The Sunset Cottages: A Willa Bay Novel

by Nicole Ellis

  While the meat cooked, Debbie chopped a yellow onion, shredded a head of iceberg lettuce, and diced some Roma tomatoes. When everything was ready, she pulled sour cream, finely shredded cheese, and salsa out of the fridge and set it on the table next to a package of hard taco shells.

  “Dinner’s ready!” she called up the stairs.

  When Peter came downstairs, he’d changed out of the dress pants, button-down shirt, and tie that had long been his work uniform, and now wore a cotton t-shirt and sweatpants. He came into the kitchen and gave her a kiss on the cheek, then looked appraisingly at the taco bar she’d put out. “Looks delicious, honey.”

  “Thanks.” Debbie smiled and sat down in her usual seat across from him. This meal hadn’t taken too long to put together, and was one of her favorites. She’d made tacos so many times that it didn’t take much thought, and after a long day of focusing on the fundraiser, she’d enjoyed having the time to let her mind wander to lighter topics.

  They both ate voraciously, leaving only a portion behind for Peter to take to lunch the next day.

  Peter rubbed his belly. The lines on his face had eased and he smiled at her. “That was every bit as delicious as it looked.”

  Debbie beamed. It was nice to be appreciated, even for the little things like making dinner. Peter cleared the table, and a pang of guilt reverberated in Debbie’s chest at the thought of the stack of dirty dishes he’d find when he tried to wash off the plates. She got up and put away the leftovers before turning back to the sink.

  To her surprise, Peter had slipped on rubber gloves and was loading the open dishwasher.

  “I was going to do that,” she said.

  He shrugged. “I don’t mind. I know you’ve been really busy. I should have done it yesterday, but I was too exhausted after work.”

  “Well, thank you. I appreciate the help.” She remembered he’d come home after eight the evening before. Like today, she’d been so caught up in the fundraiser that she hadn’t planned dinner and had quickly thrown together a couple of BLT sandwiches for the two of them. “I’m sorry things have been so off lately.”

  He set a rinsed bowl in the dishwasher before turning to fully face her. “I don’t care about the house being messy or dinner being late. I’m just worried about you. Planning this event has been all-consuming and I’m concerned you may have bitten off more than you can chew.”

  She stared at him, then wordlessly walked away. In her craft room, she collapsed onto the pullout couch they kept for overnight guests and wrapped herself in an afghan she’d crocheted last year.

  Peter’s words stung, although she doubted he’d meant to be unkind. Still, the fact remained that he wasn’t sure she could pull this off. A little voice in her head echoed her husband: Is this more than I can handle?

  The idea to raise funds for the local Cancer Society had come to her in the dark days she’d gone through after finding out her friend had passed away. It had been a flicker of an idea that turned into a flame, and now seemed like an out-of-control wildfire. She’d been a caterer for decades, and planning an event hadn’t seemed like a big deal, but she hadn’t realized how much time and money actually went into a fundraising event like this one.

  Although Meg and Zoe had enthusiastically offered to donate the use of the Inn at Willa Bay for the event, Debbie still had to account for other costs, like staffing, permits, a band, and even the food for the catering she and Libby would provide – an expense that was usually covered by their clients. It was all getting to be too much, and she wondered if Peter had a point. At this stage, she hadn’t started selling tickets, and only her close friends and family knew about the fundraiser. There was still time to drop the project if she needed to do so.

  A memory of sitting with Diana at the local cafe came to mind. They’d been slurping milkshakes together, an after-chemo tradition they’d enjoyed when they’d both felt up to it. Her friend had been so full of life, so full of plans for the future.

  Debbie couldn’t just drop the fundraiser. It was too important. The money they raised wouldn’t go far toward curing cancer, but it could make a difference in the lives of cancer patients and their families. But how was she going to pull it off?

  Unease continued to tug at her, erasing any confidence she had in her own abilities. Yes, the event was important, but was she the right person to manage it?

