On one street corner, tucked away behind flowering hibiscus bushes and squatty palm trees, sat a Victorian home that had been turned into a coffeehouse. Claire walked up the steps and was pleased to see an outside patio with tables that were hidden away from the street. She walked into the building and was immediately tantalized by the aroma of fresh baked goods and creamy coffees. After ordering a huge blueberry muffin and a cappuccino, Claire took it out to a table at the edge of the patio and sat with her back to the entrance. She felt like she was wrapped in a safe cocoon of privacy as she enjoyed her breakfast. She took out her phone and clicked on an app that allowed her to message internationally for free. She began texting Ariana at the shop to find out how things were going.
After a time, Claire noticed Janice and Carl come up the steps and enter the coffeehouse. She sighed. They were really the last people, besides Jim, that she wanted to see. And if she didn't want to seem rude, she'd have to invite them to sit with her. But when they came out with their coffees, they only smiled and nodded at Claire then went to the other end of the patio to sit.
Claire frowned. What did I do to them? She decided it was best to leave them alone and continued texting Ariana.
"Do you mind if I sit with you?"
The voice behind Claire startled her. She turned, and there was Jim, a coffee cup in his hand. She was surprised she hadn't heard him come up the stairs. "Geez, I can't seem to get away from you, can I?" Claire said.
"Does that mean no?"
Claire sighed. "Go ahead, sit down," she told him.
"Thank you." Jim sat in the chair next to Claire, which irritated her. She moved her chair a little bit away from his.
"I didn’t see you come down for breakfast," Jim said, taking a sip of his coffee.
"That's because I came here instead. After last night, I wasn't too keen on spending time with you this morning."
Jim looked directly at Claire. His eyes looked tired. Sad. "I'm sorry about last night," he said. "You were already asleep when I came into the room, so I'm sure you didn’t hear me apologize, but I hope you will accept my apology today. I was a jerk last night, and I have no excuse for my behavior. I'm sorry."
Claire nodded. "Thank you," she said softly. "But I think Mandy, Craig, and the Fishers deserve an apology more than I do."
"Already done," Jim said. "I got up early and caught Mandy and Craig at the ferry dock before they left, then I talked to Janice and Carl at breakfast."
"Well, that's good," Claire said.
Jim tipped his head toward the Fishers sitting across the patio. "What's going on with them?" he asked quietly. "Did you piss them off?"
Claire shook her head. "They just walked past me to their own table," she whispered. "I figured they wanted to be alone."
"Hmmm," was all Jim replied.
Claire's phone buzzed and she looked down at the text that had come through. She started texting back.
Jim cocked his head. "Who are you texting?"
"Ariana. At the shop."
"I thought you said calls and texts were expensive here," Jim said.
Claire looked up. "Ariana and I both downloaded an app that lets us text back and forth for free. Calls are expensive though."
Jim's eyes twinkled with mischief. "And did you tell Steven about this app?"
Claire bit her lip. "No, I didn’t."
"Why not?"
"If you must know, I didn’t want to be sent constant reminders that I should be thinking about his proposal. Steven isn't really that much of a texter, but I was afraid he'd bombard me while I was here." Claire looked at Jim with a sly grin. "You can tell Diane about it so she can text you."
Jim raised his hands as if to ward off a blow. "No, thank you," he said.
Claire laughed, which made Jim smile.
"So, what does Ariana have to say?" Jim asked.
"She told me to stop texting her and stop worrying about the shop and just enjoy my vacation."
Jim laughed. "That sounds exactly like her. I always did like her."
From behind them, Jim and Claire heard footsteps and turned to see the Fishers standing beside their table.
"Good morning," Claire said, trying to sound cheery. "Would you like to join us?"
Janice shook her head no, but she did manage a small smile. "We just wanted to let you both know that this afternoon, after Mandy and Craig come back, we're going over to see the lighthouse. Sandra said we can catch the ferry to go over there. We thought you might like to join us."
