by Ellen Joy
In her peripheral vision, Lucy ran down the aisle and as soon as she reached Elizabeth, flung her arms out for a hug. “It’s my birthday!”
“My goodness, that’s wonderful!” Elizabeth squeezed her. “Happy birthday!”
“You have to come to my party!” She grabbed Elizabeth’s hand as they separated. “You must come.”
Elizabeth could only imagine what Adam Cahill planned to get his daughter, when he had just bought her an entire farm.
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to impose on your birthday,” she said, watching Adam’s reaction, waiting for the former Mr. Cahill to come out.
“We’d love to have you,” he said, casual but also sounding genuine. “We have plenty of food and drinks. You can come by anytime this afternoon or evening.”
“Please, Dr. Elizabeth!”
He added, “Come on, we have a bounce house.”
Elizabeth laughed. “That sounds wonderful.”
After she checked out, she set off to find the perfect present, which ended up being less difficult than finding the perfect outfit to wear. She turned to Joan, lounging at the foot of her bed.
“What do you wear to a birthday party for a little girl you barely know but feel a connection with, and you maybe have the hots for her dad?”
Joan closed her eyes and fell asleep.
After an hour spent getting ready, Elizabeth said goodbye to Joan and headed across town to the Sanborn Farm—or was it now the Cahill Farm?
Over a dozen cars lined up in the driveway, and she hadn’t bothered counting the cars parked along the street. Balloons in the shape of the number eight lined the fence that ran along the side of the drive. Lucy’s party was the most happening place in Camden Cove.
She walked up the drive, and as she came closer to the house, she could hear the buzz of people talking and laughing. Music played in the back yard, and she spotted a white tent. Children lined up outside a bouncy house, while others waited to get their faces painted. Clusters of children ran among groups of adults mingling with food and drinks in their hands. She wasn’t at all surprised that Adam went all out for Lucy’s birthday.
Elizabeth wondered if the former Mrs. Cahill would be attending her daughter’s party. Would he be in a cool co-family situation? Or would Mr. Attorney show up? She imagined he’d be pretty ruthless in the courtroom when things weren’t going his way. Although their last interaction in the barn had been more than pleasant, she didn’t trust which Mr. Cahill she’d encounter each time.
She looked for Lucy to deliver her present, excited to see her face when she opened the gift bag. Even on such short notice, Elizabeth knew exactly what to get the little girl. A proper pair of paddock boots. You can’t own a horse without a good pair of boots. She swung outside of town to the feed and tack shop that she remembered having a girl’s pair that were perfect for a spunky kid like Lucy.
She saw Adam first. He sat off in the distance with a group of people around a table. As soon as he noticed her, he got up. He walked right over with the same smile she had seen that morning at the grocery store.
Her stomach dropped and her knees weakened as he approached.
“You made it,” Adam said as he came closer. His eyes matched the cloudless, spring day. She held up Lucy’s gift as he approached, and passed it to him.
“You didn’t have to.” He held the gift up.
“I’m happy to celebrate Lucy’s birthday.” She still wanted Mr. Cahill—Adam—to know she was not here for him. It was for his daughter.
“She’s in the bounce house with her friends.” He pointed toward the inflatable castle off in the distance. “Want me to grab her?”
Elizabeth noticed his khakis were pressed and perfectly tailored to fit his trim physique. He had rolled his blue button-up to his elbows, showing off tanned muscular forearms. His brown hair was styled back and he had shaved, but already showed a five o’clock shadow. The sun made his eyes an even deeper blue, his face a bit pink. Elizabeth suddenly felt slightly warmer when she realized she had been examining him in front of his friends and family.
“There she is. Lucy!” He pointed to a group of children running around. He waved at her and she immediately ran out of the group and toward them.
“Dr. Elizabeth!” she yelled as she ran closer. Unlike all the other little girls in dresses and tights, Lucy wore a plaid shirt and jeans, her hair in twin braids and wore sneakers on her feet. “You came!”
