Home to the Harbor--A Novel

by Lee Tobin McClain

Bisky laughed. “I’m not a delicate flower.”

  “I know that, but you are in a delicate condition, as they say,” William said. He couldn’t keep the grin off his face.

  Bisky put a hand to her stomach, knowing her own smile matched his. “Shh.”

  Sunny came over and knelt in front of her. “Are you getting overheated?”

  Bisky threw up her hands. “Between the two of you, this pregnancy is going to drive me crazy,” she said. Sunny and William were the only ones who knew, but they were as fussy as a whole army of relatives and nurses.

  “Oh, my, are you expecting already?” Primrose Miller must have motored up silently on her scooter and now, her eyebrows were raised high.

  Bisky put a finger to her lips, groaning inside. “We’re trying to keep it quiet until I pass the three-month mark.”

  “Of course, dear,” Primrose said, although her forehead wrinkled. That would be a real strain for Primrose, since she loved to be the first to share spicy news.

  The dogs went crazy over a cat who had streaked across the front lawn, and William and Sunny got busy trying to calm them down. Then, they took Xena and Muffin through their tricks to the delight of the crowd.

  Avery came and sat beside her. “They’re really doing well,” she said, nodding at the dogs.

  “How are you doing?” Bisky asked her. The teenager was getting ready to leave for an early prep program at her college. She was the first recipient of the Jenna Gross Memorial Scholarship, and Bisky was sure she would make good use of it.

  What Avery didn’t know was that they’d done enough fundraising to double the scholarship. Bisky beckoned to William.

  He was instantly at her side. That was one thing she was still getting used to: how attentive he was, how attuned to her. She thought it had to do with their long friendship, but she also was awestruck about his capacity for love and caring. Not only that, but she was discovering in herself a capacity for being loved, for letting someone in, for opening herself to someone else’s caring and even, sometimes, taking charge.

  “Do you want to announce...” She nodded sideways at Avery.

  He frowned for a moment, and she read his emotions easily: it would be hard for him to talk about the scholarship in front of a crowd.

  “You don’t need to do it publicly,” she said. “Maybe we could just tell the twins.”

  “No, I can do it. I’ll announce it if Mary will do it with me, since she’s such a big donor. Let me talk to her.” He squeezed Bisky’s shoulder and walked over to where Mary was standing. They had a short conversation.

  And then William put his fingers to his lips and gave a piercing whistle. As soon as the crowd quieted down, he began to speak, Mary standing beside him.

  “Some of you know that, a few years ago, I lost my beautiful daughter, Jenna,” he said, and the few conversations that were still going on came to a halt or were shushed. “Today, we want to announce the first recipients of the Jenna Gross Memorial Scholarship.” He cleared his throat, and Bisky worried that he might break down, but he didn’t. “It’s a four-year college scholarship,” he went on, “given to someone raised in Pleasant Shores who exhibits need.”

  “And aptitude,” Mary said. “We had several applicants this year, all of whom show a lot of promise, but two stood out as just exactly the kind of young people we want to encourage and support.”

  Avery looked confused. She’d been told about the scholarship privately, but there had been no mention of a second recipient until now. At the last minute, Mary had decided to double her contribution so that both twins could attend college.

  “Everybody,” Mary went on, “please congratulate Avery and Aiden Sanford!”

  There were cheers and hugs all around. Aiden and Avery gave short, teary speeches of thanks.

  As the celebration continued, Kayla drifted over to talk to Bisky. “I just wanted to be the first, or one of the first, to congratulate you,” she said.

  “Oh, that’s sweet,” Bisky said. She studied Kayla. “But you sent such a nice wedding gift already.”

  “Not about the wedding, about the baby!”

  Bisky’s jaw dropped, and then she narrowed her eyes. “Primrose?”

  Kayla nodded. “I’m sorry, was that supposed to be a secret? Because I think everyone knows.”

  Bisky let out a sigh. “Of course they do.”

