Clearly Tara had grit, lots of it. How else had she pulled herself together at eighteen and raised two amazing young men? But that hardheaded determination was misguided right now as she balked at her friends.
Luella meandered onto the back porch. With her palms against the porch railing, she leaned in and admired the immaculate yard that Julep kept. Birds chirped and swooped down to the bird feeder. The house was on a raised foundation to prevent flooding during a storm, and it made for a really nice view of Julep’s and Sapphira’s backyards. This land where Julep’s house sat was once Sapphira’s property, but she gave the small lot to Julep and Mitch to build a home on before Gavin was born.
The porch door burst open and banged against the side of the wooden house, making Luella jump.
“Gavin just called me.” Julep waved her cell in the air. “I’m sketchy on details, but Tara took off, insisting Gavin stay behind. He followed her at a distance, and last he saw her, she was getting on his old bike, the one from Sapphira’s shed. We’re going to tail her discreetly.” Julep hurried down the porch steps. “Elliott will wait here in case she returns.”
“You think the four of us can be discreet about anything?” Luella followed Julep with Sue Beth and Dell right behind them.
“Well, we’re going to try.” Julep strode into the shed. “He doesn’t want her on her own just yet. I think he’s afraid she’ll relapse and forget where she is. We should be able to catch up to her on our bikes.”
Luella winced, thinking of the bikes, but she followed Julep anyway. Last summer in an attempt to help Sue Beth and Julep start exercising, the four had decided to bike together once a week. They each purchased a bicycle to be stored in Julep’s shed since her neighborhood was a good area for cycling. Part of their mistake was they bought old, heavy bikes, like they had during childhood, and none of them had a gearshift. If they’d purchased new, lightweight bikes, biking would have been easier.
Every ride was disastrous.
The first time they’d gone out it’d been ninety degrees. Dell fainted. The second time Sue Beth rode into a parked car and then got mad at Julep for laughing at her. And every time they rode together, they argued about which route to take.
“Are you sure that’s the best plan?” Luella gestured toward her car. “Maybe we should drive.”
“No.” Julep pulled the shed door open. “We’d end up spooking her when she noticed a car following her around. Besides, what if she goes down some of the footpaths in the area? How would we follow her in a car?” She jerked the wheel of her bike from its floor rack. “Now let’s go. We’ve no time to lose.”
They grabbed their bikes, hopped on, and took off down the driveway.
“Which way?” Luella looked for signs of Tara.
“Gavin said west…I think.”
“One block west takes us straight into the marsh.” Dell ground out the words.
“Yuck!” Sue Beth wiped one hand and then the other down her slacks while trying to get her balance. “They’re a little dusty, but we can still rule the road.” Her bike wobbled. “Maybe.”
They peddled out of the driveway.
“Just exactly when did we ever rule the road?” Dell asked. “Sue Beth tried. She sideswiped a car like she owned the road.”
“Please be careful, and don’t snuggle up to any cars, moving or parked.” Luella chuckled.
Sue Beth nodded and giggled.
Julep stopped abruptly at the T in the road, looking in each direction. “She won’t. She just mistook the car for a man and snuggled right up.”
Sue Beth pointed a finger at Julep, and again her bike wobbled as though she might lose control of it altogether. “That’s just mean, Julep Burnside.”
This tedious bickering again? “Ladies, please. Shall we make a decision and go?” Luella didn’t know which way they should go, but there were acres of marshland straight ahead, so going due west was out. If Tara had gone south, they might never spot her. There were several long roads she could’ve taken, including one that led to the causeway and off the island. She was young and athletic and had a more modern bike, so a long ride was a real possibility. But if she’d gone north, they had a good chance of spotting her. The north end of the road was a dead end.
“Let’s turn right and go around the block. Maybe she’s still on this end of the island.”
They started pedaling again, riding around the block and circling back to Sapphira’s house.
“Did anyone see any hint of her?” Dell asked.
