Chapter Six
Jared sat on the balcony outside his room at the inn, his feet up on the railing, a cold beer in his hand via room service, and reached for his ringing phone. He checked the caller ID and smiled.
“Hey, Dad. How’s it going?”
“Good. Very good. How’s our sunken ship doing?”
“Same thing it was doing the last time you asked. Nothing.”
“Still waiting for someone to make a decision?”
“We are. On the one hand, they want the ship removed because there’s evidence of a Native American settlement beneath it. On the other, no one wants to be the person who gives the order to demolish the ship to get to the settlement. It’s frustrating. I can’t leave because we could get word any day now. But I can’t work, either, so my hands are tied.”
“But you’ve already given your report, right?”
“Two weeks ago. It was pretty straightforward. I explained how we could salvage the artifacts from the wreck, then we could bring up what’s left of the ship piece by piece depending on its condition. Obviously there’s a lot of rot. I also mentioned we’d bring in Sam as the marine archaeologist.” As Jared spoke, he could almost see his father nodding in agreement.
“Exactly what I’d have done,” Gordon assured him. “I know you’re not a patient man, but try to hang in there. We’ve committed to this project, and right now, things are a little slow. Which is fine. We all need downtime.” Gordon paused. “You in particular. You haven’t taken time off since last year.”
“Somewhere I heard someone say, ‘When you’re doing what you love, you never work a day in your life,’ ” Jared said, half in jest. “I had a great time diving in Costa Rica not too long ago, and before that, we were in Australia.” Thinking of Australia made him remember something else he’d seen that he couldn’t explain, which made him think of Chrissie. He tucked away the thought to save for Wednesday. “Anything going on I should know about?”
“Actually, there is.” Jared heard his father take a deep breath. “Delia and I are getting married.”
“This must be a bad connection. It sounded like you said you and Delia were getting married.” His eyes were on the bay and the sailboats that flashed by in the early morning sun.
Gordon laughed. “I know, hard to believe, after how many years we’ve been together?”
“So why now?” Jared swung his legs down from the railing. This was the last thing he’d expected to hear from his father.
“It’s time, that’s all. I want to. And after she and I talked it over, she’s agreed.”
“Wow. That’s some news, Dad. Have you told Rachel?”
“Right before I called you. She’s obviously thrilled.” Gordon paused. “How ’bout you? Aren’t you going to wish us luck?”
“Of course I wish you both all the best, Dad. I’m just surprised. I had no idea you’d wanted to get married again.”
“ ‘Again’ makes it sound like I’ve been married several times over, and recently, at that. I’ve been single for twenty-four years now.”
Jared was not oblivious to the edge in his father’s voice.
“I just meant I didn’t know you were thinking about marriage. I guess I thought since you’d been together for so long, neither one of you wanted to make it permanent.”
“We both feel the time is right for us.”
“Then I’m happy for you. I really am. For both of you. Delia’s . . .” Jared laughed. “Delia is Delia.”
Gordon laughed, too. “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
“So when’s the big day? And where? And do I need to get a tux?”
“Three weeks from Saturday, at Delia’s home in Pennsylvania.”
“Three weeks? That’s not a lot of time. Are you sure you can pull off a wedding in three weeks?”
“This is Delia we’re talking about. She has everything under control, as you’d expect.”
“So how do her kids feel about having a stepfather after all this time?”
“They’re really happy. Nick is walking his mother down the aisle and Delia’s daughters and daughter-in-law will be bridesmaids. I’d like you to be my best man, son.”
“I’d be honored, Dad,” Jared said sincerely. “I truly would be honored.”
“Great. That’s settled, then. Hold on, Jared . . . here’s Delia.”
“You may call me Mom, or not,” Delia Enright said in that always slightly dramatic tone of hers. “Or you may continue to call me Delia. You may not, however, refer to me as your stepmother. It sounds so Grimms’ Fairy Tale–ish. In return, I promise not to be evil.”
“You’ve got a deal.” Jared was grinning. Whatever he felt about his father remarrying, he was glad it was Delia whom Gordon had fallen in love with.
“Did your father tell you the festivities are going to start on Thursday night?”
“No, he just said the wedding was three weeks from Saturday.”
