The Cliff House

by RaeAnne Thayne

  He didn’t want to think about everything Stella had told him. It made his heart ache every time he did. He couldn’t seem to stop imagining a little girl with Daisy’s eyes, lost and afraid and in a situation she couldn’t control.

  “She’s wonderful, isn’t she?”

  “Yes. And I think she did a pretty good job of raising two wonderful nieces.”

  Her features warmed at that, her eyes going soft and tender for just an instant before she blinked the emotion away and became brisk once more. “Well, Bea, at least.”

  “Both of you,” he said firmly. “You organized this whole picnic, didn’t you?”

  “Somebody had to. Stella wasn’t up to it. She’s still not feeling herself with the pregnancy.”

  “I have a question for you.”

  “What?” she asked, her features suddenly wary.

  “Your aunt was telling me that Open Hearts has quite a mysterious yet insightful benefactor. She said whenever the foundation needs extra funds for something, the money mysteriously appears out of nowhere.”

  Though the light was fading at the park, he could see a hint of nerves flash across her expression. “We have been amazingly lucky, haven’t we?”

  “Luck is one way to put it.”

  She frowned. “What are you implying?”

  “I’m not implying anything. I have a strong suspicion that there is no such thing as a coincidence. At least not in this case. I think the mysterious benefactor might have something to do with Cape Sanctuary’s other puzzle. A certain intriguing and elusive artist.”

  She blushed a little in the twilight, confirming his suspicion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said stiffly.

  “I think you do, Marguerite,” he whispered.

  She looked around as if to make sure nobody had overheard. He noticed she especially looked in the direction of her aunt and sister. As he suspected, they were the two she most worried would find out her secret.

  “You have a big mouth,” she snapped.

  He really shouldn’t tease her but he couldn’t seem to help it. “There’s no one else around. Everyone is too busy loading up their vehicles. Unless Louie decides to spill your secrets, they’re still safe with me.”

  His words didn’t appear to mollify her. “You said you wouldn’t say a word. I should never have told you.”

  She looked genuinely panicked and he was immediately filled with guilt.

  “I’m sorry.”

  He had promised her and he intended to keep that vow. “But tell me I’m wrong. Does Marguerite channel a large portion of her income into Open Hearts?”

  “If she does, so what? It’s her income—her completely unexpected income. She can do what she wants with it.”

  His chest seemed tight suddenly, a tenderness he didn’t know what to do with seeping through him.

  He thought of everything she had been through, how it must have shaped her, the demons she may still wrestle. She could have become bitter and angry. A victim. Instead, she insisted on giving back, channeling her past into creating works of whimsy and light that gave joy to others.

  He wanted to pull her close again but knew she wouldn’t welcome that here, surrounded by friends and family.

  “I think Marguerite is pretty amazing. And you are, too,” he said quietly.

  She gazed at him, eyes wide. He saw her usual defenses there but something beneath them, a softness and a vulnerability that reached right in and grabbed at his heart.

  A few weeks ago he would have said Daisy McClure was the exact opposite of his type, but the more he came to know her—the more he began to wriggle out her secrets—the more he wanted to know.

  She fascinated him on every single level. He loved her laugh, husky and slow and filled with hidden passion. He loved her smile, reserved at times, secretive at others, but occasionally open and warm and enough to knock him to his knees.

  He was falling hard for her and suspected that if he wasn’t careful, he was going to come away from this visit in Cape Sanctuary with more scars than he had received from taking a hunting knife to the gut.

  23

  DAISY

  “How do you think the filming went? Did you get enough for a thirty-second spot?”

  “More than enough. I could fill at least an hour, maybe more. If I had more time, I would. I actually was thinking I’ll take what I shot today, all the footage I can’t use for the promotional spot, and do a longer video for you to have on your website.”

  “You would really do that?”

  He looked slightly annoyed at the doubt in her voice. “Sure I would. It’s a great cause. You’re all doing good work here. I’m glad to do anything I can to help.”

  She wanted to hug him but was afraid she wouldn’t want to stop. “Thank you. That would be wonderful. Stella will be thrilled.”

  “What about you?” he asked, his eyes glittering.

  “Yes. I’m thrilled, too. I would love to see our work expand beyond Northern California. The foster crisis hits the entire country right now. If you can help us get the message out about what we do, that would be terrific.”

  With a start, she suddenly realized that she had failed miserably in her assignment. “You asked me to be your assistant, didn’t you? I’m afraid I really didn’t help you very much.”

  “It’s fine. You were busy. There is work to be done, though. Tomorrow I’ll be going through what I filmed today and beginning the editing process. I could use help with that. What’s your schedule like?”

  The next day was Sunday and she had planned to spend the entire day in her studio. She almost told him as much, but swallowed down the words. She had promised to help him, and Daisy was a woman who took her promises very seriously.

  She would simply have to work extra hours during the weekday evenings for the next few weeks to finish her commission projects.