“No,” Julep grumbled.
From the corner of her eye, Luella saw movement. Someone walking.
Sapphira?
That was nonsense. Luella turned, focusing on the movement. Goose bumps ran up and down her body. Tara was pushing a bike across the green lawn and toward the road, about three hundred feet from them.
“Look!” Luella nodded toward her.
Clearly Tara had gone down the dead end and was now coming back this way. She appeared to be studying Sapphira’s house. Was she thinking about going inside it again?
Tara didn’t turn around, so she hadn’t spotted them…yet. She walked to the asphalt road, hopped on her bike, and began pedaling again. Once on the road that paralleled the marsh, she took off much faster than Luella expected.
“Let’s move.” Julep kicked her pedals into motion.
Luella trailed behind Sue Beth and Dell. Even now, something about seeing Tara walking through Sapphira’s yard caused fresh goose bumps, despite the balmy heat of the late afternoon. She pedaled harder to catch up.
“Oh…a…firefly…” Dell’s words seemed to disappear in the breeze.
What? Was it possible? Luella pedaled up beside her. “Did you say she looks like Sapphira? Because I was thinking the same thing.”
Sue Beth turned around to look at Luella over her shoulder. “Who does? Tara?”
Dell giggled. “Um, I said ‘I think I ate a firefly.’ But whatever floats your boat, Lu.”
Luella shook her head, but the image wouldn’t clear. “There was something about the way she looked coming around the corner of the house.”
Dell looked back toward Sapphira’s house, and her bike wobbled. “Could it be because it is Sapphira’s house and you often saw her working and moving around in the yard?”
Julep’s hair whipped in the wind as she turned her head. “Could y’all keep it down? We’re trying to tail her quietly.”
They all focused on riding for several minutes, and then Dell stood up on her pedals, seemingly trying to pedal harder. “She’s really booking it.” Her voice stayed low.
“We’re”—Julep was leaning over the handlebars, almost panting—“going to lose sight of her.”
Tara turned down another street, and they all struggled to catch up. Stupid antique bikes. They weighed about as much as Luella did, and it felt like the brake was on the whole time one was pedaling.
“Doesn’t she have pneumonia? How in the world is she in so much better shape than we are?” Sue Beth’s words sounded far away.
Luella glanced behind her. Sue Beth was too far back. The rest of the girls would have to stop and wait for her if she lagged any farther behind. “Did you hear her, Julep?”
Julep groaned in response. “I’m sure the whole island heard her whine.”
Tara made another turn, and by the time they were around the corner, they didn’t get even a glimpse of which direction she’d gone. They rode through the Mallery Park neighborhood, looking down other roads she might have taken. Nothing.
Julep circled her bike back around, and Dell and Luella followed. Were they going to convene to make a plan?
Julep skidded to a stop in the grass next to Sue Beth. She jammed a finger in Sue Beth’s face. “It’s your fault we lost her!”
“My fault?” Sue Beth panted. “What’s yo
ur problem, Julep? Other than the permanent burr in your britches the last year and a half.”
“You’re so slow we ended up losing her. I guess we needed to get someone’s husband involved to motivate you to book it!” Julep rapid-fired each word.
Sue Beth flushed red and stepped off her bike, letting it fall. “That’s it! I’ve had enough of your contempt! I’ve half a mind to slap you silly.”
Julep got off her bike and threw it on the ground. “Try it, Sue Beth. Make my day, and just try it.”
Luella and Dell exchanged a look of panic before jumping off their bikes.
Luella stepped between the two, holding her hands up as though she were calming a wild horse. “Whoa, whoa. No bloodshed here, please. This island has seen enough war in the past. No need to add to that now.”
Sue Beth pointed at Julep. “How dare you? You constantly imply that I was up to no good with Mitch. Why?”
Julep raised a hand as if she was going to go around Luella and hit Sue Beth, but she lowered it. “The way you flirt certainly isn’t noble, Sue Beth. He was my husband! And I know you.”