“Take all this down. Thursday night we’re having a general get-together. Both families. All the kids and grandkids. Very casual. It’ll be such fun. Then Friday during the day, we’ll have activities for everyone. The Brandywine Valley is such a beautiful part of Pennsylvania, I want to share it with you all. Plan on sightseeing. It’s a very historical area—the Battle of Brandywine, the Brandywine River Museum, the Wyeth paintings, Longwood Gardens. Look it up if you don’t know it. Then Friday night, rehearsal dinner. Saturday, the wedding. Sunday, brunch and perhaps some more sightseeing if anyone is still on their feet from the night before. Questions?”
“No, ma’am.”
“ ‘Ma’am’ is also off the table, Jared. It makes me sound ancient.” Delia paused. “You haven’t written down a word, have you?”
“No, ma’—Delia. But I have an excellent memory.”
“That’s what your father says, too. I’ve found it to be an exaggeration. Of course, he claims his age is responsible. You have no such excuse. I’m giving the phone back to your father now. Oh, and bring a date or you’ll throw off the seating.”
“Did you catch that last part?” Gordon was back on the phone. “Bring your latest girl.”
“I caught it, but there is no latest girl. I’m not dating anyone right now.”
“Well, sometime over the next few weeks you’re going to have to find someone. Delia is deadly serious about the seating.” Gordon chuckled. “Besides, knowing you, there’ll be someone soon enough.”
“Doubtful. But hey, I wish you both all the happiness in the world, Dad. Let me know what you want me to wear, and I’ll take care of it.”
“Thanks, Jared. I’ll see you soon.” Gordon paused. “I love you, son.”
“I love you, too, Dad.”
Jared remained on the balcony, staring at the water, wondering what had possessed his father to want to get married. You’d think after Amelia . . . But that wasn’t fair, and Jared knew it. Delia wasn’t his mother. She wouldn’t be going off and disappearing into another life that didn’t include him. Funny, though, that his father had fallen in love with two women who were independent and had careers that took them away from home. The difference between them, as he saw it, was that Delia had been going on book tours for many years, and she’d never failed to come back to her children.
For a time, when he was younger, he thought that’s what mothers did. They traveled and did things that were so important they didn’t come home. Then he got a little older and had friends whose mothers were home every night, and he started to wonder what his mother did that was so important she couldn’t come home, too. When she died, he’d expected to feel more than he did, but she was a woman he’d never really known, a woman who had so little presence in his life that he honestly didn’t miss her.
Why would his father want to get married now? Jared was at a loss to explain it.
That’s what he could have told Chrissie, that an unexplainable thing was how a man who’d been abandoned by one wife would want to marry again.
And Delia was demanding that he bring a date for the wedding. A date for a four-day weekend? Delia obviously had no idea what she was asking of him. He couldn’t think of one woman he’d tolerated for four days except his sister, and sometimes that had gotten touchy. Besides, chances were Rachel would be bringing her husband.
He speed-dialed Rachel’s number and couldn’t help but smile when he heard her voice. He really did love his little sister.
“So, you’ve heard Dad’s happy news,” she said when she picked up. “Isn’t it wonderful? He and Delia are really getting married. They’re so perfect for each other, don’t you think?”
“Yeah. Perfect.” He tried to sound upbeat.
“We’re over the moon. The boys are so excited. They’ve never been to a wedding. Of course, they’re mostly interested in the cake, but it’ll be a great time. They’ll meet their . . . what would you call them, stepgrandkids? What would the relationship be between Delia’s grandkids and Dad’s?”
“I don’t know. Listen, Rach . . .”
“Dad says you’re bringing a date to the wedding. Who’s the lucky girl?”
“There is no girl. Lucky or otherwise.”
“What, you can’t decide between the bevy of beauties that always seem to follow you around?”
“There’s no bevy. No beauties. Nada.”
“Jared, have you been sick? ’Cause the only time I remember you not having at least one girl in your life was when you were in South America and caught that fever and—”
“I’m not sick. I’m just not dating anyone. I’m just working.”
“I was under the impression you weren’t working. Dad said there was a lull.”
“Right. But we expect to get called back at any minute.”
“How’s that cramping your style?”
“Look, I’m just having a nice, peaceful layover in a quaint little historic town, taking nice long walks, eating some great food . . .”
“Okay, who are you really, and what have you done with my brother? Because if you knew him at all, you’d know he doesn’t take nice, peaceful long walks in little historic towns.”
Jared laughed. “It’s just a change of pace while I’m waiting to get back to the diving, that’s all.”
“So how’s there no woman involved?”
“There just isn’t.”
“Wow. This is a whole new Jared.” Rachel paused. “Are you honestly saying you haven’t had female companionship since you got there?”
“Well, I’ve made a friend, but seriously, just a friend. We just hang out.”