“Happy birthday, Lucy,” Elizabeth said as she wrapped her arms around the little girl for the second time that day.
“Come meet my Nana.” Lucy grabbed Elizabeth’s hand and dragged her toward the house, ignoring her father’s protests. She brought her to a silver-haired woman who Elizabeth guessed was in her early seventies. Her youthful face smiled at Elizabeth. She had the same eyes as Adam.
As Lucy introduced them, the woman reached out her hand as she stood up from the chair. “Call me Anne,” she said. Then she turned to a gentleman next to her and hit him on the shoulder. “Harry, this is the vet Lucy’s been telling us about.”
“My fairy godmother, Poppy,” Lucy said to him.
Elizabeth laughed, “Oh, I’m just the vet.”
“But that’s what—”
Adam stepped up from behind Lucy and covered her mouth with his hand. “Okay, that’s enough outta you.” He then quickly tickled her into giggles. “You should open Dr. Elizabeth’s present.”
Lucy grabbed the bag dangling from his fingers. She pulled out the tissue papers one by one, then extracted the shoebox. She opened the lid and cried, “A pair of boots!”
“That is way too much,” Adam said to her.
“Everyone needs a good pair to muck the stalls.”
“Thank you, Dr. Elizabeth!” The little girl hugged her again, and this time Elizabeth hugged her back with just as much strength.
“You’re very welcome, Lucy.”
ADAM’S MOTHER STOOD with her second white wine spritzer, and pointed her glass at Elizabeth. “You know, Adam, she’s lovely.”
“Yes, she’s a great vet.” He knew what his mother meant, but he wanted to avoid the topic.
“Lucy just adores her.” His mother sat in a lawn chair facing the pasture that had taken him four hours to mow for the party. She wore her signature pearls at the BBQ, completely out of place on the farm.
“Mom, don’t.” He warned her as he sat back.
“What?” She shrugged. “Harry, am I right?”
His father sipped his whiskey with a splash of water over ice. “Your mother’s right. She’s just fantastic.”
“She’s not interested, believe me. She hardly tolerates me. It’s Lucy that keeps her coming back.”
Adam looked at Elizabeth, talking to a group of Lucy’s classmates’ parents that, of course, she knew. She gestured animatedly with her hands, and he could hear her laugh from where he stood.
“I think she’s adorable, and you should go over there and ask her to dinner.”
“Mom, drop it.” He took a sip of his whiskey. He didn’t drink much, but for some reason a drink was exactly what he wanted right then.
“We could take Lucy for a night,” she continued.
“Anne, leave the boy alone.” His father slurred the end of his sentence. Sitting in the sun was probably not the best idea. “He’s a grown man, for God’s sake.”
“You guys are staying here tonight, right?”
“You know I hate mentioning her,” his mother began her tirade.
“Then don’t mention her, Mom.”
But it was too late. “Michelle has manipulated you long enough.”
“Mom, stop.”
She held her hand up in the air. “Fine, don’t listen to me.”
“This isn’t the time or the place to have this conversation.” He noticed Lucy making her way through the crowd. Most of the students from her class had made it. She seemed actually to be playing with the kids and having a good time. Fitting in. She was happy here in Camd
en Cove, and he didn’t have time to think of relationships. Lucy was just getting settled for the first time in her life. There was no reason to rock the boat.
But the longer he continued to sit there listening to his mother’s ramblings, the more he’d catch himself looking at the doctor in her soft blue linen dress, with her hair falling behind her shoulders. The more he looked, the harder it was to keep his eyes off her. And then that’s when she looked over at him. Her eyes caught his like a jewel glittering under the water. Instead of looking away, she smiled, and he smiled back.
Shoot, he thought to himself, she was lovely.
ELIZABETH DIDN’T KNOW how she ended up there, but by midafternoon, she was sitting in a lawn chair with Adam’s parents, telling them all about growing up and riding horses on the farm. They loved her stories about Camden Cove and told a few of their own, since they had visited once on a getaway. She couldn’t believe how much she enjoyed their company. Adam’s father had a dry sense of humor, and his mother played along. Clearly she loved to dote on those around her. She was having such a good time that she regretted having to leave for Sunday dinner.