Dell joined Luella in standing between the two, ready to block a blow or two if need be.
Sue Beth clenched her fists, peering around Dell and Luella. “Do you, now? My husband and I don’t even like each other most days, but I know he wouldn’t try anything with one of my friends—or any other woman. Mitch was in love with you his whole life!”
“And you just couldn’t stand it, could you?” Julep tiptoed and leaned one way and then the other, looking around the peacemakers. “You were desperate to steal any crumbs of that love you could.”
“I’ve had a reputation for being a flirt since we met. Although I don’t see that in my behavior, clearly others do. But never once”—she held up her index finger, shaking it at Julep—“had it bothered you until Mitch died. Why?”
“Because my minutes on this earth with him were ticking off so loudly each one was like a cannon going off! And you, one of my own Glynn Girls, stole time from me so you could enjoy your moment in the sun. You wanted his attention solely on you, and you took it!”
“Are you off your rocker? I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“We had a gathering at our house the day we received his diagnosis, remember?”
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t want Mitch to be away from my side for a second, but Gavin and I got distracted for just a few minutes. When I started searching for Mitch, I saw you, my good old friend Sue Beth, all cuddled up with my husband! You were stealing my time with him. That’s what you do—flirt and steal moments with men who aren’t yours!”
Sue Beth rolled her eyes. “Give me a break!” She punched the air, gesturing in the direction of Julep’s home. “He was talking to me about dying, and he wanted me to promise I’d never leave your side. Which, by the way, is the only reason I’m still here after the way you’ve treated me since he died!”
Dell caught Luella’s eyes as they held their ground between the quarreling pair. “You’re awfully quiet, Lu.”
“Yeah, I’m wondering if I need to borrow a garden hose from one of those houses and fill this dirt crater with water. Maybe we could sell tickets. Two Glynn Girls fighting it out in the mud. Could get rid of Gavin’s debt that way.”
Julep and Sue Beth glared daggers at her, but if she could direct some of their anger onto herself and away from each other, then her quip had served its purpose.
Julep dropped her gaze to the ground and then muttered a curse word and sat in the grass.
Luella watched as remorse worked its way past the anger. Julep didn’t actually think Sue Beth was trying to steal Mitch. She was just angry. Angry that the love of her life was gone. Angry that Sue Beth had dared to soak in a few private moments that could’ve been hers. It hadn’t helped anything that they’d kept their plans to have the gathering while Julep was panicked and raw from the news of Mitch’s diagnosis.
“Sue Beth, I’m sorry.” The words were only a little louder than the sound of a car slowly going down a long gravel driveway.
Sue Beth pulled back as though she’d actually been slapped. She blinked several times. “What?”
Julep looked up. “I think you heard me. I’m sorry.”
Sue Beth dropped to the grass next to Julep, folding her legs under her. “I forgive you, Julep.”
Julep leaned on Sue Beth’s shoulder and wept. Sue Beth wrapped her arm around her, and Dell and Luella sat on her other side, placing their hands on her back.
Julep pulled back, wiping her eyes. “I’m seeing everything wrong, aren’t I? I’ve been lost since the day I found out Mitch had cancer.” She put her hands on her chest. “Look at what I’ve become.”
Sue Beth shook her head. “What we’ve become. We were so connected that when you lost a part of you, we all lost a part of ourselves.”
Dell nodded.
“That’s right,” Luella added. It was unfair for Julep to take on everything as her fault.
Julep looked from person to person. “If you girls did anything wrong, it’s because you followed me into it. I became bitter, and I dragged my friends with me.”
Maybe that had a little truth in it, but Julep didn’t choose to lose Mitch. She had spent most of her life being kind and loving, and loss had just knocked her off course. Luella put a hand on Julep’s knee, hoping to bring a little comfort.
