by Kay Correll
“Thanks.” Tally reached for one and took a bite. She looked at Julie and Susan and sighed. “Okay, it’s kind of a long story.”
“We have time.” Susan leaned forward.
“You know I lost my son years ago.” Tally’s eyes betrayed the pain she tried to hide.
“We do. But you never talk about him, so…” Julie trailed off.
“He was lost at sea with your father, right?” Susan’s voice was almost a whisper.
“Yes, they both died during a storm a sea. Jackson, my son, was eighteen at the time.”
Susan reached over and touched Tally’s strong, weathered hand. “It must have been so hard to lose a son. I can’t imagine. And to lose your father at the same time.”
“They were all the family I had left.” Tally stared down at Susan’s hand on hers. “It was… so hard. Nearly impossible. I just tried to make it through each day, hour by hour. At first, everyone who saw me would say how sorry they were for my loss. I got so I could barely tolerate leaving our cottage. I couldn’t bear to hear those words. Eventually, I threw myself into running Magic Cafe. Kept myself busy every minute, long into the night. The nights were the worst.”
The few wrinkles around Tally’s eyes deepened as she struggled to stay composed.
“I got so I didn’t speak about it to anyone, and eventually people quit talking about it. I put it behind me and moved on. Life sometimes throws you a tough one, but you do eventually have to move on and live your life.” Tally pulled her hand from Susan’s and rubbed it across her face. “I haven’t even talked to you two about it, and you’re my best friends. It happened before either of you came, so… it was just easier not to say anything.”
“But yesterday you were so upset.” Susan’s forehead wrinkled. “What happened?”
“Well, that’s the other part of the story. Jackson’s father.” Tally sighed. “The town thinks Jackson’s father is some man who died in an accident before my son was born. It… well, it was sort of a rumor my father started to protect Jackson. Most people thought I went away and got married and lost my husband. I left town after I got pregnant and went to live with my aunt, but she got sick and I came back to Belle Island to have my baby. When I got back here, the rumor was already spread, and no one mentioned it. Maybe people believed it, maybe not, but they sure wouldn’t say anything to me. My father helped me raise Jackson. He was wonderful with him.”
“So who is Jackson’s father?” Julie took a swallow of coffee.
“His name is Eddie Smith. Well, he goes by Edward Williams now. He came to town yesterday looking for me.” Tally let out a long breath. “He ran into an old friend from the island and found out I had a son. You see, Jackson was the first baby born that year and had his photo in the paper and, well, Eddie did the math and figured out Jackson was his.”
“You never told him you were pregnant?” Susan raised an eyebrow.
“He left town before I found out. Then, I couldn’t find him. I tried. My father tried. But we didn’t have any luck.” Tally’s face clouded. “Eddie’s friend had left town years ago and didn’t know that Jackson had died. So Eddie came here hoping…”She rubbed her face again. “He was hoping to meet his son.”
“Oh, Tally. That’s horrible. He must have been devastated.” Susan’s eyes widened.
“He was. He is.”
Julie frowned. She’d known Tally for so many years, and yet, here was a total surprise about her. Julie wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Why hadn’t Tally spoken about Eddie before this? “So, he’s staying here for a while?”
“He is. He wants me to…” She shook her head. “He wants me to tell him all about Jackson. What he was like. Show him photos.”
“Are you okay with that?” Julie looked at her friend. Her friend she’d known for so many years had never said one word about her son.
“Well, Eddie deserves that much. None of this is his fault. It’s just some quirk of the universe that brought us to this point.”
Susan leaned forward again and took Tally’s hand. “I think maybe, just maybe, it might be good for you to talk about Jackson. Share his life with Eddie. Maybe it will help you deal with your pain if you have someone to share it with.”
* * *
Tally watched as Courtney and Bobby played out on the beach later that morning. Bobby raced the waves and Courtney laughed at his antics. Tally smiled in spite of herself. Bobby had so much energy, always dashing around, but he was remarkably polite and well behaved.
