Breakwater Bay

by Shelley Noble

  “Yes, ma’am.” She watched Carlyn rebandage her hand. “It’s awfully quiet in here. Where is everybody?”

  “Coming in late because Doug had to bring in an inspector to make sure there are no current leaks. No reason to restore if it’s just going to get ruined again. So relax. I’ll get coffee and you tell me what the heck’s going on in your life.”

  It was almost a relief. Meri knew she couldn’t keep what she’d learned from her best friend. Besides, she needed advice. She pulled her backpack onto the table, opened it with one hand, and rummaged inside for an envelope that she had filled that morning while Peter was shaving.

  She placed it on the table.

  “What’s that?” Carlyn asked as she put a mug in front of Meri.

  “Sit down over here by me and I’ll show you.” Meri glanced over her shoulder to make sure they were alone; it was totally a reflex action.

  “Oh boy,” Carlyn said and sat down.

  “Before I show you, there are a couple of things you should know. But I’m serious about this; you can never tell. So let me know if you can do that before I go any further.”

  Carlyn frowned. One eyebrow slowly lifted as it always did when she was questioning someone’s seriousness. “Pinky swear?”

  “Cross your heart and hope to die swear.”

  “Shit.” Carlyn got up long enough to shut the door, then pulled her chair closer. “Cross my heart.”

  “My mother . . .” She told Carlyn about Alden finding a teenager on the breakwater, about her delivering a baby and running away, about her being killed and how her mother had kept Meri as her own.

  Carlyn listened to the whole story in silence. “Did you ever find out who she was?”

  Meri nodded, bit her lip. “I have a name and a photo, but I’m not sure I even want to go down that road.”

  “Of course you do.” Carlyn reached for the envelope. “May I?”

  Meri hesitated. It was too late to go back, and she did need advice . . . and support. “Okay.”

  Carlyn opened the envelope and slid the contents onto the table. She picked up the photo of Riley and the boy at the beach. “That’s your mother?”

  Meri nodded.

  “And your father?”

  “I have no idea.”

  Carlyn reached for the school ID. “Riley Rochfort. Rochfort? Are you kidding me?”

  “There are a lot of Rochforts.”

  “There are, but I don’t know one who isn’t loaded.” Her eyes widened. “Hell, any one of them could fund this whole project without missing it.”

  “Carlyn!”

  “I didn’t mean you should use them, not exactly.”

  “I don’t even know which ones they are, and it doesn’t matter. I would never ask them for anything. They were horrible people. My mother and Gran had a moment of stricken conscience and went to them, told them about Riley. They didn’t want to hear anything about their daughter or her baby. They said Riley had died on a trip to Europe and accused Mom and Gran of trying to run a scam.

  “Though I suppose there could be two Riley Rochforts.”

  “Unlikely,” Carlyn said.

  “And there are Rochforts all over the country and probably in Europe.”

  “You just said your mother and grandmother went to see them.”

  “I know, they did. But do I really want to know?”

  “Of course you do. There’s a way to find out. Well, actually, there are several ways to find out, but they’re not nearly as dramatic.”

  Meri couldn’t help but laugh. That’s one of the many reasons Carlyn was her best friend. She was true blue. And she came through in a pinch. “Actually, I’m more interested in finding out who my father was. There is no information at all in the diary.”

  “Riley left a diary?”

  “No, Laura, my life mother, did.”

  Carlyn smiled. “I like that, life mother.”

  “Anyway, I guess they didn’t attempt to locate the father. I haven’t read it all, but I did skim through it and it all appears to be stuff about me growing up, until my dad, Dan—” She stopped, frowned. “From now on my mother and father are Laura and Dan.”

  Carlyn placed her hand over Meri’s. “They always have been.”

  “I know. Alden said the same thing. I’ve been confusing myself the last few days. I think what I really want is some kind of closure. I don’t care about the Rochforts. But I would just like to know . . .”

  “About your father—your birth father.”

