Alegra's Homecoming

by Mary Anne Wilson

  “Something like that,” Alegra said. “But coffee sure helps.”

  “Amen,” Christina breathed. “So, you know the parade’s starting soon?”

  That explained the car-free street. Must have been barricaded.

  “You have to see it,” Christina went on. “Most of the people in it are locals, and they make the floats and everything.” She leaned forward. “I helped with the main float. Actually, when I was a lot younger, I was one of the serving wenches on the float.” She grinned. “It was so much fun. That was the year I realized I loved Joe.” The grin eased to a soft expression that touched her eyes. “A very good year all around.”

  “You grew up here?”

  “Both of us did.” She drank more coffee. “Then Joey of course, and now Alex. It’s a wonderful circle of life, don’t you think?”

  She did. One that was very appealing, but one she’d never know. “It’s good Joe brought Alex back here.”

  “I think so. Of course, the reasons were painful, but the outcome is what counts.”

  Painful? “I guess a divorce is never easy.”

  Christina looked at her blankly for a moment, then seemed to understand what she’d meant. “Oh, yes, of course, but that wasn’t it. He and Jean had been divorced for a while when he made the decision. It seemed sudden, but I think the idea had been brewing in Joey’s mind for some time. You see, he had a terrible fright and—”

  “A fright?”

  “Oh, yes, just the worst. Joey was at work when he got a call from the police. Alex had been at the park with his nanny and he’d disappeared.” Alegra knew her shock was evident when Christina added quickly, “Oh, dear, no, Alex was fine. It turned out he’d just wandered off with some other kids, but Joey called to say he wanted to bring Alex back to the island to live. He didn’t talk much about his decision, still doesn’t. But I know he’s really changed his priorities about a lot of things, especially about work.”

  “But he bought the newspaper.”

  “Oh, I think he did that because he likes writing and being in the mix, but there’s little to no pressure, and he can make his own hours. He’s not taking off on some assignment or pulling in all-nighters anymore.”

  Alegra heard a band starting up, and police were moving people off the street and onto the walkway.

  Christina touched Alegra on the arm. “The parade’s starting.” She got to her feet. “I love it. Things like this make me really appreciate having this place to call home.”

  Alegra stood and picked up her coffee to take with her. “I need to go. I have to—”

  “Yes, we need to get out there before the first band comes by, and if I know my Joe, he’s fighting off the hordes to keep our spot,” Christina said, apparently assuming Alegra was going with her.

  Alegra, however, had no intention of standing in a suffocating crowd to see a parade. She’d go back to the Snug Harbor and wait out the day there. The ball was tonight. On the sidewalk, as Alegra was about to head back to the bed-and-breakfast, they ran into Joe, with Alex on his shoulders. Joe was smiling and Alex was bouncing with excitement.

  “Dad’s got a great spot,” Joe said, before realizing, apparently, the woman inches from him was Alegra. His cheerful expression slipped a bit. “He’s worried we won’t get back before it starts.”

  “I ran in to Alegra in the coffee shop,” Christina was saying in a voice loud enough to be heard over the band that was warming up out of sight. “I hope he’s got a good spot for all of us.”

  Joe’s eyes stayed on Alegra. “It’s a good spot,” he said, and glanced away to his mother. “Over by the park entrance, right by the statue.”

  “Perfect.” Christina slipped her arm through Alegra’s and tugged her with her, giving her no option except to go with her. “We don’t want to miss a moment.”

  So Alegra went with Christina, with Joe and Alex right behind them. They found Joe Senior near the entry to the park, doing his best to keep a few square feet of sidewalk clear for the rest of his family. When he saw Alegra, he grinned at her. “You won’t believe this parade,” he said as his wife pulled Alegra into the cleared area.

  Right then the band started in earnest, and Alex yelled, “It’s here. It’s here!”

