Cottage at the Beach (The Off Season)

by Lee Tobin McClain

  “What else are you liking?” Denny glanced sideways at him. “Or who?”

  Trey blew out a sigh. He and Denny had been through a lot together, and reading people was a key cop skill. No use trying to hide it. “There’s this woman.”

  “That teacher you’re working with,” Denny said. “I figured. After my wife put the idea in my head. Women always know.”

  “It’s not gonna work, though,” Trey said. And then he thought about staying here without Erica.

  She’d said if her program ended, she’d probably have to move.

  And Pleasant Shores without Erica would feel...empty. Meaningless.

  The kids would disband and Erica, Amber and Hannah would be gone, and what would there be for him here?

  Come to think of it, he couldn’t get excited about being anywhere without Erica.

  He shook off that gloomy and self-pitying thought and stood to stretch his back. Then he heard a familiar bark. King started to whine.

  A giant white soaked creature galloped toward them, a fish from the bay in his mouth. King barked an excited greeting.

  Hope and happiness blossomed inside Trey’s chest. He looked around for Erica.

  But she wasn’t there. Hannah was running toward them, leash flapping out beside her. “Ziggy! Drop that fish! Don’t jump!”

  Trey automatically uttered a sharp command and the wet dog stopped and sat. Another command, and he put down the smelly dead fish, which Denny grabbed and threw into a nearby trash can.

  “I’m helping Erica out, exercising Ziggy,” she said. “She’s gathering boxes to pack up the classroom, since the school year’s over and so is the program. And she’s lining up job interviews.” She talked to them a few more minutes and then jogged on with Ziggy.

  And Trey realized none of it was any good without Erica. He wanted to share the news about the program’s viral video with her, so she’d at least know the program had made a difference. Wanted to talk with her about what the chief had said, get her perspective on whether he should take the job.

  But if she said he should, what then?

  “You going to do anything about Erica, man?” Denny asked.

  “Like what?”

  He shrugged. “Talk to her? Apologize?”

  He’d like nothing better, but he’d pushed her away pretty hard. He wasn’t sure she’d even be willing to talk to him.

  And what could he say? She’d made it clear that she didn’t want kids, didn’t want him. That desolate expression on her face when she’d walked away might have had little or nothing to do with him. It could have been all about the academy.

  “Whatever you do,” Denny said, “don’t give up. A good woman...” He shrugged, his face reddening. “She’s worth the work, man. Believe me.”

  That was what Trey’s every impulse said.

  His impulses had gotten him in trouble before. Making him jump into a doomed marriage, telling him to run into a meth lab without backup.

  Maybe now, though, he’d grown. Changed. The chief seemed to think so.

  Maybe his impulses weren’t so bad after all.

  Or maybe loving Erica was a whole lot more than an impulse. And maybe they could talk through the kids issue, figure out why she was resistant, see if they could come to a compromise.

  He cared about her. Cared about her enough that it was worth a try.

  Denny was right—a good woman was worth any amount of work. He needed to apologize and he needed to persist, but a simple little “I’m sorry” wasn’t enough. And Erica wasn’t the type to be influenced by diamonds and roses.

  He needed to do something meaningful. Something big.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  “MAYBE THIS WASN’T such a good idea.”

  Stirring a huge pot of chili to serve with hot dogs, Julie heard her daughter’s words behind her and laughed a little. Ria could be such a worrier. “What’s not a good idea, hon?”

  “Having a picnic so soon after the storm. We’re still cleaning up.”

  “Don’t be negative, Mom,” Sophia said, surprising Julie. “Everyone was so happy to get invited to a motel picnic. It’ll be fun. Although,” she added, peering into the chili pot, “that looks disgusting.”

  “No, it doesn’t,” Kaitlyn said from behind a tall stack of napkins and plasticware she was rolling up together. “Grandma’s chili is really good. Everyone will love it.” She stuck out her tongue at her sister, who responded in kind.

