by Meg Muldoon
Chapter 23
“Cinnamon? What are you doing out—”
“I’m asking you the same question,” I said, raising my voice over the wind.
Adam was startled when he first saw me. So startled, that for a moment, I’d been worried he might lose his balance and fall back over the cliff.
“Just watching the storm,” he said, giving me a slick smile. “We’ve got the best storm-watching on the whole Oregon coast here at Agate Inn.”
I swallowed hard.
“That didn’t look like storm watching to me,” I said in a shaky voice. “That seemed like you were looking for something.”
The phony smile on his face faded.
“You must be freezing out here,” he said, sliding out of the red raincoat and attempting to drape it over my shoulders.
But I backed away before he could.
“Tell me what happened, Adam.”
“I told you, Cinnamon. I was just out here watching the...”
But he must have seen the look of disbelief on my face then because he trailed off and left the sentence unfinished.
I thought back to what Officer Reed said. About the large bruise on Jason Parsons’ shoulder.
Someone big and strong must have done that.
Adam looked past me for a long moment, back at the inn.
Then he let out a sigh. A solemn, haggard expression came across his face.
“Just… let’s go back inside, Cinnamon. I’ll explain everything there.”
I felt a sinking feeling in my gut.
Chapter 24
I sat near the crackling fire in the center of the dining room with a blanket wrapped tightly around my shoulders. The wind roared on outside and the rain beat against the roof.
I couldn’t take my eyes off of Adam Colburn.
Daniel sat next to me, now wide awake. Across from us at the table was Adam, his hair as wet as mine. Next to him was Angelica.
She looked like she hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep all night.
In fact, she looked like she’d been crying.
Had Adam actually done it? Had he found out about Angelica and Jason somehow? Had he been the one to push Jason Parsons off the cliff?
“I guess… I guess I’ll start,” Angelica said, her eyes shifting between me and Daniel and then back down to the table top.
She nervously wrung a Kleenex between her hands.
“I knew from the beginning that it was a bad idea,” she said in a quiet voice. “But… Adam had put every last penny into the inn and we were still coming up short. My dad didn’t leave me that much when he died – he ended up losing most of his money in a bad real estate venture. What he did leave me, I spent on culinary school. So I didn’t have anything to put into the inn here.”
She gazed at Adam. He couldn’t seem to meet her stare.
“So I went to Jay and asked him for a loan,” she continued, biting her lip.
I saw that her eyes were becoming misty.
“I told you how when my dad died, Jason would, uh, would check in on me. But I always knew… I always knew he wasn’t doing it out of the goodness of his heart. He, uh…”
She gulped hard.
“I knew his intentions were always bad. He was married, but that didn’t seem to stop him from trying. Nothing ever happened between us. And I tried to avoid him when he stopped by my apartment unannounced to check on me. I wasn’t always successful, though.”
She sucked in a deep breath. I could see Adam’s face turning red as she spoke.
“After Jay heard that I got married, he called and he told me how sorry he was for acting the way he had and for being inappropriate. He said that if I ever needed anything, anything at all, to let him know. That he wanted to help me out of respect for my father. So when we were short of money for the inn’s renovations, I decided to ask him for a loan—”
“You should have told me,” Adam said in a low voice between gritted teeth, his face still red. “If I had known that he was such a creep, I would have never let you—”
She put a hand on his arm, looking over at him, tears spilling down her cheeks.
“I know I should have,” she said. “But you’ve given everything you have to this place for me. All I wanted was to take some of the pressure off.”
Adam fell silent.
Angelica looked back at us.
“Jason sent me a check right away,” she said. “A big one, too. There was no discussion about interest or repayment or anything like that. He said it was his wedding gift to us. Then, about two months ago, I started getting text messages from him. At first, he just wanted to check in and see how the renovations were going. He was very nice. Then…”
She bit her lip, looking into the fire.
“Then he started saying these crazy things. About how he couldn’t stop thinking about me. That he needed me. That he was so rich, he could give me everything I ever wanted. That he’d divorce his wife and that we could run away to Europe together. He said other sicker things too.”
She closed her eyes. Meanwhile, I could see that Adam’s hands had curled up into fists.
“That bastard,” Adam mumbled under his breath, shaking his head.
Angelica glanced over at her husband.
“I didn’t tell Adam about the messages. I thought if I just ignored Jason, he would go away. But then he said he was coming to the grand opening. I told him not to come, but he showed up anyway. He said for the money he put into this place, I owed him a trip out here.”
She drew in a deep breath.
“Friday night, after everyone had gone to bed, he kept sending me messages saying he wanted to see me down by the lighthouse. I was so angry. He’d been harassing me all night, and I just couldn’t take it anymore. So I went down there to talk to him. To tell him to leave me alone. And that’s what I did.”
She looked at Daniel. Then at me. Then at Adam.
