A Newport Sunrise

by Cindy Caldwell

  "What? Really?" Faith asked. "What did they eat for appetizers back then?"

  Jen winked at them and laughed. "You'll see. Follow me, ladies. I promise it won't kill you."

  Six

  Jen was tempted to get her phone and take a video of Faith and Carrie as they looked at the spread on the table. It was quite comical —Faith looked a little more interested than Carrie did. Carrie just looked scared.

  "What —what are these things?" Carrie finally asked, pointing at the plate of purple slimy things.

  Jen held up Nana's cookbook she'd found. "Those, my dear, are pickled beets. Apparently, it was my grandfather's favorite."

  "Ugh, really?" Faith asked.

  Jen flipped to the end of the book. "Well, that's what her mother-in-law said, but Nana made a note in here from 1960. It's hilarious."

  * * *

  "Robert finally told me the truth. I made pickled beets for his birthday —for the twentieth time. His mother told me it was his favorite, but today he told me he couldn't stand it. Never wanted to tell his mother, and hadn’t wanted to tell me either. We both got quite the laugh out of it. I'd rip it out of the book, but it should stay for posterity."

  * * *

  Carrie burst out laughing. "Typical marriage. Takes almost twenty years to tell the truth."

  Jen wondered about that. She and Allen had only been married for five years before he passed away. And she thought that now, with Joe —they told each other the truth even now, at the beginning. At least she hoped they did.

  Faith pulled out a chair and passed around the appetizer plates. "Hm. The truth I got after twenty years —well, it wasn't pretty."

  "Yeah, but better late than never," Carrie said. "And besides, once you knew, you could act. You actually got to rip the page out of the book."

  Faith laughed. "I guess you're right. Like ripping off a Band-Aid."

  Jen thought about Jeff, and what he'd done to Faith and Maggy. She had always been impressed that Faith had done so well with it.

  "Faith, you really handled all that smoothly, for how awful it was. It was like ripping off a Band-Aid, but you did it. And you did it well."

  Faith shook her head. "Maybe, but that was after the first phone call I made. To you. Remember?"

  Jen patted Faith's hand at the memory. "You couldn't breathe, couldn't get the words out. I wasn't sure what had happened. I first thought somebody had died."

  Faith reached for a pimento-cheese-stuffed piece of celery. "I know. I'm sorry. I literally had the breath knocked out of me when I got the call."

  Jen remembered how hard it had been and wouldn't wish on any wife to find out her husband had a girlfriend, had taken her to your mountain cabin and on top of that, was telling friends on Facebook that they were in bed watching Netflix movies. On your own Netflix account. That you paid for.

  "Actually, in hindsight, it was a good thing he got drunk enough to post all of that online. Otherwise, you may never have found out."

  Faith raised her eyebrows and nodded approvingly as she bit into the miniature chicken pot pies and Jen was relieved at least they liked something on the table. "I might not have agreed with you at the time, but I do now. Thanks for talking me off the ledge. First of many times you had to."

  "I don't agree. I think you handled it remarkably well after you found out. That was it. It was done," Carrie said, her nose crinkled. She leaned forward and gingerly poked her fork into the colorful gelatin mold she'd tried. "What the heck is this?"

  Jen pushed the plate closer to Carrie, and laughed when she actually recoiled. "Don't be a wuss. It's Jell-O. It's not as bad as it looks. It was brand new then."

  Carrie didn't look entirely convinced, but put some on her plate anyway.

  "I'm just glad it's all ancient history. Relationships are hard," Faith said.

  Carrie nodded in agreement. "No kidding. I was happy to see the back side of Rob, too."

  The wave of emotion surprised Jen, and she set her fork down and leaned back in her chair. She watched her friends giggle and chat about the different kinds of foods, and she filled in the information she had when they asked about something in particular. But she'd lost her appetite. Her marriage experience had been very different, and obviously she wasn't at all happy when hers ended.

  She'd thought about talking to them about Joe, but all of a sudden it didn't seem like quite as good an idea.

