The Mist of Quarry Harbor

by Liz Adair

Cassie looked at the photo again. “How could you?” she hissed angrily. Furious at Chan for destroying her fairytale, she crumpled the paper, wadding it up in her hand. As tears finally came, she stood and began her descent toward the wharf, walking back under the freeway and through the downtown area. People turned to stare at the tall, blonde lady, striding purposefully along with her mouth compressed and tears streaming. A little old lady said, “Here, my dear,” and pressed a tissue into her hand. A long-haired street dweller told her to trust in God. But mostly, people kept a respectful distance.

  When she got to the dock she saw exhaust coming out of Red Swan’s stack. Knowing Aaron must be there already, she paused for a moment, tucked the crumpled paper into her pocket, then dried her eyes and blew her nose on the charity-tissue.

  She entered the cabin and was almost unnerved by Aaron’s concerned gaze.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  Lifting her chin, she sniffed, “I’m fine.”

  “I brought a pizza. Have you eaten?”

  She shook her head. “Not since breakfast.”

  “Can you cast off? We’ll eat on the way.”

  Cassie silently went and did as he asked, returning a moment later to sit in the jump seat beside him.

  Aaron eased the trawler away from the dock and turned her around, steering through the labyrinth of pilings and boats to open water.

  When they were free of the congested space, Aaron opened the pizza box and offered it to Cassie. “I got everything on it. I hope that’s all right.”

  “It smells wonderful,” she said. “I’m salivating already. I must be hungry.”

  The food did wonders for Cassie’s soul. She began to feel that she could work through this. Nobody likes to be made a fool of, and betrayal is a brutal experience, but she would survive. I can do this, she thought.

  Turning to Aaron, she said, “Tell me about your brother.”

  “Jared? What about him?”

  “What was he like?”

  “Jared was a golden boy. Everything came easy for him, and he was totally without fear. Women loved him; everyone loved him. I loved him,” Aaron said. “He was handsome, talented, and full of charm.”

  Cassie took the wadded-up paper out of her pocket and smoothed it out. “I found this at the library today,” she said, handing it to Aaron. “A picture of Jared.”

  Aaron took the sheet from her and looked first at the picture and then at Cassie.

  “My husband, the man I thought was Chandler Jordain, was really your brother, Jared Fletcher,” Cassie announced.

  “I know.”

  Cassie blinked. “How could you know? I only found out myself this morning.”

  “I saw you in Arizona. With Jared.”

  “When?”

  “It was about a month ago. When I found out that the Swan had been sold, I had a hunch it might be Jared. He had a rivalry with me, always had to get the best of me. He knew how much I loved that boat, and that’s why he was determined to have her, I think. I worked through the yacht brokers, followed the money trail, and found Jared.”

  “So when you saw me in Quarry Harbor . . .”

  “I thought you were working with him on the drug runs. I didn’t have any idea how things really were. I guess I should have known . . .” Aaron shrugged.

  “That a woman could be taken in by him? I guess you should have.” They rode in silence for a moment, and then Aaron said, “I don’t know if it was losing his mother when he was little or what, but his moral compass wasn’t set on true north. He was always fun and charming and loveable, but he didn’t seem to think that the rules applied to him.”

  “Don’t I know,” agreed Cassie. “You never did ask me what I was doing in Cedar Cove, by the way,” she said, smiling. “I was visiting Amy.”

  “Amy! What about?”

  “She wanted to talk to me about Jared. And you.”

  Aaron frowned in puzzlement. “Why?”

  “She couldn’t really explain why. She just had this feeling that she needed to. I’m so glad she did, or I may never have found out what I did today. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “What good would that do? Would you have thanked me? Would you have believed me?”

  “Probably not. But you took me to Amy’s house on Sunday. What if I had found out then?”

  “It still would have been better for you than for me to tell you. Amy is transparently good and true. I don’t come off that way.”

  “Anyone who knows you knows that you’re good and true.”

  “But not transparent.”

  Cassie smiled. “Translucent, if not opaque.” Taking another slice of pizza, she said slyly, “She thinks you’re sweet on me.”

