Better With You

by Ellen Joy

  “With all joking aside, are you happy being back in Camden Cove?” Lauren asked, beginning to walk again. “You loved living in Boston when you were at Tufts and BU. That’s why I went to the city.” She stopped and let out a deep breath. “Sometimes I miss living here, but is it healthy to spend your whole life within a one-mile radius?”

  “I loved living in the city, but my heart is in Camden Cove.” Elizabeth understood what her sister was going through. She had been happy in the city. Just the accessibility of everything—the art, the food, all the different kinds of cultures—but she always knew she would come back to her hometown. “I can always visit the city, but I don’t have family and friends, or a tight community there.”

  “And what about Dan?”

  “What about Dan?” Elizabeth couldn’t believe another person in her family was sticking their nose into her relationship.

  “You’re settling.”

  Elizabeth stared her younger sister down. “Knock it off, Sarah.”

  “That’s not fair.” Lauren’s mouth dropped open. Elizabeth continued walking to the corner of Weathervane Drive.

  “I’m sorry,” Lauren said. “But just because Mark was a jerk doesn’t mean you have to settle.”

  “Stop making this about me. What do you want?” Elizabeth spun the questioning on Lauren.

  Lauren linked her arm with Elizabeth’s again and leaned her head on her shoulder. “Maybe a couple glasses of wine may help us figure that out.”

  Elizabeth stopped and gave her the ‘serious older sister’ look. “If you don’t want to take the job, you don’t have to take it. We’ll support you with whatever decision you make. If you want to travel the world, then do it. This is the time. You don’t have to live here, like us.”

  Lauren smiled, but doubt clouded her eyes. “It’s not the family... it’s way more complicated.”

  Elizabeth lifted an eyebrow, silently asking for more details. Then she heard her neighbor’s dog, Sheldon. She quickly put her finger to her lips to stop Lauren from saying anymore, just as Mrs. Villemarie came out of the night’s shadows.

  “Going for an evening stroll, ladies?” Her short, stocky figure and primary-colored clothing reminded Elizabeth of a garden gnome. The talk around town was that Mrs. Villemarie had her late husband’s ashes sitting in a jar on the porch, so she could tell him all the goings-on throughout the day.

  “Good evening, Mrs. Villemarie,” the sisters said in unison.

  “We’re having a ladies’ night at my sister’s if you want to join us,” Lauren said to the woman. Elizabeth almost laughed as Lauren invited her nosy neighbor

  Mrs. Villemarie smiled. “Aren’t you girls sweet, but my bone spurs are killing me. I’m just taking Sheldon out, then I’m off to bed.”

  “Well, good night, then,” Elizabeth said, smiling at how everyone just loved Lauren. And suddenly, Lucy popped into her mind. Lucy had the same charisma as Lauren. They were very similar.

  “Are you still up for babysitting?” she asked, as they walked into her yard and up her front stoop.

  “I’d only want to do it if the kids were fantastic, or asleep.” Lauren leaned against the house as Elizabeth unlocked the door.

  She opened the door and said, “And you want to be a teacher?”

  “Yes, but I don’t want to have to deal with kids when I don’t have to. Why? Who needs a babysitter?”

  “One of my clients has a daughter. He’s a single dad.”

  “You mean Hottie McHotterson.”

  Elizabeth walked into the kitchen, so Lauren didn’t see her roll her eyes. “He mentioned he was looking for someone to watch her, so he can do errands and stuff over the summer.”

  Elizabeth had overheard him asking some of the other parents at the party for recommendations.

  Lauren shrugged.

  Elizabeth passed an afghan quilt and a glass of wine to Lauren and she snuggled up underneath it, pulling her knees up to her chest.

  “What’s the complication?” Elizabeth asked.

  “Kyle Harrington.”

