Hawthorne Harbor Box Set

by Elana Johnson

  Is she cooking?

  Haha, Jess responded. She said she’ll get pizza.

  I like pizza. What time?

  Six-thirty?

  See you then.

  Six-thirty came quickly, as Adam always had too much work to do and not enough time to do it in. He’d just finished straightening up the living room when Jess knocked and then entered the house without waiting for an invitation.

  “Hey,” he said, carrying a skateboard under his arm and dripping rain from his waterproof poncho. Gypsy barked from the kitchen and came running toward the front door.

  “Hey.” Adam grinned at the boy and fist-bumped him as the dog arrived. “Where’s your mom?”

  “She let me skateboard over while she went to get the pizza. She’s always running late.” He put his board down, pulled off his poncho, and scrubbed Gypsy’s head. “At least she let me have my board back.”

  “Oh? Did you lose it?”

  He dipped his chin. “Yeah, for a week. I shouldn’t have skipped school, and I promised I wouldn’t again.”

  “Smart move,” Adam said. “And not only to get the board back.” He walked down the hall and into the kitchen. “You want something to drink? I have Diet Coke.”

  Jess followed him, his wet shoes squeaking against the floor. “Yeah, sure.” He crouched down to pat Gypsy, and even Fable came over for a quick scrub. “Hey, I wanted to ask you something too, real quick before my mom gets here.”

  “Shoot.” Adam pulled out some paper plates and plastic cups, wondering if he should use real dishes for pizza or not. He normally wouldn’t, so he stuck to the decision.

  “Will you teach me how to cook?” He straightened and looked at Adam. “Your mom’s been doing some stuff, and I really like it.”

  Adam glanced at him, wanting to stare but not wanting to make him uncomfortable. “Yeah, sure.”

  “I know you’re doing soups for the Fall Festival. I could just watch until that’s over.”

  “You can help.” Adam leaned his weight into his palms and looked squarely at Jess. “I mean, everyone has to pick up a knife sometime, right?”

  Jess chuckled. “Yeah, just don’t tell my mom.”

  “Don’t tell me what?” Janey appeared, a stack of pizza boxes in her hand. “Door was open. Hope you don’t mind that I came right in.”

  “Not at all.” Adam’s smile felt giddy and foolish, but he couldn’t straighten it or tame it. He took the boxes from her and set them on the counter.

  “So.” She stepped over to Jess and drew him into her side. “What are we not telling me now?”

  Adam spread the boxes out and started opening them to see what kind of pizza Janey had ordered.

  “Oh, it’s nothing,” Jess said.

  “I’ve heard that before.” Janey cut Adam a look.

  “He’s just going to teach me how to cook. That’s all.” Jess met her eye, and Adam realized that they were very nearly the same height now.

  Something pinched crossed Janey’s face, but she wiped it away quickly. “Sounds great. Now, I’m starving. Should we eat?”

  The conversation stalled for a few minutes while they selected slices and poured drinks. When they were all seated around his tiny table, Adam said, “Are you sure you’re okay with Jess learning to cook?”

  “Your mother does it.”

  “She hasn’t let him pick up a knife,” Adam said, watching her, keenly aware Jess was too. “And I will.”

  Janey nibbled on her pizza. “It’s really okay. It’ll be good for Jess, and if I’m not here, I don’t have to see it when his fingers get cut off.”

  A beat of silence passed, and then she laughed.

  Adam wasn’t sure if he should join in or not, but Jess did, and when the tension broke, he said, “I’m certified in first aid, in case you didn’t know.”

  Janey rolled her eyes. “Of course you are.”

  “Oh, wow,” Jess said. “Watching you two flirt is almost painful.”

  Adam’s eyes flew to Jess, and Janey’s chair scraped the floor she jerked so hard. “We’re not....” she started. “Flirting.”

  Jess rolled his eyes and said, “Can we go out to the shed now?” He got up without waiting for Adam to answer and left through the back door, taking the dogs with him.

