Ella pursed her lips. Grace was right. “I’ll go to the hotel with you.”
“Good.”
* * *
BEN WATCHED HIS sister and Ella heading down the drive to the road. They’d insisted on walking rather than risking taking a vehicle.
“I don’t want to get stuck somewhere. Besides, you and Drew might need both cars to go help with shoveling,” Grace had said as she was getting into her boots.
“Sure you’re okay with this?” Ben had whispered to Ella. He’d been afraid that Grace might have railroaded her into going to the hotel, where volunteers were gathering. Although her quick nod wasn’t exactly reassuring, he didn’t push. She was definitely going to be in the Cove for another day or so, and he guessed helping out was preferable to sitting in the solarium with his parents.
He closed the front door behind them. Drew was taking his jacket out of the closet, getting ready to drive to Henry’s with the package of breakfast leftovers. Ben’s plan was to drive to Town Hall, where a volunteer table had also been set up, and then patrol some streets, looking for houses and businesses that needed to be shoveled out. But first, he wanted to talk to his parents.
“Guess we’ll meet up somewhere during the day,” he said as Drew made for the front door.
“Yep. I’m sure I’ll be here at least until tomorrow, maybe the next day. Depending on how the cleanup goes in Portland.”
That reminded Ben to get an email chain going for his employees. None of them would be able to venture into work tomorrow and, perhaps, even the day after. Then he noticed Drew was still standing by the door.
“One thing I’ve learned since getting to know all of you Winterses, you’re pretty resilient. Speaking from experience, troubled times settle down eventually.” Drew grinned. “My wisdom for the day. See you.” He closed the door behind him.
Yeah, Ben was thinking. He’s right. And my sister’s lucky. He headed along the hall toward the solarium. His parents looked up from their books as he sat down. He decided to bypass small talk and get right to the point. “I’ve told Ella what I did that morning when the police came to tell us about Brandon. About giving you the note Brandon had. Or maybe it was the police. I can’t remember which happened first.”
“You gave it to me,” his father put in. “And I handed it over to the police.”
“Yeah?” Ben frowned. He didn’t know if that detail was important or if it even mattered anymore.
“Why, Ben?”
“What do you mean, Mom?”
“I mean why did you bring this up with Ella now?”
“Because I knew there was no way I could have a life with her if I kept what I did a secret. She has a right to know all of it.”
His mother was shaking her head, clearly upset. But then she said, “Ella does have a right to know everything, Ben. I think the Winters family has caused her enough damage in this whole sad affair.”
“Is that what you want, Ben? A life with Ella Jacobs?”
This unexpected question from his father, asked in a softer voice than he’d ever heard from him, brought tears to Ben’s eyes. He stared out the solarium windows until his eyes cleared, knowing that the worry in their faces stemmed from love and concern for him. “It is what I want, Dad. I don’t want to lose her again. Though right now, I’m not sure if she’ll have me. She’s still processing what I’ve just told her. That note had a profound impact on her life.”
“If she loves you enough, she’ll eventually understand that what you did was the spontaneous act of a confused and grieving teenager.” After a moment of silence, Evelyn added, “And be sure to tell her we’d like her to spend the night here, with us.”
Ben hoped his mother was right about the understanding part. “I’ll see you both later.” He leaned down to kiss them on their cheeks. As he put on his jacket and boots, he realized he’d kissed his parents more in the past few days than he had since he was a kid. Maybe showing your love for family—for Ella—has been long overdue, he told himself, stepping out into the cold, snowy day.
CHAPTER TWENTY
GRACE DIDN’T SPEAK all the way to the hotel, except for a few warnings to watch out for a patch of ice or a slippery spot. The streets and sidewalks were treacherous, and they were forced to slow down to a fast waddle, like penguins. Ella smiled at the image and would have mentioned it to Grace but for the awkwardness that seemed to pop up whenever they were alone. She’d noticed at breakfast how easily they all chatted while eating, as if Ella’s outburst at the engagement party had never happened.
