As though reading his mind, Annie asked, “What’re you doing this summer, Jamie, now that your work plans have changed?”
He took the last bite of fish and pushed his basket away. “Working here, as a matter of fact.”
“Here.” Annie clicked her fingernail against the table. “As in the Pelican’s Roost?”
“Yep.” Jamie sat back in the booth. “They hired me to bartend.”
“Ha.” She tossed her wadded-up napkin at him. “Since when are you a bartender?”
“Since I turned twenty-one last December. I bartend for a couple of caterers in Columbia during the school year. It’s a fun way to earn spending money. I’m pretty good at it too.”
“Cool!” Lizbet said. “We’re always looking for bartenders. You should work for us some this summer.”
“That’s right.” Annie tugged on her lip as she considered this. “In fact, we’re still looking for bartenders for the Pickett wedding this weekend. We are short on help because it’s Mother’s Day and graduation at the college. The bride’s parents are hosting the reception at their fab house on Legare Street. Are you interested? You can spend the night with me at Heidi’s.”
“Sure. Why not?” He managed to sound cool despite the pounding of his heart. He would jump at the chance to spend more time with Lizbet.
“Don’t you need to check your work schedule here?” Annie asked.
“I already did. Honestly, I’m not sure how much they’re going to need me this summer. They seemed excited about hiring me, but I’m only working three nights this week.”
“In that case, we have several other big weddings coming up,” Annie said. “I’ll text you the dates when I get back to the office. I’m sure Heidi would love to give you the work.”
“By the way, how’s it going, working and living with Heidi?” Jamie asked.
“Believe it or not, we’re getting along great. We don’t have time to argue. Our lives are too busy. And she’s hardly ever in the store. She’s either in her office or meeting with clients. Work is work. She’s the boss and I’m the employee when it comes to our professional relationship.”
When Lizbet politely excused herself to use the restroom, Annie waited until her friend was out of earshot before she leaned over the table and said in a loud whisper, “I knew the two of you would hit it off!”
“The two of who?” He had to work hard to keep a straight face. If Annie had intentionally set them up, maybe Lizbet didn’t have a boyfriend after all.
Annie let out an exaggerated sigh. “Duh. You and Lizbet, silly. You’re perfect for each other.” She kept her eyes glued to the restroom door while she talked. “You both like spending time outdoors. Family and food are important to you. And she loves small towns. You heard her say so yourself.”
“Your imagination is on steroids again. She said that sometimes Charleston seems too big for her. That doesn’t mean she’s ready to move to Prospect.”
“What. Ever,” Annie said with an exaggerated eye roll. “I have a special intuition about these things. We’ll hang out after the wedding on Saturday night, and see how it goes.”
Lizbet’s return put an end to their conversation. Annie checked her phone for the time and searched the room for the waitress. “We should get the check. I want to stop by and see Sam and Faith on our way out of town.”
Annie’s body tensed, and Jamie followed her gaze to the door, to where Sean stood waving at them. “That’s Sean, Annie, not Cooper. Cooper’s working in Richmond this summer.”
“Of course! I knew that.” She peered closer. “It’s eerie how much alike they look.” She motioned Sean over.
Sean flashed her a smile and made his way to the table. She stood to greet him, and he gave her a hug. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to town?”
“Because I had no idea you were already home from college.” Annie introduced Sean to Lizbet. “We’ve already eaten. Otherwise I’d ask you to join us. Can you sit with us for a minute while we wait for our check?”
Annie sat back down, and Sean slid onto the bench beside Jamie. “But only for a minute. I have a job interview with the manager, whenever he gets off the phone.”
Jamie offered his cousin a high five. “Really, dude? I’m working here too.”
“That’s cool!” Sean clasped his hands together on the table. “I’m really sorry about the market, cuz. The place means so much to us, I feel like someone in our family died. I was really hoping to work there full-time this summer.”
Jamie directed his gaze across the street. Sean was right. Losing the market was like having a death in the family. “With any luck we’ll be reopened by next summer.”
“My mom’s gonna kill me,” Sean said. “She’s forbidden me to get a job at a restaurant. Jackie’s gonna freak when she finds out they hired me to bus tables.”
Jackie? Jamie tried not to let his surprise show. He’d never heard either of the twins refer to their parents by their first names.
“How funny is that?” Sean talked on. “I got the bottom-of-the-barrel job. What did you get hired for?”
“Bartending,” Jamie said.
His blue eyes gleamed with mischief. “That’s awesome, cuz. You can sneak me some drinks.”
“Sorry, bro, but I can’t risk the Roost losing their liquor license.”
Sean let out an awkward laugh. “Just kidding, dude.”
“I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve seen you,” Annie said. “How’s Cooper? We text all the time, but I haven’t seen him since . . . Well, you know.”
“Cooper is setting the world on fire.” Sean punched the air with his fist. “Everything my brother touches turns to gold.”
Jamie exchanged a look of concern with Annie. His usually laid-back cousin seemed off, skittish almost.
“Come on, Sean,” Annie said. “I’m sure your first year at Georgia was just as successful.”
“So successful I’m not going back,” Sean said and hung his head.