  They finished sampling appetizers and there were clear winners and losers. The plate that had held pot pies was empty, but the Jell-O mold ring was almost still a complete circle.

  "Well, that wasn't nearly as scary as I anticipated." Carrie stood and reached for the empty plates.

  “Not bad at all," Faith agreed. She reached for the leftovers to take to the kitchen and stopped as the wind whistled through the windows. "It's sure howling out tonight. Glad we left the deck when we did."

  Jen walked around the room, securing the windows. They were old and drafty, and sometimes they even flew open with a strong enough breeze. If the howling outside at the moment was any indication what the night might hold, it was better to batten down the hatches.

  "I can only imagine how hard it's blowing inland," she said, sure that her voice was tinged with the worry she was feeling.

  Faith set the dishes in the sink and began to fill the sink to wash them. "Hey, I have an idea."

  Jen followed them into the kitchen, reaching for containers to put the leftovers in. "What?"

  "Why don't you ask Michael and Amber if they want to spend the weekend at the house? They're in that tiny apartment, anyway. They might enjoy going, right?”

  Jen rubbed her temples. "This will sound awful. Once Max told me he was going to stay in Boston for the fall and do another internship round, and I came to terms with the fact he wouldn't be staying at the house, I completely forgot that Michael and Amber could stay there."

  "Oops," Faith said with a laugh.

  "I know. I'm a horrible mother. And a horrible mother-in-law. And a horrible grandmother-to-be."

  "Whoa. Stop. They could have asked. Just call and ask them. Quit beating yourself up."

  Jen nodded. "Okay, I will. That's a great idea, Faith. I was thinking anyway —this week is supposed to be an especially high tide and with the wind it'll be even worse. Not to mention the roof shingles I found in the garden after the last high winds. And I can't be in both places at once."

  They finished the dishes and sat down in the living room —it was way too windy to go outside. Faith dropped out of the conversation pretty quickly, and Carrie and Jen soon realized that their friend had fallen fast asleep.

  "Wow, she's really burning the candle at both ends," Jen whispered. She pulled a quilt from the closet as Carrie tucked the softest pillow on the couch under Faith's head.

  Jen spread the quilt over her friend while Carrie took off Faith's shoes and set them to the side of the couch. They tiptoed outside, taking Daisy with them.

  Jen looked over her shoulder at the sleeping Faith. "I hope she's okay."

  "She seems all right. I mean, it would be better if she had more time on her hands and could have some fun, relax a little, but she seems to be holding up pretty well."

  Jen nodded. "We'll just have to keep an eye on her."

  "Yep. Thanks for dinner and I'll call you guys tomorrow."

  Jen waved just before Carrie turned the corner on the way to her condo and the wind had died down a little bit. She sat on the stoop while Daisy considered whether or not to do her business.

  With impeccable timing, Daisy finished her mission right as the wind picked back up again and, as quietly as possible, Jen grabbed her phone, turned off the lights and headed upstairs to call Michael and Amber, and see if they might be interested in staying at the house for the weekend. That would take at least one item off her worry list, and she could focus on what was right in front of her. Faith and the rising tide.

  Seven

  Faith was dreaming of fire-breathing dragons when her e
yes flew open. It took her a little while to realize that it wasn't a dragon breathing in her face but Daisy, the border collie puppy.

  And that she wasn't in her bedroom upstairs but on the couch downstairs with a blanket over her, and that she wasn't in her pajamas.

  She vaguely recalled lying down on the couch while Carrie and Jen were chatting, and she remembered trying very hard to listen to what Jen was saying about Michael and Amber. But she didn't remember at all what they actually had decided, and the next thing she knew —she had a dog breathing in her face.

  She was also positive that she hadn't had too much wine. She rarely did that, especially after her experience with Jeff. Since she had to be up and running every day so early, she made an extra special point of it, even on weekends.

  She gave up trying to remember, though, and sat up and stretched.

