The Widows' Gallery

by Marilyn Baron

  Abby studied Tack. He was full of surprises.

  Katelyn came to the table. “Looks like you kids enjoyed your meal.”

  Abby and Tack had cleaned their plates. Isabella was still working on her pasta.

  “How about some homemade blueberry pie?” Katelyn suggested.

  “It’s the best around,” Tack said. “Save any room for dessert?”

  Abby smiled. “I guess I could handle it.”

  “We’ll have three pieces. Thank you.”

  “This has been fun,” Abby said. “Thank you for lunch.” She turned to Isabella. “And I really enjoyed meeting you, Your Highness.”

  Isabella laughed. “I’m not really a queen,” she said, smiling.

  “Well, you certainly had me fooled. Tack, I mean it. I had fun. I needed this break.”

  “I’m glad I ran into you, literally,” Tack said. He picked up Abby’s hand and held it. “I’d like to—I mean if you want to, I’d like to see you again, Abigail.”

  Abby’s heart opened. She squeezed Tack’s hand. “I’d like that, Tack.” What was happening to her? She was falling hard and falling fast. For a man she had nothing in common with.

  The server brought the dessert plates and forks, and Tack broke contact.

  When they had finished their slices of pie, Isabella handed Abby her drawing.

  “Here.”

  “Oh, Isabella, how beautiful! Thank you so much.”

  “Daddy, are we going out on another date with Miss Abigail?”

  Tack’s face reddened. “Daddy and Miss Abigail are going to go out on a date together first, and then, we’ll see.”

  Isabella flashed Abigail a smile.

  Tack picked up Isabella and faced Abigail.

  “Well, would you like to go out on the boat with me tomorrow? I could use some good luck. Maybe we’ll spot a whale.”

  “Well, I—” Abby was under tremendous pressure to oversee the completion of the gallery, get all the artwork framed, photographed, and hung, plus a million and one other details before the opening. There was so much to do. She couldn’t spare a minute, much less a day out on the water. She needed to find someone for the manager position. But there was so much hope on Tack’s face. And—God!—it was an amazing face.

  She’d been so closed up for so long. Was she ready to take a chance on Tack Garrity? Was this just pure lust? Well, who cared? She had to see Isabella again. The child was amazing. And this was the happiest she’d been since Louis died.

  “I’d love to.”

  Tack glowed, and Isabella clapped.

  “The boat leaves Pier 2 at nine a.m. Dress casual.”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

  “It’s a date.”

  Abby watched Tack and Isabella walk down the pier. She couldn’t wait until tomorrow to see Tack again.

  ****

  Tack’s stomach had just begun to settle when he left the range of Abigail Longley’s orbit. How many years had he been waiting to meet this woman in the flesh, and when she finally showed up, what did he do? He rammed into her, like Billy Goat Gruff crossing the bridge, nearly knocking her off her feet. And who did he have in tow but his daughter? Not exactly a recipe for romance. And what was he wearing? Farmer overalls and rubber boots. Smooth, Garrity. That’s not exactly how he had envisioned their first meeting. But whether it was serendipity, fate, or mere coincidence, he fully intended to take advantage of this opportunity on their first date tomorrow. She obviously didn’t recognize him, and why should she? But she was unforgettable.

  He removed the faded photograph from the wallet in his overalls, a photograph he’d been carrying around since as long as he could remember. The photograph didn’t do her justice. Was it possible she was even more beautiful in person? Her hair was still that brilliant shade of strawberry blonde. It was still long and flowing, with ringlets highlighted by the sun. Not as long as it had been in the picture—she was a college student then—but her face still held that celestial glow, and her body—was there ever a human shape more perfect? Of course, he had imagined her nude most of the time, like the model in the painting, and she had been fully clothed on the dock, but that took nothing away from her appeal. She was a goddess, for sure. She was his Venus, or rather, Louis’s Venus. The universe had delivered her as promised, and it was now up to him to make the goddess of love fall in love with him.

  Chapter Five

  “Do we have any more manager candidates for the Maple Avenue gallery?” Abby asked Victoria over breakfast.