“You hang out and take long walks through a charming little town, something you never do, but she’s just a friend.”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t remember you ever ‘just hanging out’ when it comes to women.”
“Maybe I’m an older, wiser Jared.”
“That’s a novel concept. I wonder what that would look like.” Rachel paused. “But back to the problem at hand. Delia said you have to bring someone. How ’bout that woman you dated last summer? Jenna?”
“Jessica. And no, thank you.”
“The one from New York, the one you had with you at the Halloween party, then.”
“She really was a witch.”
“Ha-ha. And here we thought it was just a costume. Okay, then, I guess I’m just going to have to set you up with someone. Oh, hey, I have this friend who—”
“No. God, no.”
“She’s really nice, Jared. And cute. Well, in her own way.”
He groaned. “Is she anywhere near as annoying as you are?”
Rachel laughed. “Almost.”
“Look, it’s not that big a deal.”
“Apparently it is to our future stepmother.”
“If you value your life, you won’t let her hear you call her that. I’ve been warned. I’m passing that warning on to you.”
“Please. I’m not the one who’s threatening to throw off her seating arrangement.”
“I don’t even know what that means.”
“It means she wants an even number of people at every table. If you come alone, there will be an extra space at your table and she doesn’t want that.”
“It sounds silly to me,” he muttered.
“Well, you’re not the one who’s getting married. Find yourself a date, bud, or I’ll be forced to find someone for you.”
“Don’t bother. I’ll think of something.”
“I’m not bluffing, Jared. I will bring someone, and if you don’t act like she’s your real date, you will look like the biggest loser ever.”
The sad truth was that he knew Rachel’d be good to her word. And the only thing he could think of worse than spending four days with someone he didn’t know just might be starting off on the wrong foot with his stepmother.
He corrected himself. Delia.
• • •
“OH MY GOD, Chrissie, you’re not going to believe what happened.” Sophie was waiting for her when she arrived at Blossoms on Friday morning. “Dallas called last night. She’s having a big meeting of her entire production staff to introduce them to the actors she’s chosen to star in her new movie. They’re all coming to St. Dennis. The stars, the staff, right down to the script people and the camerapeople. And she wants to have a brunch. Or lunch. I can’t remember which she said. My mind sort of went blank when I realized what she was asking me. And I said yes. And now we have to do it.”
“What did you say yes to?” Chrissie’s head was spinning, Sophie’d been talking so fast.
“Brunch. Or lunch. Here. At Blossoms.”
“Take a deep breath.” Chrissie waited. “Now, when is this brunch? Lunch. Whatever.”
“Sunday.”
“Next Sunday?” Chrissie walked past her and hung her bag on a hook near the back door. “That’s totally doable.”
“Ah, no. This Sunday.”
“Day after tomorrow? You’re kidding.”
Sophie shook her head. “She’s a friend, but she’s also Dallas freaking MacGregor. I’m really grateful she thought of me. This could be really good publicity for Blossoms.”
“Do you really need publicity? It seems to me you do okay.”
“We do okay, yes, but we’re coming into tourist season and there are a lot of places to eat in St. Dennis. There’s so much competition for those tourist dollars. This is free publicity. People are nuts, you know that. They’re going to want to eat where Dallas ate. Dallas and the stars she’s bringing with her. And people are going to wonder, If I eat there, will she come in?” Sophie tied on her apron. “You can see where this could be really big for me, right? We don’t get the foot traffic that places like Lola’s and Captain Walt’s and the other places that are right in the center of town do. We’re off the beaten track. I mean, you have to have a reason to come out this way. River Road isn’t exactly Charles Street. But if Dallas can put us on the map, more of those tourist dollars will flow our way because people will come looking for us.”
“True. So what are you planning on making?”
“I don’t know. I can’t pin down the menu. I think brunch, then I think maybe more like lunch.”
The front door opened and Dana called to announce she’d arrived. Chrissie looked at the clock. It was getting close to opening time.
“Look, let’s get through today and after we close, we’ll sit down and work something out,” Sophie said. “I know I’m a little rattled. It’s just huge for a place like ours to have an opportunity like this.”
“Well, you do takeout for Dallas and her employees all the time. This isn’t so different. They’re just all coming here to eat.”
“You’re right. I know I’m overreacting.” Sophie took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m over it now. Let’s get on with it.”
They were particularly busy, it being Friday, a day when more people seemed to go out for lunch, and the first of the early season’s visitors began to trickle in. Not the droves Sophie counted on for the summer, but a few more tables than usual were filled. By two o’clock, Chrissie was as ready as Sophie to put the CLOSED sign on the door.