Although Evelyn had said they’d speak later, the opportunity never arose. For that, Ella was grateful. She needed more time to absorb Ben’s confession. He’d seemed let down when she’d told him she was going with Grace to help at the hotel. Perhaps he’d expected her to shovel with him or, worse, wait with his parents until he was finished.
They didn’t encounter many people on the way, but once they reached the hotel, clusters of adults, some in family groups, were going in and out the hotel doors. Some carried large aluminum food containers and others carried boxes or plastic bins. A van was parked right in front, and two men were unloading cases of bottled water. Grace and Ella stomped the snow off their boots before stepping onto the long strips of cardboard running down the center of the lobby’s marble floor. The makeshift path led to wide-open doors tucked into a corner near the elevator.
She came to a dead stop on the threshold. “Is this a ballroom?”
Grace smiled. “It is. Who knew, eh? I have a fuzzy memory of coming here to someone’s wedding when I was about eleven or twelve.”
“Was there also a restaurant in the hotel then?”
“I don’t remember a restaurant, but downstairs, there’s a huge kitchen.”
The hotel certainly had undergone some transformations, Ella thought as they walked into the large room filled with long conference-style tables and throngs of people setting out food, drinks and supplies. Ella figured the hotel had generators, because the old-fashioned sconces along the walls were dimly lit, as were the chandeliers along the whole length of the ceiling.
A few people greeted Grace warmly, their gazes skimming briefly over Ella. She braced herself for questions or whispers, but none came. While Grace was chatting to an older woman, Ella wandered around the tables to see where she could help. Grace caught up to her as she stood by a table of nonperishable and hygienic items.
“If the power isn’t on soon, people will need a lot more than what’s here.” Ella’s broad gesture took in the whole room.
“For sure, but this is a start. Let’s hope the utility crews from Portland arrive by tomorrow.”
“True.” Ella looked around, noting every table had at least two people handing out supplies or dishing food into containers. “Where do you think we should help?”
“I don’t know.” Grace scanned the crowd. “Wait. I see Zanna over there.” She pointed across the room, where Suzanna was speaking to an attractive man.
Grace marched ahead and Ella followed, feeling oddly like a child with her mother. She hung back, letting Grace take the lead.
“Zanna? Are you in charge? It’s just that we want to help wherever we’re needed most.”
Suzanna’s hazel-green eyes flicked over Ella and back to Grace. Ella couldn’t tell from her impassive expression whether she was surprised to see her or not. There’d been that moment at the party when Suzanna had apologized for her rude friend, which Ella interpreted as a sign of acceptance. Still, she was sorry Suzanna and her mother had to hear about that night again. Even though they already knew the real story, listening to her version of events must have been painful.
“Sam and I were just talking about how to get help where it’s needed most. You remember Sam Hargrave, Grace? And, Sam, this is Ella Jacobs, a friend of Grace’s.”
Ella nodded. Was this the Sam from Mabel’s
Diner?
“Thanks for coming to help, ladies. Word is gradually getting out, so we think the place will fill up quickly. Our intention was to have people eat at the tables and chairs, but obviously some will want to take food home.” He pointed to the far end of the room, and Ella saw that people were carrying plastic plates of food to the seating area as well as heading for the exit.
“Do you want us to help serve?” Grace asked. “Though I see there are people already doing that.”
“Yes, and many are helping themselves. I’ve got volunteers replenishing the paper plates, cutlery and serving utensils. We’re still getting food brought in, but that might taper off as the day goes on. What’re your thoughts?”
“What about people who can’t get here? Is there a way to deliver food or other stuff to them?” Ella put in, thinking of Henry and other seniors.
“Good thinking!” Sam smiled. “Would you like to be in charge of that?”
Suzanna gave her a thoughtful look. “I think Ella would be the perfect person to organize it, and, Grace, why don’t you help her?”
