The Chesapeake Bride

by Mariah Stewart

  “Maybe you’re not as dumb as you look after all.” Ruby left the newspaper on the chair and went inside. “Then again . . .”

  THE FOLLOWING DAY, Owen and Cyndi spent the entire afternoon hashing out a plan to move forward. It hadn’t been easy, but eventually, with Kevin’s help, they’d managed to get on the same page. Owen drove back to Lincoln Road, rehearsing what he’d say to Cass when—if—she came back. He stopped at the local supermarket on the way and made a few purchases because he knew there was no food and nothing to drink at home. He went into the one liquor store in town and picked up a bottle of wine for her, a six-pack of beer for himself. He was almost out of the store when he spotted a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. The only thing he knew about the whiskey is that his father drank it when he was feeling particularly mean and wanted to get rip-roaring drunk. Rip-roaring drunk sounded pretty good right about then. Owen picked up the bottle and returned to the cashier and paid for it. He refused to examine the reasons why.

  Less than three minutes later he pulled into the driveway, hoping against hope that Cass’s car would be there. It wasn’t. He gathered his purchases and went into the dark, empty house. The air was still and his footsteps echoed on the old pine floors as he found his way into the kitchen. He hated the silence that hung in the room where he and Cass had laughed and talked every day they’d spent in this house together.

  He put the groceries away, then popped open a bottle of beer. Sitting at the kitchen table, he tried to make sense of his life. For years, all he’d wanted was the freedom to come and go as he liked. He remembered all too well the feeling his father had given his children when he’d made it clear he’d rather be somewhere else, that he would be somewhere else if it weren’t for them. As a child, Owen had felt guilty that he’d been responsible for having tied his father down. Wouldn’t he have been happier if Owen had never been born? Wouldn’t he have been free to leave, to go wherever he wanted?

  Owen was never, ever going to make anyone feel responsible for his unhappiness. So for years he’d kept moving. The closest thing he’d ever come to settling in one place was his marriage to Cyndi. They all knew how that had worked out.

  He finished off the beer and opened another.

  Funny, but he hadn’t felt tied down to Cass. He’d been happier than he’d ever been in his life. He’d not spent a minute with her when he wished he were somewhere else. With her, he’d felt more like himself than he ever had before. He’d felt loved. He’d felt anchored but not in a bad way. Right now he felt hollow. He wanted her to come back but didn’t know how to make that happen. He’d been so focused on his son over the past week, he’d almost forgotten about the woman he loved.

  Not true, he told himself. He hadn’t forgotten her. He’d just . . . neglected her. Failed her. Had he even told her he loved her? He wasn’t sure. How could he not know that?

  He tossed the glass bottle into the recycling bin across the room, and it smashed into the side of the container with a crack. He threw the second one in for good measure. He opened another beer and went out onto the back porch and sat on the top step. It was a beautiful night, and he should be sitting here with Cass. They should be looking up at the stars together. Owen remembered the night before they found out about J.J. He had looked down into Cass’s face and felt immense gratitude that she’d chosen him, that he was her guy.

  “You’re my guy,” she’d told him.

  Where was she now?

  He brought out the rest of the six-pack and drank until they were gone. He sat for a while longer and listened to an owl in one of the pine trees at the back at the yard. From somewhere off to the left another owl answered the call, and he heard the chatter as the two birds flew closer to each other. It was almost mating season, he thought.

  “Hope your luck’s better than mine is,” he muttered as he went back inside.

  The whiskey was on the counter where he’d left it. Owen stared at it for a long time before he took the bottle from the bag and opened it.

  IF SHE’D HAD any sense, she would probably have called first, but Cass was having trouble getting her thoughts organized and figured she’d use the time in the car on her way back to St. Dennis to rehearse what she was going to say to Owen. She’d been unable to sleep and decided she’d just as well get up and start driving. It wasn’t something that could—or should—be done by phone. She cared too much about the outcome of the conversation for anything but a face-to-face talk.

  It seemed Linda’s little warrior girl wasn’t gone at all. Cass was ready to fight if there was any chance she could keep Owen in her life. If he was already lost to her, she’d leave with her head held high, but this time, she’d say good-bye.