  Alegra looked up at the boy, instead of down the street the way everybody else was doing. Alex was flushed with excitement, his deep blue eyes bright with joy, and he clapped the same way his grandfather and father were clapping. Three generations of Lawrences watching the same parade. The thought made Alegra swallow the lump rising in her throat, and she quickly looked down the street at the approaching band.

  Strains of “Stars and Stripes Forever” rang in the air as the band, made up of teenagers in bright red uniforms, earnestly played their instruments. A voice came over the loudspeakers. “The marching band from Shelter Island High School.” People cheered and clapped and flashes went off.

  Alegra would leave as soon as she could slip away without making a scene, but to do that, she had to stay at the back of their little group where Joe was until the time came.

  Chapter Thirteen

  A perfectly restored Model A Ford, carrying two men, brought up the rear of the band. “Ladies and gentlemen,” the voice on the loudspeakers said, “our Mayor, Bill Foyle.” The cheers rose. Then, “And our fire chief, Joe Armstrong.” More cheers. At first Alegra stood back, just waiting for the moment she could leave, but the crowd surged forward and she had no choice but to go with it. She got on tiptoes to look down the street and saw the first float coming into view.

  It looked like the crow’s nest of an old ship, much like the gazebo in the park, and it held several men dressed like pirates. A live parrot was tethered to one man’s shoulder. The others waved swords and pumped fists in the air, while the band changed to a rousing version of “Blow the Man Down.” Jugglers, also dressed like pirates, danced around the float as it made its way down the street, juggling huge black balls, without dropping one of them. More floats came past, some simple, no more than flatbeds with club members on them, and some more complex. Then one all decorated with flowers came into sight. “Sonya Reyes, Miss Shelter Island,” blared from the loudspeakers.

  Alegra still wanted out of there, but as she turned, her arm hit Joe’s. They both looked at each other, then amazingly, Joe smiled at her. “Fun, isn’t it?” he called over the noise.

  She looked away without answering, because at that moment, the lump in her throat wouldn’t let her speak. Yes, it was all fun, and no kid should be sneaking away the morning after high school graduation. She bit her lip hard and turned back to the parade, but she didn’t see anything except herself in the early-morning light heading for the ferry.

  Christina moved closer to put an arm around her shoulders and whisper in her ear. “This is my float coming up,” she said. “And take special note of the tree trunks. I did them. Also, the man dressed like a pirate is Sean Payne, a local artist. His work’s really getting popular and they asked him to be old Bartholomew for the parade and at the ball tonight.”

  Alegra felt bile rise in her throat as Christina let her go, and she had to force herself to look at the street and the float coming into view. It was at least thirty feet long on a flatbed that had been decorated to look like a beach with palm trees and rocks and sand. A fake fire came out of a pile of stones, and pirates sat around it. One man stood, in costume, above them all, waving to the crowd with one hand and a large sword in the other. Sean Payne.

  She stared at his tall, thin form, waiting for something to come besides this sense of dread, but there was nothing. He grinned at the crowds, waved, yelled, “Aye, matey!” at the top of his voice and seemed to be having a great time. The man was a stranger. There was no part of the boy left in him.

  The crowd cheered and the band coming right after the float broke into a piece that she remembered from the past, “Bad, Bad Bartholomew,” a song one of the music teachers at the high school had written years ago. “Isn’t it great?” Christi
na called, twisting to look back at her and Joe and Alex.

  “Yeah, Mom, just great,” Joe said, and Alex bobbed his head in agreement.

  Christina looked at Alegra. “If you don’t have anything to do for dinner, come on over. We’re having our pirate’s meal.” She grinned. “Meat and potatoes, and the meat, I have to warn you, is pretty bloody. It’s a tradition with us, and I hate to break tradition.”

  If she let go, Alegra thought, she’d fall into this world of family and laughter and traditions. “Thanks,” she managed to say to Christina, not accepting or refusing the invitation. She glanced up at Joe, intending to say she had to leave, but he was watching the parade. For a moment she allowed herself to just look at him. She saw the strong line of his jaw and the way his hair curled vaguely at the temples. She could see a pulse beating under his ear, a steady beat that, for a crazy minute, she was sure she could feel in her own body.