  “Yeah. I think. I mean, if that’s him, he was just a clueless teenager. Did Riley tell him? Did he freak? Did he love her?”

  “And if you find him, what?”

  “I don’t know, I guess it depends.”

  “He probably has his own life now, maybe married with kids, maybe moved away.”

  “I know, I’m just . . . curious.”

  “Then let’s find out who this guy is and go from there.”

  “Where do we start?”

  “Local high school yearbooks. Most of them will be online.”

  An hour later they had put a name to the face. They were both huddled over the laptop in Carlyn’s office. Doug had stuck his head in twice only to be shooed away by Carlyn.

  “You’re incredible,” Meri said as they both stared at the school picture of Everett Simmons, All-Star basketball, debate club, school newspaper, and Most Likely to Tell a Joke.

  “Sounds like a fun kind of guy.” Carlyn opened another window and typed in his name, then scrolled down the links. “Hmm. There are several.”

  “What are the chances he’s still in Newport?” Meri asked.

  Carlyn refined the search. “And there he is. A prominent local lawyer.”

  “But are we sure that’s really him?”

  More typing. A business network site came up. “Yep. Born, raised, and went to school here. I’d say this is the guy.”

  Meri stared at the information. “You’re amazing.”

  “This is how I spend my days, ferreting out possible donors. I know things about people that if I were so inclined, I could blackmail them into giving to the cause.” She pointed a finger at Meri. “But I would never, not even to a stranger. So are you going to see him?”

  “I’ll think about it. Could you print that out for me?”

  “Sure thing.”

  Meri was just folding the printouts of the photo and the address when they heard voices in the hallway.

  Carlyn pushed her hair back. “Let’s go see what the verdict is.”

  They walked back to the kitchen where Doug and two men were bent over a schematic that was spread out on the table.

  “It’s a question of whether you want to replace this section of pipe”—one of the men ran his pencil point along the paper—“or just keep the water turned off forever.” He straightened up. “Look, Doug, you know I wouldn’t hardball you. You might be okay for several years, but is it worth the risk?

  “You should do it now; other than that, all you have to worry about is some fixtures. If you want to save money, shut down some of the bathrooms. Keep one for the office, one for the staff, and fit out another one as a nonworking period piece. Pull out the rest. Other than that and gutter repairs, you’re fine.”

  Doug saw Carlyn and Meri and motioned them in.

  Carlyn went over and perused the spec sheet.

  Everyone watched silently as her head moved back and forth.

  “Well,” Doug asked, unable to contain his anxiety.

  Carlyn shrugged one shoulder. “Makes sense.”

  “Do we have the money?”

  “I’ll find it.”

  Doug looked at the two men.

  “That’s good enough for me.” The older man began rolling up the spec sheet. “I’ll try to send someone over Wednesday to take some measurements. See if I can fit you in between projects. It’s a pretty straightforward job.”

  “Famous last words,” Doug said at the same time Meri thought it. She was pr
etty sure Carlyn was thinking the same thing.

  “Won’t know until we open her up.”

  Doug shot his fingers through his hair. “Okay. Thanks, Marty. We’re good for it.”

  “I know. You better be good to this lady.” He grinned at Carlyn. “She can pull money out of thin air. Don’t let anybody steal her away.”

  Carlyn shot a look at Doug. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  He nodded shortly and walked the two men to the parking lot.

  “Well,” Carlyn said, when they were gone. “Guess I better get to work and scrounge up a few thousand.”

  “What can I do to help?”

  Carlyn turned and spread out her hands. “Papa was a name unknown,” she sang to the tune of “Papa Was a Rolling Stone.” She started backing away. “Go on and find out and then we’ll go on.”

  She sashayed out the door and into Joe Krosky. “Hey, isn’t that a Temptations song?”

  Carlyn did a double take. “You’re a Temptations fan?”

  “Hell, yeah, I’m an R and B–ing, doo-wop-ing, disco-ing soul man.” He bounced off down the hall, head poking and finger wagging.

