Cottage at the Beach (The Off Season)

by Lee Tobin McClain

  “He was a tall, thin guy. Brown hair going gray. I didn’t get what she saw in him.” She shrugged. “Hope she found someone better looking!”

  As the instructor walked away, understanding Julie didn’t want to have was pushing into her awareness. She looked at Earl. “Melvin couldn’t have been seeing this Ashley girl for a couple of years. Could he?”

  Earl didn’t answer. His face flushed darker.

  Julie’s stomach clenched into a tight knot as a slideshow of her last years of marriage passed through her memory. Melvin working late. Melvin not liking her cooking, not wanting to talk, not wanting to take a vacation together. But he’d often come home in a passionate mood, and their love life had gotten quite creative for a while. But that could be because... “He was seeing her.” She stared at Earl. “And you knew.”

  “Julie, I—”

  “I have to go,” she choked out, and hurried to her car so she wouldn’t break down in front of an audience.

  * * *

  FRIDAY WAS AN early dismissal day, and just as well, Trey thought as he steered his truck through driving rain. Memorial Day weekend was here and the kids had been restless. But the weather was anything but summery. This rain didn’t look like it would let up anytime soon, if those low-hanging clouds were anything to judge by.

  Trey was restless, too—maybe because his back was finally feeling better—and so was King. And that was why he’d decided, on the spur of the moment, to take a drive up to the Eastern Shore service dog training center.

  Why Erica was in the passenger seat beside him he couldn’t quite figure out.

  He hadn’t intended to invite her to come. He’d resolved to keep his distance from her outside of work. But they’d gotten to talking with some of the kids, who had asked him what was going on with his police dog. In that conversation, one of the kids had brought up the training center and suggested that King could go there to learn a new kind of work. Erica had been nearby and expressed interest and enthusiasm for the idea.

  Some part of him—not his brain—had invited her to come along.

  “Can you talk, or do you need to focus on driving?” she asked now. “It’s really bad out.”

  “Doesn’t bother me. I can talk.” He turned down the radio. What did she want to talk about? They’d never cleared the air about that kiss and her subsequent rejection of him. Maybe she was going to share something about that.

  She glanced into the back seat and then settled back to look at Trey. “I just wondered what King’s status was. Is he back with you for good?”

  “He is,” Trey said. “Which is great, except it’s because he’s out as a police dog.”

  “It’s final now? Oh, Trey, I’m sorry.” Unlike some people, she didn’t sound fake when she said it. “I know how much you’ve put into him working.”

  That was true, even though he hadn’t quite thought about it that way. “Thanks,” he said, then added slowly, “A lot of my free time has been working with him. I’m mostly sad for him, but I guess...I’m sad for me, too.”

  She reached over and squeezed his upper arm.

  Everything in his body tightened. And that wasn’t about King at all.

  She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. “What about you? Did the chief talk about your future on the force?”

  He looked away from those long, slim legs. “He did. He warned me this incident was against me, but he’s still supportive about my coming back.”

  Funny, the thought of going back to Philly and living the workaholic police life suddenly didn’t seem as compelling as it had before. But maybe he was just sad at the prospect of doing it without King.

  Or maybe seeing his dad had gotten him rethinking his life, at least a little.

  They pulled into the center. Trey left Erica and King at the door and drove off to park the truck. He trusted her with his dog, surprisingly enough. Even though she didn’t have the authoritative attitude and tone of voice needed to work with a dog like King, the big shepherd was docile and well behaved around her, as if he knew better than to act up.

  They went inside an immaculate reception area, and a smiling woman looked up from her desk. “Can I help you? Who’s this?” She smiled at King and then came around the desk and knelt to pet him.

  “King. Say hello.”

  King barked once and held up a paw.

  “Awww,” the woman and Erica said simultaneously.

