Summer Days

by Lisa Jackson

  “Do you forget all the nasty things you said about my mother?”

  Celia didn’t know what Emily was talking about. She had thought a lot of nasty things about Elizabeth Turner, but she certainly had never said any of them.

  “You called her a liar,” Emily said.

  “When did I do that?”

  “When you shouted to everyone who would listen that your father was innocent.”

  “My father was innocent.”

  “Then that implies that my mother was lying!”

  “My father did not take that ring.”

  “See? There you go again. Look who hasn’t changed a bit.”

  “Was your mother in the cottage when the ring went missing? Did she see my father take it?”

  “Maybe she did.”

  Celia was floored. “Excuse me?”

  “If not him—then who else?”

  “Are you kidding me? That’s your criteria for ruining a man’s life? Who else?”

  “Motive, means, and opportunity.”

  “And just what was the motive?”

  Emily just looked at Celia. “That’s what I thought,” Celia said. “And we both know the only reason your mother accused my father was because he was smart enough to stay the hell away when she wanted to jump his bones!”

  Emily stormed out the door. Once again, Celia followed. Emily stopped on the porch and turned back. “When you realize you made a huge mistake in coming back, I will buy the house back from you. At a discount, of course. Oh. And you should go say hello to Chris. I’m sure you lovers will have a lot to catch up on.”

  Celia took a cold shower, threw on another sundress, and headed for the boardwalk. Emily was lying. It couldn’t have been Chris. It just couldn’t! Oh, why hadn’t she asked Jacob when he was in her house? She got the feeling he would have let her kiss him too. And boy, how she had wanted to. He used to be such a good kisser. Such a good boyfriend. Why did it all slip away so quickly?

  Celia found herself walking to the spot under the boardwalk where it happened. She stood and stared underneath the boardwalk, as if she could see herself and Jacob. Lying under it, Jacob’s beautiful body on top of hers. Making love to the boy she loved. It was the morning of her eighteenth birthday. She had wanted to do it the day before, and Jacob was the one who had said, “You’ll be eighteen tomorrow, like me. What’s one more day?”

  And so they had waited, and Jacob had planned. He had brought a picnic basket with a blanket, and champagne, and condoms. She had been so relieved that he had taken care of it. He had taken care of her. It had been the best first experience a girl could ask for. Jacob was tender, and romantic, and oh, how her body had responded to him. He was so beautiful, and she was so beautiful, and together they couldn’t have stopped even if they had wanted to. Afterward, they lay entwined on the blanket. Celia could barely hear the ocean above the beating of their hearts. She had been wondering what he would think of her if she asked if they could do it again, when Jacob spoke first.

  “I have a surprise for you,” Jacob had said, caressing her face. “Can you wait here one second?”

  “You’re going to leave me?”

  “I was so drunk with anticipation that I left it at home. I’ll run the whole way. I’ll be back in two seconds.”

  “I’ll come with you.”

  “You can’t. Thus the word—surprise.” Celia had grabbed him and kissed him, then shoved him off. She could hear his footsteps pounding on the boardwalk as she lay underneath, officially a woman. She must have dozed off. When she woke, someone had been standing over her. It was Chris. She had known by the smirk. She had known because her heart was still.

  “Surprise,” Chris said.

  Celia had shot up and covered herself with the blanket Jacob had brought. “Where’s Jacob?”

  The sneer had grown. Chris had looked her up and down. “You know we switch places all the time, don’t you, doll?”

  “Go away. Jacob is coming back.”

  “No, he’s not. Jacob was never here.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You enjoyed it though, didn’t you?” Chris had reached out to touch her hair. Celia had swatted him away.

  “I know the difference between you and Jacob.”

  “Do you?”

  “And you’re wearing different clothes.”

  “You mean the torn jeans and the blue T-shirt? Just took ’em off.”

  “I’m waiting here for Jacob.”

  “Then you’re going to wait all day. He doesn’t even know you’re here.”

  “He does too. He just left.”

  “I just left.”

  “You’re lying.”