  Meri and Carlyn crowded into the doorway watching.

  “Wonders never cease.”

  Therese opened the kitchen door to see Nora standing there in jeans and a Nightmare Before Christmas sweatshirt. “Come in.”

  “Are you busy? Daddy’s working and I thought I’d see what you were up to.”

  Therese smiled. “Don’t tell me you’re bored already.”

  “No. But Dad has to work. And I can tell he feels like he should be entertaining me, so I told him I was coming here. I thought maybe you were cooking something. I could help.”

  “Do you like to cook?”

  “Yeah, it’s okay. Not that I get to cook much; we have a cook. But I’ve been practicing when I can.”

  Therese didn’t bother to ask what she was practicing for. She was pretty sure at this point that Nora’s intentions of staying with Alden hadn’t been a spur-of-the-minute decision.

  How it would turn out was anyone’s guess.

  “Well, I was just about to start some soup.” Therese had some chicken in the freezer and they would make do with whatever else was in the refrigerator. They could always drive over to the market to get the rest later.

  “I like to make soup, because it freezes easily and defrosts without making everything mushy.”

  Nora nodded. Therese could practically see the gears in her brain working. Well, even if she didn’t end up staying, it wouldn’t hurt the girl to learn some culinary skills.

  Therese got the chicken out of the freezer and put the pieces in the microwave to defrost. Then she hauled the big soup pot out of the bottom cabinet while Nora emptied the refrigerator and brought potatoes and onions from the pantry.

  When the chicken was defrosted, Therese showed her how to cut the skin and fat from the meat, then let Nora try.

  “It’s slimy,” Nora said, wrinkling her nose.

  “It’s chicken.” Therese nodded for her to go on.

  Nora sighed. “I guess man can’t live on cookies alone.” Her cheeks reddened. “I meant man in a universal kind of way.”

  “I know what you meant. Now cut. And for heaven’s sakes watch your fingers. We don’t need any more emergency room visits.”

  When the chicken was skinned, Therese had Nora take it all over to the pot of water simmering on the stove.

  “The bones, too?”

  “Bones, too. Now, break a couple of stalks of celery off. And before you ask, the leaves too, and put them in the pot.” Next came a quartered onion that left both of them crying.

  “Now we’ll just add some salt, parsley, and peppercorns and let that cook up while we cut the vegetables.”

  Nora was a quick learner and interested, and Therese was happy to have the company. She’d loved the times when Laura or Meri and sometimes the boys would come in to help cook. Cooking was always a family affair in the Calder household. And she missed that.

  It was just one of the many things you lost when you grew older and family moved away. Therese wasn’t complaining. She’d had a wonderful, satisfying life, and she had nothing to complain about. Nothing at all.

  “What is it, Gran? Did I do something wrong?” Nora looked down at the cutting board of chopped carrots. They were every possible size and shape, and Therese thought they were just perfect.

  “Not at all, I was just thinking how nice it is to have someone in the kitchen with me.”

  Nora smiled happily and, if Therese wasn’t mistaken, with a hint of triumph. She’d better be careful not to get Nora’s hopes up. She didn’t see Jennifer allowing her to do anything that would mean giving an iota of control to Alden.

  Meri spent what was left of the morning and early afternoon helping Joe with his tracing. It was actually a simpler and less-body-contorting activity than analyzing or cleaning ceilings.

  By the time they finished for the day, she’d made big headway on the wallpaper pattern. It was detail work, requiring a steady hand and a good deal of focus, but not so much that she didn’t think about Everett Simmons, local lawyer, who might or might not be her birth father. But who might at least be able to tell her something about Riley Rochfort.

  She helped Joe cover the wall tracings with plastic before they packed it in. Meri was stiff from sitting in one place for such a long time and was thankful for not having to climb down from the scaffolding with one hand. Though she was more than ready to get on with it. Too bad it looked like that wouldn’t be happening until the plumbing was corrected.

  “So, Joe,” she asked as they walked down the hall together, “do you ever go to karaoke?”