He reminded her so much of Jackson.
That thought froze her in place. Thoughts like that just didn’t pop into her head. They were kept tucked neatly away, far from consciousness. Eddie had stirred things up, and she wasn’t sure she was ready to have Jackson pop into her mind unexpectedly and often.
Courtney took Bobby’s hand, and they walked up toward Magic Cafe. Bobby waved at Tally and dashed ahead of his mother and up to where Tally was standing.
“Miss Tally, did you see me racing the waves? I won.” He puffed out his chest.
“I did see that.”
Courtney reached them. “Bobby loves the beach. This is the first time he’s ever been to the ocean.”
“It’s super fun and I don’t ever wanna leave.” He nodded his head eagerly. “It’s like the best place ever, right, Momma? I want this to be our home now.”
A look flashed across Courtney’s face, but Tally couldn’t quite tell what it was. Disappointment? Confusion? The woman quickly hid it and smiled.
Bobby’s enthusiasm was infectious, and Tally couldn’t help but smile, too. Oh, to see every day as a grand adventure.
“It is pretty nice here.” Courtney watched her son as he danced from foot to foot.
“And there’s lots of nice people. Like Miss Belinda and Stevie.” Bobby stopped hopping around. “Oh, and you, too, Miss Tally. Momma and I like our new apartment.”
Tally wouldn’t exactly call the storage building an apartment, but it did seem to serve its purpose of providing Courtney and her son a free place to stay.
“I really do appreciate all the help you’ve given us.” Courtney’s eyes were filled with gratitude.
“Glad I could help.” Everyone deserved a bit of help when life was tough. Tally knew that better than most. She’d thought it would be difficult to have a young boy around, but Bobby was hard to resist.
The boy grabbed his mother’s hand and tugged. “Come on. We have to go get ready for Miss Belinda’s. You said you gotta work soon and I want to get there and play with the guys.”
“I won’t be late for my shift,” Courtney assured Tally.
“I’ll see you then.” Tally stood and watched as Bobby ran circles around his mother while they headed over to the storage building. The boy was a whirlwind of motion.
“Who’s that?”
Tally twirled around at the sound of Eddie’s voice. “I… hi. That’s Courtney and her son, Bobby. She’s a new waitress I hired.”
“The boy looks like a firecracker.”
“I’m pretty sure he is.”
Silence dropped between them. Tally knew Eddie was eager to talk, to ask questions, but he remained silent.
She squared her shoulders and drew in a deep breath for courage. “Jackson was just like that at that age. Constant energy. I sometimes can’t believe I could ever keep up with him.”
Eddie turned to her, encouraging her to talk with the look of gratitude in his eyes.
“Jackson loved living here on Belle Island. He could swim almost before he could walk.” Not that it had saved him. She pushed the thought of the horrible death her son had endured aside. “He was smart, too. He could read before he started school and was a whiz at math. He loved to learn. Anything that caught his attention.” Tally motioned to chairs at the edge of the beach and they both sat. She kicked off her shoes and dug her feet into the warm sand.
“What do you want to know about him? I just have all these random thoughts and I don’t really know w
hat to tell you.”
“What did he look like?” Eddie’s voice and the edge of pain it held washed over her.
“He… was handsome. I know every mom thinks that, but he was. He had your thick, wavy hair, and he had your eyes. I often could see a lot of you in him. He was short though, not tall like you. Never hit a good growth spurt. Played a lot of sports and was good at them, but not best-on-team good. He worked hard at getting good grades.” Tally leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes. “He had a quick smile and a way of biting his lower lip when he was concentrating. He had a scar above his left eye from when he slipped in the tub as a young boy. I’ve never seen something bleed so badly and I felt like a horrible mother for letting it happen. The scar reminded me all the time of how quickly things can happen…”
* * *
Eddie looked over at Tally sitting beside him with her eyes closed. The sun bathed her face, highlighting a few small wrinkles around her eyes. She’d aged, had a hard life, but she… she still reminded him so much of the young girl he’d left behind. “Did everyone call him Jackson? Or did they nickname him, Jack?”
