More than Neighbors

by Shannon Stacey

  “Mom, that’s Robbie. He was at the puppet show. Can I go say hi?”

  Cam looked to where Sophie was pointing and saw a couple of women sitting on a bench talking while two boys about her age threw rocks into the bay. It was a little close to the water for his taste, but Meredith nodded.

  “You can talk to them, but don’t go any farther. And be careful of the water.”

  “Can she swim?” he asked when Sophie had moved out of earshot, and the concern he heard in his own voice made him wonder who he was anymore. Powerful and successful Cam Maguire fretting about a child playing too close to the water.

  “She’s a good swimmer and she’s careful.” Meredith chuckled. “Not that I won’t be keeping an eye on her, but I want to encourage her to make new friends. I was surprised she took to you so easily, actually. She can be really shy with strangers.”

  “I’m pretty sure it was my hammock,” he teased. “She realized how fun it would be to read a book in it and forgot to be shy.”

  She laughed. “You’re probably right about that.”

  “Tell me about her dad.” He realized as soon as he voiced the thought that it sounded abrupt and maybe even rude, but she didn’t look offended.

  “Why?”

  “I’m just curious. She’s such a great kid and there’s this whole part of her life I know nothing about.” He turned away from the water then, his gaze locking with hers. “A whole part of your life I know nothing about. But if you don’t want to talk about him, I understand.”

  “No, I...” She sighed. “I should talk about him more. I don’t want Sophie to ever feel like we’ll forget him. Devin was a very busy man—he was a hugely successful venture capitalist—but when he was with us, he made sure he was present. He was a very loving dad. And husband.”

  “I’m glad. You both deserve that.”

  She nodded, but he could see she was blinking away tears. “We were always busy. His work. Dinners. Charity things. Sophie had activities and playgroups and then school. It felt like we always moved a hundred miles per hour, but when it was family time, nothing intruded on that. Then when he died...”

  His hand covered hers and she didn’t pull away from the comforting gesture. “I’m sorry.”

  “No, I’m fine. We were busy at first, but then things—and people, unfortunately—started falling away and it was just Sophie and me rattling around in this empty shell of what used to be a very full life.”

  “Is that why you moved back here?”

  “Mostly. Also, my parents. But we needed a Meredith-and-Sophie-sized life to be happy in.”

  “And how’s it fitting?”

  She smiled. “We’re definitely happier here. I feel like it was the right decision.”

  “Have you thought about what you’re going to do when she starts school? I mean, not to be nosy, but I noticed you stay home with her.”

  “I told myself I’d figure it out after the move, so I’ll have to start thinking about it soon. I finished college—four years of business administration, which I switched to when I realized art history was a passing interest and not my calling—but I married Devin and never used it, other than helping him out in the office when work was hectic.”

  “Free office help,” he said, and then he chuckled. “Lucky man.”

  It wasn’t until she withdrew her hand that he realized he’d still had his resting on it. Not holding her hand, exactly, but close. “He was. I was a lucky woman.”

  “I didn’t mean anything by that.”

  “I know, and like I said, it’s good to talk about him.” She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. “And I was very lucky that Devin was a financial whiz who liked to plan for the worst, so I don’t actually have to work. But, like you said, Sophie’s going to start school and I have to do something with my time. Taking the summer with her has been amazing, but it’s not in my nature to sit around, doing nothing.”

  “Maybe you could buy Carolina’s cottage and be the owner of an instant secondhand store and a cat.”

  She laughed, as he’d hoped she would. “Oh no, you don’t. I told you I’d help you sort yarn, not take the entire thing off your hands. Why? Are you in a hurry to get back to the city?”

  “No, not really.”

  Not at all, despite his expectation when he arrived that he would be able to get his answers, close out the estate and get back to New York City as soon as possible. Despite the lack of grocery delivery or restaurant options at midnight. Despite his parents’ displeasure and not being on-site at the office.

  The last thing he felt right now was a sense of urgency to get back to the life he’d put on pause.

  He wanted more of this. Sitting in the park with Meredith, watching Sophie play. More people who wanted to talk to him about something other than profits and losses—who seemed to actually enjoy his company. More sunshine on his face and clear blue water to look out over. More days not wearing a tie.

  Cam glanced over and caught Meredith looking at him. Their gazes met and held for a few seconds, and she smiled before turning her attention back to Sophie, who was laughing with the other kids.

  Warmth that had nothing to do with the sun flooded through him, and he didn’t stop smiling after Meredith looked away. That life—the lonely, stress-filled life he’d been born into—could wait. Right now, he had more important things to do.

  Chapter Eight

  Meredith pulled open the door of the Cedar Street Café and stepped inside, hoping the noise of the crowd would drown out the sound of her stomach growling. She was starving and, after dropping Sophie—who’d eaten her breakfast in the car after they had an alarm malfunction—at the library, she’d decided to grab something in town.

  The library hosted a lot of summer reading program events, which was awesome, but Sophie didn’t accept that they were intended to be a pick-and-choose situation. She wanted to do them all, even a morning craft session.