Claire's mouth almost dropped open in shock, but she managed to keep it shut. "Yes, that sounds nice. What time do you think you'll be going?"
"Somewhere around two-thirty or three. We'll meet you on the front patio at the lodge," Janice said.
Jim and Claire both said they'd be there and the Fishers left. Claire turned and looked at Jim with her brows raised. "Well, I didn’t expect that. It's nice that they're trying to be friendly."
Jim nodded. "It is. Maybe we could take a page from their book and try harder being friendly with each other, too?"
"Hey, I have been friendly. Who allowed you to sleep in her room?" Claire asked.
Jim chuckled. "Yeah. After you said I could sleep out in a hammock for the entire vacation."
Claire grinned. "It sounded like a good idea to me."
"I'll bet it did. Listen, I won't try to make you angry if you won't try to kick me out of the room, okay?" Jim said.
Claire stared at him one long moment. "Okay," she finally answered. "I'll try, but I can't make any promises."
Jim finished the last of his coffee and Claire did, too.
"What are you going to do today?" he asked.
"I was thinking of checking out the gift shops and exploring the island a little," Claire told him. She sat there, debating, then made up her mind. "Do you want to tag along?"
Jim grinned that annoyingly adorable grin. "I was hoping you'd ask so I wouldn't have to invite myself along."
Claire shook her head at him and they both stood and walked down the steps.
The narrow streets weren't exactly packed with people, but they did pass other tourists and locals along the way as they walked to the first gift shop. All the business buildings in town were of wooden design and many looked like homes that had been converted into shops. Claire guessed that most of the owners lived upstairs above their businesses. The painted buildings were a mixture of colors, from pastel, to bright lime greens and hot pinks, making the streets as colorful as the fruity drinks served in the bars around here. Claire loved all the colors and the many flowering plants they passed. Living in Minnesota where flowers only bloomed a few months out of the year, she appreciated seeing so many flowers and lush greenery here.
Claire and Jim walked through the few shops on the small island. In one, they ran into Kaylie and Mark. Both were dressed like they were heading to the beach with Kaylie in a swimsuit with a flowery, short tank dress over it and Mark in a T-shirt and board shorts. Claire liked Mark, even though she didn’t know him too well. He was easygoing, had longish brown hair and blue eyes. As a couple, he and Kaylie looked adorable.
Jim found an antique style map of the Bahama Islands at one gift shop and purchased it. He said he was going to frame it for his den at home. The entire time they browsed in the shops, Claire noticed he didn't once look at items for Diane, and wondered why.
Claire found a red print sundress that she thought would be perfect for Ariana, but no matter how hard she searched, she couldn't seem to find a gift for Steven. He was so practical, everything she looked at seemed silly for him. She figured she'd be shopping again before they left and would hopefully find something then.
They were almost to the end of the island when they decided they'd better head back to the lodge. Claire looked up a side street and saw it led to the strip of beach that went all the way to the lodge.
"Are you game for walking the beach back to the lodge?" she asked Jim.
"I am if you are," he said.
They walked up the side street and then went down the steps to the beach. They slipped off their flip flops, headed down to the water, and walked in the direction of the lodge.
"Okay," Jim said. "In the spirit of being nice, I'll stay on safe topics. How is the house holding out?"
Claire smiled. "It's doing fine. I had to replace the pipes around the guest bathroom, because they were old and clogged up. Luckily, the rest of the house's pipes were good, so it wasn't too expensive."
Jim nodded. "Yeah, that house is getting old. It was already twenty years old when we bought it, and we've had it, what, fifteen years now?"
Claire slid her eyes toward Jim. "We had it eleven years. I've had it four years now. Remember, it's mine since the divorce."
"Oh, yeah. Sorry. Old habit saying we. I gave you the house in the settlement, because you deserved it. I mean, since I was the one who left. Boy, did that ever piss off Diane, though."
Claire frowned. "Why? She couldn't have possibly wanted an older home. I heard that you two have a very nice new home. Bigger than mine."
