Still, his plan had been practical. Tara’s love of this old home, as well as his guilt, were misplaced. Her sentiments had dredged up nostalgic emotions for him, but he had a job to do.
He sighed. He had no idea how he should feel about Tara, but he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Last night Hadley had texted him a sincere thank-you, saying that his mamas had found Tara, and she was safe. She’d also sent the clip of Darryl’s valedictory speech. Gavin must’ve watched it two dozen times, maybe four dozen. It was insightful, and Tara had been entirely too cute sitting there with a lap full of flowers as her brother embarrassed her. He imagined that the home the three of them shared had overflowed with love and energy and hope.
Oh, stop already. You sound like the poetry your mamas like to read.
But he seemed incapable of changing his thoughts to something else. Anything. It wasn’t that he was interested—not like that. She was vulnerable and hurting, and he wanted to check on her, as he would anyone he’d spent that much time around.
He grabbed his phone and texted his mom, asking how things were going. If she was asleep, the Do Not Disturb feature on her phone would silence the incoming text.
His phone rang with a call from Mom. “Hey. How’s Tara?”
“Asleep for now,” she whispered. “But I need you to go by the coffee shop. Bring six coffees with cream and sugar and seven sausage-and-egg biscuits. Can you do that?”
“Sure.” He picked up the truck keys from the counter and went outside. “I’m assuming you’re at home.”
“No!” she snapped. But she didn’t say anything else, and he waited.
His mom sounded irritable again. She’d had insomnia off and on since his dad died, and when it was at its worst, she snapped and growled her way through the day. But this cynical, ill-tempered woman wasn’t who she’d been when he was growing up. She’d been kind and giving and laughed a lot.
“Mom?”
“Yeah. I’m here. Sorry, Gavin. I…I’m trying to do better, to be better. Apparently it’ll take more than just deciding to change. Guess the upside is that you’re a patient son.”
He couldn’t find his tongue. Wow, just…wow. What had caused her to see the issue? “Not a problem, Mom. It’s a rough time for you.”
“Thanks, sweetheart. I’m not at home, or I’d make my own coffee.”
He started his truck. “I’ll be at the café in five. I just need to know where you are.”
“The gazebo near the lighthouse.”
“At dawn? Why?”
“You’ll know as soon as you get here. See you in a few.”
* * *
Birds chirped loudly, waking Tara. She tried to open her eyes. Her head was on a pillow, and a blanket was over her, but what was the hard surface under her? Where was sh—
Oh. Oh no…Fresh grief pressed in, ripping at her heart. Gut-wrenching memories of waking in the hospital and burying her brothers flooded her. She sat up, wiping tears. It felt as if she were learning the news for the first time. No wonder that when she fell asleep on that plane and dreamed of her brothers being alive, she woke up believing it.
A noise caught her attention, and she looked up. She was inside a gazebo. A foggy memory floated through her mind. She came here last night, but last night this place was a typical empty gazebo with benches. Now there was a beanbag chair, two air mattresses, and a lawn chair, each with blankets and pillows.
“Hi, sweetie.”
Tara started at the woman’s sudden appearance and blinked. Oh, it was Julep.
She sat on the bench next to Tara and circled her arm around Tara’s shoulders and squeezed. “Waking is the hardest. It’s as though sleep shifts the weight off you and waking returns it tenfold. I can’t really understand or imagine what you’re going through, but I lost my husband eighteen months ago. We’d been married thirty-two years and in love for even longer.”
Why was Julep sharing things that Tara had no strength to carry? Tara looked away and was startled again. Dell, Sue Beth, and Luella were there too.
Julep patted her shoulder. “A recap: we found you last night and wanted to be sure you were safe. So one of us stayed by your side while the others got some creature comforts. Hadley and Elliott came to check on you at separate times during the night, but Hadley’s three aren’t sleeping well, and all of them were up most of the night. Since I’ve not heard from them in the last hour, I imagine they’re catching a bit of sleep. And we are here for you.”
Julep looked from her friends to Tara and back again. Was she nervous?
Dell took a step toward them. “Other than maybe a glimpse or two of Julep, you haven’t seen us since your friends arrived, and I know what Julep said sounds strange. And we know we’ve been awful to you, and no amount of gifts can make up for it. But we’re here for you, hoping you’ll let us help.”
Why would Tara want their help? And why did she feel so apathetic toward others? She couldn’t explain it, but then she shouldn’t have to. “I just want to be left alone.”
“And that’s fine in due time,” Luella said. “Right now isn’t that time. Take a few minutes to think about it. You’ve needed someone by your side since you landed here.”
Memories of arguing with Elliott before storming off hit hard. Maybe Tara should be horribly embarrassed by how she’d behaved yesterday, but her broken heart seemed to eclipse everything else.
Dell crouched near her. “Since it’s our understanding that you don’t intend to return to North Carolina just yet, why not let us be your soft place to land? Just for a few weeks. You’ll need a place to live, and we can provide that, free of charge.”
Despite their appearance of sincerity, Tara couldn’t get past the desire to be on her own. “That’s kind…and sort of creepy.”
