A Vineyard Vow

by Katie Winters

  About two hours later, Jake, Kristen, and the twins entered the house, with a chorus of screeching from the twins.

  “Samantha! Cody!” Audrey cried with big eyes as she greeted them.

  Jake came next, ushering the twins forward. He stopped to hug Amanda and beamed, “Wow. This place smells delicious!” before he moved on to Audrey and hugged her gingerly. Kristen came next, with big grey circles beneath her eyes and, of course, a platter of brownies, which she had apparently baked on a whim.

  “We always have enough food to go around,” Amanda said, words that seemed to come straight from her mother.

  “Where’s Mom?” Jake asked.

  “She’s at the Sunrise Cove. She’ll be back for lunch,” Amanda explained as she checked on the pasta.

  A few minutes later, Amanda helped Wes roll out into the kitchen and living area, where he greeted everyone warmly and, impressively, and got everyone’s names right. He shook Jake’s hand and looked him in the eye and said, “You know, son? You don’t look at all like any Sheridan I’ve ever seen. I guess you’re just your dad, through and through.”

  Jake looked a bit embarrassed at that. He glanced at Amanda, who shrugged and mouthed, “Don’t worry about it.”

  Everyone had let bygones be bygones when it came to Richard Harris. At least, most everyone had.

  AFTER LUNCH, KRISTEN and Audrey both excused themselves upstairs, while Wes took to his room with a book. Susan cut back to the Sunrise Cove, saying, “Natalie keeps messing up the computer!” This left only Amanda and Jake — the original Harris siblings, along with the twins, who rolled around on the floor with a few toys, which they happily drooled all over.

  “Wow. Look at where you live,” Jake said as Amanda filled up a pot with water and began to scrub.

  Amanda cast Jake a dark look. “Be careful.”

  Jake shook his head hurriedly and said, “No. I mean. I don’t mean it in any negative way. I mean, it’s only been a week since...” He trailed off. He sensed he’d “stepped in it.”

  Amanda continued to scrub. God, she loved watching as the goopy pesto eased away from the now-shining pot.

  “Anyway. How is it? Here?” he asked. He placed his hand at the back of his neck and gave Amanda a look that reminded him of a much younger version of himself. In many ways, they were still kids, just trying to make it work.

  Amanda shrugged. “It’s cozy. I make Grandpa and Audrey lunch. I help Mom with various things. I signed up for online classes. I don’t know. I guess I’m just... here. Trying not to think about it all too much.”

  Suddenly, Samantha yanked a toy from Cody, which caused Cody to let out a wild yelp. Jake jumped toward the scene of the crime and patiently calmed his children. Amanda looked on, impressed.

  “You’re getting good at that.”

  Jake shrugged as he splayed Cody across his chest. The toddler tucked his head across Jake’s shoulder. “I guess I had to get that way.” He studied Amanda for a long time before he added, “I shouldn’t tell you this, but Kristen’s pregnant again.”

  Something cold and hard formed in Amanda’s stomach. How was it possible that so many lives had gone on without her? How was it possible that her mother could be engaged, and her father could have another baby, and even her brother could build his family — all while she did what?

  Get dumped at the altar?

  She wanted to throw the pot across the room.

  My God, how her feelings changed so swiftly.

  “She’s not very happy about it,” Jake confessed softly. “We can hardly handle these two. We didn’t exactly plan for a third.”

  What I would do to have children.

  They were on my list.

  My starter house. My perfect husband. My first baby.

  All gone.

  Amanda wiped down her hands with a dishcloth and then walked over to Jake. She sat cross-legged across from him and Cody, alongside Samantha, and heaved a sigh. She didn’t want to show Jake the darkness in her heart. She knew the more babies, the more love there would be.

  Jealousy or no jealousy, this was always true.

  “You’ve got this, Jake,” Amanda said solemnly. “And I never lie.”

  Jake chuckled. “Has Dad told you about his?”

  Amanda nodded and splayed her hands over her cheeks. “Now, if I have to tell the truth about that one — it seems kind of like a disaster.”

