“Nice bit of rescuing yesterday. I could’ve used someone like you when Tasha was after me,” Jake said once Leah was settled across the table from him.
Him too? “Did everyone see us on the deck?”
Courtney, Trent, and Derek had all made sure to comment on the brief encounter between Gavin, Tasha, and her yesterday afternoon.
Jake caught the sippy cup his son knocked off the table before it hit the ground. “Doubt it.” He placed the cup back on the table. “The little scene on the beach, though, everyone saw.”
Not much embarrassed her, but heat filled her face at Jake’s comment. Had everyone at the party seen them kissing?
“Stop tormenting her.” Charlie nudged Jake with her elbow and then turned her attention Leah’s way. “Neither of us saw anything. Your brother has a big mouth and told Jake. I think most people were too busy eating to notice you two.”
Leah hoped Charlie wasn’t only saying that to make her feel better.
“And he shouldn’t have told you, Jake,” Charlie added.
She agreed wholeheartedly.
“Why didn’t you bring Gavin to Gray’s wedding?” Jake asked.
Because I was too much of an idiot to realize I cared about him as more than a friend.
“He wasn’t around.” She didn’t feel like explaining how their relationship had taken a sudden turn yesterday, and besides, it wasn’t a lie. Before Jake could pursue the topic, she changed the subject.
“Do you know if Sara and Christopher are coming out this way soon?” she asked, refilling her iced tea from the pitcher on the table.
Jake added another blueberry muffin to his plate before he spoke. “Last time I talked to her, they planned on coming next month.” He broke the muffin in half and had it almost to his month before he stopped. “You’ve got company.” He gestured toward the door behind her with his chin.
She turned in her seat. “Morning,” she greeted. Leah allowed herself a moment to soak in his appearance, and the memory of him playing volleyball without a shirt rushed forward. She needed to put some thought into how she might be able to get the gray T-shirt he wore now off at some point before the day ended.
Before exchanging pleasantries with either Jake or Charlie, Gavin kissed her cheek and then sat in the empty chair next to her.
“Nice to see you both again,” Gavin commented before yawning.
“Someone needs caffeine.” She’d had her fair share already since waking up. The iced tea in her hand was her fourth since getting out of bed. “Do you want a coffee or an iced tea?”
Rubbing his eyes, he shook his head. “My stomach can’t handle any more caffeine right now. Room service delivered a pot of coffee this morning, and I drank the entire thing. Maybe later.”
“Only one? You’re a lightweight,” Jake jokingly tossed out. “I had twice as much before I showered today.”
She’d never seen anyone ingest more coffee than Jake and his wife. She’d watched him finish one cup already, and who knew how many he had before she joined him, so it was quite possible he wasn’t exaggerating about the amount he drank before getting showered.
“It was a big pot,” Gavin offered.
“Sure it was,” Jake teased.
Gavin might not realize it, but her cousin’s teasing was Jake’s way of letting her know he liked the guy. Although not 100 percent accurate, more times than not when Jake and the other male members of her family liked someone she dated, it was a good sign. No one who had met Benedict or Harry liked either of them. Those relationships had turned out to be the two worst she’d ever had.
“What are your plans for the day? Charlie and I are taking the boat out for a few hours. Aunt Judith promised to watch Garrett while we’re gone. You’re welcome to join us.”
“Promised? More like insisted,” Charlie said. “I get the impression she’s anxious for grandchildren.”
Charlie’s comment was spot-on. Ever since Uncle Warren’s first grandchild had been born, Mom had been saying how much she was looking forward to becoming a grandmother some day. Since she had none yet, every chance Mom got she spoiled the four little boys who’d been born to Leah’s various cousins instead.
“You should come. It’ll be fun,” Charlie added.
She’d gone sailing more times than she could count with Jake on the sailboat he kept moored at Cliff House. If they didn’t already have plans with Curt, she’d have accepted. Or maybe not. Now that she thought about it, she didn’t know if Gavin enjoyed being out on the water or not. It was another one of those things they’d never discussed. For all she knew, he might get deathly seasick every time he stepped on a boat.
