by Sally John
She blew out a breath. “Other people are going to be affected. That’s why the time isn’t right.”
“But when will it be right?”
“I’ll know when I know. Trust me?”
Maiya gazed back at her for a long moment. Her forehead lost its furrows. “That was really the nicest thing she ever said to you?”
Teal nodded. “Her allegiance was to Owen.”
“Why?”
“Because he demanded it. He saw me as a threat.”
“Why?”
“He’s a-a . . .” An infantile fool. “A needy person who never could share her attention with others. Lacey was an exception, although I remember the older she got, the more she was left on her own. If it was his dinnertime, Randi was not allowed to go pick her up or watch her play soccer or anything.”
“That’s sick.”
“It is.”
“Mom, I’m glad you’re my mom. You say nice things to me all the time. And I’m glad River isn’t like Owen at all.”
Teal felt dampness beneath her eyes. The mascara was going to get messy again.
Chapter 34
NORTH OF CEDAR POINTE
“Excuse me. Excuse me.” On Friday night, River wound his way through the small crowd at the very small Oregon airport. At long last he spotted his girls.
Maiya was jumping to get his attention, her ponytail and arms waving. Beside her stood Teal, smiling but subdued, as if the weeks’ separation had taken more out of her than she admitted. She wore her denim jacket, his favorite red T-shirt underneath. She looked amazingly good in red.
“Riv!” Maiya squealed.
He hurried through the security doorway before Maiya breached it and dropped his duffel bag to catch her in his arms.
“Oh, Riv! I would have absolutely died if you hadn’t come!”
“Me too, Minnie McMouse. Would have absolutely died.” Over her shoulder he grinned at his patient wife, her expression forlorn, brows raised and the corners of her mouth drooping.
He winked at her. Whenever he and Maiya shared a moment like this one, Teal went somewhere else. The first time he caught her at it, he asked her what was wrong. She tilted her head in that way of hers and said nothing was wrong. She was simply grateful beyond words that Maiya had him for a dad.
How could he have even considered getting accustomed to their absence?
Then Teal was in his arms, such a perfect fit, and he kissed her for a long, long time.
“Mm.” He looked into those magnificent gray eyes and smiled. “Okay, it was worth it.”
She smiled. “You mean the seven hours it took to get here?”
“It was ten hours and some change. First the drive to LAX, then the wait time there. Crazy. All that time just to hop up the coast.” He kissed her again and forgot about the four-hour layover in San Francisco.
She spoke, her lips brushing against his. “You might as well call it an even twelve since it’s a bit of a drive to Cedar Pointe.”
“Whatever.” Travel time did not matter at this point.
Maiya elbowed him. “Psst. People are watching you two. They think you’re weird.”
He laughed with Teal, and together they pulled Maiya into their circle, making it a family hug. He felt deeply contented and happy.
And then they discussed dinner, the lack of decent restaurants, especially the lack of decent restaurants open after 8 p.m. Maiya whined that she really would have died on her birthday tomorrow if River had not come. She would be sixteen without any friends to celebrate with her. She couldn’t even go to the DMV on Monday and get her driver’s license. How unfair was that?
The tension that he’d heard daily in Teal’s voice over the phone showed plainly in her bunched shoulders and in the smile that kept slipping. She said her mother had suddenly become sociable, Lacey’s in-laws had arrived earlier in the week—nice enough but always around—and she hinted at more issues that they would discuss later.
River wondered if their reunion at the airport would be remembered as the best part of his weekend in Camp Poppycock.
Saturday morning, from his wicker chair on the front porch of the cottage, River spotted Maiya through the screen door. “Happy birthday, Minnie McMouse!” he shouted. “Woo-hoo!”
Maiya, still in her purple flannel pajamas and eyes at half-mast, held up a hand in greeting and shuffled into the kitchen.