  “Only the botany department’s parties. Big karaoke dudes there.”

  “No kidding. I would have never guessed.”

  “Yep. Just a bunch of wild and crazy scientists. That’s us.”

  “You know. Carlyn and I and a couple of friends go to a neighborhood place on Friday nights. You should come sometime.”

  Joe stopped. Even stopped bouncing. “Really?”

  Meri was taken aback. “Sure.” She immediately wondered if she should have asked Carlyn first. What if he turned out to be tone deaf. Well, what the hell, that was half the fun.

  “Cool.” The bounce started up, and they continued their way to the kitchen.

  Carlyn had left for the day, probably out searching for additional funding or to spin class. The woman was indefatigable. Meri called Peter, but his voice mail picked up. She left a message that she was going grocery shopping and to call her.

  Meri drove to the grocery. It was something she knew she couldn’t put off any longer, and if Nora was coming in a few days, she would have to start laying in supplies.

  She stocked up on staples and snacks and even thought to buy some meat and vegetables. That night, she made dinner and ate in front of her laptop, not reading her e-mails, not streaming the television shows she’d missed over the last few days, not even wondering why Peter hadn’t called her back.

  She was googling Everett Simmons, learning where he worked and that he had a family. She saw newspaper photos of him at various benefits with his lovely wife, most taken at Historical Preservation Group events. He was a member of several restoration organizations.

  She may have even met him before; he did look vaguely familiar. Maybe that was just because she’d seen his photo as a young man. He was still on the lean and lanky side and he had a crinkly smile, all things she recognized from his photo, even as fuzzy and old as it was.

  He looked like a nice man. She wondered if he knew about her. Or if he would want to know about her. She didn’t want to upend anyone’s life. She just wanted to know about Riley and what had gone so wrong in her life. And she would do it subtly.

  She’d call and make an appointment in the morning, tell his secretary that it was personal. She’d probably have to pay a fortune. She didn’t care. She’d dip into her savings if she
had to. And then she would forget it all.

  Meri was awakened from a deep sleep by her cell phone. Immediately panicked that someone was hurt brought her to full consciousness. “Sorry, hon. I ran into some guys from work when I was cleaning out my desk. We had a few beers, and I didn’t realize it was so late.”

  Peter. Meri blinked at the clock by her bed. Almost one o’clock.

  “You want me to come over?”

  She could hear laughing and music in the background. “No, have fun; I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “If you’re sure.”

  Meri yawned. “I’m sure.”

  “Love you.”

  “Love you, too.” She hung up. He should be going out with friends. He wouldn’t see them for a while either. But he could have called to let her know. And on that thought she fell back to sleep.

  Alden sat on a boulder watching the sun come up. Actually it had been up for a couple of hours. Now it sat like a pale yellow medallion in the sky. Wisps of cirrus clouds stretched from it like lamb’s wool.

  It was too early for the sun to warm things, and the air was chilly but calm. The boulder where he sat was cold. By noon it would start to absorb the heat and be comfortable by afternoon.

  Alden stretched stiff muscles. He’d worked late, couldn’t sleep, so he came back downstairs and lay on the couch until dawn woke him again. He’d made coffee and come outside.

  The coffee was long gone, but not his anxiety. Anxiety? Anticipation? Just plain old worry.

  He’d been floored when Nora announced she wanted to stay with him after break was over. Part of him wanted that more than anything, except maybe that Nora and Lucas would both come back.

  But how would they go on? Would she be happy going to a new school even for a few weeks? What if she got bored? What if he was working and lost track of the time? Forgot to pick her up? Forgot to buy groceries?

  They had Therese, of course. But could he put that burden on her? What was he thinking? Nora wasn’t a burden. He could set his alarm. She’d remind him to shop. Or they could go out for dinner. Pick up a bagel on the way to school. They could manage.

  But he needed to talk to Nora, really sit down and hash things out, to make sure this wasn’t some knee-jerk reaction she would soon regret.