by Carol Ross
Even though the timing was all wrong and even though they’d been broken up, Shay had been happy about the pregnancy—ecstatic about becoming a mother. A miscarriage had left her devastated and she’d had to share the news that they were having a baby at the same time she’d told him that they weren’t.
Then later, when she’d discovered that there would never be another pregnancy for her, there wasn’t enough of a relationship left between them for her to want to share that news with him. She consoled herself with the notion that it was better that Jonah had ultimately been spared the same fate. Shay had gradually accepted hers, but didn’t think she’d ever really get over it; choosing instead to devote herself to the inn and to her family.
Shay forced herself to put on a teasing smile. She hoped Jonah couldn’t see the pain in her eyes. “Things I don’t want to talk about. Why are you interrogating me again? I thought we were going to try and get along.”
He chuckled, but there seemed to be a tinge of sadness in his expression. “Sorry, could that be considered an occupational hazard?”
Shay opted for a subject change. “Speaking of your occupation—rumor has it you’ve been helping Caleb with some of his cases.”
Jonah nodded, his lips forming a smile that trembled with laughter. “I have. And I thought my job in Chicago was a challenge.”
Shay grinned. “I also heard that you might be handling Gary and Ingrid’s divorce.”
His brows dipped down into a scowl. “What? No...not exactly.”
Gary and Ingrid’s solid marriage was the stuff of legend, until a few weeks ago when somehow things had turned sharply south. There were rumors that Gary had given Lucille Croft a ride on his four-wheeler. Such behavior could be construed as a courting gesture in Rankins. And Shay knew how much Ingrid disliked Lucille—she’d tried to steal Gary away from her back in high school in a similar incident involving Gary’s motorcycle. Lucille’s car had “broken down” and Gary had come upon the “stranded” Lucille and given her a ride. As it turned out, Lucille had set the whole thing up.
Lucille’s plan had gone awry when Gary had swung by Ingrid’s house. Gary had pulled in with a smug Lucille clinging to his back like a spider monkey. Ingrid’s father ran the garage in town and Ingrid knew everything about cars, so Gary, in an unfortunate case of man-cluelessness, asked Ingrid if she would, after he dropped Lucille off at her house, go back and take a look at the car with him.
Ingrid had agreed, but the couple had nearly broken up over the whole business. After a cursory inspection, Ingrid had asked Gary why he hadn’t checked out the car before allowing Lucille to treat him and his motorcycle like a jungle gym? Any moron could see that Lucille had disconnected a battery cable. Allegedly Gary had fallen prey to Lucille’s desperate machinations once again.
Shay had been on Ingrid’s side then and she tended to suspect, if the rumors were true, that she would be this time as well. Men could be so oblivious sometimes.
“So they’re not getting divorced?”
“Attorney-client privilege prevents me from commenting further.”
“Jonah, you know I would never—”
He silenced her with a wink. “I’m kidding. I know how close-mouthed you are, Shay. We are talking. They are talking. Working some things out. They are coming back in to the office and I’m hopeful. Of all the couples in Rankins that I most want to see make it—Gary and Ingrid are at the top of the list.”
Shay gazed at him warily.
“Why are you looking at me like that? They’ve always been great together and now they have three children. Plus, I have very fond memories of their wedding reception. That whole day was pretty much perfect.”
Something hitched almost painfully in her chest. “What?”
“Shay, why do you always seem so shocked when I bring up a happy memory from our relationship? Am I not allowed to talk about the good times we had? We were friends forever, until we started dating and then we were together for five years. That’s a lot of memories for me—all my best ones in fact.”
His voice was gentle now. “And you can’t just wish them away because of what happened...after.”
She stared at him, thinking... She did do that. Why did she do that? Because the memories hurt, that’s why. But she realized that she needed to get a handle on that pain if she was ever going to truly get over him.
