Praying for Time

by Carlene Thompson

  ‘The lock on the tower had been picked,’ Audrey went on. ‘The police think someone got in, left the door open slightly but the wind slammed the door behind him and locked, and he was trapped. He must have heard you coming and was ready to burst out with a bang.’

  ‘A bang on my head.’

  ‘It could have been worse. They didn’t find anything in the tower. Not a sign of an intruder.’ Audrey shook her head. ‘This morning the door frame was fixed and a steel door with a deadbolt installed.’

  ‘Good. That should have been done at least twenty years ago. The frame and wooden door were old and weak. Gosh, I must have really been out of it not to hear all that noise.’

  ‘You sure were after two nights without sleep.’

  ‘You’re certain they didn’t find anything in the tower?’

  ‘That’s what Sheriff Baylor told me.’

  ‘I wonder why someone was in there.’

  ‘Maybe he thought there was an entrance from the tower into the house. Or maybe he thought he could hear something.’

  ‘Only my TV.’

  Audrey shrugged as she rinsed dishes and put them in the dishwasher.

  ‘You seem very calm about the whole incident,’ Vanessa said.

  ‘I agree that it was probably some prankster. Who else would pull such a dumb trick? It couldn’t have been someone pursuing Roxanne. She’s in the hospital. Still, I took Cara to school this morning instead of letting her walk and Derek will be bringing her and Sammy back this afternoon.’

  Vanessa suddenly remembered that Wade Baylor hadn’t put out the alert about Brody until after midnight. No doubt Audrey hadn’t heard that he might be in the area, that he might have been the person in the tower. All she knew was that a thick wall had protected the family from whomever decided to hide in the lighthouse. She could tell Audrey now about Brody, but she decided to wait until Cara was home from school and safe under the watchful eyes of her mother.

  Audrey looked at Vanessa and smiled. ‘We’re having company today at three.’

  ‘Company? And I look like I’ve been in a bar fight.’

  ‘I knew you’d love it.’

  ‘Who’s coming?’

  ‘Max Newman.’ Vanessa frowned in thought. ‘You might not remember him. He’s around your age or a year younger. He went to art school in San Francisco and a few years later came back here. He opened a store called the Artisan and does a fairly good business with the tourists in the summer – the ones who want real photos, not selfies – and he still does watercolors and oil paintings. Grace commissioned him to do three paintings of lighthouses in memory of her husband and he’s bringing the first one.’

  ‘I remember Grandfather’s fascination with lighthouses. He must have inherited it from Abraham because Dad wasn’t interested. And I remember Max. He had high cheekbones and the most incredible dark brown eyes. Did he ever marry?’

  ‘No. I heard there was an engagement before he came home but his mother made quick work of that. She was the most overbearing woman I’ve ever met and determined to keep her only child at her beck and call. She died three months ago and now Max is free.’

  ‘I’m going to visit Roxanne today.’ Vanessa rubbed her temples although she could feel her headache fading. ‘Visiting hours start at one o’clock. I should be back in time to see Max and the painting. I don’t want to tire Roxy. I have to try not to ask questions. They upset her.’

  ‘You could tell her about your TV show.’

  ‘When she was a child, she was crazy about fairy tales. She loved dressing up and playing a queen.’

  ‘There you go! Now you are getting to play a queen. That should please her.’

  ‘I’m not so sure. I think she wanted to be the queen, not me.’

  ‘Oh well, she won’t mind. Maybe if she fully recovers, she could be on the show.’

  Vanessa laughed. ‘Slow down, Audrey. I’m not a producer and they don’t listen to me about whom to cast. I wouldn’t want to get her hopes up.’

  ‘No, but it would be fun to work with her, wouldn’t it?’

  Fun? Not if she was the competitive, diva girl she was at fifteen, Vanessa thought, then immediately felt guilty. Roxanne had been a spoiled adolescent. The past years would surely have changed her, even more than Vanessa could fathom. ‘I don’t know whether or not to mention it to her. After all, she’s never even seen the show.’

  ‘As far as you know.’

  ‘True. I know very little about what her life has been like the last eight years. Part of me doesn’t want to know.’

  ‘Then find something else to talk about. Something cheerful like your life in Los Angeles.’