“It’s been lovely getting to know you,” Anne said, giving Elizabeth a hug. “Now, if you end up going to the Cape this summer, don’t forget to call us.”
His father shook his glass of ice at her and pulled the toothpick from his mouth before saying, “I’ll take you sailing, and your brother can take me on that lobster boat of his.”
“Deal.” Elizabeth shook his hand, hoping there was a half-truth to his promise.
“You should all come up when the foal is born,” Elizabeth suggested. “It’s really quite beautiful to see mare and foal in the first few days.”
They both looked at each other. “That’s a great idea.”
Elizabeth realized that she may have overstepped by saying such a thing. Thinking about the Adam she met a few months ago, she wondered if he may not want anyone there, even his parents. However, throughout the afternoon, Elizabeth saw his attentiveness toward the two. Getting them drinks, handing his father sunscreen, moving the awning for his mother. From what she saw, they were a great family. One that others might envy. They probably had some quirks, but even her own family got on each other’s nerves.
When she said goodbye, she was able to slip out as Lucy was opening presents. For some reason, after one wine spritzer, she couldn’t keep her eyes off Adam, and the last time he had caught her. She didn’t want any misunderstandings at this point in the game. He was a client. A major client—someone who, strangely, could help further her plans for a large animal clinic. Maybe not at her dream location, but it gave her more experience.
When she pulled up to her parents’ place, she was only a few minutes late. She checked herself in the rearview mirror. A light sunburn had set in on her cheeks. When she jumped out of the truck, she felt a lightness in her step. Her whole body felt lighter.
As she walked into the house, her family sat around the table, food already dished out.
“Look who decided to grace us with her presence after all,” her mother said.
Lauren walked by, handing her a glass of wine. “Where were you?”
Suddenly feeling guilty, she took a sip of wine instead of answering.
“Miss Lisa told me she saw you over at the Sanborn farm this afternoon,” Frank said, sitting down at the table. “Didn’t you say you’d like to hang him from his toenails?”
Elizabeth suddenly regretted such strong words. “His daughter invited me to her birthday party. I couldn’t say no.”
“Hmm.” Frank pulled out his phone. “The new handsome lawyer.”
“What’s his name again?” her mother asked, setting down dinner rolls.
“Adam Cahill,” Frank said, typing something on the screen.
Elizabeth sat down next to Frank. “What are you doing?”
“Googling him.”
“You’re Googling him?” She couldn’t believe how nosy her family was.
“Well, he was quite the lawyer in Boston.” He showed her his phone. Adam’s photo graced the screen. The bylines read “Attorney at Law with Stephenson, Young and Meadow.” She scrolled down and clicked on a link to an article from the Boston Globe. The title read, “Young Attorney Changing the Face of Corporate Law in Boston.” The photo was of him leaning against a desk in front of a window that overlooked the Boston Harbor. He stared into the camera with the same look in his eyes as she had seen when she first met him. The don’t mess with me kind of look. She realized she hadn’t seen that look since Max’s death.
“Hot, McHottie and Hottie,” Lauren said, leaning over to look at the photo.
“Clever,” Elizabeth said as she handed back the phone to her uncle.
“No, seriously, he’s wicked hot.”
Matt leaned back in his seat. “Did Dan go with you to the party?”
“No.” Elizabeth could tell he was digging.
“Why not?”
“Because it was more like a work thing. I know them because I’m their vet.” Even though she was right, the guilt continued to grow and she wanted to drop the topic, but could tell Matt didn’t.
“I just think it’s weird that you wouldn’t bring Dan.”
“Weirder than asking an eight-year-old if I could bring my boyfriend to her bounce-house birthday party?” She was getting tired of him giving her a hard time, when he maybe he should focus on his own relationship, considering his wife was missing from the table. “Matt, what do you want to say?”