After they’d cleaned up from the day, they went into the restaurant and sat at a table, Sophie with a yellow legal pad and a glass of decaf iced tea in front of her, while Chrissie had fixed herself a cup of coffee.
“Okay. Dallas did mention eleven thirty or so for the time. So I’m thinking brunch, though I will confirm that with her. We’ll need a few appetizers to set the mood; we’ll make those stationary because we’re not going to have a lot of waitstaff. We have Dana and Margarite, and they both said they could work on Sunday, but we’ll need a few more. Dallas agreed to keep the number of guests to match the tables and seats we have, which is forty.”
“The weather’s supposed to be gorgeous on Sunday. Maybe we could do the appetizers out back on the patio, then come in here for the main course and dessert.”
“I like it. I don’t have that many outside chairs, but people tend to stand around and mingle at cocktail parties, so it’ll be fine. And we’ll have to get the outside furniture out of storage and clean it up. I’ll ask my husband to do that.” She made a note on her pad. “It’s May already. I should have it out now anyway.”
“So we need some appetizers,” Chrissie noted. “Since we’re on the Chesapeake, we should have something with crab. Either a hot dip or mini crab cakes.”
“I think the crab cakes. Dip can get messy.” Sophie made another note.
By the time they’d finished, they’d decided on three appetizers, a strawberry salad, and three main dishes.
“We’ll serve the salads, then we’ll set up the entrées on the counter and serve those buffet style,” Sophie said. “And we can serve dessert at the tables. One dessert. Something springy.”
“I have a great recipe for a rhubarb upside-down cake,” Chrissie told her. “I used to make it at Luna and everyone loved it. We should have an ice cream to go with it.” She thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers. “Steffie had the best mint ice cream. I wonder if we could get her to make enough for Sunday.”
“Perfect. Rhubarb is definitely a spring thing. And mint ice cream would be exactly right. I’ll give Stef a call tonight.” Sophie made a face. “I don’t have a liquor license, though. I can’t sell alcohol.”
“Why not ask Dallas to bring the wine or whatever she’d like to have served? If it’s a private party, I don’t know why there’d be a problem.”
Sophie nodded. “I’ll ask Dallas what she wants and how she’d like to handle it. I expect she’ll want to have some beer, since her brother is half of MadMac Brews.”
“Ah yes, the St. Dennis brewmeisters. I had some of their beer at Owen’s. It was great, but I don’t know that beer goes with brunch. She’ll probably suggest it, but you might want to shoot that down. Gently of course, since the customer is always right.” Chrissie got up and stretched. “So we have our menu. Let’s go into the kitchen and see what we’re going to have to bring in tomorrow to make this thing happen.”
• • •
ON SUNDAY MORNING, Chrissie and Sophie stood side by side in front of the glass portion of the back door at Blossoms and watched the stars walk not the red carpet, but the blue-stone walk to the patio behind the restaurant. They’d been preparing, cooking, baking since five that morning, and were ready to start serving. Dallas’s husband had dropped off the wine and champagne earlier, and had lent a hand by taking the wineglasses onto the patio and icing the champagne.
“All set to play bartender today?” Sophie had asked when he arrived.
“One of my favorite gigs,” he assured her. “So much easier than spaying dogs.”
Sophie had turned to Chrissie and explained, “Grant is the town vet. He also has a rescue shelter for dogs, if you ever find yourself wanting furry companionship.”
“We do have cats, too,” Grant told Chrissie as he carried the cases of wine through the back door and set them on the ground in front of the table that would serve as the bar. “Not so many, because we’ve found out that my daughter Paige is allergic to them.”
“Okay, let’s just take a moment and get all our fangirling out of our systems at the same time,” Chrissie suggested now. “Otherwise we won’t be able to function for the rest of the day.”
“Agreed. I could die just looking at Chase Winston.” Sophie clutched Chrissie’s arm. “He’s actually standing on my patio. Looking at my restaurant.”
“Ah, actually, he’s looking at you, Sophie.” Chrissie turned away from the window. “He apparently likes what he sees.”
“Wow. We made eye contact.”
“Might be a good time to step away from the glass.” Chrissie gently pushed Sophie aside. “Wait till he gets a glimpse of that belly of yours.”
“I’ll convince him it’s his.” Sophie definitely looked starstruck. “We’ll run away to Tuscany and have a dozen more babies.”