  “Who? Amy?”

  “Yes. She told me. She wishes us well.” Cassie laughed out loud at the look on Aaron’s face. “That’s not very complimentary to me,” she said.

  “You’re a great lady,” Aaron said. “But Amy’s the only one I ever . . . well, you know.”

  “Does she know? She’s a widow now, you know. She’s free.”

  “I know. But she wouldn’t want me now,” Aaron said. “I remember clearly what she said when she gave me back my ring—all the things I was and wasn’t that made it so she didn’t want me. I barely managed to propose to her, to get the words out right.” He snorted. “Jared put her ring in a Cracker Jack box and surprised her that way.”

  “Did he?” Cassie shouted, jumping up.

  Aaron was startled at her outburst.

  “Did he?” she continued at full volume. “How dare he! Ooh, I’ll tell you, Aaron, any sweet little vestiges of feelings I might have had for him just evaporated. That was my moment! How dare he give me a hand-me-down proposal. If someone hadn’t already done it, I might have run him over myself. Which makes me wonder who it really was. There might be another woman out there who found out where he went on one of his little ‘trips’.” She sat down again. “Ooh, that man!”

  “He certainly left a trail of devastation behind him,” Aaron agreed.

  “Do you know what Amy said? She said she knew that first year that she had made the wrong choice. She said that she chose flash above substance.”

  “She never gave me any indication that she felt that way.”

  “She was a married woman. She had made a bargain and was going to keep it. Then, too, you made yourself pretty scarce, didn’t you?”

  Aaron nodded. “Yes, I did.”

  “She doesn’t think you would want her now. She said that when she said she was sure that you were looking in my direction.”

  “Not want her!” Aaron exclaimed. “If I thought there was any chance, I’d jump at it.”

  “Then you’d better jump, me lad, because she’ll have you, for sure. And that boy needs a father.”

  Cassie took a bite of her pizza and watched with a smile as the wheels started turning in Aaron’s head. For the rest of the trip she sat quietly, letting him work through the concept as they chugged along toward Quarry Harbor.

  As they pulled into the slip, Aaron surfaced. “I forgot to tell you, Cassie. The ferry is back in service on the seven o’clock run.”

  “What time is it now?”

  Aaron looked at his watch. “Six.”

  “Holy Crow!” Cassie cried, grabbing her shopping bags. “Time’s a-wastin’! I’m gonna make that ferry!”

  Pausing at the door, she said, “Can you come to the hotel after you get buttoned up here? I have something I want to give you before I leave.”

  A mist was starting to form over Quarry Harbor, and the glow of sundown reflected off the vapor, painting the whole scene with a rosy wash, like a storybook illustration. But Cassie had no eyes for the splendor of the setting as she ran up the steps to the hotel. She was going home.

  26

  Bursting through the door of the hotel, Cassie stopped in her tracks at the sight of Luke Matthews sitting in a chair in the lobby, reading a magazine. Her first feeling was alarm, but she had
gone through too much today to be scared now. It was as if she had shed the scaly skin of sorrow and confusion she had dragged with her from the desert. She was free, and she wouldn’t be intimidated.

  Striding over to stand in front of Luke, she said, “I don’t know what you’re doing, skulking around, shadowing me, but it’s going to stop. Whoever you’re working for is on the wrong trail.”

  Luke dropped the magazine and looked at Cassie’s blazing blue eyes. Then he looked past her, to the right and left, to make sure she was talking to him. “Ma’am?”

  “Yes, you. Why are you following me?”

  Luke stood. Spreading his hands he said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Looking beyond Cassie, he saw Patty coming down the stairs. “Patty, can you come here?”

  “Hi, Cassie.” Patty came to stand by Luke and he put his arm around her. “What’s wrong?”

  “I want to know why this young man has been following me,” Cassie declared.

  “Following you!” Patty looked confused. “Are you sure?”

  “I found him in my room one night, over by my writing table. He said he was checking the radiator, but when I asked the manager if he was working here, I was told that he was not.”

