Maybe being settled in a real home would do the trick and wipe out the lingering anxiety over his new direction. In his rational mind he was certain he’d made the right decisions, but on some days, he had trouble making his heart understand.
His buzzing phone signaled a text from Melody. He read it quickly, to be sure it was just a routine check-in and nothing urgent. Melody and Carrie had left the zoo and would stop for lunch at their new favorite hole-in-the-wall to get a couple of Chicago’s famous hot dogs before coming back to the hotel.
Jerrod smiled to himself. When the rain had stopped, Carrie, who’d celebrated her fifth birthday only last month with a trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo, had wanted to go visit her animal friends. She couldn’t get enough of the zoo families—giraffes, chimpanzees, even lions—that lived in the zoo less than a mile away from the hotel.
Fortunately, the rain and bluster had left them with a cloudy but dry late Saturday afternoon that made it possible for the zoo trip. Jerrod shook his head sadly. In order to give Carrie a real home again, rather than this residential hotel, he’d need to uproot her once more. He hoped she wouldn’t mind, not as long as she still had Melody, who, lucky for him, was willing to make the move with him and Carrie.
In spite of losses and changes no child should have to endure, Carrie was a lively little girl, about as well-adjusted as Jerrod could imagine. That was great, but he was still finding his way to healing from the past. Carrie was the most important part of his present. More than anything he had left in the world, she was his heart.
His phone alerted him to a new email. Nice surprise, he thought when he saw the name, Kym Nation, his old friend. In his mind’s eye, he could see Kym’s welcoming face as she greeted tourists and encouraged them to explore Key West. She and her husband had worked side by side in a kiosk and promoted every Hemingway tour and shrimp shack the iconic little city offered. But they’d eventually gone home to landlocked Kansas City.
Kym’s message delivered exactly what he wanted to hear:
Ran into a PR consultant today—lives in that 2 moon town you told me about. How ’bout that? Heard her speak on a panel this morning. Impressive, experienced, familiar with diving. She won an award for her work, too. A dazzler. Call her.
Kym had included this award-winning dazzler’s name, Dawn Larsen, her email address and a phone number.
The message immediately lifted his mood. She no doubt had her reasons for throwing in that bit about Dawn Larsen being a dazzler. She’d known Augusta, Jerrod’s wife, and Dabny, his older daughter, long before Jerrod had lost them both. He’d stayed in touch with Kym and Guy, who regularly expressed their concerns about how he was recovering—or not—from the tragedy that left him to raise Carrie alone.
Jerrod could read between the lines. Kym believed this dazzler was a woman he just might like. No matter how hard they tried, his friends couldn’t perform the miracle it would take for him to open his heart to another woman. Ever. On the other hand, he was a man of action, and he needed public relations help...now. He called the number Kym provided. Irrationally, his energy dropped a notch when he reached Dawn Larsen’s voice mail, but he followed through and left a message asking her to return his call.
What had he expected, anyway? That she’d pick up on the first ring? Kym had only met this woman that day at the conference. Kym didn’t know he was still in Chicago. Even he’d expected to be settled into Two Moon Bay by now. But finding the right tour and dive boats had taken longer than he’d planned. Meanwhile, the search for housing went on. Too bad he couldn’t hire Kym herself. She’d made a successful transition from being a Key West booster to an independent PR consultant in Kansas.
Grabbing his jacket, he headed out of the hotel and down Clark Street toward the hot dog place a block away where he’d find Carrie and Melody. His little girl spotted him as he entered the restaurant, but not before he’d had a chance to take in the vision of his child with her dark hair in two long braids. She was swinging her sneakered feet from the molded plastic bench of the booth. A basket of fries sat in front of her, along with a squeeze bottle of ketchup.
“Hi, Daddy.” She raised her hand and waved. “We’re having hot dogs. Want one?” She scooted over to make room for him and patted the seat the way he did when he wanted her to sit next to him.
