Suddenly One Summer

by Barbara Freethy

  “You have good instincts, Jenna. Don’t second-guess them. Lexie loves you. She trusts you completely.”

  “I love her, too, as if she were my own.” Her blue eyes held his gaze. “Reid, do you really want to go?”

  Want to go? Hell, no. Have to, absolutely. “I think I should—unless you’re afraid to be here alone?” For a moment he hoped she would say she was, giving him a legitimate reason to spend the rest of the night with her.

  Her look didn’t waver. “I’ve been alone the past two months. I didn’t ask you to stay tonight because I wanted a bodyguard. I wanted you.”

  Her words made his gut clench. “I wanted you, too. I just don’t do the overnight thing. It’s less complicated.”

  “And you’re a man who likes things simple. Then you should leave. I’ll lock the door after you.”

  Now that she’d told him go, perversely, he wanted to stay. “I told you I can’t give you what you want.”

  “No, you’re afraid to take what you want. This isn’t about me. It’s about you.”

  It terrified him that she could read him so easily.

  “You’ve put your heart on the line before and got it stomped on. I get that,” Jenna said. “You have to leave first because you can’t get left again.” She tucked her hair behind her ear, her eyes filled with understanding. “And while I’d like to say that I’d never walk out on you, I’m not in a position to make that promise. I don’t know what direction my life will go. I have to put Lexie first, whatever that entails. So you’re right, simpler is better. Good night, Reid.” She kissed him on the mouth, a sweet, tender kiss that felt more like good-bye than good night.

  Reid’s stomach churned. There were a lot of things he wanted to say to her, but he couldn’t get one single word out. She followed him to the front door, and as he stepped onto the porch, she shut the door and turned the deadbolt. Exactly as he’d wanted.

  You’re a complete idiot, Reid. Allison’s voice rang through his head.

  “I know,” he muttered as he walked down the path. “I know.”

  Jenna’s telephone rang early Sunday morning. She grabbed for it, disoriented. She’d gotten very little sleep after Reid left, reliving everything that had passed between them. “Hello?”

  “Jenna, it’s Kara Lynch. I’m sorry if I woke you, but I have a problem.”

  Jenna sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She glanced at the clock. It was a little before eight. “What’s up?”

  “Our piano player at the church is ill. The new minister is giving the service at ten a.m. and we don’t want him to have to do it without music.”

  Jenna’s stomach clenched. She didn’t want to play in public. Giving lessons was one thing; playing for a congregation was another. “I doubt I would know the music,” she prevaricated.

  “Everyone says you’re a fabulous teacher. I’m sure these songs would be easy for you to play. Or you could play what you know. It’s just this one time,” Kara pleaded.

  Jenna had a feeling she was fighting a losing battle, but she made another attempt to beg off. “I have Lexie.”

  “Bring her along. She’ll like it. There’s a lunch afterwards to welcome the new minister. He’s actually a guy I went to school with—Andrew Schilling. I can hardly believe he’s a minister, but that’s another story. Just get here by nine forty-five, so they can show you what to do. We all really, really appreciate this.”

  Jenna opened her mouth to protest, but Kara had already hung up. If she called Kara back and refused to play, she would draw more interest than if she just went and played.

  She could do it. She could play a couple of easy songs. No one would suspect that she was more than a simple piano teacher.

  Lexie came into the bedroom and jumped on the bed with a big grin, her nightmare long forgotten. In her hand was a dollar bill, the one Jenna had slipped under her pillow the night before. She’d almost forgotten, but after Reid had left she’d gone back into Lexie’s room to check on her and remembered the tooth.

  “Look what I got,” Lexie said with delight as she waved the dollar bill. “The tooth fairy came after all!”

  Jenna smiled. “I told you.”

  “Maybe the tooth fairy is Mr. Tanner. He was in my room last night. I like him,” Lexie declared. “He’s nice. And he reads stories really good.”

