The Edge of Paradise: Christmas Key Book Three

by Stephanie Taylor

  “Why—are you making sure it’s safe for you and Bridget to show? I can stay home if you guys want to go tonight,” Holly says without any hint of sarcasm or bad feelings.

  “Don’t be like that.” Jake switches hands impatiently, holding the wheel first with his left, then with his right. “Bridget is leaving on Tuesday, and she wants to say good-bye to everyone.”

  “Oh.” Holly brushes at the damp box, swiping sand from its slightly dented top. She’d known that Bridget would leave at some point, but this end to Jake’s relationship doesn’t make her feel victorious, it just makes her feel sad for him. In spite of all they’ve been through and all the mixed emotions between them, ultimately Holly wants to see him happy.

  “Yeah, it’s time. We’ve tried to talk things through, but she’s pretty convinced that her views on the world are right.”

  “People usually are,” Holly says, watching the houses as they pass by.

  “I finally had to ask myself what my mother would think if I brought a girl home who felt that way, and I realized I had to end it.”

  Holly just listens. Neither of them mention the fact that he was nearly tied to Bridget permanently, but the thought that his life almost went a completely different direction hangs between them.

  “Anyway, I want to part on good terms. I need to let her say her good-byes to everyone and then help her pack up her stuff and head back to L.A.”

  “She’s going to miss the Wild Tropics premiere we have planned,” Holly notes, sliding out of the cart as Jake comes to a stop in Hal’s driveway.

  Jake gives a faint smile. “Yeah, I guess she will.”

  They walk together up the stone path to Hal’s bungalow. Holly cradles Sadie’s ashes in her hands. Inside is a frail widower who’s been waiting to be reunited with his wife’s cremains, and a middle-aged daughter with the decision about what to do with her dad still ahead of her. Holly prepares herself for the sad scene.

  “You ready?” Jake asks, hand poised to knock. Holly nods.

  Paula Pillory opens the door with a smile. “Holly!” She pops the screen door and reaches out to pull Holly into a one-armed hug. “How are you? Come in.”

  Holly makes the introductions and follows Paula into the sitting room. There’s a loveseat and a reclining chair with a small coffee table, all facing an older box television in one corner. Everything is neat and dusted, and a stack of magazines is lined up on the coffee table.

  “Can I get you anything?”

  “No, thank you. We just wanted to return something to your dad that we know he’s been missing.”

  Paula’s eyes fill with tears. “Ohhhh,” she says. “My mom.” She reaches out for the box and takes it from Holly gingerly, placing it on the table. “I can’t believe you found her—where was she?”

  Jake looks at the lines in the freshly vacuumed carpet. His hands are clasped behind his back politely.

  Holly tears her eyes from Jake and turns her attention back to Paula. “Hal buried her behind the chapel, and I had a hunch about it that turned out to be right.”

  “Thank you—both of you. This will bring so much peace to his heart. He’s napping right now, but I’ll show him as soon as he wakes up.” Paula sits on the edge of the recliner and motions for them to take the loveseat. She’s a thick-legged woman of fifty-nine with a head of tightly permed gray curls, and she’s dressed in a knee-length shift dress and Birkenstock sandals. Her upper arms are soft and freckled.

  “What do you think now that you’ve spent some time with him?” Holly asks.

  “Well,” Paula says, slapping her knees and leaning back in the chair. “I think he’s been better. It’s hard to see your own parents decline, and it’s definitely a situation where you aren’t always the most objective person. I’ve talked to Dr. Potts quite a bit, and she’s made some recommendations. I know Dad doesn’t want to leave the island, but I also know he isn’t your responsibility at this point. I’m still working out the details here because I need to get back to Ohio.”

  “We all love Hal,” Holly assures her.

  “I know you do,” Paula says, her eyes crinkling. “And I can’t tell you how grateful I am for the way your grandparents took in my folks and made them a part of this community. It was a blessing for them.”

  “Your mom was an amazing woman.” Holly glances at the framed black-and-white photos of Hal and Sadie on the small end table next to her side of the couch. In the pictures, Sadie is a young bride with a smooth, unlined face and bow-shaped lips. “She would read to me for hours and hours when she was my teacher.”