Across from him, Teal called out, “Happy birthday, honey!” She smiled at him. “You know if you two hadn’t stayed up half the night watching Anne of Green Gables DVDs, her birthday could have started before lunchtime.”
“Hey, that was the slumber party she’s not getting.” He and Teal had been discussing how hard this birthday would be for Maiya away from home and friends and her traditional sleepover. “If we were back home, I’d probably vote for a day off from being grounded. She could have at least spent some time with a few friends.”
“But we’re not at home.”
He sipped his coffee and took in the scenery. It was a beautiful morning. He liked the scent of pine, the crisp air, the blue sky. Three other cottages faced the same green space. None of them appeared occupied, which made for a large, private green space. From what he could see of the neighborhood, there was nothing fancy about Cedar Pointe.
Teal said, “Are we still agreed to hold off Amber’s call until tomorrow?”
“Yes.” Shauna had phoned Teal the day before. They had decided to grant the girls a telephone reprieve. The only glitch was that Amber needed to tell Maiya that Jake had a new girlfriend. Not exactly the birthday gift they wanted to give their daughter.
And that was only one of the tidbits Teal had saved for conversation out of Maiya’s earshot. She said it was the biggie, though. They’d get to the others later.
It wasn’t like Teal to hesitate with him about anything. Except for those airport kisses, though, she had been generally ambivalent on every subject, from what to have for dinner, to whether or not to reply to a work e-mail, to what side of the bed to sleep on.
Maiya came outside, a glass of orange juice in her hand, and sat down on the porch step. “Thanks.” She leaned against the railing and yawned. “Can we still go to Happy Grounds for breakfast and then to the beach?”
“Sure,” Teal said. “We should still make it in time for low tide.”
Maiya had told them the list of things she wanted to do on her special day. It was more like a list of what to show River while he was in town. He felt bad for her, which probably explained why he’d stayed up so late with her watching chick flicks. They could at least pretend she had a slumber party.
Maiya said, “Maybe Aunt Lacey can come with us. She loves minus tide too. Riv, it is so cool. It’s like going to the aquarium but in real life.”
Chalk one up for Cedar Pointe. “Maiya, what do you really want to do most for your birthday? Don’t think about me. You’ve already seen the minus tide.”
“But it’ll happen again this morning and I want to go, really. It’s awesome. You won’t believe all the starfish and anemones.”
“Okay. What else?”
She shifted forward, moved her head as if she had a Gumby neck, set the empty glass on the step, and crossed her arms.
River recognized the signs and braced himself. He had lived and worked with guys most of his life. His experience with females was limited.
There were women like his mother and his first wife, Krissy, both fairly stable and even-keeled for the most part. Then there was his sister, so off the wall he rarely took her seriously. And then there was Teal. She was a handful, but in ways that intrigued him, in ways that kept him on his toes and made him want to be a better man.
And then there was Maiya, the hormonal adolescent, the roller coaster on a track that dipped and curved with little warning beyond the rubberneck move.
Hands down, guys were easier.
“Mom.” Maiya looked up at them. “Riv. What I want most for my birthday is to know who my biological father i
s.”
River felt himself sag, a sailboat dead in the water. There was nothing he could do about this one.
Teal’s face reddened and then all color drained from it. She opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again. “Not here,” she whispered.
Maiya’s jaw went rigid.
Teal cleared her throat. “When we go home. I’ll tell you when we go home.”
River watched them stare at each other like hockey players waiting for the puck to drop between them. It was a women’s face-off.
Teal had set herself up for a win or lose. There was no middle ground. If she did not come through, her relationship with Maiya would never be the same again.
Chapter 35
Lacey grinned at Will driving the van. Then she turned and grinned at Will’s parents in the middle seats. Then she grinned at Randi in the far backseat.
Everyone grinned at her.
Will laughed.
All was right with the world.
She caught the tender look on Nora Janski’s face. Like Will and William Sr., she was tall and slender. She resembled the hippie she claimed to have been in her younger years. Prim and proper William denied any such thing occurred. An honest-to-goodness hippie never would have attended the conservative college where they met.
