Twelve
The diner on Sunday mornings was a different kind of place than the rest of the week. It was a good place for families to stop on the way home from church or on the way to some outing. There were also weekend athletes and pleasure seekers—cyclists or, in warmer weather, sports fishermen, paddleboard enthusiasts, people taking their boats out for a nice day on the bay.
Gina didn’t work at the diner every Sunday, but she didn’t mind when she did. She liked the mornings and only worked the dinner hour if she was filling in for someone. From her place behind the counter, she saw the new town doctor pull his van up to his storefront clinic across the street. He got out, this time with two children—a little girl and little boy. He had one on each hand, but rather than going inside the clinic, he walked across the street to the diner. Gina had only seen him from a distance, going in or out of that space. And she had never seen the children.
They were so little, so young. She’d heard from Mac that he was a single father, but it was hard to imagine how he could put in doctor hours and parent full-time, even with a babysitter. He held the door for them, first the little girl, then the little boy. She could tell from across the street that he was a nice-looking man, but up close he was better than that—he was gorgeous. And the children? Delicious.
“Morning,” she said from behind the counter. “Sit anywhere you like.”
“How about right here? At the counter?”
“Be my guest.”
He lifted his daughter onto a stool first, then his son. The little girl had shiny hair pulled back with barrettes and wore a little green jumper over a long-sleeved T-shirt and white tights. The little boy, his hair cut in a short, adult style and neatly combed, had a couple of cowlicks. He wore jeans and little boots and a denim jacket. Both the kids had mahogany-colored hair and huge brown eyes, while the doctor had dark blond hair with blue eyes. Very kind blue eyes.
When the kids were settled on their stools, he put out his hand. “Scott Grant,” he said.
She took the hand. “Gina James. So nice to meet you. And who are your friends?”
“This is Jenny and this is Will. Age three and four.”
“They’re beautiful,” she said. “So? Coffee? Juice? Breakfast? Parenting advice for when they’re teenagers?”
“I appreciate it,” he said with a laugh. “I’d love a cup of coffee and the kids would like juice—maybe apple? And if you have it, cereal for them.”
“And for you?” she asked, filling his cup.
“Just coffee,” he said. “I woke up early and already had breakfast.”
She quickly set up the juice and cereal for the kids. Then she said, “It’s very exciting to have a clinic opening up. We haven’t had a doctor’s office in town for about five years now. We had a couple of doctors here when I was growing up, but one retired and one moved, joining a busy practice in Eugene. The nearest hospital or urgent care is Bandon. If you need a few stitches or some blood work, it’s a major time investment.”
“I know. I hope that will change, but we’re a long way from opening. I’m working in Bandon now, helping out a family practitioner and taking call at the hospital E.R. while I get this set up. Just buying and installing the equipment is a major undertaking—and the office still needs cleaning up and decorating. And I haven’t even thought about staff. I don’t suppose you know any R.N.s around here who are looking for a change?”
“I don’t. I’m sorry. But if you give me a list of what you’re looking for, this isn’t a bad place to spread the word.”
“Thanks, that’s a good idea.”
“And I understand you have an au pair for the kids? Small town, you know,” she added with a smile and shrug.
“Gabriella. I knew her parents in Vancouver. She’s a brilliant girl, if a little old-fashioned. She’s also beautiful. Smart and hardworking and dependable...” He stopped, looking a little startled by what he’d said. He leaned toward her as if he needed to say something very personal. “Hey,” he said. “Small town here. Are people around here going to be put off or suspicious of my relationship with a nineteen-year-old au pair? I’m a thirty-six-year-old man, a widower, and have absolutely no—”
She held up a hand and smiled at him. “Don’t borrow trouble,” she said. “We’re kind of a bunch of hicks on the water around here, but I know of a couple of girls from town who took au pair jobs to get to Europe. You’ll probably find that she’s referred to more often as your babysitter.”
“There aren’t many options,” he said. “I can’t afford a full-time housekeeper and nanny.”
“It’ll be okay, Scott. If I might ask, why Thunder Point?”