“Thanks, but Curt invited us over,” Leah replied.
“Wish you’d asked sooner. I haven’t been sailing in a couple years,” Gavin replied.
Answers that question. Gavin might not enjoy being on the water as much as she did, but he liked it enough to want to go today.
“I’d say we should do it tomorrow, but we’re heading up to North Salem in the morning.” Jake drained the liquid in his mug and reached for the coffee carafe on the table.
Both Charlie’s mom and older brother still lived in North Salem, and they tried to visit as often as possible.
Jake poured more coffee into both his and Charlie’s mugs before adding cream and sugar to his and mixing it. “We should be around again before the summer ends and the boat goes into dry dock. Let’s plan on going then.”
It might be jumping the gun to make any future plans for them, but she didn’t care. If something came up between now and then, she could cancel. Jake wouldn’t take it personally. “Just call and let us know when you’ll be here.”
“Curt invited you over.” Jake’s smile told everyone who knew him that he was headed back into teasing mode again. “Hope you’re ready for an old-fashioned interrogation, Gavin, because he’s got one planned for you. And in case you’re wondering, he’s good at it.”
“Knock it off, Jake.” Charlie gave him a slight nudge with her elbow again.
“What? It’s true. He’s almost as good as I am.”
Leah and Charlie glanced at each and rolled their eyes at the same time. “Charlie, I’m glad you’re the one who has to live with him.”
Eventually Leah’s mom and dad joined them. They planned to spend the next week in Newport like they always did at this time of year, and for the second time that weekend, Mom invited Leah to stay an extra couple of days. A month ago she would’ve accepted and enjoyed some long overdue time with her parents. As the only girl in the family, she’d always had an extra-special bond with her mom. Unfortunately, with her parents living in Massachusetts and her in Connecticut, they didn’t see each other as often as Leah would like. This week would’ve been a perfect time to correct that, but with this new development between her and Gavin, she didn’t want to remain here while he went back to Manhattan.
On an average day, the drive from her parents’ home to Curt’s beach house took five minutes. With so many tourists adding to the traffic in Newport, it took them almost fifteen minutes to reach her brother’s place.
Since her brother had left the front door open, Leah didn’t bother to ring the doorbell, she just walked in. It’d been a year since she’d visited the house, but it looked unchanged. Although the living room was empty, the glass doors leading outside were open, and she could see Reese and Curt playing checkers at the table while Taylor sat nearby. It was a scene perfect for a family photo.
“I should’ve asked you last night. Do you have any pictures of Erin?” With her family around earlier, it had seemed like the wrong time to ask if Gavin had any photos of Erin with him. Before Curt noticed them, she wanted her curiosity appeased.
Gavin pulled his cell phone from his back pocket. “There might be one or two on here.” He thumbed on the device and opened an app before handing it to her. “I took these last weekend when we went to Roger Williams Park. Her two favorite things to do there are visiting the botanical
center and watching the elephants get a bath.”
Calling it a park was misleading. She’d visited a few times as a child and knew Roger Williams Park included a large zoo, a museum of natural history, a carousel, a bandstand, a botanical center, and numerous manicured gardens. A person could spend an entire day there and not see everything it offered.
She accepted the cell phone. The image of a smiling, dark-haired girl who was missing one of her bottom teeth filled the screen. A large giraffe occupied the background, telling Leah the picture had been taken inside the zoo.
“She looks like you.” She didn’t know what Erin’s mom looked like, but Leah didn’t see anyone but Gavin in the young girl’s face.
