Lighthouse Beach

by Shelley Noble

  At first, all those years ago, Lillo hadn’t understood Jess’s insecurities. The Parkers might have been richer, more prominent than most of the other parents who brought their kids to Camp Beacon. But basically, they were just like all the rest, sending their kids to camp for their own good because they loved them too much to let them mess up their lives by their own bad habits—or to reflect badly on the parents. And ended up driving most of the kids further into the same habits they were trying to break.

  Of course, Lillo hadn’t realized how insidious all that parental caring was until much later, in one of her college psychology classes. She’d never had those kinds of problems with her own parents; they were loving, not terribly organized, but always supportive of their only child—and yet she had delivered them the ultimate betrayal. She should never have left the island—then or now.

  But you did.

  She crossed to the bed and stood directly in front of Jess, looked down at her so intently that finally Jess had to look up.

  “Do you love James?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Why?”

  Allie’s head snapped up. Lillo was aware of Diana turning to look at her.

  The room was completely silent. It was such a simple question, but they hadn’t even thought to ask it.

  “Well, because he’s … handsome and—” Jess squeezed her eyes shut. “And … and everybody’s so happy for me.”

  Lillo’s heart plummeted. If that’s the best Jess could do, things did not bode well for her future happiness.

  “Maybe tonight was just a one-off,” Allie suggested. “You know, wedding jitters?”

  No excuse, Lillo thought. “Has he cheated on you before?”

  Jess’s mouth twisted. “Of course he has. He doesn’t love me. Marrying me is good for business.”

  “Is there any reason for him to stop now?”

  Diana strode back to the others. “Why are you even asking her about this? She can’t marry him. He’ll make her miserable.”

  “He already has,” Allie said, her eyes tearing.

  Lillo shook her head. What a mess. Until a few hours ago, her life had been so … uneventful. She’d worked really hard to make it that way. She’d gotten used to it. That balance. The calm. Yeah, the calm you feel while balancing on a log going down the rapids. She let out a long breath, took another.

  “Do you want to marry him? For yourself? For your own happiness?”

  Jess covered her face with her hands. “What have I done? I’ve ruined my life, embarrassed my family. Poor James.”

  “Poor James?” Diana said incredulously. “He was fu—”

  “Diana!” Allie exclaimed.

  Diana pursed her lips and clasped her hands to her stomach. “Having his way with a waitress from the hotel bar.”

  “She was a waitress?”

  “Jeez, she was still wearing her uniform … most of it anyway.”

  Lillo focused on Jess. “What do you want to do? Truly want to do?” She took a breath. Ignored her final Don’t get involved. “But make sure you make the decision you can live with.”

  At first Jess said nothing. Diana shifted on her feet. Allie was sitting ramrod straight. They were messing in someone else’s life. They could make Jess do what they thought best. She would cave. She always caved to the stronger person. And there were three of them right now. But that might not be the best choice for her. And they would be responsible for that, too.

  “No. No, I don’t want to marry him. I never did, really. He would never have asked me if he hadn’t been coerced into it by his parents.”

  “Didn’t take much to twist his arm, if you ask me,” Diana said.

  Lillo shot her a look, but Allie surprised her. “Well, we didn’t ask you. Don’t try to make her decision for her.”

  Diana blinked and for a moment Lillo thought she would explode. But she merely smiled, the kind of smile Lillo thought she might use in a boardroom when she’d just received insider information. “You’re right. Whatever you decide, Jess, we’ve got your back.”

  “I want to get out of here, as far away as I can.”

  Lillo grimaced. “Doesn’t really solve the underlying problem.”

  “It might,” Diana said. “Things might be clearer in hindsight.”

  “I think we’ve already entered hindsight,” Lillo said.

  Diana’s smile morphed into a full-out grin. “I was thinking the kind of hindsight you got from a rearview mirror.”

  “We are going to kidnap her,” Allie said. “I knew it. We’ll be in so much trouble.”