“Everyone called him Jackson. Not sure why it was never shortened. He seemed like a Jackson, though.”
“And you gave him my name as his middle name?”
“I did.” Tally’s voice was low. “I considered naming him Edward for his first name but changed my mind. The town thought I’d gotten married when I moved away for a while when I was pregnant. I stayed with my aunt. I think my father started a vague rumor about how my husband had been killed in an accident. He thought it would be easier for Jackson that way.”
“But you moved back here to have your baby? Charlie said that Jackson was the first baby of the year.”
“My aunt got sick and I did move back here. I had Jackson on Belle Island. We both lived with my father. He seemed to enjoy having us there, and it was easier for me to work, knowing that my father was there to help with Jackson.” She opened her eyes and turned to look at him. “Dad was great with Jackson. They were best of friends.”
“And you lost both of them at the same time.” Eddie couldn’t imagine the pain Tally had gone through.
She nodded and looked away. “It was… hard. Incredibly hard.”
He didn’t say anything, giving her time to collect her thoughts.
“But life isn’t always fair, is it?” She looked back at him. “You never even got to meet him.”
A pain gripped Edward’s heart. The pain of loss. The pain of what-ifs. “I wish…” He looked at Tally. “I wish you would have come with me when I asked you. Everything would have been so different.”
She looked directly into his eyes, pain painted across every inch of her face. “You think I haven’t thought of that? How my one decision changed everything?”
“I’m not blaming you, Tally.” He reached out and covered her hand. “I’m not. I know you felt like you couldn’t leave your father alone. And I know that Belle Island is as much a part of you as your heart and your very being. I understood.” And he’d had nothing to offer her at that point. Nothing.
“But if I’d been willing to take that chance, take that risk…”
“There are a lot of what-ifs in life, but the thing is, they don’t really change anything. We make the decisions we make and live with the consequences. I could have stayed here instead of moving to Texas for that job. You know, the one that I thought would be my big break? Right. That job that turned out to be a colossal mistake, so I moved down to San Antonio near my mom and stepfather. That’s when I changed my name. My stepfather had always been so good to me and my mother. He was really the only dad I ever knew. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. But it probably sealed it that you’d never find me.” Eddie stared out at the waves, at the ocean that had stolen his son. Would he ever be able to look out at the sea without thinking that thought?
“You had no way to know that I was looking for you.”
Decisions. Choices. How they could change a person’s life forever. “I could have come back to find you. Come back before now. But… I just thought I had nothing to offer you. And my pride. When we’re young our pride really gets in our way, doesn’t it? I was hurt that you wouldn’t come with me, and I thought part of it was because… well, I thought I wasn’t good enough for you.”
“It was never that, Eddie. Ever.” Tally looked out at the horizon. “I just couldn’t leave the island. I couldn’t even leave after this blasted ocean took everything away from me.”
Chapter 7
At lunchtime Tally looked up, surprised to see Camille Montgomery standing at the hostess station. Since Camille’s family had put their house on the rental market, Tally had thought they might have seen the end of her. Tally put on her best welcoming smile and crossed over to her. She still hadn’t totally forgiven the woman for how she’d accused Julie of stealing silver from her house when Julie had catered an event for the Montgomerys. It had all turned out okay, though, when Reed had discovered the real thief. Not that Camille had apologized for all the trouble she’d caused Julie. Not that Camille was one to apologize for anything…
“Camille, just one?”
“No, of course not.” She said it like it was the craziest thing ever to dine alone. “Delbert is meeting me here.”
“Okay, a table for two.”
“But not too close to the edge of the deck. It’s so sandy there.”
Tally wondered why Camille would come to a beach cafe if she didn’t like the beach, but kept the thought to herself and led Camille to a table near the middle of the dining area. Camille looked around as if trying to figure out if the table met with her standards. She finally nodded and slipped into her chair.