  Quickly, she looked away. She just wanted not to be where she was at that moment. She wouldn’t let herself playact this way, pretending she was part of this, that she thought Sean looked great as Bartholomew. She eased away from the family, going back until people moved between her and Joe. Finally she broke free, and minutes later was in the parking lot of the bed-and-breakfast. Then she was at her cottage and opening the door.

  As she closed it, she began to shake. All she could think of was Joe and Alex and their traditions and how they came home every day, day in and day out, to a perfect place. Of Sean smiling and making his grand entrance. Of Joe Senior and Christina smiling at each other. Then Joe by her side.

  She closed her eyes tightly, taking deep breaths and telling herself over and over that none of this mattered. But even as she chanted the denial in her mind, she knew it wasn’t true. No matter what she told herself, if she let go, it would all matter so very much to her. Especially Joe. He would matter more than life itself.

  Her heart sank when the truth cut through her. She’d let him slip into her life and in the process become the part of it that made her feel alive. But it was impossible. Totally crazy. It was a weakness she hadn’t known she had until she met him on the ferry. But a weakness she could control. When she left, she’d be changed, and she knew that the clean break she wanted from this place wasn’t possible. She’d take some of this with her, and most of it would be what happened between her and Joe.

  She just wasn’t sure how she’d live like that, but she would. She’d lived through worse things and gone on. She wouldn’t even think about the loneliness hovering out there for her. She’d get past that, too. She’d work. She’d become more successful and somewhere, sometime, all this would fade away and be gone. She’d be in control again.

  She crossed to the desk, hit the refresh button on the computer and her mail screen flashed to life. She counted six messages from Roz, but from the subject lines, she knew she could ignore them. She called Roz, however, to check that the fund-allocation request had been sent to the ball officials. Roz assured her it was all in place, and that the town officials would absolutely do as she wished. The lighthouse would be restored and fully operational.

  “Thank you, Roz,” Alegra said.

  She hung up and headed into the bedroom. She tried to block out the noises from the street as she took out her bags and started to pack. She wanted to be ready to leave on the first ferry in the morning. She left out a shimmering silver dress and accessories she planned on wearing to the ball, her old T-shirt for sleeping, but packed everything else. She was reaching for her cosmetic bag when a knock sounded on the door. She headed to it and called, “Who’s there?”

  Nothing. She finally pulled the door open and knew she hadn’t escaped at all. Joe stood there, and she was filled with both fear and joy. She knew the minute she faced him and met those eyes that she was very close to loving him.

  “Why did you do that?” he asked.

  She stared at him and wondered why she’d been stupid enough to think that she could control anything about Joe or her feelings for him as he moved past her into the cottage. She turned, letting the door shut, and he was a foot from her, facing her.

  “Do what?” she managed.

  “Disappear.”

  Damn it, the cottage felt so small! “I had to get back. I needed to…do things.”

  “Then why didn’t you just say that and go?”

  Because you were there, and all I wanted was for you to smile down at me and hold me to your side. The words never made it past her lips. “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “Mom thinks you’re angry, that she said something that upset you.”

  “She didn’t upset me,” Alegra said. But that was a lie. Christina’s talk about Joe, about having a home here, family traditions and the like had torn at Alegra, though she was certain the older woman hadn’t suspected the impact her words had. “She just talked about…things.”

  Joe came closer. “What things?”

  Oh, why lie? Alegra thought now. “You.”

  “What about me?”

  “About you coming back here and making your home here.”

  Joe exhaled. “Then you know everything about me.”

  “No, I don’t,” she murmured.

  “What more is there?”

  “I still don’t know how you could have just walked away from everything, just like that, and…”

  “Give it all up?”

  The blue of his eyes seemed almost black now. Dark and intense. She turned from his gaze to walk to the windows and look out. “Yes,” she said. “How could you just walk away from all you’d worked for and come back to this place? I know it must have been awful when Alex disappeared, but to give up everything seems insane.”

