Maddy’s breath expanded in her lungs. “Did Mama know?”
“I can’t believe he’d do that,” Emma said.
Gram’s eyes pierced each of theirs. “There’s more, I’m afraid. He was apparently in love with this other woman too. She didn’t know about your mother or about you. Your daddy . . . He went ahead and married this other woman.”
Maddy’s lips went lax. She blinked. Married another woman? Her chest tightened painfully at the betrayal. Both on their behalf and their mother’s.
“What?” Nora said on a breath.
“But he was already married to Mama,” Emma whispered.
Gram nodded, her eyes leaking tears. “The marriage to this other woman wasn’t legal, of course. But she had no way of knowing that. As far as she was concerned, her husband was off traveling for his job—just as your mother assumed.”
Maddy swiped at her wet cheeks. “This isn’t true. It can’t be true.”
Gram simply nodded sadly.
“Are you sure, Gram?” Nora asked. “How do you know all this?”
“Nadine—this woman—came to see me several weeks after your dad passed. When Stanley failed to return home, she called his employer and found out what happened to him. She hunted me down. Your dad had told her he was estranged from his mother.”
Gram’s face crumpled and Maddy leaned in, putting her arms around her. “Oh, Gram.”
“She was so distraught when I told her about your mother and you girls. She’d already missed his funeral, and now she was finding out he had another family. That her own marriage was a farce.”
Gram shook her head. “He was a good man who did a terrible thing. I keep telling myself that. I didn’t want to tell you girls. I knew how hurt you’d be. But I see all the blame you’ve put on your poor mother, and she just doesn’t deserve that.”
Their mother . . . Maddy drew back. “That’s why they were divorcing.”
Gram nodded. “After Nadine left, I causally asked your mom if she knew a Nadine. That’s how she knew I’d found out. She’d found out about Nadine shortly before that last summer. I’m sure she was quite devastated. They’d agreed to one last summer here in Seahaven.”
“Why didn’t she just tell us the truth after he died? We’ve held her at arm’s length all these years.”
“Same as me, honey. She didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Did Daddy have children with this . . . other woman?” Nora asked.
Gram shook her head. “You were his only kids. And he loved you girls so much. Despite his terrible choices, he was a good father to you. Your mom knew it would break your hearts to find out what he’d done.
“And once he was gone . . . she didn’t want to sully your memory of him. And truth be told, I didn’t either. But it just isn’t right, the way your mother has taken the blame all these years.”
Gram wore a pained look. A distant expression came over her face, her eyes looking off to some faraway place. “I should’ve known. I should’ve done something. But I never dreamed Stanley would turn out just like his—”
Her eyes refocused on the present, and she snapped her mouth shut.
Gram straightened, sniffling, and knuckled her tears away. “Well. Never mind. We should get this box stowed away somewhere. Did you girls take whatever you wanted to keep? Nora, did you get the fishing hat? Oh yes, there it is.”
The sisters stared at each other. An odd silence had fallen over the room. Gram had eased off the bed and began pushing the light box into the closet. As she disappeared into the closet Nora finally spoke.
“Gram? What were you going to say?”
A moment later their grandmother appeared at the closet door. Her face was crestfallen, her shoulders stooped. Her eyes looked so sad Maddy could hardly bear it.
“That Daddy would turn out just like who?” Maddy asked.
The air-conditioning kicked on, filling the house with its quiet hum. Maddy couldn’t move. Could hardly breathe.
Gram was quiet so long Maddy wasn’t sure she was going to answer. But finally she did. “Your grandfather. Stanley turned out just like his daddy.”
Maddy felt a shock down to her core. She had only vague memories of her grandfather. He’d passed when she was eight. But everyone talked about him as if he were a paragon of virtue—including Gram.
Maddy shook her head. She was so confused.
“What are you saying, Gram?” Nora asked. “Was Gramps . . . ?”
Their grandmother’s sigh seemed to come from her toes. Emma made room for her on the bed, and she sat down again.
“He was a good father to your dad. And I know he loved me . . . but yes, your grandpa was unfaithful. It was nothing like what your dad did. He had long periods of faithfulness. Then I’d hear something or find something in his pants pocket and . . .” She shook her head. “He’d always break it off once I found out, because I’d threaten to leave him. But I was never going to leave. I think he knew that. Otherwise, why would he betray me so many times?”
Maddy grabbed her grandmother’s hand. “Oh, Gram. I’m so sorry. I always thought . . .”
“I know,” Gram said. “You thought exactly what I wanted you to think. The truth of the matter is I was too big a coward to draw a line in the sand with him.”
Maddy sat there, letting the shock of revelations roll over her like waves crashing the shore.
“Once I found out what your dad had done to your mother, I tried to be there for her. We’ve kept in contact over the years. We have a lot in common, and I feel so guilty for what your father did to her. I allowed your grandfather to cheat on me, and your dad had a front seat to it all.”
“He knew Gramps cheated on you?” Emma asked.
Gram shook her head. “If he did, he never brought it up. I’ve been over and over this in my mind since I found out about Nadine. Did your dad learn the behavior from his father, or was it generational sin, passed on genetically? The Bible talks about that, you know, generational sin. I just never believed Stanley would—” She shook her head. “Well. I have regrets, I’ll tell you that.”