So she dredged up a smile and said, “Remember how those stupid heels I wore were killing my feet? You finally plucked them off my feet and threw them into the bay because you wanted to dance? At first I felt weird but then other women started taking their shoes off, too. But then you had to carry me all the way to your house where we’d left your pickup.” She laughed at the memory and it felt good—genuine.
Jonah winced. “I remember, my back remembers. You’re not exactly a feather, Shay. And I never should have let you have that second piece of cake.”
“Jonah.” She scowled playfully.
“I’m kidding, and you know it.” He lifted his hands in a gesture of surrender and the sound of his laughter nearly stopped her heart. “I could carry you to Anchorage and back. Seriously, Gary and Ingrid’s reception was hands down one of the best nights of my entire life. That whole day was.”
“Mine, too,” she said, but barely heard the words come out of her mouth because they seemed to have such precious little air to propel them.
“Can we talk about some things, Shay? About what happened with us? About what went wrong?”
* * *
“COME ON, DOC. It’s a solid plan.”
Doc rocked back on his heels and then forward onto his toes. “Nothing about this scheme of yours is solid, Caleb. Look at them over there, right now. They seem to be fighting.”
Caleb grinned and leaned against the polished stone wall in the lobby of the Faraway Inn, flecks of mica and quartz sparkled among the assortment of stones. The wall was one of Shay’s new additions to the inn and probably his favorite—that or those gorgeous carved beams in the dining room. Normally he’d take a minute or two to admire the stones and the craftsmanship, but not now. His focus was on the couple standing near the hostess station—waiting for him and Doc.
“I know. I was thinking the same thing. Isn’t it great? Nothing like a good argument with a woman to get the blood flowing.”
“That’s not—”
“I’m right about that, Doc, and you can’t deny it.”
Doc’s face evolved into a silly grin and Caleb knew his friend was thinking about his late wife, Ruth. Bickering had been their love language.
Caleb took another peek at his grandson and Shay. Jonah stood closer than a man normally would to a woman and Shay had this way of tipping her head when he was talking, like he was the most interesting person in the world. Although right now she looked mad enough to spit and Jonah was gesturing with his hands like he did when he was trying to really hammer a point home.
Shay adjusted her stance and glared up at Jonah, reminding Caleb of some kind of fierce female gladiator from ancient times. Jonah threw his hands up in surrender.
Caleb chuckled. “Do you see that, Doc? That girl is nearly as feisty as Gus was and twice as smart. There’s a spark between those two that has never been extinguished. And we need to fan that spark back into a flame if these two stubborn youngsters are going to have any chance at a happy future. They’re both miserable and neither one of them knows why—or refuses to admit why.”
“You’d better be sure about this, Caleb. And I wish you’d quit saying ‘we’ like I’ve been in on this from the start.”
“I am—and you have been.”
“Well, she looks like she’s about ready to set him on fire so I guess you may be right about that spark at least to some degree.”
“A spark is a precious gift and you can’t make one where one doesn’t exist.”
“Boy, do I know that.”
Caleb could sense he was winning him over so he tried to ensure Doc’s commitment. Was it fair to
play the Ruth card? Maybe not, but Caleb needed all the help he could get.
“Imagine how your life would have turned out, Doc, if I hadn’t meddled where you and Ruth were concerned.”
Doc grinned, a fresh look of nostalgia transforming his troubled brow. Caleb had set Doc and Ruth up on their first date.
“That’s true enough.”
“Darn straight, now let’s go over there and do this.”
Doc nodded. “Fine. I’ve come this far. Shay probably wouldn’t believe that I haven’t been in on this the whole time anyway.”
“I hate to point it out—once again—but you have, in fact, been in on it the whole time.”
“Not... Reluctantly!” Doc sputtered. “And I never agreed to anything this extreme.”
“Said the accomplice right before the judge sentenced him to twenty to life,” Caleb rebutted and then added a satisfied chuckle.
* * *
JONAH WATCHED SHAY’S expression as she contemplated his request.