  “Shut. Up.” Elizabeth covered her mouth in shock. Kyle Harrington was the youngest of the three Harrington men. Freddy Senior, their father, was the owner of the largest hotel and spa in town. The Harringtons’ reputation was for their party lifestyle, and a new woman on their arm every week. Getting involved with a Harrington brought a certain type of gossip in a small town like Camden Cove. And Kyle Harrington, of the Harringtons, was the wildest of them all.

  “Kyle Harrington?”

  Lauren took a sip of wine, hiding behind her glass.

  “Are you and Kyle the reason why you’ve been so busy?”

  Lauren pressed her lips together in a slight grimace. “I think I love him.”

  “Love him!” Elizabeth’s mind could not wrap itself around this. “Kyle Harrington?”

  Elizabeth tried to think back to see if there were any signs she had missed, because this was news to her.

  “How long have you been together?”

  Lauren shrugged her shoulders. “We ran into each other in the city, at a bar near Fenway, and hung out all night. Then he started texting me, and came to the city more often. We’ve been hanging out a lot.”

  “How come you never told any of us?”

  “Why do you think?” She let out a long sigh.

  Elizabeth understood Lauren’s predicament. Lauren wasn’t stupid for hiding it. No one in the family would be very supportive of her being a relationship with a Harrington, of all people. Like his brothers, Kyle worked at their family’s resort, The Cliff’s Edge, which protruded out along the granite cliffs of the Atlantic coast and could be seen from almost any angle in Camden Cove. People in town still got heated when talking about its construction in the late 1980s. It was even rumored that Freddy Senior, paid a few town officials to vote for the building permit.

  “Does he feel the same way?” Elizabeth poured more wine, trying not to sound too judgmental. She knew she should just listen to Lauren, but she was dying to know everything. This was major.

  Lauren played with the glass in her hand, swirling the wine inside. “I may have to answer that after this glass.”

  ADAM STOOD ON THE BACK porch, looking up at the clouds passing over the moon. He wondered what the investigator had to say. She didn’t say she had much on the voicemail, but Adam wasn’t sure if he wanted to know anything. Because when he did, he could never go back. Sitting down on the step, he kept his gaze up at the sky. Peepers filled the night air with sound. The steady, uneven rhythm now hypnotized him more than any of the sirens and brakes in the city. Country life had suited him better than he originally thought, but he still couldn’t sleep.

  As soon as he heard her footsteps traveling down the back staircase, he stood and headed for the screen door. She walked up to him, behind the door, rubbing her eyes and like a wise old soul asked, “You can’t sleep again?”

  He crossed his arms over his chest, holding back the urge to wrap them around her and never let go. “Something like that.”

  She opened the door, her doll in her arms. She sniffed the doll’s head as she cuddled up into his arms, standing against him, looking out toward the pastures.

  “Do you think I could sleep with Anastasia?”

  “What? In the barn?” He didn’t expect her to want to sleep in there. “No, you’re not sleeping in the barn.”

  “Something might happen during the night,” Lucy said. “Dr. Elizabeth told me she spent the night with a cow when it gave birth.”

  “She’s a veterinarian. That makes a little bit more sense,” he said, but then he thought about the horse. He had set up the security camera on the mare, overlooking the stall. But, what if the she did go in labor while they were sleeping? Would they hear her in distress on the camera?

  “If anyone sleeps in the barn, it’s me.”

  “Then I’m going to, too.”

  “Well, we can’t all sleep out there.”

  “Why not?” />
  “Umm, because.” He just looked at the eight-year-old. What was he going to do? Send her to bed? Spend another night alone, miserable, staring out into a pasture that would overgrow again when Lucy grew up into her own life.

  And what if the investigator found Michelle? Everything might change, forever.

  “I think there’s an air mattress somewhere in the upstairs closets.” He grabbed her hand and walked back inside. “We’ll have to grab some sheets.”

  “And some candy.”

  “Maybe a glass of water and a flashlight.”

  “My phone?” She wrapped her fingers together in prayer style.

  “You really want to sleep in a dirty, smelly barn with animals, all night?” He couldn’t believe he was giving into this. “There’s probably mice.”