“Oh.” Annie’s face fell. “Well, college isn’t for everyone. I’m living proof of that.”
Sean’s head jerked back, and he stared at her with contempt. “You went to culinary school, Annie. You got to pick your own career.”
Jamie was relieved to see the waitress heading their way, and he signaled for the check. As he was turning his head back around, he spotted a figure sifting through the rubble at the market. He did a double take. “Is that Lovie over there?”
Four sets of eyes looked out the window at once.
“Damn!” Sean said. “It sure looks like her.”
“What on earth is she doing?” Annie asked.
“We’d better get over there.” Jamie cast a nervous glance toward the kitchen. “I wish our waitress would hurry up with the check?”
“Go! I’ll take care of the check.” Lizbet waved them on with a flick of her wrist.
Jamie and Annie dropped cash on the table, and they and Sean raced down the stairs and across the street. Jamie stuck his arms out to stop Annie and Sean when they reached the sidewalk on the other side. “Be careful,” he said in a low voice. “We don’t want to scare her.”
As they inched their way toward Lovie, Jamie motioned for Annie and Sean to stay behind him. “What’re you doing, Gran?” He took a tentative step toward his grandmother. “You’re getting all dirty.” Lovie’s hands, arms, and clothes were black from the soot.
“I’m looking for something,” she said without raising her head.
“Whatever you’re looking for, I don’t think you’ll find it in here. Come on.” He gently took hold of her arm. “Let me take you home.”
She snatched her arm away. “Get your hands off me, young man.”
Jamie’s blood ran cold. “Gran, it’s me, Jamie, your grandson.”
Lovie cocked her head to one side. “Whose child are you?”
“I’m Sam’s son, Gran.”
She looked past him at Annie and Sean. “And who are they?”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sean inch away, his cell phone pressed to his ear.
Annie stepped forward. “I’m Annie. Do you remember me? We used to make up recipes together when I worked at Sweeney’s.”
Lovie studied Annie’s face and shook her head. “I’m sorry. I don’t remember you.”
Lovie’s eyes were damp, and Annie’s bottom lip began to quiver. Jamie needed to act quickly before they both fell apart. “I’m taking you home.” Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he drew her in close and held her tight so she couldn’t escape. “My truck is parked across the street at the marina.”
Shuffling along beside him, she looked up at him with cloudy eyes. “Are we going to see Oscar Sweeney at the marina?”
TEN
Jackie
Jackie stomped on the gas pedal and sped down Creekside at nearly eighty miles an hour, barely slowing as she made the turn into Faith’s driveway. She skidded to a halt in the gravel in front of the house. She marched up the steps, burst through the front door, and stormed down the hall. “Why didn’t you tell me Mom was so bad off?” she demanded of Sam, the first person she encountered when she entered the family room.
Sam jumped to her feet and got in her face. “We would have told you, if you’d taken the time to call one of us.”
“Well . . . I . . . ” Jackie took a step backward. She was guilty as charged. She’d been too preoccupied with Sean all weekend to think about how the rest of her family was coping after the fire. “I guess that’s fair. I’ve had a lot going on.”
Sam glared at her. “Haven’t we all.”
She heard movement to her right and saw four faces staring at her from that hideous blue corduroy sofa. How was it that she shared DNA with her baby sister when their tastes were polar opposites? “I see the gang’s all here.” Annie, bless her heart, was cowering behind Jamie at the far end of the sofa. Jackie cautioned herself to tread lightly. The poor girl was terrified of her, and making a scene would only make matters worse. She’d last seen Annie in the hospital after Annie had lost the baby. Jackie had apologized for the way she’d treated her, but the hurt in the girl’s eyes indicated forgiveness would not soon be forthcoming.
Annie rose from the couch. “We should probably get going. We have an event to prepare for tonight.”
The other three kids stood in unison. Sean turned to Jamie. “Do you want to help me put out my crab traps?”
Jamie hunched his shoulders. “Why not? I could use some fresh air.”
They stopped in turn to speak to Sam and Jackie as they filed out of the room.
Jackie gave Annie’s rigid body a quick hug. “Welcome home. It’s nice to see you, although I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances.”
Annie offered her a smile that fell short of reaching her pretty brown eyes. She would have to work harder to earn her way back into the girl’s good graces. As Jamie’s half sister, Annie was part of the family, and Jackie had nothing against her as a person. She was undeniably a lovely girl with much to offer some lucky young man. If it worked out in the future between Cooper and Annie, she would throw them the biggest wedding the Lowcountry had ever seen. When the time was right. When an unplanned pregnancy wasn’t dictating their future or forcing them to make a commitment they weren’t ready for.
She extended her hand to Lizbet when it was her turn. “It’s nice to see you down in our neck of the woods.” She’d met Lizbet during the dinners and cocktail parties Heidi had catered at her house in Charleston. She’d found her professional and pleasant to work with.
She kissed Jamie’s cheek and ruffled Sean’s hair. “You boys be careful out on the water today. And don’t forget to put on sunscreen.”
She waited until she heard the front door click shut before turning to her sister. “Where’s Faith?”