  “Not kidnap,” Diana said. “Road trip.”

  Jess hiccuped and wiped her eyes. “Could we? If I could just get away for a while, it would give me time to figure out what to do, once my family disowns me.”

  “They won’t disown you,” Allie said reassuringly.

  “They won’t,” Diana agreed. “They’d never give up her trust fund.” She held up her hand. “Sorry, but it’s true. The more they have, the more they want. They’ll just have to get over it.”

  They all looked at Lillo.

  “Don’t look at me. It’s up to Jess.” Lillo could send them off on a road trip and she could go back to Lighthouse Island, where she belonged and where nothing unsettling ever happened except for the weather.

  Jess stood up. “Can we go now? They’ll be guarding me like crazy tomorrow.”

  Diana, instead of jumping on the bandwagon, frowned. “Just one little problem. Allie and I both flew in for the wedding, and you came up with your parents. There are no available rental cars for the weekend. I already tried to get one.”

  “Lillo has wheels,” Jess said.

  “Me? But it’s an old VW.”

  “It doesn’t matter. It runs.”

  “Barely.”

  The other three looked expectantly at her.

  “But—” Lillo’s stomach went south. She started shaking her head before the arguments even reached her mouth. She couldn’t be responsible for three fleeing women.

  “Call valet parking for your car,” Diana said. “We need to be out of here before James arrives to beg forgiveness, which he no doubt will as soon as the Parkers can get him zipped up.”

  “Oh God,” Jess moaned.

  One look at Jess and Lillo picked up the phone.

  “Okay,” she said a moment later. “They’re bringing it around. Now what?”

  “Go get your stuff and the car and meet us out on the street.” Diana reached into her purse, brought out her room card, and handed it to Allie. “I’m in 315, just grab my toiletries out of the bathroom and throw them in the suitcase. I never unpacked. Garment bag in the closet. You and Lillo take everything downstairs and move the car to the street. Jess and I will sneak out the far-side entrance and join you. You have five minutes.”

  “But what are you going to do?” Allie asked.

  “Pack her clothes and leave a note.”

  “But where are we going?”

  Diana frowned, looked to Lillo.

  Lillo shrugged. She didn’t have a clue. But she knew where she couldn’t take them.

  “I know right where to go,” Jess said, suddenly showing a sign of life. “They’ll never think to look for me there.”

  “Where?” asked Allie.

  “Where?” demanded Diana.

  Oh please, no, thought Lillo.

  “Lighthouse Beach. It’s perfect.”

  Chapter 3

  Diana pushed Lillo and Allie into the hallway, shut the door, and turned to look at Jess. “Well, it didn’t take much for Prince Charming to turn into a toad, did it?”

  Jess’s mouth twisted. “You knew, didn’t you? All about him.”

  Diana nodded.

  “And you knew that I knew.”

  “Yes, dear. I did.”

  “But you didn’t try to warn me against him.”

  “That never works. You’d just hate me for saying it.” And didn’t she just know all about that. “I
was hoping you’d come to your senses.”

  “Well, I did, in spades, in front of the whole world. I’ll never be able to face those people again.”

  “No loss, if you ask me. Now stop being mopey and let’s get you packed up. Only essentials—and hurry.”

  Jess just stood there.

  “Or if you’re changing your mind, I can just leave without you. But I won’t be a party to this travesty.”

  “No!” Jess ran for the bathroom.

  Diana sighed and headed for the closet. She hauled out a suitcase and threw it on the bed. Went back to the closet and rifled through the clothes hanging there. Useless for a road trip. She picked out the least wedding-looking dresses, slacks, and blouses and tossed them into the suitcase.

  Jess came out, cradling a mountain of toiletries in her arms.

  Diana quickly looked for a carryall of some kind, spied the shopping bags of wedding favors stacked in the corner of the room. She picked the sturdiest-looking one and dumped the favors onto a nearby chair.

  Jess let out a squeak of protest.