Ella laughed. “I see you two have good management skills.”
“Helps when you’re running a bakery and a hotel.” Sam grinned.
“You’re Mabel, then.”
His grin broadened. “In another incarnation.”
“I’ve become addicted to your scones and hot chocolate. I just hope I can find a place as good when I’m back in Boston.”
“You’re from Boston? What’s brought you to Lighthouse Cove?”
Ella recalled the server at Mabel’s saying the owner was new to town, and he might not have heard the old story. She was thinking of a simple explanation when Suzanna interjected, “Ella’s my cousin Ben’s girlfriend. You know Ben Winters?”
“Hey, for sure. He’s a regular customer, too. Cool. Very nice to officially meet you.” He stuck out his right hand.
Ella felt her face heat up as she shook hands with him. It was refreshing to have a normal encounter with someone from the Cove. “Guess we got ourselves a job,” she quipped, turning to Grace. “Want to find a quiet corner to come up with a plan?”
“Sounds good. Thanks, Sam and Zanna. Maybe see you later.”
As Ella started to follow Grace, Suzanna said, “Ella? I meant to call you yesterday morning, but I was helping Mom get ready for her trip back to Bangor and things got a bit hectic here with checkouts and so on.”
Ella tensed, although Suzanna didn’t seem upset and was hardly going to make a scene.
“I wanted to tell you that I admired your speaking up Friday night.”
“I’m sorry you and your mother had to hear all that, Suzanna.”
“She was okay, Ella. We had a long talk about what you said when we got back to the hotel. There are many sides to what happened that weekend. It’s good that some of them are beginning to emerge.” She paused and added, “I hope to see you around in the days ahead.”
Ella barely managed a “Thanks” over the lump in her throat. An elderly couple took Suzanna aside in conversation then, and Ella went in search of Grace. She soon found her sitting at a table with about half a dozen men and women of varying ages. As Grace breezed through introductions, Ella caught the reference to her as “my friend.” In spite of all that had happened between them, they were still friends, and the realization filled Ella with new hope. Perhaps it wasn’t too late to mend things with Ben.
One of the volunteers dug out a piece of paper and a pen and they quickly allotted sections of the town. An older couple stated they were from the new town, referring to the subdivision near the highway. Ella liked the term. It was a good way to bridge the gap between newcomer and old-timer.
As the group dispersed, the couple approached her and the man said, “We appreciated your piece in the Portland Press. Those of us in the subdivision need to hear that not everyone is against us. Some of us plan to write or email the town council supporting that new proposal the young fella from Winters Building pitched at the meeting a few days ago.”
Ella was amused at the reference to Ben as a young fella. She caught Grace’s eye and winked. “Thanks so much. I’m sure Mr. Winters will be pleased.”
The group split up, with Grace and Ella opting to canvass the area beyond the marina in Henry’s neighborhood. As they left the hotel, Grace sighed. “I was hoping to work inside.”
“This is where we’re needed, I guess.”
“You guess? It was your idea!”
Ella realized Grace’s wide-eyed reproach was in jest and smiled. “Well, the exercise will be good.”
“Too true, especially after that pancake breakfast. By the way, I heard some of what that couple from the subdivision said. I think that’s how most people will feel, even here in—”
“Old town?”
Grace smiled. “Yeah. It was interesting to hear them call themselves new town up there.”
“That’s a good thing, isn’t it? For the future of the Cove?”
“It sure is. And what you wrote has obviously kept the momentum from the council meeting going.” She patted Ella’s arm. “Thanks for that.”
After the last two days, this is exactly what I needed to hear, Ella thought. She wrapped her arms around Grace in a tight hug and, when they drew apart, said, “Ben will be happy to hear what they said.”
“Maybe not so pleased at the young fella part, which I plan to pass on to him.”