  ‘That’s not as exciting as you might think, Audrey. I’m not out at clubs every night.’

  ‘Then pretend, Vanessa. Roxy’s traumatized. Keep things light for now.’

  Vanessa smiled. ‘You’re right, as usual. You should have been a psychiatrist.’

  ‘I like what I do, but it would be nice to have a psychiatrist’s salary. There’s so much I want for Cara. Oh well, these things have a way of working out.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘It’s time for Grace’s massage. She always enjoys it.’

  Vanessa gazed at Audrey with admiration. Almost always she looked on the bright side. Even when she had discovered she was pregnant and that her boyfriend of six months wanted nothing to do with the child and moved south, Audrey didn’t despair. She simply told her mother, saying that if she wanted Audrey to leave, she would find a room to rent and a part-time job. Luckily, her mother had sympathized and then looked forward to having a grandchild. She’d taken care of Cara while Audrey went to nursing school and was loving and supportive while Audrey cherished her baby.

  Roxanne’s eyes widened. ‘What happened to your head?’

  Vanessa thought she done a fairly good job of covering the bump on her head by combing her hair differently, and her black eye by applying extra concealer. But the curtains were opened wide in Roxanne’s room and the day was bright. ‘I fell down.’

  ‘Fell down? On your face?’

  ‘Yeah. I tripped on a rug.’ Roxy was looking at her dubiously so Vanessa rushed on. ‘It’s so beautiful today I wish you could get out of here and we could walk around town. But the doctors tell me you need another day to build up your strength.’

  Roxanne smiled. ‘Walk around town? Years ago that would have sounded so boring. Now it sounds wonderful.’ She sighed. ‘Freedom. You don’t appreciate it until you lose it.’ Her voice sounded so lost, so mournful, that Vanessa’s throat closed with unshed tears. ‘Has town changed much in the last few years?’

  ‘Oh, a little bit. There’s a beautiful new restaurant called Nia’s. It’s owned by Derek Sherwin, whose son Sammy is Cara’s boyfriend, only he doesn’t know it.’

  ‘Cara?’

  ‘Audrey’s daughter.’

  ‘Oh, my, I forgot her name! She was so young when I … left. Is Audrey still single?’

  Vanessa nodded in response.

  ‘How are she and Cara doing?’ Roxanne asked.

  ‘Great. Audrey’s father died a while back, and they live with Audrey’s mother now. Audrey is a nurse. She does a lot of private duty work. Right now she’s at Everly House taking care of Grace after she broke her hip. I think Grace loves having Audrey and Cara there. And Sammy. He visits quite often.’

  ‘It’s hard to think of someone taking care of Grace. She was so … indestructible.’

  ‘She’s not indestructible now with her Alzheimer’s and broken hip.’

  ‘She never liked me.’

  Vanessa looked at her, surprised. ‘Of course she did! You’re her granddaughter.’

  ‘Just because you’re related to someone doesn’t mean you like them. I was too much like Mommy. Grace didn’t like either of us.’

  ‘You’re wrong, Roxy. She was impatient with Mom but she cared about her.’

  ‘And what about me?’

  ‘She thought you were saucy!’ Vanessa laughed.
‘She wished you’d been more mild-mannered. But she loved you. She really grieved for you when you were taken from us.’

  ‘They blamed you, didn’t they?’

  ‘Well, yes, and I was to blame. I should never have taken you out on the beach so late.’

  ‘Nessa, I was fifteen, not five, and it wasn’t even midnight. I begged and pestered you until you gave in one night.’

  Vanessa looked out the window, seeing the dark, eerie beach in her mind. ‘But the wrong night. The worst night possible. The night when someone was watching.’

  Roxanne took her hand and squeezed it. ‘I don’t know who, but I think someone had been watching for a while. He didn’t just happen to be watching the one night we went out. After all, I used to make quite a show of myself, particularly that summer. I attracted as much attention as possible.’ She shook her head ruefully. ‘God, I was a brat.’

  ‘Oh, Roxy, you weren’t.’

  Roxanne smiled. ‘I was and you know it. You can be honest with me – you don’t have to treat me like I’m made out of spun sugar. The last few years have made me tough. Miserable but tough.’

  Vanessa had never felt closer to her sister than at that moment. They laughed and hugged and suddenly Vanessa felt as if everything was going to be all right. After eight long years, everything was going to be all right.

