Sandpiper Shore

by Debbie Mason

  Poppy tapped the lens. “Long range.”

  “Oh, right. I…” She trailed off as the second photo came into view. Logan was down on one knee, carefully fitting Jenna’s foot into the glass shoe. Poppy had captured the one instant when Logan’s and Jenna’s eyes had met. And in that moment, Jenna knew what she’d been avoiding, the feeling she’d been pretending not to feel. She saw it now with her very own eyes. Logan Gallagher was her one and only.

  If it were anyone other than herself, she’d be saying how this proved she was never meant to be with Lorenzo. And whether she wanted to admit it or not, he’d done her a favor calling off the wedding. They never would’ve been happy together.

  “I thought I told you to stay put.”

  She turned to see Logan making his way toward them, fabric balled in his fist. It looked like her crinoline and top. She kept her eyes there. She didn’t want to meet his gaze, afraid of what he’d see. What she’d see. She had to be wrong. This kind of thing didn’t happen to her.

  “Jenna, are you okay?”

  She nodded to where they were headed. “Poppy spotted a nest and a peep.”

  When Logan reached them, Poppy transferred Jenna’s hand from her arm to his. “I’m just going to take a quick peek. I’ll come back when the tide’s out and get a few shots of them leaving the nest.”

  Feeling self-conscious after what the photo revealed, Jenna removed her hand from Logan’s arm. “I can take them. Thanks,” she said, reaching for her clothes.

  “It’s okay. I’ve got them. Not all of them though. Your, ah, underwear is missing.”

  She was thankful that Logan hadn’t retrieved it from the boys and wasn’t carrying it around. It was a good thing it was missing. Or so Jenna thought until Poppy called out from where she crouched in the tall grass.

  “I think I found your underwear.” She stood up, looking pained.

  Which meant Jenna was feeling pained. Could she not catch a break? And then Poppy cleared up her misconception. Poppy’s pained expression had nothing to do with Jenna’s underwear. “I’m afraid the peep is dead. Can you check, Logan?”

  “Sure.”

  Jenna limped after Logan, holding down the bottom of the T-shirt as she went to kneel at his side. The nest was nothing more than an indentation in the earth—her underwear mere inches away. Gingerly, she picked up her panties and pocketed them, eyeing the unmoving baby sandpiper as she did. It was a tiny ball of fluff, its legs twiglike, its beak long. Jenna looked around for some sign of its family. “He’s all alone. Why would they abandon him?”

  “Peeps leave the nest the day they hatch.” Logan gently stroked the bird with his forefinger. “Maybe he’s sick or hurt.” Logan went to stand up.

  “We can’t just leave him.”

  “The boys probably stepped on him when they took off with your clothes, Jenna. He’s too little to recover from that,” Poppy said.

  Jenna brought her face within an inch of the bird. She heard a tiny peep, and then the bird lifted its head, its eyes meeting hers. “It’s okay. I won’t leave you. Come here, baby,” she said, carefully scooping him into her hand. She brought him close to her chest.

  “Should’ve known,” Logan murmured as he reached down to help her to her feet. “My brother uses a vet in town. I’ll give him a call and get the name for you.”

  His cell rang, and he pulled the phone from the front pocket of his jeans. “Hey, I was just going to call you.” He paused, frowning. “What are you talking about? You said ten thirty. Okay, relax. I’m on my way. Don’t worry about it. Jenna took care of it. She left Lorenzo a message last night. Told him she’d give the ring back if he dropped all charges.”

  “You’re giving the ring back?” Poppy made a face when Jenna nodded. “Arianna is going to be ticked.”

  “I know, but it’s a family—” Her gaze went to her ring finger, her naked ring finger, and she cried out, “It’s gone! My ring is gone.”

  Chapter Eight

  Colleen Gallagher predicted that the guests dining on the patio at Greystone Manor would have their peaceful Sunday brunch ruined within the next fifteen minutes. Colleen’s great-grandsons had staged an intervention for this morning. Knowing their mother, Maura, for as long as she had, Colleen gave the intervention a million-to-one odds of going as the boys had planned and one-to-one odds of Maura throwing a tantrum and making a scene.