  “Tomorrow works for me. Do you have editing equipment?”

  “These days I can do most of what I need on my laptop, especially for a spot that will only be a minute long.”

  “Great. I’m all yours, then.”

  His gaze sharpened and she wished she had chosen her words more carefully. “We can work on the editing all day, if you need to,” she corrected quickly. “Do you want me to come to Casa Del Mar?”

  “If you think we can find a quiet place there.”

  Doubtful. Cruz’s place was a party every minute, filled with people and commotion and music, offering no chance to find a quiet spot to work.

  “Never mind. Let’s do it at Pear Tree Cottage, where we won’t be disturbed. Will that work?”

  “Sounds like a plan. Does two work for you?”

  That would at least give her the morning to work on some of her own projects. Marguerite had a big commission due for a credenza from a Seattle designer.

  “Sounds good. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”

  Anticipation curled through her, sweet and heady. She tried to ignore it, fully aware it would be a struggle to keep her attention focused on the video, given her fascination with the man, but she would do her best.

  After Gabe loaded his things into an SUV she recognized as one of Cruz’s and drove away, Daisy turned her attention to finishing the cleanup at the park.

  Most of the mess had already been taken care of by the caterers and the foster care families, but Stella was helping Bea take down the decorations inside the armory. Her aunt looked pale in the twilight, her features pinched and her eyes sunken. So far this pregnancy was not turning into the happy event she was certain Stella had expected.

  School would be starting soon and Daisy wasn’t at all sure whether Stella would be able to find the strength to make it through six class periods full of thirty students each.

  She headed in her aunt’s direction, about to tell Stella to go home an
d let her and Bea finish cleaning up, when Dr. Clayton beat her to it.

  Daisy watched him go to her aunt, place a hand on her shoulder and point to Stella’s old Volvo. She was too far away to hear what he said but she could still tell Stella did not like his words. She shook her head and pointed to the park and the few items remaining from their picnic.

  Ed pointed more forcefully and Stella stubbornly shook her head. Daisy decided it was time to intervene. She adored her aunt but sometimes the woman could be as obstinate as a mule with a toothache.

  She approached them and gave a supportive smile to the doctor. “You need to go home,” she said firmly to Stella.

  “Thank you,” Ed said. “Exactly what I was just saying.”

  He seemed like a sweet man. She really hoped Stella could find room in her heart and her life for him.

  “I’m fine,” her aunt answered sharply. “Everyone needs to stop worrying about me. I’m having a baby. It’s not like I have cancer or something.”

  Beside her, Daisy was aware of Ed stiffening and saw Stella’s features soften. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking about your wife. That was cruel,” her aunt said.

  So Ed had a wife who died of cancer. Poor man.

  “You’re having a baby,” the doctor said, “which means you have somebody else to worry about, not just yourself and what you want.”

  “I know that.”

  “Do you? I had hoped that the past two decades might have made you a little less certain that your way is the only way and that you and you alone know what’s best for the whole damn world. Apparently, I was wrong.”

  He stalked away, leaving a stunned silence behind him.

  “Wow,” Daisy said after a moment. “That came out of nowhere.”

  “Not really.” Stella looked as if she wanted to cry but was courageously holding it back. “It’s been twenty years overdue.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said awkwardly, not sure what to say.

  “So am I, my dear,” Stella said. “More sorry than I can say.”

  “Go home.” Daisy used the gentlest tone she could manage. “We don’t have much left to clean up. Bea and I can handle it and I’m certain you would feel better if you went home and rested. More important, you would make us feel better, knowing you’re taking care of yourself and the baby.”

  Stella seemed to take that to heart, finally. “Yes. You’re right. I know you are. I should rest.”

  “Good night, Aunt Stella. It was a great picnic.”

  “Because of you this year.”

  Stella gave her one last hug, then made her way to her vehicle.

  Daisy watched until she slid behind the wheel then backed out of the parking lot before she turned back to the picnic cleanup.

  24

  STELLA

  Ed’s words, harsh and condemning, rang in her ears the entire time she drove home.

  I had hoped that the past two decades might have made you a little less certain that your way is the only way and that you and you alone know what’s best for the whole damn world.

  Was that what he thought of her? That she always had to have things her way? That she was rigid and unbending and couldn’t compromise?

  Was he right?

  She didn’t want to think so. The truth was, she didn’t want to think at all. Right now she wanted to step into a hot shower for about three hours and then collapse into her bed for another twelve.

  When she walked into Three Oaks, the house seemed to echo with emptiness. She missed having kids around. This house was made for children and teenagers, leaving their mess, experimenting in the kitchen, doing homework at the big table in the dining room.

  Soon, at least, she would have a baby’s laughter to fill the house. She could take comfort from that. A baby, then a toddler, then a preschooler and a school-age child. She couldn’t wait for all the wonderful stages of life she would experience with her baby.

  She was just filling the cat’s water bowl when she heard a car in the driveway. She assumed it was her friend Cleo or one of the girls needing to drop something off, until she heard a knock.