“Well, slower pace, so I don’t miss too much of the kids’ growing up. But it’s really an experiment. I’ve never lived in a small town. This town has a good reputation, you know. A lot of community involvement, good schools, low crime...”
“I know,” she said. “We’re not very cosmopolitan, but it’s a good place.”
“The cost of living is low,” he added.
“And speaking of living, where are you living?”
“Bandon, for the time being, keeping an eye open for something in town. I’ve looked at a couple of rentals, but they were in pretty bad shape.”
“One problem with a small town, property doesn’t turn over too often.” Gina smiled. “I’ll keep an eye open for that, too.”
Thirty minutes later Gina had introduced Dr. Grant to a few folks from town who had come in for breakfast, made a short list of what he was looking for in housing and staff, and shook his hand as they said goodbye. A few people came and went, leaving Gina plenty of time to refill napkin holders, salt-and-pepper shakers, sugar caddies. The little bell on the diner door tinkled just as Gina was filling her last ketchup bottle. She smiled to see Sarah come in. “Hey,” she said.
“Hey, yourself.” She sat up on a stool.
“You’re early today and no Hamlet,” Gina said, peering out the diner’s glass door. “Breakfast?” There was a family of five in a big booth in the corner, the youngest in a high chair, and an elderly couple in another booth. Both parties were finishing their meals. It was late for breakfast, early for lunch. Stu could be seen through the cook’s slat in the wall, moving around with his iPod earbuds in his ears.
“Not today, thanks. But I won’t turn down a cup of coffee. I’ll take Ham out later, or Landon will. How are you recuperating from all the hard work you and the others did for the dance last night?”
“Not much work on my part,” Gina said, filling a cup. “The kids and teachers did most of the work. I just showed up to keep an eye on things. And things seemed to go fairly smoothly.”
“I got home last night to find my brother, Eve McCain, your daughter and Downy at my house. I went out to dinner.”
“I noticed you were gone,” she said with a smile. “The kids usually pick my house to hang after a dance, if they’re not on the beach. My mother has no problem turning the volume up on the TV in her bedroom and falling asleep. They could be building bombs for all she knows.”
“They seemed to be sitting around the kitchen table at my house after devouring a pizza and a bunch of Cokes, laughing at whatever. I was home by ten-thirty,” Sarah told her. “It was such a relief to see Landon hanging out with friends.”
“I noticed a certain newcomer was also gone.”
“Cooper and I went to dinner at Cliffhanger’s.”
“I like him. Cooper. He seems like a good guy.”
“He does, doesn’t he? Landon likes him and I’ll admit, I’m getting kind of used to the idea of Cooper looking out for Landon. He’s probably doing that because there’s no man around the house. As long as Cooper doesn’t sell him to the circus, that could be helpful.”
“Have you raised him entirely alone?” Gina asked.
“Almost. I took custody when he was six, ten years ago, after our parents died. I lived with a guy for a year when Landon was thirteen, then was married to him for almost a year when we were separated. He was devoted to Landon...until we broke up.” She gave a shrug. “For a couple of years there, I had someone to pitch in. And I was married for almost a year. Derek, my ex, liked to watch Landon play ball. I’ve been divorced nine months now. Derek was the only guy I let in, and he was a big mistake. Apparently I’m not real good at picking ’em.”
Gina smiled and poured herself a cup of coffee. “Want help? I can spot a loser a mile away. Now, that is. I wasn’t so good at it when I was a teenager. I had a doozy then. I was fortunate enough not to marry him. Through no brilliance of my own, I might add. I sobbed every miserable night, hoping he’d come back and beg me to marry him. But I was a kid. Left with a kid.”
“And now you have Mac,” Sarah said.
The family of five were leaving. Dad stopped at the counter to give Gina the check and some money, telling her to keep the change.
“No,” Gina told Sarah with a laugh, shaking her head. “Mac and I are friends. We have been since our daughters hooked up as best friends. As friends go, he’s the best. I don’t think he’s dating anyone—he hasn’t ever brought a woman around to games or town things, but there might be someone somewhere. Why? Are you interested?”