  She walked to the counter, intending to take a seat there, when she heard her name. A tall brunette was walking toward her, an apron bearing the café’s logo tied around her waist, and it took Meredith a moment to place the woman.

  “Rissa? Oh my goodness, it’s been ages!” Clarissa Shaw had been a couple of years ahead of her and Reyna in school, but their social circles had overlapped sometimes. While they hadn’t been super close, they’d been friendly growing up.

  After a brief hug, Rissa stepped back. “I heard you were back. I’ve been hoping you’d stop in.”

  “Do you work here?”

  She laughed. “I work here a lot. My husband and I bought it five years ago.”

  “And you run it together?”

  “We did, until he took off for greener pastures. Now it’s all mine, which is good, but it also keeps me busy.” Rissa held up a finger to a customer who called her name, and then gave Meredith an apologetic look. “Sit wherever you want, but I’ve got to get Bob more coffee before he gets up and tries to pour it himself.”

  After glancing down the counter, she saw another familiar face and her pulse quickened.

  Cam was sitting on the stool at the far end, sipping coffee as he read something in front of him on the counter. And while she was frozen, trying to decide if she should sit down next to him or walk out the door, he turned and looked right at her.

  The way his expression softened when he saw her and his lips curved into a smile had her moving toward him.

  The way he closed the book and set it on the other side of his plate was a clear invitation to sit on the stool next to him, so she did. “Good morning. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

  They’d been in such a rush to get to the library, she hadn’t even noticed his car wasn’t in his driveway. And she hadn’t noticed it on the street when she was parking, either.

  “I thought it would do me good to get out of the house
for a bit. Also, I’m out of bread.” They laughed, and then he waited while Rissa stopped by to take Meredith’s order.

  “Doing some reading?”

  “Yeah.” He rested his hand on the book, which she could see was a hardcover notebook with a tattered ribbon hanging from the bottom. “Reading Carolina’s journals has been interesting, to say the least. They’re not organized in any way, so I’m reading things in random order. She also adds memories in here and there, so even in one book, there’s not a lot of chronological order.”

  “Just from the cottage, I can guess she was probably an interesting woman.”

  He chuckled, and she thought she heard genuine affection in it. “That she was. Which reminds me, I need to tell Sophie how Elinor got her name.”

  “It’s in the journal?”

  He nodded. “I came across that part yesterday. I guess her friend Mary rescued a cat and then found out she was allergic to cats. Carolina was alone, since this was after my—after Michael died, so she offered to take her. Mary named her Elinor after a character in her favorite book. One of Jane Austen’s, I guess.”

  “Sense and Sensibility?” she asked, unsure because it had been years since she’d read Austen.

  “That’s the one. I think Sophie will be happy to know Elinor got her name from a book.”

  “She’s going to love that.” Meredith fixed the coffee Rissa set down in front of her, and then glanced at the journal. “There’s so much to learn about Carolina. They’re a treasure.”

  “The more I read them, the more I wish I’d gotten to know her.”

  The regret was heavy in his voice and she covered his hand with hers. “It’s sad that you never got to meet her, but at least you’re reading these, so she’s still remembered.”

  He nodded and then cleared his throat. “Yeah. So what brings you in this morning? I mean, besides the obvious. Where’s Sophie?”

  “This might come as a huge surprise, but she’s at the library.” They laughed, and she tried not to pay attention to Rissa giving them a curious look from the other end of the counter. “Another summer reading program thing, and we overslept, so it was kind of a mad dash out the door. She had a granola bar and some fruit in the car, but I was starving. The food was always good here.”

  “It still is,” he said, gesturing to his empty plate, which he’d pushed away to make room for Carolina’s book. “I swear, I’d eat here every morning if I wasn’t already slacking off of work more than I should be.”

  “You don’t have to keep me company if you need to get back.”

  He shook his head. “I’d rather sit and talk to you, if you don’t mind.”

  “Of course I don’t mind.” It was ridiculous how much she didn’t mind, and she lifted her coffee mug to her lips, hoping the steam would explain the heat she felt in her cheeks. “How does your father feel about you slacking off of work?”

  He snorted. “I haven’t actually slacked off enough so he’d notice, since I’m still getting the must-do things done. But compared to my usual hours, I feel like I’m dropping the ball.”

  “It good to relax now and then. You have to recharge your batteries, you know. And it’s hard to resist hammocks. And playing catch with cute dogs. And we both know Sophie is a big distraction.”

  “She’s the best kind of distraction,” he said, and Meredith melted a little inside. “And don’t forget Elinor. She has no problem plopping herself on my laptop keyboard if she decides it’s time to take a break.”

  “I’ve heard cats like the heat from laptops.”

  “Yeah, but when her butt deletes an email draft, it’s a problem.”

  “At least her butt didn’t send the email draft.” She laughed when he cringed at the thought. “Have you tried putting an empty box on the table near the laptop?”

