by L. P. Dover
I roll my eyes. “That’s because she’s never awake when I cook,” I say to my mom.
My mom pats my hand and winks. “I taught you well.”
“Yes, you did,” I agree. Being around her makes me realize how much I really do miss spending time with her.
As soon as we finish breakfast, Kim and I clean the dishes so my mom can go outside and help my dad in the yard. I can see them through the kitchen sink window, laughing as they pull weeds out of one of the flower beds in the front yard.
“Think we’ll ever be that happy?” Kim wonders.
I thought there was a chance I could be, but I was totally wrong. “I hope so.”
She dries off the last dish and hands it to me. “All right, girlie, let me get dressed and we’ll get out of here. You need to get in a better mood.”
Can’t argue with her there. She disappears down the hall and it doesn’t take her long to get dressed. One of my old backpacks is in the hall closet so I pull it out and fill it up with waters and snacks. When we get outside, the weather is perfect. No clouds in sight. It’s the middle of September and the high for today is a breathtaking seventy-two degrees.
“Has Max tried to call you?”
I open the car door and get in, tossing my backpack into the backseat. My phone is in the bag, but I have yet to turn it on. I’m scared to see what messages I’ve missed, or if there are even any messages at all. It’ll gut me either way.
“I don’t know,” I confess. “I’ve been too afraid to turn my phone back on.”
Kim starts up the car and we head on our way to Acadia. “I understand. I’ve kept mine off too. I’m sure our boss has left me quite a few nasty messages for quitting.”
“You didn’t have to quit. I could’ve come up here by myself.”
She snorts. “Please. You’re my best friend. You need me right now. Besides, I really hated my job. You’re the only reason why I stayed. I knew if you became manager things would get better.” And now I’m not. I threw that opportunity away.
It doesn’t take long to get to Acadia, and today, we’re going to hike the Bubbles Trail. It’s a moderate hike that features a vast abundance of wildflowers. I need some serenity right now. Grabbing my bag out of the backseat, I slide my arms through it and tighten the straps, so it fits snugly across my back.
Kim pulls out her phone and sighs. “All right, I’m turning this thing on. The suspense is killing me.” As soon as she turns it on, there are a gazillion beeps. She scrolls through her messages and cringes her face. “Yikes. Yeah, there are some pretty harsh messages on here. Remind me never to use our boss as a reference for future jobs.” She continues scrolling, but then her eyes widen in shock.
“What is it?”
She bites her lip and looks at me. “I got a text from Max. Several in fact. He’s looking for you.”
My heart flutters for a quick second, but then reality steps in and I embrace the anger. I refuse to let him break my heart. Who am I kidding? It’s already broken. “Don’t reply,” I warn her.
She agrees with a nod and puts her phone in her pocket. “You don’t think he can track where you’re at, do you?”
Knowing Max, he can probably do anything. He knows the right people. “Dear God, I hope not. If he’s smart, he’ll leave me alone.”
Kim chuckles but there’s no humor in it. “Something tells me that’s not going to happen.”
8
Max
It took me five days to track London down. It should’ve been sooner but her best friend, Kim, is like a vault and wouldn’t tell me anything. In fact, she made me work for any minute detail, and each time she gave me a morsel, it was to throw me off their path. First, she told me London was at work—which wasn’t true because I had camped out in front of the restaurant waiting for London to come to work. Then, Kim told me London was at their house—nope, another fabrication. And then it was, we’re at the mall in Providence—so I hightailed my ass there, only to realize that mall is ginormous, and I would’ve never found London, even if I believed Kim to telling the truth.
Now, I’m sitting in my car, down the road from the farmhouse London’s parents bought. Thanks to Kim turning on her location services, I’ve been able narrow down a location for at least Kim. I figure since she quit her job as well, they would be together. Still, I haven’t seen hide nor hair of either of them. Every few minutes, I contemplate driving down the long driveway and knocking on the door. My problem is, I’m not sure if London is there and I don’t know what I’d say to her parents. If I tell them I’m looking for her and they haven’t seen her, this might alert them into thinking she’s missing. And if she is there and she’s told them about everything that happened last week, her father will likely chase me off their porch with a shotgun, which I probably deserve.
I look down at my bandaged hand and sigh. My knuckles hurt, but still I flex them to keep them from stiffening up. After I left the reception last weekend, I went right to London’s. I banged on the door until my knuckles bled. As if that wasn’t enough damage, when I returned to my boat that night, Vance had the nerve to call London a cheap fuck. One punch to his smug face landed him in the water. For years, I’ve overlooked Vance and his power trip, but no more. When he spewed those words, I couldn’t take it anymore. He knows nothing about London and looks down on her because she’s a waitress.
When I didn’t find London at my boat, I had no choice but to give up for the night. I figured she went to another friend’s but assumed she would show up for work the next day. In the morning, I parked outside the restaurant and waited. When the lunch shift started and London wasn’t there, I asked her manager, who told me she up and quit.
She quit her job.
Because of me.