  “I like him, too,” Jenna said with a small sigh.

  “Who was on the phone?”

  “Mrs. Lynch. They want me to play the piano at church today.”

  “We’re going to church?” Lexie asked, sounding excited. “You said we couldn’t go to church.”

  Because she’d wanted to avoid getting more involved with the town, but that seemed to be impossible. “Well, we’ll make an exception.” She’d made a lot of exceptions in the past few days. She hoped this one wouldn’t land her in any more trouble.

  Reid stared out at the ocean, watching the waves crash along the rocky shoreline. It was a beautiful sunny day, the blue sky filled with promise. He would have preferred dark and stormy to suit his mood. He’d been an absolute idiot last night, afraid to spend the night with a woman he actually cared about, one with whom he could have shared a lot more incredible sex.

  He’d never met a woman who was so clear about her intentions, her expectations, her own actions. It should have made things easier to have everything out on the table, but he wasn’t used to such honesty. He also wasn’t comfortable being with someone who was a giver. Most people were users, out to get whatever they could. In his experience, children had been an expendable commodity. But Jenna had given up her life for Lexie, a child who wasn’t her own. She’d jumped into the bay to save a stranger. She was far too good for him.

  He grabbed a beer bottle and thrust it into one of two large trash bags he was carrying along the beach, one for recyclables and the other for garbage. Roger and Bill Harlan were also sweeping the beach per their ordered community service. Roger had two of his boys with him, nine-year-old twins who took turns throwing a stick into the water so their dog could chase it.

  In the light of day, stone cold sober, the Harlan brothers were family men and not the assholes Reid imagined. Bill had even apologized for shoving him. Reid had offered an apology in return. He knew he’d taken some of his anger and frustration out on them. Bill might have thrown the first punch, but he’d been eager to hit back.

  Reid looked up at the sound of a whistle. Joe Silveira was ambling across the beach with a golden retriever. Joe had on jeans and a T-shirt. He gave Reid a nod as he threw a tennis ball to his dog. The golden retriever took off after the ball, but got sidetracked by the Harlans’ dog, and the two of them wound up chasing each other into the sea.

  “Looks like you’re about done here,” Joe said as he joined Reid.

  “It wasn’t bad.”

  “The locals take care of the beach. There’s a lot of town pride around here.”

  “I’ve noticed. Nice dog,” he added as the golden retriever came charging back, shaking seawater all over both of them.

  “Rufus has turned out to be quite a pal. He was my uncle’s dog. He came with the house I inherited.”

  Reid had always wanted a dog, but he’d never lived anywhere a dog would be happy. His apartment in D.C. was on the twelfth floor. He couldn’t see taking a dog up and down in an elevator. His lifestyle didn’t suit pets, women, or children, he thought with a sigh.

  “You and the Harlan brothers getting along?” Joe asked.

  “They’re fine.”

  “Yeah.” Joe leaned over to grab the tennis ball. He threw it down the beach and the dog took off at a sprint. “So how long you think you’ll be in town?”

  “Don’t know yet.”

  “Nothing much happening out on the cliff these days. No new markings since three days ago. Too many people around, I suspect.”

  “You think there’s someone actually getting to that rock face and carving lines into it?” Reid asked.

  “I don’t k
now how, but I don’t believe in angels. So there has to be some other, more human explanation.”

  “I’d sure love to hear it.”

  “So would I.” Joe tilted his head as he gave Reid a thoughtful look. “You and Jenna Davies are getting to be good friends.”

  Reid stiffened at Joe’s comment, which he knew was anything but casual. Joe had something on his mind.

  “No one knows much about her,” Joe continued. “She has the gossips wondering, that’s for sure. I did a little checking, and I couldn’t find any information about her anywhere. It seemed a little odd.”

  “I doubt she’s committed any crime, Chief. Why would you check up on her?”