“You get teased about him,” Sarah said. “People put you two together.”
“People must have very vivid imaginations. If I had a guy, hopefully you’d at least see some hand-holding. Mac and I have gone to a movie or two, but usually he’s dragging a kid or Lou along. We sit together at the games, but other than that...”
“I thought you were a couple. Maybe discreet, but a couple...”
Gina shook her head. “No. I guess a lot of people think that. I think they can’t imagine a friend of the opposite sex. Nah, I love Mac, but he’s a free agent. If you like him, go for it.”
“You’re not making this easy,” Sarah said.
Gina tilted her head and shot Sarah a nonplussed expression. “I could gift wrap him for you, I guess.”
“I don’t trust men,” Sarah said. “I don’t even trust many women and I don’t trust myself, either. I thought my ex was a prince, the catch of a lifetime. He was Mr. Romance, so it never occurred to me he could be that attentive and affectionate with me if he...” She cleared her throat. “It turned out he had a lot of romantic energy. And a very short attention span.”
“Ew. Hate those.”
“It would take a lot to tempt me now. I have zero interest in being dumped by a man again.”
“Now some people would say you should get back on that horse,” Gina said with a laugh.
“And did you? After you had Ashley?”
The elderly couple slowly made their way to the counter. Gina took their ticket, their money, rang them up with a smile, told them to have a nice Sunday.
Then she returned to Sarah. “It took me a while. Ashley was my life and I was all about protecting her from my potential mistakes.”
“I have a lot of that going on,” Sarah admitted. “When Derek left, he left Landon, too. And he left Landon with a sister who was an emotional cripple. I have to be careful. He’s a big kid, very mature for his age, but he’s still just a kid.”
“I know. They think they know everything, but they’re just kids. And they’re right at that age when the biggest mistakes seem to hit them. I’m living proof of that. I didn’t go out on a date till Ashley was five years old. And then I was cautious. So careful my few dates lost interest in me, not the other way around. I think I always felt safest if I wasn’t involved with a guy.”
“Me, too,” Sarah said. “Except...I kissed Cooper.”
Surprise registered on Gina’s face for a moment, then she said, “I take it that didn’t fit into your plans?”
Sarah took a sip of coffee. “I’ve been asked out a couple of times since the divorce. I even had one guy from a Coast Guard station not too far away get all excited that I was divorced and ask me out a number of times before he finally got the message, I am not dating. Not. Period. And I have not been tempted to even rethink it. I figured when I was about forty and Landon was all grown-up and on his own, I might consider it, but not anytime soon.”
“I guess kissing isn’t exactly dating,” Gina said carefully.
“It terrifies me to even think about a relationship with a man. It was like this with Derek—he was so attentive, and it took him two seconds to get close to Landon,” Sarah said. “Even though Landon might not realize it, he’s vulnerable. Besides, our lives work pretty well, the two of us. He’s such a great kid. We take good care of each other. I’m not risking Landon’s feelings by getting mixed up with some guy, especially some guy he likes.” She shook her head. “Red flags everywhere. Everywhere. You have no idea what Derek put us through.”
Gina gulped. “I don’t want to ask, but...”
“But I brought it up. Derek cheated.”
“I assumed that’s what you meant by a lot of romantic energy.”
Sarah sipped her coffee again. “A good friend of mine,” she said, and her cheeks brightened.
“What a dog!”
Sarah laughed suddenly. “It was a dog, as a matter of fact, that showed me his true colors. I called his cell and I heard a dog barking in the background. It sounded just like the dog next door to my ex-friend Susan’s house. That dog never shut up. He was there and he lied—and I let him convince me I was insane, that he could never do such a thing.”
Gina took a moment to refill her coffee cup. “No wonder you don’t trust women. How did you find out?”
“She decided to unburden her guilty conscience,” Sarah said. “I think she was angry with Derek. I think she was losing him, but not to me. He admitted they’d had a thing. A purely physical thing. And he was sorry, but he said he wasn’t good at monogamy and hoped we could—” she cleared her throat “—work with that.”