  “I was so drunk with anticipation that I left it at home,” Chris had said in perfect imitation of Jacob.

  “You spied on us,” Celia had said. “You perv.”

  “Do you want to do it again, let me prove it to you?” Chris had advanced on her. Celia had pummeled him with both fists until he backed off. Laughing. Celia had turned away and Chris had walked off, whistling. Celia had waited underneath the boardwalk for three hours, with her knees pulled up to her chest, hugging herself. At eighteen, when she’d just lost her virginity and was supposed to be cuddling with the man she loved, three hours had felt like three days. Jacob had never come back. It wasn’t possible, was it? The twins were difficult to tell apart, especially in the dark and after alcohol. But Celia could tell them apart. Chris never gave her a jolt. Only Jacob. And Jacob would never willingly switch places. Never. When Celia couldn’t take waiting anymore, she had run to Emily. The very next day word got out that the ring had been stolen. From there, things had blown up so fast and furious that Celia didn’t have a chance to be alone with Jacob. And by the time she and her father had rolled out of town, she had been in such a state she had thought she never wanted to see either one of the Vernon twins ever again for as long as she lived. Except, of course, that was a big, fat lie. She had never stopped longing to see Jacob. Unfinished business had a way of keeping you prisoner, torturing you slowly.

  CHAPTER 6

  Celia comforted herself with a giant, greasy cheeseburger and fries. Then, she sat on the beach and watched the waves roll in. She cupped sand into her hand and funneled it back to the beach. If Jacob Vernon wanted Emily Tanner, then he couldn’t possibly be the man Celia thought he was. So forget him. Concentrate on confronting Elizabeth Tanner. Or, she could go see Chris. See what he had to say about the whole matter. He knew better than Emily whether or not Celia had slept with Jacob. Resolved, Celia headed for the arcade.

  She entered the open game hall under the familiar neon archway. Immediately, she was assaulted with dings, and grunts, and tire squeals, and crashes. It was a mixed bag. Celia loved the open-air arcade, and the fact that it still had Skee-Ball and Ms. Pac-Man. But it was also ironic to see all these kids inside playing video games when the ocean was right there. Then again, she had managed to split her time pretty well back in the day. She used to love coming to the arcade with Chris and Jacob. Back when both twins had been wooing her, they would give her their tickets, and even though all the prizes were pretty cheap-o, she still loved the attention. Celia walked around, feeling invisible to all the kids. She hadn’t spotted Chris and was about to head out when she noticed a large man behind the prize counter staring at her. She smiled at him, then turned to go.

  “Celia Jensen.” Startled to hear her name come out of his mouth, Celia turned back around. The man got out of his chair and then slapped and rubbed his hands together with a giant grin. “I heard you were back in town.”

  “Hey there,” Celia said, keeping a smile on as she walked toward him. There had been so many boys here during the summer, it wouldn’t be easy to narrow down who he was. Hopefully, he would volunteer his name. When Celia was finally about a foot from him, his features began to gel in her mind. Oh my God. It was Chris Vernon. It didn’t seem possible. What had happened to him?

  “I know,” he s
aid. “I’m huge.” He held out his hands in a what-are-you-going-to-do shrug. “The wife is a good cook,” he added with a wink.

  “It’s good to see you, Chris,” Celia said.

  “You are looking hot,” Chris said.

  Celia had to laugh. He seemed harmless now that he wasn’t a stud. Was that an awful thing to think? “Thank you.” She had fully intended to be cold to him, but the transformation was so stunning and he was so friendly, she found it difficult not to smile back at him. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said. “Do you want to go for a beer?”

  “Now?”

  “It’s five o’clock somewhere.”

  “Sure.”

  “Great.” Chris tilted his head back and bellowed someone’s name. Celia couldn’t quite make it out. A few seconds later, a teenage boy ambled over. He wasn’t as good-looking as the twins had been back then, but he was handsome and he knew it.

  “Egotistical cockroach,” Chris said with a wink as he put his arm around Celia and they headed out. “Tell me I was nothing like that.”

