Better With You

by Ellen Joy

A horrible person.

  How could she kiss Adam only a few days after she broke up with Dan.

  Ugh, Matt was right.

  She reached over and kissed Joan on the head as she slept on the empty pillow on the other side of the bed. Just as she grabbed her phone, a text lit up the screen.

  Good morning. Adam wrote.

  Good morning. She texted back. How are the puppies?

  She watched as the bubbles on his end continued to flash.

  They’re actually really great, he sent. When can I get that lobster roll?

  She stared at the text. This better be what she thought it was because the Blessing couldn’t be more public than that.

  Rolls are being served at four. Right after the blessing. She held in her breath before hitting send.

  The bubbles flashed again, and soon a text sprung up on her screen. We’ll be there.

  Happiness fluttered inside her heart. She just looked at the phone in disbelief. This was really happening. She and Adam were really happening.

  She jumped out of bed and pulled open her blinds. Everything around her seemed to be brighter and sharper. The sky bluer, the clouds puffier and whiter, and the birds’ songs sweeter.

  “It sure is going to be a beautiful day,” she said out loud to Joan, who curled into a tighter ball. “An absolutely beautiful day.”

  After a quick shower, she put on her favorite pair of jeans and her Fish Market shirt, and headed out the door to meet her mother at the restaurant. She wished more than anything that she could go to the farm with Adam and Lucy and the animals.

  ADAM POURED THE BATTER into the waffle iron as he whistled about the kitchen. Coffee had been made, the bacon sizzled in the pan, eggs scrambled, toast buttered, and he even squeezed a half-dozen oranges for juice. While he cooked, Natalia had gone for a run and Drew and Lucy played a game of chess.

  “She just took my queen!” Drew called from the kitchen table.

  “It’s all about distraction,” she said, swiping the queen into her hand while giggling. Drew was either really bad at chess or letting Lucy win.

  He imagined Elizabeth standing there, he’d look over at her and she’d know exactly what he was thinking, because she would probably be thinking the same thing. He wished she was there.

  He returned his attention to the green light on the waffle iron, but he couldn’t stop thinking of Elizabeth.

  Just as Natalia walked in, Drew let out a, “Ah-ha!” He took one of Lucy’s knights, but she didn’t seem rattled.

  “It smells delicious in here,” Natalia said, kissing Drew on the cheek. She turned to Lucy and asked, “Did you beat him yet?”

  Lucy propped herself up on her elbow, studying the board. “I just have a few more moves, I think.”

  Natalia examined the board. “I think you only have two.”

  “What?” Drew moved Natalia out of the way to get a closer look at the board. Lucy’s queen was two steps away from checking his king. “Come on!”

  “Well, I think you’ll have to take a break for some waffles.” Adam put the jar of maple syrup on the table. Lucy moaned as he moved the chess board.

  “This is a feast.” Drew rubbed his hands together and grabbed the plate of bacon.

  “I wish you guys could stick around for the festival,” Adam said to them.

  “We’ll have to come back for the beach,” Natalia promised. “I had the most beautiful run from here to the harbor.”

  “It’s why I moved here.” Adam passed the plates around the table.

  “This really is the life,” Drew said, stuffing a slice of bacon into his mouth.

  Adam nodded. Camden Cove had been great for Lucy and for him.

  After breakfast, Lucy excused herself from the table and ran out to the barn to check on Mildred and the puppies.

  Natalia turned to Drew as everyone started cleaning up the table and said, “Are you going to tell him?”

  Drew gave her a look, then shook his head.

  But her eyebrow lifted, and her hands landed on her hips. “You should tell him.”

  Adam stopped what he was doing, bracing himself for what had to be said. “Tell me what?”

  Adam looked to Drew, who let out a long sigh.

  Natalia set the plates in the sink. “I’ll leave you two to talk.”

  She kissed Drew on the head and walked upstairs.

  “Michelle’s back in town,” Drew came right out with it. “We saw her the other night in the city.”