  It was still dark—half-past five in the morning—when she pulled up in front of the house. Owen’s Jeep was at the end of the driveway, so she had to park on the street. She unlocked the front door and went inside the quiet house. She left her bag on the desk inside the door and noticed the kitchen light was still on. She went in and found the empty beer carrier on the table. On the counter was an empty bottle of Jack Daniel’s.

  “Oh, Owen.” She sighed. “What have you done?”

  She looked in the living room, half expecting to find him passed out on the sofa, but he wasn’t there. She started up the steps, wondering how he’d managed to make it to the second floor after drinking a six-pack of beer and an entire bottle of whiskey.

  She stood in the doorway of the bedroom she’d shared with him and looked down at the sleeping man. He was on her side of the bed, her pillow in his arms, and she almost wept. She sat down on the edge of the bed next to him and he stirred. She wanted to lie down beside him, but he hadn’t left much room.

  Owen turned over and opened his eyes.

  “I knew you were here,” he murmured. “I felt you here.” He sounded amazingly lucid for someone who must have a horrendous hangover. “I’m sorry things got so screwed up this week.”

  “It’s not your fault. I know you were blindsided and you were trying to make things work with Cyndi. I don’t blame you for that.”

  “I think we’ve finally figured things out. She’s going to move to Ballard to stay with her folks until the wedding. I’ll be able to spend time with J.J., and maybe after a while he won’t look at me as if I’m the bogeyman.”

  Cass’s stomach turned into one big knot, her worst fears confirmed. So he and Cyndi were going to remarry and be a family after all. The truth took the fight out of her.

  “I should have told you. I should have let you know what we were thinking. It just took a while for us to get on the same page, you know? Decisions like that shouldn’t be made quickly.”

  “No, I understand. It’s the right thing to do. I was thinking that when I saw you together with J.J., you looked like the perfect family. I’m not surprised that you decided to try again. I wish you all the luck this time around.”

  Owen sat up and scratched his head, consternation on his face. “You wish who luck? What are you talking about?”

  “You and Cyndi. It’s the right thing to do.”

  “What’s the right thing to do?”

  “Marrying Cyndi and being a family for J.J.” The words burned her tongue as she spoke them.

  “You think Cyndi and I . . .”

  She nodded, and as difficult as it was for her, she remained calm. She’d known this was a possibility.

  “Cassie, I’m not marrying Cyndi.”

  “You just said she’s staying with her parents until the wedding—”

  “Her wedding to Kevin. He’s an accountant, and he’s applying for a job with a firm in Chesapeake City. He’s quite a guy, Cass. He’s giving up his job to move down here so that I can be a father to my son. I told Cyndi she should thank God that she found a man like that.” Owen took Cass’s hand. “You didn’t really think I was going to get back together with her, did you?”

  “You looked so happy together, laughing and playing with J.J.”

  “We were happy. Kev
in told us about the job right before you got to the store, and everyone was relieved, believe me. I didn’t get the chance to have that conversation with you because you left without telling me you were going. Kevin has saved us a nasty custody battle, and we all recognized the biggest loser would have been J.J. Cyndi and I had decided we’d both do all we could to make this as painless as possible for him. I want to be a good dad, Cass.” Owen seemed to think about that for a moment. “Actually, I want to be a great dad.”

  “You will be.” Cass studied his face. “You’re not in love with her?”

  “I haven’t been in love with her for years. Maybe I never was. But I am in love with you.”

  “I love you, too, Owen. I came back here to tell you that. I came back to fight for you if I had to, but then you were talking about doing the right thing for J.J., and it made me stop and think that maybe what was best for me wasn’t right for you and for him.”

  “Whatever you were thinking, you were obviously wrong.”

  “I’ve never been this happy to be wrong.” She took his face in her hands and kissed him, long and hard. Then she remembered what she’d seen in the kitchen. “Owen, was someone here with you last night?”

  “No, why?”

