by Dee Ernst
“I heard from Mike,” she began…
“And you know Marie Wu, don’t you?” I continued. “I imagine you’ve crossed paths with her at some point.”
She narrowed her striking blue eyes. “Yes. Hello Marie. Listen, Mike—”
“And this is Terri Coburn. She’s the one who talked me into moving down here in the first place. Terri, this is Mike’s ex-wife.”
Terri practically batted her eyelashes. “A pleasure,” she said.
Amy looked down and took a deep breath. “Perhaps you and I could speak privately?” she said.
I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so.” I was back in my realtor mode, wrestling with a client who couldn’t understand why the entire world had not bent to her will. “I’m really just trying to enjoy the Grove.”
“I will buy that lot,” she hissed.
I nodded. “Yes. And I understand you want a hotel? Well, I can certainly see the benefits to the town. After all, more tax revenue, more tourist dollars…why, all those pluses are hard to beat. Of course, all those people who could have been renting out their homes or condos will be a little upset, and I’m sure no one will appreciate the extra traffic and noise, and then there’s the whole parking angle…where, exactly, are all those cars going to go? Or are you going to try to change the ordinance about overnight parking on the street?”
Daniel stuck his hands in his pockets and was watching, his eyes bright. He nudged Marie and whispered something in her, sending Marie into a fit of silent giggles.
“You don’t care that’s it’s going to be right next door to your house?” She asked in a low, incredulous voice.
I shook my head. “You know, Amy, I’m trying to be a team player. I’m part of Cape Edwards now, and what’s good for the town is good for me.”
Her jaw dropped, and I looked over her shoulder to see Mike come through the door, his face grim.
I handed her my half-empty wine glass. “There’s Mike. Please, excuse me,” I said as I walked off.
I gotta say, the man certainly knew how to wear a suit. Naked he was pretty appealing, but in a dark navy suit that brought out the blue in his eyes…
I stopped in front of him and whistled slowly. “Hey, big guy, you sure do clean up good.”
He kept glaring at Amy. “What did she say?”
I shook my head and took him by the arm. “Nothing important. I take it your dinner is over? As much as I like the look of you all decked out, I bet you’d love to take that suit off and slip into something a bit more…accommodating.” I stood on my toes to whisper in his ear. “Like me?”
He looked down and his mouth dropped open. “Damn, woman, I though I was going to have to run in here and rescue you.”
I shook my head. “No, Mike. As much as I appreciate the gesture, I don’t need rescuing. Now, what I do need, well, that’s something we can talk about on the way over to your place.”
He kissed me. “Woman, you are an absolute delight. Let’s go and take care of that. Immediately.”
I spent the weekend doing little things: attaching the knobs to my kitchen cabinets, touching up the paint, screwing the covers over the electrical sockets. I was a little nervous over that one, convinced that I’d slip and send the screwdriver straight into the wires, electrocuting myself. Mike listened to my concerns with a relatively straight face, then went ahead and did them all himself.
Terri and Steve opted to work outside, mostly raking stray debris. Roofing nails, apparently, secretly multiplied by night, as I had been raking them up myself for weeks. I could hear the two to them talking, no distinct words, but the low rumble of their voices and an occasional laugh. Mike and I worked together, not really talking much at all, but I was aware of him, his body, how he moved through the house, the energy in everything he did. Joe’s nails clicked against the hardwood floor as he looked for a place to settle. He finally lay down in a patch of sunlight, streaming through the dining room windows, the windows that had not been there eight weeks before, the windows I had desperately tried to imagine.
It had all come together.
Late Sunday afternoon I was still looking for things to do, but Mike shook his head. “We’re all done here, Chris. There is nothing left. And, if I say so, it’s all perfect. You’ll pass your inspection. No problem.”