  Diana shot her a look—fight or flight, do or die—it was a look that her employees were used to; it was a look she and Jess had exchanged many times as they climbed the ladder of a corporation neither of them wanted to work for. But they had been fierce, and if one started to cave, the other gave her the look.

  Then Jess started dating James Beckman and Diana quit to start her own app company. Things had blossomed for Diana and gone south in a major way for her friend.

  She held out the bag and realized that Jess was staring in horror at the dumped gifts.

  Diana rattled the bag.

  Jess dropped the toiletries into it. Diana moved on to the dresser and rummaged through the underwear, a combination of bikinis, thongs, various styles of bras … She scooped them up and tossed the whole bunch across the room to the suitcase.

  The next drawer held camisoles and frilly nightgowns. “Unbelievable.” She shut the drawer, opened the next. Picked out whatever would fit in the suitcase. And shut it with more energy than was necessary. She was suddenly annoyed at Jess for getting herself into this situation, for putting Diana and her other friends in the middle of it. They were wrecking a huge amount of preparation and expense and upending people’s travel plans, not to mention the embarrassment. There was bound to be fallout. Diana had planned to take a week off. That week called for a weekend wedding, then a relaxing spa at a four-star hotel in downtown Boston where she intended to touch some of the major players in the app development industry when she wasn’t packed in mud, being massaged and manicured and generally pampered while she worked.

  Well, how bad could Lighthouse Beach be? There was a beach. And what else could she do but help Jess?

  She lugged the suitcase off the bed.

  “What about the closet?” Jess asked.

  “I already went through it for something casual; the rest is wedding stuff. You won’t be needing it. Really, I’ve never seen so much frou. Didn’t you bring anything more normal?”

  “I was supposed to be getting married, not going to a girls’ weekend away.”

  “Well, now you are. We’ll shop when we get to Lighthouse Beach. Now come on, time’s up.” Diana stopped Jess at the door. “Seriously. Is this what you want?”

  Jess bit her bottom lip. Nodded.

  “Then use the hotel stationery and leave your parents a note.”

  “What do I say? They’ll be furious.”

  Diana suppressed a sigh. “Say you need time to think and please cancel the wedding.”

  “I can’t do that,” Jess said.

  “Then stay here and get married.”

  Jess dropped her bags and went to the desk, opened the drawer, and pulled out a sheet of stationery and a pen. “Please cancel the wedding and …”

  “You love them and you’ll be in touch.”

  Jess finished writing. Placed the note carefully on the bedside table and stood looking at it.

  “What are you waiting for?”

  “This.” Jess pulled the engagement ring off her finger and placed it in the center of the note. “Let’s blow this joint.”

  She grabbed her bags. Diana cracked the door open, looked out, then pushed Jess through the opening. They ran down the hall away from the elevators, took the stairs to the first floor, and left the hotel by a door that led out to the far side of the hotel. They crept along the hedge until they reached the street.

  There was no car waiting for them.

  Diana put down Jess’s suitcase and looked up and down the street. Nothing. Headlights turned out of the marina. After a second of panic when she thought the Parkers might already be after them, she realized it was just a delivery van from the hotel. But no Lillo and Allie.

  Where the hell were they? Their absence was bound to be discovered soon. Diana didn’t think for a minute Mama Parker intended to let Jess spend the evening alone. And she would certainly be holding a bedside vigil to keep Jess’s friends away. And if Diana knew Papa Parker, and she did, he’d be dragging “poor” James upstairs to make whatever excuses he could come up with.

  Where were those girls? This is why companies failed. When something needed to be done ASAP, people dragged their feet, let inconveniences get in their way. Diana should have gone for the car; she would have grabbed the nearest valet by the shorthairs and force-marched him to the parking lot if need be. But Lillo and Allie were probably standing politely waiting with their dollar tip while the valet took his sweet time getting the car.