Jim wrinkled his nose. "Oh yeah, it's big and new and full of new furniture. I have the mortgage to prove it. Diane wouldn't have settled for anything less."
Claire glanced over at Jim curiously. It sounded to her like he resented the house, and Diane.
"Will you and Steven live in the house if you get married?" Jim asked.
Claire stopped walking. The question had taken her by surprise. "I'm not sure," she said. "Steven lives in a townhouse. He's always telling me I should sell the house and get a townhouse, too. He says the house is too much upkeep for me all alone."
It was Jim's turn to look surprised. "But you love that house. Would you really sell it to move into a townhouse?"
Claire turned and walked a few steps up to where the sand was dry, then sat down facing the ocean. Jim followed and sat, too.
"I do love my house, that's why I've been resisting the idea of getting something simpler. Steven's right, though. The house is expensive and time consuming to keep up. It's due for a new roof, and I'm always mowing the yard in the summer or have to shovel the driveway in the winter. And the heating costs just keep climbing in the winter. It's expensive for me there alone."
"I guess I hadn't thought of that," Jim said. "It would be a shame to sell it, though. All those memories. Mandy grew up in that house. There's the door frame with her heights marked on it, and those of her friends through the years, too. And the crabapple tree you planted when we first moved in. I'll bet that's huge now. And all the remodeling we did, like tearing out that horrible red carpet in the family room and replacing it. Remember that?"
Claire laughed. "Oh, yes, I remember that awful stuff. And the multicolored carpet in the kitchen circa late 1970s. And the gold burlap wallpaper in the hallway. It was terrible."
Jim laughed along with Claire as they remembered all the changes they'd made to update the house. After a time, they both sat silent.
"I guess things change," Jim finally said. "Time moves on, people move on. It's good, I guess. Sometimes." He sounded wistful to Claire.
Jim finally stood up, wiped the sand off the back of his shorts, and picked up the bag with his map in it and Claire's bag from the gift shop, too. He reached out his hand to help her up. Claire accepted it and Jim pulled her to her feet. For one instant, they stood there, hands linked, looking into each other's blue eyes. Claire was the first to let go.
"Guess we'd better get back to the lodge so we're not late meeting up with everyone," Claire said, wiping the sand from her shorts as Jim had.
They walked down the beach, this time silent, each one keeping their thoughts to themselves.
Chapter Nine
Claire and Jim returned to the lodge in time to put their purchases in their room and change into sneakers for the trip to the lighthouse. Claire wasn't sure how much walking was involved so she thought sneakers were the safe choice. She knew for sure she wasn't climbing up inside the lighthouse. She had a terrifying fear of heights.
They each took their cameras and a bottle of water from the room's small refrigerator and walked down the stairs to the patio. Mandy and Craig were already sitting down there when Claire and Jim arrived.
"Get your license all squared away?" Jim asked.
Mandy smiled. "Yep. We're one step closer to being stuck with each other forever," she said, her eyes twinkling mischievously.
Janice and Carl came through the breezeway from the back of the lodge with Glen and Lisa right behind them.
"Let's go catch the ferry," Glen said. "It should be down there in less than five minutes.
The group hurried down the steps to the street and crossed over to the dock where the ferry stopped. Sure enough, it arrived five minutes later like Glen had said.
"What is the rest of the group doing today?" Claire asked Mandy as soon as they were all seated on the ferry.
"Everyone went down to Land's End beach again today. They'll all be back in time for dinner," Mandy answered.
The ferry driver made two more stops to pick people up at other docks and then headed across the harbor to the lighthouse. Their group was the only one to get off there, and the ferry driver told them he'd be back in about an hour.
The small group made their way in the direction of the lighthouse. They were the only people around. There was a small gift shop off to the right of the walkway, but that was it for buildings except for the lighthouse. As they walked up the sidewalk to the lighthouse, everyone stopped to admire the flowers blooming all around and to take pictures of the lighthouse close up.