  Daisy hopped on the couch next to Faith and rested her head on Faith’s lap. It was early —very early —and she knew this time of the morning wasn't Jen's favorite. Maybe she'd appreciate a break from the early morning dog walk.

  She slipped on her tennis shoes that she didn't remember taking off, started a pot of coffee and grabbed Daisy's leash.

  The cool morning air went a long way toward blowing the cobwebs out of Faith’s head as Daisy pulled them toward the beach. She'd grabbed a sweater as closer to the holidays the mornings were more brisk than balmy, and she was glad she had. Even Daisy wasn't as eager as she used to be to splash in the waves, and they were both content to just walk along the shoreline.

  After her experience the day before with her jeans, she picked up the pace. She was happy to have Daisy's exuberance spur her on and before she knew it, she was all the way to the pier. It was still pretty early, but Dory's fish market was doing a brisk business. She wondered if many of the people she saw there were buying for restaurants, and wished she'd brought her wallet to bring something back for Jen to cook, or Carrie to barbecue.

  She would next time, for sure. She spotted an empty bench and decided to catch her breath for a minute. Daisy's pace wasn't Faith’s normal slow one, but hopefully it would help her get back in her skinnier jeans.

  She watched the people at the market for a little bit and as she usually did, wondered what fish markets were like in other places. She'd always wanted to travel, and had often wondered what it would be like to visit small markets around the world. What did they sell in markets in Italy? In France? She really would love to see. She wasn't as good a cook as Jen, but she loved to try new things, new tastes, new spices.

  She took another look at the people around. Walkers of all kinds —couples of all ages, people walking alone, and lots of dogs.

  "Penny for your thoughts," a man said as he sat down beside her, and when she saw Daisy's tail wagging and Boris's wiggling just as fast, she knew it was Joe.

  "Hi," she said with a big smile as he gave her a hug.

  Joe smiled and nodded. "Hello. Nice to see you. And Daisy, of course."

  "Of course," Faith said. “And my thoughts were traveling the globe, sampling exotic wares in small markets. About as close to a real vacation as I’m going to get. How have you been? What's new and exciting?"

  Joe rubbed his chin, his dark eyes thoughtful. "I guess I would say yes. The gondola business is under control, and of course isn't quite as busy as it was during the summer. I'm enjoying the extra time."

  "I bet you are. I'm jealous," Faith said.

  He cocked his head and turned toward her. "Jealous?"

  Faith took a moment to explain her schedule and by the time she was finished, he was rubbing the back of his neck.

  "Wow, I'm tired just hearing about it. Any relief in sight?"

  "No," was on the tip of Faith's tongue, but she remembered that Thanksgiving break was right around the corner.

  "I guess so. A little while until Thanksgiving. That'll be nice."

  "Right. It sure will be," he agreed. "It's a pretty busy week for gondola trips because everybody's out of school and on vacation. We'll flip roles."

  "I guess so," Faith said, looking forward to the particular role she would get to take.

  "That'll be nice for Jen to have you around, particularly during that week when I won't be able to come over so much. It'll be great."

  Faith blinked a few times, surprised by that information. Come over so much? Clearly, Jen had been holding out on her.

  "It's great you've been able to spend so much time together," she said, hoping she wasn't fishing for information too hard but dying to find out more.

  "It's been really nice. Jen is —well, she's special. I love anything we do together. Just having dinner, watching house flipping shows, whatever. Doesn't matter. I just love her company."

  "Huh," was all Faith could think of to say. Boy, would Jen be getting some questions as soon as Faith saw her.

  But it wouldn't be all that soon. "I've got to run if I'm going to get to the boutique on time. Great to see you, and I hope I'll see you again this weekend."

  "You will. Jen invited me for dinner tonight, and I look forward to it."

  "Ah, great,” Faith said. "That'll be fun. See you then."

  She had to tug hard to get Daisy to leave Boris, but it eventually worked and she walked as fast as she could back toward the house. She was thrilled for her friend, and couldn't believe she'd have to wait to get more details. It was almost more than she could stand, but it wouldn't do to be late to her second job.