Maddy squeezed Gram’s hand, reeling from the news. “I always thought you’d never remarried because no one else could live up to Gramps.”
“But you probably just wanted nothing more to do with men after all that,” Emma said.
“Oh, I don’t want you to think we had forty miserable years, girls. We had good times.” She gave them a wobbly smile. “More like thirty-two happy years and eight miserable ones.”
Maddy’s breath escaped on a laugh.
But the levity evaporated like a morning mist over the harbor. Her wonderful father had had a secret wife. Her honorable grandpa had been unfaithful. And even as her head spun with the revelations, a vague fear rose inside her, old and familiar, its darkness nearly swallowing her whole.
Chapter 31
The sisters quietly went about supper preparations and sat down to sandwiches and soup. A strained silence hung over the table. Each of them seemed lost in her own thoughts. After supper Gram retired, exhausted, no doubt from her travel and the emotional conversation.
The sisters rehashed everything until Nora went to bed. Emma took a call from Ethan out on the deck, and Maddy found herself at loose ends. She retreated to her room but couldn’t seem to settle. She paced the floor, wishing she could shake the feelings that welled up inside.
She could hardly absorb it all. Everything she’d believed about her dad was a lie. If he loved her mother, how could he have done something so hurtful to her? To all of them? Is that what love was? She didn’t understand at all.
She grabbed the back of her neck. Her poor mama. She couldn’t imagine how it must’ve felt to find her husband had betrayed her in such a terrible way. To find out he’d had a second wife tucked away.
Her whole marriage must’ve seemed like a lie. She must’ve been so heartsore. She must’ve felt like a fool. Maddy felt a little like a fool herself even though she’d only been a child.
Daddy, how could you?
Her eyes burned and her throat ached. She dropped to the edge of her bed and wept quietly.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d sat there when a text buzzed in. She wiped her eyes and checked the screen. Connor.
Finishing up now. Be there in a half hour or so.
Maddy’s stomach clenched hard at the thought of seeing him. Her heart felt bruised and achy. She was in a terrible frame of mind. Furthermore, the thought of surrendering to the love she was beginning to feel for him felt like taking a step off a cliff.
She thought of Nick and the way he’d betrayed her so blatantly. Maybe she was attracted to men like her father and grandfather. Was there something inside her that made her fall under the spell of unfaithful men?
She thought of Nora and how she’d fallen for Jonathan—a man who’d betrayed Emma to be with her.
Her thoughts went back to that night that last summer. To the way her father had sided with Nora when he’d found out what had been going on. No wonder. He’d no doubt related to her because of the way he’d been carrying on behind their mother’s back.
And her mother . . . Maddy’s skin tingled with sudden realization. No wonder Mama had been so cross with Daddy that night. He’d all but excused what Nora and Jonathan were doing. And she had sided with Emma because she knew all too well what betrayal felt like.
The pieces clicked together as understanding washed over her. Even so it was all so disheartening. Maddy raked her fingers through the hair at her neck. So overwhelming.
She looked back at her phone, scanning Connor’s text. She couldn’t see him tonight. She just couldn’t. The thought of a relationship with him now felt like a terrible idea. She’d been stupid to pursue it. What was she, a glutton for punishment or something? Shouldn’t her cluelessness with Nick have been enough to warn her off relationships?
In her heart she believed Connor would never cheat on anyone. But hadn’t she once thought the same thing about Nick? About her father? About her grandfather?
She’d been right all along. Love was too big a risk.
She lifted her phone. If you wouldn’t mind, maybe we could take tonight off. There’s a lot going on over here with Gram’s return.
Her thumb poised over the Send button for a long moment while she read her words. Then she touched the button. Her heart stuttered in her chest as she waited. As she watched the screen, three dots appeared in the text box.
Then his text came in. Everything okay?
Maddy gave a rueful laugh. Nothing was okay. Not by a long shot. She felt as if her entire world had been turned on end.
But that wasn’t what Connor meant.
We’re fine. Get some rest. You’ve got another busy day tomorrow.
His text came in within seconds. All right. Take care. XO
This time, at the sight of that X and O, a vise tightened around her heart.
Chapter 32
Maddy woke to the first rays of morning and the sound of someone retching in the bathroom.
Poor Nora, she thought, pushing back the sheet. Was the morning sickness new, or was this only the first time Maddy had noticed? Maybe she should go to her sister.
The pregnancy must not be good news if Nora was still hiding it from them. She’d had plenty of time to tell Jonathan. Maybe he’d been unhappy about the news. He loved Chloe, of course, but most men in their forties wouldn’t relish the idea of starting over with a baby just when they’d finally reached the empty nest.
Before Maddy could decide whether or not to go to Nora, the toilet flushed. A minute later the steps creaked as her sister went down them.
Oh well. She obviously wasn’t ready to fess up. Besides, Maddy didn’t want to think about Nora’s problems this morning. She had enough to digest with all Gram had divulged last night. Truthfully, she didn’t want to think about that either. Better to focus on the tasks ahead today.