“Jason might have something to say about that.” Chrissie laughed as she removed several trays of roasted tomato tarts from the oven and placed them on racks to cool.
“You guys! You’re never going to believe who just got out of a limo out front!” Dana burst into the kitchen, her eyes huge and round. “Laura Fielding!”
“Oh, she’s been here before. She came in a few times last summer with Dallas. She’s so nice.” Sophie turned the mini crab cakes over in their pans on the stove.
“Damn. I wasn’t working here last summer.” Dana looked as if she was about to cry. “She’s my favorite actress. I loved her in Pretty Maids.”
“That was the first movie Dallas produced on her own. Everyone had written off Laura Fielding as a flake and told Dallas she was making a big mistake casting her. Dallas went ahead and did it anyway,” Sophie recalled. “And of course Laura won an Oscar for her performance, with Berry winning best supporting actress. That was the hugest night ever for St. Dennis.”
“Berry is . . . ?” Chrissie turned her attention to the previously baked fingerling potatoes wrapped with bacon and placed them into the oven to warm.
“Dallas’s grandmother. Beryl Townsend, the actress? She’s ancient, but she’s still a feisty number,” Dana told her.
“She’s the older woman who modeled in the fashion show,” Sophie told Chrissie. “Everyone in St. Dennis calls her Berry.”
“I remember her. Very powerful-looking woman, and I don’t mean physically. She just oozed self-confidence.” Chrissie knew it when she saw it.
“So everyone always thought she was Dallas’s great-aunt, but it turns out she was actually the mother of Dallas and Wade’s father,” Dana confided. “What a scandal the tabloids made of that when the story went public, but no one around here cared.”
“Who was the father? A famous actor? A director?” Chrissie found herself getting caught up in the drama.
“A local judge. He and Berry are engaged now. Finally. After all these years. True love always wins out in the end, you know?” Dana nodded slowly, as if she’d invented the concept.
Margarite came into the kitchen, followed by two teenage girls.
“Do you know who just arrived?” Margarite placed a hand over her heart. “Sidney Warren. Sigh.”
“Sigh a few more times, then get ready to take drink orders,” Sophie said. “Dallas dropped off wine and champagne earlier.” She smiled at one of the girls. “Hey, Paige.” To Chrissie, Sophie said, “Paige is Grant’s daughter, which makes her Dallas’s stepdaughter. And Gabi is Ellie O’Connor’s sister. Nice to see you both again. You girls prepared to work your butts off today?”
“We are,” Paige said, and Gabi nodded.
“I’m going to have you two staffing the appetizer buffet, and then you can help out with the entrées, also being served buffet style. You’ll keep an eye on the dishes, let us know when something needs to be replenished, keep the table tidy.”
Paige nodded. “Like, if someone puts down a used plate, we grab it and bring it in here.”
“Right. I forgot how many times you’ve done this before,” Sophie said. “Start by taking those small plates outside and put them on the table by the warming trays. Your dad is already out there. And grab that stack of napkins, Gabi . . .”
The patio was beginning to fill up with members of Dallas’s staff from River Road Productions, her film company, and others who would be involved in Dallas’s next project. A glance out the window assured Chrissie that all was going well. Grant had the bar under control even as he was chatting with some of the partygoers. Paige and Gabi kept the appetizers moving, returning occasionally to refill platters or return used plates.
“How’s it going out there?” Sophie asked.
“It’s a good party. Everyone’s saying how great the food is,” Paige said. “I’m hoping there’s some of that tomato thing left over. It looks so good and everyone’s coming back for seconds.” She grinned. “And my dad can’t stop eating those potato-and-bacon things.”
“Tell your dad to knock it off.” Sophie laughed and stirred the pot of asparagus soup on her way to the oven to check the strata she’d prepared the night before to bake today, while Chrissie was busy arranging the salads on their plates. “Dana, how are you doing with the setup in the restaurant?”
“All ready to bring them in whenever you want,” Dana replied.
“We should start soon,” Chrissie said. “Everything is pretty much ready to serve. We don’t want the strata or the soup getting cold.”
“Chrissie, when you’re finished with the salads, can you turn the chicken and get the waffles going?” Sophie pulled a baking dish from the oven. “And the oyster fritters—”
“I’m on it.”
