Forever, With You

by Sophie Love

  This seemed to lift Chantelle’s spirits. “Yeah!”

  Emily smiled to herself. Like father, like daughter. Chantelle had taken to the sea in much the same way. When they sat side by side in the boat together they were like two peas in a pod. Emily loved that Chantelle had inherited Daniel’s adventurousness.

  Then Chantelle turned to Emily. “Will you come with us this time?” she asked.

  Emily was taken aback. She’d viewed the boat rides as special father-daughter bonding time. She’d never been invited. It had never even occurred to her to consider tagging along. That Chantelle wanted her there warmed her heart immeasurably.

  “Are you sure you don’t want it to be just you and Dad?” she asked.

  “I want it to be the whole family,” Chantelle said.

  Emily caught Daniel’s eye. He smiled tenderly. So Chantelle saw her as part of the family. It was an amazing feeling.

  Everyone hurried to get ready and soon they were loading the pickup truck with fishing gear and speeding down toward the harbor. When they reached the boat, Daniel helped them load everything inside, then guided them down into the boat gently.

  “Are we ready?” Daniel said.

  “Yes!” Chantelle cried. “Go fast, Daddy!”

  Daniel started the motor and steered the boat out of the harbor. Then he yielded to Chantelle’s demands and pushed the boat as fast as she could go.

  Emily gripped the sides as ocean spray splashed her face. Chantelle screamed with delight.

  “Last boat trip of the year,” Daniel said to Emily. “May as well make the most of it.”

  Emily just kept holding on tightly, gritting her teeth.

  Finally, Daniel slowed the boat.

  “This looks like a good spot to fish,” he said.

  He took the tackle out and helped Chantelle cast her line.

  “Do you think I’ll catch one today, Daddy?” she asked.

  “I bet you can,” Daniel replied, grinning. Then he looked at Emily and pulled a funny face. Chantelle hadn’t been able to catch a fish yet and clearly Daniel didn’t think she’d be able to today either.

  He cast his own line and Emily settled herself comfortably in the boat, watching them with contentment, laughing to herself at Daniel’s and Chantelle’s twin expressions of concentration. Silence descended upon them. Emily breathed in the salty air and listened to the sound of the water lapping against the side of the boat. Though they were silent, Emily felt even closer, even more like a family.

  “Is anyone getting hungry?” Emily whispered. “I brought snacks.”

  She took bags of chips out of her purse and handed them around.

  “These are too noisy to eat,” Chantelle complained. “The rustling will scare the fish.”

  “I think it’s time we took a little break anyway,” Daniel said. “A watched pot never boils and all that. If we’re quiet we shouldn’t scare them away too much. We cast the lines pretty far out, too.”

  Chantelle looked reassured by Daniel’s words. “What else have you got in your purse, Emily?” she asked.

  Emily laughed as she dug around inside and pulled out some apples and some chocolate bars. She handed them to the little girl.

  Chantelle looked suddenly glum.

  “What’s wrong?” Emily asked. Chantelle didn’t seem to want to speak. Emily reached out and touched her hand. “Are you worried about us being too noisy for the fish still? We don’t have to have snacks yet if you don’t want.”

  “It’s not that,” Chantelle mumbled. “It’s just that we never used to do things like this. Me and Mom. But…”

  She paused, and Emily and Daniel fell completely silent, their expressions becoming welcoming, encouraging Chantelle to open up to them. The little girl rarely offered insight into her past life with Sheila, though both Emily and Daniel knew that there was a lot she’d need to talk about, and numerous experiences she’d need to untangle, to make sense of.

  “Go on,” Emily said, urging her.

  “...but we did have picnics,” Chantelle said. “When Mom didn’t have enough money to pay back the tall man she’d make us a picnic and we’d go to the parking lot around the back of the liquor store.” She held up her cheesy chips. “This was Mom’s favorite flavor,” she added. Then she picked up the chocolate bar. “And my favorite candy.”