  “You weren’t,” Celia said truthfully. “You were worse.”

  They went to a little beach bar that had a few tables out on the boardwalk, and sat outside. Chris ordered a beer, and although Celia would have normally just gone for an iced tea or lemonade, she thought the situation might call for a little help, so she ordered a margarita.

  “Cheers,” Chris said. They clinked glasses and each took a sip. “So. How’s your dad?”

  “Didn’t Jacob tell you?”

  “Didn’t Jacob tell you?”

  “Tell me what?”

  “The twins don’t speak anymore.”

  “What?”

  “That was obnoxious, wasn’t it? Talking about myself in the third person. Or half of myself.” Chris laughed and then gave her a little wink.

  “Why aren’t you speaking?”

  Chris held his hands up. “Oh, I might have said something like, ‘Emily Tanner is the biggest douche on the boardwalk, and you’re an idiot if you can’t see that.’ ” He had a loud voice and dramatic delivery. Almost every word was punctuated with a hand movement.

  Celia had just taken a big sip of her margarita, and she swallowed as fast as she could so she wouldn’t spit it out, but then it ended up going down the wrong pipe, and before she knew it, she was convulsing in a massive coughing fit, and Chris was trying to pound her on the back, which wasn’t helping whatsoever, but Celia could see by the panicked look in his eyes that he was truly trying to help her. When she finally worked it all out, she began to laugh, and then Chris began to laugh. Before she knew it, they were cackling like a couple of hyenas on barstools. Both of them had to wipe away tears.

  “Nice move, by the way. Buying Ocean House.” He jabbed a fork in her direction and grinned. “I like your style.”

  “She never let me in.”

  “You have sand on your feet.” He mimicked Elizabeth Tanner’s voice perfectly. He slapped his hands over both cheeks and opened his mouth in mock surprise. Once again, Celia was in stitches.

  “Oh my God. You’re funny. And nice.” More laughter from the pair.

  “I was kind of a dick back then, wasn’t I?”

  “Yeah. You were.”

  “Sorry.”

  Celia stared at the straw in her drink. It was now or never. “Speaking of which.”

  “Uh-oh.”

  Celia laughed. “Men hate to be confronted, don’t they?”

  “We’d rather be mauled by a pack of Bambis.”

  “A pack of Bambis?”

  “Or bunnies. Or anything equally humiliating. Bring it on. Anything other than—‘We need to talk.’ ”

  “Good to know.”

  “Go ahead. I can take it.” Chris pummeled his chest. “But if you make my mascara run, I’ll never forgive you.”

  “About that morning on the beach.” The words stuck in her throat. Chris immediately dropped the jokes. “I just. At the time I. Chris.” She was going to cry. Chris reached over and took her hand. He put his other hand on his heart.

  “I’m so sorry. I was such a dick. Such a dick!”

  “It’s okay. I just—”

  “It’s not okay. Not okay.” He folded his hands on top of the table, and stared at them as he lowered his voice and spoke. “You might not believe this, but I’ve spent all these years beating myself up about that. I had no idea you guys would skip town and I would never get a chance to set things right.”

  We didn’t skip town; we were forced out, Celia thought. But that wasn’t the discussion she needed to have with Chris. Celia looked him in the eye and spoke as fast as she could. “I slept with Jacob, didn’t I?”

  “Oh my God. Yes. Yes. Yes. I thought you knew I was just being a dick—”

  “Oh thank God.”

  “Now, you don’t have to sound that relieved. I wasn’t too bad looking in those days.”

  “So why did he leave me there? Why didn’t Jacob come back?”

  “Because he couldn’t find the ring, and then he ran into Emily, who told him you were crying and hated him. She told him you were at her house. I had just come back from seeing you under the boardwalk, but when I tried to tell Jacob—well, Emily said you were with her now. I figured you’d run over to her after what I did.”

  “No. I waited there for three hours.”

  “I’m so sorry. He still has no idea what I did. Hell, he hasn’t spoken to me over calling Emily a douche; imagine if he knew what I did to the love of his life.”