  Paula nods, her eyes full of fondness and memory. “She did the same for me. And when I was in veterinary school she’d stay up all night, helping me cram for tests and memorize the parts of a cat’s intestinal tract the way some moms teach their little girls how to apply make-up or choose matching shoes and purses. She was quite a gal.” Holly and Jake laugh appreciatively. “Anyhow, I need to get back to my practice. I’ve got three more years until I can retire, and I have another doctor seeing my patients while I’m down here for a week or so.”

  “Of course,” Holly says.

  “So my options are either to take Dad up to Ohio and find a facility for him, which—in my opinion—will do nothing but age him and speed up his decline, or I can find a way for him to stay put.”

  “We’ve been pitching in here to look after him the best we can,” Jake says, clearing his throat. “And no one wants to see him out wandering the beach at night with a shovel or putting himself in harm’s way.”

  “Oh, I know that, honey,” Paula assures him, leaning forward and stretching a hand out in Jake’s direction. “It’s not on you all to look after him. My daughter, Katelynn, is willing to come down and give it a shot. She’s a freelance journalist, and her son, Connor, is sixteen.” Paula turns to Holly. “Much like your own mother, she entered parenthood before she’d exited her teens, and she’s been a single mom to my grandson ever since. Having them come down here is one option.”

  Holly and Jake exchange a fast glance; a teenager on the island? It’s something to be discussed at a later date.

  “That sounds like a real possibility,” Holly says.

  “It is. And it’ll need to happen fast if it’s going to happen.” Paula stands up and straightens her linen dress. “I’ll keep you posted and let you know as soon as I have everything worked out.” Holly and Jake stand, following her lead. Paula walks them to the door. “Thank you again,” she says, reaching out to give Holly a hug and offering Jake a hand to shake. “This means more to my dad than you know.”

  Holly and Jake wave to Paula as they climb back into Jake’s cart. The holes that Hal had complained about that day in his front yard have long been filled, and the patches of brown dirt dot the grass like crop circles left by unknown beings. Holly watches his house as it disappears behind them.

  “Well, that was depressing,” she says, thinking of Hal and Sadie as they used to be.

  “No, that,” Jake says solemnly, “was life.”

  Chapter 30

  The morning of the premiere is a busy one. Holly and Bonnie are putting the finishing touches on the B&B’s dining room to make sure it looks worthy of a Hollywood bash, and the triplets have volunteered to iron the white tablecloths and napkins for the tables. Buckhunter has a bar set up in the corner of the dining room with a variety of bottles and clean glasses lined up on a cart, and Fiona is on her knees next to the bar, fixing a string of lights to it so that it looks like a marquee when it’s all lit up. She’s done the same thing to the overhang of the B&B with strings of white bulbs, and the red carpet they’ve rented from a prop shop in Tampa had arrived by boat the day before and is now waiting to be rolled out.

  “Do we have enough candles?” Holly shouts to Bonnie as she hurries through the dining room holding a stack of the programs that they’ve put together on the B&B’s computer. “I want to be able to turn off all the lights in the dining room during the show and still have i
t bright enough for people to keep eating and drinking while we watch.”

  “We have two hundred tea lights and a hundred tall pillars, sugar. I feel like we’ve got it covered, but I can go and hunt in the storage room for more if you like.”

  “Would you, Bon?” Holly wipes at her brow and fishes her cell phone out of the back pocket of her shorts. April is coming to a close, and the heat of summer is pressing up against the island like an insistent Avon lady ringing a doorbell.

  “You got it.” Bonnie sashays out of the dining room through the French doors. She brushes past Wyatt and Cap as they wheel in potted ficus plants on dollies. Wyatt pauses and glances over his shoulder at Bonnie as she goes.

  “Those can go all around the room, guys,” Holly instructs, pointing at the spots along the wall where she’s planning on filling in with the trees. Fiona has more white twinkle lights in a box on a table in the middle of the room, and the triplets are going to wind all of the ficus plants with lights to give the room even more of a glow at night.