  She told Roxanne about a few changes in the town, including that Max Newman, whom Roxy barely remembered, had a new store and was doing some paintings for Grace. But it was Vanessa’s show that Roxanne wanted to hear everything about. ‘You’re the star of an international hit show! The nurses have told me all about it. I can’t wait to see you playing a queen. Queen … what’s your name?’

  ‘Na’dya.’

  ‘Oh, I love that! And your husband is Dominick. Is he a good kisser?’

  ‘Well … yeah, he is!’

  ‘Great. It would be awful if you had to keep kissing a guy who slobbered on you or had bad breath and act like you’re enjoying it!’

  ‘Part of the auditions were a couple of “chemistry” scenes between us,’ Vanessa confided, grinning. ‘They wanted to make sure we had convincing sexual chemistry. They told us it would be two scenes but it turned into five. In one we were actually naked although there’s no nudity on the show. We were both so uncomfortable and awkward that we ended up laughing hysterically. After that, we were comfortable together in more intimate scenes.’

  ‘Is he married?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Do you date in real life?’

  ‘He has a beautiful girlfriend with sense enough to rarely let him out of her sight!’

  An hour later, Roxy’s voice was beginning to get hoarse and Vanessa glanced at her watch. ‘It’s ten minutes past visiting time. I’ve worn you out. I need to go.’

  ‘Please stay a little longer.’

  A nurse looked in and before she could say a word, Vanessa said, ‘I’m on my way out,’ and kissed Roxy on the forehead. As she left the room, she noticed that the security guard hadn’t moved. She wondered if Roxanne was even aware of the guard. Before seeing her sister, Vanessa had decided she wasn’t going to mention Brody Montgomery being missing and as she left, she knew she’d made the right decision. Roxanne was happier and looked better than she’d expected. Some color had come back to her face. Vanessa wouldn’t have wanted to spoil the afternoon for her sister.

  She only hoped that no one else would tell Roxy the man who’d been suspected of kidnapping her could have come back to town.

  SEVEN

  ‘Hello, Grace. You’re looking well.’

  ‘Aren’t you going to say I look beautiful? Honesty is so disappointing, Frederick.’

  Max Newman’s smile froze on his high-cheekboned face and his dark eyes lost their confidence. Almost immediately Audrey stepped in. ‘Grace, Max doesn’t know you’re teasing him!’

  Grace looked at him closely, blinked twice, then smiled. ‘Of course I’m teasing. Honesty is one of the greatest qualities a man can possess. How nice of you to come and visit me today. You didn’t bring your mother?’

  ‘No, not today. I wanted you all to myself.’

  Vanessa breathed easier as Max decided not to explain his mother was dead.

  ‘Charmer. I remember now. You painted a picture for me and you were going to bring it today.’

  ‘That’s right!’ Max looked like he knew he’d sounded too enthusiastic about Grace getting an answer correct and softened his tone. ‘It’s the first of three. I hope you like it.’

  ‘Well, don’t keep me in suspense. Show me! I can’t wait.’

  Max went into the entranceway and carried back a package covered in brown paper. Slowly he unwrapped it to show a painting measuring approximately thirty by forty-five inches.

  Grace clapped her hands together, beaming. ‘Max, you said you were going to surprise me! Yaquina Head! Leonard’s very favorite lighthouse. Oh, I am pleased!’

  Relief as well as pleasure shone in Max’s smile. ‘I thought Oregon’s tallest lighthouse might be a good start.’

  Everyone stared at the image of the towering white lighthouse sitting on the bluff above the Yaquina River. Max had painted the wooden lighthouse against the background of a sunset. Gold, crimson, maroon, turquoise, and royal-blue streaks melded and led up to a slate-colored sky against which the light shone.

  ‘I seem to remember that the lighthouse is ninety feet tall,’ Vanessa said.

  ‘Ninety-three,’ Max corrected with a smile. ‘And the light can be seen for six miles.’

  ‘Magnificent,’ Grace whispered. ‘Leonard and I saw it a number of times – day and night – and you’ve certainly done it justice, Max.’

  ‘I’m glad you’re pleased, Mrs Everly.’

  ‘Max Newman, I’ve known you most of your life. It’s Grace.’