  Kayla smiled at her. “You’re already a terrific mom, and I know you’ll be a terrific mom a second time. How does Sunny feel about it?”

  “She’s kind of taken over. This week, she’s painting the nursery. I’m trying to talk her into still wanting to go away to college, but she says she doesn’t want to be far away from her little sister or brother.”

  “That’s sweet. You’re very lucky.” Kayla blinked a couple of times and then made an excuse and left.

  Bisky watched Kayla walk away. She hated that Kayla seemed so lonely, and promised herself she’d round up the ladies for a night at the Gusty Gull this week. She’d be drinking juice or tea, but that was fine, drinking wasn’t what it was all about. It was the friendship.

  She watched William as he stopped to talk with Caden, who had been skirting the edge of the crowd. Caden still felt a little awkward in town gatherings, since his father had been taken away to prison so publicly. But Pleasant Shores was the kind of town that helped people recover and made allowance for problems in the background, and Caden was basically being embraced by the community.

  Especially by William, who knew all too well what it was to have a difficult family life and a problematic father.

  William’s own father was serving time, but William visited him every month. Bisky and Sunny had gone once, too. He was a troubled man and he’d done horrible things to his family, but through therapy and an understanding pastor, and time to think, he seemed to be reaching a better place. Bisky felt like his father’s rehabilitation was helping William heal.

  William looked in her direction, clapped Caden on the shoulder, and came back over to sit beside her. “How are you, beautiful? Are you happy?”

  “So happy.” She leaned into him, enjoying his warmth and strength.

  He put an arm around her and pulled her close. “Me too. I never thought I’d be happy again, and I definitely never thought it would be in Pleasant Shores.”

  “With the childhood friend you used to have adventures with,” she said. “Who would have figured?”

  He leaned closer and kissed her cheek and then growled into her ear. “Here’s to new adventures with old friends.”

  Muffin ran over and nudged her leg, and Xena did the same to William. The breeze cooled her skin.

  Bisky nodded, unable to speak. Overcome with emotion, and maybe it was because of the child she was carrying inside her.

  She’d always been a happy person, and she’d had so much that was good in her life. But now, her heart was full to bursting.

  She looked at him and admired the strong line of his jaw, the thoughtfulness of his eyes. He was a strong man, and a deep man, with a big heart.

  “I feel blessed,” she said.

  “I love you,” he said at the same time.

  And then, completely disregarding their friends and family and neighbors around them, they shared a slow and tender kiss.

  * * *

  Second Chance on the Chesapeake

  Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  SNEAK PEEK AT THE NEXT BOOK IN THE OFF SEASON SERIES

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  “TIME TO CELEBRATE our freedom,” Gemma McWharter informed her elderly Chihuahua mix, Fang, tucking him more securely against her side. She put down her suitcase so she could ring her cousin’s doorbell. Then she stepped back and inhaled
deeply.

  February on the Chesapeake. Cold, but not the same kind of cold as she’d left behind in north-central Pennsylvania. The air smelled salty and felt a little balmy, and it took her back to childhood summers spent with the poorer—but happier—branch of her family.

  She knocked on the door again. “Bisky? Are you there?” Did she have the wrong day? Her ex would’ve said it was just like her—always screwing up, spacing out, getting things wrong.

  Fang gave two short yaps, and she kissed the top of his head and set him down. Only then did she see the note, a torn spot on top suggesting it had fallen down from the nail it had been hanging on.

  Come on in, make yourself at home, you know where everything is. I’ll be home by six, with wine. We’ll have a blast.

  Relieved, Gemma smiled and let herself in. Bisky was still Bisky, her favorite cousin. She’d been right to come.

  Fang trotted ahead of her into the living room and then looked back, panting. His open mouth revealed his single tooth, the reason for his name. “Go ahead, explore,” she encouraged him, and he began sniffing the perimeter of the room.