  15

  Tia

  Tia finished reading the last page of Davina’s journal and closed the leather cover. She leaned back in her chair and looked out the window. Soon after moving in, she’d found a small side table in the barn and set it up under the window in her bedroom to use as a desk. Her gaze dropped to the blue-gray waters of the bay, which she could just see through the barren tree branches. Not for the first time, she wondered if Davina had ever sat here, taking in the same view.

  She’d hoped the journal would reveal what had happened to Davina, but there hadn’t been any concrete answers within the pages. The girl’s last entry had been full of hope and worry as she tried to determine what her future would look like. Over the span of the summer she’d written about, Davina had fallen madly in love with Matthias, the son of a Seattle dentist, and they’d talked about marriage. However, her parents hadn’t approved of him and had threatened to disown her if she left Willa Bay without their permission.

  Tia could relate to Davina’s predicament. Although love hadn’t been the reason she’d moved to Washington State, she had followed her heart by succumbing to a desire to be more independent and self-sufficient. Her parents hadn’t disowned her for the decision, but had made their disapproval known.

  Had Davina moved to Seattle with Matthias? Was that why Celia had never heard of her before? Could Davina’s family have really been so upset by their daughter disobeying them that they would have completely cut her out of their lives? Judging by the lack of photos of Davina, it seemed all too possible that they had.

  Even though Tia didn’t always get along with her parents, she couldn’t imagine not being part of her family. If Davina had chosen romantic love over her parents, how had that turned out for her? If Davina and Matthias had married, they’d likely had a family of their own. What would it have been like for her to not share her newfound happiness with her parents and younger sister?

  An unexpected wave of homesickness washed over Tia. She did miss her sisters and parents, even if she didn’t want to see them every day. She’d been in Willa Bay for nearly a year now and it was probably time to make the trip back to Texas at some point, maybe in the spring. As far as she knew, though, her parents still planned to come out to visit her for Christmas.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see them, but she didn’t want to deal with the lecture she knew they’d give her about coming home. Her life was here now, and she didn’t see that changing anytime soon. So far, she’d been able to put off having a serious talk with Antonio too, for fear he’d also pressure her to return to Texas. The reason she’d given for avoiding him was legitimate – she’d been extremely busy with holiday events, but she didn’t know how long she could maintain that excuse. She looked down at the journal again and ran her fingers over the rough leather cover. Why couldn’t family relationships be easier?

  Below her room, the doorbell rang. Cal was stopping by after work and they’d planned to go on a beach walk before grabbing some dinner together. She got up to answer the door, but Meg beat her to it.

  “Tia,” her roommate called up the stairs in a sing-song voice. “You have a visitor.”

  “I’ll be right down,” Tia called back. She glanced at her reflection in the small oval mirror over the dresser, swiped her fingers through her thick hair to move it back into place, then bounded down the stairs to greet Cal.

  “Hey.” Cal gave her a wide smile as he leaned against the closed front door, his hands stuffed firmly into his jacket pockets.

  “Hey, yourself.” She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, mindful of Meg standing only a few feet behi
nd her as if she were chaperoning their date.

  “Ready to go?” he asked. “You’d better bundle up if you want to take a walk first. It feels like it’s going to snow out there.”

  “I was planning on it.” She liked the idea of snow, but wasn’t a fan of the cold, and shivered just thinking about how she’d practically frozen walking home from work. She grabbed her coat from the hall closet and put it on, then pulled a purple knit cap over her head and wrapped a matching scarf around her neck.

  He laughed. “You look like you’re ready for a blizzard.”

  She shrugged and gave him a half smile. “You never know. I like to be prepared.”

  He chuckled again and held the door open for her, blasting the hallway with an arctic chill.

  They walked hand-in-hand toward the trail leading to the beach. She’d forgotten her gloves at the cottage, so she shoved her free hand in her coat pocket to keep it warm.

  After they’d chatted briefly about their work days, Tia said, “I finished reading Davina’s journal this afternoon.”