“You need accommodations and a safety net, basically a whole situation.” Julep held out her arms and then gestured to her three friends. “We are that situation.”
Were they serious? They could be mean when the mood hit, and she had the puncture wounds to prove it! Julep had graciously given Tara and her friends a place to stay and fix meals. Apparently their current mood was kind and gracious. What would tomorrow’s mood be, especially once Tara’s friends were gone?
A broad-shouldered young man came around the corner of the museum. She didn’t need to blink twice to know who it was. Maybe Hadley and Elliott thought he was valiant, but all he’d proved to Tara was that he was good at pretending. He could look her in the eye, probably wanting to be free of her, and act like he’d been hired to repair the roof of her damaged home.
She’d acted like a fool, and he let her, knowing the truth the whole time. Why couldn’t he go away and leave her to stew in her embarrassment? Regardless of the head injury and delusions about her brothers, she shouldn’t have been so stupid to believe his house was hers.
Still…
She closed her eyes. What she wouldn’t give to go back to not knowing.
Gavin slowed as he entered the gazebo. “Hi.” He had a tray of coffee and a bag of what had to be food in his hand. He held out the tray of coffee to Tara.
She backed away. “No, I’m good.”
The women took the coffee and bag from him.
“Thanks, Gavin.” Julep took a sip of the coffee. “We were telling Tara that she could stay with us, any of us really, and each one of us wants to house her.”
A breeze caused wisps of Tara’s hair to cross her face. She raked her hands through it and tucked what she could behind her ears. “I appreciate the offer…or at least I’m trying to, but please go back to your lives.”
“But, honey,” Sue Beth said, “you need us.” All four women nodded and moved in a little closer.
“Look”—Tara glanced at each woman—“you want to help. I get that. But you can’t make my loss more tolerable, and I sure as blue blazes don’t need
strangers breathing down my neck, thinking they know what’s best for me. I forgive you for the way you treated me. Now please stop being my shadow. Despite how it seems, I can take care of myself.” She just wanted to find a hole—somewhere out of sight—and crawl into it until some of the pain eased. She had a little money set aside and no bills to speak of, so she’d be okay while licking her wounds.
She went down the few steps of the gazebo and started across the lawn. The sound of footfalls caused her to turn around. Gavin was right behind her. “What’s your deal? Go tend to your mamas. Go back to your life. You have your house back, and—” A fresh thought worked its way free. “Oh, that’s right. You need me.”
“Need you?” His brow creased.
“I’m your connection to the shiplap thief.”
“Uh, no, you’re not.” His demeanor hinted of a man she’d yet to meet—one less patient and less agreeable. “I’ll handle that on my own. But unless you’ve changed your mind about not going back to North Carolina with your friends, you should take my mamas up on their offer.”
“So that’s why you want me to stay—to be chivalrous or at least pretend to be, right?” He wanted her help. She was sure of it, but he didn’t have it in him to be honest about it.
He pursed his lips and sighed. “I did a lot of pretending, and I’d be angry too if I were you.”
“I’m glad you approve.”
“Okay.” He splayed his hands, barely opening them, as if gently surrendering. “I’m the target of your anger. I get it. And my mamas are too. But the bottom line is Hadley and Elliott are not going to leave you in St. Simons on your own. And for good reason. It has not gone well for you, believe it or not. You are essentially homeless without money or resources. Maybe you have friends in a different state that you can spend time with. I don’t know. But if you choose to stay in St. Simons Island, you’ll have to prove to your friends that you have someone to look after you.”
She barely held back a scream. “I’m perfectly fine looking after myself!”
“Oh, sweetie.” Julep started toward her with her arms held out.
Gavin held up one hand to his mom, and she stopped cold. “No, Tara, you’re not. You will be. Maybe as early as a couple of weeks from now. But not yet.”
Who did this man think he was? “Do you tell everyone around you how they will handle things?”
“If the situation calls for it, yep. Case in point, what do you need to do this morning to care for your health?”
What? She tried to piece together what he meant, but it was too much of a riddle. “That’s not the point.”
“It is precisely the point. And the answer is that you need to take the medicine the doctor prescribed. That will include two pills, to be taken after you’ve eaten, and a breathing treatment.”
“I would’ve remembered that. I just woke up and haven’t even had my first cup of coffee before you started in on me.”
“I offered you coffee.” His faint smile wavered a bit.
“Fine.” Tara removed the shawl from her shoulders. “I’ll go back with Hadley and Elliott.” How was she going to cope living in a place that came with a dozen memories per minute? She shoved the wrap against Gavin’s stomach. “Happy?”
“No. If you want to stay, then do so. Just agree to the terms.”
“Your terms.”
He rubbed one temple. “Hadley and Elliott are beating themselves up for letting you come here on your own.”
“Then let them say so. This argument is between them and me. You’re not part of it.”
“I’m saying so.” His soft-spoken voice held confidence and authority, but his demeanor had no hint of threatening behavior.
“You just took it upon yourself to fight the battle for Hadley and Elliott.”
He said nothing. Apparently the conversation was over. Maybe if she solved his shiplap situation, he would see that she was clearheaded enough to be on her own. She’d overheard Gavin leaving voice messages for the buyer-turned-thief. He had the man’s number, and even though Gavin didn’t believe she’d seen the man face-to-face, she’d easily convince the buyer of the truth.