  Now, if it had been the boys alone who were approaching their mother with their concerns, the odds would’ve been in their favor. But they’d made the critical error of including their father, Colleen’s grandson Sean. Back in February, Maura had left her husband of forty years without an explanation. Colleen didn’t need one to know what was going on.

  Sean, who years before had been governor of Massachusetts, showed no interest in another political career and had recently retired as partner at the high-powered law firm where he’d worked for more than a decade. A state of affairs that wouldn’t have gone over well with her social-climbing granddaughter-in-law and was the reason Colleen believed Maura had really left Sean.

  But, she conceded, there had been signs these past few months that the boys’ concern over their mother’s health was warranted. Namely, that Maura had lasted this long at the manor without eviscerating the staff, guests, members of the family, and the people of Harmony Harbor while in a temper. It was as though she was putting her best foot forward, making up for past transgressions to ensure Saint Peter opened the pearly gates instead of slamming them shut, leaving her to waste away in purgatory. Colleen could empathize.

  She’d died nineteen months before, on All Saints Day, and her worries had been similar to Maura’s, she imagined. Luckily, she’d missed her ride to heaven and had been using her time living betwixt and between to right her wrongs. Over the years, she’d had a tendency to meddle in everyone’s affairs. But what could she say? If you lived to be a hundred and four like she had, not only did you think you knew better than everyone else, you most likely did.

  Only she’d made the mistake of writing down everyone’s secrets, including her own, in her book, The Secret Keeper of Harmony Harbor, without considering the consequences should it fall in the wrong hands. Last Christmas, her daughter-in-law Kitty had found Colleen’s book and shared it with Jasper, Colleen’s former right-hand man and confidant, and they’d been getting up to no good.

  Now, if you asked the pair of them, they’d tell you they were simply righting Colleen’s wrongs. There was some truth to that to be sure, but they often made a hash of it before things eventually worked out as Colleen had planned. Because not only was she trying to make up for the hurts she’d caused in the past, she was trying to ensure her great-grandchildren’s happily-ever-afters. And unlike half the town, who apparently had matchmaker-itis, Colleen knew exactly what she was doing. She had a gift, you see. So far, she’d successfully matched five of her great-grandsons with their one true loves. Next up was Logan, who was admittedly causing her some concern.

  She’d known who was his perfect match for years. Only wouldn’t you know it, the woman was getting married at the manor next Saturday. It was an outdoor wedding or Colleen might’ve been able to come up with a way to scare off the groom. But she was tethered to the manor and couldn’t put so much as a toe outside.

  A shame, because it wouldn’t take much to scare off the groom. Of that she was certain. She’d listened in on their wedding planning session at the manor and was disappointed to think the girl could be fooled by a pretty face. She’d expected more of Jenna. She’d seen so much potential in the child growing up.

  Oh well. It looked like it was back to the drawing board for Colleen. She’d take a peek at Maura and Kitty’s list of matrimonial candidates for Logan. Just as a jumping off point, of course.

  There they were now. Kitty was walking with Maura down the stairs into the dining room, chummy as all get-out. They were both outfitted in lovely, and no doubt expensive, spring floral dresses. Maura’s nut-brown locks were cut in a c
hic style, as was Kitty’s white hair, and their makeup was impeccable. Their current relationship bore no resemblance to the backstabbing in-laws they’d been in the past. Colleen supposed it was best this way. Maura would need an ally once her husband and sons began their intervention.

  Colleen shook her head at the idea that they’d taken four months to get to this point. “I would’ve gotten to the bottom of the matter a week after she’d arrived, Simon,” Colleen told the black cat who sat at her feet. If she was a witch, he’d be her familiar. But she wasn’t a witch; she was a ghost. A ghost of her former self sounded better to her than the idea of being an actual ghost, which always brought to mind the television show her great-grandchildren used to watch—Casper something or other.

  Colleen looked down at herself. She had on the black shoes, dress, and pearls they’d buried her in. She shuddered at the thought and corrected herself—the outfit they’d buried her body in. She looked up to see Kitty and Maura headed across the dining room. Set in one of the manor’s towers, the room was an octagon and decorated in a rich, nautical theme.