  Trey grinned. Yeah, he had been a little bored, and he’d been teaching King some new stuff. He’d enjoyed it. It had nothing to do with police work, more just crowd-pleasing tricks. This was the first time he’d unveiled any of them in public, and it looked like King-the-trick-dog was going to be a hit with the ladies.

  “Are you Trey Harrison, then?” The woman rose and went back behind the desk to check her computer.

  “Yes. I called a couple of hours ago to see if I could talk to a trainer.”

  “Right this way.” She led them past a kennel and a couple of meeting rooms, and into a small training area set up with agility equipment and dog toys.

  King looked around, mouth open, tongue out, panting in that smiling way of his. Obviously, he understood that this was for him.

  “Cheyenne, one of our trainers, will be right with you,” the receptionist said, and left them in the area.

  “Are you nervous?” Erica asked.

  “A little. I really want this to work.” Trey knelt beside his dog, scratching his ears. He felt responsible for causing the end of King’s police career. King was still a high-energy dog and he needed to feel useful, needed something to do.

  “If he’s trained as a therapy dog, he could probably come to the school on a regular basis,” Erica said. Then she bit her lip. “Of course, who knows how long you guys will be here.”

  “Right.” He had the strangest desire to ask her if it mattered, if she’d miss him when he left.

  “Hey, folks, I’m Cheyenne!” A curvy blonde woman came in, bouncing on the balls of her feet, dressed in a tight T-shirt and shorts. “You must be Trey,” she said, holding out a hand to him. She looked at Erica. “And you’re...the wife?”

  She shook her head. “Just a...a coworker. Had the afternoon off and rode along.”

  “Terrific!”

  Maybe Cheyenne thought Erica’s quick disassociation from him was terrific, but it left Trey feeling let down.

  The trainer knelt in front of King. “Hi, big boy! So you want to be a service dog, do you?”

  “Say hello, King,” Trey commanded, and King did the same bark-and-paw greeting he’d done before, earning a smile from the trainer. “He’s through with police dog work,” he added, “but he needs to do something, and I think he’d be good as a service dog.”

  “What are you thinking,” she asked, “training him to be a companion, say for a veteran or child with disabilities?”

  “No!” He realized he’d sounded too vehement and smiled sheepishly. “I want to keep him living with me. Aren’t there service dogs that do visits to schools and hospitals?”

  “There were some that visited the cancer ward when Amber was there,” Erica offered.

  “You guys are talking about therapy dogs, then, not service dogs.”

  “I’m sorry. Do you still train those?”

  She gave him a big smile and took a half step closer. “No, but for you, I’ll make an exception.”

  He blinked. “No need to do that.”

  “Yes, there is, because it takes two to train a therapy dog. He needs to get used to hospital equipment and the like.” She stepped closer still. “I’d enjoy working with you.”

  Was she hitting on him? Seriously? He gave Erica a look, trying to communicate, Help!

  “I can help you train him, if you want,” Erica offered, and Trey smiled his gratitude.

  Cheyenne frowned.
“You won’t have the right equipment. You need to get a therapy dog comfortable in all kinds of environments and around medical equipment. It would be better if he worked with me.”

  “Actually,” Erica said, “I have a wheelchair and canes and even a hospital bed at my house. It won’t be a problem.”

  “But—”

  “That’s great,” Trey interrupted. Was this what women felt like when men got pushy? “I’m sorry we wasted your time, Cheyenne.”

  “Not a problem. Do you have a business card? I can give you a call to check in.”

  “I’ll be in touch if I need help,” Trey said. “Come on, King.”

  “Here’s my card,” she said. She reached out and put it into his pants pocket.

  Whoa! Trey’s face heated and he backed away. There had been a time when he’d have enjoyed such a forward, pretty lady. Not anymore. “Let’s go!” he said to Erica.

  They hightailed it out of the building and ran across the parking lot through the rain, King at their side. Once inside the truck, Erica looked over at him, dimples in her cheeks. “Your face when she put her card in your pocket...”

  Trey wiped sweat off his forehead. “Close call. She was pretty insistent.”