  “It’ll be fine, you’ll see,” Julie said to Ria, patting her shoulder as she walked past her to check on the mac and cheese. “We’re doing our part to help the community come together, and as a bonus, it’ll be good for business.”

  The only dark spot on the picnic horizon was that Melvin might come with his young fiancée. In the adrenaline rush of the storm, Julie hadn’t minded that they’d seen her looking like a wet rat. But thinking about it later had made her cringe.

  The church and the motel had shared a lawn for years, complete with barbecue grills and picnic tables. Since the church had a large kitchen, it had made sense to do the cooking there. The timing made sense, too: they’d serve the meal right after late-morning services let out.

  The courtyard was pretty well cleaned up by now, and the workers had started on the adjoining lots and yards. Most of the hotel guests were participating, as were a number of members of the congregation. Debris was stacked in messy piles along the highway to be picked up as soon as cleanup crews got to this point on their priority list.

  “It’s looking good around here, for so soon after a big storm,” Julie said as she held the door open for Ria to carry out a huge basket of sandwich rolls. The sky was blue, the breeze from the bay cool and pleasant and strong enough to blow away the faint swampy odor from the flooded areas.

  Ria nodded, biting her lip.

  “What’s eating you, honey?”

  “I just had so much to do, I feel like I didn’t put enough into preparing for this party. And now I just want to keep working to get back to normal.”

  “Hello, Mom, you’re getting the motel property cleaned off for free.” Sophia nudged her mother. “Just chill, would you?”

  “That was never your mother’s strength, chilling out,” Julie said. She looked at Ria and it was as if she saw a fast-forward movie of her through the years: a five-year-old chewing her lip at the thought of going to kindergarten, a high school senior wondering if she’d be asked to prom, a college student calling home at midnight, afraid she’d fail an important midterm.

  A bride, wondering if she’d made the right choice. And a newly divorced single mom, upset that she hadn’t.

  Mostly, Julie was glad she’d encouraged Ria to go for it, not to worry, that things would be okay. She felt a little guilty pooh-poohing the marital cold feet, but she’d truly thought Ria and her husband were right for each other. Still thought so, if the truth be told, but something had gone wrong between them that they hadn’t been able to fix.

  The fact that Ria hadn’t shown any interest in other men, the slightly wistful way she talked about her ex, Drew, after he’d come to take the girls for a weekend...all of it made Julie think Ria still held a candle for Drew.

  When she’d hinted at it, though, Ria had gotten red-faced, angry and teary. “No way. Subject closed.”

  People were starting to arrive and mill around, and Sophia shot a video and shared it on her social media. “Good PR,” she said. “It gets the name of the motel out there.”

  What it really got out there, though, was the fact that there was free food at the Chesapeake Motor Lodge, and within an hour, twenty high school kids had shown up.

  Ria panicked about the extra guests and Sophia apologized, but Julie took it all in stride. All those years of volunteering for the soup kitchen and entertaining Melvin’s business colleagues stood her in good stead, and sh
e’d bought way too much food anyway. The smell of barbecued chicken filled the air. Mary brought over a huge tray of crab cakes, and a couple of people brought desserts, cookies and brownies. The family she’d helped during the storm brought a big pan full of hush puppies, fragrant and sweet.

  “Everything’s going well,” Mary said, taking the cover off her crab cakes. “People are having a good time.”

  “They are.” Julie looked around at the clusters of people talking, the tables full of people eating, the sound of happy voices. “I never had any doubts.” And she hadn’t, she realized. She’d known it would go well, because this kind of thing was what she did.

  “Grandma’s good at this stuff,” Sophia said. “Right, Kait?” She nudged her sister.

  “Sure.” Kaitlyn barely looked up from her phone, but she did somehow notice the brownies enough to grab a couple.

  A small group of teens about Kaitlyn’s age stood nearby, and they were looking at Kaitlyn and laughing.

  Kaitlyn ignored them, but a blush crept up her neck.