“My God,” Gina said in a breath. She leaned toward Sarah. “This doesn’t even happen on General Hospital. How did Landon take it?”
“I tried to keep him from knowing, but he figured it out. I think he hates Derek. No, I know he hates Derek. And now I’ve gone and kissed Cooper, his friend.”
“Maybe it was an accident,” Gina said. “He’s pretty sweet and sexy, after all.”
“So, there you have it. Cooper is all wrong. All wrong.” She shook her head. “Not only is he male, which makes him dangerous, he is a rover. A nomad. He’s planning to leave the minute that bait shop is fixed up. No, sir, I’m not going to fall for him. No way.”
“Understandable...”
“I have never wanted to be kissed more in my life. I wanted to rip his clothes off. I wanted to climb all over him. I didn’t just let him kiss me, I nearly ate him alive. Right after I told him there was no way I was dating or getting involved with a man. He probably thinks I’m a lunatic.”
They stared at each other for a long, silent moment. Then Gina said, “Wow.”
“I think I have to move,” Sarah said, dropping her head into her hand and running her fingers through her short hair.
Gina felt a warm flush rise up her neck to her face. Sarah would have no way of knowing that Gina also had one of those ferocious big-girl crushes, and no solution in sight. Gina had not confided in anyone, not even her mother—and she was very close to Carrie. She didn’t dare. One slip would find Ashley talking to Eve about it and then Lou would soon know and Lou... Lou couldn’t be trusted to keep from saying something to Mac. And then? Who knew? Mac might quit coming by for coffee or stop sitting with her at games if he thought she was some maniac about to debauch him.
“Oh, God, I’ve embarrassed you,” Sarah said. “Oh, Gina, I’m sorry! It’s just that it’s been so long since I’ve had a woman to talk to about stuff like this. Oh, hell, it’s been so long since I had stuff like this.”
Gina shook her head. “No, it’s not that. Not at all. It’s just that I’ve been in your shoes. Quite a while ago, really, but I do remember. That powerful crush, that feeling of complete helplessness.”
“Helplessness. The thing I really can’t deal with at all. You can’t do what I do if you feel out of control and helpless. Man...if we hadn’t been standing in a parking lot...”
“Parking lot?” Gina asked.
“At the high school. But there was no one around.”
“That you know of,” Gina said. “There could’ve been teenagers in parked cars, making out. Or whatever.”
Sarah groaned. She rubbed the bridge of her nose with a finger and thumb. “Thank God Landon was already home.”
“It’s probably fine. There was probably no one to see. But maybe you should be prepared, in case, you know...”
“What am I going to do? Say?”
“Smile. Like this,” Gina said, demonstrating a mysterious smile. “You’re over twenty-one. He’s over twenty-one. Kissing isn’t illegal and it doesn’t necessarily lead to marriage. Sometimes it doesn’t even lead to more kissing. It’s not poor form to have a kiss good-night after a dinner out. You really don’t have to explain to anyone. You certainly don’t have to apologize.”
“Right,” she said, giving a nod. “Except, this would be such a mistake.”
“Remember, people aren’t in your head, Sarah. They don’t know the idea of a man scares you to death or that you’re determined not to set yourself up for disappointment again. No one knows but me, and I’m not telling.” Then she grinned. “We should go out sometime. I mean, really out—not just to Cliffhanger’s. We should go to Bandon or Coquille or something. Someplace where we’re not sharing secrets in front of the neighbors.” Then she threw a look over her shoulder. “Or the cook.”
“Oh, my God! Do you think Stu...?”
“One thing about Stu, if he hears something interesting, he can’t stay out of it. He’d be right out here giving you advice. This is his downtime before lunch. He’s probably done cleaning his kitchen and in his office, pretending to do paperwork while he watches sports on his little TV. Paperwork that he’ll just ask me to do later.”
“I hope so.”
