by Kay Correll
His words wrapped around her like a familiar favorite song. The same voice. The voice that was so similar to Jackson’s after he’d grown up and his voice had matured. She stared down at her hand in his, fighting to regain control. The warmth of his hand spread through her, but all she could do was nod at him.
“I know it’s hard for you to talk about this, about him. I can see the pain on your face. But, Tally? I want to know more about him. Everything about him.” His eyes pleaded with her. “Can I see photos of him? Will you tell me all about him? Can you do that for me?”
Tally looked into his eyes. She would do this for him. He deserved that much. As painful as it would be, she’d tell him everything.
* * *
Eddie stood and pulled Tally to her feet. “I need a bit of time to process all this. I’m sure you do, too.” He kept her hands in his.
“It has been a bit of a shock to see you after all this time.” She looked down at the sand.
The look on her face tore at his heart. Such sadness and pain. “If it’s okay with you, I think I’ll find a room on the island and stay for a bit. As much as I want to hear everything about my son, I think I need some time first.” Time to realize that he’d been so close to having a son, a family, and yet it was all snatched away from him by a trick of the fates.
Tally sucked in a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “You could get a room at Belle Island Inn. My friend, Susan, owns it now.”
“I remember the inn.”
“It used to be run by her brother. Susan runs it now with her son, Jamie.”
“I’ll do that, then. I’ll get a room for a bit. That will give us both some time.”
“That would be… helpful. I do need a bit of time before I can sit and talk about it all. I’ve done my best for years to just hide from it all. I lost both Jackson and my father. In one horrible day, all my family was gone.” Tally slipped her hands from his, and one hand drifted to her heart.
A surge of guilt flooded through him. He should have been here for her. Been there to help raise their son and to help her through the loss of him. But he’d been determined to make a clean break with her when he left Belle Island. He’d had nothing to give her, no future. She’d been a Belle, a member of the founding family of the island. He’d been nobody, with little chance of providing for her. He was sure that’s why she’d refused to go with him. She’d been better off without him. At least that’s what he’d told himself for years.
Now it looked like his stubborn pride had cost him any chance he’d had for knowing his son. Pain stabbed him, mocked him, pounded him. A wretchedness poured through him, and a pain so raw sucked all the air from his lungs. He bowed his head, then found the strength to look at Tally again.
“I’m so sorry. I should have been here.”
“But you didn’t know.”
“That doesn’t make it right.”
“Sometimes life just decides to hand you what you don’t expect.” She scrubbed her hands over her face, then looked up at him. “Come on, let’s go get you settled at the inn.”
That sounded like a good plan. He needed time to himself. Time to process all that he’d learned today.
Time to let his heart crumble into a million tiny pieces and not let anyone see him fall apart.
* * *
Tally watched as Eddie climbed the main stairway at the inn and up to the oceanfront room he’d taken for a week. A week. She couldn’t quite wrap her head around the fact that he was back in town.
Or the fact that she was going to have to dredge up some very painful memories.
“Are you okay?” Susan walked into the lobby and took a look at Tally, then glanced at Eddie, watching him slowly climb the stairs. “Who is he?” Her friend nodded toward Eddie. “That man you brought to the inn?”
“That’s Eddie Smith—I mean, Edward Williams.”
“So I take it you know him?”
“I do… well, I did.”
“You look really pale. Come sit in my office. Talk to me.”
Tally turned to her, struggling to gain control of her emotions. “I… I don’t think I can talk about it now.”
“Well, now you have me worried.” Susan frowned.
“I don’t mean to worry you. I don’t. I’m sorry. But I need…” Tally looked at the now empty stairway. “I need some time by myself.”
“Okay, take the time you need. But I’m always here, day or night. You just call when you want to talk.”
Tally continued to stare at the empty stairway. “I will. Maybe we could meet tomorrow at The Sweet Shoppe? Could you call Julie? I’ll explain everything then.”
“I’ll set it up.”
Tally nodded. She slowly turned and crossed to the door, escaping out into the fresh air and sunlight. Escaping from the memories and from Eddie and… from Jackson.
Chapter 5
Courtney struggled with a heavy tray of food that she needed to deliver to table four. Or was it table five? She needed to look at her order pad to see which table needed the tray, but no way she could reach in the server apron and retrieve the pad with her hands full.
Tereza breezed up and took the tray from her. “You look like you can use some help.”
“Thank you.” Courtney swiped the pad from the pocket and looked at the order. Table five.
“Don’t worry, it gets easier.”
“I really have waited tables before… it’s just been a really long time. Everything here is different and…”
“It’s okay. It will all come back. Before long you’ll know how everything works around here. We don’t usually give a new waitress this many tables, but we’re short two waitresses tonight. One of them will probably get let go, because this is the second time she’s called in at the last minute to cancel this week, and Tally doesn’t take kindly to that. She expects workers to be here and expects the best of service for her customers.” Tereza balanced the tray. “Okay, what table?”
“Five,” Courtney said gratefully.