  Though Adam wasn’t finished eating yet, he stacked two more slices on his plate and picked it up. “We’ll talk later, okay?”

  She nodded, and he left her sitting at his kitchen table.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Janey remained at the table, her piece of pizza only half consumed. Keeping the relationship with Adam under wraps was almost easier than being able to flirt with him in front of her son.

  Jess hadn’t seemed bothered by the flirting, just...disgusted by it? Maybe.

  When she’d suggested dinner, his enthusiasm for the evening had dropped a bit. Maybe he wanted to spend time with Adam alone. Janey could certainly understand that. She’d like to be out in the shed with Adam too. Watching him get his hands dirty, fitting little parts together to make a much more powerful machine run.

  She left her dinner behind and moved to the front porch while dialing her sister. It was time to figure things out and make sure she wasn’t doing damage to her son by dating Adam.

  “Hey, there. Are you all tan and glowy now?” Annabelle laughed and then said, “Don, can you take him?” in a much quieter voice.

  The unhappy squeal of Annabelle’s one-year-old came through the line. “All right. You have all of my attention. You’re calling about your mystery boyfriend, right?”

  Janey sighed. “Yeah.” She didn’t want to deny it. “We told Jess about us, and he seems okay with it, but I’m not sure.”

  “You know, it would really help if I knew who he was okay with.”

  Janey looked at her Jeep parked beside Adam’s cruiser. The rain dripped steadily against the windshield. Any of his neighbors could see it. Would know that it wasn’t the first time she’d been here in the past week. Any number of conclusions could be formed.

  “It’s Adam Herrin,” she said, preparing herself for an unearthly scream from Annabelle by holding the phone away from her ear.

  It came, and Janey smiled.

  “I can’t believe it,” Annabelle said breathlessly. “I mean, Adam Herrin. He’s so handsome, and tall, and wow. Matt’s best friend.”

  The enthusiasm hushed, and for some reason tears pricked Janey’s eyes. “It’s okay for me to date him, right? I mean, Jess seems to like him. They’re in Adam’s shed right now, building a motorcycle together. I could never give Jess an experience like that.”

  “Oh, honey, you’ve always been too concerned with what kind of experiences you can give Jess.”

  Janey nodded. “I know. I know that. I just—” She just wanted him to have what other kids did. A loving family. Fun vacations. Awesome birthday presents. “He asked Adam to teach him how to cook.”

  “Well, that’s not bad,” Annabelle said. “Why do you sound so upset?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  “Well, let me go all big sister on you for a minute.” She drew in a deep breath, all pretense of giddiness gone. “Adam Herrin is the Chief of Police. There is no better man in this whole town. You shouldn’t feel guilty for going out with him. Heck, you should be enjoying every last moment of it.”

  “I know, I—”

  “No, you don’t know, or you wouldn’t be sitting wherever you’re sitting, talking to me about this.”

  Janey pressed her lips together, knowing Annabelle would continue whether she spoke or not.

  “Jess will likely struggle with parts of you dating him, but in the end, there is no better man to take Matt’s place.”

  “No.” Janey shook her head. “No one’s taking Matt’s place.”

  “And Adam won’t want to,” Annabelle said. “But he’s perfect for you, and he’d make a great step-dad for Jess. So Janey, listen very carefully to me. Don’t get too far into your h
ead on this. Just enjoy it. Act first. Think later.” She scoffed and gave a short, barking laugh. “That’s the opposite of everything I tell my kids right now. But you tend to overthink things, right?”

  “Maybe a little,” Janey said.

  “More than a little,” Annabelle teased. “It’s a miracle Matt was able to sweep you off your feet so easily.”

  They continued talking for a few minutes longer, and then Annabelle said, “Eli won’t stop crying. I have to go.” She sighed like being a mother was the worst thing in that moment, and Janey smiled as she said goodbye.

  She’d certainly had her fair share of moments like the one Annabelle was going through right now. But she’d been all alone, with no one to pass the fussy infant to so she could chat with her sister. No one to take a turn changing the diaper. No one to get up with the crying baby in the middle of the night.