  “Oh, Cassie,” Patty said, laughing. “I asked Luke to check the radiators in all the rooms. It was something I had to do before I could get off, and we wanted to go to Shingle Bay to a movie.”

  “What about all the other times he’s been hanging around the hotel? And how about yesterday, when he was over at Cedar . . .” Cassie’s voice trailed off, as things suddenly fell into place.

  “Oh. Then you two are . . . but yesterday it looked like he was telling you to do something and you didn’t want to, and then I got hit in the head and dumped overboard.”

  “I’m so sorry that happened!” Patty said. “The pin that holds the davit rusted through and broke.”

  Luke jumped in. “I was telling her that we need to tell her parents that we want to get married. She was saying that we should wait. She’s afraid her mother will try to break us up.”

  Cassie began to giggle. “No wonder you were so anxious to take me to Cedar Cove! You went there to meet Luke. But then you said he was just someone asking directions. I’ve been so sure—” The giggle became a full laugh, and she staggered over to a chair and collapsed, giving herself over to the hilarity of the situation.

  “You thought that I was following you?” Luke asked, and when Cassie nodded, he threw back his head and laughed, too. Patty joined in, and that’s how Aaron found them when he walked in a moment later.

  “Oh, Aaron,” Cassie said, getting up and wiping tears from her eyes. “This has been such an adventure, you have no idea! Patty and Luke can tell you the last installment while I go get my things. Patty, will you get my bill ready? I’m going to make that ferry or bust a gusset trying!”

  After she got to her room, she first took the sheaf of papers from Jensen and Sjoding and scribbled something on the bottom before signing her name as Cassandra Jordain. Then she hurriedly emptied the wardrobe and dresser and packed the things from the shopping bags and put Aaron’s clean pair of sweats in one of the empty ones. Throwing the rest of her things into her suitcase willy-nilly, she grabbed Elmo, held him up, and announced, “We’re going home!” She tucked him into her purse and took one last look around, picked up the shopping bag, and towed her suitcase to the elevator.

  As she checked out, she asked Patty if there had been any messages for her. “I asked Bishop Harris to find something out for me and told him to call my cell phone, but I don’t know if he had that number. I know he knows this number, and I just wanted to make sure I didn’t miss his call.”

  Patty checked the pigeon holes on the wall behind the desk and shook her head. “No messages.”

  Cassie held out her hand. “Good-bye, Patty. Thank you for everything. Tell your family thanks, too. I’ll remember this forever.”

  Luke was standing by the door, talking to Aaron. Cassie’s eyes crinkled as she shook his hand. “We had quite an adventure together on the Red Swan,” she said to Luke. “I’ve only just now figured out what happened and why you were so mad.”

  “I didn’t want to get mixed up in anything that would keep me from getting my captain’s license,” Luke said. “When those fellows mysteriously showed up at the coordinates you gave me, I thought you were using me. And then, when it looked like they were going to swing a couple of crates of B C bud onto our deck, I’d had the course.”

  “What’s this?” Aaron asked.

  “Luke can tell you all about it in a minute. Here’s your clean sweats from the other day,” Cassie said, handing him the shopping bag. “Will you walk me to my car?”

  “Let me get your suitcase,” Aaron offered as he opened the door for her.

  “Thank you.” Cassie spied a sack Aaron had in his hand. “Oh, that’s my package from the gift shop in Cedar Cove.”

  Aaron gave it to her. “I found it on the boat. Patty must have transferred it after we got you aboard yesterday.”

  “It’s a present for a little boy I know. I hope his dad is all right . . .”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Never mind. Another matter. I’ll find out soon enough.” Cassie found her keys and opened the trunk. While Aaron stowed her suitcase, she pulled the Jensen and Sjoding envelope out of her purse. “I want you to give this to Amy,” she told him.

  Aaron took the envelope. “What is it?”

  “It’s the bill of sale for the Red Swan. I’ve signed it over to Amy.”

  “Why did you do that?”