“You’re leading Dan on, and it might not matter to you, but it will to Dan.”
“I went to a child’s birthday party, had a spritzer and a lovely conversation with a couple from Boston.” She couldn’t believe his prying! At the back of her mind though, she wondered if her enjoyment of the party had something to do with Adam Cahill, which would pose a very serious problem, because that would mean Matt was right.
“You two knock it off,” her father said his usual parental advice.
“We should all go to the tavern tonight,” Lauren suggested, grabbing Elizabeth’s arm and pulling it towards her. “No saying no.”
Seven
After two bowls of stale popcorn, Elizabeth still nursed her first beer. Dan had been at the tavern when all four Williamses came in. She was secretly disappointed. She had looked forward to just the siblings hanging out. Not that she didn’t want Dan to be there. It was just that they saw each other less and less as siblings. When they all sat down at the table, he leaned over and kissed her quickly on the cheek, which felt forced and awkward. He, Matt, and Jack soon faced the television, watching the game. The sisters talked about Lauren’s upcoming graduation from college, the Blessing, and vaccinations.
“Let’s go back to your place, watch a movie and drink some wine.” Lauren had already jumped off her stool. She picked up her purse. “We could order from Giovanni’s.”
“That sounds perfect, but I thought going to Finn’s was your idea,” Elizabeth said.
“I thought I’d see someone, but he isn’t here.”
“He?”
“Pizza with Kalamata olives, peppers and onions.” Lauren ignored Elizabeth.
“Fine, since I hardly ever see you anymore.” Elizabeth grabbed her purse from the back of her chair.
“Don’t be a Sarah,” Lauren warned as she stood up. “I still live with Mom, remember, I don’t have to hang out with her, too.”
“Touché.” Elizabeth followed her sister’s lead and asked, “You guys want to watch the game at my place?”
Matt shook his head. “We’d miss half the game, getting there.”
“It’s not even a mile.”
“We’re leaving without you, losers.” Lauren looped her arm in Elizabeth’s and pulled her toward the door. The three said their good-byes, but kept their eyes on the game, even Dan.
“Let’s walk, it’s so nice tonight.” Lauren didn’t even wait for a reply as she walked down Harbor Lane toward Main Street, w
hich would lead them to Weathervane Drive and Elizabeth’s cape.
They walked silently as the peepers sung over the crash of the waves. When she first moved into her house, she had measured the steps from her bed to the ocean’s edge. Five thousand, three hundred, and eighty-three. A little less than a mile.
Elizabeth squeezed her sister’s arm. “I’m so glad we’re doing this. It’s been forever since you’ve been home.”
Elizabeth had moved to the city for college then left the city just as Lauren arrived.
“I’ve been busy, actually.”
Lauren had been busy, and Elizabeth didn’t mean to dismiss that. Lauren had been student teaching, getting ready for graduation and working part-time on the weekends at the restaurant. “I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant. I know you’ve been busy, I’m not—”
“The elementary school offered me a job teaching next year,” she interrupted.
Elizabeth stopped walking and pulled Lauren’s arm to turn her around. Finally, one of her wishes had come true. “That’s fantastic!”
Lauren nodded. Her tone flat, she said. “It’s really good.”
Elizabeth checked her expression carefully. “I thought that’s what you always wanted?”
Lauren looked down the hill, toward the square. The moon cast a glow over the seaside village. From where they stood, they could see the rooftop of their brother’s restaurant, the white steeple where their grandmother played the organ on Sundays, and the front of their uncles’ porch, a few houses down.
“You don’t look as happy since you’ve come back,” Lauren said.
Elizabeth almost choked on her own breath, blown away by Lauren’s remark. “What do you mean?”
“Your best friend’s an overweight, middle-aged cat,” Lauren said, in all seriousness. “And Dan?”
“What about Dan?” Elizabeth suddenly felt the insult from her now very obvious younger sister. She didn’t know where this was coming from. Was calling her life lame? “First of all, Joan would be anybody’s best friend, that’s why she’s so special.”