Before long, the business of serving the group took over everyone’s attention, from soup to entrées, and before long, everyone had finished eating. Dallas had decided to talk to the group about her plans for her upcoming film over dessert, so the rhubarb upside-down cake was served along with the spring mint ice cream Steffie had made the night before. “I wouldn’t do this for anyone but my brother’s wife,” she’d told Chrissie. But before dessert was brought out, Dallas had insisted on Sophie and Chrissie coming into the front room to introduce them to her group, and her staff to them. There’d been applause and phones raised to take pictures. It had all been in fun, except for that one moment when, while listening to Sophie thanking them all for coming, an assistant producer had moved a little too close to Chrissie. Before she could blink, his hand had traveled to her waist, and then had gone lower. She’d stepped away, shaking inside, and gone back into the kitchen without saying a word.
By three thirty in the afternoon, Grant had packed up the leftover wine and champagne and helped his daughter clean the patio. Dallas had come into the kitchen to plant a kiss on both Sophie’s and Chrissie’s foreheads.
“You two are amazing! Honestly, I don’t think anyone, anywhere, could have done better than the two of you did today. Everything was delicious. My crew loved it. I can’t thank you enough for pulling through for me, especially on such short notice,” Dallas’d said.
“Anytime,” Sophie told her.
“Actually, it was kind of fun,” Chrissie said after Dallas had left and Dana and Margarite were busy cleaning the front room. Except for the creepy guy with the roaming hands. She wondered if she should mention it to Sophie. On the one hand, yes, she should. It had happened in her establishment.
On the other hand, Chrissie couldn’t get the words to come out. It had embarrassed her that someone had thought her to be so easy a target. She didn’t want Sophie to think of her as weak, or a victim. She couldn’t make up her mind.
“Definitely worth losing the day off for, though I don’t want to do this every Sunday. I really do need those two days off now more than ever,” Sophie was saying as she slumped against the counter, obviously tired.
“I like having Sundays off, too,” Chrissie said as she again brought a chair in for Sophie to sit on and rest. “I’ve got this,” she told her.
Sophie sat and kicked off her shoes and uttered a long, happy sigh. “I swear, I could fall asleep right here.”
“This is ridiculous. Forget the chair. Go on upstairs and take a nap. I’ll finish cleaning up and I’ll lock the door. Just leave me a key.”
“I know I should argue with you, but I just can’t. I’m too tired.” Sophie got up. “Just text me when you’re leaving and I’ll have Jason come down to lock up. Thanks, Chrissie.” She gave Chrissie a hug as she walked past her. “You’re worth your weight in gold.”
“Does that mean I’m going to move from temp to full time?”
“You have to ask?” Sophie smiled as she went through the door. “Silly girl . . .”
Chrissie smiled and mentally patted herself on the back. She’d really fallen in love with this place, and while she’d been 99 percent certain she’d made the cut, she had to ask. She was still smiling when Dana came into the kitchen.
“Boy, what a day, huh? I bet when word gets out, we’ll be crazy busy every day this summer, right into the fall. Great for tips.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “I might be able to pay my own tuition next semester, give my parents a break. Made a nice start toward that today. Dallas is a great tipper.”
“Good for you. You guys worked really hard today,” Chrissie said.
“Yeah. It’s just amazing to see what’s going on in St. Dennis. I’ve lived here all my life, and I never thought I’d see the day when Hollywood legends would come into town with the same regularity like it’s LA or something.” Dana shook her head and poured herself a glass of cold water. “Before it was ‘discovered,’ St. Dennis was just this little bay town with a pretty inn and some great views of the water and a lot of old houses. Then the tourists found us and the next thing we knew, there were shops opening up that sold stuff besides bait and tackle.”
Chrissie laughed. “There must have been more here than that.”
“Yeah, I’m exaggerating. There were a few restaurants—Lola’s and Captain Walt’s have been here forever—and the market was there, and a few other places. I don’t even know how word got out, but it seemed like overnight, things changed. And every year there are more tourists and more things to draw them to town. There are even festivals now—the Pirate Festival, the Strawberry Festival, Founders Day, you name it.”
Chrissie finished up and decided to walk out with Dana rather than bother Jason to lock up.
“And then there are the tours,” Dana was saying as they walked out of the kitchen and Chrissie turned off the lights. “Garden tours, historic house tours, ghost tours . . .”
“Ghost tours.” Chrissie laughed. “Get out. People fall for that? Let me guess. They have it around Halloween?”
“That would be the Halloween weekend tour. No, the ghost tours are in late May. People come from all over for that one, ’cause you get to go inside some of the houses. My grandparents’ house is on it this year. They have the ghost of a five-year-old child who lives in their attic.”
Chrissie fought an urge to swipe a hand over her face.