She scrolled through some of the other pictures on the device. Most were of Erin alone. There were a few of Erin and Gavin’s younger half sister, Piper, who most would assume was Erin’s cousin because of the closeness in age. There were a few of Erin with Gavin’s twin, Vivian, as well. Finally she came across one of Gavin and Erin together. He held a pair of skis, and both were dressed for a day on the slopes. She’d never cared much for skiing. She’d learned because her parents sent her and her brothers for lessons, but she’d preferred sitting in the warm lodge drinking hot chocolate to being out in the cold snow. Her brothers had been the opposite. They never wanted to come in, and whenever the family went skiing, Curt and Brett would spend the entire day out on the slopes, only coming inside when they needed to eat or when the slopes closed for the night.
“Where was this one taken?” She turned the device in his direction so he could see the picture.
Gavin remembered exactly when the photo of him and Erin had been taken. Every year he made it a point to take Erin skiing a few times, but the picture on the screen had been taken the first time she’d tried snowboarding. She’d bugged him to try the previous year, but, worried it’d be too dangerous, he’d made her wait until she was nine.
“Up at Stratton Mountain in February over school break. We both love to ski, but this year she tried snowboarding. This one was taken right after her first lesson. I had trouble getting her off the mountain again that day. Finally an empty stomach got her inside.”
He scrolled through a few more pictures. When he found the one he wanted, he handed the phone back to her. “I took this one the same day but several hours later.”
Despite her insistence she wasn’t tired, Erin had fallen asleep while eating and he hadn’t been able to resist snapping a picture of her asleep at the table, an entire slice of pizza on her plate mere inches from her lips.
“I knew she wouldn’t believe me if I told her she fell asleep sitting there. She didn’t make a sound when I carried her to bed and tucked her in.”
“And what did she say in the morning?”
“She denied falling asleep during dinner.” He pointed to the photo still on the screen. “Until I showed her this, anyway.”
When Leah gave him back the phone, he shoved it into his pocket again.
Smiling, she took his hand. “I can’t wait to meet her.”
And he couldn’t wait to introduce her to Erin.
Focused on the checkerboard on the table, no one looked up when they stepped outside. Curt’s lack of attention wouldn’t last. Leah’s cousin might have been exaggerating earlier about Curt interrogating him, but Gavin expected the guy to keep a close eye on him today.
“King me,” Reese called out happily after moving her red checker over one of Curt’s black ones and into an empty square.
Curt obliged and looked up at his two guests. “Make yourself at home. We’re almost done here. Reese is crushing me today.” Leah’s brother went back to studying the board.
Gavin glanced at the game. If Curt wanted to he could easily catch up and perhaps win. If he could see that, Leah’s brother could too. Rather than make the move that would even up the game, Curt went with a different one—one that put him in a decent position but didn’t give him the edge the other move would’ve.
“Curt, are you sure you want to do that?” Leah asked before Reese took her turn.
“Yeah, why?” Curt inquired, looking up from the board.
“Because there’s a better move you can make,” she answered, taking a seat at the table.
“We can’t get help from others,” Reese informed Leah.
Gavin cleared his throat in an effort not to laugh. The girl sounded extremely serious.
“Sorry, I didn’t know,” Leah apologized, her lips trying not to break into a smile. “I won’t say anything else to him. Can I play the winner?”
“Auntie Taylor is going to, but maybe you can play the winner from that game.”
“Leah, the checkers are all yours. Reese and I play a lot at home. I don’t mind sitting out for a round,” Taylor replied.
He and Erin played all the classic board games as well as a few new ones, but they’d never played checkers. He wasn’t even sure she knew how. He already had a chessboard, but when he got home he’d pick up a set of checkers. Then the next time they were looking for a game to play, they could give it a try. As a kid, he’d enjoyed playing against both Harry and Vivian. Most of the time he won, especially against Harry, which was probably why his half brother often tried to cheat.
***
The game between Leah and Reese ended up being a close one, but in the end one bad move on Leah’s part handed the little girl the win. Following the game, Taylor agreed to one final match against her niece. Much to Reese’s disappointment, she didn’t win the game against her aunt. Afterward she cleaned up the game before heading down to play in the sand, leaving the adults to engage in conversation while still keeping an eye on her.