Julep smiled, but the corners of her mouth just barely lifted. “I had no idea that I’d lost myself to the point I’d be cruel. I wanted to handle losing Mitch in a way that would make Gavin proud of me, and he’s so disappointed. I don’t want to be this person anymore. Or ever, ever again. I want to make a difference with my life.”
Luella rubbed Julep’s blue-jeaned knee. “We can start with Tara. And then look for anyone else we can help.”
Dell put a hand on Luella’s and Julep’s shoulders and bowed her head. Sue Beth put her hands on Julep and Dell, and Luella closed the circle, putting her hands on Dell and Sue Beth. They bowed their heads and closed their eyes.
Julep began. “Lord, we are coming to You, humbled and desperate for Your grace. Forgive me. I accepted Your gifts with open arms, knowing they were part of this temporal world, but I’ve not coped well with the loss. And if it’s Your will, help us find Tara. We want to show her love.”
Silence fell on the group. Luella sent up her own silent prayers. For forgiveness for not stepping up to heal this rift earlier. For safety and mercy over Tara, wherever she was on the island. For guidance in navigating this new beginning.
With a shared “Amen,” they each retrieved and dusted off their bikes.
“Sue Beth, you can go first.” Julep’s voice was gentle now.
Sue Beth smirked. “So I can hit a car?”
Everyone chuckled as any remaining tension evaporated like the rain in June after the sun comes out.
“Okay, fine.” Julep’s voice sounded years younger. “We’ll ride as a group. With any luck we can spot her. Or even better, she’ll make her way back to the house, and we’ll meet her there.”
They were off, joking about old memories, warning each other of potholes, and remembering their girlhood on the island.
They circled through the Village shops, waving at their building as they passed Blue Sails, and then rode into Neptune Park. The picnic area was coming into view, and beyond that was the lighthouse.
Luella pointed at the white tower rising over the live oaks. “It closes soon, but she could’ve bought a ticket to enter it. Do you think she might have climbed the lighthouse again?” Maybe she liked the feeling of looking down over the live oaks of Neptune Park and green grass that stretched to the beach and ocean.
“It’s possible.” Dell sounded hopeful. “We at least know she couldn’t bike up the spiral stairs of the lighthouse, so if
she’s in the lighthouse, we’d see the bike she borrowed from Gavin on the ground nearby.”
Sue Beth skidded to a stop, hopped off the bike, and laid it down left of the sidewalk. “Girls, look!” She pointed and went running over to the picnic area under the largest sprawling live oak.
Tumbling across the ground was a straw hat with a familiar scarf tied to it. The one Tara had been wearing.
“Aha!” Sue Beth grabbed it and lifted it above her head with both hands like a prize.
Luella muffled a laugh at the bystanders who were eyeing Sue Beth as if she were crazy. If Sue Beth noticed them, she didn’t say. That was a trait Luella had always admired about her. She didn’t mind looking silly if it could help a friend.
Julep nodded. “Good eye, Sue Beth. This means she did pass through here. Let’s try the lighthouse.”
They got back on the bikes and continued on the sidewalk. When they got to the lighthouse area, they disembarked on the soft green grass.
Julep stopped in front of the white gazebo near the lighthouse and, in a voice so quiet that Luella almost didn’t hear her, said, “We found her.”
They all came closer to take a look.
Tara was asleep on one of the benches with Gavin’s bike on the floor of the gazebo.
21
The darkness had begun to lift, but it wasn’t yet sunrise. Gavin stopped removing antique doorknobs and took in Sapphira’s house. It looked like a day-old, gutted fish left on the pier by mistake. This had been Sapphira’s home, and she’d loved this old house. She’d spent Gavin’s lifetime praying Siobhan would find her way back to it. His only recollection of Siobhan seemed to be from a few old photos and the stories he’d been told over the years by Sapphira and his mamas.
The mangled house made him uneasy. What had he done? He’d dreamed of taking it apart and selling it bit by bit so he could get his mom out of debt. Now the house was a mess, and he had a small profit to show for it.
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