I still baked chocolate chip cookies at Terri’s though, and Tuesday morning Mike and I walked through the house with a silent, grim-faced man who stopped six times at the kitchen counter to eat a cookie or two. We’d already passed all the preliminary inspections: every mechanical had a separate inspection, and I knew we were not only up to code, we were over and above. Still, the inspector looked in places I’d almost forgotten about: behind the water heater, down in the crawl space, under the new porch. He finally shook my hand and welcomed me to the neighborhood, saying I’d receive the paperwork in the mail in seven to ten days, but I could move in any time.
The bed was already there, of course, and had even been tried and found to be quite big enough. I called for the couch to be delivered, then all the other things I’d ordered online. Then I began the tedious process of taking everything out of my storage container, including my mother’s rocking chair, and a small step-stool my father had built for himself, back in his high school shop class. Then there was everything I’d stashed in Terri’s guest room closet: new dishes and flatware and all new kitchen appliances, although I had kept Mom’s Kitchen Aid mixer, over thirty years old but still a workhorse.
Mike was busy across the street, as was Steve, but Karen and Judd helped one afternoon, and Stella and Dara spent an evening with me carrying boxes of books from the trunk of my car to the newly assembled bookshelves. It only took a few days for me to make it look exactly as I’d pictured it.
Daniel and Mike came over together, walking through. Daniel shook his head. “You lived with me for how long? And I never would have imagined that this is how you’d want your own home to look.”
I shrugged. “I was happy with your things, Daniel. And now, I’m happy with my own.”
Mike hugged me tightly. “This place is beautiful. I never knew the old you, but this is just what I’d expect from the woman I’ve come to know.”
Daniel, bouncing on the end of the couch, made a face. “But I would have expected a wall of bright orange, or maybe a purple sink in the bathroom. Isn’t this your year for taking risks?”
I laughed. “I’ve taken my share, Daniel. I’m quite happy to let things ride nice and easy for a bit.”
He leaned back. “Speaking of which, I close in two weeks. Celeste wanted me to invite you.”
“Sorry, I’m a working girl again. But I’ll see her and Connie on Sunday. I’ve invited them to my housewarming.”
Mike chuckled. “You’ve invited everyone to your housewarming. My crew is expecting to be fed, you know. You spoiled them rotten while they were here.”
“Not to worry,” I said. “Bogey’s is doing all the cooking. And I’ll put you in charge of the keg. That should take care of them, right?”
He grinned. “Yep.”
We heard Joe barking. “He’s after Bella again.” I said. “He’s a stubborn thing, isn’t he?”
Mike kissed me. “Not so much stubborn as hopeful.”
“Well, I hope he never catches her. As soon as he does, Amy could swing into action.”
“As soon as Amy realizes that she’s sitting with a piece of land she can’t do a thing with, she’ll try to sell it off fast. Course, she’d rather be buried on it than sell to you, but I think if an anonymous donation is made to the town, why, Cape Edwards will buy it up, just to keep old Bella safe from harm.”
Daniel cleared his throat. “Anonymous donor?”
Mike nodded. “Celeste. She’s already said she’s good for it.”
“Miss Ava will be pleased,” I said.
Daniel looked exasperated. “All these small-town machinations are simply astounding.”
“Well, you’d better get used t
o it,” I said. “You’ll be spending a lot of time here in the next year or two.”
He looked suddenly smug and very self-satisfied. “Yes. As I matter of fact, I will.”
Karen had been right. Apparently, I did invite the entire town, because people started showing up at the house just after noon, some of them total strangers, all of them eager to see what I’d done with the place. I shook my head in wonder as they wandered around my house, as though visiting a museum, some quite critical of my decorating choices. But quite a few people made comments about my armoire closet, telling me what a clever girl I’d been to think of that, so I really didn’t mind all that much.
Judd arrived early to take his last round of pictures, and set up a slide show on his laptop, right on the kitchen island, with all the pictures he’d taken of the work-in-progress. I still couldn’t believe the house had gone from a wreck of a shell to picture perfect in just two months.