  The smell of bacon and eggs coming from the kitchen mingled with the strong scent of lilacs wafting through the open French doors that led onto the patio. It was a warm day with plenty of sunshine. Colleen wished for rain. She didn’t know how else to keep the two women inside. It wouldn’t be easy for her to pick up the gist of their conversation lollygagging around the French doors.

  Besides, people would be walking through her left and right if she was hanging about there. With all the time that had gone by, she should be used to people walking through her body, but she wasn’t. It gave her a bone-deep chill and caused her stomach to turn each and every time they did. Oh well. Like the younger generation said these days, she’d have to suck it up.

  Kitty and Maura had stepped onto the patio, greeting the guests at the surrounding tables in a friendly manner. All Colleen could think while watching Maura with a genial smile on her attractive face was the woman must be sicker than she’d thought.

  And it looked like they were about to find out because Maura’s husband had arrived. Classically handsome with his distinguished silver hair brushed back from his face, Sean wore a blue short-sleeved shirt that matched his eyes and a pair of navy pants. He looked polished and prosperous and slightly perturbed as he stood surveying the room. His expression lightened when Connor, his middle son, joined him.

  A high-powered attorney, Connor was as polished and prosperous-looking as his father. Only his hair was jet-black, his shirt white, and his pants black. They greeted each other warmly. Sean had a close relationship with his sons despite his problems with his wife. He might be a stranger at the manor these days but not in their lives.

  They were chatting at the top of the stairs leading into the dining room, so Colleen made her way back to them, hoping to get the inside scoop.

  “It wasn’t my idea, Dad. It was Michael’s.”

  Sean nodded as he slid his hands into his pockets, looking toward the patio. “It won’t work, you know. She has no interest in coming home, no interest in me or our marriage.”

  No matter that he tried to hide it, Colleen heard the hurt along with the anger in his voice. Sean was a proud man, and Maura leaving him for no apparent reason had undoubtedly wounded his pride. He was stubborn to boot, which only made matters worse. Instead of coming after his wife, trying to get her to talk, he’d stayed in Boston and gone on with his life. There was a reason they said pride goeth before a fall.

  Connor rubbed the back of his neck while looking around the manor’s lobby. There was a bar in the corner, empty save for the bartender taking inventory, and a massive stone fireplace in the center of the room, beside which an elderly man in the brown leather wingback chair read the weekend edition of the Harmony Harbor Gazette. Across from where Connor and Sean stood was the grand staircase. Connor’s brothers were nowhere to be seen. She assumed that was who he was looking for. The lad didn’t like conflict unless it was in the courtroom and did his best to avoid turmoil and messy emotions.

  He was searching for naught. His brothers had yet to arrive. Colleen had checked Logan’s room earlier, and he wasn’t around. It had struck her as odd at the time until she remembered his penchant for running. The lad ran for miles no matter the weather.

  With a resigned look on his handsome face, Connor said, “Dad, this isn’t about you and Mom splitting up. Neither of you seem interested in reconciling so, mostly, we’ve given up.”

  Colleen saw a hint of disappointment in Sean’s eyes before he blinked the emotion away. “Then I don’t understand what I’m doing here, son.”

  “Michael and Logan should be here by now. I’ll give them a call.” He pulled his cell phone from his pocket.

  Sean’s hand closed over Connor’s. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  Connor pulled in a deep, noisy breath, briefly averting his gaze from his father’s before admitting, “We’re not sure, but we think Mom’s sick, Dad. Michael finally got Gloria to talk. The afternoon before Mom ended up at the manor, she’d gone to her doctor. She was upset when Gloria talked to her later. She said something about tests the doctor ordered, but that she didn’t need tests to tell her what she already knew.”

  Sean looked like he’d been sucker punched. “Why didn’t she tell me? Why would she want to go through this alone?” He briefly closed his eyes. “Her mother,” he said, and then strode down the stairs to the dining room.