  “Hopefully they won’t chew through the air mattress.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek and ran up the stairs into her room. That feeling of happiness fluttered in his stomach but dwindled quickly. He couldn’t get Michelle out of his mind. He needed a distraction, and if that meant sleeping in a dirty, smelly barn with animals, that that’s what needed to be done.

  ELIZABETH AWOKE TO the sound of the doorbell. She peeked over at her alarm clock, saw that she had just barely fallen asleep, and moaned. It had to be Lauren. She probably locked herself out, after she snuck out when Elizabeth fell asleep on the couch watching Steel Magnolias.

  She flung the covers off and put on her robe. The floors creaked as she made her way out of the bedroom and down the stairs. She stopped midway, when she saw Dan standing under the porch light. He looked through the window and waved when he saw her. She suddenly wished she hadn’t worn those particular pajamas and granny panties underneath.

  When she opened the door, Dan leaned against the doorway, smiling and looking more handsome than usual. “You sleeping?”

  She looked down at her bathrobe. “Not really.”

  “Do you mind if I come in?”

  “Sure.” She looked around to see if any of her neighbors were still up.

  As Dan walked in, he gently cupped her face with his hands and kissed her. He kissed her soft and gentle, and a few weeks ago her stomach would have swirled and twisted at the same time, but tonight her thoughts raced out of control. How did she feel about Dan? Was her mind stuck on Adam because she was being typical Elizabeth. And if his kiss didn’t make her stomach swirl, didn’t that mean she didn’t like Dan?

  She moved away from his reach. “My sister might be coming back any minute.”

  “So?” He stepped closer to kiss her again.

  She moved further away. “I wouldn’t want her to walk in.”

  He dropped his head and looked up at her with his big brown eyes. “What’s going on with you, Elizabeth?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Lately you’re never around, and then I heard from Kayla Atkinson that you’re at a birthday party today, but since you didn’t respond to my texts, I didn’t know.”

  “I didn’t tell you about it because it was a child’s birthday party,” she said. But she knew he was right. Matt was right, too. She needed to get her head back on straight. Dan was a great guy, and an even better kisser. She liked what they had together.

  “You’ve been acting strange for a while.” His face looked worn down, and worse, his eyes revealed a bit of hurt.

  “Dan, it’s just ...” She didn’t know what to say. She wanted to be honest, but she couldn’t understand, herself, what was going on in her head. She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when she heard a knock on the door.

  Dan looked out the side window. “What are they doing here?”

  Jack peeked through the window as Matt stood behind him, holding a six-pack, complicating things tenfold.

  She swung the door open. “What are you two doing here?”

  The neighbors had been in bed for hours, and the last thing she needed was to disturb Mrs. Villemarie, or Margie would be telling her about it in the morning. She grabbed their collars and dragged them inside. “What the heck are you guys doing, coming here so late?”

  “I thought you all were hanging out?” Jack came in, grabbed a beer from Matt’s six-pack, and walked into the living room.

  “Well, clearly, we’re not.” She looked pointedly toward the door.

  “Where’s Lauren?” Matt also didn’t seem to take the hint and started taking off his coat.

  Elizabeth felt like she did when she had a friend over as a kid. Her brothers would barge into the room where she and said friend would be hanging out, to embarrass her. Bossy like always, they would then take control of the situation. How did they not see how annoying they were? “She left while I was sleeping. Where’s your wife?”

  “Sleeping.” Matt walked past her, grabbed the remote off her coffee table and sat down. “Did you hear about Lauren and Kyle?”

  News in this town traveled fast. “Don’t get all crazy, she just told me about it.”

  “Does she understand what kind of sleaze that guy is?” Jack cracked open a beer and sat next to Matt.

  Elizabeth turned down the volume on the television. Matt waved his hand at her to move away from the screen.

  “Kyle Harrington is not the kind of guy she should be dating,” Matt said.

  Elizabeth looked over to Dan, who still stood in the foyer. She needed to get these knuckleheads out of here.