  For the first time, Chantelle was telling them a positive memory from her childhood, but it was still utterly heartbreaking. Emily was in no doubt that the tall man Sheila owed money to was a dealer, but at the very least she hadn’t subjected Chantelle to any violence or threats at his hands. And she’d turned their running away and finding sanctuary in a parking lot into a game for Chantelle’s sake, shielding her from the trauma of their reality.

  “I’m so glad Mom let me come and live with you, Daddy,” Chantelle added. “And you, Emily. And Rain and Mogsy. I like our family and our house here so much. I don’t even miss the sunshine.”

  Her last little statement made tears swim in Emily’s eyes. She reached out for Daniel’s hand and held it tightly, knowing full well his heart would be aching just as much as hers was.

  “Will we be a family forever?” Chantelle added, a pleading tone in her voice. “You, me, and Emily?”

  Daniel looked over at Emily. She smiled sadly. None of them could answer that question at this moment in time.

  “Forever is a really long time,” Emily said. “How about we concentrate on now, and worry about forever another time?”

  She stroked Chantelle’s hair. The little girl held onto her tightly, her small arms more powerful than expected. Daniel encircled the both of them, and held them as the boat bobbed in the water. Finally, Chantelle stirred. Her face was blotchy and red from shedding tears.

  “Do you want to go home?” Emily asked.

  She shook her head, defiantly. “Not until I’ve caught a fish.”

  Daniel shot Emily a glance over her head, one that seemed to communicate that he thought they were going to be there a long, long time. Emily couldn’t help but smile. Even if she didn’t know whether there was a forever in this family, she did know that she loved Daniel and Chantelle with all her heart and that that was enough for her, for now.

  Against all the odds, a few minutes later Chantelle cried out. “I got something! I got something!”

  Daniel sprang up and went over to help her gently reel it in. Sure enough, the face of a fish popped out of the water. Together, Daniel and Chantelle heaved it in. Its scales glistened as it landed with a thunk on the bottom of the boat.

  Chantelle crouched down, gaping at it. “Emily must be my lucky mascot,” she said.

  Emily beamed with happiness.

  “Nice work, sweetie,” Daniel said. Emily could tell he was very proud. Then to Emily he added, “There’s dinner.”

  When the boat returned to the harbor, Emily saw that many of the townsfolk were milling around.

  “What’s going on?” she asked Daniel.

  He smiled. “The whole town turns out to see the boats being docked for the winter. It’s like a town tradition.”

  “Of course it is,” Emily said with a smirk.

  Emily hopped out and then helped Chantelle clamber out of the boat. Looking around, Emily saw that there were lanterns dotted along the sidewalk with little candles burning inside them. It was beautiful. Someone had a large cauldron set up and the sign on the front said Spiced Apple Cider. People wandered around with cheerful expressions, wrapped in mittens and scarves. There was even a small group of musicians playing folk songs on acoustic guitars and violins.

  Just then, Emily heard the sound of a fog horn. Chantelle gasped and clapped her hands over her ears. It was like some kind of command for the boats to begin being hoisted in from the water. Emily laughed to herself at this strange town with its funny traditions.

  Emily stood at the edge of the harbor holding hands with Chantelle. The little girl was bundled up in soft mittens but Emily still reveled in the intimacy. She’d ha
d a wonderful time out on the boat with the girl and Daniel, and the whole thing had been made even better by Chantelle’s sweet comments. She was truly starting to feel like she was part of a family.

  Side by side, they watched as Daniel’s boat was hoisted from the water and docked for the winter. There was something melancholy about the whole thing. Daniel loved his boat, and Chantelle in turn had grown to love spending time with her dad out on it. Emily wondered what they’d do instead. He could hardly take her out on his motorcycle, and who in their right mind enjoyed trips in the pickup truck? They’d have to find another activity to do together but what that might be, Emily couldn’t think.

  Once his boat was docked, Daniel joined them, Chantelle’s precious cargo in a freezer box by his feet, and together they watched the other boats being hoisted up. Emily felt a strong sense of community, as she often did in Sunset Harbor.

  When the final boat was brought in, a foghorn sounded once again.

  “That’s it for the year,” he said. He sounded somber.

  “You look like you need a spice apple cider,” Emily said, nudging him. “And I’m pretty sure Chantelle would like a candy apple.”