  “I saw the empty beer bottles and the empty whiskey bottle, and I thought maybe you had company.” She hesitated. “I never saw you drink more than a few beers, or some champagne at the wedding, so it didn’t seem possible that you drank all that stuff by yourself.”

  Owen groaned. “Do you know who I’d be if I drank a six-pack and an entire bottle of whiskey?”

  “The man on a gurney in the ER with his head in a trash can?”

  Owen laughed. “I’d have been my father. Actually, I was starting to feel like my father for reasons I can’t explain. So when I stopped to pick up the six-pack, I saw the Jack Daniel’s there, and something made me buy it. I was feeling sorry for myself because I thought I’d lost you. But I sat outside and thought things over, and after a while I started thinking I didn’t have to be my dad, I could be myself. I could be a good husband to you and a good father to J.J. and whatever children we have someday. I had a choice to make. I opened the bottle and poured the whiskey down the drain.”

  “You thought you’d lost me?”

  He nodded.

  “I thought I’d lost you.”

  “That makes us both idiots.” He gathered her close. “Look, this thing with J.J. is going to work out. I’m still angry with Cyndi for doing what she did, but at least when she learned she was pregnant and I was gone, she decided to go ahead and have the baby, and she kept him, so I’m giving her credit for that much. Not telling me still rankles, but I’m going to have to get over that. So I think it’s time we decided what we want for ourselves, for each other.”

  She opened her mouth to speak, but he held a finger to her lips and smiled. “I’ll go first. I want to marry you. I want the next baby in the family to be ours. I want to live happily ever after with you on Cannonball Island in that little house you’re planning on building.” Owen sat back. “Now it’s your turn. Go.”

  “What you said.” She kicked off her shoes and pushed him over on the bed to make room. “I do want to marry you. I do want to live happily ever after with you on Cannonball Island. But that little house isn’t going to have room for the two of us, J.J. when you have him, and another baby or two someday. I’m going to have to go back to the drawing board and see if there’s any way I can expand that little house to accommodate that family you’re talking about having someday. I may have to look at a different lot,” she said thoughtfully. “The one I had in mind isn’t going to be big enough to expand.”

  “There are more to choose from, right?” He pulled her down to lie beside him and turned on his side to face her. “You’ll make the right choice.”

  “Hmmm. Funny you should say that.” Cass rested both arms on Owen’s chest and leaned against him. “Ruby was talking about choices not so long ago.”

  “Of course she was,” Owen muttered. “What did she say?”

  “Something like, there were going to be choices made but not by me, and I had to wait and see. I told her I wasn’t a patient person, and she said maybe one of those choices would be mine after all.”

  “There were plenty of choices made these past few days. Cyndi chose to come clean about J.J., though it was a choice made under duress. Kevin has chosen to look for a job down here. I chose not to be my father. And I decided I was going to ask you to marry me, if you’ll have me.” He pulled her closer. “Will you, Cassie? Will you marry me?”

  “Of course I will. I definitely will.” She stroked the side of his face because she knew it comforted him.

  “Ruby said you were my heart.” Owen looked into the eyes of the woman he loved. “That if I lost you, I’d lose myself, and she was absolutely right. You’re everything to me. My everything and my always. Somehow Ruby knew.”

  Cass smiled. “Doesn’t she always?”

  Epilogue

  On Christmas Eve, the ballroom at the Inn at Sinclair’s Point was the vision of winter. The bride had wanted an all-white wedding, which meant Lucy had to go deep into her most creative place and figure out how to transform the great room into something resembling a blizzard—and she only had six weeks to pull it all together.

  “Most holiday weddings are relatively easy, compared to this one,” Lucy had told her mother. “Lots of red and green, all those poinsettias and evergreens. But Cass had this idea of all white, and that’s what she’s getting. It took me a while to figure out all the components, but I think everyone—including Cass—will be wowed.”

  Everyone was. White birches in white pots were placed at the front of the room, their branches arching together to form the focal point where the happy couple would exchange their vows. The room twinkled with thousands of tiny white lights in the birches and on the live Christmas trees that had been sprayed with white flocking. The table linens were all-white, and at the center of each table was a cloud of baby’s breath in a white terra-cotta pot. Even the favors—meringue kisses—were white, and were left at each place in a white box tied with white satin ribbon. The chairs were white, and the aisle—lined with smaller white trees—was marked with a white runner.