They crossed over to the table and Tereza bantered with the customers as they served each person. Tereza had a way about her. Friendly and kind, immediately putting the customers at ease, making each one feel like they were her most important customer at Magic Cafe. Courtney could see why Tally had such high praise for her.
At this point, Courtney would be satisfied if she could just get all the orders correct and delivered to the right tables. She and Tereza headed back toward the kitchen.
“You’re doing fine.” Tereza smiled encouragingly.
“Thanks for the help.” Courtney reached for another tray of food, checking to make sure it was one of hers. This one had to be for table four.
“Just shout if you need me.” Tereza pushed out of the kitchen and headed to a group that had just been seated at a large table.
Tereza was doing twice as many tables as she was and handling them with ease. Courtney refused to think about how tired she was and how her feet were killing her. She really needed better shoes to wear if she was going to be a server, but it wasn’t in the budget now. So her feet could just keep quiet. She glared at them as if to silence their complaints, then picked up the tray. Table four, the one in the far corner. Right?
With a sigh, she pushed out of the kitchen. Hadn’t she just been grateful when everything felt like it was falling into place for her? She wondered how Bobby was doing at Belinda’s house. She didn’t like him out of her sight, but she needed to work, such a catch twenty-two.
Surely all of this would get easier as the days went on like Tereza had said.
* * *
Tally thought she wanted to be alone, but that had lasted all of about ten minutes. Instead, she’d gone to Magic Cafe and lost herself in work that night, which was a good thing because they were short staffed. So, she played hostess, server, busboy, and anything else she could do to keep her brain busy with mindless thoughts. Toward the end of the rush, Paul Clark came into the cafe. He was alone tonight, which didn�
��t happen often. She walked over to his table.
“Hey, Paul. Where’s Josephine?”
“My lovely wife went up to Comfort Crossing to visit her sister. I couldn’t get away because I have a big gallery showing coming up. It’s our first time apart since we got married, and let’s just say, it doesn’t really agree with me.”
“You waited a long time to find her again. I can see how being apart would be difficult.”
“It is. She’ll be back in two more days, not that I’m counting.” He paused and looked at her closely. “Are you okay?”
He knew her so well. They’d been friends for years, ever since he’d come to the island. They’d supported each other through his opening of the gallery and her expanding Magic Cafe. She’d been there when he’d found his long-lost love, Josephine, after fifty-some-odd years. Paul was the one living person who knew about Jackson and knew about Eddie. She’d never even told Susan and Julie about them. Jackson had died before either of them had come to town. Oh, they knew she’d had a son that she’d lost, but by tacit agreement, they never talked about it.
But Paul, he’d been there for her back then.
Tally sank into a chair across from him. “It’s been a long day.”
“And?” he prodded.
She sighed. “Eddie is back. Here on Belle Island.”
“Really?” Paul raised an eyebrow. “I thought you couldn’t ever find him.”
“I couldn’t. But he found me.”
“So… does he know…” He watched her closely.
“He does. Now.” She leaned an elbow on the table and rested her chin on her hand. “He actually came to town because he found out I had a son. He figured out that Jackson was his.” She sat back up. “But he hadn’t heard that Jackson was… gone.”
“Oh, Tally. I’m so sorry. That must have been so hard.”
“I feel like I gave him a son, a precious gift, then snatched it away.”
“You did try to find him. It’s not like it’s your fault you couldn’t.”
“Well, he did move from Dallas where he said he was going, and he changed his last name to his stepfather’s last name. Wrong name, wrong city.”
“Are you doing okay?”
Tally looked down at her hands. “I’m not really sure. Most of the time I can just keep all the memories tucked away, keeping the pain at bay, but Eddie wants to know everything about Jackson. I can’t deny him that. I can’t. He deserves that much. Life hasn’t been fair to him, either.”
“So, you’re going to talk to him about Jackson? Are you okay with that? We never talk about him anymore.”
“It’s just too painful.”
“But you’re going to talk to Eddie?”
“I am. And I’m going to drag out all those photo albums that I’ve tucked away. I’m just not sure I’m ready for this…”
“But you’ll do it because he’s Jackson’s father.” Paul’s eyes were filled with sympathy.
But Tally didn’t want sympathy. She wanted… what did she want? Strength to get through this week, day by day?
Survival day by day. It had been so long since she’d lived her life like that. The memories tore at her. Those days after Jackson and her father went missing. Mindlessly watching the hours tick by. Then the days after they’d found the wreckage. She honestly didn’t know how she’d made it through those days or how she’d gotten to the place she was now.
But now it looked like all those memories, all the past and the pain were going to be gouged out of the depths of her brain.
So, she’d do like she’d done all those years ago. One day at a time. Until Eddie left. Then she’d be able to go back to her normal life.
As if her life would ever be normal.
Tally looked at her friend. “Yes, I will talk to Eddie. Show him the photos. He is Jackson’s father, and it’s the right thing to do.”
* * *
Courtney sat on the edge of the twin bed and tugged off Bobby’s t-shirt. “Did you have a good time at Belinda’s today?”
“I did after the kids got out of school. There’s a Mikey, and Stevie, and Billy.”