  “Oh, I forgot to tell you. Val, the woman you were supposed to interview yesterday, called back right after you left yesterday and said the reason she was a no-show was because she was in an accident.”

  “An accident? Is she okay?”

  “She was pretty banged up. She ran in front of the trolley to save a little boy. The story was all over the Lobster Cove Anchor. She’d like to reschedule, if it’s okay with you.”

  “Of course it’s all right. Now I feel like an idiot. I spent all day yesterday ranting about the woman. Can you arrange another appointment, if she’s willing? I did hang up on her. She probably thinks I’m a first-class bitch.”

  “Will do, Boss.”

  “I’m not your boss, Victoria.”

  “I know, but I like saying it. We are so psyched about being here. Longley House is amazing. The gallery has opened up so many possibilities in our lives. We’re indebted to you.”

  “Well, I’m grateful to all of you. I was just about to close this place up and leave forever. Longley is a hard name to live up to around Lobster Cove. I felt like I was always under a microscope, being scrutinized by Louis’s parents and everyone else in the town. And now, losing Louis and his parents in the same year, it’s like I’m cursed. Without Louis, I had no desire to live here. There was nothing for me in Lobster Cove.”

  “The people in town are great,” argued Victoria. “You should go down there sometime, meet some of the little people.”

  Abby laughed. “As a matter of fact, I did go into town yesterday to open up a post office box for us, and I actually ran into one of the ‘little’ people, as you call them. Only this one was more like a giant.”

  “Is this giant person responsible for putting that smile on your face and the spring in your step?”

  Abby blushed.

  “Okay, spill. Tell me everything.”

  “I can’t now. I have to go meet him. We’re going whale watching.”

  “Have you ever been whale watching? You don’t strike me as the whale-watching type.”

  “Well, no, but I’m looking forward to it.” Abby grabbed a croissant, took a sip of her orange juice, and bit into a piece of bacon, crispy, just the way she liked it. “I assume Jane is painting today?”

  “Yes, and her latest work is fantastic. That cute Ethan Logan is up in the studio with her, inspiring her. He’s really talented and, according to Jane, not just in the art department.”

  “Is Jane falling for him?”

  “Jane is nuts about him, but she won’t admit it, because she doesn’t know it yet.”

  “Keep me posted. How is the construction going?”

  “Aidan told Natalie we should be done in a week, and then she can start moving the furniture in and hanging the paintings.”

  “That’s ahead of schedule,” Abby noted. “That Aiden Ames works fast.”

  “In more ways than one,” Victoria admitted. “Those two can’t keep their hands off each other.”

  “Looks like everyone is falling in love again.”

  “Everyone?”

  “Well, I think I may be in lust with this sexy sea captain. He literally ran into me yesterday afternoon down at the pier, and we had lunch. He has this darling little girl. I think I’m in love with her. Her name is Isabella. And I can’t wait to see her again.”

  “Will she be there on the cruise?”

  “I think she’s in school in the mornings and then Tack’s mother watches her until he gets
back.”

  “Tack? What a great name for a sailor. What does he look like?”

  “He’s hard to describe. You’d have to see him to believe him. He’s sort of a cross between Paul Bunyan and Hugh Jackman.”

  “A gorgeous lumberjack? Sounds intriguing.”

  “That pretty much describes him. Well, got to go. Oh, and what’s happening with our new Botticelli?”

  “It may not be our Botticelli, after all. I didn’t want to worry you further until I had confirmation. The lawyer from England is flying in, and he says he has irrefutable proof that the Botticelli you bought from that Berlin art dealer was stolen during World War II. I’m going to listen to what he has to say before I kick him out on his butt. If he wants that painting, he’s going to have to pry it out of my hands.”

  “What’s his name?”

  “Joshua Waterbury.”

  “He sounds like a stuffed shirt.”

  “He’s been a real pain in the ass. There’s no gray where this guy is concerned. It’s black, white, or nothing. According to him, that painting is stolen. It’s our duty to return it. End of story.”

  “When is he due to arrive?”