  “Really?” His eyebrows rose. “Did you find out what happened to her? Did she marry that guy she met, the dentist’s son? What was his name again? Matthew?”

  “Close. His name was Matthias.” Tia grinned. She liked how he’d shown a genuine interest in the journal, as well as the local history and what had happened to the eldest daughter of the first owners of the Inn. Most guys wouldn’t have cared about that kind of thing. She shook her head. “I don’t know. On the last page, she was trying to make a decision whether or not to marry him and move to Seattle.”

  “Seattle wasn’t that far away, even if it took a little longer to get there in those days. She could still have seen her family fairly often.” Cal paused to allow her to go in front of him as they made their way down the narrow stairs leading to the beach.

  Tia shrugged. “Apparently they threatened to disown her if she left Willa Bay to marry him.”

  Cal uttered a low whistle. “Disown her? That’s harsh. Do you really think they’d disown their own daughter?”

  “I don’t know. It’s hard to believe, but seems likely, because it’s as if Davina dropped off the face of the planet after her last journal entry.” Tia stared at the waves lapping lazily at the shore, eating up the last few inches of sand, pebbles, and seaweed as they reached for the high-tide mark. She shook her head. “Her parents sounded as controlling as mine.”

  Cal coughed gently. “Your parents want what they think is best for you, the same as hers did. Unfortunately, their definition of ‘best’ is different from yours.”

  She pulled her hand from his and took a step back. “My parents sent my brother halfway across the country to bring me back home.”

  “Has he said anything about wanting you to come back to Texas?” Cal asked.

  “Well, no,” she admitted. “But I haven’t given him the chance either. I’m sure he’ll spring it on me when I finally have to meet with him.”

  Cal gazed out at the water for a long moment, then brought his attention back at her. “I think you may be misjudging Antonio’s intentions.”

  “Really?” She put her hands on her hips, not even caring that they were freezing without gloves. “You’ve met him once and you’re suddenly an expert.”

  “No. I didn’t say I was an expert on him.” He exhaled with force, causing a big cloud of breath to float in front of his face. “I just think you’re jumping to conclusions.”

  Her eyes widened. The whole time she’d known Cal, he’d never been so forthcoming with his opinions about anything. He was usually a go-with-the-flow kind of guy, which she appreciated for the lack of drama surrounding him.

  “You don’t know him like I do.” She jutted her chin upward. “He may get away with more as the only boy in my family, but when it comes down to it, he’s under my parents’ thumb, just like the rest of us. If they asked him to convince me to come home, he would do it.”

  “I don’t know.” Cal’s eyes were troubled. “When I saw him in town a week or so ago, I got the impression he was going through some stuff.”

  “You saw him?” Tia peered at him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Cal’s face reddened as he mumbled, “I couldn’t.”

  “You couldn’t tell me that you were concerned about my brother,” she echoed his words, not believing what she was hearing. “Why couldn’t you? Is he in some sort of trouble? If he is, I need to know.”

  What was Cal hiding from her? Her mind spun like she’d been caught up in a whirlpool. Was Cal right? Was Antonio in town for some other reason than to make her go back to El Paso? Her older brother had always been so perfect and she couldn’t imagine him doing anything that Cal would be reluctant to tell her. Her blood ran cold. Was Antonio in serious trouble?

  “I just couldn’t. I’m sorry, but I still can’t. I shouldn’t have said anything to you. It wasn’t my place to do so.” Cal composed himself and glanced at the Inn, high above the beach. He gestured to the stairs up to the resort. “It’s getting dark. Do you want to head up?”

  Tia regarded him, feeling oddly calm. She’d grown accustomed to her parents and older siblings thinking they knew what was best for her, but now Cal was doing the same thing. For some reason, he wouldn’t tell her where he’d seen her brother or what Antonio had been doing at the time. Was this really what she wanted in a relationship?

  “You know,” she said slowly. “I’m starting to get a headache. I think I’m going to head home and sleep it off.”