  Max nodded.

  ‘I’m going to hang it here in the library so Leonard can see it every day.’ She glanced around. ‘In spirit. I know Leonard is gone.’

  Everyone breathed more normally. Grace was having a good day. She realized her husband was dead. She also knew that some days she didn’t know he was dead.

  ‘Two more to go, Max,’ she said. ‘Have you decided which lighthouses you’ll paint?’

  ‘I thought I’d surprise you unless you have specific requests.’

  ‘Not at all. You surprised me with this one and I couldn’t be happier.’

  ‘I’m so glad.’

  ‘Max, are you going to the party at Nia’s tonight?’ Grace asked.

  ‘Yes. I’m looking forward to it, even if my girlfriend and I broke up two weeks ago.’

  ‘Oh!’ Grace tried to look sympathetic and failed. ‘I think it would be wonderful if Vanessa could go. Perhaps you would escort her.’

  Vanessa flushed in embarrassment. ‘Oh, no. I’m sure Max has other friends he’s taking to the party. Besides, I’d enjoy staying here with you and the children.’

  ‘Oh, pshaw! You couldn’t possibly have any fun with an old lady and two noisy children. Max, you don’t have another date, do you?’

  ‘Well, no. I was going alone.’

  ‘That’s no fun, either. Poor Audrey has to stay and look after me, but wouldn’t you be happy to take our beautiful Vanessa?’

  Vanessa felt like a thirteen-year-old writhing in her chair, humiliated and angry that her grandmother was nearly shaming Max into taking her.

  ‘I would love to take Vanessa,’ Max said gallantly.

  ‘No, Max, really, it’s not necessary.’

  ‘I know it isn’t necessary but it would be a blast. C’mon, Vanessa, we’re both dateless. Let’s have a good time.’

  ‘Yes, Vanessa, it would be a blast,’ Grace repeated gleefully. ‘Oh, don’t turn Max down. He just broke up with his girlfriend – right at Christmas. He needs cheering up. And Roxanne will be coming home tomorrow. I know you’ll want to be with her every evening. It’s your last chance to go out and kick up your heels. Please, as a favor to an ol
d woman. I’ll imagine you having the time of your life like I used to do fifty years ago! Please, for me?’

  ‘Yeah, Vanessa, please for Grace?’ Max begged, grinning.

  ‘Oh, OK, I’m outnumbered,’ Vanessa said, then quickly turned to Max. ‘I’m sorry. That sounded like a put-down. I’d be pleased to have you as an escort.’

  ‘And I’m thrilled.’ Max stood up. ‘I believe the party starts at eight. I have to go home and start primping. Shall I pick you up about eight thirty? We want to make a grand entrance.’

  Vanessa couldn’t help giggling. ‘Eight thirty it is. And thank you, Max.’

  ‘Audrey!’ Smiling broadly, Derek Sherwin strode toward her wearing jeans and a red sweater. ‘I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to come.’

  ‘I needed to do some grocery shopping. I had the perfect excuse to leave.’

  ‘Do you need an excuse?’

  ‘No, certainly not. I didn’t mean to make it sound that way.’ She looked around the entrance of Nia’s where tiny white Christmas lights glowed from thick strands of holly and red ribbons. ‘The restaurant looks beautiful.’

  ‘Come into the main room.’ Derek took her arm and led her into a large dining room. Chandeliers sparkled in the afternoon light and in the corner stood a giant evergreen tree decorated with white and gold ornaments and tinsel.

  ‘Oh, it’s magnificent, Derek!’

  ‘I think it looks pretty good.’ He gazed into her eyes. ‘I wish you could be here tonight.’

  ‘So do I, but I have responsibilities.’

  ‘Including my son. I feel guilty for pushing him off on to you this evening.’

  ‘Don’t! Sammy’s such a good kid he’s no trouble at all. And Cara adores him. She’ll be so much happier with him at home with us tonight. So will Grace.’

  ‘I know he will be happier at Everly House than he would be here. He tries to make me think he enjoys coming here, but he doesn’t.’

  ‘He does!’

  Derek shook his head. ‘He pretends to enjoy it for my sake, but he only tolerates it. Sam tries so hard to please me that I sometimes think he’s afraid I’ll take off and leave him like his mother did.’