  “What’s that about?” Julie asked Sophia. If Kaitlyn was being bullied...

  “Oh, just kids being dumb. I’ll talk to them.” She marched over and soon dispersed the group.

  Ria, looking a bit more relaxed, came over and gave her a side-arm hug. “Mom, you’re the absolute best and I’m so glad you’re staying here with us,” she said. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

  Mary grinned at Julie and headed off toward a group of bookstore regulars.

  Erica arrived and started talking to some of the schoolkids. She didn’t look great, and Julie figured it had to do with the demise of the academy’s program. Which she’d like to fight; she just hadn’t figured out how.

  Music blared out from one of the kids’ phones, an explicit set of lyrics in the chorus raising the older guests’ eyebrows, and Erica stood and shook her head and pointed at the offender, who quickly shut the music off. But not before Trey appeared out of the crowd, walking toward them. As soon as it was obvious Erica had the situation under control, he veered off in another direction.

  “Did they have a falling-out?” she asked Ria, who was watching, too.

  “I don’t know. I heard a rumor they were dating, but it sure doesn’t seem that way now.” Suddenly, she tensed. “Uh-oh.”

  “What’s wrong?” Ria was so high-strung.

  “Dad’s here,” she said. “With Ashley. Do you want me to try to make him leave?”

  “No, no need for that,” Julie said. “It’s fine. No big deal.” Slowly, she turned to look in the same direction Ria was looking. There was Melvin, handsome Melvin, her Melvin, with his arm around his much younger fiancée. Currently, he was smiling and shaking hands with the mayor and introducing Ashley.

  Julie remembered when she had been the wife he proudly had on his arm. She remembered how he’d like to show her off, had said she was an asset to his business.

  Nostalgia nudged its way in, but Mary marched over and grabbed her with a clawlike hand. “Don’t you go wishing for the past,” she said. “I remember how much you hated going to events with Melvin. He’s awkward and he’s always trying to curry favor with the wealthy.”

  Julie looked at her friend and the past readjusted in her head. Of course what Mary said was true. If she were being realistic, she didn’t want to be on Melvin’s arm.

  As a matter of fact, the new girlfriend didn’t look particularly happy to be there, either. She was at that awkward stage of pregnancy where it was unclear whether you were expecting or had just gained weight. Her face was puffy, and as she shifted from foot to foot in her loose dress, Julie couldn’t help but notice her swollen ankles.

  She felt a quick, not-very-nice rush of satisfaction. Despite his fiancée’s age, Julie looked better than she did. It served Ashley right for having an affair with a married man.

  “You look a lot better than she does,” Mary said, echoing her thoughts.

  Hearing it from Mary’s mouth, Julie felt ashamed of herself. Ashley was just a young woman who didn’t know any better, and now she was stuck with Melvin.

  She remembered then how absent Melvin had been as a father. How difficult it had been to raise her daughter basically as a single mother, but not really linked into the single mother network because she was technically married.

  She also remembered feeling fat and ugly during pregnancy.

  Yes, despite how wonderful motherhood had been, she was glad to be done with that part of it. Having an adult daughter and teenage granddaughters was pretty awesome.

  Earl Greene was talking to Melvin and Ashley now, but the sight didn’t stir Julie’s anger as much as she would have expected. In keeping Melvin’s affair to himself, Earl had been doing what he thought was right. Melvin hadn’t—he’d definitely done her wrong—but suddenly she didn’t feel so much like judging him. Not when things had turned out pretty well for her.

  She didn’t feel like sitting around waiting for Melvin to see her, wondering if he and Ashley would talk to her or not. So she strode over to Melvin, Earl and Ashley. “Hi, welcome,” she said brightly.

  All three looked at her with similar wary expressions.

  “Come eat,” she said. “There’s barbecued chicken and some great pie.”

  Earl’s eyes lit up, as she had known they would. Melvin’s did, too, briefly, and then he shook his head. “I’d better not,” he said, and patted his ever-so-slight paunch.