  Adam’s heart started racing. What was she doing back in town? It had been over a year since he lost contact with her. He imagined all the places in the world where she’d end up, but never thought she’d be right under his nose the whole time.

  “Did you talk to her?” Adam equally hoped he had, and hadn’t.

  Drew shook his head. “I never would have told you, because you should remove that cancer from your life, but since there’s Lucy to consider ... I thought you should find out why she’s back.”

  “What if she wants Lucy back?” Adam dropped into a chair. His world suddenly turned upside down.

  “You need to call that private investigator.” Drew pushed Adam’s phone closer to him.

  “What if Lucy finds out?” Adam didn’t know what the right thing to do was. He didn’t want to lose Lucy. “She might not forgive me.”

  “What if a judge says you can’t see her again?” Drew said, seriously. “I’m not the lawyer here, but if a mother wants her child back from a man who isn’t even related to the child by blood, then the judge might reconsider your temporary status.”

  “Not with her record,” Adam countered.

  “You’ve covered up half her tracks.” Drew shook his head.

  Drew was right. All those times he “helped” her out of trouble, swooping in every time she called, picking up the pieces whenever she asked, now only showed half the story. Maybe a judge would be more sympathetic to a mother coming back for her child than a man who was technically a stranger. Adam pulled his phone closer, pressing the home screen.

  “Call the investigator,” Drew said. “You can’t have Lucy go back to her.”

  ELIZABETH SHOOK OUT the red and white checkered tablecloth and draped it over the table. She stood under a large white tent in the middle of the street outside the restaurant, with her brother Jack. She felt like a kid again, getting ready for the festival as everyone scrambled to get everything done before the Blessing.

  The actual blessing took place in front of the Congregational Church, where half the town crowded around, waiting. On the other side of town, vendors hustled about the tables, checking off to-do lists, or finishing any last-minute chore that needed to be done before the rush of Camden Cove citizens arrived.

  “Looks like Father Steve finished early this year,” Jack said, as a crowd started making its way down Harbor Lane. Her stomach did a belly flop with the thought of Adam and Lucy arriving. Would it be obvious to Matt something happened between the two of them? God, she hoped not.

  Soon, the festivities were in full swing in the town square, where the food tents and dance floor were located. The parade floated in and around the harbor, with all the local lobster boats decorated, their families waving from the sides. Matt had their family dog sitting on the back deck without Justine.

  On Main Street, a huge tent was set up for local art, handmade items and local produce. In front of her family’s restaurant, the line grew longer and longer, and Elizabeth stuffed dozens of lobster rolls.

  After the parade, Matt came up from the docks to the tent and worked next to Elizabeth. She hadn’t talked to him since the breakup and she wasn’t sure what he thought now. They both worked in silence, serving customer after customer.

  “I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time about Dan.” He flopped a spoonful of potato salad on Mrs. Jenson’s plate. “I hope I wasn’t the reason why you broke up with him.”

  She shook her head as she filled a lobster roll. “You were right, I wasn’t being fair, b
ut I never wanted to hurt him.”

  That was where Matt was wrong. Elizabeth grabbed another plate, then a roll for the next customer, done with talking about it.

  “I just don’t want you to make the same mistake that I did.”

  “What mistake?”

  “Not listening to your gut.” Matt dumped another spoonful of potato salad onto the plate. “With Justine and me, there’s just something always off, some drama taking over. I feel like I’m on the defense all the time, and it’s hard.” He wiped his forehead with his sleeve. “I’m just as much to blame in this whole thing, but now ... now, we’re just stuck.”

  Elizabeth couldn’t believe his confession. She knew they had problems. Heck, the town of Camden Cove knew with the way Justine posted about her relationship online for all the world to see. How did he stay so calm and collected about it all?

  He just gave her a look, lifting both eyebrows, but didn’t say anything. “I think he’ll make you happy.”

  “Who, Dan?” she asked, confused.

  “No, that guy Adam.” Matt shrugged. “Mom and Uncle Frank seem to think you’re destined to be together.”

  “Does everyone know my business?” She wondered if Dan did, too.

