The Chesapeake Diaries Series 7-Book Bundle: Coming HOme, Home Again, Almost Home, Hometown Girl, Home for the Summer, The Long Way Home, At the River's Edge

by Stewart, Mariah

  “I’m leaving to get my hair done,” Berry told her. “The boys have been fed and they’d like to crab from the dock, but I told them they had to wait for you. I don’t think they’re quite old enough to be playing that close to the river without an adult close by.” She paused. “Of course, they’re not playing, they’re crabbing.”

  “I’ll come now. Thanks for feeding them. I meant to come out, but I guess I got carried away with what I’m doing.” Dallas stood and stretched. She hadn’t realized how stiff she was from sitting all morning in one position.

  “Well, I’m sure the screenplay will sparkle.” Berry went into the front hall. “Oh,” she called back to Dallas, “anything under five inches must be thrown back.”

  “What?” Dallas frowned as she made her way from the library.

  “The crabs, dear. They have to be at least five inches across the top of the shell, or they’re not legal to take. Cody knows.”

  “I’ll keep an eye on them,” Dallas assured her as Berry went out the front door and shut it behind her.

  Ally stood in front of the closed door and listened to Berry’s echoing footsteps.

  “She’ll be back,” Dallas told the dog. “Now come on outside and sit with me, why don’t you?”

  The dog ran to one of the living-room windows and looked out from a perch on an antique settee.

  “Down, Ally. Berry loves you, but I don’t think she’d be happy to see you sitting where many generations of the family once sat.”

  One last look out the window and Ally was at Dallas’s side.

  “Good girl.” There was a package of dog treats on the kitchen table and Dallas swiped one as she passed and gave it to Ally. After grabbing a cold bottle of water from the fridge, she and the dog went outside.

  “Hey, guys!” Dallas called to the boys, who were patiently sitting on the lawn waiting for her. Fleur was chasing a yellow ball and brought it back to Cody, who gave it another toss.

  “Can we crab now?” Cody asked.

  “Yes, you may.” Dallas moved one of the Adirondack chairs under the tree and sat, Ally in the shade nearby, to watch the boys, who were busy on the dock with lengths of string and two buckets, one large, one small.

  “What are you using for bait?” she called.

  “Chicken necks,” Cody called back, his tone of voice letting her know that that had been a stupid question.

  Fleur sat beside Cody on the dock for a while, then joined Ally on the grass under the tree, apparently having decided that the direct sun might be acceptable to small humans, but it was too much for her.

  Dallas was called to the end of the dock several times by Cody and by Logan to check the size of the crabs. So far, only three had been judged big enough to keep, and those only marginally. The boys kept water and some eelgrass in the larger bucket, and after almost an hour, with the same three crabs, the decision was made to let the crabs go. Together the two boys carried the bucket to the river’s edge and turned it on its side to allow the crabs to scamper off into the water.

  “So you’re practicing catch and release, I see,” Dallas observed.

  “No.” Cody shook his head. “We let them go because there were only three of them.”

  “But we caught them and then we released them,” Logan pointed out. “Like when you fish and you catch a fish that you shouldn’t eat ’cause they’re ’dangered and you let them go.”

  “What’s ’dangered?” Cody asked.

  “When there aren’t many of them left and you catch one and eat one so there’s one less,” Logan explained, “that means they’re ’dangered.”

  “Endangered,” Dallas corrected, and Logan nodded.

  Cody rolled onto the ground next to Fleur, who scootched away slowly, her way, Dallas supposed, of telling Cody it was too damned hot to be hanging on her.

  “I’m hot,” Cody told her. “Logan, are you hot?”

  Logan flopped on the grass near Cody. “Yeah.”

  “We need ice cream, Mom. Can we go to Scoop?”

  “Yay, Scoop! I love Scoop!” Logan chimed in.

  “Sure. Why not?” Dallas picked up her water bottle. “Let’s get the dogs inside and give them a cool drink, then we’ll go.”

  The boys ran off, Fleur trailing behind, and Dallas and Ally bringing up the rear. Once the dogs were watered and settled down, Dallas left a note on the kitchen table for Berry and got the boys into her rental car.