  Trying to look good for his young girlfriend, she supposed. She was close enough to see his hair and realize that he hadn’t dyed it very well lately. Some gray was showing through.

  She felt a smidge of compassion for him.

  Even more, she felt compassion for Ashley. No, she shouldn’t have gotten involved with a married man, but she was paying for it, and would continue to do so. The old saying popped into Julie’s head, almost making her smile: “The man who marries his mistress creates a job opening.” But she truly didn’t wish that on Ashley.

  “Would you like to sit down?” she asked the younger woman. “There are comfortable chairs over by the fire circle. You can put your feet up. Make Melvin bring you a plate of food.”

  Ashley looked at her as if to figure out whether she was being mean or sarcastic, but she genuinely wasn’t. She just knew that Melvin wasn’t the most considerate husband. “You just have to tell them what to do,” she said. “Melvin, get her a nice plate of food, and pile it up a little. She’s eating for two.”

  He met her eyes and a tiny smile came to his face. Maybe he was remembering the same thing she was: how, when she was carrying Ria, she had made him go out to get her all manner of unhealthy foods in the middle of the night. Back then, it had bonded them together. Back then, he hadn’t been so judgmental.

  Maybe he could recall some of that and do better this time around. “Go on. Help her find a place to sit,” she ordered.

  “Okay,” Melvin said, and took Ashley’s arm to walk her toward the comfortable chairs.

  “You’re amazing,” Earl said, and she turned back to him, surprised he was still there.

  “I’m not,” she protested.

  “I don’t think I could do what you just did.” He had grabbed a handful of hush puppies and was eating them as he spoke. Then he studied her narrowly. “You wouldn’t happen to be heaping burning coals on his head, would you?”

  The Bible verse about being extra nice in order to shame your enemies made her laugh, loud and long. “Maybe a little of that,” she said.

  “My, my,” he said, his eyes warm, “you are quite a woman, Julie. And Melvin’s an idiot.”

  Hearing clear admiration in his voice, she looked thoughtfully at Earl. He wasn’t a handsome man, but he was a good one. She could probably encourage him just a little and he would ask her out.

  But life was good now. Did she want to add
a man into the mix?

  * * *

  DON’T CRY.

  The day after the motel picnic, Erica carried a bunch of empty boxes into the school, set them down in her classroom and looked around the place where so much love and learning had gone on in the past three months. It was still small, still dark, still smelling of sweaty teenagers. But to her, and to a lot of the kids, it had become a safe haven.

  She’d started boxing up the classroom last week but hadn’t been able to muster up much energy for the task, so she’d postponed it. Now, though, she didn’t have a choice.

  Just get to work. She tugged one of the empty boxes over to the bookshelf and began packing books. She was taking them with her, since they were all hers; the school hadn’t provided any funding for a classroom library, so she’d scoured used bookstores online to find books she thought the kids would love.

  The dog-eared copy of The Outsiders made her pause, and she turned it over in her hands. This was the book that had made Shane excited about reading for the first time.

  Would that have happened in a different classroom? Would it happen for the next generation of kids who needed the extra help the support program could provide?

  Heartbroken as she was about losing her class, she couldn’t stop marveling at the kids and how great they’d been. Going to help out the elders had been exactly the kind of thing that she’d hoped for when she started the community service activities.

  She had to recognize that if their altruistic behavior had caused the program to be canceled, then the program wasn’t right for them. Or, at least, this wasn’t the right home for it.

  So she, Amber and Hannah would move on. She had talked to them about it, about how they would need to move somewhere else with a cheaper cost of living and more job opportunities for Erica. They were both sad. Hannah had started crying as soon as Erica had broached the subject, and Amber had come downstairs red-eyed the next day.

  But they were both okay. They’d all talked and hugged and reassured each other that the most important thing was that they had each other. If they couldn’t stay in this beautiful location, well, a lot of people didn’t get everything they wanted.