  Matt nodded his head. “Do you think our family can keep a secret?”

  ADAM’S PARENTS SHOWED up just in time, and he kissed Lucy on the head. “I’ll meet you at the festival later, with Nana and Poppy.”

  “Why do you have to have a meeting?” Lucy complained. “I thought you were taking me to the festival.”

  “You’ll have fun with Nana and Poppy,” Adam reasoned. He couldn’t believe that of all nights for Lucy to have a meltdown, it had to be that night.

  “You promised me you’d go!” She threw a pillow from the couch across the room.

  “That’s enough, Lucy.” His parents watched from the kitchen. “The meeting will be quick, and then I’ll be at the festival, I promise.”

  “You said you’d take me.”

  He looked at the time. “I have to go.”

  Tears welled up in her eyes. “You’ll probably break that promise, too!” She ran by the lamp and pushed it off the table, breaking on the floor.

  “Lucy!” he yelled, his temper lost. “Get back here and clean this up!”

  But she ran up the back staircase.

  His mother got up from her kitchen chair. “I’ll go take care of Lucy, you go and meet the investigator.”

  Adam hesitated when he heard Lucy’s door slam.

  “Go,” she said, disappearing up the stairs.

  His dad gave him a stern nod. “You better get going, son.”

  He drove down through town toward the highway. The private investigator agreed to meet in Portland at a diner half an hour away. As he picked up Interstate 95, he rolled down his window. The day and now the afternoon had been the perfect spring day. He wished he could go to the festival with Lucy and get a lobster roll from Elizabeth.

  He couldn’t wait to see her again.

  Elizabeth flooded his thoughts during the drive, but then his nerves started spinning once he pulled into the diner’s parking lot. He saw the maroon sedan he was told to meet, and walked up to it. A woman in a gray suit stepped out and said, “You must be Mr. Cahill.”

  “Yes, you must be Stacy Russo.” They shook hands.

  “Why don’t we have a cup of coffee while you tell me about your situation?” she said, walking toward the restaurant. Her fire-red hair hung straight to below her shoulders, and her deep red lipstick contrasted her fair skin. She certainly didn’t try to blend in.

  The waitress seated them in a booth by the window. After they ordered coffee, he told her everything. How he and Michelle met as kids. He told the investigator he had no idea who Lucy’s father was and had no intention of finding out. He passed an envelope across the table with pictures of Michelle, along with all of her information, and his first payment.

  “This kind of thing can be tricky,” she said, looking at the photograph. “It might take a while to find her, but we always do.”

  “You won’t have to look too hard.” Adam passed over another package in a Manilla envelope. “She was seen in Boston.”

  “What’s this?” she asked, pulling out the legal documents he had taken hours to draw up.

  “I want you to give her this offer in return for all legal parental rights to her daughter, Lucy.”

  She leafed through the papers. “That’s a lot of money.”

  Adam didn’t say anything else, just looked out the window, wanting this whole exchange to be over with as soon as possible. As he looked out, he noticed a guy looking back at him. He recognized the face, but couldn’t place him, until he saw the logo on the tow truck behind him. Turner Auto Mechanics and Towing.

  Dan turned as soon as he saw Adam looking back, shaking his head before he got into the truck.

  ELIZABETH’S FEET HAD never hurt so much in her life. It seemed as though the whole town of Camden Cove had come out for the festival and wanted a fresh lobster roll from The Fish Market. Everyone in the family helped out, including her Grandma Grace, who plopped a half ear of corn on each plate. When she saw Lucy, all the soreness from the day vanished.

  “Hi, Dr. Elizabeth,” Lucy said, standing with her grandparents.

  “Hello, again,” Anne said. “We came up to see the puppies.”

  “They’re pretty cute.” Elizabeth smiled and was glad to see them, but when she looked around, she saw no sign of Adam. “Have you eaten yet?”

  “No, we were told to get the lobster rolls,” Harry said.

  Elizabeth took a second to think about what she was about to say, because she didn’t want to sound desperate. “Is Adam not here?”

  “He had a meeting with a client tonight,” Anne said.

