Christmas At Pelican Beach (Pelican Beach Book 4)

by Michele Gilcrest

  We smiled at Emmie’s sweet innocence. She was right. We were one big happy family. After many years of missing my late husband at the table, and Cole’s late wife, Laura, we had finally found a way, not to replace their love, but to love again.

  Rebecca

  “Rebecca, it’s nice to finally meet in person, I’m John Murphy.”

  “Yes, John. I recognize your voice from our telephone conversations. Nice to meet you. This is my husband, Ethan.”

  John stood in the driveway, extending his hand to Ethan. He was a tall white-haired gentleman who spoke with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Sort of grungy looking. He stood with his rake in hand and dressed like he was ready to do yard work.

  “It looks like you’ve been mighty busy over here with all the contractors. When you called last week, I know you said the house needed repairs, but goodness! Is it that bad?”

  “Mr. Murphy, bad is an understatement. It appears my renters helped themselves to almost everything but the kitchen sink.”

  “Please, call me John.”

  “John, did you know anything about the people who were renting from me? Did you ever talk to them much?”

  “Every once in a while I would run into the wife or the kids at the mailbox. They mostly stayed to themselves. The husband would leave in the morning and return in the evening. I assumed he had a job. The wife stayed home with the kids. I’m just trying to figure out when they left out of here with all your stuff. I didn’t hear anything that would make me suspicious. One evening last week I looked out the window and noticed the house looked dark like nobody was home. It’s been that way ever since. It’s like they disappeared into thin air.”

  “Interesting.”

  “They were interesting alright. Every once in a while they did things that caught my attention. But, never anything worth calling you about.”

  “Like what?”

  “She used to have trucks come and drop off large pallets. The pallets were so big she’d have to empty the contents out by hand and load everything into the garage. One time I asked her about it and she told me she sold products online. She was quick to change the subject, like she didn’t want to talk about it. So, I just left it alone. Sometimes the trucks would come and pick up boxes from the house. I figured, hey… everybody has a different way of earning income. Who was I to get into their business? In hindsight, maybe she wasn’t just shipping off items for her business.”

  “Maybe. We’ve already filed a report with the police, but I’d like to share what you just told us if you don’t mind,” Ethan said.

  “No, not at all. Happy to help in any way I can. I’m assuming they didn’t leave any clues as to where they were heading?”

  “Not one,” I replied.

  John scratched his head as if he didn’t know what to make of it. I thought this was normally the kind of thing homeowners did when the house was up for foreclosure. I’ve even heard of renters messing up the place but stealing fixtures out of the house… I don’t know what to make of it. And for a family to do such a thing really didn’t seem to make any sense to me. Guess I had my work cut out for me if I was going to learn to be a better landlord.

  “Rebecca, I’m going to leave you two here to catch up and head back in to check on the guys. John, again, it was nice meeting you.”

  “Likewise, Ethan.”

  “Ethan, when you get a chance, please call your mom and check on John William. Tell her I’ll call her later on this evening.”

  “Will do.”

  I walked with John to the end of the driveway and surveyed our surroundings. In the middle of his yard across the street was a beautiful weeping willow tree with a tire swing hanging from it. It looked like the perfect place for children to play and use their imagination.

  “I bet your family has created a ton of sweet memories underneath that willow tree. It looks so picturesque.”

  “Family, friends, you name it. We’ve had good times over the years. Those three acres have served us well.”

  “My goodness. Three acres? Do you live there with your wife?”

  “My wife passed away several years ago.”

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Murphy. I mean… John. I didn’t mean to pry.”

  “You’re not prying. Your Uncle Samuel and I were really close. That makes you practically like family. As for the property, I always promised myself that I’d stay until I got to the place where I couldn’t take care of it anymore. With a little help from my landscapers, I’d say it’s still in pretty good shape.”

  “I’d say so as well. It’s beautiful. Mind if I join you to look around?”

  “No, be my guest. It’s rare that I have any visitors these days, so I welcome the company. It wasn’t like that when we first moved here. Your Uncle and I used to host everyone in the neighborhood after the summer festival, and throughout the year. Our gatherings were the talk of the town.”

  “I’ve heard. Our Cousin Jolene was just talking about the summer festivals the other day. She and Mom had a lot to say about it.”

  He didn’t seem to flinch when I mentioned Jolene or my mother. Instead, he led me around to his chicken coop and showed me a barn he built by hand. You could tell John was handy and spent a lot of time working with wood. The barn was filled with a lot of hand crafted bird houses, crates, and shelving.

  “This looks like a pretty nice workshop.” I perused around looking at all of his creations.

  “Yep. I like to come out here and work on my hobby every once in a while. It gives me something to do.”

  John had enough wood carvings to open up a retail store. Some were painted and others were in their natural state. I could easily envision slapping little price tags on each one and selling it for a profit. I guess that was the businesswoman in me. He seemed more like the type who might have a hard time parting ways with his work. He definitely wasn’t the kind of guy I envisioned Mom having a fling with.

