by Lois Richer
“We shall,” Ashley said as if she sensed his thoughts. Then she pointed her nose in the air and strode across the deck as if she were a princess. Tati followed, copying her snooty stance.
Michael looked to Piper who was trying to conceal her grin.
“Come along then, Captain. Let’s get this rig moving.” Ashley tilted one imperious eyebrow as if questioning his hesitation.
“You have your orders, sailor.” Piper saluted him smartly.
“Yes, ma’am.” He saluted back then marched across in proper servant form. He started the engine, waited till Piper cast off, then eased them out of the berth and across the still blue water.
“Ta ta,” Ashley called, offering a queenly wave. She and Tati both wore life jackets and sat in the front of the boat on the most comfortable chairs.
Michael pushed the throttle a little harder, watching as the two heads, one silver-bright, one dark as night, pressed together. Even over the sound of the motor he could hear their singing.
So that was the secret. Tati loved to sing.
He shoved his sunglasses down over his eyes and smiled. Life didn’t get much better than this.
*
“It was a great afternoon,” Ashley murmured as Michael lifted Tati from her lap and carried the sleeping child ashore. “Thank you very much.”
“Thank you for coming. It wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun without you.” He’d already tied off the boat, so he handed her the keys. “If you could take those into the marina, I’ll put Tati in the car.”
“Sure.” She strode to the store well aware that his eyes followed her progress. Only when she was inside did she peek over one shoulder. He was heading for his car.
“Everything okay?” Jason asked as he took the keys.
“Everything was lovely. Tell Piper—” She stopped, smiled as she saw her friend sitting behind him. “The lunch was lovely, Pip. I don’t know how you managed to find fresh strawberries at this time of year.”
“I have my sources.” Piper raised one eyebrow.
“What’s the look for?”
“Oh, nothing.” Piper’s dark eyes sparkled with interest. “So you enjoyed your afternoon with Michael? And Tatiana, of course.”
Suddenly Ashley got it.
“No, Piper. Don’t get any ideas. It was a nice afternoon, but I’m not interested in becoming anyone’s mommy.” As the last word left her lips, Ashley heard a noise behind her. She turned. Michael stood there, his face tight.
“Excuse me. Just wanted to say thanks for a great afternoon.” Michael didn’t even look at her. “Tati and I both enjoyed it.” He turned and walked out of the building, toward his car.
“Rats!” Ashley glared at Piper. “This is your fault. I’ll talk to you later.”
“I look forward to it,” Piper said with a knowing glint in her eyes.
As she followed Michael to the car, Ashley searched for the appropriate apology. But how did you apologize for a faux pas like that?
He held her door, politely waited until she was inside, then closed it with great care so as not to waken his daughter. But as he walked around the hood and got into the car, she saw that all the fun had drained away.
“It won’t take a minute to get back to your car,” he said quietly.
“Look, I’m sorry you heard that.” Ashley bit her lip, tried again. “I didn’t mean it exactly the way it sounded.”
“No?”
He wasn’t cutting her any slack. Ashley tried again.
“No. Piper’s in this blissful state because she’s in love with Jason and she thinks it should be the same for me.”
“Uh-huh.” He kept his gaze straight ahead.
She could almost feel the ice.
“Look. I’m sorry. Really. But your life is full with your daughter and your work, Michael. You told me that yourself.”
“Yes, I did.” He glanced at her. “I don’t recall suggesting I was looking for a mother for my daughter. Or anything else.”
“No, you didn’t.” She shifted uncomfortably. “But Piper’s thinking that way. I was just trying to stop her before it went too far.”
He turned the corner, pulled up beside her car, then turned to face her.
“What’s too far for you, Ashley? Friendship? An afternoon on a boat?” His mouth tightened. “I’m not going to abduct you, you know.”
She blanched at his words, pressed her spine against the seat. “I know that.”
“For your information, just so we’ve got everything straight—I was divorced. Her idea, not mine, but our marriage ended shortly after it happened. Several years ago actually.” He glared at her, a self-mocking, sardonic smile twisting his lips. “I guess I wasn’t as bright as you. I didn’t see the problems early enough to bail.”
“Michael, please. I didn’t mean—” She stopped. The hole was only getting bigger.
“You see, that’s the problem, Ashley. I don’t know what you mean. I don’t understand you at all. One minute you look like you’re enjoying yourself, the next you’ve thrown up this iron fence around yourself as if you’re scared you might let go and let somebody see the real you.” She opened her mouth, but he held up a hand. “Don’t bother to deny it. You were laughing and enjoying yourself today. What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing.” She glared through the windshield, irritated by his manner.
“Then why do you act as if you’re afraid?” His voice dropped. “For a little while you forget. You poke your head out into life for a few minutes, let yourself enjoy what’s happening. But then something changes and you pull back in like a scared turtle. Can’t you tell me why you keep freezing up?”
“I’m not doing that,” she insisted.
“Yes, you are.” He held her gaze, his own solemn. “I thought we could be friends, but you put up barriers, like you expect something bad to happen. As if you expect me to do something. What did I do to make you think that?”
