The Seacroft: a love story (Paines Creek Beach Book 2)

by Lazar, Aaron Paul

  She leaned against him. “You did just fine, honey.”

  “I hope this doesn’t raise her expectations,” he laughed.

  “Hell no. She’ll have me to deal with if she even thinks about touching you again.”

  He laughed and kissed her again.

  The doctor poked his head into the room. “Uh. Sorry to interrupt folks. You all right in here?” He chuckled. “Silly question. I see you are just fine.” He turned and added, “We’re going to take Mrs. Polansky and Officer Pierce to the temporary clinic set up in the elementary school. I was on my way there to volunteer anyway.”

  They separated quickly and faced him with arms around each other. “We’re fine,” Cody said. “And if you need a car, I have one outside.”

  The doctor smiled. “Thanks, but I’m good. I brought my trusty old station wagon. A tree fell and crushed my new SUV. But this old beauty still runs like a champ. Plus I’ve got room to lay them down in the back.”

  “You’d better bring an officer with you, in case Mrs. P gets wild again,” Cody said.

  “Well, that young officer is coming along for the ride, but it’s not necessary. I just gave her a strong sedative. She’ll soon be quiet as a mouse.”

  Vivian shuddered. “That’s what she called me, ‘a pitiful little mouse’ and ‘a good little toad.’ She was so gifted in the field of hurling insults. Ugh.”

  Cody squeezed her to him. “That’s because she was so jealous of your beauty. Your youth. Your flawless skin and body.”

  “Flawless?” Viv laughed. “Oh, Cody. I do love you.”

  They followed the group out to the driveway. Officer Pierce had stirred and spoken a few words, which provided a sense of relief. To be safe, they carried her down the stairs on a makeshift stretcher made from a closet door taken off its hinges. Uvi sat huddled under a blanket in the back of the station wagon, glaring at them with hooded eyes. Once Officer Pierce was settled beside her, the doctor drove them away.

  Cody pulled her toward his rental car. “Come on. We’ve gotta get back to Blueberry Hill. There’s a ton of work to do.”

  “I think you guys will be cutting up trees for the next month,” Viv said, sliding into the car beside him. She slumped against the passenger seat, watching Cody make his way around the obstacles in the road. “My gosh. What a day.”

  “And we still didn’t tell Uvi we quit. Or that we’re together.”

  Vivian spluttered a laugh. “Geez, you’re right. But something tells me she might’ve seen you kissing me. She shot me daggers after that. Even tried to kick me.”

  He chuffed a laugh. “You’re probably right. Must’ve pissed her off real good.” He turned into the Blueberry Hill driveway and rolled up the hill. “Here we are. Alive. And well.” He hesitated on the last word. “Aren’t we?”

  She sighed, unbuckled her seatbelt, and slid over to lean against him. “We could have died today. And you might’ve died twice. Once in the boat, once on that blasted roof.”

  He kissed her lips, holding her close. “But I didn’t. And we’re safe at home. We have our whole lives ahead of us.”

  She giggled. “Somehow I feel like we’re reliving the final scene in The Wizard of Oz.”

  Cody pulled her closer. “Yeah. It is kind of like that, isn’t it? We survived a horrible ordeal, but we’re okay now. Maybe back to reality? Away from the nightmare?”

  “I sure hope so. Do you think Uvi was the wicked witch?” Viv asked.

  “Maybe. But she’s beautiful, not ugly. So maybe she’s an amalgam of the good witch and the wicked witch.”

  “Beautiful?” Vivian said, pulling back and punching his arm. “Really?”

  Cody grinned. “Sorry. But you know she is.”

  Vivian trilled a laugh. “I do. She’s gorgeous. I just hate that you noticed.”

  “Hard not to when she was tugging my clothes off and kissing me at every opportunity.”

  “Was she good… I mean… in bed?”

  Cody pursed his lips and frowned. “If I answer you honestly, you’ll leave me. If I don’t, I’ll be lying.”

  “Lie.”

  “Okay. She sucked.”

  “Wait a minute. Is that a double entendre?” Viv asked, barely able to control her laughter.