He gave her a one-arm shoulder hug and kissed the top of her head, but moved his upper body just in time to avoid the smear of ketchup getting ready to transfer from her mouth to his jacket. “As a matter of fact, baby, that’s why I’m here. Melody sent me a text saying you were stopping for lunch.” He made a show of studying the counter. “Do you think they have any hot dogs left?”
She craned her neck to look behind him. “I think so—better hurry.”
His phone chimed the familiar melody of the old Jimmy Buffet song about a lovely cruise. He kept it on his phone because Carrie knew all the words. Her favorite line was about the sailors having water in their shoes.
Sure enough, Dawn Larsen’s name appeared on the screen. Holding up one finger to Melody to indicate he needed to take the call, Jerrod stepped outside.
“Hello, Ms. Larsen. Thanks for returning my call.”
“Dawn, please.”
A light, pleasant, voice—he was grateful. “Well, by any name you come highly recommended. My pal Kym Nation is your newest fan.”
“I feel the same way about her, and she thinks the world of you.” She paused. “I understand your plans for shipwreck diving excursions are well underway. So, you’ve already moved into your dock space in Two Moon Bay?”
He pressed his finger over his other ear to block out the street noise. “Not quite. Only one of my two boats is up in Two Moon Bay. I’m still in Chicago, where I’ve been outfitting the tour boat. My crew is bringing her up in a few days. Admittedly, my time line is short.” No sense trying to make excuses for it, either, he thought. “You see, I made the decision to open a Great Lakes location only a couple of months ago. That means I’m still a stranger in the area. But I got in under the wire and bought some ad space in some of your local tourist papers. It’s a start, but obviously, I need a lot more.”
“I’d be happy to listen to your plans and see how I might be able to help you. I’m curious about your business, of course.”
Businesslike, professional, Jerrod thought, and he had a hunch Dawn meant what she said. “If you have time, I could come to your hotel and meet you for a cup of coffee. I realize you’re busy at the conference, so I’ll understand if that’s not possible. Kym had high praise for the talk you gave about one of your successful campaigns.”
“It was great fun,” Dawn said, “but between you and me, Kym inspired everyone, too. She just finished a speech about the need for professional reinvention when life intervenes. I think we learn more from each other’s stories than we do from flowcharts and ten-point strategies.”
True, Jerrod agreed. He was up for hearing someone else’s stories. He’d become sick and tired of his own.
“I’m going on and on a bit here,” Dawn said with a lilt in her voice, “so I’ll get to the point. The conference ends tomorrow at one, and I’ll have a little time before I need to catch my train. Any chance you can come around that time? We could talk before I grab a cab and head to Union Station.”
“Sounds doable,” he said, trying to hold back his sudden and inexplicable eagerness to sit down and talk to her. “Why don’t I meet you in the lobby by the registration desk around one fifteen or so? I’ll check your website, so I’ll know what you look like.”
“That’s good...uh, I was going to say I’ll be the woman with the rolling suitcase, but since this is a hotel, that’s not particularly helpful,” she said, her tone breezy. “I’ll be the one with the short strawberry blonde hair. And I won’t be wearing high heels.”
“I will check the shoes of everyone in the lobby until I find you, Dawn.” Where had tha
t little one-liner come from? He didn’t know, but he instantly felt lighter, almost buoyant. But then he winced against the screech of a bus braking up at the stoplight on the corner not far away. “The traffic noise is bad. I better go. See you tomorrow.”
“Looking forward to it, Jerrod.”
The call ended, and he went back inside, conscious of his better mood. First, because of Carrie. There she was, cheerful and happy in a beat-up old plastic booth dipping fries in ketchup and still swinging her legs. And Dawn had amused him, too, with her melodic laugh and lack of pretention.
When he slid into the booth, Melody pushed his basket of food in front of him. “Here, we ordered for you. Better eat while it’s still hot.”
“Hey, cutie,” he said to Carrie. “Could be I found someone who can help me get some passengers for the trips to shipwrecks I was telling you about.”
“I saw the pictures of those boats,” Carrie told Melody. “They’re really old, just like in Key West, and they broke into lots of pieces.”