“Nothing.”
“Then…” He opened his eyes wide, waited for her to speak as he parked beside her car.
She wanted to pretend, but Ashley knew exactly what he was talking about. Because she was afraid, she had been for years. But she wasn’t going to admit it here and now. Especially not to him.
A flickering memory from the past reminded her that he’d always championed the underdog. He would want to help, to give her advice or reassure her. But Ashley did not want to be Michael’s next project.
“I’ve ruined everything and I never meant to,” she apologized quietly. “I was trying to stop Piper from matchmaking and I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. It was rude and I regret it. Your personal life is entirely your own business.”
“Sounds like there’s a but coming.”
“I had a wonderful time with both of you. It was fun. Tell Tati goodbye for me, will you?”
Before he could say a word Ashley eased out of his car, closed the door and unlocked her own. A moment later she drove down Main Street, headed in the wrong direction, but who cared? Anything to get away.
But as she drove the familiar streets, Ashley realized she was driving toward her childhood home, the one she’d returned to each summer to live in with her father. She paused, prepared to turn around and then suddenly, she changed her mind.
Maybe it was time to face the past. Part of it, anyway.
She drove slowly, savoring the maple-lined streets, the big spacious lawns with bikes on the sidewalks. Then she was home.
Home. What an odd word. She hadn’t really felt at home for years.
There was a sign on the lawn. Open House. She stared at the sign, let the idea spark into life. What could it hurt—just to look?
Ashley climbed out of the car, walked up the cement sidewalk her father had put in when she was about four.
“Hello. Are you here for the open house? You’re just in time. I was about to close up. Come on in.”
The agent held the door. Ashley walked inside.
I
t was different.
It was the same.
The entry was big, showcasing an oak banister she’d slid down more than once. Someone had painted the wood a gruesome shade of green and covered the hardwood floors with broadloom, but otherwise the layout was the same.
“It’s a beautiful house. Needs a little work, of course. No one’s lived in it for several months.”
“The owners moved out?” Ashley asked, pausing to study the living room and the huge bay window where she’d sat mooning over Michael all those summers ago.
“They separated in the spring. Here’s the study.”
Ashley followed her, listening as the woman described features already engraved in her mind.
“It’s a gorgeous study. There’s a little fountain outside that window that the birds just love. And here’s the dining room. Perfect for entertaining. You’ll love the kitchen, too. Updated, but without ruining the views and the layout toward the family room. The lake view is perfect, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is.” Ashley stared out the wall of windows toward the jetty her parents had built together. It had probably been repaired over the years, but if she cleared her mind, she could almost see her mother standing there, calling her, Piper and Rowena to get out of the water and eat supper.
“There’s a back staircase tucked under here providing access to the bedrooms from both ends. It’s well laid out.” The woman led the way upstairs. “Here’s the master bedroom. Very spacious. And the bathroom’s been refinished.”
Ashley gave it only a cursory look then moved on to the room at the back, her room.
“I think this is the best room in the house. Just look at that view.”
Ashley was looking, drinking it in like someone dying of thirst.
“The window seat is perfect, isn’t it? Water view, hills, the garden below. See the tree house?”
“Do you mind if I spend a few moments here? By myself,” she added when the woman looked as though she’d stay. “I know you want to close but I’d just like a bit of time to think.”
“Take all the time you want. There are two other bedrooms to see, as well. I’ll be downstairs.”
“Thank you.”
Two other rooms that should have been filled with brothers and sisters that had never happened. Her mother had claimed one as her sewing room. Ashley had used the other for her paints and watercolors.
In the blink of an eye her surroundings became her room from the past. White organza curtains billowing at the windows, white carpet on the floor, a white eyelet spread on the bed. Even after she’d left to come back each summer, it had stayed the same. Piper and Rowena had lounged on the red chairs while she stretched out on the bed.
For a few moments the happy times flooded back, but then the pain intruded. With a wistful sigh, Ashley turned and walked downstairs.
“Are you interested? I’ll give you my card, just in case. Feel free to call at any time. Here are the specs if you need them.”
“Thanks for letting me look.” Ashley tucked the paper into her purse, then walked back to her car, the sadness of the place haunting her.
Why am I still here, God? What is it I’m trying to find in Serenity Bay that will let me get back my life?
She could easily find herself another job. She had the experience and the credentials—it wouldn’t be hard. And yet a tiny tug in her heart told her she should wait. A verse Mrs. Masters had taught them echoed back from the past as it had twice before.
Be still and know that I am God.
Be still—Was He trying to teach her something?
But before Michael came, at the ice-cream shop—I saw him. I know I did. She’d never forget that face, no matter how long she lived.
Which meant that either her abductor had returned or he’d never left.
“How can I stay if he’s here?”
As she drove to Piper’s, Ashley heard only one answer.
Know that I am God.
Chapter Five
After three weeks of using every possible excuse she could find to avoid running into Michael Masters again, Ashley’s luck ran out the Friday an early snowstorm sent school students home ahead of schedule.