I also couldn’t believe I’d met and fallen in love with Mike McCann in that same amount of time.
Because I did love him, deeply and fiercely, a kind of feeling I hadn’t had with any of the other men I’d loved before. Maybe it was because I was older now and realized how rare and precious it was to find someone at this stage of my life. Maybe it was because he had been the hardest won, someone I’d thought about and wondered about and yearned for, rather than have had him just drop at my feet. Or maybe because he was a rare man, a good man, and I knew how lucky I was to have him in my life. I hadn’t said the words. I didn’t dare. What I told Daniel about not taking any more risks was true. I wouldn’t do anything that might upset our chances for a future, and until I knew he felt the same way, I would be happy just knowing that I was the one he wanted to be with.
Celeste and Connie arrived, and Mike pushed Connie’s wheelchair around to the back patio, now furnished with weatherproof wicker and teak tables and chairs. I’d splurged at the last minute and, in my haste to have everything perfect for the party, bought out all the floor samples at Lowes.
Celeste walked through the house, and she somehow found all the pieces I’d brought from Rehoboth: the older books and framed pictures, mom’s embroidered pillow, and a picture my father had taken of a sailboat, simply sitting in the water, the sun behind it. It was almost a perfect composition, and he’d framed it, and now it hung in my hallway.
“You can tell the new things from the old,” Celeste said. “New things shout, hey, look at me, but old things reach out and whisper to you. You have to lean in and listen, and then, that’s when you can really take a good look. It warms my heart to see you kept so many old things. I bet your mom and dad are proud.”
Her words bought tears to my eyes, and I hugged her, a brief squeeze around the shoulders. She patted my arm. “I’m glad you’re living here, Christiana. I think this place will be good to you.”
“Now that I have kitchen, I’ll have you and Celeste over for homemade Sunday gravy, just like my grandmother made.”
“We’ll bring dessert. I found us a place, very nice. There’s a kitchen we can use. It’s very small, but then, our apartment wasn’t such a grand space.”
“What will you do, Celeste?” I asked her. “I know you loved working. Won’t you miss all the people?”
She shrugged. “I’ll meet new people. Just like you’re doing.” She waggled her finger at me, her nails painted a bright red. “It’s never too late, you know that. Especially for us women. We’re good at starting over.”
I followed her outside, then went back to the front porch to greet more guests. Olivia Kopecknie arrived, the blonde that had danced with Craig Ferris at the pier all those weeks ago. I’d seen her around town, of course. She was hard to miss. She introduced herself, shaking my hand warmly.
“I hope you don’t mind us popping in,” she gushed. “I just heard so much about the house.”
“Go on through,” I told her. “And there’s sandwiches and salads out back.”
She introduced the good-looking man she was with as Ken Malcolm, and she clung to him the way her capris clung to her curves. Daniel and Marie arrived together, looking, once again, like a couple in an advertisement for a luxury resort. Daniel kissed my cheek. “Please tell me there’s Stoli,” he asked.
I shook my head. “Daniel, I no longer have to cater to your every whim, remember? But there’s a keg out back.”
Marie lifted her tote bag. “Not to worry,” she purred. “As long as there’s ice, we can make our own.”
I shook my finger at her. “Don’t start to spoil him, Marie.”
She shrugged. “I won’t. But I have to admit, this is great vodka.”
Jenna and Craig Ferris arrived together. I was so happy for them. I’d gotten bits and pieces of their story from Terri and was glad they’d managed to find their way.
I stayed on the porch, basically directing traffic, so I wasn’t close enough to hear what was said when Jenna cornered Olivia Kopecknie, but from the fire in Jenna’s eyes I had a feeling Olivia was getting an earful. When Jenna came out on the porch, though, she seemed relaxed and happy.
“I’m glad to see you so happy, Jenna,” I told her. “Craig is so great. You and he…fit together.”
She smiled. “Yes, as a matter of fact, we do. Now, what about you and Mike McCann?”