  “A new baby brother or sister,” Jake said, wide-eyed as he shook his head.

  “Yep. From step-mommy, Penelope.”

  “I can’t imagine,” Jake scoffed.

  “But I guess we’ll just have to live it. It’s coming straight for us. And Dad seems way too tired to take it on.”

  “That’s true. I thought he was going to break down when he told me,” Jake confessed. “But I told him we could do it together. He kind of liked the sound of that.”

  “You guys will have such a weird community there in Newark. Your baby’s uncle or aunt, growing up right there.”

  Jake furrowed his brow. “So you’re really set on this, then? Martha’s Vineyard?”

  Amanda’s lips dropped into a frown. She hadn’t wanted to reveal everything to him, but here he was, giving her so much of himself.

  “I don’t know anything anymore, Jake. I just can’t go back there right now. That’s all.”

  Jake nodded somberly. “Okay. Let me know if you need anything. Really. I mean it, sis.”

  SEVERAL HOURS LATER, after Jake, Kristen, Samantha, and Cody had returned to the Sunrise Cove, Amanda perched in the kitchen and stared out at the frigid late -January Vineyard Sound. Her mind hummed with fear and anxiety. Suddenly, with the kitchen clean and everyone fed, she felt an overwhelming amount of loss and dread.

  What was she if she couldn’t care for others?

  She knew this was only a bump in the road—a huge one at that. One she didn’t feel that she would ever recover from. Somehow, though, she would find a way to keep going. Somehow.

  Suddenly, her grandfather’s voice erupted from beneath the crack in the door of his bedroom. Amanda was pulled out of her reverie and jumped up immediately and opened the door to find him stretched out in bed. His arms were high over his head, and his eyes searched the ceiling, as though he was frightened of something. Amanda appeared beside him and gently took his hand to try and soothe him.

  “Grandpa? Grandpa, it’s me. It’s Amanda.”

  Wes’s eyes searched hers for a long moment. Slowly, his cry calmed down, easing into a croak and then into silence. He shook his head, ominously against the pillow.

  “I’m sorry, Amanda. I think I had a nightmare.”

  “It’s okay, Grandpa.” How could she possibly explain to him that she felt the same way, but only about her waking life?

  Amanda collapsed in her grandfather’s wheelchair, there beside the bed, and adjusted the blankets over him. “Do you want to get up for the afternoon?”

  Wes shook his head again. “No. Not yet. I kind of want to go back to that dream, to be honest with you. Anna was there, and she’d made this perfect blackberry pie. I always loved her pies. I know she resented baking them sometimes. Especially now, I know she wasn’t always so keen on the wife and mother role, you know? But when I spotted her over the top of one of those pies, so beautiful and youthful and alive, I felt something in my heart. I knew that I loved her and that it was the kind of love nobody could take away from me. And I now know that’s true. Because I still feel it, even though she’s been gone so long.”

  Amanda’s eyes sparkled for a moment and she gripped her grandfather’s hand a little tighter as she marveled at his impeccable memory, even in the midst of his dementia.

  Slowly, Wes turned his head and nestled it so that his eyes found Amanda’s once again.

  “I think I want to say something to you, Amanda. But I don’t want you to take offense.”

  Amanda nodded. Her stomach curdled strangely. “It’s okay, Grandpa. You can tell me anything. I won�
�t get offended.”

  Wes cleared his throat. “Marriage is a whole lot harder than you think. Maybe the fact that you didn’t marry this boy at your young age was a blessing in disguise. I hope you consider it that way, in fact. He’s given you a path toward a different kind of future. Maybe one day, you’ll be able to thank him for it.”

  Amanda gave him a small smile as she patted his hand and watched him drift off back to sleep. She stood and made her way to the door. Maybe, just maybe, he was right. But Amanda had a feeling that she wouldn’t find a way to believe in it any time soon.

  Chapter Seventeen

  When Jake, Kristen, and the twins were on the Vineyard, Susan was able to spend maybe five hours, total over a span of two days with them. With each conversation, her heart tugged her in other directions; her anxiety was at a new height. You have to go over Russell’s case! And her feet tugged her back to the Sunrise Cove, where she had to assist Natalie with check-ins and guest requests and any odd, random horror that occurred. Such was the life of a part-time lawyer, full-time hotelier. Such was the life of Susan Sheridan.