  His face went blank for a minute, and then a smile crept onto his lips. “Oh. I didn’t mean it that way. But now that you mention it—”

  Another jab to his arm made him grab her and kiss her, pinning her arms to her side. She pretended to struggle, then gave in and kissed him back.

  Chapter 44

  They found Finn in the blueberry fields, driving his tractor with its cart rolling along behind him. Three little curly topped heads bobbed from the wagon, amidst a volley of delighted squeals. When Cody waved him down, Finn drove up the hill and pulled up beside them. “Glad you’re back. Everything go okay?”

  Cody shrugged. “A bit of a mess. But we’re back.”

  Finn raised one eyebrow. “Really. What kind of a mess?”

  Cody kissed Vivian and headed for the cart. “I’ll explain later.” The girls tumbled around him, simultaneously asking for piggyback rides and playtime.

  Vivian waved to the girls and headed into the house. Once inside, she heard crying coming from the living room. “Libby?”

  Libby looked up from the phone, tears streaming down her face. “Please hold on.” She turned to Vivian with a frozen expression. “I don’t know what to order for the casket spray. Help me. Please.”

  In a flash, Vivian realized the woman was at the end of her rope. She couldn’t make another decision, even if it was just about flowers. Gently, she took the phone and sat close to Libby on the couch, slinging an arm around her shoulders. “Can I help you? I’m Libby’s um... I’m her children’s nanny.”

  Libby leaned her head against Vivian.

  “We need to choose one more arrangement, Miss. For the casket. It’s going to have a gold ribbon that says, ‘from Libby and Finn.’”

  “Okay. Well, how about a mixture of white snapdragons, white carnations, and yellow roses?” Vivian said.

  Libby nodded beside her, looking relieved. She mouthed a thank you.

  Vivian finished up with the call and turned to Libby. “What else can I do? How can I help you?”

  “We have to figure out the reception. So far, I have no idea what’s needed.”

  “I can do that. It’s not a problem.”

  Libby looked toward the door when a vehicle approached. “But for now, will you stay with me? That’s probably my father’s lawyer. Finn took the girls outside so I’d be able to meet with him about the will.” Her voice wobbled on the word “will.”

  “Of course.” Vivian leaned over to kiss Libby’s cheek. “I’d be happy to stay with you.”

  “I think he’s going to tell me that unless my unborn baby is a boy, I lose my childhood home.” Libby hiccupped a sob. “I still can’t believe my father did that to me.”

  “Oh, no. Libby. Try not to worry. We’ll get you through this, I promise.”

  The doorbell rang and an elderly black man stood with a folder under his arm. Vivian let him in, noting his Dockers and golf shirt. For some reason, she’d expected a suit and tie, but she realized she probably had dated expectations.

  “Forgive the casual attire,” he said, as if reading her thoughts. “I’m Ray Stanton, Rudy’s attorney.” He came inside and nodded to Libby, who rose from the couch to greet him. “The hurricane destroyed our offices. It’s thrown us all for a loop,” he said. “So we’re stepping down formalities and meeting clients in their homes where possible.”

  Vivian ushered him to an armchair. “Please, have a seat.”

  Stanton thanked her and sat, opening his file. “First of all, Mrs. McGraw, I want to express my deepest condolences. This has been a hard week for everyone. We lost several community members in the storm. But I can only imagine that losing your father to a heart attack at a time like this is simply devastating.” He ran a hand ove
r his close-cropped gray hair.

  Libby couldn’t speak. She just nodded.

  Vivian sat next to her and squeezed her hand, feeling waves of grief floating up from her own losses. Her father. Her brother. Her mother.

  With a stab of panic, she realized she needed to check on her mother again, to try again to find out where they’d taken her. None of her calls had gone through so far, and she hoped and prayed it was a decent place.

  Stanton gave a few more murmurs of sympathy, then got straight to the point. “Your father called me in last week to amend his will. He had a change of heart. He’s removed the clause about you needing to have a male child to inherit the house.”

  Libby’s breath left her in a great whoosh, as if she’d been holding it in. She hiccupped a sob. “What? Really?”