  Love of his life. The words pierced. It must have showed on her face. “Don’t look so surprised,” Chris said. “You two were soul mates.”

  Celia didn’t want to think about that right now. Wouldn’t soul mates have found a way to make it work? Something Chris had said caught up with her. Because he couldn’t find the ring. “What ring?” she said.

  “What?”

  “You said—‘Because he couldn’t find the ring.’ ”

  “That’s right. That’s when he discovered it was missing.”

  “The diamond?”

  “Of course.”

  “Why was he looking—” Celia stopped. I have a surprise for you. . . . “Oh my God.”

  “You didn’t know.” Chris said it like a statement. “I actually told him he was crazy. You guys were way too young to get engaged. But a locomotive wouldn’t have stopped him.”

  “He was going to propose.” Celia just had to say it out loud.

  “That and only that was the reason I thought that maybe—just maybe your dad did take the ring.”

  “What?”

  “A few days before Jacob had asked your father for your hand in marriage.”

  “He did not.”

  Chris chuckled at the memory. “Your dad threw a paint can at him and told him to grow up and get a real job first.”

  “Oh God.”

  “But Jacob stood his ground. After he ducked of course. Told your dad he was deeply sorry that he didn’t have his permission, but he was going to do it anyway.”

  “Wow.”

  “Your dad says—‘What are you going to give her? A ring out of a crackerjack box? You think that’s what my Sassafras is worth?’ ”

  Celia gave a strangled laugh. She could hear him saying that. This from the man who wanted his ashes in a coffee can. It was so strange hearing new stories about her father; in a way it made her feel like she was being given back a little bit of time with him.

  “That’s when Jacob told him he was going to give you our mother’s ring. Jacob showed it to your dad and everything.”

  “Oh. God.” It didn’t change anything. Did it? Her father wouldn’t have stolen a ring. But would he have temporarily misplaced it so that Jacob couldn’t propose? Could he have hidden it somewhere? No. He had told her before he died. I didn’t take that ring. “I thought the ring belonged to both of you.”

  “It did.”

  “And you were just going to let him give it to me?”


  “Jacob bought me out.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Every penny he’d ever saved. Jacob was a saver. Plus his baseball card collection, skateboard, and every Playboy he owned. And an IOU for the rest. Never did see a penny of that though.” Chris chuckled again. It was criminal the two weren’t speaking anymore. Especially since Chris seemed like he had grown into a genuinely nice man.

  Celia downed the rest of her margarita in one go.

  “You still love him,” Chris said. He glanced at her empty margarita glass. “Either that or I’d better cart your ass to rehab.”

  “Don’t be silly.”

  “I know he still loves you.”

  “He’s with Emily. He told me so himself.”

  “Emily is the safe bet. Not the girl who ripped his heart out and ran away.”

  Just like Ben was her safe bet. But Celia hadn’t run away. And Jacob could have come looking for her. But he didn’t. He just let her go. “Emily just lied to me. She said it was you I slept with that night.”

  Chris shook his head, then pointed at Celia. “Proves my theory right there.”

  “What?”

  “Even Emily knows he never got over you. She’s lying, Celia. I wish I would’ve been so lucky. But it was Jacob. It was always Jacob, wasn’t it?”

  “It was,” Celia said.

  “That’s why I was such a dick.”

  “What?”

  “I was always crushing on you. But you knew that.”

  “No. I honestly didn’t.”

  “Come on. How could you not? Jake and I went so many rounds over you.” He mimed boxing.

  “You did not.”

  “Well. You and the million other things we fought about.”

  “It shouldn’t be that way. You’re brothers. Twins. Take it from me, every second you get with the ones you love is precious.”

  “You know what? You’re right. So what are we going to do to get him away from that skinny douche?”

  “I’m not really the type to fight over a guy.” Wasn’t she? Why else had she come? It wasn’t like he was married with kids. And Emily Tanner definitely didn’t deserve the likes of Jacob. If Emily was willing to so blatantly lie to Celia to keep her away from him, just how many lies was she feeding Jacob?