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

  “Yeah, me, too,” Logan complained.

  “Come on, you two.” Clay tapped them each on the head. “And we’ll get something cold to drink. Anyone else want something?”

  There were no takers, so Clay cut through the crowd with the two boys, Dallas watching anxiously.

  “What’s the matter?” Grant leaned down to ask.

  “There are so many people here,” she said. “I hope Cody doesn’t get separated from Logan and Clay.”

  “Don’t worry about it. He knows where he is, and he knows where we’re going. Even if he got separated, he knows where to go.” Grant grinned. “He’d head right for Scoop.”

  Dallas laughed. “You’re probably right.”

  They could hear the high whine of the bagpipes that had been hired to accompany the cars filled with local dignitaries, and while they stood on the curb waiting for the parade to reach them, Dallas was aware of the cameras, aware that by tomorrow there would be pictures here, there, and everywhere of her standing in front of Grant, leaning back against him, his hands on her shoulders.

  She could write the headlines herself: MEET DALLAS’S LONG-LOST SWEETHEART! IS MARYLAND VET STILL THE LOVE OF HER LIFE?

  She knew there was nothing she could do about it other than lock herself in the house, and she wasn’t about to do that, especially today, when Berry was being feted and fussed over—all while in the company of her own lost love. She wondered how that was working out.

  The Bentley was moving toward them, and soon was just feet away.

  “Aunt Berry!” Cody cried excitedly as he and Logan returned to the curb. “Aunt Berry!”

  Berry leaned around Archer to throw a handful of wrapped hard candies to the boys, but others in the crowd beat them to the goodies. Berry frowned and said something to Archer, who nodded and turned to Cody.

  “Your aunt would like to know if you’d like to ride down to the marina with us?” Archer asked.

  “Can I, Mom?” Cody looked first at his mother, but before she could reply, he ran to the car. “Can Logan come, too?”

  “If it’s all right with Logan’s mother and with Mr. Callahan, it’s certainly all right with me,” Berry told him.

  “Mom, can I? Can I go?” Logan begged.

  When Brooke and Dallas both hesitated, Berry told them, “They’ll be with us. You can join us down at the marina in a few minutes. There’s a hospitality tent there. We can tell them to expect you.”

  “All right.” Both mothers nodded.

  Archer put the car in park and helped the boys to climb in.

  “Cool car!” Logan called to his uncle Clay.

  “Darn cool car.” Clay nodded appreciatively.

  “Mom, we’re in the parade!” Cody yelled as the car began to move again and made a left on Kelly’s Point Drive to take the parade down to the marina and the park.

  “I shudder to think what’s going to happen when this crowd starts down Kelly’s Point,” Grant commented. “I’ll bet the line into Scoop is going to come all the way back up here to Charles Street.”

  “I hope Steffie made a lot of ice cream this morning,” Dallas said.

  “I don’t think she has enough to feed this crowd,” he told her. “I’ll bet she’s sold out and closed by two this afternoon.”

  “At least she’ll get to enjoy the day. What comes after the parade?” Dallas asked.

  “The boat races begin. They’ll go on all day. First the speedboats, then the sailboats.”

  They applauded the local high school marching band and numerous social and civic organizations before the parade came to an end. As Grant had predicted, the crowd followed the last marchers down Kelly’s Point Drive, past the municipal building and to the marina. On the grassy area behind Captain Walt’s, a green-and-white-striped tent had been erected, and it was there that Grant and Dallas headed. They met up with the two boys, and Berry, who was busy playing belle of the ball until she was tapped to kick off the boat races.

  “What do we do now?” Dallas asked.

  “I suggest we get the boys and go stand near the dais, where Berry will announce that the races are to commence. Then someone sets off a flare from the end of the pier, and the boats will be off,” Grant explained.

  “Where do they go?” Cody asked.

  “The speedboats go out to Goat Island.” Grant pointed off to their right. “See it out there, past where the river comes into the Bay?”

  “Do goats live there?” Logan asked.