  “I just wanted to come home,” he said.

  It was a simple explanation, yet the words made her realize what she didn’t have, what she wanted. A home. But there was no such place for her. She closed her eyes. “So you left everything just to come home?”

  “I didn’t leave everything,” he said in a low voice. “I have everything I want right here.”

  “Well, good for you,” she muttered, and was shocked at the sarcasm in her tone. She turned from the window. He’d taken off his jacket and laid it on the couch back. He stood across the room, watching her, and she prayed she wouldn’t lose control, although every nerve in her body was growing rawer and rawer. “You’ve got a place to come home to. You’ve got your family and everything’s perfect for you. I’m happy for you, I really am.”

  As if on cue, she heard the music outside switch to “Home, Sweet Home.” “Perfect,” she muttered. “Just perfect.”

  Joe came closer, hesitated, then said in a low, rough voice, “Alegra, if you wanted to, you could have a home, too. You could have everything you ever wanted.”

  She glared at him. “I have everything I want,” she insisted, but knew she didn’t have anything at all.

  “Do you?” he asked. He captured her face between his palms. “I don’t.”

  “But…you…”

  “I don’t have you,” he said.

  THE ADMISSION surprised him. But it was true. He wanted her. He thought he could just walk away, that he’d go on and never look back again, but he’d been wrong. When he’d seen her with his mom, then watched her watching the parade, he’d known what a fool he’d been. It didn’t matter what she did or didn’t do. All that mattered was being with her.

  As he held Alegra’s face and looked into those amber eyes, Joe knew that just being with her wasn’t the bottom line, either. He loved her. It had come quickly and hit him directly. It wasn’t soft and peaceful, creeping up on him; it was unnerving and intense. It consumed him, made him ache. It stunned him to realize he’d never really been in love before. He’d never even come close.

  “Oh, Joe,” he heard her say and he didn’t hesitate to lean forward and touch her lips with his. His love for her didn’t come slowly and peacefully, it burst on him, filling him with need and desire, and when her arms lifted to circle
his neck, when her breasts flattened against his chest, he didn’t look back.

  Her taste filled him, her heat seared through him, and he knew he’d waited his whole life for this woman. He lifted her and wrapped her legs around him and kissed her deeply. He carried her into the bedroom, the shadows soft with the drapes closed to the day outside. He lowered himself to the bed with her still against him, and he pushed at a suitcase, sending it and its contents to the floor in a heap.

  He let her go only long enough to kick off his boots, then he was with her, twisting toward her in the mussed linen as her body arched toward his. He loved her touch on him, the way her hands worked their way under his shirt, and he wanted nothing more than to feel her bare skin. He fumbled with the buttons on her heavy shirt, and she fell back into the bed, not moving, her amber eyes never leaving his as he managed to undo the fasteners. He finally pushed the soft material aside, and there was no coyness in Alegra as he touched her breasts through the fine lace of her bra. She gasped and arched toward him, then threw her head back and closed her eyes.

  He felt the tightening of her nipples under his fingers, and he lifted the lace, freeing her breasts. Then his lips took the place of his hands, and she trembled. He sucked and teased her nipples, until his own desire demanded he take off his jeans. When he eased back and off the bed, her eyes opened immediately and she whispered, “Please.”

  He quickly stripped off his jeans, shirt, then his briefs and went back to her. He helped Alegra tug off her jeans and panties, then tossed them into the shadows. She came to him, naked skin against naked skin, heat mingling with heat. He tasted her, working his way from her lips to her throat, to her breasts again, then to her stomach. Then lower. He heard her sharp intake of air as he touched her moist heat, and she cried out when his fingers entered her.

  Suddenly, there was nothing but need. Hot, burning need. She was pulling him to her, and he got over her, between her legs, and touched her with his hardness. He tested her, then made himself say, “I want you.”

  She was under him, her breathing ragged, and she whispered, “Just love me.”