  Gemma kicked off her shoes and looked around Bisky’s big, comfortable home, its lived-in style a far cry from the McMansion Gemma had lived in with her husband, or her parents’ grand estate. A couple of boat paintings adorned the walls, but the house wasn’t overdecorated with nets and shells and fake crab pots, like the tourist places.

  A month ago, during a phone conversation, Bisky had mentioned she wanted to redo her attic as a surprise for her teenage daughter, Sunny, while she was away on a school trip. Gemma had jumped at the opportunity to help. Bisky did okay with crabbing and oystering, but there wasn’t money for luxuries. Gemma could be useful for her strong, confident cousin, for once.

  Besides, she needed practice at redoing spaces for an actual client, and the before-and-after photos would add to the meager collection on her new website.

  Visiting the Eastern Shore would give her a break from her family while she decided on her next move. The week away would give Mom time to recover from the fact that Gemma—quiet, backward Gemma—had done what Mom couldn’t: leave a marriage to an unfaithful, unloving husband. It would also give her bullying brother, Ron, time to cool down about her divorcing his best friend.

  Fang didn’t do stairs as well as he used to, so Gemma carried him up the two flights to the attic to get a preliminary look at the week’s project.

  The scent of newly cut pine came through the open door, and dust particles danced in the slanting beam of late-afternoon light. A dormer looked out over the bay. This was going to be a gorgeous room for a teenager.

  She set Fang down and he ran across the space, yapping. She followed him and then recognized all the hazards: sawdust, an open can of paint and even a couple of scattered nails. “Fang, come!” she ordered, but the indulged little dog trotted into the attached bathroom, ignoring her, still yapping.

  She hurried after him and felt something sharp pierce the arch of her sock-clad foot. “Ow! Ow! Ow!” She hopped to the wall, watching her step this time, and reached down to disentangle the carpet tack strip that had attached itself to her wool sock and punctured her foot in what felt like several places. “Fang! Get back here!”

  Of course, he didn’t listen.

  She limped toward the bathroom to save him... And ran directly into an enormous, flannel-clad chest.

  “Whoa!” She double-stepped back, her heart pounding.

  The giant stepped back, too, and picked Fang up. Fang growled, and the man deposited him in her arms. “Sorry to startle you, ma’am.”

  That voice was so familiar. She looked more closely at the man in front of her and felt her face heat. “Isaac?”

  “Gemma?” he said at the same time. “Are you all right? What happened?”

  Fang yapped madly at him from the safety of Gemma’s arms while Gemma tried to collect herself. What was Isaac doing here? How had he gotten even better looking than when they’d been friends in their teenage years?

  Were he and Bisky an item?

  Tucking Fang into the crook of one arm, she gestured toward her foot. “Stepped on some carpet tack,” she said. “I wasn’t watching where I was going. Are you...do you live here?”

  “No!” He laughed like that was funny. “I’m just remodeling the bathroom and putting in a window seat, a few things like that,” he explained. “Bisky pulled out the carpet yesterday. I’m sorry I didn’t clean up—”

  She waved a hand. “Not your fault. I’ll be fine.”

  “That has to sting, though.” He frowned down at her foot, then looked at her face. “I didn’t know you were visiting Bisky.”

  “I’m decorating,” she said. “Here from Pennsylvania for a week.” She stepped backward—she still felt too close to him with his considerable physical presence—and winced as her injured foot hit the ground.

  “Come, let me take a look.” He gestured her toward the bathroom. “Sit on the edge of the tub and take your sock off. The least I can do is offer first aid.”

  She did as he’d said and then wished she hadn’t. The bathroom was small, and Isaac... Wasn’t. She cuddled Fang, and the little dog alternately cowered close and then craned his neck to try to sniff Isaac.

  Isaac knelt in front of her and lifted her foot to look underneath. “Those tacks got you a couple of places,” he said. “Nothing deep, and they’re bleeding pretty good, so you shouldn’t need a tetanus shot. Let me clean them up and put something on them.”

  “It’s okay,” she said, but he was already wetting a clean white rag. He added hand soap and then gently lifted her foot.