  “No one lives there. It isn’t much of an island,” Grant said, “but it’s the turning point for the race, so all the boats have to go around it and come back to the starting line. See them all lining up out there?”

  The boys nodded.

  “Can we go closer to watch?” Cody asked.

  “I think you’d better stay here with us.” Dallas looked around at the crowd. “It would be very easy to get lost here today.”

  “We couldn’t get lost, Mom,” Cody told her. “We know where we are.”

  “Still, there are just too many people. I think I’d rather have you—”

  “There’s my mom and my uncle and my gramma!” Logan pointed. “They’re going closer. Can we go with them?”

  “Sure, but go now, while I can watch you.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” Cody scooted off.

  “Stay with Logan’s family, Cody,” Dallas shouted after him, but they were gone. She watched anxiously until the boys caught up with Brooke, who paused to listen to something the boys were telling her, and who then turned around and gave Dallas a thumbs-up.

  “See?” Grant massaged her shoulders. “You don’t have to worry. There are three adults there. The boys are fine.”

  “I know they are. I can’t help myself. I’m that kind of mother.” Dallas shrugged somewhat apologetically. “I probably should get him one of those children’s cell phones. Logan has one. It only has the capacity to store a few numbers but it would be handy to have if you were in a crowd and became separated.”

  Grant started to say something, but the mayor was testing the microphone, then proceeded to welcome the visitors as well as the residents. She handed the mike over to Berry to read the official opening speech—which never changed from year to year—and to drop the red handkerchief that would signal that the first boat race was about to begin. Berry read her lines flawlessly—of course—and dropped the handkerchief with aplomb. The flares were lit, and the first of the boats were off toward Goat Island.

  “How many races are there?” Dallas asked Grant.

  “However many they need to give all the entrants a spot. They can only run four at a time. Otherwise, it gets too dangerous rounding the island. Then they run off the winners of each leg to get a winner in this category,” he told her. “Then, when the speedboats are finished, the sailboats begin. They don’t go to the island, though. They head off in the opposite direction, toward a buoy in the middle of the bay.”

  “So this goes all day long.”

  “Pretty much, yeah.” Grant nodded and craned his neck to see which boat was taking the lead.

  The sun grew in intensity as the morning progressed. By noon, Dallas was looking for shelter.

  “If you can wait until the first sailboat race gets under way, I’ll walk you down to Stef’s and we’ll see if she has anything left.”

  Dallas nodded and raised a hand to her forehead to shield her eyes. She scanned the crowd, searching for Brooke and her family, but they were nowhere in sight. She turned to look in the opposite direction, but there was no sign of Brooke or her brother, or either of the boys.

  “I wonder where they went,” Dallas murmured.

  “Where who went?” Grant was watching the sailboats line up.

  “Cody and Logan.”

  “They were with Brooke and her family, right?”

  Dallas nodded.

  “They’re probably at the other end of the marina. Clay used to sail in this race, so he might have wanted to get a little closer.”

>   “Maybe.” It made sense but she still felt uneasy, not having seen her son for over an hour. She trusted Brooke—of course she did—but she wasn’t used to having him go off with anyone when they were out at events such as this. Then again, she reminded herself, he’d never really had a friend like Logan before, one he did everything with and played with on a steady basis. Grant was right. They were probably with Clay to watch the sailboat race that was about to start.

  “I sure hope the storm holds off.” Grant pointed toward the west, where dark clouds had only just started to gather. “The weather forecast called for a storm this afternoon. I hope they get all the races in.”

  Dallas nodded somewhat absently, still searching the crowd for a glimpse of her son.

  “Seen enough? Want to head over to Stef’s?” She nodded and Grant took her hand. “You’re worried about Cody.”

  “I can’t help it.”

  “I wouldn’t be surprised if we walked into Scoop and found the two boys in there sucking down a cone.”

  “I doubt either of them have any money on them.”

  “Like that would stop Stef or Paige from giving them what they wanted. Come on, let’s take a walk.”