“Curt, I love your stuffed animal collection sitting on the sofa,” Leah teased.
At least twenty different stuffed toys were carefully arranged on the sofa inside. The sight of the colorful toys reminded Gavin of how Erin insisted on arranging each of her own stuffies just so on her bed.
Opening the cover for the grill, Curt took the comment in stride. “My secret’s out. But that collection is nothing compared to the one I have in New Hampshire.”
“Well, when it’s time to pick out a birthday present for you, I know just what to get,” Leah said.
Curt removed the burgers and sausages from the grill’s surface before lowering the cover. “If you can find it, I’d love a purple and pink unicorn for my collection. Or a fuzzy panda bear. I’ve always wanted a panda bear to sleep with at night.”
Reese, who joined them reluctantly after her aunt called her up, giggled as she sat down. “Grown-ups don’t have stuffies.”
“Who says we don’t, short stuff?” Curt added the platter to the already overflowing table of food. “I bet Gavin has a whole closet full.”
The girl laughed again, an infectious sound that had him chuckling too. “He does not,” Reese insisted. She didn’t wait for anyone else to grab food before adding a burger to her plate. “Stuffed animals are for kids.”
“I’ve got one at home in my closet. It’s a dark gray cat named Mr. Floppy.” Leah entered the conversation.
“You still have Mr. Floppy? I’m surprised it survived this long. You used to take that stuffed cat everywhere. Mom was always afraid you’d leave it somewhere,” Curt commented.
Gavin could relate. When Erin was younger, she wouldn’t leave the house without her favorite elephant and doll. She still insisted on bringing them with her when she visited him and slept with them every night, but they didn’t make anymore trips to the movie theater or park.
“Why did you name it Mr. Floppy? That doesn’t sound like a cat’s name. It sounds like a bunny’s name,” Reese asked before squirting a puddle of ketchup on her burger.
Reese had a point. Mr. Floppy did sound like a good name for a stuffed bunny rabbit with long ears. Then again, he’d had a favorite bear as a little kid. Even though it had been all white, he’d called it Brownie. According to Mom, he named it that because at the time his favorite fo
od was brownies, a sweet treat he still preferred over ice cream or cookies.
“His arms and legs were extra floppy and soft,” Leah explained. “They’re still floppy but not very soft anymore. Most of the fur on them is gone from being washed so many times.”
Gradually the conversation moved away from stuffed animals to baseball. Having grown up along the New York/Connecticut border, he’d always been a New York fan. He might prefer the New England Rebels when it came to football, but when it came to baseball, nothing would ever make him a Boston fan. Unfortunately, like most New Englanders living anywhere east of Hartford, Connecticut, everyone else at the table hated New York. It didn’t bother him. He was just happy Leah liked baseball. Amber hated it. When they’d been together, she refused to go to games with him. The few women he’d dated since hadn’t shown any interest in it either. Since she never mentioned it, he’d expected Leah to be the same.
“The next time New York plays Boston, we should all go together,” Leah suggested. “I’m sure they’ll face each other a few more times before the season ends.”
“Can I come too?” Reese asked around a mouthful of food. “I’ve never been to a baseball game. Curt took me to see a soccer game for my birthday. It’s my favorite sport. I’m teaching him how to play, and he’s teaching me how to play lacrosse. I want to try out for the team next year.”
Leah didn’t need to say anything for Gavin to know what she was thinking. She’d shared her curiosity regarding Reese and Curt’s relationship yesterday. These comments would only intensify it. He hoped Leah got to the bottom of the mystery soon, because even he was curious.
“She’s a tough coach.” Curt added more potato salad to his plate before grabbing a burger and stacking pickles and tomatoes on it.
“Those are often the best kinds. One of my favorite coaches in high school was also my toughest, but I learned the most from him,” Gavin shared.
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