Then her face broke into that heart-stopping smile and for a split second Jonah remembered what it was like to feel that all was right in the world.
But the smile wasn’t for him he quickly realized as Doc and Gramps joined them.
Shay asked, “What kind of trouble have you two gentlemen been getting into?”
Doc grinned.
Gramps replied, “We’re still hoping to get into some.”
Doc nodded toward Caleb. “You know me, kiddo—I wouldn’t get into any trouble at all, ever, if it weren’t for this good-for-nothing hack I can’t seem to shake.”
“Bah,” Gramps sputtered. “You’d sit in your recliner all day reading medical journals if it wasn’t for me.”
Doc shrugged like this was a possibility and they all laughed.
“Remember how we were talking the other day about going fishing, Jonah?”
“Of course, Gramps. Did you two plan something?”
“We did. You, me, Shay, Doc—we’re heading up the Opal. Like old times.”
“What?” Jonah and Shay said at the same time.
Gramps brought his hands up and slapped them together once, hard. “Isn’t this great news? I bought a three-day trip with Bering’s outfit at the Rotary fundraiser months ago. Called Bering—he had a cancellation, so I booked it!”
“The Opal River? Gramps, are you sure you’re up to that?”
“I’m not dead yet, Jonah.”
Jonah rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “I wish you would stop talking about dying.”
“Why? We’ve all gotta go at some point.” Caleb chuckled and then looked eagerly at Shay. “Any chance you could take the time off, Shay? I’d, uh, I’d sure like a couple days of not worrying about this whole...thing, you know? Before my appointment and the heart doctor tells me something crazy like I can never fish again. With Agnes’s passing and all I just have this craving to do all the living I can.”
Jonah rolled his eyes. “Gramps, he’s not going to tell you that you can never fish again. Why would he do that? Fishing is not exactly high-impact cardio.”
“Doctors do a lot of weird stuff, Jonah. Trust me on this one.” He angled his head and flipped a thumb toward Doc.
Doc shot Caleb a scowl. “Do you want me to start with the attorney jokes?”
“Oh, no!” Caleb exclaimed. “No one wants to hear one of your corny—”
“I haven’t heard one for a while,” Shay interrupted eagerly.
Caleb groaned.
Doc perked up. “How does an attorney sleep at night?”
Shay shook her head, already grinning. “I don’t know.”
“First he lies on one side—then he lies on the other.” Doc bent at the waist and laughed hard at his own joke, his belly shaking like a trimmer, but every bit a jolly version of Santa.
Jonah and Shay laughed while Caleb tried to smother a chuckle, which earned more laughter.
Caleb admitted, “That’s actually a pretty funny one, Doc, did you make that up?”
Shay was grinning from one incorrigible would-be comic to the other, and Jonah doubted she’d be able to resist Caleb’s boyish eagerness or his emotional plea. Not to mention Doc’s seemingly endless supply of attorney jokes. Jonah glanced around at the cheerful, enthusiastic group and wondered how in the world he was going to manage this.
Right now, two of the worst things he could dream up were happening to the two most important people in his life. Gramps was ill and Shay’s livelihood was being threatened by a stranger claiming to be her cousin and he couldn’t even tell her. How was he supposed to go fishing for three days and act like everything was fine?
Although, he did want to clear the air between them: he wanted to talk about their broken engagement, the miscarriage, the decisions they had both made... Maybe this trip would at least allow him the opportunity to do some of that.
* * *
SHAY DID A mental calculation. This trip up the Opal River would mean three days away from the inn. Now that they had more hands in the restaurant, Hannah could handle the business if she were to agree. The new employees were working out well and Adele had been a godsend. She and Hannah had seemed to really hit it off and she’d been taking on significant tasks at the restaurant without Shay even having to ask. She’d even streamlined the order pickup procedure for the servers and somehow managed to not anger Javier in the process.