“Do you still have my phone?”
“I have it.” Sue Beth held up a purse the size of a bowling bag. “It’s in here somewhere.”
“Find it, because I can identify the shiplap thief. I’ll tell the buyer Gavin had the original deal with.” Tara held out her palm toward Sue Beth.
“What?” Gavin glanced at his mamas. “No. I want you to stay out of it. These men are shady.”
“Just let me do this one thing. Your shady guy will never know who I am.”
“No.”
“You don’t want me to prove I can think clearly enough to be on my own. Is that it?”
“This conversation is over. I’ve said what I needed to.”
Sue Beth stepped forward, holding out a phone. “I found it.”
Tara tapped on the photo app and showed a picture of her wounds from a week ago, zooming in on the bruises. “This is what that guy did to my arm.”
Julep leaned in, studying the phone in Tara’s hand. “You took photos of your injuries?”
“Hadley did, wanting to take note of my injuries while they were fresh so we could talk about everything once I was feeling clearheaded. And we did, although I’m not sure why she used my phone to take the pictures instead of hers. But it’s proving to be convenient, so let’s put it to good use.” She looked to Gavin. “Your shiplap guy’s number?”
He shook his head. “Nope.”
“I’m not putting myself in harm’s way if that’s your concern.”
“Just let it go. Your head wasn’t in a good place that night. You can’t pretend it was.”
She couldn’t argue against the fog of confusion she’d been submerged in when that man came into Gavin’s home. Even now, her grief and the unreality of her world jumbled her thoughts, but to get everyone to leave her alone, she had to sound like an intelligent, grounded woman.
Dell waved her phone in the air. “I got it. Took me a few to find the name of the company in a text Gavin sent.”
Gavin looked at Dell. “What are you doing? Trying to prove you’ll be her buddies? That you’re the ones to stay with because you know how to help her do whatever she wants, regardless of how unwise or unsafe the plan is?”
“Gavin.” Dell thrust her phone forward. “We need that money to go toward the balloon payment. All of us are in the same fight to make that balloon payment, and if she can help, we—”
“No. The guy is sleazy. I don’t want him thinking Tara could testify against him, and I don’t want him having any of your phone numbers.”
“But if we gave her the buyer’s contact info and she anonymously sent a photo of the bruises,” Sue Beth said.
His eyes narrowed as he looked at each mom. “Stop this.” His voice was hardly more than a whisper. “Now.”
Dell lowered her phone. “Sorry, Tara. I…I can’t.”
Sue Beth’s smile held an apology. “Sorry,” she whispered.
Apparently God had spoken.
Tara rubbed the bruise the thief had caused when he shoved her down before storming out of the house. “This whole thing reminds me of a bad movie where the men know exactly what needs to be done and the women are too stupid to figure out anything useful.”
“This is no movie, Tara.”
“And I’m not a useless oaf. During my worst days when I completely believed my dream that my brothers were alive, I still managed to rescue a girl trapped by the incoming tide, and I stopped that man from stealing any of the shiplap in the house.”
Fresh hurt roiled through her. Her thoughts and opinions used to matter. Is this what it would be like now because of her head trauma? People would assume she was too addled to know what she knew to be true? Her e
yes filled with tears.
“Honey, you okay?” Sue Beth asked.
Tara wiped her tears. No. And she wouldn’t be for a really long time, maybe not ever. But it was time to gather her belongings and get off this island. Her thoughts shifted to her suitcase and Darryl’s rock. Since relearning the truth of her brothers’ deaths, she’d been missing Darryl’s rock but had forgotten where it was until now. Apparently no one else had given one thought to the fact that she might have come to the island with a suitcase. “I need my suitcase from the hotel.” She went to the bike she’d taken from Gavin’s shed.
“You’re sure no one’s picked it up for you yet?”
She nodded her head. “Apparently, no one’s thought about it, including me. It’s at the Lighthouse Inn, not far from here.”
“You can’t carry a suitcase on that bike,” Julep said. “Sue Beth will go with you to my house.” Julep hurried down the gazebo steps. “Luella’s car is still parked at the store from when we carpooled yesterday. She’ll go by the hotel and get the suitcase. We’ll meet you at my house in just a bit.”
Tara nodded. Sue Beth grinned as she tiptoed across the dewy grass, apparently trying to avoid getting her bare feet wet.
Tara didn’t wait. She got on the bike. It was time to go see Hadley and Elliott and make plans to head back to North Carolina.
22
“Why?” His mom stood at the foot of the gazebo, her hands on her hips. “Why are you determined to run her off?”
Gavin remained in place, watching Tara go down the sidewalk on the bike. “You’re not thinking about this situation for what it is. You’re romanticizing it.”
“That’s not fair.” His mom waved her index finger at him. “First we’re selfish where she’s concerned, and then when we reach out, we’re doing it for the wrong reasons?”
“Yeah.” Dell shrugged. “I’m confused too. We were trying to help her. Isn’t that what you wanted, for us to see her value and be kind?”
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