Talk about feeling the lowest of lows. When her manager said that, I felt like I had been sucker punched. London was working her ass off to become manager, it was her goal, and then I offered her the chance to run the restaurant at Dawson’s Marina. Everything London had worked for was going to come to fruition and then Alyssa happened. No wonder London quit. I’d quit this damn place too if I had a choice.
A truck comes down the road and I slink down in my seat. Of course, my car sticks out like a sore thumb around here. I’m sure whoever drove past is probably calling the cops. This spurs me into action as I right myself and press the button to start my car. I put the car into drive and pull forward the length of the split rail fence, until I turn onto the dirt driveway. I cringe each time I hear a rock hit my car, undoubtedly leaving dents, or chipping the paint.
It’s just a car. It’s just paint. The prize is in that house.
That is what I tell myself until I finally come to a stop. From the outside, everything looks quiet. I don’t know if I expected something different, maybe the door opening and slamming shut or children running around, which is odd to think because London is an only child and unless she lied to me, she doesn’t have children. But the fact that I can envision children running around this place is eye opening.
I shut my car off, get out and walk with confidence to the front door. Up the small flight of wide planked steps, I knock rapidly on the wooden screen door. Voices rise as someone comes to the door. It opens and a woman, who looks identical to London stands there, holding a towel.
“Can I help you?”
“Mrs. Bauer, My name is Maxwell Richmond and I’m here to see London.” I have no idea if London is even here, but I figure if I state my point matter-of-factly, she’ll let me know whether London is here or not.
She turns her head slightly, without taking her eyes off me. “London, sweetie. Come here.”
My eyes steady on the hall, waiting for London to appear. When she does, they widen at the sight of her and my heart leaps from my chest. As soon as she recognizes me through the mesh screen, her steps falter.
“Wh—how did you find me?”
“Sweetie, who is this?” her mom asks.
“He’s no one, Mom.”
Ouch, that stings, but it’s deserving.
“Can we talk?” I ask as I point to the porch swing. It takes a moment, but London steps forward and places her hand on the screen. She hesitates before pushing it open and stepping out. I back up, giving her a wide berth. London glances at her mom and in a silent exchange, her mom nods and shuts the door. I appreciate the privacy even though I haven’t earned it.
No, I take that back. I have. What my dad, stepmom and Alyssa did to London is on them, not me. I’ve been completely honest with her about how I feel and how I feel about that side of my family. I’m nothing like Yates and Vance, which I suspect she probably thinks isn’t true.
London sits down and as much as I want to sit next to her—as much as I can picture us on this swing together, watching the sun go down—I rest against the railing. I want to pull her into my arms and apologize for everything that happened on Saturday, but I’m afraid that if I try to touch her, she’ll run.
We sit in silence for a bit, with her rocking back and forth and staring off, while I look down at the decking. I’ve cleared my throat a couple of times but am having trouble finding the right words to start my diatribe.
“You came a long way just to sit on my parent’s porch,” she finally says. “I’m not even sure why you’re here or why I’m sitting outside with you. I don’t like liars and I definitely don’t like rich boys.”
I nod. “I’m not a liar, London. I have never lied to you. The rich boy part, there isn’t anything I can do about that.”
She scoffs. “How did you even find me?”
“Kim,” I tell her.
“Kim? Kim texted you and told you where I was?”
I shake my head. “Her location services are on.”
“Stalker,” she mutters.
“I am.” I agree wholeheartedly with her. “And that should tell you something.”
“Just tells me you’re a stalker, following me all the way from Rhode Island to Maine. If you think I’m going to be some side piece, you’re crazy. People like you disgust me. You think you can have your cake and eat it too. That you can have your fancy house, trophy wife, with your prefect kids while you bang the waitress down the street and pay her rent to keep your dirty little secret at bay. That’s not me.” She points to her chest. “I deserve better than that.”
I grimace at the way she says those words. “The fact that I’m here, should tell you something London. I would go to the ends of the earth for you.”
She scoffs again. “Don’t you mean Alyssa? Does she know you’re here slumming it?”
I push off the railing and drop to my knees in front of London. She doesn’t bother stopping the swing from moving forward and smacks into my chest. I groan. She mumbles an apology and stops moving her foot. I take a chance, a big risk, and place my hands on her thighs. I expect her to punch me or push me away, but she doesn’t.
“I don’t even know where to start with that comment, London. Not once have I ever made you feel like you are beneath me in anyway.”
She glances at me and I can see a tear falling from her eye.
“When I got to where my family sat for the regatta and couldn’t find you, I thought you got called into work or something. It wasn’t until I saw Alyssa and people started congratulating us on our engagement that I knew something had happened. When my mom told me everything, I had never felt so sick in my entire life.”
“Imagine how I felt seeing that ring on her finger or thinking you were getting ready for the race when you were actually fucking her.”
Her words make me bristle. How Alyssa could be so mean is beyond me. “The night before the race, I was on my boat. I wasn’t anywhere near Alyssa. She put it there, London. Not me. When my stepmother saw you sitting with my mom, she called Alyssa and they concocted this whole plan. I am not, and have never been, nor will I ever be, engaged to Alyssa Worthington.”
“Why would they do that?” she asks through a stream of tears.