  “Hol?” Fiona calls, standing up. “Does this look right?” She plugs in the lights that she’s just put around the bar.

  Holly looks at it. “Yeah. I like that.” She jabs a pen through the loose bun she’s made on top of her head and strides over to the open doorway to meet Jake.

  “You wanted help pressure-washing the sidewalk?” he asks. He’s still wearing his sunglasses, and his black police t-shirt is clinging to his torso with sweat after driving around all morning in the humidity.

  “If you have time. If not, it can probably stay as is.” Holly tries to keep her tone as neutral as possible. She’d forced herself to go to the Ho Ho the night Bridget had been there to say good-bye to everyone, and things had been cool but cordial between her and Jake for several weeks since.

  “No, it’s fine. It’ll only take about fifteen minutes. Your red carpet won’t look good on a dirty porch and sidewalk. Where’s the pressure washer?”

  “Jimmy brought it over from the bistro and left it in the B&B’s parking lot,” Holly says, pointing east.

  “Okay. I’m on it.” As Jake turns and walks through the lobby and out into the bright sunlight, Holly watches his strong back. With luck, things will be normal between them again someday. Or maybe just normal-ish.

  Holly’s cell phone rings and she pulls it from her pocket again. It’s a Facetime call from River.

  “Hey,” she says as his face pops up on her screen. “What’s new?”

  “Just checking in to see how the movie premiere is shaping up.”

  “Hollywood has come to Christmas Key,” Holly says, turning the view of the screen around so she can show him the dining room. “It actually doesn’t look like much yet, but it’s going to be awesome. We even rented a projector and a giant screen from the same prop store we got the red carpet from.”

  “You never cease to amaze me,” River marvels. Holly turns the view around so that he’s looking at her face again. “How’s everything else?”

  Holly takes her phone and wanders down the hall toward the B&B’s kitchen. “Well, Hal’s son is here temporarily to take care of him while his granddaughter gets her life in order to move down. She’ll be bringing her teenage son with her, so…that’s going to take some getting used to.”

  River laughs. “A teenage boy on Christmas Key? He’s going to be miserable.”

  “You think?”

  “I know. What is there for him to do but get into trouble? No girls, no excitement, no friends. You thought six-year-old boys were a handful—just wait.” River glances around and the camera jostles on his end.

  “Where are you?” Holly pushes open the door to the kitchen and peeks in at the activity. She’s got six women plus Jimmy Cafferkey in there cooking, and it smells like chicken marsala and heaven. She takes a deep breath and lets the door swing shut again so that she won’t disturb them.

  “The store,” River says. “I’m waiting in line.”

  “Whatcha buying? Pudding cups and paper clips? Dog bones and denture cream? Balloons and buckwheat?”

  “Denture cream and buckwheat?” River makes a face. “You need to spend less time with old people.”

  “You’re right,” Holly glances around to make sure she’s alone in the B&B hallway, “and to that end, we’re finally about to get out of Dodge.”

  “I feel like we’ve been planning this trip forever,” River says, leaning forward and disappearing from view. “And now it’s almost here.”

  Holly sighs. She still has a lot to do to get ready for their trip. And beyond that, she still has a lot to do to get ready for the premiere in five hours. “Hey, can I call you later? I need to keep setting up here.”

  “Sure. Call me whenever.” The relaxed look on River’s face reminds Holly of how things had been when they’d first met the summer before. Gone was the strained distance that had divided them during his visit at Christmas, and back was the playful, trusting River she’d first been attracted to. Jake hadn’t been a part of their conversation in weeks, and if things went well, he wouldn’t come up at all on their trip.

  Holly is out on the front steps of the B&B observing the activity on Main Street when Mexi and Mori come running up the sidewalk with Carrie-Anne and Ellen close behind.

  “Holly!” Mexi calls, nearly tripping as he skids to a stop in front of the B&B. “Guess what we saw?”

  Holly walks down the stairs and sits on the bottom step so that she’s closer to eye level with the boys. “What did you see?”

  “We saw a tow-key give boith!” Mori shouts, stealing his brother’s thunder.