  “Yes. He told me that he felt badly about keeping the family tradition alive at your expense. He’d promised his own father that he’d only hand The Seacrest down to the eldest male child, and when he had no sons, he interpreted that to mean eldest grandson.”

  Libby wept quietly into her hands. “I… I thought he didn’t love me.”

  Stanton continued. “On the contrary. He loved you deeply. He told me so. That’s why he broke the two hundred-year-old tradition. He said you and your daughters are just as valuable as any male progeny. And he told me that he was sorry he worried you. I’m sure he would have told you himself, if he hadn’t taken ill so unexpectedly.”

  “Really?” Libby raised a tear-stained face to his. “He said that?”

  “Yes. He mentioned putting too much stress on you during your pregnancy, not wanting you to fret about the sex of the baby.”

  Libby stood and looked out the window, trying to control herself. “Thank God. Because I found out last week I'm having another girl.”

  Vivian smiled. “Oh, Libby! Congratulations.”

  Libby turned with a hand on her belly. “She’s going to be a lively one. I can just tell.”

  Stanton stood. “We’ll have lots of papers to sign in the coming weeks. You’re the executor, Libby, but it’s a straightforward will where the bulk of the estate goes to you. There’s a small inheritance for your housekeeper, Fritzi. We shouldn’t have to go through probate because your father had all his ducks in a row, so to speak. Just routine processing, but that takes time, too. We’ll have to pay all his bills, get his taxes ready for next April, etc.”

  Libby nodded. “Okay. I’ll need you to lead the way. I have no idea what I’m doing here.”

  “Of course.” Stanton briefed Libby on the next steps, and suddenly stood. “This is one of the more pleasant visits I have to make today. At least from the point of view of delivering relatively good news in a sad situation. Call it a silver lining, maybe?”

  “I guess you could say that.” Libby walked him to the door. “Thank you, Mr. Stanton.”

  He shook her hand. “Call me Ray. We’ll be seeing a lot of each other until the estate is finalized.”

  “Okay. Thank you. And you can call me Libby.” They said goodbye and she closed the door, turning to Vivian with fresh tears welling in her eyes. “Now what do I do?”

  Vivian ran to her side. “What’s wrong? I thought that was good news.”

  Libby leaned her head on the front door. “What do I tell Finn? Do we leave the only place he’s ever loved to live in my old family home? Or do I give it all up? What would he do without his blueberry farm? He loves it so much here.”

  Vivian tried to console her. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you can figure something out. Finn loves you. He’ll want you to be happy.”

  Libby straightened. “I know. You’re right. I’m being ridiculous. In the face of all this tragedy, I should just be quiet and stop being such a prima donna.”

  They wandered into the kitchen where Viv put on the kettle. “You’re not being a prima donna. You’ve just lost your father. And you’ve got some surprising news that changes everything. It’s understandable.”

  The kettle shot out a whistle of steam, and Viv automatically reached for the peppermint tea, pouring for both of them. “I should tell you what happened this morning.”

  “Oh, right. I’m sorry I didn’t even ask you about it.” Libby blew on her cup, cradling it in her hands. “How did Uvi take the news about your quitting?”

  Vivian grew silent, unable to answer right away.

  Libby waited, then frowned. “Viv? What happened?”

  “Um. Uvi tried to kill us.”

  “What?” Libby’s eyes widened and she set the spoon down on her saucer with a clatter. “Are you serious?”

  “Unfortunately, yes. She forced us onto her boat at gunpoint.”

  Libby reached a hand across the table. “My God, Vivian.”

  The story poured out of her in a rush. She still couldn’t believe her own words, or that such insane events had actually happened.

  “So, her husband’s alive? And Uvi’s in custody?”

  “Yes. For now.”

  “What if she’s released?”

  Vivian raised her eyes to Libby. “I can’t even imagine that possibility. She’s crazy. Then again, she’s also a very good liar. She’s been acting out her fantasy for years. Pretending she’s still married, that Mr. P is overseas.”

  “You can’t blame him for leaving her, if she’s really that awful. I just hope they keep her locked up.” Libby said. After a moment, her hands flew to her mouth. “Oh, that sounded awful. I should have said maybe she can get help that way.”