“Miss Tally. Miss Tally.” Bobby came running up. “Look what I found but I’m gonna put it back in the ocean so it doesn’t die but I wanted to show you.” Bobby’s sentence ran together in one long string of words, then he held up a starfish. “See?”
He bumped against Camille’s table in his exuberance, and the menu and silverware napkin roll spilled to the floor.
“Goodness. Watch what you’re doing.” Camille scooted her chair back.
Bobby’s eyes opened wide. “I’m sorry, lady.”
Tally intervened. “It’s okay, Bobby. It was an accident.”
Courtney came hurrying up. “Bobby, don’t disturb Miss Tally and her customers.”
“I wanted her to see my starfish.”
“When I said you could show her, I didn’t mean to interrupt her work.”
Tally put her hand on his shoulder. “He’s never interrupting me. He’s welcome at any time.”
“You’ll get me a new napkin, right? That one has been on the floor.”
“Of course,” Tally said patiently to Camille. Her words did sound patient, didn’t they? Maybe.
“That looks like a mighty fine starfish, son.” Delbert Hamilton walked up beside them.
“Thanks. I think so. It’s my first ever one I’ve found.” Bobby held out his hand for Mr. Hamilton to see.
“Yep, one of the finest I’ve seen.” Mr. Hamilton carefully touched the starfish. Camille grimaced when he did.
“I’m gonna go put it back in the sea now.”
“That’s a good idea.” Mr. Hamilton nodded gravely.
“’Cause I don’t wanna kill it.”
“Yep, that would be bad,” Mr. Hamilton agreed.
“Come on, Bobby, let’s leave everyone to their lunch.”
“It was nice meeting you… what’s your name, son?” Mr. Hamilton smiled at Bobby.
“Bobby. My name’s Bobby.”
“Nice meeting you, Bobby.” Mr. Hamilton reached out to shake his non-starfish hand.
Courtney led Bobby back to the beach, and Tally turned her attention to Camille and Mr. Hamilton.
An appalled look crossed Camille’s face when Mr. Hamilton took his seat. “Delbert, are you going to go wash your hand after touching that creature?”
&
nbsp; The man threw back his head and laughed. “No, Camille. I’m pretty sure I’m going to live if I eat after touching a starfish.”
Camille huffed then turned to Tally. “A new napkin?” She looked pointedly at the one on the ground.
Delbert reached down and swooped up the napkin roll. “This one’s fine for me.”
“Delbert, sometimes I think you are positively barbaric.”
He winked. “Part of my charm, I’m sure.”
Tally hurried off to retrieve a new napkin and send Tereza over to get their order. She’d pretty much hit her limit with being patient with Camille for the day. Or the week.
* * *
That evening Courtney picked up a large tray of food and pushed through the door from the kitchen to the restaurant. Table six. She smiled to herself. She’d at least learned to look at the table number in advance of picking up the tray. As she glanced around the deck, she froze. A man in uniform was talking to Tally. Some kind of policeman. Her pulse quickened, and she looked left and right for an escape route.
Courtney whirled around and rushed back into the kitchen, her heart pounding. Tereza looked up from where she was pulling a rack of glasses from the dishwasher. “You okay?”
“I… I’m just not feeling well.”
“Let me take that food out for you.”
“Thanks. Table six.” Courtney handed her the tray.
“Sit down on that chair for a minute. I’ll be right back.” Tereza disappeared with the food.
Courtney sank onto the chair. She couldn’t hide in here all night. Maybe the officer would leave?
Tereza came back to the kitchen. “You look pale.”
“No, I’m okay. I think I’m just tired.” She stood. She needed this job. She couldn’t say she was sick and hide. She wanted Tally to know she was dependable. She needed the wages from every hour she worked and every single tip she could manage. She walked to the doorway and saw the man was no longer talking to Tally. Relief swelled through her. Time to get back to work.
“You’ve got table four now. You sure you’re okay? I could take it.” Tereza’s eyes were filled with concern.