  “You saw a turkey give birth?” Holly looks up at Ellen, who is standing behind the boys with both hands on her hips.

  “We’ve been waiting for it,” Ellen confirms. “Even got a video of it if you want to see.”

  “Maybe later,” Holly says. The thought of birth and all its inherent gore leaves her feeling squeamish. “But you didn’t tell me we were going to have turkey babies on the island.”

  “Well, doll, you give us ten turkeys and then just guess what’s bound to happen!” Carrie-Anne looks at the top of the twins’ heads fondly. “We have Mexi and Mori out to our place once a week for an hour to help take care of the animals. We’ve been waiting and waiting for these eggs to hatch, and today we got lucky and had one of the babies finally make her appearance.”

  “It’s a boy,” Mexi says. “We’re naming him Thor.” Over their heads, Carrie-Anne cups her face with both hands and mouths the word ‘girl’ to Holly.

  “Thor, huh?” Holly says with enthusiasm. “Who’s his mommy?”

  “Godiva.” Mexi turns to his brother. “Right?”

  “No, it’s Twik-thee,” Mori says.

  “Nuh-uh. Trixie is the grandma,” Mexi argues.

  “They’re all family.” Ellen puts a hand on top of each of the boys’ heads to stop the bickering. “And we need to finish picking grass for Madonkey to eat and take it back to her before she starves.” The boys drop all discussion of the turkeys and instead tilt their heads to look up at Ellen with concern. “I’m kidding, guys—she won’t really starve.”

  Holly laughs and waves at the foursome as they continue up Main Street to pick grass in the wooded area that starts at Cinnamon Lane. Her neighbors have held up their end of the bargain like champs: as soon as they’d found Sadie’s ashes and put the mystery of the holes behind them, they’d all signed on to donate their time and expertise to help round out the schooling that Vance and Calista are doing online with the boys.

  Aside from the weekly lessons on animal care from Ellen and Carrie-Anne, Cap has taken Mexi and Mori out on his boat a few times already, instructing them about water safety, tides, and how to catch fish. Fiona has pitched in by teaching the boys how to swim in the B&B pool, and she’s also had them come by the office twice to study the posters on her walls as they learn about bones and muscles. The boys spend one hour a week on Monday mornings at The Jingle Bell Bistro, where Jimmy Caf
ferkey has given them basic lessons on how to be careful in the kitchen and how to measure things. Heddie Lang-Mueller sits with them at the tables outside Mistletoe Morning Brew on Thursday afternoons to teach them a little German, and Jake and Holly take turns showing them what the civic duties of a police officer and a mayor look like.

  It’s all working out so far, and the rotating cast of “teachers” has freed up Calista to work more at the salon, and Vance to write his novel and start thinking again about opening up the bookstore next to Mistletoe Morning Brew. And whether they’ll admit it or not, the islanders get a lot of joy out of teaching something they know about to the little guys. It’s helped to smooth over all the bumps and snags they’ve hit since the beginning of the year, including the animosity towards Bridget that ultimately sent her away, the various mishaps and accidents, and Bonnie’s leaving and returning.

  “Unless you want to end up looking like an extra in a Warrant video, then you might want to move,” Jake says, hefting the pressure washer into place on the sidewalk. Holly looks down at her white t-shirt and then back at Jake’s hose.

  “Christmas Key has never hosted a wet t-shirt contest,” she says. “Let me see if I can get Mrs. Agnelli on board.” Holly stands up from where she’s been sitting on the bottom step. “Maybe Heddie and Millie will want to get in on it.”

  “Let’s not permanently scar my mind’s eye, huh?” Jake plugs the extension cord into an outlet on the outside of the B&B.

  “Thanks again for doing this,” Holly says. She takes off her Yankees cap and wipes at the sweat on her forehead before putting the hat back on again. “I’d better go in and finish up in the dining room. See you tonight?”

  “I’ll be the dashing gent in the tux and tails,” Jake deadpans.

  “Really? You’ll be in a tux?” Holly pauses on the top step of the B&B, hand on the doorframe.

  “No, but I promise to wear something nicer than my sweaty uniform.”