  Adam had been there that first night, and she had her anonymous angel that had kept her going when things got really rough. She got up and collected her umbrella from where she’d left it against the front door when she’d come in.

  It flipped open and she moved down the steps and along Adam’s front sidewalk. Janey loved the rain, everything about it. The scent as it hit the dirty pavement. The sound of it against the roof, the windows, the umbrella. The way it cleansed everything for a new start.

  She walked slowly down the street, looking at the cheery yellow lights in the homes neighboring Adam’s. He probably knew every single one of them, took them soup on rainy days like tonight, and begged his forgiveness when his dogs went rogue in the neighborhood. Well, at least Fable. Gypsy probably knew the exact blade of grass that didn’t belong to her anymore.

  Janey smiled thinking about his dogs. Thinking about him.

  Don’t think. Annabelle’s voice rang in her head. Just act.

  She’d overthought her rapid relationship with Matt, but she’d been so enamored with him that she hadn’t had much time to get too far inside her head.

  “But you’ve been living inside it for twelve years,” she muttered to herself. The magic of the rain kept her melancholy thoughts at bay, and she wandered the neighborhood until her phone sounded.

  Where did you go? Your car’s still in the driveway.

  She smiled at Adam’s name on the screen, the concern in those simple words.

  Went for a walk, she typed out clumsily with one hand. Be back soon.

  After all, it was time Janey came back. Back from Matt’s death. Back to living a full life. Back to herself and finding her own happiness.

  She returned to the shed and leaned in the doorway with the rain dripping off her umbrella. “Hey, you two.”

  Jess looked up from where he sat on the ground, a variety of tools surrounding him. His hands held the grease she’d imagined, and his face beamed the brightest smile at her. “Hey, Mom.”

  Adam’s gaze flew to her, and he jumped to his feet, already wiping his hands on a blue mechanic’s rag. “There you are. I was worried when I went inside and you were gone.” His eyes carried that worry in their ocean-blue depths, and Janey felt herself slipping outside of her mind. Maybe even slipping down the slope toward love.

  “Sorry about that,” she said. “I worked a lot at my desk today, so I thought I’d take a walk.” She put the umbrella down and stepped further into the shed, surveying the scene before her and noting the metallic smell of machinery and the sharp scent of oil. “Wow, this looks like it’s in more pieces than before.”

  “Oh, it is.” Adam turned back to it. “But we’re making progress.”

  “How is more pieces considered progress?” She slipped her hand into his, and he pulled his attention back to her, his eyes full of questions. Janey didn’t know any of the answers, and for right now, that was okay.

  “Sometimes things have to be taken apart before they can be put back together,” he said, his voice on the edge of husky and hoarse and sending a rumble through Janey’s whole body.

  She nodded. “All right, then. I’ll leave you guys to it.” She looked at Jess. “Can Adam give you a ride home when you’re finished here?”

  “Yeah, whatever.” Jess barely looked at her.

  She pressed her free hand against Adam’s chest and said, “Not too late, okay?”

  He nodded, and Janey ducked back out into the rain, not bothering with her umbrella this time.

  * * *

  Oh, I forgot to tell you not to mention that Adam and I are dating. Janey sent the message to her sister the following morning as she made her way out of town and up to the National Park. She loved the drive along the shore and through the trees, even if it did add thirty minutes to her day. The rain had stopped sometime in the night, and everything felt shiny and new.

  Oops....

  Janey almost rammed her foot on the brake. She hit call and hoped she’d have service long enough to find out who Annabelle had told. “Annabelle,” she said when her sister picked up. Complete chaos came through the line, from children crying to talking to something sizzling that probably shouldn’t have been.

  “Who did you tell?” she practically yelled into the phone.

  “Just Esther and Opi.”

  Janey groaned. “Not Opi. She’ll tell everyone at the salon, and it’ll spread like wildfire down Wedding Row by the end of the day.” She kicked herself for telling her sister and not remembering to warn her to keep the info to herself.