  The delivery van made its way slowly up the street. Diana tapped her foot in consternation. The rusted old clunker stopped right in front of her. Not a delivery van but an old VW bus. The driver’s door opened and Lillo jumped out. She ran around to the back and opened the hatch while Diana stared in disbelief.

  “I told you it was old,” Lillo said. “Are you going to get in or not?”

  Lillo stowed the bags, pushed the two newcomers into the back seat, and jumped back in. Well, at least she wouldn’t have to spend her weekend in uncomfortable shoes, she thought as she guided the van back onto the street and north toward Lighthouse Beach.

  She wouldn’t have to talk to people with whom she had nothing in common while trying to juggle a champagne flute, finger food, and a purse with nothing in it. Why did you need a purse at a wedding anyway? Maybe for tissues if you were inclined to cry. Which Lillo wasn’t. She hadn’t cried for months. Didn’t intend to start up again over a wedding or the lack thereof.

  She shifted gears and pulled into the lane. No one spoke; maybe the calamity of what they’d just done had begun to settle in. They were kidnapping the bride from a ridiculously expensive wedding, with hundreds of guests left wondering what had happened—though if they’d been in the bar that night, they might have a clue.

  Lillo glanced in the rearview mirror. Jess was huddled against the door. Diana sat upright, looking straight ahead. She caught Lillo’s eye and Lillo guessed they were both thinking the same thing. They might just have a disaster on their hands.

  For starters, what was she going to do with these people? She liked Allie and Diana, and Jess needed them, but Mac would need her van back, and Lillo didn’t have the room or the inclination to play hostess. She was used to living alone and her place was little. Well, it had three bedrooms, but they were tiny and one was filled with her old life, boxed up and never looked at.

  They could stay there overnight. If the Parkers didn’t find Jess or Jess didn’t cave before the next day, they could get a rental car from the mainland. Jess, Allie, and Diana could go on their trip and Lillo could go back to her life.

  The first raindrop fell as Lillo turned onto the entrance ramp to I-95 North. Within minutes, the drops turned to sheets. Lillo turned the wipers to high and hunched over the steering wheel to see the road as the old van was buffeted by intermittent gusts of wind.

  Jess started crying again.

  They were one of the few vehicles on the highway
and miles went by before Lillo saw the blur of taillights ahead. A car had pulled to the side of the road to wait out the storm. Lillo didn’t relish stopping the VW on the road. She didn’t relish stopping anywhere but home. She should never have left in the first place—the very first place, she added grimly.

  They all grew silent as the enormity of what they’d done crept over them; at least Lillo guessed that’s what it was. She was feeling pretty guilty. Not because she helped Jess to get away, but because she might have swayed Jess’s decision to leave. She’d spent their childhood watching her best friend yo-yo between other people’s opinions. Trying to please, to be loved. Lillo didn’t want to become one of those people now. But Jess, for all her quiet crying, hadn’t once suggested she wanted to turn around and go back.

  “How about some music?” Diana said from the back seat.

  Allie reached for the radio.

  “It doesn’t work,” Lillo said. “Sorry.”

  Allie settled back, Lillo hunkered forward, and the night grew darker.

  Allie let out a yelp when rap music broke the silence.

  “It’s my phone,” Jess said, the words trembling out as she spoke them. She rummaged in her purse. “It’s my father. What am I going to do?”

  Diana looked back at her, then to Lillo. Lillo shrugged. The phone kept rapping.

  “Well, decide soon.” Lillo took the exit for I-295.

  Diana let out a huff of air. “You’d better answer it. If you’re going to give in, best to do it now before we get any farther.”

  Jess scrambled to take the call.

  Lillo could hear Mr. Parker’s voice from where she sat. He was livid.

  “I left a note,” Jess said.

  Lillo doubted if he even heard her, he was yelling so loudly. What an awful man.

  “Dad. Dad.”

  Mr. Parker didn’t slow down.

  “You never listen to me. I’m not marrying James. He humiliated me in front of all the guests. I won’t do it.”