  “Why’d you leave Aunt Berry a note?” Cody asked.

  “So in case she gets home before we do, she won’t wonder where we are,” Dallas said.

  “Why don’t you call her on the phone and tell her?”

  “Because she might be under the dryer and wouldn’t hear the phone ring.”

  “Under the dryer?” Cody laughed. “Aunt Berry wouldn’t fit under the dryer. Not under the clothes dryer!” At which he and Logan fell into fits of laughter.

  Six-year-old boys—Dallas shook her head as she drove onto River Road—could possibly be the silliest beings on the planet. The silliness continued all the way to Charles Street and down Kelly’s Point and right into the parking lot across from the municipal building. The boys unhooked their seat belts and flew out of the car.

  “Don’t run into Scoop, you two. Walk when you get there,” she called to them, but they were already to the sidewalk.

  By the time Dallas got to the ice-cream shop, both boys were already at the counter and sampling the newest flavor.

  “Hey, Dallas.” Steffie waved as she leaned over the counter to hand another sample spoon to each of the boys.

  “Hi, Steffie.” Dallas closed the door behind her. “What’s new today?”

  “Peach melba and chocolate fudge divinity.” Steffie grinned. “Which is exactly what it sounds like.”

  “It sounds deadly.” Dallas nodded.

  “Exactly.” Steffie got another sample spoon of each for Dallas.

  “Well, I suppose that would be my entire day’s worth of fat and calories,” Dallas told her after tasting both. “But so worth it. I’m going with one scoop of the peach.”

  “Excellent choice,” Steffie agreed. “Cone or dish?”

  “A dish, please.” Dallas turned to the boys. “What will it be, guys?”

  “Chocolate fudge … what Steffie said.” Cody pointed to the new flavor.

  “Me, too,” Logan told her. “Please,” he added.

  “Two cones, one scoop each of the new chocolate flavor,” Dallas told Steffie, who had just landed a scoop of peach melba into a bowl and handed it to Dallas.

  The little bell over the door rang and Dallas turned in time to see Grace Sinclair enter.

  “Well, I see I’m not the only person in St. Dennis who’s craving something cold and sweet today,” Grace declared.

  “You should have been in here earlier,” Steffie told her. “From eleven until about twenty minutes ago, we were packed.”

  “It’s wonderful that your business is doing so well,” Grace said. “How clever of you to have foreseen the need when you did.”

  Steffie handed the cones to the boys and Dallas stepped to the cash register with her wallet in her hand to pay for them.

  “Dallas, I hear you and Berry are to be congratulated on your recent adoptions,” Grace noted.

  “Word does travel fast here.” Dallas smiled and sat at one of the tables along the wall. “The dogs just arrived last night.”

  “I heard you got a couple of great dogs.” Steffie joined the conversation.

  “Leona Patten’s dog, I heard.” Grace studied the menu board. “She’s a lovely dog. Just perfect for Berry.”

  “I guess you were both talking to Grant,” Dallas said.

  “No, Paige told me this morning.” Steffie leaned on the counter.

  “I saw Hannah Madison at Cuppachino this morning,” Grace said. “Stef, would there be any of the lemon curd left somewhere? I don’t see it on the menu board.”

  Steffie looked in the cooler. “There’s en
ough for maybe a scoop and a half.”

  “I’ll take what you have in there, then,” Grace told her.

  “Sure.” Steffie grabbed a sugar cone and held it up. “Your usual, Miss Grace?”

  “Yes, dear, please.”

  “Paige said you all had a really nice dinner together last night.” Steffie scraped the ice cream out of the container and piled it onto the cone.

  “Oh?” Grace turned to Dallas. “Did you have dinner with Grant last night?”

  “No, no.” Better nip this in the bud, Dallas thought, or by this time tomorrow, it will be all over town that Grant and I are dating again. “Paige and Grant brought the dogs over to Berry’s, so she offered them dinner. It wasn’t like … well, it was dinner, but it was a thank-you dinner. From Berry. Grant and Paige gave the dogs baths before they brought them over.”