“Don’t be so embarrassed. If it had been Ray Anne in the parking lot, she’d have been bent over the hood of the car with her skirt around her waist in just seconds.”
“No way!”
“Way. Some people think the high school football team was named in her honor. The Cougars.”
They both laughed and Gina refilled their coffees.
“What am I going to do about him? I really can’t afford to move.”
“You’ll figure it out,” Gina said, lifting her cup. “One thing I do know, though. A couple of girls like us, we shouldn’t have such pathetic love lives. It just isn’t healthy.”
“I’ve only tried having a love life a couple of times since college—and it hasn’t gone well.”
After a moment of silence, Gina said, “A good friend of yours?”
“Yeah. I know. Does it get any worse than that?”
“Holy Jesus, girlfriend. That’s almost as bad as getting knocked up at fifteen.”
* * *
Cooper was sitting on a chair he’d dragged down to the dock because the building noise in the bar was too loud to think. The renovation had started and was in full swing, the progress already measurable. He was impressed they were working on Saturday. The contractor said, “Every day off is a day without pay.”
This was right up Rawley’s alley. He came over every morning, never said a thing, worked as support staff. If he was asked to do something, like hold a board or tool or drag some debris to the industrial-size Dumpster, he gave a nod and did so. He left when he was ready. Or maybe when he figured his father needed him at home. Cooper was doing his best to log his hours so he could pay him.
Cooper’s laptop was open and he was surfing the net when he saw her. Sarah, with Ham, racing through the surf at water’s edge. It had been way too long; a week had passed like a year. Even now, her trek across the beach was too slow.
He stopped looking at the laptop. A smile tugged at his lips. She had a way of walking that just knocked him out, a gentle sway, a purposeful yet unhurried stride. It wasn’t erotic or flirtatious, it was all woman—a woman who knew what she wanted. And as she got near, she smiled at him. Ham made it to him first and he took the soggy ball out of his drooling mouth and threw it. He wiped his hand on his pants. Within seconds, Hamlet was back for another throw.
“Hey,” she said.
He closed the laptop. “Where have you been?”
She put a foot up on the dock. “Mostly working.”
“24/7?” he asked.
“Did you need something, Cooper?”
He needed another one of those crazy, deep, incredible kisses that made him go all flat-footed. “I wanted to call you, ask you to dinner. My treat. I don’t have your phone number.”
Instead of answering with an excited acceptance to both the date and her number, she asked, “Whatcha doing there? Emails?”
“Looking at job postings.”
“Ah, you’re ready to go back to work?”
“Just looking. I’m curious about what’s out there. I’ll have to get a job eventually.”
“So, what’s out there?”
“Lots of instructor positions, mostly civilian jobs with the Army. Some civilian rescue, one corporate chopper, and then there’s firefighting—primarily California, Arizona and Colorado.”
“Interesting. Obviously, I’ve never looked. Anything around here?”
“The closest is California.”
“Are you sending in résumés?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I’m just curious. I’m not ready yet.”
She laughed at that. “I have to admit, I’m envious. Aside from leave, I haven’t taken much time off. Never more than two weeks, and I usually eat most of that up moving. You don’t like to make plans, do you, Cooper?”
He shrugged. “I make some. I need to see my family pretty soon—they’re getting cranky. It’s been almost a year. I’m teasing them with a possible Christmas showing, but it’s still a maybe. You do like plans, don’t you, Sarah?”
She nodded and smiled. “Down to the second, months in advance, if possible. I’m very well organized.”
“Or controlling,” he suggested.
“Possibly, but that’s irrelevant, as I only control my own activities. I try to stay flexible where my brother is concerned.”
“Landon’s looking better,” Cooper said.
“I figured you’d seen him this week—he had to take a week off from football practice. He’s a little irritable. He goes to practice to watch—although I’m not sure what he’s watching more closely, the plays or the cheerleaders.”
“Did you talk to him about Morrison?” Cooper asked.
“I did. I told him about the restaurant scene. Did he say anything to you?”
“Not until I told him myself. It seemed to make him angry and more worried about you than himself. Have you talked to Mac?”