“They don’t get too many visitors, either, or so I hear.” Melody turned down the corners of her mouth. “They must be lonely out there in the cold lake all by themselves.”
Carrie shrugged and dipped another fry in the ketchup. “Could be.”
Apparently, lonely shipwrecks weren’t as alluring as lunch.
“So, you found a PR person?” Melody asked.
“A possibility. We’ll see. She was referred by someone I knew years ago. I’m meeting her at her hotel tomorrow. Best of all, she lives in Two Moon Bay.”
Melody’s eyes opened in surprise. “Cool. I hope it works out.”
“Me, too.” He didn’t want to be dramatic, but the success of his new direction and the safe and secure life he wanted to create for Carrie could depend on getting this venture off the ground.
Chapter Two
ONCE SHE AND JERROD had settled into a couple of chairs in a quiet corner of the lobby, Dawn pulled out her notebook and pen. “I’m ready to work,” she said.
“Is that really a pen? And actual paper, too?” Jerrod asked. “How old school of you.”
She tapped the end of the pen against her temple. “Maybe so, but this is where it all begins. The computer folders and files and spreadsheets are launched in phase two.” She grinned. “I just made that up.”
Suddenly, she wished she’d accepted Jerrod’s offer of coffee. She could have used something to distract her from the man himself. She’d found him online, of course, and Jerrod had looked very good in his website photo. But it didn’t do him justice. Not even close. She guessed him to be around her age, maybe closer to forty, as opposed to her thirty-six. His almost-black hair showed no hint of gray to match his penetrating, but solemn gray eyes. Because of the nature of his business, she expected a guy with weathered, rugged looks. His open, unlined face had immediately thrown her at first. The tall, lean man in a fisherman’s knit sweater and jeans would have looked at home in a courtroom or maybe a classroom.
She’d come into the meeting wary, because a few red flags already waved and grabbed her attention. The oddly outdated website. Articles posted there were at least three years old. He had no active social media. Despite his up-to-date appearance, his promotion plan, such as it was, came out of the last decade. She hadn’t done a complete search. That could wait, but still, it was a little strange.
Jerrod leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees. “Why don’t I fill you in on the background of the business?”
She nodded, eager to stop thinking about how appealing he was and get down to the nitty-gritty of the meeting. For the next few minutes, she took notes about his fifteen-year-old business, headquartered in Key West, but sometimes working from outposts in St. Thomas and even as far away as Thailand.
“And you want to expand into the fairly small shipwreck diving market in the Great Lakes?” Dawn asked. Somehow, Two Moon Bay seemed an odd place to branch out, especially for someone with his extensive experience in tropical waters.
“I’ll be honest with you, Dawn, it’s an experiment. I...uh...lost my wife a couple of years ago, which led to cutting back my role in the business. My diving guides and the crew carried on at our home base in Florida. They kept us going. But I’ve recommitted to the business and I’m responsible for launching the changes it needs.”
That sounded reasonable enough, except...what? Why Wisconsin, why the Lakes? “Moving your company to the chilly Great Lakes is a big change. Especially for shipwreck diving,” she said. “It certainly exists up my way, but the summers are pretty short.”
“True, but my hometown is Erie, Pennsylvania. I grew up on the water.”
Dawn spent the next several minutes scribbling background information about the stories Jerrod grew up on, including his great-grandfather’s life on barges and ore boats on the lakes.
“Even as a kid I was caught up in the image of shipping in the area. My dad always said it was part of settling the whole country and making us rich.” Jerrod raised his hands in the air for emphasis.
“Well, when you put it like that,” Dawn said in a wry tone, noting the change in his expression. Finally, she’d managed to bring a smile to his face.
“I was fascinated with shipwrecks, too, which is why they’ve figured into the kind of diving business my wife and I created.”