  Joe stared out at the ocean for a minute, and then said, “I don’t use my resources to play Big Brother, but Jenna Davies is scared of something, and that worries me.” He glanced back at Reid. “I think you know what I’m talking about.”

  Reid should have realized that the chief could see that Jenna was terrified. Both he and Silveira were used to dealing with people who had something to hide.

  “I’d like to know if trouble is heading this way,” Joe added, his gaze searching Reid’s face.

  “As far as I know, it’s not,” Reid said evenly. “But it’s not my story to tell.”

  “No? I figured you were working something up with her. Or maybe it’s not a story you’re working on. She’s a beautiful woman.”

  “Yes, she is,” Reid agreed. He debated telling the chief more. Deep down he believed that Jenna needed the help of the police, but he’d made her a promise, and he couldn’t break it.

  “We’ve had reports of break-ins the last two days,” Joe said. “It’s probably petty thievery, but we’re planning to patrol the residential areas more closely. If you think there’s anything else I should know about, I’d appreciate a heads-up.”

  Joe’s dog brought back the tennis ball, then barked. Joe picked up the ball and tossed it down the beach again. His dog kicked up sand as he ran after it, but got sidetracked by a bunch of seagulls landing on the beach. The birds scattered with a flutter of wings and cries.

  “I can think of a few reasons why a woman wouldn’t come to the police if she was in trouble,” Joe continued. “One is that she’s done something illegal, another is that she’s protecting someone, and a third is that she doesn’t think she can trust law enforcement.” His gaze held Reid’s. “If it’s the third, she’d be dead wrong. I don’t cover for anyone.”

  “That’s good to know.”

  “Pass it on.”

  Reid nodded and moved down toward the water’s edge, spotting something that looked like a bottle in a pile of seaweed. As he drew closer, he realized it wasn’t a bottle but some metal object. He knelt down next to it. Tossing the seaweed to one side, he dug out the object, finally uncovering what appeared to be a very old and rusted bell that was almost a foot in diameter. He put his hand on the metal, his fingers tracing the letters of the word—Gabriella, 1850. His pulse quickened as he realized what he’d found.

  The ship’s bell—he’d just uncovered the bell from a ship that had sunk a hundred and fifty years ago.

  Adrenaline shot through him. Henry had told him that there hadn’t been one item to wash ashore since the morning after the ship went down. Reid laid his palm over the inscription, and as he did so, his skin began to sting. He felt light-headed, almost dizzy. He closed his eyes.

  He could smell the fear on the ship, from the sailors battling the ocean’s fury to the passengers huddled together in the main salon. No one was talking. The music had stopped playing. It was late at night but people were afraid to sleep, terrified they would never wake up. The storm was the worst they had encountered since they’d left San Francisco.

  As he moved through the ship, his real concern was for her, the woman he had met earlier that day. He’d interviewed her as he’d done many of the others. He planned to publish his stories when he returned to New York, and her tale was fascinating. He had to speak to her again. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her.

  His pace quickened as he heard a woman scream. Instinctively, he knew it was her, but he had taken only one step forward when his feet went out from under him and the ship shattered around him. They must have hit some rocks in the storm.

  Water poured through the portholes, the doors. He couldn’t gain his footing. He was swept along to the outside deck, finally grabbing a piece of pipe, stopping his spiraling descent into the churning sea. People were running for lifeboats. Women, children, men, sailors.

  He struggled to get up, but the ship was tilting at a dangerous angle. And then he saw her, the fear in her eyes, the blood on her dress…

  “What have you got there?”

  Reid’s eyes flew open in shock, and he stared up at Joe in confusion. It took him a minute to realize where he was. The chief gave him an odd look, then knelt down next to him to see what he’d discovered.

  Reid took his hand off the bell, his fingers still tingling, his heart racing from the images that had flashed through his head. He couldn’t believe what he’d seen, what he’d felt, as if he’d been on that ship, been one of those people about to die. Had he died? But that was crazy. He didn’t know any of the people onboard. He knew little to nothing about the wreck. So why did he feel like he’d just trespassed on someone else’s life, someone else’s memory?