  “Why would I do that?”

  She laughed again. “You really don’t know anything about cats, do you?”

  Rissa arrived with her breakfast and topped off both cups of coffee. It looked as if she was going to linger for a minute and chat, but then somebody called her name from the kitchen and she sighed before giving Meredith an apologetic smile and walking away.

  Now that she knew Rissa owned the café, she’d have to stop in more often. Maybe she and Reyna could meet up for coffee during a slow time and visit. But for now, she didn’t mind. She had Cam to talk to.

  * * *

  A mother knows things about her child. Michael hasn’t told me yet, but I think he might be falling in love.

  Tess said there’s been talk around town about him helping a woman who got a flat tire when she was leaving one of those ridiculous parties the summer people like to throw. What kind of people have a backyard barbecue catered?

  People with too much money, that’s who. And people who have too much money usually get up to no good because they surround themselves with people who don’t tell them no.

  But Michael has been seen going in and out of the inn several times, even though he really has no business there. And Tess told me her car was in the parking lot for a few days, even though she’d been on her way out of town when she got the flat tire.

  And now her car’s in the lot behind his apartment.

  I want Michael to fall in love and start a family. All of my friends have grandchildren and I want it to be my turn. But I don’t feel like any good can come from him getting involved with one of the summer people.

  Maybe I’m being unfair to her. Just because she has a fancy car and has friends with lake houses doesn’t make her a bad person. But it means she has a whole different life than Michael, and she certainly won’t want to stay in his.

  Maybe it’s wrong for a mother to say, but I hope it’s just a casual fling.

  A persistent sound from his open laptop jerked Cam out of the past, and he closed Carolina’s journal with a thump that startled Elinor.

  When he realized his father was trying to video chat with him, he glanced over his shoulder to make sure the background was clear before adjusting the camera angle and accepting the call.

  Calvin III’s face appeared on his screen, but Cam was still thinking about how his mother crossed paths with Michael, so he just stared at his father for a long moment.

  Too long a moment, judging by his father’s scowl. “Are you there? Did the screen freeze?”

  Cam shook his head. “No, I’m here.”

  “We have a problem.”

  So many calls from his father had started that way over the years, Cam didn’t feel even the faint stirrings of alarm. “Tell me what it is so we can solve it.”

  When Calvin III started talking, he paid attention for the most part, though he was very conscious of the journal sitting off to the right of the laptop.

  So his mother had visited friends who happened to be summering in Blackberry Bay and a guy helped her change a flat and...she just stayed? Had Michael been that charismatic? Walking away from everything being a Maguire meant for a romance with some blue-collar guy would be incomprehensible to the woman who’d raised him.

  He’d asked Carolina’s lawyer if Michael had ever married. He already knew he hadn’t fathered any other children, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t fallen in love and married somebody else.

  But he hadn’t. The lawyer told him from what he’d heard, Michael had been one of those guys who seemed content to be a bachelor for life.

  “Are you paying attention?” his father snapped.

  “Of course,” he snapped back.

  Elinor chose that moment to inform Cam it was time to stop working and, because he was so focused on the screen, he didn’t see her coming in time to stop her.

  She walked between him and the laptop, stopping to arch her back and butt her head against his chin.

  “Is that a cat?”

  “Yes. Her name is Elinor.”

 
“They have a cat named Elinor?”

  It took Cam a few seconds to remember that they were all pretending he was staying with a girlfriend’s family for the summer. “Yes, and she can be rather persistent, I’m afraid.”

  He risked the wrath of her claws by picking her up and setting her on the floor. When she crouched, obviously intending to jump back onto the table, he put out his hand in a stop command. She glared at him, but then she must have decided he wasn’t worth the effort.

  He’d probably pay for that later.

  “Okay,” he said, turning his full attention back to his laptop. “You were saying?”

  He was more focused this time, especially when his father brought up the possibility an employee they’d trusted for a long time might be embezzling from them. It was a substantial amount of money, and Cam was tasked with gathering the necessary evidence that would either prove or disprove the man’s guilt.

  Cam hoped they were wrong. It was hard enough to trust people in business without your own people betraying you.

  “Needless to say, we want to handle this as quickly and quietly as possible,” his father was saying. “Not only do we not want him to know we’re looking at him, but we want to protect the stock prices.”

  “Understood,” Cam said, since he wasn’t hearing anything he didn’t already know. Maybe Calvin III didn’t hug him as a child, but he’d taught him how to stay on top in the business world.

  “Is there anything else we need to discuss?” his father asked, and Cam locked eyes with him on the screen.

  Yes. How many zeroes were on the check you wrote to Michael Archambault? What was his price for giving me away? Did he negotiate at all or just take the first offer you put in front of him?

  How much was I worth to him? To you?

  “No,” he said. “Nothing else.”

  He could demand answers, he thought as they disconnected the chat. He could probably get his father to tell him everything. But he didn’t need to know the answer to that question. His worth didn’t come from a dollar amount.