  About a week after Jake left, Susan stood at the Sunrise Cove desk, with her work stretched out in front of her. Somewhere deep inside her, she prayed that nobody would tumble down that staircase and demand anything from her; she felt hyper-focused on the task-at-hand and just couldn’t possibly deal with a “we need more toilet paper” situation or a “can you please come change our lightbulb?”

  Over the previous week, Susan had burrowed herself into Russell’s case. She had analyzed every single receipt, made copies of the guest book at the Chamber of Commerce, and interviewed Russell’s colleagues. To her surprise, the colleagues were generally split about what they thought had happened. A few of them seemed kind of jealous of Russell’s position and were more than willing to throw him under the bus.

  “If you ask me, Russell has always had his eyes set on higher plans for himself,” one of them told her. “It doesn’t shock me at all that he stole Chamber of Commerce funds and used them for whatever he pleased. In his mind, he deserves it.”

  Others, on the other hand, saw the Russell that Susan really felt was the real man who’d dedicated so many years of service to the community — although who could really be sure?

  “I was with Russell for a lot of the past six months,” one little old lady said, “and I never saw him do anything like this. He only handled funds for the town of Oak Bluffs and the Vineyard at-large. I would have put a stop to it if I’d caught him doing anything else.”

  Susan dropped her forehead to the desk below and wracked her mind. She’d pored through these documents night after night yet still couldn’t come up with any kind of shadow of a doubt that Russell hadn’t been the one to make these purchases. “He’s just such a good guy!” had never really worked in court. She’d never even tried it because, well... she was a damn good lawyer.

  At least, she had been a good lawyer back in Newark.

  “Hey there.” The voice was familiar and warm, and it drew Susan’s head back up from the counter. She blinked at Scott, who carried over two chocolate chip cookies and two glasses of milk. He placed them in front of her and said, “I don’t think I’ve had a chance to talk to you since last night.”

  Susan blinked away her sleepiness. “Scott, these cookies look delicious. Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me. Your sister baked them and insisted I bring them over to you. What were her words? Something like, ‘She’s burning the candle at both ends.’” Scott’s eyes twinkled knowingly. “Of course, we both agreed that you wouldn’t do this if you didn’t really care about it.”

  Susan buzzed her lips as she lifted a cookie. “Wow. She even put sea salt on them. She’s so good at what she does.”

  “You’re avoiding the conversation, aren’t you?”

  Susan shrugged playfully and dug her teeth into the edge of the outer crunch, which gave way to the inner-goo of the cookie. “Did you stop by Dad’s place this afternoon?”

  Scott allowed her to side-step the conversation, at least for now. “Yep. Everything seems normal on their end. Amanda’s concocted yet another healthy recipe for your dad and Audrey, and Audrey and Wes are doing very slow laps, back and forth, in the living room. They think he’ll have his strength back relatively soon.”

  “Good kids,” Susan said somberly. “I don’t know what I would do without them right now.”

  “I know what you would do. You would collapse,” Scott affirmed.

  Susan rolled her eyes and shoved the plate of cookies toward him. “Come on. Eat your cookie.”

  Scott shook his head. “That second one is for you, too. I know you’ll be up late tonight so save it for later.”

  “Hey.” Susan’s heart felt full with the way Scott always thought about her. She reached out, gripped Scott’s hand, and held it tenderly. His eyes met hers, and again, she felt that jump in her gut. It was proof that she loved him so completely, so wonderfully, with every fiber of her being. “I promise it won’t be like this forever. I just want to see if I can still do this.”

  Scott nodded somberly. “I know.”

  “I love you so much. And I can’t wait to marry you.”

  Scott’s mouth cracked into a handsome grin. “I know.”

  “And we’ll even set a date soon. I promise.”

  “Susan. We have all the time in the world,” Scott told her. “I just want you to be happy.”