Nora’s gray-streaked blonde hair was wavy and usually in a ponytail. She wore long skirts, colorful tops, sandals, and dangly earrings that she made herself. A faint scent of patchouli followed her around.
The woman was one reason everything was right with the world. Her presence made it so.
They had grown particularly close during Lacey’s illness when Nora and William spent more time in Cedar Pointe than in their retirement home in Phoenix, working in the shop they once owned and relieving Will of nurse duties.
Will braked at the curb in front of the semicircle of cottages. “There she is.”
Nora said, “The birthday girl.”
Lacey felt a flutter of excitement at the sight of Maiya, Teal, and River sitting on the porch at the far side of the green space. The official party was scheduled for dinner that evening, but Lacey simply could not wait until then to tell her niece happy birthday and to meet her brother-in-law.
Maiya spotted them and jumped to her bare feet. Laughing, she scurried across the grass to greet them as they all climbed from the van, shouting, “Surprise!”
Lacey embraced her. “Happy birthday, Maiya.”
“I can’t believe this.” She clung to her for an extra-long hug and whispered, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Lacey leaned back. “Baker wanted to come too, but somebody had to mind the store.”
“He’ll be at dinner tonight, though, right?”
“Yes.” Lacey was grateful that Maiya had one teenage friend. They had invited several of the regulars who had gotten to know her. The group’s average age was seventy.
She stepped aside as the others moved in for hugs. As predicted, Nora and William had adored Maiya from the moment they met and treated her like a granddaughter. Totally unpredictable was Randi’s response: she seemed delighted about being a grandmother and spent less time than ever with Owen. Uncle Will, the bomb, carried balloons from the van, completely at ease in his role.
He would have made a great dad.
Teal and River stood in front of the porch. Although she had seen photos of him, he was not what she expected. He was taller than Teal, but not by much, nowhere near Will’s height. His ponytail, blue jeans, brown sweatshirt, and flip-flops did not fit her image of Teal’s husband at all.
Lacey approached them. Her sister appeared less happy than usual, but Lacey would not blame herself this time. She had talked with Teal about the surprise and received an enthusiastic “By all means,” so she was not the root cause.
“Lace,” Teal said, “this is what’s-his-face.”
River chuckled. “‘What’s-his-face’?”
Teal smiled crookedly. “It’s your new name.”
Lacey stretched out her hand. “Compliments of our mother, who has trouble remembering her own. Hi, River.”
“Hi, Lacey.” He ignored her hand and gave her a quick hug. “Nice to meet you at last.”
“You too. Come meet my husband, the other what’s-his-face.”
His smile was warm, making him definitely cute enough for Teal. The five o’clock shadow, though, had the look of permanency. Evidently rugged suited her glamorous lawyer sister.
As Will shook River’s hand and took over the introductions, Lacey turned to Teal with wide eyes.
“What?” Teal said.
“He’s nice.”
“He’s perfect and I just seriously ticked him off. Did you bring the muffins for Maiya?”
“Yeah. Why would you seriously tick him off?”
She turned and headed into the cottage.
Lacey followed her. “I mean, he’s only here for two days.”
Teal opened a cupboard door, slammed it, and whirled around. “It’s better than answering his questions and removing all doubt as to exactly how despicable I am.”
“You’re not—”
“I am, Lacey. Believe me, I am.” She strode to the table, yanked out a chair, and plopped onto it.
Lacey sat down and took a deep breath. “You’re a good person, Teal.”
She smiled crookedly. “I don’t need the rah-rah spiel, Lace.”
“What do you need?”
“I need to save a little girl from spending half her time with a man she’s never met. I’m not sure if I can do that because I think her mom, my client, may have lied. I’m not sure if she really told the man he was a father.” Teal placed a hand over her mouth as if to stop more words from coming out.