“Please. You don’t believe that, Dana.”
“Uh-huh. I’ve heard her. She talks to herself. When I was little, I was afraid of her. When I had to stay over there, I’d get so scared I’d end up sleeping down in the living room instead of in the bed upstairs, ’cause I could hear her. But now that I’m older, I just feel sorry for her. She had a fever and she died up in the attic. That was where she and her mom lived, up there, about a hundred years ago.”
Oh brother.
Chrissie didn’t trust herself to comment, so she left through the front door and waited while Dana locked it.
“I can tell you’re skeptical, and I don’t blame you. If I didn’t grow up here and see some of this stuff myself, I’d be rolling my eyes, too. But there are all sorts of things in St. Dennis that can’t be explained. Most of us don’t even try.” Dana walked to her car. “See you on Tuesday.”
“Right. Enjoy your day off.” Chrissie got into her car and slid behind the wheel, thinking about unexplainable things.
Jared said he’d seen a lot of things he couldn’t explain. Sometime she’d have to ask him what else besides UFOs and an abandoned city in Turkey where the houses had no doors.
Chrissie’s natural inclination to believe only in what she could see was too strong for her to buy into any of that. Maybe if she saw with her own eyes, she’d feel differently.
She stopped at the sign where River Road flowed into the upper end of Charles Street and thought back to last Sunday when she and Jared had gone sightseeing, and wondered how he’d spent his weekend, and if he’d gone on a walking tour of his own.
• • •
WEDNESDAY WAS OVERCAST, and Chrissie had debated whether or not to stop at Steffie’s on her way home. For one thing, she was late, since they’d been really busy at Blossoms at lunch. For another, she was tired. In the end, the pull of Scoop was stronger than her fatigue, and she turned onto Kelly’s Point Road and parked behind the old crabbers shack. She got out of the car, and as she walked toward the weathered building, she saw Jared on the bench straight ahead. She slowed her step, wondering what he was doing there.
“You’re late,” he called to her. “I was wondering if I’d been stood up.”
He rose as she drew closer. “It’s Wednesday, right? Everyone knows that Wednesday is Chrissie’s day at Scoop.”
Chrissie laughed.
“Come on. Let’s see what she has today.”
Chrissie still had yet to say a word. All she could think of was that Jared had been waiting for her.
He opened the door, and when they stepped inside, Steffie looked up and said, “What did I tell you, Jared?”
“Okay, so I owe you five dollars,” he said good-naturedly.
“And I will collect. I know my customers, and I know my friends.” Steffie held out her hand. “Pay up, big boy.”
Jared took a five from his wallet and handed it over with a smile on his face. Steffie tucked it into her apron with a grin and told Chrissie, “He was beginning to think you might not come today. I told him you would.”
“Obviously you know me better than he does,” Chrissie said.
“Obviously. Now, what can I get for you today, Chris?”
Chrissie looked at the board. “Strawberry walnut sounds good. One scoop.”
“You should know it was inspired by that salad you made for Dallas’s thing last weekend. She told me all about it. Said the food was out of this world. You ever consider catering?” Before Chrissie could respond, Steffie had handed Chrissie her cone and turned to Jared. “And for the man who is five dollars poorer?”
“Three scoops of plain old chocolate in a dish.” He nodded in Chrissie’s direction. “And she’s buying.”
Steffie filled a bowl and met them at the cash register, where Chrissie paid up.
“Maybe sometime you’ll shock the world and stop in more than once a week,” Steffie said as Chrissie and Jared left.
“Let’s take a walk.” Jared headed toward the center of town and Chrissie followed along. “So I guess you figured you’d learned all there was to know about St. Dennis, you’ve seen all there is to see.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You skip your Sunday walkabout? Or you just wanted to go on your own?”
“Had we talked about doing that again? ’Cause I don’t remember having that conversation.” The sidewalk was so narrow their hips were almost touching as they walked.
“We didn’t. I was just thinking it would have been fun to see the other side of town.”
“You could have gone. What stopped you?”
He shrugged. “It was more fun when I did it with you.”
“I had to work on Sunday,” Chrissie explained. “Dallas had asked Sophie to open the restaurant for a special brunch meeting she wanted to have for her staff. Of course Sophie said yes. How often do you get to cook for Hollywood royalty?”
“Lots of celebrities?”
Chrissie nodded. “Actors, directors, producers, and assistants to all of those.”
“So impress me. Who all was there?”
Chrissie rattled off some names.