I felt myself grin. I couldn’t help it. It pretty much happened anytime anyone mentioned his name. “We’re exploring possibilities.”
“That’s good. That’s very good. Mike seems a good guy.”
“He is. I’m not so sure about his brother.” I stopped.
Terri had become friendlier to him, and I could see through their body language that she was moving closer to him and wanting physical intimacy. I couldn’t blame her. I could also see that she was beginning to care for him as a person, and not just an idea. I remembered the few things that Mike had said about him and hoped that once the choice was made, things between them wouldn’t fall apart.
“I think Terri is going to end up disappointed,” I said.
“Terri is a big girl,” Jenna said. “She knows what she’s getting herself into.”
She was right. I’d been saying the same thing all along. But still… “I guess. My only regret is that I never had a chance to have breakfast with all you single ladies.”
Jenna frowned “I can’t imagine giving them up,” she said slowly. “We may have to expand our breakfast club requirements to include the newly deliriously attached.”
I laughed. “Deliriously attached? I love that! Yes, I think I’d fit right in.”
At that moment, Craig came out and put his arm around her shoulder, and she looked just as happy as I felt.
At some point during the day, I thought I’d stop smiling, but I was carried along by so many things: my house, finally done; my friends, relaxed and enjoying themselves: and Celeste and Connie, holding court in my patio and knowing they were looking forward to the future as well. And Mike. Every time I looked at him I felt like I was going to burst.
Miss Ava came over, walked through my house, and smiled her approval. “You will be a good neighbor,” she said.
“How can you tell?” I asked.
“Because I can see how much this place means to you.” She watched Joe as he came up on the porch to drink from his water bowl. “You better not let that dog bother Bella,” she said sternly.
I laughed. “He’s been chasing every squirrel he sees for weeks now. Luckily, he can’t climb trees. Bella is safe, and as long as I’m living here, she’ll remain safe.” I explained Mike’s idea that the town would buy the lot once Bella’s status was established. “Celeste and Connie will donate the money to the town so Bella can remain exactly where she is.”
Miss Ava smiled. “See? You are a good neighbor. Bella is lucky too.”
At the end of the day, all my friends stayed to help clean up.
“After all,” Stella said, “you have work tomorrow.”
“So do you all,” I said. “But thanks
. And take this food. There’s so much left over!”
Containers were wrapped and the brand new dishwasher was loaded, and I lit candles on the porch and sat with Mike.
“Any drunks come by yet?” He asked.
I shook my head. “No. Well, yes, but they just wave. Nobody’s fallen asleep on the lawn or puked anywhere.”
Joe, at his feet, yawned.
“He’s had a hard day,” I said.
Mike made a face. “And he managed to beg food from every person here. He’s gonna get fat.”’
I took his hand and held it to my cheek. “It was a wonderful day,” I said quietly.
He nodded. “I think you’re going to be happy here, Chris.”
“Yes.” I kissed his palm. “You’re a big part of that, you know.”
He shook his head. “It’s not me. It’s us. We’re a big part of it. We’re lucky.”
I nodded. The big gamble had paid off. Everything I’d done, all the chances I’d taken had gotten me to this one place, this one point in time where I felt a sense of belonging, of happiness, and of being at peace with myself.
Lucky indeed.
Chapter Eleven
I woke early Monday morning and felt the weight of Joe sleeping against my feet. Mike had not stayed the night. He had an early morning meeting with another client, a house on the water up near Silver Beach. I let Joe out and he ran over to the empty lot, sniffed around, and lifted his leg against every tree trunk. I called him in, fed him and got ready for work.
My hours were perfect—eight in the morning until two in the afternoon. I came home mentally exhausted. I hadn’t been using that part of my brain for a while and was feeling slightly overwhelmed, but by mid-week I started to get a handle on how things were done. The young woman I was replacing was hugely pregnant and constantly running to the bathroom, but she was smart and well organized and a patient teacher. The job and I were going to get along just fine.