“What does that have to do with you?”
Teal blinked. Her shoulders went up and down, up and down. At last she lowered her hand. “I-I never told him.”
“Never told who . . . ?” Lacey halted her question as the truth dawned on her.
Teal had never told Maiya’s father about the pregnancy or about Maiya.
No wonder she wasn’t telling anyone anything about him.
That evening, Lacey sank onto her recliner in the back room of the shop, pulled up the footrest, and smiled. Maiya’s party, still going at full tilt in the other room, had been a success, but she needed a break.
Nora walked in. “What are you smiling at, Miss Lacey Jo?”
Lacey giggled at the nickname, which she always heard as a term of endearment. It reminded her of childhood days when Nora, aka Mrs. J from Happy Grounds, had special names for every kid in town.
“I’m smiling because Maiya is happy.”
Nora rolled the desk chair over to the recliner and sat, her long skirt spreading out. “They don’t call this place Happy Grounds for nothing.” Her wide mouth seemed always on the verge of a grin.
Although the Janskis denied it, Lacey figured they named the place Happy Grounds thirty years ago because Nora was so full of joy. “Great lasagna. Thanks.”
“Thank you for letting me help. I wonder if Maiya said lasagna was her favorite because it would make feeding the twenty people we invited easier.”
“She might have. She’s not your typical sixteen-year-old, is she?”
“No. Teal has done a great job raising a conscientious young woman. Your sister has grown up nicely herself, except . . .” Nora paused. “She still seems to have that old barrier in place. It’s hard to get close to her.”
Without going into the details she had heard that afternoon, Lacey summed it up. “I think it’s Cedar Pointe memories.”
“Oh, most definitely. We all have issues with our hometowns, don’t we?” She laughed her infectious, belly-deep guffaw. “Lord, have mercy.”
Lacey smiled. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too. William was ready to head straight back down to Phoenix, but my curiosity got a little out of control. You know how I am, always wanting to hear about ‘our kids.’” She gestured quotatio
n marks. “I couldn’t pass up a chance to see firsthand one of the lost ones.” She leaned forward, her eyes bright, and whispered, “Can you believe it? She’s a mom, wife, and lawyer. Whoa! This is huge.”
It was huge for Nora. The woman had not only nicknamed, hugged, and given free sweet rolls to every Cedar Pointe kid who crossed her path for thirty years, but she had prayed that each one would reach their potential.
Until the cancer, Lacey had felt like an answer to that prayer for her. She was a young, fairly decent version of the former Mrs. J of Happy Grounds.
“Nora, I will never fill your shoes.”
“Honey, why would you want to when you’ve got your own that are just the right size?”
Lacey sighed. They’d had the conversation countless times. She felt like Teal had earlier in the day; she was not up for a rah-rah spiel. But she needed to vent. “My shoes are ugly and out of date.”
Nora cocked her head. One earring dangled. Its amethyst stone reflected the light. “Have you ordered a new pair?”
Ordered a new pair? “What—”
“Nora!” William’s shout preceded him into the room. “Nora!” He appeared in the doorway. “Cody’s on the phone and you’ll never guess.” He grinned. “He’s being reassigned to . . .”
Nora clenched her fists, squeezed shut her eyes, and grinned, waiting for what was obviously going to be good news.
“To Virginia!”
Nora sprang from the chair with a squeal and flung herself into William’s arms. They danced a jig, clapped their hands, hooted and hollered.
“Come on. He’s talking to Will.”
They scurried from the room, Nora chanting something about no more trips to Germany.
Cody had served overseas with the Marines for years. It had been difficult and expensive for her in-laws to see him and his family. To have him stateside was great news.
Eager to join this new celebration, Lacey lowered the footrest. It bumped the chair Nora had been sitting in as she listened intently, tuning in to Lacey’s heart more than her words. Offering a challenge rather than a platitude. Have you ordered a new pair?