Shay hadn’t taken a day off in so long she couldn’t even remember, and she hadn’t been away in forever. Sure, she took hours here and there—the occasional breakfast or lunch date, or a gathering at her parents’ house, but to be away from the inn in the midst of the busy season and out of touch for more than twenty-four hours? She couldn’t recall that ever happening.
To see Caleb this excited about something made the invitation so tempting. His enthusiasm gave her hope and quelled her anxiety, and that was what she needed right now—what they all probably needed. Even though the idea of being there with Jonah made her heart hurt with a particularly sharp pain; the Opal River was a special place for them. But maybe this could be part of her healing process, too. She just hoped Tag didn’t somehow get wind of the excursion before they left.
“When is this trip?” she asked.
“A week from this coming Sunday.”
Shay looked at her phone and clicked on her calendar; no high-maintenance guests coming in those days that she knew about, no major events happening at the inn or the restaurant, and apart from Story Fair there was nothing immediately pressing in her personal life either. Not that there ever really was.
The timing seemed almost too perfect. A part of her wanted to jump in and say yes for Caleb’s sake, but the cautious, ever-present, put-the-inn-first businesswoman in her knew she needed to think it over before she committed, talk to Hannah, and maybe have a private conversation with Doc to assure herself that the physical exertion wouldn’t be too much for Caleb.
“It sounds like a blast. Let me see what I can do with my schedule.”
Caleb was grinning like a kid who’d just been told that a trip to the toy store may be on the horizon. Doc seemed rather pleased about the idea as well. And Jonah...? Jonah she couldn’t quite read.
CHAPTER NINE
SHAY FELT THE reality sink in that this would be the first year Agnes wasn’t front and center at Rankins’ Story Fair—chatting and mingling with the kids, directing volunteers, and just generally ensuring that all was running smoothly. Shay knew that Agnes would want her to carry on, so she put on a brave face, adjusted her elaborately coiffed blond wig, and stepped into the crowd.
It wasn’t difficult to muster a true smile when she heard the giggles and excited voices of so many children participating in games, crafts, puppet shows and other story-themed activities while trying to decide which books to choose.
There were tables and tables full of books, and every child who attended up to the age of eighteen could choose a free one. Additional books could be purchased at a highly discounted
rate.
Shay worked her way through the crowd, greeting kids and parents alike. She spotted Janie dressed as her fairy godmother across the room. She lifted a white-gloved hand and executed her best royal wave. They were working the Cinderella-story booth together.
She had several minutes before her first volunteer shift began so she headed in the direction of the concessions, where her mom was in charge. She almost ran into her new waitress. Adele wore a brocade gown and a long veil pulled upward so the tulle stretched over her head and streamed down her back almost to the floor. She held a cup of a steaming, spicy-smelling liquid in each hand.
“Adele? Hi, what are you doing here?” Shay didn’t remember seeing her name on the volunteer list. Besides, the schedule had been filled weeks ago, before Adele had even arrived in Rankins.
“Oh, Shay, hi. I came with Hannah. She’s working the booth over there with the knights and dragons.” Adele tipped her head to the left.
Shay spotted Hannah in the preschool castle, dancing in her blue-and-green-scaled dragon costume. Hannah took the hands of a miniature princess in a sparkling silver-and-blue dress and twirled her around. The little girl giggled wildly.
“Your mom is at the concession area and Hannah and I stopped by there to say hello. She seemed stressed because someone called in sick, so I volunteered to fill in. She found me this costume and now I’m on my way to deliver this, um, grog and then head over to the young adult section.”
“That’s awesome, Adele. Thank you for helping out.”
Adele smiled and Shay was struck with the thought that some of the heaviness surrounding her seemed to have lifted over the last couple weeks.
“Hannah told me you started this whole thing—Story Fair?”
Shay looked around cheerfully. “Yes, eight years ago with a friend of mine, Agnes Garner. She recently passed away, so this year is kind of tough.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss. But this is an amazing legacy for her—for both of you. It’s just...incredible.”