Courtney wondered if when all these boys finally grew up they’d become Mike, Steve, and Bill. Would Bobby become Bob? Or Rob? Or Robert? She snatched her thoughts back to listen to her son tell about his day.
“And we had dinner. Well, just me and Stevie. Mikey and Billy went home before dinner. We had hamburgers and we had to take two bites of the green beans.”
Courtney slipped the pajama top onto Bobby’s outstretched arms.
Bobby’s head popped out of the top of the pj’s. “How come they are all in school and I’m not?”
She helped him climb into the pajama bottoms. “You weren’t old enough for kindergarten this year. You missed the deadline by a month. You’ll go next year.”
“How am I going to learn all the stuff I need to know if I’m not in school? Am I gonna go back to pre-kindergarten like I did back home?”
“We’ll see about it, Bobby.” She doubted she could afford pre-kindergarten and then childcare. Belinda had been very reasonable in her prices. One step at a time. It was probably the wrong time of the year to get him in a pre-k program anyway. She’d need to make time to teach him herself. He was such a sharp kid.
Bobby screwed up his face. “So, is Belle Island home now?”
Courtney sat up straight. How to answer that? She wasn’t sure when they’d ever be able to stay in one place for very long. “Well, it is for now, Bobby.” She changed the subject. “Go in and brush your teeth, and I’ll get you all tucked in.”
He trotted off to the bathroom, and Courtney took off her shoes and wiggled her toes. Susan had found an extra rollaway bed at the inn and her son had dropped it off for Bobby. Everyone was so kind to her here. She chastised herself. No point in getting used to it because who knew when she might have to pick up and disappear again. She made up the rollaway with sheets that Susan had also given her.
Bobby came out of the bathroom. “All ready, Momma.”
She pulled back the covers, and he climbed into bed. “I like this place. Do you think we can stay for a while? I’m tired of moving around. The car is boring.”
“We’ll see.” She leaned over, kissed him good night, and crossed over to her bed. She sat down and reached for the small velvet pouch on the table beside her bed. She opened the pouch and pulled out a woman’s antique rose gold pocket watch she’d found in her mother’s things. The watch hung on a thick, gold chain. She didn’t know whose it was, but she always felt that it must have been special to her mother. Her mom had kept it in this same velvet pouch. All she had was this and an old folded note that had words and letters, but she couldn’t understand what it said. She kept the note anyway. She slipped the watch around her neck and wrapped her hands around it as it rested against her heart. She’d just sit for a moment before she got ready for bed…
* * *
Eddie sat on the balcony of his room at the inn. A light, salty breeze blew in from the water. The moon tossed rays of silver light across the inky shadows of the ocean. He looked far out into the sea, as far as the darkness would allow, searching.
The sea. Something he had always enjoyed, but would never look at in quite the same way. That unending body of water had taken his son, forever sealing his fate. He would never know Jackson. Never hear his voice. Never see him smile.
An unbearable agony tore through him, and he closed his eyes against the pain and the view. A lone tear seared its way down his cheek. He didn’t bother to swipe it away. He didn’t even have the energy to raise his hand.
The soft sea breeze eventually dried the tear, and he forced himself to open his eyes and look out at the water once again.
Today had not turned out how he had expected. He came here expecting to find his son, to make Tally pay for keeping his son away from him. Instead, he’d found unbearable pain. Both his and Tally’s.
He sat silently and willed himself to get up and g
o to bed.
But still, he sat in the lonely darkness and looked out at the endless sea—as endless as the pain that now encompassed his very soul.
Chapter 6
Julie finished up the last batch of scones, then peeked out into the dining area of The Sweet Shoppe to see if her friends were here yet. She’d heard the worried tone in Susan’s voice when she’d called last night and said they all needed to meet this morning. Something was up with Tally.
It was rare for Tally to be upset by anything. She was always a steady influence in all their lives. Something must be terribly wrong to unsettle her.
Susan walked in and lifted a hand in a brief wave. Julie motioned to the table in the corner and Susan nodded.
Julie pulled the last sheet of scones from the oven and set them on a rack to cool. She snatched off her apron, dished up three piping hot scones, and pushed through the swinging door to join her friend.
“Raspberry,” Julie said as she set the scones on the table. “Be right back with coffee.” She hurried back with three mugs of coffee and sat down across from Susan. “So, Tally was really upset?”
“She was, and that’s not like her. I can’t imagine what in the world could unsettle her like that. She was actually pale. I couldn’t get her to talk.”
“You think something is wrong with her health? The Magic Cafe is doing well, I doubt if it’s something to do with that.” Julie frowned and took a sip of her coffee. “Maybe she’s having second thoughts about having the wedding at Magic Cafe.”
“Maybe?” Susan looked skeptical.
The door opened, and Tally stepped inside, pausing to look around the room. She nodded when she saw them waiting for her.
She slipped into a chair at the table. “Morning.”
“I baked raspberry scones.” Julie pointed to the treats. “I snagged us three before they get sold out to my customers. These and the almond scones always seem to go first.”