  “If it’s okay,” Chantelle said in a timid voice, “I’d like to go home.”

  “Of course,” Emily said. “I can cook your fish for dinner.”

  As they walked back to the car, hand in hand, Emily noticed how gray the sky was becoming, and how much sooner. With so many of the clubs and pubs that had opened for the winter closing down there were hardly any lights shining down on them. Soon some of the stores that only existed to serve tourists would be shutting up too. Sunset Harbor was beginning to feel very empty, with just the true locals left.

  The thought warmed Emily. She really was a local now. She, Daniel, and Chantelle. A proper local family.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Emily peered up at the enormous cobwebs on the ceiling, strung between the crystals of the chandelier to the picture frame and onto the large baroque mirror. A ghastly black spider clung to the silk, its legs arched as though about to spring. Chantelle stood beside her, peering up with a nonplussed expression.

  “I told you I’m not scared of spiders,” Chantelle said nonchalantly.

  “You mean to say that’s not even the slightest bit spooky?” Emily asked. “That spider is the size of Mogsy!”

  Chantelle shook her head and grinned mischievously. “Nope. Spook factor zero.”

  Emily raised an eyebrow. “Since you’re the sudden expert on all things ghastly and ghoulish, why don’t you tell me how to decorate this place for Halloween?”

  Much to Emily’s disappointment, no guests had booked into the B&B over the Halloween holiday. It was a stressful situation, but rather than succumb to her mounting despair about her dwindling finances, Emily decided to invite Chantelle’s school friends over for a party before they all headed out trick-or-treating. It was another milestone for the family, another public holiday for them to experience together. Emily wanted to make the day as special as possible for Chantelle; the child was so reminiscent of Charlotte, who herself had adored Halloween, that Emily couldn’t help herself from overindulging.

  Emily loved giving Chantelle every opportunity to flex her creative muscles, and it delighted her to watch as Chantelle redesigned the decorations with great flourish. Her theme was ghosts, and she directed Emily, Daniel, and Serena (when she arrived a little later) to hang sheets over the furniture, spray flour around to make the place seem dusty and abandoned, and write strange messages in all the mirrors.

  “Should we be worried about her morbid imagination?” Daniel asked Emily as he finished writing an epitaph with a Sharpie onto a cardboard tombstone.

  Emily laughed as she poured red food coloring into a glass jar filled with lemonade labeled “blood.” “She’s hardly Wednesday Addams.”

  Just then, Serena walked in, a bottle of ketchup in her hands. “Chantelle wants me to fill the bathtub with this stuff.”

  Daniel’s eyes widened with shock. “I don’t think so. We’ll have parents calling us up complaining that we gave their kids nightmares.”

  Chantelle rushed into the room wearing an old white nightdress that Emily had dug out from the attic for her. Her face was painted completely white. She’d even rimmed underneath her eyes with eyeliner.

  Emily startled. Chantelle looked so much like Charlotte. As kids they’d loved dressing up, using whatever they could find around them to create costumes, and seeing Chantelle as a ghost made Emily remember a game they’d played in which they were ghosts haunting a boarding school.

  “You look terrifying Char—Chantelle,” Emily said, shaking her head. She fought to keep herself in the present moment and not slip back into her memories.

  Hands shaking, she grabbed her phone and took a photo of the little girl. But as she looked back at the picture, the similarity between Chantelle and Charlotte was eerie and unsteadying. She could almost be looking at a picture of her sister.

  The doorbell rang, startling Emily out of her reverie. Serena went to answer it, returning a moment later with Owen in tow. He was dressed as Where’s Waldo and smiled his self-conscious smirk.

  “I wish someone had told me only kids would be wearing costumes.”

  Serena picked up the ketchup bottle from where she’d left it, opened the lid, and suddenly squirted herself in the stomach. A huge red stain spread across her white lace top. Chantelle exploded with giggles.

  “There,” Serena said, spreading ketchuppy finger marks across her clothes. “Now we’re both dressed up.”

  Owen laughed, clearly amused by her antics.

  Emily gestured for the bottle. “Hand it here. I’ll be a dead person too.”