  “Later this afternoon. He’s booked into that cute little inn, you know, the one they say is haunted—the Sea Crest Inn. It’s on a cliff overlooking the cove.”

  “How long is he going to stay in Lobster Cove?”

  “According to him, until he takes possession of the painting.”

  “Well, call my lawyer, Brandon Fairbanks, with Fairbanks & Fairbanks in Bar Harbor, and have him look into it. See if he’s available to consult and sit in on the meeting. In fact, insist on it. I should be back in the early afternoon, so I’ll attend that meeting. We can’t afford to lose that painting. It’s meant to be our biggest draw. We’ve already advertised it. It’s the cornerstone of our collection.” Abby laid her napkin by her plate and rose.

  “I know. Well, we’ll work something out. Have fun.”

  Abby headed for the door, adding, “And Victoria, I love what you’ve done with our new Web site and all the publicity you’ve generated. The virtual tour of the gallery will be a great addition when you get it up, and the interactive features are fantastic. The work you’ve done with the catalog is really going to boost sales. Your creativity in that area has been monumental.”

  “I’m so excited about the opening.”

  “Well, I’m off to spot some whales. Wish me luck.”

  “And good luck landing the big fish,” Victoria whispered.

  Abby walked down to the dock and found Tack’s boat, Lobster Cove Adventure Cruises, picking up passengers at Pier 2. Dozens of people were getting ready to board. She saw Tack taking tickets and talking to the passengers. She had to stop and admire him from a safe distance.

  “Cripes, he’s hot,” Abby thought, fanning herself with her hat. She had to get her heart in check before she came face to face with the man. She had already bought a ticket, and she handed it to him as he helped her on board.

  “Abby,” he said, flashing a wide smile and hugging her. “You didn’t have to buy a ticket. You’re my guest. Thanks for coming.”

  “Got to keep Isabella in tiaras,” she joked. “Where should I sit for the best view?”

  “Up front with me. We’re getting ready to head out.”

  Tack introduced her to his first mate, Andrew, and gave him some final instructions before getting on the loudspeaker system. He announced the itinerary for the day and told the passengers to feel free to enjoy refreshments, look out at the scenery, and watch the film available, narrated by a naturalist, about the whales they’d be seeing.

  “And let’s hope to God we see some actual whales today,” he whispered.

  “I’m going to think positive thoughts,” Abby said. But I’d be satisfied just to watch you, Tack.

  “On this first part of the trip we’re just heading out into the ocean to the whale’s feeding ground. Hopefully we’ll spot some there and won’t have to go out too far. I won’t have to get back on the loudspeaker until we’re closer to our destination. So sit back and enjoy the scenery.”

  Abby relaxed her tight stomach muscles, applied some sunscreen, donned a sun hat, and sat back to enjoy the view—of Tack. Her heart was jittery, her stomach fluttered, and someone had slapped that goofy grin back on her face. She hoped Tack hadn’t noticed. God, the man was built. Today, he’d jettisoned the overalls for a pair of tight-fitting jeans and a body-hugging gray T-shirt, exposing a boatload of rippling muscles. She hoped he didn’t want to engage her in conversation, because she doubted she was capable of speech.

  “Have a bottle of lemonade,” Tack offered. So he’d remembered what she ordered for lunch yesterday. Very considerate.

  Abby nodded and pressed the icy bottle against her forehead to cool herself down.

  Tack was at the wheel, pointing out interesting sights along the way—lighthouses, lobster fishermen, seals, and seabirds of all kinds, peppered with area history.

  “Have you ever been out on a boat along this coast?”

  Abby shook her head. “Never had any interest before.”

  “The coast of Maine is beautiful. It’s rugged and isolated. There’s so much to see out here. I’m glad I’m the one to show it to you.”

  Abby relaxed in her comfortable chair. The coast was beautiful. Why had she thought it was desolate and uninteresting? And the seabirds were amazing.

  She supposed now was as good a time as any to ask about the former Mrs. Garrity. He was stuck on this boat and couldn’t avoid her questions. And she was curious about her competition, dead or not.

  “So, do you mind if I ask you some personal questions?”