  LATER THAT NIGHT, AS Amanda scrubbed up the pots, pans and dinner plates, and Wes retired for the evening, Susan again set up shop at the kitchen table with all her documents. Audrey splayed out across the living room floor and moaned, “I really miss that stupid cat. I wish Christine hadn’t taken him to Zach’s.” She then propped her head upon her hand and blinked at Susan. “Do you think I should be doing something else to prepare for this baby? Like, should I be knitting a tiny hat, or writing some kind of letter, or...”

  Amanda chuckled from the kitchen as she eased a towel over a large pot. “I would pay good money to watch you knit a hat.”

  Audrey stuck out her tongue playfully at her cousin. “I’ll have you know I can be pretty crafty when the mood strikes me.”

  Susan chuckled inwardly but turned her eyes back to the pages before her. The last time she had spoken with Russell, his face had seemed so shadowed; his cheeks had been drawn in. She owed it to his mental health and the mental health of Claire to keep going.

  But she felt stumped and so at a loss. She couldn’t find the evidence she needed to prove his innocence.

  Over the next hour, she continued to make notes for herself, to try to construct something out of the material she had gathered. Throughout, Amanda and Audrey gossiped and flipped through magazines on the floor. Susan had noticed that all the wedding magazines had been recycled; now, there were only fashion magazines, gossip magazines, entertainment magazines, the kinds of things young women loved.

  For whatever reason, this warmed her heart. Maybe it was the first step toward Amanda’s healing.

  Susan knew it would be a long, long road.

  After Audrey went up to bed, Amanda sat across from Susan and poured them both a glass of wine. She blinked at the print-outs, the photographs of the guest book, and the various transcripts from interviews Susan had conducted. “Any luck?” she asked.

  Susan shook her head and her curls wafted over her ears and turned over her lips. “I just don’t know how to put a reasonable doubt into these people’s heads. Normally, it comes so easily for me. I guess I’ve just lost my touch? I don’t know.”

  Amanda’s voice was soft. “Do you mind if I take a look?”

  With her chair pulled up alongside Susan’s, Amanda walked herself through what Susan had so far of the case. Her eyes shimmered with excitement as she asked questions, made connections that Susan had already made, and added up various receipts. For well over an hour, Susan gave Amanda the bones of the deal — more or less wringing out her own mind of details.
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  But suddenly, Amanda flung her hand forward and gripped one of the receipts, along with one of the guest book print-outs.

  “Mom! Look at this.”

  Susan furrowed her brow as Amanda splayed both items before her. “This is the date that the speed boat was purchased. See? And it says it was purchased from a computer at the Chamber of Commerce. Russell’s computer, in fact. It has the IP stamp.”

  “Yes...”

  “But look! Look at the guest book.”

  Susan did. And when she did, her eyes nearly fell out of her head.

  “Russell wasn’t there that day,” Susan breathed.

  “Nope.” Excitement flashed across Amanda’s face making her look more alive than she had in weeks. Hurriedly, she investigated some of the other items. Each and every one lined up with a date when Russell wasn’t actually in the office; otherwise, the item had been purchased in the hours after he’d signed out.

  Susan gaped at her daughter. “I can’t believe this.”

  Amanda rubbed her palms together excitedly. “There it is! I think that’s proof!”

  “Amanda, it’s everything I’ve been searching for the past few weeks.”

  “I mean, and look at this —” Amanda continued, furrowing her brow as she dove through another sign-in list. “It looks like Mike, of all people, was around for a lot of these...”

  “Mike? Like, Kelli’s Mike?”

  “Yes. That horrible man,” Amanda said. “I can’t believe he did this to his own brother-in-law. Do you think it’s possible he was scheming his way off the island the whole time?”

  “What perfect timing after verbally assaulting Kelli.”

  Amanda shrugged. “I don’t know if we could fully prove it was him, though.”

  “But we have a reasonable doubt it wasn’t Russell,” Susan said.

  Amanda and Susan exchanged enormous smiles. Susan flung herself forward, wrapped her daughter in a big hug, and breathed the first sigh of relief she’d had in ages.