Their laughter took Ella back to the days when she and Grace had giggled and joked constantly, teasing one another but knowing at the same time their friendship was unbreakable. Until that summer. Yet broken didn’t mean a friendship couldn’t be mended. The last couple weeks were proof of that. She had the chance to repair what she and Ben once had—if she could forgive him keeping secret what he’d done back then.
When they reached the end of the marina boardwalk, Grace suggested they start at the farthest end of the road and work back toward town.
“Are many people living at that end of the beach area?”
“A few seniors and some others who might not be able to get to the hotel or Town Hall.”
The depth of the snow forced them to use the middle of the road. As they neared the beach, the lighthouse was barely visible through the haze of fine snow blown up by the wind off the water. As treacherous as the area below the lighthouse was at high tide, Ella bet it was deadly in winter. She shivered and was about to suggest they turn around to knock on doors when she noticed a car idling in the middle of the road ahead. She motioned to Grace and they plodded toward it, walking in its tire tracks. As they got closer, Grace grabbed her arm, gesturing to the left, and Ella saw that the car was parked right in front of the Fielding place.
She made for the car door, tapping on the fogged-up window, which silently rolled down. The woman sitting behind the steering wheel, cell phone in hand, gaped at them.
“Hi, Cassie,” Ella said. Grace came up beside her, breathing hard.
The car’s engine switched off, and Cassie Fielding climbed out. Ella’s first impression was that Cassie hadn’t changed much. There was the same thick red hair, fashionably trimmed now, and the same scatter of freckles across her cheeks, although they were paler. She’d always been a bit shorter than Ella and taller than Grace, and Ella suddenly thought how ironically their heights reflected their status with one another that summer years ago—Cassie wedged between her and Grace.
“It’s been a while,” she said, straightening out her winter coat.
Cassie Fielding was the last person Ella had expected to encounter in the Cove, especially in a snowstorm, though she found it slightly fitting that the instigator of the summer prank ending in Brandon’s drowning should blow into town this way. She couldn’t think of a thing to say at first, and Grace was unusually speechless, too.
“Have you just arrived or...?”
&nb
sp; “Got here yesterday, before the storm hit, thank heavens. Though I’m not sure of my chances leaving.” She peered up at the sky.
How odd to lapse into small talk after all these years, after everything that had happened. Ella had sometimes imagined this very scene, coming unexpectedly upon Cassie Fielding somewhere, and even pictured what they might say to one another. Now here was her chance, but for some reason, she was as tongue-tied as Grace. But not for long.
“I heard your mother passed away. I’m sorry,” Grace said.
Cassie stared down at her boots, then raised her head and said, “Thanks. That’s partly why I’m here. Had to collect some stuff from the house. It’s been sold, so no more reason to come back this way.”
“Where are you living now, Cass?” Ella asked.
“Near Bar Harbor.”
“Has it been you leaving the flowers up there?” Grace suddenly asked, tilting her chin toward the lighthouse.
Ella stiffened, remembering the frozen roses she’d seen a few days ago. Brought by Cassie?
“You saw them, I guess.”
“Last summer, when I was helping Henry at the lighthouse.”
“You’ve been leaving flowers up there? For Brandon?” Ella’s voice pitched higher as she put it all together.
“Mom was in a nursing home in Portland for the last few years, and I visited her once a month or so. When she started to decline last spring, I went every couple of weeks, depending on my work schedule.”
“So you would stop here on your way with flowers,” Ella said.
“Most of the time. Not always. And yes, they were for Brandon.” Her voice trailed off and she looked away for a second. “I read about the memorial you’re establishing up there for him. In The Beacon. I keep a subscription to find out what’s going on in town. Just out of curiosity, not from any desire to come back here.”
That was a small glimpse of the old Cassie—on the defensive when she didn’t need to be. Yet now Ella saw something beneath Cassie’s seemingly dismissive personality that she’d missed as a teenager. Maybe a lack of self-confidence that Cassie might have worked hard at concealing.
The Christmas Promise Page 20