“That’s ALL I did,” she said in a stern voice. “I told him that if he didn’t stop, I’d tell Adam. And Adam would set him straight. Jason was drunk and he started laughing like an idiot. Then he tried to kiss me. He grabbed me. I pushed him and he hit the lighthouse wall hard. But when I left, he was standing on solid ground away from the cliff. I came back to the house, and that was the end of it. I didn’t push him over the cliff.
“I swear on my life, I didn’t.”
Angelica fell silent.
“Why didn’t you tell Officer Reed any of this?” Daniel asked. “You told him you were in your room all night. I heard you say that to him.”
She let out a sigh.
“Because I had nothing to do with Jason going over the cliff that night. I didn’t… I didn’t want to drag any of this up because I knew the cops would get the wrong idea… the way you guys got the wrong idea.”
She looked at her husband, taking a hold of his hand.
“We agreed that we’d never have any secrets between us, Adam. And I broke that. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you about any of this. I was ashamed and embarrassed. He...”
Her voice grew shaky and gave out.
Adam didn’t say anything for a long moment, his hands still curled up into fists on the table.
Then, suddenly, he shook his head and put his arms around his wife.
“You have nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about, Ange,” he said. “It’s that son of a bitch who should be ashamed. Trying to prey on you like that after your dad died. If I had known about any of this, I would have…”
He trailed off, leaving the thought unfinished.
“And anyway, you’ve got it all wrong about this place,” he continued. “This isn’t just your dream. It’s mine, too. I didn’t want to end up like some of those old cops back in Fresno – burned-out and bitter. I wanted to start a new life with you here. I wanted an adventure with the love of my life.”
A solitary tear slid down Angelica’s face as he spoke.
“I did all of this for us, Ange. And I have no regrets.�
�
She hugged him hard.
“I love you so much,” she whispered.
I couldn’t help but smile a little, seeing that.
“What were you doing out there tonight, Adam?” Daniel asked after a few moments had passed.
Adam swallowed hard.
“After the police came around this afternoon, saying that Jason’s fall hadn’t been an accident, Ange told me everything,” he said. “I went out there because I wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything that she left behind… anything that would give the cops the wrong idea that she’d been involved somehow.”
He let out a long, slow breath.
“I know how this all looks, brother,” he said. “It looks bad. And if I were standing in your shoes, I’d probably be thinking something fishy was going on, too. But you gotta believe us. The police have it wrong. If anybody pushed Jason Parsons over the cliff that night, it was a fifth of scotch.”
Adam looked at Daniel. Then at me for a long moment.
I didn’t know Adam all that well.
But his words felt honest to me.
“I believe you,” Daniel said after a long moment.
It was what I was feeling, too, and I was glad that we were both on the same page.
Glad also to hear that not only was Adam the good guy we thought he was, but that Angelica was the good person we hoped she’d be.
And that she truly did seem to love him the way he loved her.
Daniel cleared his throat.
“Cin and I won’t say anything about this,” he said. “But you know, a lie has a way of coming back to bite you when you least expect it. You were a cop, Adam. You know that even if it looks bad, even if it looks incriminating – being honest is always the best policy.”
Daniel wasn’t one to lecture, but I could see that he was only doing it out of concern for his friends and the future of their business.
Adam looked down after that, deep in thought. He finally nodded.
“We’ll go to the police station in the morning,” he said, glancing at his wife. “Tell them what really happened.”
Angelica looked frightened for a moment. But then an expression of resilience settled across her features and she reached for her husband’s hand.
“Okay,” she said, looking at Adam. “We’ll tell them tomorrow.”
Daniel smiled at her.
I got up and went into the kitchen, where I put on the kettle for some tea.
Sometimes in life, it wasn’t always easy doing the right thing.
But it did help you sleep better at night.
Chapter 25
“Oh, c’mon,” I said, sucking in the stale air. “It’s just a few more steps to the top.”
I glanced back down the steep, circular metal staircase at Daniel. He was leaning against the hand railing, holding his side, wheezing dramatically.
“It looks like a heck of a lot more than a few steps, Cin,” he said, glancing up past me.
“Okay, maybe we still have a ways to go. But what gives? I would have thought you’d be running circles around this staircase.”
“Not without morning coffee,” he mumbled. “Never without coffee.”
“Well, there’ll be plenty of coffee when we get back to the inn. For now, we’ve got a sunrise to meet.”
He rubbed his eyes and let out a long yawn.
I started climbing the steps again. A moment later, I heard the sound of boots sluggishly hitting the metal steps behind me.
I smiled.
***
The first rays of the sun skipped across the calm waters of the Pacific, casting the waves in a shimmering shade of gold. The few puffy clouds on the horizon glowed in radiant coral hues.
The storm had passed and save for the damp metal grates of the lighthouse walkway, you wouldn’t have known that there’d been a storm at all.
Daniel put his arm around me, watching the ocean take on the color of dawn.