  “Look, she loves him.” She didn’t beat around the bush. “And apparently, he loves her, too.”

  “They’re in love?” Matt almost spit out his beer. “Is she with him right now?”

  Elizabeth shrugged. “I really don’t know.”

  Matt slumped in the couch, getting more comfortable, and put his feet up on the coffee table. “I thought you guys were all hanging out.”

  Dan’s face showed his hurt. “I should get going.”

  “Dan, stay.”

  “It’s been a long night and I have work in the morning.” Did he feel her doubt, too? He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. He held his lips to her cheek, slowly breaking away, but the heat that had been there minutes ago had disappeared.

  Jack scrunched his eyebrows together. “Did I miss something?”

  “I can’t believe you two!” She slammed the door. “You come in here and don’t even ask if you’re interrupting or not.”

  Matt huffed. “We did you a favor.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “We were the ones that helped you, believe me,” Matt said.

  She shot Matt a look. “Why are you behaving like you’re some sort of expert on relationships?”

  “You think by hanging onto someone makes you one?” Matt sneered the last of part of the sentence.

  “Just because Justine treats you like dirt, doesn’t mean that’s how I treat Dan.”

  “You know, Elizabeth, you can never admit when you’re wrong.” He shook his head. “And you know you’re wrong about this one.”

  Eight

  Adam’s morning couldn’t have gone worse. Lucy woke up on the wrong side of the bed and let him know it when she first refused to get up and go inside to have breakfast. Now she refused to go to school.

  “Lu, I don’t have time for this today,” he said, dropping her bowl of cereal on the table.

  He, too, had a terrible night’s sleep in the barn and his patience was limited. The barn proved to be very uncomfortable quarters to sleep in, if dozing on and off could be considered sleeping. But sleep was the least of his problems now.

  He needed Lucy at school, so he could call the private detective. He didn’t know what he was going to do even after thinking about it all night. Did he carry on, hoping and praying Michelle would stay away? Or does he take action and make sure she stays away for good?

  “I’m not going today.”

  “You’re going.”

  “I hate school.”

  Adam gave her a look. “No, you don’t, now eat your cereal.”

  “I d
on’t want to eat cereal this morning. I want pancakes!” She pushed the bowl to the center of the table, spilling the milk.

  “We can’t have pancakes, because you refused to get up and it’s too late.” He grabbed a dishtowel and handed it to her. “You need to clean up your mess.”

  “No.” She crossed her arms, not taking the towel.

  “Lu, clean that up.” His eyes widened with each passing second she refused to move. “Seriously, clean that up.”

  “You can’t make me.”

  Adam forced his mouth shut and counted to five as he held in a breath. She’s only eight. She’s only eight.

  Then out of nowhere she said, “I want that dog.”

  He shook his head at the mistake of allowing her to use her phone last night. She’d checked Maggie’s website and saw there was another pregnant dog in need of a foster home.

  “We’re not getting a dog.”

  “Then I’m not going to school.”

  He laughed. “You’re going to school. Now clean up your mess.”

  “I want that dog.”

  “A dog is a huge commitment, especially since we already have a ton of animals.”

  “That dog needs us.” Her eyes pleaded with him. “Why can’t we?”

  “Because I said so.” The words came out gross even to him. “A dog is a lot of work.”

  “What’s adding an extra dog with all the animals we already have?”

  “No.” He dropped the towel in her lap. “Especially not with your behavior.”

  “I miss Max,” she said, her voice barely audible. Picking up the towel, she wiped up the spilled milk, pulling the bowl back in front of her. “Don’t you miss him?”

  She knew how to pull on his heart strings.

  Somehow by the end of the conversation, he agreed to play hooky and pick up the dog. Probably his biggest parenting fail to date, but as he sat in the lobby of the vet it helped him avoid the problem of Michelle.

  “She looks just like Max,” Lucy said.

  The dog was clearly more mutt than Max’s pure pedigree, but seeing how happy Lucy was when the dog licked her face when they picked her up, made everything worth it.