  Elizabeth’s stomach dropped. She tried to pretend this news didn’t bother her, that she wasn’t devastated that he didn’t show up, as she filled three plates. Or that she felt worried that he didn’t tell her. After Adam’s parents and Lucy went to sit down, she began to second-guess everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours.

  She wondered why he didn’t tell her he wasn’t going to make it. Then suddenly, she felt she was being too clingy already. She turned to Lauren, but she was no longer there. She was off on the other side of the tent, away from the crowd, talking to Kyle. She played with a button on Kyle’s shirt as they talked. The way he looked at her sister, she knew he felt the same way about her as Lauren felt about him. She wished she could be standing like that with Adam.

  As the night wore on, dancing started in the square and the vendors started packing up. Lauren took off as soon as they stopped serving and left Elizabeth and Matt with the cleanup. Elizabeth pulled off all the tablecloths and threw out the trash, while Matt broke down the tables and loaded the chairs back into the restaurant. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dan walking toward her from the square. He was looking straight at her. As he stepped off the sidewalk from across the street, she heard a voice say her name from behind.

  She swung around to see Adam.

  “Hey,” he said.

  “Hey,” she said back. She held onto a rolled-up tablecloth, not sure what to say or do. She hadn’t expected to see him.

  “Lucy told me I had to get a lobster roll.” He stepped closer. “Am I too late?”

  She swung her head back to where Dan stood, but he had already disappeared into the crowd.

  When she returned her attention back to Adam, relief filled her. She was glad he came. With a smile across her face, she said, “They’re the best in town.”

  “Sorry I couldn’t make it earlier.”

  “That’s okay.” She couldn’t believe how overdramatic she had been. He did have to work.

  “Tell me you’re free tomorrow night.”

  “I’m free tomorrow night.” Her belly flipped.

  “Be prepared to get your butt kicked in Monopoly.”

  Fourteen

 
Lauren sat on Elizabeth’s bed, shaking her head. “You can’t wear that.”

  “What’s wrong with my dress?” Elizabeth looked in the mirror. She swirled in the green spring dress she paired with a brown belt. She’d wear her strappy sandals and a shawl for when the night turned cooler.

  “You look like you’re going to church.” Lauren got up, putting her phone down and swiped through every hanger in Elizabeth’s closet. She grabbed a pair of jeans and threw them on her bed then returned to scraping each hanger across the bar. “This. You should wear this.”

  She threw a blue button-down on the bed, then riffled through drawers.

  Elizabeth looked at her. “Jeans and a shirt.”

  “You’re going for game night.” She opened the negligée drawer and pulled out a black silky lace cami. “You don’t want to look uptight all the time.”

  “I’m not uptight,” Elizabeth argued, sitting on her bed.

  “Sure, you’re not.” Lauren pulled out a simple necklace with a circle diamond pendant, a graduation gift from her parents, and handed it over. “Those jeans show off your killer legs, the shirt’s form-fitting and will accentuate your curves, and the necklace will draw his eye to your giraffe neckline that leads to a little bit of naughty underneath. All while looking casual, as though you didn’t think too much about it.”

  Lauren was a genius.

  “You and Kyle looked cute last night,” Elizabeth said, looking at Lauren in the mirror. They had danced all night, arm in arm. Not worried about what everyone in town was saying.

  Lauren smiled. “We’re really good right now, actually.”

  Elizabeth felt surprisingly happy for her younger sister. Things were falling right into place. She was graduating in less than a couple of weeks, had a job in the fall, and a guy waiting for her. “You look happy.”

  “I am.” Lauren stood. The baby Williams no longer looked like the girl who left home only a few years ago. She had grown tall and slender. She was the only Williams with strawberry-blonde hair, besides their grandmother Grace.

  Lauren never let the age difference discourage her. She’d always had to tag along, or they would have to stay home and babysit. Elizabeth shared a room with her. They had always been close. Even after Elizabeth left for college she’d invite Lauren for weekend sleepovers, or come home to fill her in on all the things she did while she was away.