“You’re right,” he said. “This was worth skipping coffee for.”
We were heading back home to Christmas River today, which was why I had wanted to get up early and see the sunrise from the lighthouse.
I rested my head on his shoulder.
“Do you think Adam and Angelica will be okay?” I asked.
They’d left the inn about the same time that we had, heading to the police station. Adam had said he wanted to get there right when it opened.
“I think this part won’t be easy, but I think they’ll pull through,” Daniel said. “They’ve got the truth on their side.”
He looked down at me.
“And they have love. Which if you ask me, can help a person get through just about anything.”
I kissed him softly on the lips.
“Yes it can,” I said.
He pulled me closer and we watched as the sky lightened, the clouds turning from coral shades to deep amethyst hues.
“I am sorry, though,” he said.
“About what?”
“I was hoping this trip would have been a little more relaxing,” he said. “You put in so many hours at the pie shop every week. All I wanted was for you to come away from here feeling refreshed.”
I shrugged, looking out at the waters.
“And all I wanted was to have a weekend of being with you. Which I got, so I’m a pretty happy customer right now.”
“You’re not just saying that?”
“It’s the truth. Cross my heart and—”
I stopped speaking as something in the waters far below the cliff caught my eye.
I furrowed my brow, gazing at the shiny thing that didn’t look like it belonged.
“Do you see that?” I said, pointing down into the waves.
I looked back at Daniel. He had a strange expression on his face.
“What?” I said.
“C’mon,” he said, suddenly. “Let’s go down and get a better look.”
Chapter 26
We both peered over the edge of the cliff, looking down as the silver object slid in and out of the glassy waves.
From the top of the lighthouse, it had been hard to tell exactly what it was.
But down here on the cliff side, both of us got a clearer view.
And after a few moments, both of us knew what it meant.
Chapter 27
When we got back to the inn, she was sitting there on the porch swing, smoking her pipe, gazing out at the ocean.
The same way she had been when Daniel and I had first arrived.
When she saw us walking up the porch steps, her old face cracked into a smile.
“Nice morning, isn’t it?” she said.
Daniel looked as nervous as I felt.
We took a seat in the wicker chairs next to the porch swing.
“This sure is a pretty place,” Betty said. “My son’s done a good thing here.”
“You must be very proud of him,” Daniel said.
She nodded, the crow’s feet around her eyes becoming more pronounced as she smiled again.
But there was something in her eyes when she smiled… something that hadn’t been there when we first arrived.
Fear.
Daniel cleared his throat.
“What happened to your cane, Mrs. Colburn?”
“My cane?” she said.
Daniel nodded.
“The steel one you were using the first day we got here.”
Her forehead wrinkled and she looked out at the horizon.
“Oh, that. I only use that occasionally. Just when my hip starts flaring up.”
She swallowed hard.
“I think you might have lost it,” Daniel said. “We saw one just like it floating in the ocean below the cliffs this morning.”
She stopped moving the porch swing with her legs.
“It’s in my room right now,” she said. “So that would be impossible.”
“Would it be?” Daniel asked, looking hard into her face.
The old woman suddenly looke
d like a frightened rabbit running from a predator.
I reached over, patting her old hand.
“We only want to help, Betty,” I said.
A moment later, her eyes misted up and the truth came pouring out.
Chapter 28
“Some men are sharks in disguise,” she said, gazing out at the ocean. “I didn’t like the looks of Jason Parsons right away. I didn’t like the way he was treating Ange. Adam was so busy with all the guests, he didn’t notice. But I saw it. There was something there – he kept leering at her. Touching her back and trying to corner her all night. I’ve known men like him before in my day. They pretend to be something else. But if you’ve got eyes to notice, you see their shark fins poking out from their backs.”
Her face wrinkled up into a look of anger.
“I couldn’t sleep that night. So I came down here and sat out on the porch to smoke. Ange didn’t see me when she came out because I was on the part of the porch facing the ocean. But I heard her. And I watched her go across the lawn over to the lighthouse to meet him.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have, but I waited a little while and then I followed her. I was worried. I hid behind the tool shed near the lighthouse. I saw how he tried to grab her. I saw her push him away and walk back to the inn. When she was gone, I went over to him.”
She closed her eyes as she spoke.
“I told him ‘You stay away from Ange. She doesn’t want you. Doesn’t want anything to do with you. Leave her alone!’”
Betty jabbed her hand in the air as she relived the moment.
“He laughed at me. Then he started walking away. I followed him and told him again. And that was when…”
She trailed off, her frail voice giving out.
“That was when he grabbed my cane… and tried to knock me over. But I held on to it. I’m stronger than I look. A lot of people don’t realize that.
“It was when I was fighting for my cane that I jabbed him by accident. I didn’t realize how drunk he was. He lost his footing and before I knew what had happened, he was just… he was just gone.”