  Dallas’s eyes went from face to face and to every child she saw who was close to Cody’s height and weight, without success.

  Grant’s probably right, she reminded herself. The two boys are probably with Clay watching the races. You know how Cody loves boats. Or he talked Paige into giving them ice cream.

  “My mom will pay you when she gets here,” Dallas could imagine him saying.

  There were several hundred people between Scoop and the Bay, but the boys weren’t among them. Dallas followed Grant into the small building, grateful to be out of the hot sun, and looked around. No boys, no Brooke, or any of her family.

  “Hi, Daddy,” Paige called from behind the counter.

  “Hi, sweetie. How’s it going?”

  Paige rolled her eyes. “It’s been crazy here. Steffie made a ton of ice cream last night and she was up early this morning again to make more, and she had stuff in the freezer that she was making for the past two weeks to get ready for today. But it’s almost all gone.” She grinned. “She said when it’s gone we have to close.”

  “You know you can leave anytime you want,” Steffie told her as she moved to the cash register.

  “I like working here,” her niece insisted. “I don’t want to leave.”

  “I don’t want to get arrested for violating the child labor laws,” Stef told Grant. “I send her in the back every so often to rest, but I think she spends the time straightening shelves and sweeping the floor.”

  “I love Scoop. It’s my favorite place.”

  “Paige, have the boys been in?” Dallas moved closer to the display case. “Cody and his friend Logan?”

  Paige shook her head. “I haven’t seen them.”

  Steffie looked up from the cold case where she was busy constructing a three-layer cone. “They haven’t been in.”

  Dallas turned to Grant. “Let’s take a walk down to the end of the pier.”

  “Do you want something to take with you, Dallas?” Steffie asked.

  “Maybe a bottle of water.”

  Paige went to the back room and came out with two plastic bottles and gave one to Dallas and the other to Grant.

  “Grant? Can I get something for you before you leave?” Stef asked. “It’s now or not again until tomorrow. This stuff is going quickly.”

  “The water’s fine. Thanks.” He reached for his wallet and his sister waved him away.

  “Thanks, Stef,” he said as he led Dallas to the exit.

  She nodded and continued to serve her customer.

  “So we’ll head over to the pier?” he asked, and she nodded.

  “I suspect Cody is ready to eat something,” she told him. “It’s well after one.”

  They made their way to the end of the pier, where they found Clay sitting on one of the pilings.

  “Hey.” He waved. “Did you see that last race?”

  “No, we just came from Scoop,” Grant told him.

  “It was tight. Jack Hollenbach’s son—”

  “Excuse me, Clay,” Dallas interrupted him, “but where are the boys?”

  “They walked up to Charles Street with Brooke, I think. I heard someone say something about lunch,” Clay replied.

  “Thanks.” Dallas turned to Grant. “I’m going to walk up to look for them. You can stay to watch the rest of the races if you want.”

  “I’ll go with you.” He took her hand. “We’ll look together.”

  They stopped at the green-and-white-striped tent, where Berry was holding court, but she hadn’t seen the boys since the end of the parade when Archer let them out of the car.

  “Should I be worried, Dallas?” Berry frowned.

  “No, no. Clay said they were with Brooke,” Dallas assured her.

  On their way up Kelly’s Point Drive, Dallas and Grant surveyed the throng on either side, but there was no sign of Brooke, her mother, or the two boys. They checked Sips, but had no luck there. When they arrived at Cuppachino, they stepped inside to take a quick look around. Dallas walked up to the counter and caught the owner’s eye.

  “Carlo, have you seen either Mrs. Madison or Brooke …?”

  He shook his head as he made an iced latte for a customer. “Not since earlier in the week. If they come in, you want me to tell them you’re looking for them?”

  “Yes, thank you.”

  Dallas turned to Grant. “Maybe Sips—oh, wait. There’s Brooke …” She stepped off the curb to get Brooke’s attention.

  “Where are the boys?” Dallas called.