  Dallas wasn’t blind to the look that passed between Steffie and Grace. The one that said, Doth Dallas protest too much? Even to her own ear, it sounded as if she had, but it was too late now for her to try to mitigate the impression.

  “How nice of Berry.” Grace paid for her ice cream and sat across the table from Dallas. The boys had taken a table of their own where they could watch the police cars coming and going from the lot in front of the municipal building just up the road.

  “So how does it feel to be back in St. Dennis?” Grace asked.

  “It feels fine,” Dallas replied, then remembered she was speaking with not only an old friend, but the woman who owned the local newspaper. “Actually, it’s great. I’ve never seen my son as happy as he is right now, and I’m having time to relax and enjoy a real vacation for the first time in … I don’t remember my last real vacation. One where I wasn’t studying a script or negotiating terms for a contract.”

  Dallas reminded herself that she was in fact doing just that, except the negotiation was for rights to a book and Norma was doing all the heavy lifting. Still, it didn’t seem the same.

  “How are you spending your time?” Grace dabbed a napkin on the side of her mouth.

  “I’ve been doing a lot of reading these past two weeks.” That was certainly true.

  “Oh?” Grace appeared interested. “Anything in particular that you’d recommend to my readers?”

  “Pretty Maids by Victoria Seymour,” Dallas answered without hesitation.

  “I read that over the winter. It’s a wonderful story.”

  “Isn’t it? I bought mine at Book ’Em at the beginning of the week and finished it in one day. Barbara has several more copies—or at least, she did earlier in the week. I know Berry was going to stop in to pick up a copy for herself.”

  “Not willing to share, eh?” Grace teased her.

  Dallas hesitated. Should she tell Grace of her interest in the novel and give her some exclusive tidbit she’d be the first to know? Did Dallas really want that information out there before she could get her hands on the rights?

  “If I tell you something in total confidence, Miss Grace, can I trust you not to repeat it or to use it in your paper until I give you the green light?” Dallas lowered her voice.

  “Of course, dear,” Grace whispered in a conspiratorial tone. “You know I’d never break my word.”

  “I do know that.” Dallas patted the older woman on the arm. “Right now my attorney is trying to buy the film rights for Pretty Maids.”

  “For you to star in?” Grace’s eyes lit up. “The part of the younger of the two women would be perfect for you.”

  “I want to write the screenplay and direct it, if I can get the backing.”

  “I don’t recall hearing that you’d done this sort of thing before.”

  “This would be my first attempt at both,” Dallas admitted. “Writing and directing.”

  “I have no doubt you’ll be brilliant at both,” Grace assured her. “And your secret is safe with me. But once it’s official, may I disclose that I knew …?”

  Dallas nodded. “Once it’s official, you may say you’ve been sitting on the story.”

  “Now, you did agree to let me interview you for the paper,” Grace reminded her.

  “Anytime, Miss Grace.”

  “How about one day next week? Or will you be leaving before then?”

  “Actually, we’re staying for the rest of the summer. So any day that’s open for you is open for me.”

  “Really?” Grace’s surprise was evident. “Until the end of the summer, you say?”

  Dallas nodded.

  “That’s … why, that’s wonderful,” Grace said. “I’m sure your great-aunt is delighted. I’d still like to do it sooner rather than later, though, so I’ll check my calendar and give you a call.”

  “That’ll be fine.” Dallas noticed that the boys were finished and getting a bit restless. “I’d better take the boys back to the house before they start getting crazy.” She stood. “It’s always nice to spend a little time with you, Miss Grace.”

  “Likewise, dear. I’ll give you a call after I get back to the office,” Grace said. “Berry’s home number?”

  “Let me give you my cell number.” Dallas wrote it on a piece of paper napkin and handed it to Grace.

  “Thank you.” Grace tucked it into her purse.

  “Come on, boys,” Dallas told Cody and Logan, who jumped up, obviously more than ready to leave. “Time to head back to the house. I don’t remember what time Logan’s being picked up.”

  “Four thirty,” Logan told her. “My mom’s picking me up on her way back from school.”

  “That’s Brooke’s boy, isn’t it?” Grace turned in her seat after the boys had gone outside.