“Because they’re bitches. They don’t care who they hurt as long as they get what they want.”
“I am hurt,” she whispers.
“Me too. And I’m angry. I’m so pissed off at my father for encouraging his wife to be tactless, and for him thinking he can control my life like this. To dictate who I’m with. He of all people shouldn’t judge anyone for who they fall in love with since his wife used to be a stripper.”
London’s eyes go wide and I nod. “Yep, he cheated on my mom with her.”
“They said some pretty nasty things to me.”
I move from my position and sit down next to London. This time, I take the risk and pick her hand up, threading our fingers together. “My mom told me. I hope you know that I would never say those things about you, and I don’t look at you as someone who isn’t my equal. I meant what I said about Dawson’s. I want you to run the restaurant, to make it your own. I want us to be partners. I wish I could tell you to ignore what my dad said, but I know how words linger. I will never ask you to forgive him or forget. You can hold a grudge for the rest of your life, and I’ll support that. People like him and my stepmom, don’t deserve someone like you in their life.”
London turns slightly, rocking the swing into motion. “You said ‘people shouldn’t judge anyone for who they fall in love with’.”
I bring her hand to my lips and press a kiss there. “London, I am falling in love with you, and I’m falling fast. Ever since you started at the yacht club, I’ve wanted to ask you out. If I had then, it wouldn’t have been fair to you or Alyssa, because she and I were together. But when we broke up, all I could think about was getting back to the club to see you. That night I arrived, and you were working, I told myself that this was my chance. Our time.”
London leans forward and kisses me. It’s chaste but perfect. As much as I’d love to make out with her, I have a feeling her mother is lingering by the window.
“You know, I saw a barn behind the house. I’ve never done the ‘roll in the hay’ thing.”
A hand comes down hard on my chest and I cower. “Sorry,” I mutter while trying to control my laughter. I look deep into London’s eyes and say, “In all seriousness, London. Come back to Newport with me. Be my partner at the marina, but more importantly, in life. I don’t want to spend another night without you by my side. Three years has been long enough.”
9
London
ONE YEAR LATER – September
Max has done it again with another Kingstown Regatta win! I stayed long enough to be by his side for the main interview, but I had to get back to our restaurant. That’s right…our restaurant. The past year has been a whirlwind of craziness. Sometimes I don’t even think it’s all real. Max won the regatta again without Vance and Yates as his mates. They competed against him, but they were no match for Max. And tonight, we celebrate. Not at the yacht club, and not at any of the other hoity toity places Max used to frequent all the time, but at our own pride and joy…Dawson’s Restaurant and Marina. We could’ve named it something else, but Max wanted to restore the old place to its original charm. It belongs to us both, Mr. and Mrs. Max Richmond. That’s right, we’re married! Instead of having a huge wedding, we eloped to the Maldives and only had our close family and friends there. It’s been the best five months of my life. So far, at least. I know more good times are about to happen.
I hop out of my car and hurry to the restaurant entrance. Everyone will be showing up shortly and I have to make sure tonight is perfect. Ever since we opened, we’ve been booked solid. The one thing I made sure of when I agreed to open the restaurant with Max was that it must appeal to everyone, not just high society. I want everyone to feel welcome.
When I walk inside, Kim is in the dining room, checking over all the tables. She looks up at me and smiles. “Everything is all ready for tonight, Mrs. Richmond.” The sound of my new name never gets old and she knows I love to hear it.
“It smells amazing in here,” I gush, feeling my stomach growl.
A couple of the best chefs in Rhode Island work for us and we’ve already been featured in several magazines. Even August Cahill, a foodie expert who travels around the world to various restaurants gave us a stellar review. It’s all been a dream come true.
Cars start pulling into the parking lot and the growling in my stomach turns to quivering nerves. I want tonight to be epic. Max deserves all the success in the world. He’s done so much for me. All I wanted was to be a manager of a restaurant and now I’m the proud owner of one. When he isn’t helping me with the restaurant or the marina, he spends his spare time on the water, giving young sailors the chance to learn from the best. I have no doubt he’s training future regatta winners.
Derek, one of our servers, rushes out from the back and waves when he sees me. “Congratulations, Mrs. Richmond.” Then he grins at Kim. “And to you too.”
Kim beams. “Yeah, if it wasn’t for my boyfriend helping Max out, there’s no way he would’ve won.”
She winks at me and I laugh. After last year’s regatta, Max ditched Vance and Yates and hired two brothers to help restore the marina. It turns out they had sailing experience and they ended up replacing Vance and Yates. They didn’t come from wealthy families, but they’re hard working and just all out good men. When Kim met Jason, the oldest of the brothers, she fell in love with him instantly.
“And if it wasn’t for my husband, you wouldn’t have met Jason,” I quip back.
She nods. “True. I owe you guys for that.” Boats start pulling into the marina and we watch them dock. There’s one vacant boat slip, waiting for its owner. Our crew has already decorated it with balloons. I knew without a doubt that Max would win again.
It doesn’t take long for his boat to come into view. Everyone piles onto the docks, jumping up and down with excitement. Camera crews are in the parking lot, lights flashing as they record this epic moment.