  “Hold up a sec, Dad,” Connor called after Sean, groaning when his father ignored him and walked determinedly in the direction of the patio. “Of course, I’d be the one left holding the bag and dealing with the fallout,” he muttered to himself as he took off after his father.

  Too busy riffling through her memories, searching for a clue as to why Sean had mentioned Maura’s mother, Colleen didn’t follow the two men weaving their way through the tables and waitstaff. She knew the answer was there. Somewhere in the recesses of her mind lay the answer to everything. The reason behind Sean and Maura’s breakup, the reason for her granddaughter-in-law’s silence.

  There was more to their story, things Colleen had long forgotten. They’d be in her book though. She’d need Jasper’s help. He couldn’t see or hear her, but he knew she was about. He’d sensed her presence mere weeks after she’d passed. Simon was her tell. Jasper knew wherever the cat was, Colleen wasn’t far behind. For the most part that was true.

  She looked around for Simon and caught sight of him through the French doors. He was perched in a tree. “A fine time you chose to go gadding about.” She grimaced at the expression on Maura’s face. She’d spotted her estranged husband coming her way.

  As Colleen started toward the French doors, she spied her great-grandsons, Michael and Logan, making their way across the lobby, or great room, as she still thought of it. She quickly backtracked. They seemed to be having a disagreement of sorts.

  “We can talk later. Right now I’ve gotta grab a shower. I won’t be more than ten minutes,” Logan said, heading for the grand staircase. He was staying in the tower room, Colleen’s old suite.

  She’d like to tell him to grab a shirt while he was at it. Unlike his brother, who was neatly turned out in a golf shirt and navy pants, Logan had on jeans and a jean jacket and not much else. And he looked like he’d been rolling around in the sand.

  Michael grabbed the back of his brother’s jacket. “We can’t talk later. Look.” As Logan turned, Michael pointed across the room. “Dad’s already here, and Mom looks like she’s close to losing it.”

  Logan took in the situation. “She’ll be fine. Grams and Connor are with her. They’ll calm her down. So will you, once you stop wasting time lecturing me.”

  Colleen didn’t necessarily agree with Logan. Maura loved all three of her sons equally, but Logan had a way with his mother. His quiet strength and calm manner steadied her.

  “Lecturing you? I’m not lecturing you. I’m trying to protect you.”

 
“I know, and I appreciate it. But until Jenna hears back from Lorenzo, there’s nothing more that either of us can do.”

  Colleen frowned. What did Jenna and her fiancé have to do with Logan? And what exactly was Michael protecting his brother from?

  “Other than making sure Mom doesn’t happen to get a glimpse of the front page of the Harmony Harbor Gazette? I have no idea,” Michael said.

  Logan looked past his brother. “Connor and Grams could use a hand.”

  “You better make that five minutes, big brother,” Michael said before rushing off toward the dining room stairs.

  Frustrated with her inability to get the information she needed, Colleen felt like her head was about to explode. This was the problem with being unable to communicate and to step foot outside the manor. If she were able to get out and about, she’d know exactly what was going on. And there was definitely something going on if it was on the front page of the Harmony Harbor Gazette.

  She was sure she’d seen the newspaper somewhere. All she had to do was remember…There, by the fireplace. She hurried across the great room to the older gentleman perusing the Gazette in a leisurely manner. She crouched down to look up at the front page, a smile slowly spreading across her face as she read the story.

  She’d been worrying for nothing. Jenna’s fiancé had conveniently taken care of matters on his own. The girl had gotten off lucky in Colleen’s opinion. She hoped Jenna realized that sooner rather than later. She had plans for her after all—plans to marry her off to Logan.

  And while Colleen would rather have had Logan leave the Secret Service of his own accord with his exemplary record intact, she highly doubted the lad would’ve left before retirement. His job was his life, his passion. And no doubt the reason why he was still single. Which worked to Colleen’s advantage because he was still single but also to her disadvantage because he obviously intended to remain so.

  She had enough on her plate with Maura and Sean, so she’d look only at the advantage. Logan would remain in town to fight the charges against him, and Jenna, from what the boys said, was doing her best to help, which gave Colleen time to work her matchmaking magic on the pair.