  He took a few more puffs before throwing his cigarette on the ground and mashing it with his foot.

  “Say, how’s Jolene and your mother doing? I haven’t seen them in ages.”

  “They’re doing well.”

  “Is Jolene still crazier than ever?”

  “Is she? From what I hear, she’s gotten worse over the years.”

  He chuckled.

  “She and your mother were the life of the party. They could light up a room. No matter where they went, they knew how to draw a crowd.” He threw a stick toward the low hanging Spanish moss in his backyard.

  “Yeah, according to Jolene, you and Mom used to have some good times together. She made it seem like you might know a lot about my family’s history here in Savannah. She even hinted that you two may have been an item at some point.”

  He glanced over at me before lighting up another cigarette. We were outdoors in the Georgia heat. If I could barely breathe around him, I can only imagine what he was doing to his lungs with all those cigarettes.

  “Ah, so that’s why you came over here.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “You want to ask questions. You lawyer types are all the same. You have this roundabout way of trying to get information instead of just coming out and being direct. What do you want to know? I have nothing to hide.”

  He caught me off guard. I thought I was being rather subtle, but if he wanted direct, I was okay with that as well.

  “John, I don’t want to be disrespectful. But I believe you hold the keys to some information that my sisters and I deserve to know.”

  “Deserve? Ha, that’s funny.”

  “You know what I mean. I don’t believe in keeping secrets. Now that Jolene is back in our lives, she keeps sharing little tidbits of information here and there when she drinks. I just want to understand it, that’s all. Everybody keeps bringing up the neighbor across the street. From what I gather, that would have to be you. You’re the only one that’s lived here for all these years.”

  “Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but if
you think I had anything to do with your mother’s past you’re mistaken. I was a happily married man when I met your folks. We all were. Your Uncle Sammy, your parents, George and Jolene... all of us.”

  If that was the case, I don’t know why Jolene was giving my mother such a hard time. And why Mom allowed her to. Or why mom had slipped up in the past and admitted some things that she wouldn’t want most to know.

  I immediately regretted bringing this up with John. I probably should’ve stuck to my primary purpose for coming here, which was to take care of the house and leave.

  “I apologize. I suppose it was rather forward of me to come out and ask about such a thing to begin with. I probably should get going. Thank you for keeping an eye out on our place, John. We’ll be around for another day and then we’re heading back to Florida.”

  “There’s no need to apologize,” he said while exhaling smoke out of his nose.

  I reached out and shook his hand before leaving to return across the street. The view of the house from John’s yard looked like something straight out of an old classic movie. The porch fans were spinning and Ethan was pacing back and forth while talking on his cell phone. I thought about Payton’s words as she pleaded with me not to get involved, then John called out to me.

  “The person you really want to know about is my brother, Nathaniel. We call him Nate. He’s the one who had eyes for Helen many years ago, even though he knew she was married.”

  I stopped in my tracks.

  “Your brother? I don’t understand.”

  “You wouldn’t. You weren’t even born yet. My brother was different from the rest of us. He was more like a well-polished rolling stone. He traveled around from state to state in a suit and called himself a businessman. None of us could ever really figure out what he did for a living. Whatever it was, he always managed to take care of himself. Whenever he’d come back to Savannah to visit, Momma would make such a fuss. That was her boy, no matter how old he was or what he did. She felt that way about all of us. He wasn’t married and didn’t have any plans to be. He used to always say he needed to get his business in order first and find a place to settle down. He said I was more of a family man than he was. I used to tease Nate about his way with the ladies. If you can imagine a tall handsome fella… with a clean hair cut… and his shoes always polished. These old country gals around here didn’t know what to do with themselves. They’d all flock around him at the summer festival like he was a celebrity or something. Seemed like he always had them right in the palm of his hands. He was nothing but a wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing as they say.”

  “He sounds like quite the character.”

  “He’s a character alright. Or at least he was back then. Age has a funny way of catching up to you.”

  “If you don’t mind me asking, what does this have to do with my mother?”

  “One summer evening we were all hanging out here at that house playing music and having a good time. We had already spent the entire day together. The six of us, your uncle Samuel and the family. We should’ve been winding down for the evening but it seemed like with every passing hour and with every bottle of beer all we did was continue to hang out and party. We were so young back then. Most of us in our early twenties. What did we really know about being settled down? Your mother and Will, like myself, were just getting started with their lives. Martha and I just inherited this house from a family member who passed away. We felt so lucky, like we’d just hit the lotto. So, of course, we wanted to show off the new place and have our friends over.”

  He pointed toward a large area of his yard occupied by grass and a picnic table.

  “Over there, we used to set up white lights around the perimeter of the yard and play music for dancing. Like I said. It was a good time to be had by all. Sadly, one evening we all pushed ourselves beyond our limits with the partying. My folks had already left for the evening, but my brother Nate was staying with us for a few days until his next trip. Your uncle left hours earlier, and your father was out cold in the living room. Seemed like the only ones left outside dancing and carrying on were Jolene, her husband George, Nate, and your mother.”