  Chantelle clapped with delight as Emily ketchupped herself. Emily loved these moments, where things felt free and easy and fun, where all their cares melted away. When Chantelle was laughing with abandon Emily forgot all about the looming back taxes on the inn and the mystery of her father.

  Feeling mischievous, Emily pointed the bottle at Daniel like a weapon. “Shall we get Daddy too?” she said, grinning to Chantelle.

  “Don’t you dare,” Daniel warned as Chantelle ran to Emily’s side. “This is my favorite shirt.”

  Being on a team with Chantelle was the best feeling in the world for Emily. Goaded on by her ally, Emily squirted. Daniel yelled out as a huge streak of ketchup exploded across his chest all the way from his right shoulder to his stomach. He glared in mock anger. Chantelle squealed, delighted by the whole thing. Deep inside her soul, Emily felt the bonds of their family strengthening.

  *

  Yvonne was the first to arrive at the party. The second Emily opened the door, Bailey rushed past like a tornado in search of Chantelle.

  “I’m supposed to be Jessie from Toy Story Two,” Yvonne explained, kissing her friend on the cheek. “But I just look like a generic cowgirl. What are you supposed to be?”

  Emily looked down at her ketchup-stained chest. “I think I’m a murder victim.”

  As Yvonne went inside to join the party, Emily saw Suzanna’s car pulling up in the drive. Toby was dressed as a vampire but Suzanna wasn’t in costume.

  “I’m far too self-conscious for that,” she explained as she came inside.

  “Well, if you change your mind there’s plenty of ketchup,” Emily said with a laugh.

  More kids from Chantelle’s class arrived: Ryan in a Superman cape, Mika in an elaborate princess gown, Gabriella dressed as a black cat. Emily swelled with pride to know that Chantelle had made so many friends and that the parents of Sunset Harbor had accepted her with open arms. Having them all congregating here made Emily feel like a linchpin of the community for the first time.

  The kids ran around the inn excitedly, chasing each other, knocking over bowls of chips, sticking elbows into salsa dips, while Daniel tried (and failed miserably) to keep some kind of order.

  There was a sudden crash. Levi, one of the more boisterous of the
kids, had knocked a decorative plate from the wall. Shards of porcelain surrounded him like some kind of ritualistic circle of salt.

  “I think we should take that as a cue to go trick-or-treating,” Emily said, more than ready to herd the kids out.

  Chantelle led the way, directing her gang across beautifully decorated lawns and toward the large houses in their neighborhood, speaking confidently to whoever opened the door. As they went, Daniel strolled along with Emily, his arm around her waist.

  “She seems to be really settling in,” he said.

  Emily nodded and Daniel pulled her more tightly into him.

  “Watching her flourish is amazing,” he added.

  “Isn’t it though?” Emily replied, sighing with contentment. “We’re doing a good job, aren’t we?”

  “You are,” Daniel said. “You two are as thick as thieves.”

  Emily frowned. “You don’t think you are?” she asked, a little concerned.

  “I don’t think I’m a natural like you. I don’t know how to have picnics with teddy bears or do hairstyles.”

  The kids bounded toward them, their baskets and bags brimming with candy. Chantelle ran up to Emily and Daniel.

  “Look!” she cried, pulling out some peanut butter cups and handing them to Daniel. “They’re your favorite, right?” she said.

  Daniel accepted Chantelle’s offerings.

  “Thank you,” he stammered.

  Emily could clearly tell he was choking on emotion.

  Chantelle raced off to the next house, her gang of friends laughing, shoving, and babbling to one another. Emily nudged Daniel and grinned.

  “That’s one bright kid we have on our hands,” he said, pride oozing from him.

  *

  Later that night, once the trick-or-treating was over and the kids had all returned home, once more candy than should ever be eaten in one sitting had been consumed, Chantelle went up to her room to play.

  Surprised that the girl was being so quiet when she usually tried to stay up as late as possible playing with the dogs or chatting away with Daniel and Emily, Emily went up to check on her. But when she entered Chantelle’s room it was dark and the girl was nowhere to be seen.