Claire told Mandy and Craig to stand with the lighthouse in the background and snapped a picture of them, then asked Janice and Carl to join them for a picture of the foursome. Glen took Claire's camera and snapped a photo of her and Jim with Mandy and Craig, too. Then it was Glen and Lisa's turn to have their photo taken. They were all having fun, even the Fishers.
Once they stepped inside the small lighthouse, Claire stepped aside to let everyone pass by her.
"I'll just wait for all of you down here," she said.
"Mom. Don't you want to go up and see the island from above? I'll bet it's beautiful," Mandy said.
"Honey, you know heights and me don't mix well. Just looking up that spiral staircase makes me dizzy. I'll wait for all of you down here. I can get some good pictures of the island from the dock."
Mandy sighed, but turned and followed Craig up the circular staircase. Janice and Carl followed behind them, then Glen and Lisa. Jim held back.
"I'll bet Mandy's right," Jim said. "The view up there must be incredible. Why don't you just try? If you feel sick, I'll help you come down right away."
Claire shook her head. "Don't you remember how dizzy I got when we climbed that fire tower years ago when Mandy was little? Or the time we went to the Grand Canyon and I practically passed out trying to look over the railing? There's no way I'm going to repeat that."
"You fly. That doesn't bother you," Jim said.
"That's because I don't sit by the window and I'm inside a plane. It's not the same as climbing stairs or looking down a canyon. I know I'll get sick. Or worse, I'll get up there and won't be able to come down," Claire said.
Jim shook his head. "You're going to miss out."
"Stop goading me," Claire said menacingly.
"But it's a once in a lifetime experience," Jim said.
"What happened to being nice to each other?"
Jim smiled. "I am being nice. I don't want you to miss it. Listen, I'll walk up right behind you to make sure you don't fall and then help you down again. Come on, Claire. You know you want to go up there."
Claire looked up at the spiral staircase, then back at Jim. He was right, she did really want to go up and see the view. But just looking up made her queasy. Yet, she was never going to be here again, and she'd love to have great pictures from above.
"Okay," she told Jim. "I'll go up. But I swear, if I get sick, I'm goi
ng to throw up all over you for making me go."
"Well, it won't be the first time, now will it?" he teased.
Claire threw him a nasty look.
Claire hung her camera around her neck to free her hands. With Jim right behind her, Claire started ascending the staircase, holding the railings with both hands. Going up the first few turns wasn't so bad as long as she didn’t look down. But the higher they went, the narrower the steps became, and Claire had to look down to see the steps. She stopped once when she saw the ground far below and she started to waver. Jim reached up with one hand and put it on her waist to steady her.
"Easy there. Try not to look down. You're doing fine," he told her.
Near the top, Claire stopped and glanced up in fear. The last few steps up to the very top weren't really steps at all. It was a ladder built into the wall that went up through an opening in the floor of the top landing.
"Oh, boy. I don't think I can do this," she said fearfully.
"Yes, you can," Jim told her in a soothing voice. "Go ahead, I'm right behind you."
Claire reached for the railings, grabbed on tight, and put her foot on the first step. She pulled herself up to the second step. Then the third. She felt Jim right behind her, just one step below her. If she let go, they'd both go tumbling down to the platform. That thought scared her half to death.
"I can do this, I can do this," Claire chanted quietly to herself.
Jim smiled behind her. "Just keep saying that, Claire."
Claire looked up and saw Glen standing near the opening, ready to help her. She felt a little better. Three more steps and her head was through the hole in the floor. Two more steps and Glen took her hands and helped her up and onto the floor.
"There you go, Little Sis," Glen said.
They stepped aside to let Jim through.
"See, you made it," Jim said triumphantly.
Claire smiled, but then looked down the hole she'd come up through. She wasn't looking forward to climbing down.
"Mom, you came up," Mandy exclaimed happily. "Come over here. You can circle the entire floor and see everything for miles around."
Destination Wedding ~ A Novel Page 8