“Hello, Michael,” she said when she had to pass by him to get her coat from the staff room.
He nodded, stepped back to allow her to pass. “Ashley.”
She retrieved her coat, wound her scarf around her neck, buying precious minutes until he left. But Michael didn’t seem inclined to leave quickly. He thrust his arms into his jacket, waited until the other teachers left the room. Then there were only two of them.
“How are you?”
“Fine.” She risked a look at him, found his focus centered on her. “You?”
“Can’t complain.” He kept watching her. “You’re still here.”
“Yes.” She shrugged. “I promised Piper I wouldn’t leave until after her wedding. Except for Christmas. I’m going to Hawaii for that.”
“Nice.”
“My mom lives there.” Ashley drew on her gloves, wishing he’d move away from the doorway. She didn’t want to push past him and there really was little more to say.
“What’s keeping you busy?”
“Nothing much.”
“Somehow I don’t see you content to think about nothing much which means you’ve been up to something.” Michael’s mischievous grin flashed then disappeared. His voice grew edgy. “Sorry. It’s none of my business.”
“It’s not a secret.” She sighed, pressed the strap of her purse over one shoulder. “Look. I messed up. Big-time. I offended you and I know it. If I say I’m sorry again will you forgive me and forget about my big mouth?”
“It’s why you said it that bugs me.”
She’d known that was coming. Ashley met his gaze and admitted the truth.
“You make me nervous, Michael.”
“Nervous? Me?” He blinked. “Why?”
“Shades of the past, probably. I guess I still think of you as the most popular boy on the Bay and I feel like the dumb klutz I was, hiding behind your mother’s plant. Sometimes my mouth gets going before my brain is in gear, like that day when I—you know. I feel stupid.”
“Then we’re even,” he murmured.
Ashley frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I look at you and see a classy polished woman who’s traveled around the world, wears designer clothes, has mingled with some of the twentieth century’s best artists, and I feel like a country bumpkin. And then there’s the connection.”
Connection? What was he talking about?
“I know it probably sounds cheesy to put it like that, but there is a connection between us, Ashley. You must have felt it.”
She might have told herself he was teasing but for his serious expression. And for the fact that she had felt a zing of electricity the moment she’d first seen him. That had grown stronger with each meeting.
“You’re not saying anything. That’s a bad sign.”
“I don’t know what to say,” she admitted.
“Just talk to me.”
“I like you, Michael. I like Tati very much. But coming back to Serenity Bay—well, it’s brought back a lot of stuff I’d rather forget. None of it particularly pleasant.” She hoped he wouldn’t press for details.
“So where do we go from here?”
“What if we just agree that you’re no country bumpkin and you say you’ll forgive me saying and doing the wrong thing at the wrong time.”
“Done.” He thrust out his hand and grasped hers, shaking it as if they’d struck some deal. “So what have you been doing lately?”
“If I say you’re like a dog with a bone, will you be offended?” She chuckled at his growl. “If you must know, I’ve been assembling a sort of inventory of the artists in the area.”
He frowned. “Why?”
“Probably because of all Piper’s talk about getting Serenity Bay on the map. She thinks there could be a real explosion of interest here once t
ourists find out there are so many talented people doing such a variety of work. Frankly, I think she’s right. But nobody’s going to know unless the artists get some exposure.”
“You know a way to do that?”
“I know some gallery owners,” she said, wondering what had put the glint back in his eyes. “I’ve contacted a couple of them who are willing to look at some pieces on spec.”
“You don’t look pleased by that.”
“I guess it’s a first step, but I was thinking more in terms of setting up something here. If a well-known gallery had a satellite place in Serenity Bay, they’d have first shot at the pieces and the city galleries might accept that the work that’s produced here is worth coming to see.” She rubbed her neck, aware that a tiny headache had begun there. “A win-win situation.”
“But your gallery people don’t want that.”
“To them a place here would be a money loser. The area’s tourism isn’t built in yet so they say what’s happened so far might be a flash in the pan. Piper’s plans for the winter look good on paper but until the Bay starts attracting people and revenue, I don’t think anyone is going to sink that big an investment for return that only lasts a few months in the year.”
“I see.”
She ducked her head to look outside. “The snow’s getting worse. I’d better go.”
“Yeah.” Still he didn’t move. It was almost as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t quite get the words out.
“Would you let me pass, please?”
He opened his mouth as if to say something, but after a moment shook his head and stepped aside. “Of course. Drive carefully.”
“I always do.” She eased past him, catching the scent of his aftershave that made her think of a summer long past when she’d seen Michael riding his motorcycle. Her heart skipped.
Oh, yeah, there was a connection between them.
“Have a good weekend.”
Ashley fluttered her fingers then hurried down the hall, pushed open the door. Noon’s brisk autumn breeze had become a raging gust that ripped at her hair and dashed snow against her cheek. If this kept up, it wouldn’t be long before the roads were covered with snow drifts. She tossed her purse onto the passenger’s seat, saw a slide fall out and remembered that she was supposed to have given it to a student in her class who was studying that artist’s work.