  “Well, you’re a good-looking guy.” Then she blushed adorably.

  His own cheeks heated and he looked away. “I think she was interested in King. Right, buddy?” He turned around and reached behind the seat for a towel, then rubbed it across King’s wet fur. “Sorry, he smells like a wet dog.”

  “He is a wet dog. It’s fine.” Erica’s phone buzzed, and she clicked into the call. “Hey, Hannah, what’s up?” She listened, her eyes widening. “Is she able to walk?”

  Trey had been starting the vehicle but he stopped and turned, watching Erica’s face grow more and more concerned.

  “Call 911,” she said into the phone, “and tell them what you told me.” She listened. “You already did? Good girl. Wait with your mom and keep her calm. We’ll be home in half an hour.” She looked inquiringly at Trey.

  “Less.” He put the car in gear and squealed out of the parking lot, listening as Erica continued talking to her niece.

  “If they take her to the hospital,” she said into the phone, “see if you can ride along. Keep us posted because we could meet you there instead.” She listened, and Trey could hear Hannah’s loud, upset voice.

  “Plug in a heating pad and get an ice pack, too. Offer her both, and sips of water if she wants.” She swallowed hard and dropped her forehead into her hand, but her voice stayed steady. “It’s going to be okay, Hannah. She’s going to be okay.”

  She listened for another minute, offered more reassurances and then ended the call.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked without glancing over, focused on driving as fast as he safely could.

  “Amber...” Her voice choked up and she drew in a deep shaky breath. “She woke up with a lot of pain in her leg and abdomen. I didn’t say this to Hannah, but the doctor warned us that recurrence is likely and that it would probably manifest as abdominal pain. Oh, Trey, I’m so worried. Can you drive faster?”

  He nodded and stepped on the gas, glad he could do something, anything, to help this woman he’d come to care for so much, almost against his will.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  IT WAS ERICA’S worst nightmare.

  As soon as Trey dropped her off at the Bay Coast Hospital’s ER, she was directed to a cubicle. There she found Hannah, crying.

  Amber wasn’t there.

  Erica took deep breaths to calm herself and then knelt in front of her niece. “Honey, I’m here.”

  Hannah leaned forward into Erica’s embrace and sobbed.

  After a minute, Erica pulled a chair next to her and just held her. Meanwhile, her own mind was racing. What had happened to Amber? Trey had driven like a maniac, but had he gotten here in time? “Honey, where is your mom?”

  “Sh-she’s having tests.”

  Tests were good, right? Better than emergency surgery. “Tell me what happened.”

  In response, Hannah gave a rambling tale of swollen legs and Amber crying out in pain, of the EMTs’ fast action, of riding to the hospital. “They said it might just be something minor, or it could be, like, a deep vein thrombosis, whatever that is. They said it could kill her!”

  “It’s okay. It didn’t kill her, and we’re in the right place.” Erica found a water bottle and got Hannah to wipe her tears and take a drink. Initial terrors calmed for both of them, Erica went outside of the cubicle and found a nurse. “Hi, I’m Amber Rowe’s sister. She just came in a little bit ago?”

  “Oh, good. There’s a lot of paperwork to be done.”

  Of course. “It will get done, but first I need to know how my sister is doing and where she is.”

  The nurse’s lips tightened. “You’ll find that out in due time.”

  Erica’s heart rate escalated. Did the nurse’s reticence mean something awful was happening to Amber? “Please, I need to check on her now. I’m her closest relative, besides her daughter, and we’re really worried.”

  The woman’s jaw tightened and she glanced back at the nursing station, where two buzzers were beeping. Erica knew nurses were overworked and underpaid, but it was still hard to be patient when her sister was somewhere in this hospital, all alone. Hannah was letting loose with occasional sobs in the next room. Erica blinked back tears herself. “Please, is she going to be okay?”