  The bride’s attendants wore white chiffon gowns and carried white roses. The bride wore a strapless lace dress with a train she’d fought her mother against having, but Linda Deiter was not to be denied. Cass gave in, but won the veil-or-no-veil argument. In her hair she wore white orchids, sans veil. She carried an all-white bouquet of orchids, roses, and stephanotis.

  At first, Owen had balked at wearing a white dinner jacket, but Cass had talked him into trying one on, and even he had to admit he looked pretty good, so she caved on his choice of socks—dark navy blue with orange crabs. Owen’s son, J.J., dressed in similar fashion right down to the socks, carried the rings in a fancy white box. He toddled his way up the aisle, taking his sweet time getting to where he was supposed to be, but eventually, he made it.

  The parents of the bride escorted her down the aisle. Linda wore a sleek cocktail dress with a white cashmere wrap under which she hid a stash of tissues, and a wristlet of white orchids. The mother of the groom wore a long dress with white chiffon ruffles and her Arizona tan.

  Lis and Cass insisted that Ruby, too, wear white, but since it was difficult for Ruby to get about in the cold weather brought by November, Vanessa took several dresses Lis thought might suit to the general store. The dress chosen by Ruby was white crinkled silk that had long sleeves and buttoned down the front. Because she was always chilled, a white cashmere cardigan completed her outfit. All went perfectly with her brand-new spotlessly white tennis shoes.

  It being the evening of December 24, Christmas carols were played throughout the night, and later in the evening the band encouraged everyone to sing along. Most of the color in the room came from the food, a buffet prepared by the inn’s chef, who was recognized as one of the masters
on the Eastern Shore.

  The bride and the groom danced their first dance to “From This Moment On,” and much to the surprise of his sister, Owen did not step on Cass’s toes nor did he make a spectacle of himself, so Lis assumed they must have been practicing. The dance floor was filled most of the night, and by the end of the evening, everyone was convinced this had been the best wedding ever.

  The newly married couple spent a week in Costa Rica, where, during the day, Owen renewed friendships and indulged his passion for diving while his bride indulged herself on the beach with a stack of books and a comfy lounge chair. From time to time a waiter brought her a cool drink. At night they dined under the stars, danced in the moonlight to a song only they could hear, and indulged their passion for each other.

  Every once in a while Cass took off the wide gold band he’d slipped on her finger and read the inscription:

  My everything and my always. My Chesapeake bride.

  Diary~

  Sometimes things work out exactly as they’re meant to. Oh, not always, but sometimes. I look back over the past few months and I can see where Fate has had her finger on the pulse in St. Dennis—in a good way.

  My sweet Alec—my sweet nephew—married his Lisbeth back at the end of September. She was a beautiful bride, I must say. My darling sister would have been thrilled to have been there to dance with her son, but she was fine with me taking her place. Not that I ever could, but for that one dance, yes, that was lovely. I know she was there with us, I could feel her beside Alec and me as we danced, and I know she was smiling. Which of course was the reason I couldn’t hold back the tears. Carole’s been gone for so many years now, and I still miss her every day. That I could feel her presence at such a happy moment, well, who wouldn’t have been overcome?

  The houses on the island are starting to come together nicely. Brian Deiter was able to have his way, and the dock he wanted was built on the bay side with just enough room for six small to medium-size boats. They’ve started to advertise in newspapers and magazines, particularly in the DC area, so we’ll see who shows up to buy a bit of the island. Cass has started building a home for her and Owen, not after all on one of the lots her father purchased. When she and Owen announced they were going to be married, Ruby would hear of nothing but that they rebuild her grandfather’s place over on that spit of land next to the point. I know Owen wanted to be closer to Ruby, but she’ll be fine. I understand Chrissie will be staying a little longer than she’d originally planned so she can spend some time getting in touch with her roots. About time, some would say.