“I called him early last week. And Mac also talked to Landon. He has an edge, you know. Landon and Mac’s daughter are an item—the romance of the homecoming dance hasn’t worn off. Landon is now convinced to tell Mac if there’s any trouble.” She smiled at him. “I’m surprised you didn’t ask Landon for my cell number if you wanted it.”
“I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea,” he said. “Unless you confide in your brother, he doesn’t know we...” He cleared his throat. “What we did after dinner.”
“It was just a kiss, Cooper.”
“Nah. I’ve been kissed. It wasn’t just a kiss. I’ve been thinking—”
He was cut off by the sound of a horn. He turned to see a late-model BMW inching its way down the road toward the building. The driver honked again.
“Who’s that?” Sarah asked.
“I have no idea,” he said, not making a move.
“Should you go see?”
“No,” he said. “I should get your phone number. And we should plan a date or something.”
But the BMW parked and who should get out but Ray Anne. She stood next to her car and waved at them.
“Shit,” Cooper said. He waved back, but he didn’t move.
“Cooper, I think she wants you to go up there, talk to her or something.”
“I’m busy,” he said. “Now come on, don’t make me beg.”
Sarah laughed at him. “I think that idea has merit. Beg for me, Cooper.”
“Hank! Hank Cooper!” came Ray Anne’s distant cry. Ah, there she was, standing on the deck with a briefcase in one hand and a purse strap over her shoulder. It was a beautiful, sunny day, but it was still chilly on the bay. Ray Anne was dressed in a short black skirt with a slit up one side that was apparent even from this great distance. She also wore a short black jacket with something red under it, her cleavage straining to be free, and high-heeled boots. Her teased blond hair didn’t move in the wind.
Cooper just waved again, not getting up.
“Cooper,” Sarah said disapprovingly, but with humor in her voice. “You are incredibly rude.”
“I’m rude? Did I go to her house, stand up on her hill and shout at her? I didn’t invite her, she didn’t call ahead. She’s rude. I’m busy!”
“Does she have your number?” Sarah asked.
“Oh, you can count on it, although I didn’t give it to her. I also never told her my given name, but she called me Hank the first time we met, even though Mac introduced me as Cooper. She wants something.”
“Undoubtedly,” Sarah said.
And here she came, picking her way down the wooden stairs that led to the beach, not exactly the best path for high heels and a tight, short skirt.
“If she falls, you’re going to have to marry her to keep from getting sued,” Sarah said.
“I’m going to put a rail on those stairs. Two rails, one on each side.” Cooper groaned. “Come on, Sarah. Make her go away.”
“Actually, I think I’m going to go away. You’re on your own.”
“Great,” he grumbled. “This started out so well, too. I was just about to score.”
“Don’t look now, hotshot—with very little effort, you can still score.” And then she laughed again. “I just love it.”
“You’re going to pay for this,” he said.
“Well, Hank! Sarah!” Ray Anne was a little breathless. “What are you two up to?”
“Well, I’m walking the dog on the beach,” Sarah said. “How are you, Ray Anne?”
“Wonderful! Fantastic! Bleech,” she added as Hamlet nudged her with his drooling mouth and left a gob on her short black skirt.
“Oh, sorry,” Sarah said, pulling a rag out of her pocket and wiping at the skirt. “He doesn’t mean to be disgusting, he’s just a sweet dog with a saliva issue. There, I think I got it. Does that look all right to you?”
“Fine,” Ray Anne said impatiently. “Shouldn’t he be on a leash?”
“Probably, but it would have very little impact on the saliva problem or his ability to spread it. He’s just about as big as you are, Ray Anne.” Then she turned to Cooper. “Nice seeing you, Cooper. Good luck on the job search.” And she turned abruptly and fled.
“Job search?” Ray Anne asked. “What kind of job?”
“Just poking around the internet to see if there’s anything interesting out there. What brings you to the beach, Ray Anne?”
“Oh. I wanted to talk to you about something. About your property.”