  “Actually, the question is not why, but how can I do that? It isn’t legally mine, since I was never married to the man who bought it. Jared may have used another name, and he may have used ill-gotten gains, but the fact is, Amy is, or was, still his wife when he bought it. Now that he’s dead, it should be hers. If she wants it, she can do what she has to do to untangle the threads. Give me a dollar.”

  “Beg pardon?”

  “Give me a dollar. I said that I sold it to her for that sum. She can pay you back. Tell her to find a lawyer. Figure it out. I’ll do whatever needs to be done to make it right.”

  Aaron fished in his pocket for his wallet and took out a dollar, which he gave to Cassie.

  She put it in her purse and took out one of her business cards. Tucking it in Aaron’s pocket, she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “Good-bye, Aaron. You are the best of good men. I’m truly sorry you’re not my brother-in-law.”

  “Good-bye, Cassie.” He opened the door and closed it after she was in.

  She started the engine and rolled down the window. “The fog is getting thicker,” she said. “Any chance that will delay the ferry?”

  “This is just a mist. It has to be pretty thick to stop the ferry. They have radar and GPS.”

  “Let me know how things turn out,” Cassie said, “between you and Amy.”

  “I will.” He stepped away from the car and waved. Cassie waved too and headed out the parking lot and up the hill. As she gained the top, she was suddenly out of the mist. The air was crystal clear and the stars were twinkling overhead, and Cassie’s heart was light as she contemplated the prospect of going home.

  Nothing is ever simple, and Cassie’s return trip got complicated immediately. As she rounded the corner at the top of the hill in Shingle Bay, it looked as if everyone on St. Mary’s Island was lined up to get on the ferry. With a sinking heart, Cassie took her place at the end of the long line of parked cars. “Looks like I’ve got a bit of a wait,” she muttered. “But I will get off the island tonight, if I have to wait ’til midnight.”

  She got out of the car, opened the trunk, and took the crossword puzzle book out of her suitcase. Then she sat with the motor running and the dome light and heater on and worked her puzzle until the ferry arrived. Everyone cheered and honked their horns, and after the ferry had unloaded, the line of cars began to crawl forward. Cassie did
n’t make it on the ferry, but she did make it through the ticket gate and lined up in the waiting area. Looking at all the cars in front of her, she doubted that she would make the next sailing either.

  Determined to be philosophic about it, she continued to work her puzzle, pausing every now and then to think about the chain of events ever since that day in St. George when she met . . . who? Chan Jordain or Jared Fletcher? Chan Jordain didn’t exist. Her marriage never existed. It was just what it seemed: a fairytale. Cassie remembered what Amy had said: “I chose flash over substance.”

  “She’s not the only one,” Cassie muttered. “And now I’ve lost my chance. If he’s not lying dead somewhere, he’s fallen for Punky. Serves me right. He wouldn’t want me now.”

  On that sad note, she saw that the ferry was returning. Impatiently she watched it dock and unload its cargo. As the line of cars moved forward, she whispered, “Oh, please, please, please be enough room for me.”

  There was, barely. She was the next to the last car on the ferry, and she cheered as she put the car in park and turned off the key. As she got out of her car, she thought she heard someone call her name, but the roaring of the engines as the ferry prepared to pull away from the dock drowned out any other sound. Turning to look around, she saw someone sprinting down the dock toward the departing ferry. There was something familiar about that form that made her heart beat quicker. A brawny deckhand shouted something and held up his hand, palm outward, when it was obvious the sprinter wasn’t slowing down. The ferry started moving away, and the runner made a desperate leap. He seemed to hang in the air, arms outstretched, and then he came down half on and half off of the back of the ferry. It was all slick metal, and there was nothing to hang on to. As he began slipping, the deckhand stepped outside the chain barrier and pulled him up.

  Cassie could see them in silhouette against the lights of the retreating Shingle Bay ferry terminal. The deckhand was laying down the law, hulking over the shorter man, jabbing him in the chest. The sprinter took his wallet out of his pocket, opened it, and showed something to the deckhand, who shook his head and walked away.

  As the sprinter turned to look around, Cassie saw his face in the light shining down from an upper deck. “Ben!” she called, running to him.