  As he spoke I imagined I was there standing by on the sidelines watching everything unfold.

  “Everyone had been drinking heavily. I don’t know exactly how Helen and Nate ended up together but one thing I’ll never forget. When Will finally came around and went looking for Helen I don’t think he was too happy with what he discovered. I heard a bunch of yelling and tussling going on out by the barn, and I knew whatever was going on couldn’t be good. It took George and I both to get your father off Nate. By the time we finally did Nate took off like something was after him. He never bothered to hang around and explain his actions. He grabbed all his things from the house and left like something was after him. Things were different from that moment on. Everybody left to head back to Florida the next morning. That was the last summer we ever had everyone over at the house again. Nobody spoke a word about what happened that night. Everybody just went their separate ways.”

  “Did your brother ever tell you his version of what happened?”

  “He never got into the details, but he said enough to let me know he wasn’t an innocent party by any stretch of the imagination. That night was the perfect storm waiting to happen. Once Nate set his eyes on something he wanted he wasn’t going to quit until he succeeded. He was used to having his way. That coupled with all the alcohol being served that night was a recipe for disaster. Your mother was a good woman. She was dedicated and loyal to Will and everyone knew it.”

  “Obviously not dedicated enough that she wouldn’t act responsibly. She didn’t have to drink. She could’ve just walked away and said we’ve had enough, let’s go.”

  “Just live a little longer and you’ll find out not everything in life is as easy as you make it out to be. Thankfully, Will felt differently about it. As a result, your parents went on to build a wonderful life together. They had their first baby girl later on that year and even started a business together. If Will would’ve viewed things the same way you do, you wouldn’t be here today.”

  “Wait. This happened the same year Abby was born? And, how were you able to keep in touch with my parents to know how life turned out for them? Was it through Uncle Samuel?”

  “Through your uncle and I also remained friends with your father. He used to return to Savannah every summer to visit and check on Samuel. Especially after your uncle’s wife died. He stopped bringing Helen with him. He used to always say she was busy looking after the kids while taking care of things at the inn. But we had no reason to sever ties with each other. Your father knew that Nate’s actions had nothing to do with me and our friendship.”

  “Man, now it makes sense why Dad used to come and visit Uncle Samuel on his own every year. Even I remember that much as a little girl. But you still haven’t answered my question about Abby. If Mom and Dad had Abby later that year, who’s to say that she’s not Nate’s child?”

  “Ha! Does she look like the rest of you? Honestly, Rebecca, I think you’re barking up the wrong tree with that one. If Abby belonged to anyone other than Will, I know your mother would’ve done the right thing and told us. I wouldn’t go stirring up crazy ideas if I were you.”

  “Really? I’m not so sure about that. I only know as much as I do because of an accidental slip up and Cousin Jolene.”

  “That may be the case, but it’s up to Helen and Will to decide how much they want to share. And, last I checked since they provided you with such a good life, it’s up to you to decide not to judge them. Especially for something that happened so long ago.”

  I had so many questions running through my mind. None that would be resolved by talking to John any further, but at least I had a better idea of what Mom and Jolene were quarreling about when I went over to visit. The sound of footsteps crunching on the gravel behind me diverted my attention away from John.

  “Everything alright over here? I was
starting to wonder if you were coming back,” Ethan said.

  He reached out and hugged me around the waist.

  “Everything is just fine. John was just giving me a tour of his property and sharing a little family history with me, that’s all.”

  “Ah, that’s nice. I’m sure you have stories to tell for days, John. Your land is absolutely breathtaking, by the way.”

  “Why, thank you, Ethan. It’s rather peaceful here, if I say so myself.”

  “Tell me about it. Whenever we visit Savannah, it makes me consider moving. It might be nice if Rebecca and I could give John William a sweet little life here. We could even start our own law firm. It would be small at first, but I think we could make it work.”

  “Oh, really now? It sounds like you have everything all planned out.” I gave Ethan a little shove. He knew I wasn’t leaving Pelican Beach anytime soon, but it was a nice try.

  “Maybe it’s something to consider for the future. Who knows.” Ethan smiled.

  “Maybe. But, for now, let’s head back over and see what kind of progress the contractors are making. John, again, thank you for everything. The management company has a few new prospects in place. They plan to have it rented out by the beginning of the new year. Keep your fingers crossed and please call us if you see anything that looks out of order.”

  “I sure will. It’s been nice catching up with you, Miss Rebecca.”

  John reached out to shake hands and winked at us before walking back toward his home. The rest of our time was spent tying up loose ends with the rental. Every time I glanced across the street, I imagined a younger version of my parents, and what it must’ve been like the day Daddy made the discovery. The whole thing just made me angry. Thoughts lingered in the back of my mind about the timing of Abby’s birth as well. Even though I’m sure John was right. If there was anything to know about Abby, I’m sure my parents would’ve told us by now. I get it that we all make mistakes. I just don’t understand why my mother didn’t trust me enough to tell me everything, instead of hushing me up like a little child.