  “Shit!” Joe swore. “Is this what I think it is?”

  “It’s the bell from that ship that went down,” Reid said slowly, still trying to get his wits about him.

  “This is unbelievable. Do you know what this means?”

  “That you’ll have a hell of a lot more people coming to town?”

  Joe gave him a sharp look. “What’s wrong with you? You look like you saw a ghost.”

  “I got an odd feeling when I touched the bell.” He had barely finished speaking when the Harlan brothers, the two kids, and the two dogs joined them to see what they were looking at.

  “Oh, my God,” Roger Harlan said in shock. “It’s the bell from the Gabriella! The angels must have brought it up. That’s what they’ve been doing—flying around, stirring up the waters so the bell would come up, so people would believe again. They want that ship to be found.”

  “This bell could have easily washed ashore because of the tides,” Joe said.

  Reid’s pulse began to pound as he looked out at the water. A wisp of cloud passed in front of the sun. Or was it an angel? He blinked the image out of his head. He had not just seen an angel. He had to get hold of himself.

  “I’m taking this into police custody,” Joe said.

  “Hey, wait a second,” Reid said. “I found it.”

  Joe frowned. “You’re not going to tell me you think you get to keep this?”

  “Not keep it, but I would like to take some photographs of it and include it in my story,” Reid said, his mind racing ahead.

  “You can come down to the station and shoot your pictures. Until I can sort out just what this is and where it needs to go, it stays with me.” Joe sighed as the Harlan brothers took off down the beach to share news of the discovery. “Those two will have this discovery spread all over town before I can get to the station. It’s just an old bell from an old ship. Why do people have to make so much of things?”

  “You don’t feel anything when you’re touching it?” Reid asked, the words coming out before he could stop them.

  “No.” Joe got to his feet. “You don’t think the angels brought this bell up from the deep, do you?”

  Reid was shocked to realize that he couldn’t dismiss that scenario out of hand—but the images of what he’d seen and felt still raced around in his head. Where the hell had they come from?

  He realized that the chief was still waiting for an answer. “Of course not. I don’t believe in angels.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Joe said. “So why do I have the feeling you’re not as sure as you used to be?”

  TWENTY

 
Kara saw uncertainty in Andrew’s eyes, and suspected the new minister was having a bad case of nerves. She’d been watching him fiddle with the microphone at the podium, his movements clumsy and awkward. Andrew was probably worried that the town still saw him as a kid. She could understand that. It was difficult to shake hometown labels. Most of her parents’ friends still saw her as one of the Murray children and not an adult woman in her own right, with a marriage and a career. In her line of work, it didn’t matter all that much what people thought of her. She provided a service. It was different for Andrew; he was supposed to be the new spiritual leader of the town. That was a heavy burden to carry. He looked up and caught her staring. She smiled.

  He gave her a sheepish grin in return and walked down the steps to join her.

  He was handsome in his robe, his blond hair neatly styled, his face clean shaven. The women in Angel’s Bay were going to go crazy over him.

  “How stupid did I look up there?” he asked.

  “You looked nervous—not stupid.”

  “I grew up in this church. It doesn’t feel quite right to be giving the sermon where I spent so many years listening to Reverend Adams. He was a good speaker. He made me listen even when I didn’t think I wanted to.”

  Kara suspected Andrew would have the same effect on people. He had a natural charisma, a smile that drew a person in. “You’ll do great, Andrew. And it’s nice to have a different voice in the pulpit. Not that I didn’t care for Reverend Adams, but you’ll speak to a new generation. Your mother and father must be so proud.”

  “They’re beside themselves. I think my mother has decided that my taking on this position has suddenly made her first lady of the town, even above the mayor’s wife.”

  “Your mother may have competition when all the single women start lining up to see who will become the new reverend’s wife,” Kara teased.