She checked her phone for the time. The room was a little dark for this time of morning, a hint at the coming weather. She crawled from the bed, threw on a light robe, and went downstairs.
Nora was at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper. She looked pale, though she hadn’t applied her makeup yet.
“Good morning,” Maddy said as she made her way to the coffeepot.
“Morning.”
The steamy brew smelled like heaven. She poured herself a mug and filled up the carafe. “Would you like another cup?”
“No, thanks. I’ve already had two.”
Maddy spied Emma through the windows, knitting on the deck. Dark clouds rolled on the horizon. Gram must still be in bed.
Maddy’s stomach tightened as their conversation from the night before played back in her head. The disclosures had left them all in shock. It was going to take some time for it to settle in.
“The storm’s turning this way,” Nora said. “We have a tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch.”
“Are they saying when it’ll make landfall?”
“This evening around nine.”
Maddy took a sip of coffee and looked toward Connor’s house. He’d be at the marina already, preparing for the storm. She couldn’t imagine the work entailed in securing so many boats.
Her heart bucked at the brick wall she’d erected around it last night. It was for the best. Her initial instincts had been right. She never should’ve started a relationship with him. Now their hearts were involved, and ending it was going to hurt them both.
“We have a lot to do today,” Nora said. “I sure hope all our hard work on the house doesn’t go to ruin.”
“This place has been through worse. I don’t think it’ll be that bad.”
“Let’s hope.”
* * *
Connor spent the busy morning with customers who were removing their boats to a haul-out facility. Some had no choice, however, but to let their craft weather the storm at the marina.
They helped owners reroute lines to stronger anchor points, reinforced cleats with secondary lines to back up anchor points, or spread the load to multiple anchor points. They removed canvasses, sails, and furling jibs and made sure the decks of all the remaining boats were clear. Even a dense object could become a missile during a hurricane.
Connor shook a customer’s hand after they stepped from the sailboat. “That should do it. Let’s hope for the best.”
The customer gave him a wave and hurried away, probably to ready his home. Connor checked his phone for the time. He still had his own home to secure, but there was a lot more to do here.
He checked his texts and saw Maddy had responded only briefly to his earlier text. He glanced back through the last few texts from her. She’d been short and to the point. He sensed something was going on, had that uneasy feeling in his gut.
He didn’t really have the time, but he punched in her number anyway. He walked up the pier, away from the noise of a radio someone had blaring on his boat. The phone rang several times, then her voicemail kicked on.
Strange. She always answered her phone. That uneasy feeling grew. But he couldn’t see a reason to leave a voicemail when she’d texted him only an hour before that preparations were going smoothly.
“Hey, boss!” one of his dockhands called. “Can I get your help over here?”
Connor pocketed his phone as he headed down the pier. But the disquiet persisted all afternoon.
Chapter 33
Maddy and her sisters had spent the morning closing the hurricane shutters that had been installed long ago and recently painted by Connor. Maddy did the second story, insisting she didn’t mind the heights. She had to keep Nora safely on the ground.
The newly dried paint on the shutter hardware made the job more tedious than it should’ve been. Maddy peered nervously at Connor’s cottage. He didn’t have hurricane shutters, but she’d seen plywood in his garage. He was so busy taking care of everyone’s boats at the marina that he wasn’t going to have time to protect his own home.
The
y’d been texting off and on, and each time a text came from him her heart gave a hard squeeze. She kept her answers brief. He must’ve sensed something was wrong, because around two o’clock he called and didn’t leave a message. She couldn’t talk to him right now. He’d hear it in her voice, and this was terrible timing for a breakup.
There isn’t going to be a good time, her heart cried.
When the storm was upgraded to a category one hurricane, Maddy took one last look at Connor’s house and enlisted her sisters’ help. The wind had already picked up, and it buffeted them as they boarded up Connor’s windows. Sand pelted Maddy’s skin, and she squinted to keep it out of her eyes as they hammered the boards in place.
He’d already brought in his lawn furniture and his one potted plant, so when they were finished with the windows they headed back to the cottage. Darkness had fallen even though sunset was at least a half hour away. Maddy shot Connor a brief text, letting him know his windows were boarded.
He replied with gratitude and confirmed the marina was still flocked with customers. He was staying there until everything was under control. She didn’t text him back.
Maddy pulled open the kitchen door, and the sisters ducked inside. She was relieved to be out of the wind. Gritty sand coated her skin and had worked its way into her scalp. She was desperate for a shower.
Pippy was trembling, clearly unhappy to have been left at the house with Gram during all the excitement.
Nora picked up the dog. “There, there, sweetie. It’s all right. We’re home now.”
“Here’s some nice cold tea for you girls,” Gram said, pouring them glasses. “The wind’s already blowing up out there, isn’t it?”
“My mouth tastes like sand,” Emma said.
It was unnaturally dark in the kitchen with the shutters closed. Maddy hoped the power wouldn’t go out, but they were prepared. Gram had set out flashlights and candles on the kitchen counter, along with a battery-operated radio.
The phone rang, and since Maddy was closest she grabbed it.
Summer by the Tides Page 21