  Eight

  Jen couldn't believe her eyes when she woke up and glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It had been months since she'd slept in this late —well, ever since she inherited Daisy.

  She pulled herself out of bed and was met with the aroma of coffee wafting up the stairs. Thank goodness for Faith.

  She pulled on a soft cashmere sweater and a pair of jeans and padded over to the doors to the deck. Judging from the palm trees across the street where the herons' nest was, the wind had died down considerably. And it was a little bit warmer.

  She glanced down at the deck and groaned. Slipping on her shoes, she headed out to the deck and grabbed a broom. The pile of shingles that had been blown off the roof was way too big when she finished sweeping, and it was clear that now storm season was upon them —which would bring plenty of wind and a fair amount of rain —she needed to get back to her list of repairs. She didn't really want to find out what would happen if it rained.

  Faith rushed in the door with Daisy just as Jen poured herself a cup of coffee and reached into the refrigerator for the muffins she'd made the day before.

  "Oh, Faith, thanks a million for letting me sleep in," Jen said as Faith shrugged off her sweater and hung Daisy's leash on the hook.

  "No problem. It's not like Daisy gave me a choice, though."

  Jen nodded. "It's true. Soon as the sun is up, so is she."

  "Yep. Breathing right in my face."

  "Oh, no. I'm sorry," Jen said. "I'll make sure to bring her in my room tonight and close the door."

  Faith poured a cup of coffee. "I honestly had a nice time. We walked really fast, all the way to the pier. I could use the exercise if I'm going to see my skinny pants before Thanksgiving."

  "Oh, good. Thanks for doing it." Jen gestured to a muffin, but Faith shook her head. "Nope. Refer to skinny pants comment."

  Jen nodded in understanding. She couldn't count how many times she'd done the same thing. None of them were too obsessed with weight, but when your pants got tight, it was time for a course correction, no matter how brief. You could always try, anyway.

  Jen filled up Daisy's food bowl while Faith was upstairs getting ready for work. Jen was thanked by Daisy’s tail thudding against the kitchen island.

  She slathered butter on a muffin and sat down, flipping through the mail. She separated out the important things from the unsolicited sales postcards from almost every business she could imagine. Realtors —she threw those in the trash —stores having sales —those went in the maybe pile —and several fr
om local contractors. Those she kept.

  With the wind last night and the shingles she'd found this morning, she was getting more and more nervous about the state of the house. Not much happened in the summer, weather-wise, and she'd been having so much fun that she'd been able to fix the urgent things and ignore the rest.

  Now, though, the change of seasons and the weather wouldn't let her ignore it any longer. Joe had been nudging her lately anyway. In the evenings when they watched house remodel shows or house flipping shows, he'd remind her that she had a project of her own.

  She'd always laughed, saying, "Why do you think I'm trying to get all these great ideas?"

  There had never been any desire to ignore it, it just happened. But now she'd better get on with it.

  She made a list of the contractors' names and decided she'd call Dirk for recommendations. He'd been around Newport forever, and his job as a realtor probably had him come in contact with many local folks. Hopefully, he could help her steer clear of any bad ones and find a responsible, and hopefully inexpensive option.

  Faith bounded down the stairs, all ready for work. She set her mug in the sink and grabbed her purse. "I ran into Joe on the walk today. Daisy and Boris had a chat, and so did Joe and I."

  "Oh?" Jen responded, feeling the quick smile spread at the mention of Joe.

  "Yep. And I have a bone to pick with you, ma'am."

  Jen set down her coffee and raised her eyebrows. "Uh-oh."

  Faith laughed. "Just kidding. Well, kind of."

  Jen couldn't imagine what Joe could have said that would make Faith feel that way.

  Purse in hand, Faith grabbed her keys and headed toward the door. "And don't think I'll forget about it by the time I get off work. I won't."

  Jen frowned, but since Faith was smiling and gave her a wink, she wasn't too awful worried.

  "Oh, come on. You can't leave it like that."