  Her heart thumped. “You don’t have to—”

  “Gemma. I feel responsible.” He looked up at her and she sucked in a breath. Oh, those eyes. Soulful brown eyes that had romanced her into her first kiss—what was it—twenty years ago?

  He washed her foot gently and then rinsed the washcloth and wiped the soap away. “Sit still while I grab my first aid kit,” he said, and walked out of the bathroom.

  Gemma might not have been able to move, anyway. She felt a little limp from the shock of discovering Isaac here.

  “Antibiotic and bandages.” He came back into the bathroom, knelt down and smeared ointment on her injuries.

  “So,” he said as he fitted a square of gauze to her foot, then taped it into place, “what have you been doing for the past twenty years?” He looked up at her with a grin, and then she remembered his dimple. Warmth spread through her.

  Oh man. She did not need to be thinking about how cute he was. This vacation was about her being free from men, not getting attracted to an inappropriate one just weeks after her divorce had finally gone through.

  “This and that,” she said airily. Because, really, what had she accomplished? She’d gone to college, married a man preapproved by her parents and older brother, and lived miserably with him. They hadn’t been able to have children. He hadn’t wanted her to work. “I’m starting a redecorating service, and Bisky is one of my first clients. Well, I’m doing it for her for free, since she’s family. Plus, she’s putting me up for a week at the shore.”

  “Fair enough.” He patted the bandage and then pulled her sock on again, carefully, as if she were a child. “There you go. All better.”

  “Thank you.” She started to stand, and then he was too close and she sat down again.

  Immediately, he backed out of the little bathroom. “I’m going to sweep this place up right now,” he said. “Hold on to your dog. I wasn’t expecting anyone else here, which is why it’s such a mess. Careless of me.”

  “I’m surprised Bisky didn’t tell you I was coming.” She looked around, frowning. The room was finished, but bare bones. It needed a lot of work.

  Footsteps sounded on the stairs. “Did I hear my name?” Bisky asked, walking in from the hall. “Hey
, girl, you’re here!” She opened her arms, smiling hugely.

  Gemma’s shoulders relaxed, and she walked into her cousin’s arms for a big hug, Fang growling indignantly as he was squashed between them.

  “Girl, you’re a sight for sore eyes.” Bisky stepped back and studied her. “You let your hair grow! And you’ve got so much style.”

  “Thanks.” Gemma glanced down at her floral dress, then back at her cousin, clad in a plain, long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans. Bisky was the definition of a natural beauty. “And you’re looking great, too. I thought you’d be coming from work.”

  “Believe me, I wouldn’t smell this good just back from a day of oystering. Today I was off. Had to visit a friend and pick up wine.” She looked around the attic. “Are we really going to get this done by the time Sunny gets home?”

  Gemma studied the room doubtfully. “Depends what you’re doing to the floor. If we have to restain it, then I don’t see how.”

  Bisky shook her head. “She likes carpet,” she said. “So Isaac’s going to put that down, and finish the bathroom and the window seat. Right?” She looked at him. “Can you get away from the hardware store for that long?”

  “I can work here every evening. We asked a couple of the part-timers to put in more hours, so I can squeeze in a couple full days as well.” Isaac gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, we’ll get ’er done.”

  “Terrific. But what am I thinking? We don’t have to stand here.” Bisky backed out of the room, beckoning to them. “Come downstairs, and I’ll open the wine, and we can figure out how you two are going to get this project done in a week.”

  Gemma tilted her head and glanced at Isaac, whose brow was furrowed. Obviously, he hadn’t known he’d be working with her, just as she hadn’t known she’d be working with him.

  And how uncomfortable was that, working with the guy who’d given you your first kiss? They’d left things on a weird note all those years ago, and then Gemma had only been back to Pleasant Shores a couple of times—once when a distant relative had married, and once when Sunny was born—to help for a couple of weeks. She hadn’t seen Isaac either time. She had no idea of whether he was married or single, what he’d done, how he’d changed.