“You had me at Laura Fielding,” he said, his right hand patting his heart. “Another of my crushes.”
“She was so nice. Almost all of them were really nice.”
“ ‘Almost all’ implies some were not.” He leaned in her direction and lowered his voice conspiratorially. “Who was the bad egg?”
“It doesn’t matter.” She shrugged it off and turned her attention to her ice cream. “Strawberry walnut really is good. How’s your chocolate?”
“It’s fine, and don’t change the subject. Seriously, was someone rude to you? Come on,” he prodded. “Spill.”
“Just some guy. Some assistant something or other. Assistant producer, maybe. He was just . . .” Chrissie thought it over. “Entitled.”
“Entitled to do what?”
“To touch me where I wish he hadn’t.”
“Seriously?”
When she nodded, he said, “What did he do?”
“Oh, you know how some guys are.”
“No, I don’t.”
“He grabbed my butt.”
“Did you call him out?”
She shook her head.
“Why not? He had no business doing that.”
“I just . . . froze. Besides, I didn’t want to embarrass Dallas.” Or me, she could have added. I didn’t want to call attention to myself for something like that.
She had the feeling at that moment that he knew what she’d gone through, that he’d read into her and he knew.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said. They passed a trash can and she pitched the remains of her cone into it. She’d lost her appetite.
“You don’t have to,” he said. “But if you ever wanted to . . . I’m your guy.”
“Thanks, Jared. I appreciate that.”
I’m your guy. Did he really just say that?
They walked for another half block in silence and stopped in front of the pet store, Bow Wows & Meows, across from the market. In the window were displays of dog clothing modeled by stuffed dogs.
“Do you have a dog?” Chrissie asked him.
“Not right now, but we used to. You?”
“Uh-uh. Never did.” She stared at the window. “I’m not sure I get the point of all that. Would you have dressed your dog up like that?”
“I don’t know. If you put a rottweiler in a sundress, is it still a rottweiler?”
“Only if she was wearing that pearl necklace.”
“Spike might have drawn the line at wearing jewelry. He really wasn’t the pearl type.”
Chrissie laughed again.
They crossed the street in front of Book ’Em and paused for a moment to see the new releases in the window, then they walked on.
“This is Vanessa’s shop,” Chrissie said when they walked past Bling.
“I know. My future stepmother shops there every time she’s in St. Dennis. Loads up on stuff for her two daughters and her daughter-in-law and my sister and whoever else is on her radar that week.”
“Is your future stepmother the same person as your father’s girlfriend? Has something changed since last week?”
Jared nodded. “Delia. Yeah. They just decided to get married. The wedding’s in a couple of weeks.”
“That’s great. I hope they’re really happy and that she keeps writing those fabulous books.”
For a moment it appeared he was lost in thought.
“Jared?” She waved a hand in front of his face.
“Oh. Sorry. I just sort of zoned out for a moment.”
“I said, I hope your dad and his bride are happy and that she doesn’t stop writing.”
“She’ll never stop. It’s what Delia does.”
They started to walk back toward Kelly’s Point Road.
“So what did you and Sophie cook for the star-studded private feast?” he asked.
Chrissie ran through the menu for him.
“Oh man. That all sounds so good. I wish I’d been there. I love fried chicken and waffles, and you could feed me oyster fritters every day of the week and I’d be a very happy man.”
“I make them all the time for Gigi. Next time I’ll let you know and you can join us. If you want to, that is.”
“If I want to? Seriously? Date and time, all I need to know and I’ll be there.”
“Okay. I’ll keep that in mind.”
They reached her car and she stopped. He’d finished his ice cream and tossed the empty dish into a nearby trash can.
“Thanks for the ice cream.”
“Never let it be said I don’t pay my debts.”
“So are you touring the town this Sunday?” he asked.
“I’m planning on it.”
“How ’bout I meet up with you again?”
“Sure.”
“Put my number into your phone and give me yours. I’ll send you a text or you can text me if there’s a change. Otherwise, I’ll meet you in the lobby at the inn around noon.”
They exchanged numbers, and when she was finished putting his information into her phone, she said, “I’ll see you on Sunday.” She started to walk to her car, then turned. “Can I drop you off at the inn?”
“No, I think I want to walk,” he said.
“Okay. If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure.”
Before she could get to her car, he called to her.
“Last time you got to pick where we went. How ’bout this time I choose the itinerary?”
“Sure.” She opened the driver’s-side door and got in, wondering what he had in mind.
In four days, she’d find out. She could hardly wait.