  At the doorway, ready to follow them, Dallas nodded. “He and Cody are friends from the story hour at the library.”

  “Were you and Brooke friends back in the day?” Grace asked.

  “Not really.” Dallas shrugged. “I didn’t really know her.”

  “I thought not.” Grace wore a slight frown. “You know that she lost her husband in Iraq?”

  “Her mother mentioned that, yes.” Dallas tossed her empty ice-cream bowl and spoon into the trash receptacle near the door.

  “And that she’s back here to stay now?” Grace looked Dallas in the eye and added, “She’s single again.”

  “Well, yes. She’s a widow,” Dallas replied, not sure where this was going.

  “I heard she’s looking for a dog,” Steffie said from behind the counter. “She’s been spending a lot of time over at the shelter. Guess she still hasn’t gotten what she’s looking for.” She rested her chin in her hand and added, “Whatever that might be.”

  “Well, then, I wish her luck.” Dallas had gotten the message. “Thanks for the visit, Miss Grace. Steffie, we’ll probably see you soon.”

  Stepping outside into the afternoon sun was like being smacked in the face with a hot towel. She called to the boys, who had walked down toward the marina, and they came running, eager to get home and begin to play whatever game they’d cooked up while in Scoop.

  “Logan, you mentioned that your mother’s in school,” Dallas said as they drove back to River Road.

  “Uh-huh.” He nodded. “At the community college. She’s gonna be a veterinarian assistant.”

  Logan played with the window controls, sending them up and down. “So she can work with Dr. Grant.”

  Well, Dallas thought as she pulled into the driveway, sounds like Brooke hasn’t changed much in all these years. Still chasing after Grant.

  She’d just turned off the engine and opened the car door when Berry drove in and parked behind her. Dallas got out of her car and walked over to Berry’s. The boys took off for the house to let the dogs out.

  “Well, don’t you look spiffy with your new do.” Dallas opened Berry’s door for her.

  “I told the girl not quite so much hair spray, but did she listen?” Berry frowned. “Apparently not.” She touched her hand to the back of her head, grumbling, “Ridiculous.”

  “It looks lovely, if that’s an
y consolation.” Dallas slammed the car door.

  “Really?” Berry was still frowning. “You don’t think I look like a tart?”

  “A tart?” Dallas laughed out loud. “Berry, who says ‘tart’ these days?”

  “I’m eigh …” Berry coughed. “A senior citizen. I can say any damned thing I please.”

  “True enough.” Dallas put her arm around Berry’s shoulder. “But you still look beautiful. Hair spray or no.”

  “Thank you, dear.” Berry calmed down slightly. “How was your afternoon?”

  “Fine. The boys crabbed, tossed back the three they caught, and we went for ice cream.” Dallas had the house key in her hand as they approached the front door. Inside, the dogs were barking.

  “What’s the newest flavor?”

  “Peach melba and some chocolate fudgey thing. I had the peach, the boys had the chocolate.”

  “Sounds yummy. I may have to make a trip down there.”

  “I wish I’d thought to bring you something.”

  “Nonsense, dear. Standing in front of Steffie’s board and reading all the concoctions she’s come up with is part of the whole Scoop experience.”

  Dallas unlocked the front door, and both dogs piled out.

  “There’s my good watchdog.” Berry bent to greet Ally, who danced around her legs. Fleur took off for the yard and the boys, where she was greeted happily.

  “Miss Grace was there,” Dallas told Berry as they went inside. “We’re going to do an interview for her paper one day next week.”

  Berry put the bag she was holding onto the hall table, then turned and closed the door behind them.

  “I stopped at Book ’Em and picked up a copy of Pretty Maids.” She took the book from the bag and held it up. “I think I’ll get a glass of iced tea and sit outside under the tree and read for a bit.”

  “I told Miss Grace what I was thinking about doing. With the book, that is.” Dallas followed her aunt into the kitchen. “Do you think that was a mistake? I did tell her it was a confidence.”

  “Grace has never been one to kiss and tell.” Berry went straight to the fridge and reached for the pitcher of iced tea she’d made earlier that day. “What else did she have to say?”