  Tack kept his eyes on the water and shrugged.

  “What happened to your wife?”

  “She died in a car crash—in Monaco,” Tack said.

  “Oh, Tack, I’m sorry. Why was she in Monaco?”

  “She was dancing in Nice with a French ballet company. That’s not the only reason she was in France. She was visiting her former lover. She never got over him, apparently. They were in the car together on a little rendezvous, which just confirmed my suspicions.”

  Abby was silent.

  Tack gripped the wheel and continued. “They broke up when he wouldn’t marry her, and she moved to Boston, where we met. When I, um, got her pregnant, I thought I’d do the right thing. But I knew she was still in love with someone else.”

  “Did you love her?”

  “She was beautiful, this dainty creature, as light as a butterfly and apparently as flighty. I was smitten. When Isabella was born, her schedule wouldn’t allow her to take care of a baby, so I suggested we move to Lobster Cove. Lobster Cove people are good people, the kind of people I wanted Isabella to grow up with, who exemplify the values I wanted her to learn. But Renata—that was her name—refused to move to Lobster Cove. She didn’t want to give up dancing and other men. And I shouldn’t have asked her to. But Isabella needed her mother. Renata was gone all the time. I overheard some of her conversations when she thought I wasn’t listening, and I suspected she was meeting her old lover in Nice. I confronted her, and she didn’t deny it. She told me she couldn’t live in a backwater town like Lobster Cove or she’d turn into a fishwife. She couldn’t get over the idea that I would ‘waste my time,’ as she called it, helping my dad pilot a whaling vessel.

  “When she left on that last trip, she told me she was leaving me. I asked her how she could bear to leave Isabella. And it didn’t even faze her. We didn’t part on good terms, but when I got the phone call that she—they—had been killed in a car crash in France, I still grieved, not so much for myself but because Isabella would grow up without a mother. Still, with Renata gone, there was nothing keeping me in Boston. My dad was in a bad way, and I needed to be there for him and my mother. Dad could no longer take the boat out, so it was up to me. And I’ve been here ever since.”

  “Do you ever regret coming back here?”

/>   “Not one day.”

  “Thanks for telling me, Tack.”

  “Now, what about you? What did you do after Louis died?”

  Abby put down the bottle of lemonade. This was difficult to talk about. And she had never really talked about her feelings with anyone before.

  “When Louis died, a part of me died, too,” Abby admitted. “I still miss him. He was the most wonderful man. He put up with me, so for that reason alone he was a saint. I was a handful. When he died, I was rudderless. Lobster Cove was not my home, so for the past year I’ve tried to lose myself, traveling around the world, doing anything to keep from facing the fact that I was alone.”

  “What about the Longleys?”

  “They never thought I was good enough for Louis. After he died, I could tell they wanted me to move out, and I didn’t want to be there anyway. Then they were killed in that plane crash. So I had all of Louis’s money, and all of theirs, and this big house. I went on a Mediterranean cruise to try to forget, and that’s where I met Victoria, Natalie, and Jane, and now we’re starting this new exciting venture together. They saved me.”

  “Did you and Louis ever think about having children?”

  Abby took a drink of her lemonade to compose herself.

  “All the time. We wanted three, but we tried everything and nothing worked. We couldn’t have children.”

  “You’re good with children, good with Isabella. She can’t stop talking about you.”

  “She is very special,” Abby said. “When I look at her, I imagine what could have been.”

  “Would you like to take the wheel?” Tack offered in an abrupt change of subject.

  “Me?”

  “Why not? We’re out on the open water. There’s no one around.”

  Abby took the wheel and felt her spirits lift. She’d never felt so relaxed or so comfortable, not in a long time.

  She looked around. “Tack,” she screamed. “Over there! Those are whales, aren’t they?”

  “Hell, they sure are! A pod of great whales and porpoises are following the boat. Here, let me take over.”

  Tack took the wheel from Abby and made an announcement over the speaker system. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have a pod of great whales on the starboard side. You can see them now, and watch for the porpoises swimming beside the boat.” Screams and shouts went up from the passengers.