  “They’re in Sips.” Brooke wiped perspiration from her forehead. “It is so blazing hot out here. Mom had to open the store at eleven, so we walked her up, and they wanted to get a drink, so I gave them money—”

  “We just came from there. They aren’t there.” Dallas felt the first wisp of panic begin to spread through her.

  “They aren’t?” Brooke frowned. “I told them not to leave. They have to be there.”

  Brooke took off across the street, and Dallas followed. They went back into Sips, but as Dallas had said, the boys were not there.

  “Then they must have gone back down to the marina to watch the rest of the races,” Brooke said. “They were having fun watching with Clay.”

  “Does your brother have a cell phone on him?” Grant asked.

  Brooke nodded, took her phone from her bag, and speed-dialed the number.

  “Clay, did the boys come back down there with you?” She looked up toward the sky, an anxious look on her face. “Well, would you mind looking around the pier and the dock area? Check out that area on the grass where the tent’s been set up? Call me back the minute you find them, okay?”

  She disconnected the call and slid the phone into the pocket of her shorts.

  “I know this is St. Dennis and the boys know the town pretty well, but still, it’s disconcerting to not know where they are.” Brooke spoke as if trying to calm herself. “I’m sure they’re fine, and we’ll find them.”

  “Hey, guys, are you enjoying the festivities?” Beck pulled his patrol car to the curb and leaned across the passenger seat.

  “Not right at this moment,” Grant told him. “We seem to have lost track of Dallas and Brooke’s sons.”

  “Where were they?” Beck put the car in park.

  “They walked up to Charles Street with me and my mom, then went across to Sips to get cold drinks,” Brooke told him.

  “How long ago was that?” Beck asked.

  “Maybe thirty minutes. I walked up to Mom’s shop with her, and there’d been a delivery at the back door, so I helped her bring the boxes in.” Brooke leaned against the car door. “I just called Clay, thinking maybe they wandered back down to the pier. He’s looking for them down there.”

  “Does Logan have his phone with him?” Dallas asked.

 
; Brooke shook her head. “The pockets in the shorts he wore today were too small for it to fit.”

  “Did you check any of the other shops?”

  “Only Scoop and Cuppachino,” Dallas told him as she approached the cruiser.

  “Why don’t you three split up and start checking the shops here on Charles Street,” Beck suggested. “Meanwhile, I’ll ask Hal to go down Kelly’s Point and give Clay a hand. Maybe see if anyone else is in the area who can take a look around. I’ll drive around and see if I can spot them, give you a call if I find them.”

  “Thanks, Beck. We appreciate it.” Dallas and Brooke spoke at the same time.

  “Hey, what else does a small-town cop have to do on a day like this? The crowd’s been well behaved and we haven’t had one fender bender since the weekend began. Knock on wood.”

  He drove off slowly and made a right onto the first side street.

  “I’ll take the opposite side of the street,” Grant told the two women. “You two split up this side. Keep in touch.” He crossed and went into Petals and Posies, the florist on the corner of Kelly’s Point and Charles.

  “I’ll start with Bling,” Dallas told Brooke. “You take the next shop and we’ll go every other one until we run out of stores.”

  Brooke nodded and the two women took off. When they met up in the parking lot next to the market twenty minutes later, they were both obviously distressed.

  “No one’s seen them.” Dallas had to bite her lip to keep from crying when Grant crossed the street to join them.

  “No luck here, either,” he told them. “All right, let’s think like six-year-olds for a moment. Where would you go on a day like today, and why?”

  “I can’t think,” Brooke told him. “I feel like stopping people on the street and asking them if they’ve seen two little boys.”

  “There are so many kids in town today.” Dallas pointed across the street. “There are five little boys who look to be around six right over there.

  “Maybe they went to the library,” Dallas thought out loud.

  “It’s closed today,” Brooke told her. “But maybe the park …”

  The three took off at a trot, back across Charles, down Kelly’s Point, across the parking lot. When they got to the park, they were out of breath. They split up, each taking a section, but the boys were nowhere to be seen.