“In the bathroom with Mom, helping her get cleaned up.” Sam did an about-face and said over her shoulder on her way to the kitchen, “I don’t know about you, but I could use some coffee.”
Jackie followed Sam into the kitchen. “Are you sure Mom didn’t recognize any of the kids?” She plucked a Chai Latte from the variety display of K-Cups and popped it into the Keurig. “Maybe she was just distracted.”
“I wasn’t there, remember? I’m just telling you what Jamie told me. According to him, she had no clue who any of them were.”
“Does she know you?” Jackie asked, one eye on the machine as her latte brewed.
“I haven’t seen her today, but she did on Saturday when I last saw her.” Sam removed the cream from the refrigerator and the sweetener from the cabinet next to the stove. “She seemed to know who Bitsy was then too, unless she was faking it. I’m worried about how quickly she’s losing ground. I wish we could see the neurologist sooner. I wasn’t able to get an appointment until next Monday.”
Jackie removed her phone from her blazer pocket. “What’s the doctor’s name? I’ll see if Bill can get us in sooner.”
“Dr. Jerome Lawson at MUSC.”
Bill answered after the third ring, and she quickly explained the situation. “None of this surprises me,” he said when she’d finished talking. “Your mother suffered a traumatic ordeal in watching the market burn to the ground. And now, not only has she lost her job of nearly sixty years, she’s no longer living in her own home. That’s enough to discombobulate anyone that age, but people with dementia have an even harder time adjusting to change. I’ll call Lawson’s office and see what I can do to get her in sooner, and then I’ll text you back if I’m able to change the appointment.”
She thanked him and ended the call. “How did this even happen? Where was Faith when Mom slipped away?”
“Running an errand, apparently.”
Jackie’s dark brows met in the middle. “What kind of errand? Why didn’t she take Mom with her?”
“She seemed reluctant to say.” Sam leaned back against the counter beside her sister as she sipped her coffee. “I pressed her, but she would never give me a straight answer. If you ask me, she’s been acting kinda squirrelly lately too. Maybe it’s a delayed reaction to the fire.”
“You seem fine.” Jackie leaned in close to Sam and sniffed her breath. “You’re the one I expected to fall apart.”
Sam peered at her over the rim of her coffee mug. “Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence.”
Jackie mussed her hair. “Don’t get your britches in a wad, little sis. I’m just teasing. I’m proud of you for the way you’re managing your addiction.”
Faith entered the kitchen and went to the sink for a glass of water. “I’m exhausted.” Bracing herself against the counter, she drained the glass in one gulp. “Mom has suddenly become combative. I had to fight with her to get her into the shower.”
Several strands of Faith’s hair had escaped her ponytail and were plastered against her sweaty face. Her white T-shirt was soiled, and she had black finger smudges on her forearms.
“Where is she now?” Jackie asked.
“Asleep. Thankfully. I need to sit down.”
Sam and Jackie trailed their sister to the table in the adjacent breakfast room.
Sam held a chair out for Faith. “You can’t do this alone, honey. I’ll help as much as I can, but we’re eventually going to need a trained nurse.”
Jackie’s blood pressure shot up to an all-time high. “Eventually came and went three years ago. If you’d listened to me then, she would have a nice apartment in independent living at the Hermitage Retirement Community. She’d be playing bridge with all her new friends as we speak, with a plan in place to move her to the memory care unit when the time came.”
Sam gave her the stink eye. “We made the right decision for Mom at the time, Jackie. She had three good years, doing what she loves best, which is working at the market.”
“Humph.” She pressed her lips tight. “She could’ve gotten ten good years if the two of you hadn’t been driving her hard like a workhorse every day.”
“Be quiet, J
ackie!” Faith cried. “I can’t handle this right now. Either help us figure out a solution or leave.” She stretched her arm out, pointing at the door.
Jackie stared wide-eyed at Faith. She’d never known her baby sister to get so angry. “I’m just saying that our choices are limited now because we didn’t act sooner.”
“Watch it, Jackie,” Sam warned.
“Fine.” Jackie folded her arms over her chest. “I’ll keep my mouth shut and let the two of you figure this thing out.” Her phone dinged in her hand. She read the text from Bill. “But you might want to know, before I shut my mouth, that Bill was able to move Mom’s appointment up to nine o’clock on Thursday. Why don’t you let me take her?”
“Why don’t we all take her?” Sam said.
Jackie’s mind raced ahead to Thursday. The Doyles had been pestering her for another look at her house on Lamboll. If she drove her own car to her mother’s appointment, she could arrange to meet them afterward. She was itching for a project, and she couldn’t stop thinking about the Church Street property, but she couldn’t sell her house on Lamboll until she’d secured a place to move her business. Which meant she would need to make an offer on the Meeting Street warehouse. Sean would be fine unsupervised for one day. He could go fishing with Jamie. She’d seen no signs of alcohol or drug use since they’d arrived home from Athens. He’d hit a bump in the road, but she felt he was over the worst of it.
“You’re right, Sam. We should all go. Three sets of ears are better than one when listening to doctors. I’ll meet you there. I have business in Charleston afterward.” Jackie stood to go.
Saturdays at Sweeney's Page 8
