wondered sometimes if they might be too much alike, two moody artists, both lost in their heads for much of the day. And she worried a little about Tyler being an alcoholic. As far as she knew, he hadn’t had any issues but if he did, that would be hard to deal with.
“Up and down, mostly up,” Kristen said. “I’ve never dated another artist before and it’s interesting. We have so much in common, but we can both be kind of introverted and moody. It’s not usually a problem, but sometimes, when Tyler is distant or stressed out, I worry that something else is going on, that he might relapse.”
“Has he since you’ve been dating?” Abby asked.
“No. And it’s probably nothing to worry about. We just haven’t really been tested yet, nothing too stressful has happened to either one of us. It will probably never be an issue.”
“Have you ever thought about going to an Al-Anon meeting? I don’t know much about it, but maybe you could find some support?” Kate suggested.
“Funny you mention that. I actually just went to my first meeting last week. I wanted to find out what it was all about and maybe just get some information, so I’ll know what to do, just in case he ever falls off the wagon. I’m probably being a nervous Nellie, but I did feel better after I went.”
“I think that was smart,” Abby said.
“This is actually the first glass of wine I’ve had in a while.” Kristen smiled. “It tastes really good. Though I feel a little guilty that Tyler can’t enjoy it.”
“You don’t drink around him?” Kate thought that was interesting. Tyler didn’t seem to have a problem being around others who were having a glass or wine or beer.
“I did at first, but if it’s just the two of us, I’ll usually have something non-alcoholic. I’ve been drinking a lot of tea.” She smiled. “To be honest, I don’t really miss it. But I do enjoy it when we get together and I’m sure I’ll have one of Mom’s mimosas tomorrow.”
“How are you feeling, Abby?” Kristen asked as her sister reached for the chips and dip.
“Fat. I’m feeling fat. I want this baby out.” She laughed as she scooped a pile of dip onto her chip.
“It won’t be much longer. I wonder if you’ll actually have the baby on Christmas?” Kristen said. Abby’s due date was December 25.
“Would you want that birthday?” Kate asked.
“I knew a kid who was born on December 26. She said it was a horrible day, being so close to Christmas because everyone forgot about her, or gave her the combo gift, ‘oh, by the way this is for your birthday too’. But, no matter what day it is, we’ll make sure to make a big fuss. Maybe we’ll celebrate half birthdays too, so it feels like a separate special day.” Abby absentmindedly rubbed her belly. “She’s been kicking a lot lately. I think she’s anxious to get out too.”
“I can’t wait to meet her,” Kate said.
“Me too. Have you decided on a name yet?” Kristen asked.
“We’re torn between two, Natalie and Sophie. I think when we meet
her, we’ll know.”
“Maybe she’ll be late and be a New Year’s Eve baby. Now that would be a fun birthday,” Kate said.
Abby laughed. “It would. But something tells me she’s not that patient.”
Kristen opened the bag of apples and got a big bowl that that she lined with paper towels. She set the apples and bowl on the island counter between Abby and Kristen, then went to a kitchen drawer and returned with three peelers. She handed one to each sister, then sat in the middle chair between them.
“Okay ladies, let’s get peeling and pie-making.”
22
Unlike the majority of people, Lisa Hodges never felt stressed about hosting Thanksgiving. She loved every minute of it, puttering around the kitchen all morning, chopping and mixing and stirring all the different side dishes and basting the turkey. As much as she loved to cook though, she didn’t enjoy baking as much and was glad that the girls were making the pies. She’d bought the coffee cake that they all loved from the Boston Coffee Cake company and as usual, they’d have that with her famous mimosas, made with fresh-squeezed orange juice and a splash of champagne when everyone arrived around eleven thirty.
She got up a little earlier than usual that morning to get her beach walk in before bringing the breakfast items into the dining room. She only had a few rooms rented for the holiday, and her guests were all visiting nearby family for the big Thanksgiving meal, so she made lighter food than usual for them—an egg white frittata with peppers and asparagus and the usual assortment of breads, bagels and fresh fruit.
Rhett joined her for coffee and a bagel and seemed a little preoccupied. She wondered if he was worried about his daughter feeling comfortable around everyone. Michelle had arrived the night before and was staying in one of the upstairs guest rooms. Rhett wanted to pay for her room, but Lisa wouldn’t hear of it. They weren’t fully booked so it wasn’t like she was losing money.
Nantucket Neighbors (Nantucket Beach Plum Cove series Book 2) Page 15