  Daisy or Bea wouldn’t knock. This had been their childhood home. She had always told them to walk right in.

  When she pulled the curtain aside on the long window beside the front door, her heart started to pound when she discovered Ed standing on the porch.

  Some part of her wanted to let the curtain fall and ignore his knock. She wanted to hide away in her bed with the comforter over her head but that would be childish, the sort of thing a woman of twenty-one would do.

  The sort of thing she had done at twenty-one.

  These days they called the way she had treated Ed ghosting. She hadn’t really broken up with him; she had simply...walked away. She stopped taking his calls or emails and basically ignored him.

  Every time she tried to call him to say she couldn’t see him anymore, she had chickened out, certain she would lose her will and would end up begging him to forgive her and take her back.

  Finally, after a month of her ignoring him, he had called, leaving a terse message that he was making the eight-hour drive from LA all the way up to Cape Sanctuary in order to force her to talk to him.

  In response, she had found the strength to call him back. She had been abrupt and dismissive to him and had told him not to bother making the drive. She was moving on with her life, she told him, and she suggested he do the same. What they had was a foolish college fling and she had zero interest in rekindling it.

  Even now the memory of that lie filled her with shame.

  Was it any wonder he couldn’t truly forgive her? Nearly twenty years had passed and the pain of that last phone call was still as fresh as if it had happened the day before.

  She was older now, more mature. She couldn’t walk away from this confrontation that had been building since he came to Cape Sanctuary.

  Slowly, she opened the door. As always, her breath seemed to catch in her chest at the sight of him.

  He was far more handsome than he’d been all those years ago, his face shaped and sculpted by all the experiences of life.

  Once, she had loved him with every inch of her young heart.

  She still did.

  It was a startling revelation. So startling it stopped her in her tracks.

  She was still in love with Ed Clayton.

  “Come in.” She managed to find the words through her shock.

  He walked inside and stood in her entryway.

  “I owe you an apology,” he said stiffly.

  Tears welled up at his words. “You don’t. Oh, Ed. You don’t.”

  “Yes, I do. I was unnecessarily cruel to you tonight. I’m very sorry.”

  “You said nothing that wasn’t true. I’m the one who is sorry. I’m sorry for being obstinate today when you were only looking out for my welfare and my baby’s, and I’m sorry, more than I can ever say, for my stubbornness nineteen years ago.”

  Tears began to trickle down her face, tears of loneliness and sorrow for all the days and nights and weeks she had spent alone. She still wasn’t sure she could have made any other choice, but she couldn’t help wondering how her life might have been different, if she had.

  She wasn’t quite sure how it happened, but one moment she was silently weeping for the pain she had caused them both, and the next she was in his arms.

  He pulled her against him and she settled there as if she had never left. She was safe here. Safe and warm and cherished.

  Always watching out for her, he led her to the sofa and they sat together there, in this room she and the girls had so carefully restored.

  He didn’t let go, simply pulled her into his arms so she was cradled there, with her head resting against his chest.

  She was so tired. She wanted to close her eyes and sleep in the security she found
here for at least a month or two.

  “Where’s Rowan?” she asked.

  “Home. I told her I needed to run an errand. I was going to call our neighbor in the condo next door to sit with her but Rowan reminded me that she’s twelve, we have a security system and she is more than capable of being home by herself for an hour or so, especially when I’m only a phone call away.”

  “She’s a great girl. You must be so proud of her.”

  “She is pretty terrific,” he said. “I think she knew I was coming over here to apologize. She likes you, by the way. She has told me as much.”

  “I like her, too,” she said softly. “Your wife must have been very special to produce such a kind child.”

  “She was,” he said gruffly. She felt no pain or jealousy that he had loved someone else, only sadness that Holly would never have the chance to see her daughter grow up.

  She wanted to stay here in his arms but knew she wasn’t done trying to make amends. She had so many things inside her, things she had been holding back since he came to Cape Sanctuary.

  “I’m the one who owes you an apology, Ed. Everything you said tonight was true. I made choices twenty years ago, thinking I knew what was best for you. For everyone. I shouldn’t have done that. I should have been strong enough to let you make that choice.”

  “You pushed me away because of the girls, didn’t you?”

  She didn’t like remembering those months as she had fought for custody of them, having to prove she was stable enough emotionally and financially to provide for them. She had been afraid she would lose them into the system forever.

  “It seemed for the best at the time, but I wasn’t really thinking straight. They were lost. Bea was wild and undisciplined, thinking she could do whatever she wanted because she’d never had a mother figure to tell her otherwise. Daisy...”

  She swallowed, thinking about all her older niece had endured.

  “Daisy needed so much attention and love. You were deep into medical school and I knew how hard you had fought to get there. I knew I couldn’t ask you to give up your dream. I also knew I couldn’t manage a long-distance relationship while trying to give the girls what they needed. I didn’t know how to handle everything. Something had to go.”