  The nurse sucked in a breath and let it out. “Look,” she said, “I’m not allowed to give diagnostic information, and I don’t know enough about her condition to do that anyway. But I’ll tell you that she was joking with the orderlies while they wheeled her up for her tests. Her color was good, and the doctor took her time about writing up the test orders.”

  Not an emergency, then. Erica went limp with relief. “Thank you,” she said.

  “Hey, I’m here.” Trey rushed into the corridor.

  “Immediate family members only,” the nurse snapped, back to business.

  “I won’t stay.” Trey gave the nurse one of his amazing smiles, but it didn’t seem to work on her.

  “The tests will take several hours. We can’t have you hanging around the ER until then. You’ll need to go back out into the waiting room.” She looked at Erica. “Now, you, as her sister, you might be able to wait upstairs and talk to her doctors there.”

  “Perfect. I will,” Erica said. “I don’t want her to be alone.”

  Trey patted her arm as another buzzer sounded in the nurses’ station and the nurse hurried off to answer. “Maybe Hannah and I could take King home and we could pick up some stuff for the two of you. Would that help?”

  “It would help a lot. Hannah will know what’s needed.” And it would do her niece a world of good to get away from this hospital and the impersonal tones of the medical professionals. It would also be better for her to know she was doing something to help her mom instead of just sitting there.

  Within minutes, Trey had gotten Hannah to agree to come help them gather things for Erica and Amber. The two of them left, Hannah much calmer.

  As she watched him open the exit doors and step back for Hannah to go first—treating a young teenager like the lady she was—she thought again that he was an amazing man. Any woman would be lucky to have him in her life.

  Unwanted, another thought pushed its way past her worries. Most women would be able to give him what he wanted: children. It was only Erica who couldn’t. She had no right to keep that from him.

  She shook her head to banish the notion. It was time to focus on Amber, not herself.

  Half an hour of red tape later, Erica got the message that Amber had been admitted to a room. She bypassed the elevators and hurried up the stairs, arriving at the designated room just as a nurse was settling Amber in and checking her vitals. Erica waited u
ntil the nurse was finished and then went to her sister and took her hand. “How are you feeling?”

  Amber grimaced. “Not the best, but I’m getting better. They wanted to finish the tests before they gave me any pain meds, so I just got them. They’ll kick in soon.”

  “What’s the pain about? Do you have an idea yet?”

  She shrugged, then bit her lip and looked away.

  Erica sat on the side of the bed. “Tell me.”

  Amber sucked in a breath and turned her head back to look at Erica. “No, I don’t know. They named all kinds of possibilities, but one of them is...” She swallowed. “A recurrence. One or more tumors pushing on something.”

  Tears sprang to Erica’s eyes. Please, God. Not that.

  “I thought I was ready for that. We knew it could happen. But when I saw Hannah’s face—” Her voice choked and her eyes filled. “She’s still too young. She needs me.”

  “I know.” Erica swallowed hard and stroked her sister’s arm, carefully avoiding the IV. “So do I. So does this world. You have a lot still to contribute.”

  “Where is she?”

  “Trey took her with him. They’re dropping King off and gathering some stuff for you. Can you think of anything you need?”

  “Some gym shorts so my rear end’s not hanging out for all the world to see.” Amber’s lips twisted into a wry smile. “And a phone charger.”

  “I’ll text her.” Erica did, including the message that Amber was in the room and chatty. She didn’t want to give Hannah false hope, but a hedge against despair, maybe.

  When she finished the text and looked up at her sister, Amber grasped her hand. “Hey. I want you to know, I’m grateful for everything you’re doing for us.”

  Erica tilted her head to one side. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m doing what any sister would do.”

  “You’re making it possible for us to have a home here, in this beautiful place.” Amber waved an arm at the window. Beyond the parking lot and a row of houses, the bay shone like it was foiled with gold. “If this turns out to be bad—if it’s a recurrence—I’m just so grateful I got to live here. All those afternoons when you and Hannah are at school, I sit on the porch and look out over the water. And I’m at peace.”