  “Oh.” Cal sounded disappointed. “Do you want me to bring you something for dinner?”

  “No.” Her words cut across the stillness of the empty beach. “I can take care of myself.”

  He took a deep breath and she knew he’d caught on to how upset she was getting. He gave her a measured look. “At least let me walk you home.”

  “Like I said, I can take care of myself.” She whipped around and sped off, the damp sand sticking to her boots. When she reached the cottage trail, she allowed herself a quick glance back at him. He was still standing near the water’s edge and hadn’t taken his eyes off of her. She turned back around and hiked up the sloping path to her house.

  By the time she’d unlocked the door and stepped inside, she didn’t have to lie when she told Meg she had a headache. She changed into pajamas and made herself a grilled cheese sandwich and tea for dinner, bringing it upstairs to her desk to eat. Outside, a figure walked up the now-dark path to the front door and rang the doorbell. Meg answered it and Cal’s voice trickled upstairs via the stairwell.

  “Tia and I were supposed to go to dinner after our walk on the beach, but she suddenly told me she had a headache and took off. I just wanted to make sure she got home okay.” His voice was thick with concern, and – for a moment – she wanted to run down the stairs and tell him it was all a big misunderstanding.

  But she didn’t, and he left after Meg assured him that Tia was resting in her bedroom. Tia pushed her chair back from the desk and paced the floor from wall to wall, reliving all of the times she’d seen Antonio over the last few weeks. She’d been so caught up in her own issues with their family that she hadn’t stopped to consider whether his presence in Willa Bay was even about her.

  But that didn’t mean that Cal could keep secrets from her. She wanted their relationship to be built on a foundation of trust, and that wouldn’t happen if he couldn’t be honest with her. Whatever was going on with Antonio, she was his sister, and she had a right to know. She didn’t need anyone protecting her from the truth – not now, or ever.

  16

  Cal

  Cal hadn’t spoken to Tia since their aborted dinner date five days prior. He’d texted her several times, but she hadn’t returned any of his messages. He’d seen her at work a few times, but she’d been busy with managing holiday events at the Inn, and he figured he’d give her a little more time to cool down before he reached out to her in person.

  Like most Tuesday evenings,
he’d come home from work and made himself dinner before heading off to an eight o’clock AA meeting at the Lutheran church. Antonio was also there, as he had been for most of them in the last month. Over that period of time, Antonio had shared a bit of his story with the group, and Cal felt like he had a better sense of what was going on in his life.

  The more he knew about Antonio, the more he was convinced that Tia’s brother wasn’t in town to force her to return home to El Paso. Cal hated that his inability to say anything about Antonio’s attendance at the AA meetings had caused a rift in his relationship with Tia, but he couldn’t break his oath of anonymity. Now that he knew her pretty well, he was sure things would eventually blow over and she’d understand why Cal was keeping Antonio’s secret. Still, he hoped Antonio would come clean to his sister sooner rather than later.

  After the meeting, Cal joined Antonio at the coffee station at the back of the room. The other man was intent on stirring powdered creamer into the strong-brewed coffee and didn’t appear to see Cal’s approach.

  “Hey.” Cal plucked a paper cup from the top of a tall stack on the table and held it under the spout of the commercial-sized coffee urn. He pressed the lever and steaming coffee gurgled out, splashing against the bottom of the cup.

  Antonio looked up and blinked a few times before returning the greeting. He grabbed his cup and turned to leave.

  Cal reached out and touched his arm. “Do you have time for a chat?”

  Antonio stared into his coffee, then nodded. “Sure.”

  They took their beverages into an unoccupied corner of the room. Cal sipped his and grimaced. “I think they left this on the burner a little too long tonight.”

  Antonio took a cautious drink and his expression mirrored Cal’s. “No kidding.” He set the cup down on a ledge, then shoved his hands in the pockets of his black woolen peacoat. He glanced up at Cal, briefly meeting his gaze. “What did you want to talk to me about?”