  “They’re old friends,” she said. “They knew Matt and Adam in high school too. They thought it was sweet.”

  “Adam doesn’t want the whole town buzzing about it,” Janey said. Truth be told, she didn’t either. She’d always lived just outside of the spotlight, and she liked it that way. But Adam Herrin was as in the spotlight as someone could get.

  “Everyone talks about everything he does—oh.”

  “Exactly.”

  “I’ll tell them as soon as I get my kids off to school.” Annabelle said something to one of her kids that made it sound like breakfast wasn’t going so well.

  “All right.” Janey hung up, not sure what else to do. If Opi Gunnison didn’t say anything about this juicy piece of gossip, it would be a town miracle. She pulled over to the side of the road and sent a quick text to Adam, confessing what she’d told her sister and who Annabelle had then told.

  I’m sorry, she ended with. I’m headed through the forest right now and won’t have service for about twenty minutes.

  She sent the message and got herself back on the road, a sense of dread hanging over her she couldn’t describe.

  When she got to her office, Maya was already there. “Oh, good morning,” Janey said. “Am I late?”

  “No, I don’t know.” Maya grinned at her. “I just wanted to hear how pizza and motorcycling went with your secret boyfriend.” She stood from Janey’s chair and moved around to the other side of the desk.

  “You owe me forty dollars for pizza.” Janey stowed her purse in her bottom desk drawer.

  Maya laughed and pulled two twenties from her pocket. “Worth it, though, right?” She’d been the one answering Jess’s texts yesterday while Janey was in a meeting. When she’d finally gotten away from the camp managers, Maya had her whole evening planned for her, the pizza already ordered online.

  “It was fun,” Janey said. “Jess spent more time with him than I did.”

  Maya sighed a happy little sound and fell back into the chair. “Sounds wonderful.”

  “So what did you do last night, Maya?” Janey pressed the button to turn on her desktop computer, almost desperate to stop talking about Adam. It was too much to think about him all the time, get lectured by her sister, and then completely disrupt her evening reading routine because she couldn’t focus on the words in her book.

  “The same old thing,” Maya said. “Yoga downtown and then I stopped by the Anchor, hoping the firemen would be on their dinner break.”

  “And were they?”

  “No such luck. They must eat in shifts now or somethin
g.” A little frown appeared between her eyes. “Do you know how hard it is to meet a man in this town?”

  Janey did, and she hmm’ed and yeah’ed in all the right spots until Maya got up and said, “I guess I better go get ready for the Tuesday Trailhike.”

  “Yep,” Janey said. “I’ll meet you out there.”

  Adam still hadn’t responded to her text, and she wondered if he was angry or just busy. Hopefully not busy dealing with a storm of gossip about his new girlfriend.

  She set her thoughts aside and reached into her cabinet to pull out her hiking boots. Once they were properly laced, she set out for the back patio of the lodge, where the Tuesday Trailhike met every week at ten o’clock.

  They usually had school groups midweek, but today there were several families also in attendance. Maya ran the Trailhike. All Janey had to do was hand her the rock samples and tree branches when she spoke about them.

  She also kept records of how many people attended the Trailhike, and how many went up the half-mile walk to the waterfalls. She loved the hike through nature, and she answered questions along the way.

  When they arrived, the sound of rushing, tumbling, falling water soothed her. She’d always found it strange that she could love the water and be terrified of it at the same time. But she’d made it across the sound to the beach house, and as the memories of the first time she and Matt had made this hike to the waterfalls came to mind, she didn’t push against them.

  She didn’t have to hide her tears. She smiled at the sweetness of them, at the way he’d held her hand and snapped a selfie with the falls in the background. Though their life together had been short, it had been sweet.

  Not bitter.

  After she’d returned to the lodge and done her daily trail checks, she met Maya in the break room. “Great job today,” she said. “You get better and better at that every week.”

  “You think so?”

  “Everyone was laughing today.” Janey stuck her leftover pizza in the microwave and turned back to her friend. “So yeah. I think so.”