My wife and I created. A partnership based on adventure? He’d piqued her curiosity. The more Jerrod talked, the more Dawn’s vision of a PR program for him expanded to include interviews and speaking engagements. Only a few of her clients were good media guests and public speakers. Jerrod might be one of them. His deep voice was matched with an easy manner of bantering back and forth. She was certain he could handle interviews and speeches. He already was a walking encyclopedia of the shipwrecks in Lake Michigan. But he’d be even better if more enjoyment or happiness came through. Hmm...she couldn’t coach that.
“So, do you think you can help me?” Jerrod asked. “I know I still have loose ends, but I’ll do what it takes to kick-start the season.”
And it would take a major push. Dawn liked the sense of bubbling excitement inside her. She’d asked for a challenge. Jerrod’s business was certainly that.
“Fortunately, I’ve got experienced diving guides and crew. You’ll get to know them, but they handle a lot of the desk work, the customer service end. Also, Wyatt is one of my instructors and guides, but she’s willing to help me create a new website.”
Wyatt, a woman, Dawn wrote in the margin on her page, along with notes about Jerrod’s short-term plans. It was only a matter of days before he and his crew would arrive in Two Moon Bay.
“Until I nail down the summer housing situation,” Jerrod said, “we’ll be staying in a place called, if you can believe it, The Sleepy Moon Inn.”
Amused, Dawn said, “Of course I believe it. The Sleepy Moon Inn is the town’s newest hotel.” She cocked her head. “You see, we have a law that you have to refer to the moon in any business name in town.”
“Kind of like Hemingway and Key West.”
She nodded. “Exactly. As it happens, though, the Half Moon Café is one of the best restaurants in town. Don’t write it off as a tourist trap.” Dawn gathered her thoughts. She had a hunch Jerrod might misunderstand Two Moon Bay. “Visitors give the place a chance because of its obvious theme, but as you’ll see, they stay or come back because they like the kind of town it is. It was once a fishing haven, but now it’s a tourist hub that local people enjoy.” She could have listed a few points, but she’d wait until he was in town and let him see for himself. Or not.
“I’ll remember that,” Jerrod said, his expression warm and thoughtful.
Dawn shifted in her chair and went back to her notes, a feeble attempt to quell her rising excitement about the prospects of working with Jerrod. He was a mystery, though. Details were sketchy about the last couple of
years since he’d lost his wife. His business had continued. Barely, even by his own admission.
“If Wyatt has any trouble nailing down the housing you need, let me know,” she said. “I have a couple of friends who might be able to offer suggestions.”
He nodded his thanks. “Speaking of that, what do you think I need to get my venture off the ground, even this late? Give me the bare bones.”
A dizzying number of ideas raced through her head. Since anything she said could be altered later, she tapped her pen on the notepad and began reading from her hastily scribbled list, starting with brochures right up to an attempt to start up a social media campaign.
“You’re a natural for a blog. There’s the basic allure of shipwrecks.” She looked up from her notes. “You know what I mean. Barnacled ships and colorful fish.”
He rolled his eyes. “You’re a poet, huh? I’m going to steal that last line and use it somewhere.”
“I guess it came out that way, didn’t it?” Barnacled ships and colorful fish indeed!
“One of the best things we do on our day tours is take guests back in time, give them a sense of history,” Jerrod said. “We’ve done well with both the diving and the day trips because they satisfy natural curiosity about the past.”
It struck Dawn that other than laughing at her poetic line and the occasional faint smile, his expression didn’t change much. Still, despite the serious—cerebral—way he’d approached their meeting, Dawn had no trouble envisioning Jerrod running a group dive or narrating a tour. Thinking of Two Moon Bay, she easily pictured him in the reception hall at the yacht club after a talk. She wrote a reminder to touch base with her contacts at yacht clubs and libraries throughout the peninsula. They were always looking for people who could do programs about local history or lore or things going on in the area.
When Kym first mentioned Jerrod, Dawn knew she was capable of promoting a diving excursion business without being drawn to scuba diving herself. She had no intention of sampling the diving excursions. Not on her life. But so far, nothing Jerrod had said about his business made her doubt her ability to do a good job for him.
Something to Treasure Page 2