  Viv sipped her tea. “I feel bad for her. I do. But I hate her at the same time, so I’d just as soon she stayed in some facility, to tell the truth.” She set her cup down. “She preyed on Cody, she took advantage of me, and then, when it didn’t go her way—”

  “I wouldn’t feel too bad for Cody.” Libby smiled. “He’s always been a magnet for women. It’s that bad-boy grin, I think.”

  Vivian gave her a half-smile. “And those eyes. I could just fall into them. Become a part of him forever.”

  Libby reached a hand across the table. “You’re already a part of him, I think. He’s nuts about you.”

  “You think so?”

  “Yes. You’re the first girl he’s ever been serious about. Since he came here at age fifteen—I still can’t believe it was six years ago—he’s had a chip on his shoulder about his mother. I think she gave him a bad attitude toward women.”

  “He’s never talked much about her with me. Or about his father.”

  “Oh, his father. Jax.” She shook her head. “Talk about a rake.”

  “A rake?”

  “You know, a real bad ass. He stole Finn’s first wife, did you know that?”

  Vivian nodded. “I heard a little about it.”

  “They both died in that car crash. That’s how Finn found out she was cheating on him. That she was having an affair with his own brother.”

  “Horrible.”

  “And Jax impregnated some girls in high school. He told us they’d all given away the babies for adoption, or had abortions. But he never checked on them, never followed through to be sure. Because Cody’s mother moved away without a word, he didn’t know about his son. Didn’t know he existed. It was so sad.”

  “Cody mentioned that. Poor guy. Growing up with no father.”

  “And his mother was awful,” Libby said. “From what he’s told me, she didn’t pay him much attention as a child, and then went off and married a guy with six other kids. It drove him away from her. But luckily, it drove him to us.”

  “I’m glad he came up here. He was so fortunate to find a home with you and Finn.”

  “He was. And it was good for us, too. He’s a good man.”

  Vivian’s eyes went dreamy. “Yes, he is. He most certainly is.”

  Libby met her eyes with a secretive smile. “He asked if he could take you on a romantic ride after dinner tonight on the horses. Of course, that was before you almost got killed today.”

  Vivian sat up straight. “Real
ly? Actually, after the day we had, it would be nice to just get away for a while. That is, if you don’t need me.”

  “No worries. I can handle my little ones tonight.”

  “Thanks.” Vivian got up and hugged her. “Now, let me make a few calls. I’ve got to find out where my mother is.”

  “Since Shady Pines collapsed?”

  “Precisely. All my calls this morning didn’t go through. So I’m off to try again.”

  “Try the police station. I’m sure they’ll know where people are being housed.”

  “Good idea, thanks.” Vivian picked up the phone and started her search.

  Chapter 45

  Vivian hung up the phone and frowned. Her mother was being housed in the elementary school cafeteria with the rest of the suddenly homeless people in Brewster. She was sleeping on a cot in a wide opened room, with God-knows-who sleeping beside her. And wasn’t that the same place the doctor had said he was heading? That they’d set up some emergency clinic there? It must be a zoo.

  Worried now, she went outside to find Cody and to get the car keys. She had to check this out for herself.

  She flagged him down at the bottom of the hill and filled him in, trying not to notice his tanned bare chest covered in perspiration. He looked gorgeous, but she had to push the thought away.

  Not now. For God’s sake, Vivian.

  He fished the rental car keys out of his pocket. “Want me to come along?”

  She eyed the work he was doing on the field, piling cut up logs and brush together for a fire. The laughter of little children floated down the hill. Apparently Finn was having no trouble entertaining his daughters.

  “No. It’s okay. You keep on with what you’re doing, and I’ll be back soon.”

  “Viv?” He stopped her. “I hope it goes okay. You know you could bring her back here if you think it would suit her.”

  “Thanks. But my mother needs round the clock care. She’s not… herself.”

  “Okay. Well, good luck.” He leaned forward to hug her. “When you get back, I’d like to take you for a ride on the beach. After supper?”

  “Sounds wonderful,” she said, pecking his cheek. “Thanks.”