289 Captain's Walk (Sisters of Edgartown)

by Katie Winters

  “And Anthony thinks he knows where it is?” Mila asked.

  “I guess he’s spent some time going over everything, although he still isn’t one hundred percent sure,” Olivia said.

  “Doesn’t this remind you of that time?” Amelia said.

  Olivia arched an eyebrow, incredulous. “What time?”

  “You know. That time,” Mila affirmed.

  Jennifer burst into laughter. “You can’t mean the time Michelle thought she’d discovered that treasure map?”

  “That time, yes,” Amelia squealed with delight. “She told us we would be rich. She had her sights set on Paris. She said she would buy an apartment for all of us.”

  “And you said you would never go because it was too far from the ocean!” Mila said to Jennifer.

  Jennifer puffed out her cheeks as her eyes shone with laughter. “I guess we fought over that for a long time. But we must have been only like, what, twelve? Thirteen?”

  “Something like that,” Mila said. “But Michelle was determined.”

  “The treasure hunt led us to the middle of nowhere. Over in Oak Bluffs,” Olivia said, as the memory flung itself over her mind suddenly. “And it was just some little memory box from a little girl who’d left the island.”

  “I remember that,” Mila said. “There was a little doll in there and a book.”

  “Yes!” Olivia said. “And we tried to figure out who the girl was, but we couldn’t.”

  “And Michelle said she’d just discovered the map in an old book at the library,” Jennifer said sadly. “I wonder what she would say about it now. She was so excited about the idea of some kind of treasure. And she kept that doll for ages. I wish I knew where it was.”

  The girls studied the table in front of them for a long moment until one of them found a way to take them out of the Michelle conversation and into another topic. Always, when they caught themselves in ideas of Michelle, they got stuck. It made them all terribly sad, that they’d been allowed so much life and so many memories, and she hadn’t.

  Toward the end of the night, Olivia gathered herself up in winter clothing and kissed all of her friends goodbye. In fifteen minutes, she appeared before her own place on Captain’s Walk, where the light from the television flashed ominously across the snow. She imagined she would find Chelsea exactly where she had left her — all wrapped up in blankets, anger etched across her face.

  But when she found Chelsea on the couch, she found a familiar figure alongside her.

  There, wrapped up in blankets as well, was Xavier Collins.

  At first, Olivia sizzled with anger and then confusion. After all, wasn’t Chelsea meant to tell Olivia when things like this happened? Especially when there was one of her students involved?

  On the other hand, Chelsea was nineteen and an entire year out of high school and Xavier was a troubled student who’d spent a great deal of time feeling downcast and lost. If he wanted to feel at home on her couch with her daughter, who was she to say it was wrong?

  And at least for now, they were fully clothed.

  “Xavier. Hi,” Olivia greeted him, trying her best to sound cool-with-this.

  Xavier smiled a genuine smile. “Hey, Ms. Hesson. Good to see you. Hope you don’t mind, me and Chelsea stole the TV to watch a movie.”

  Chelsea cast her mother a strange glance. It was a challenge kind of, as though Chelsea expected her mother to explode.

  Olivia was “up for it” in terms of challenges. She wouldn’t explode. Not now.

  “Not a problem,” Olivia said brightly. “I’ve just been out with friends. I really don’t have the energy for TV right now. What are you watching?”

  “It’s called Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” he said. “Chelsea has never seen it.”

  “And it’s super sad,” Chelsea affirmed.

  Olivia smiled at them. She remembered when she’d first seen the film, when Chelsea had been a toddler, and she and Tyler had decided to rent a movie from the video store, which had since closed. “Do you think you’d ever want to delete me like that?” Tyler had asked as they’d watched the movie, which involved a woman and a man both deleting one another from their memories.

  “Never in a million years,” Olivia replied at the time.

  Did she want that now?

  Olivia stepped toward her bedroom and undressed and brushed her teeth in her private bathroom. From where she stood, she could hear the humming voices of Chelsea and Xavier. She felt terribly strange, as though she’d broken some kind of teacher code, allowing them to be together. Even still, he was a good kid, one of the best kids, really, at least before all the chaos with his parents had begun. And hadn’t he really brightened Chelsea’s mood after her accident?

  Olivia tucked herself into bed and stared at the dark ceiling. Again, her head turned toward thoughts of Anthony, and then, on cue, she thought back to Tyler Radcliffe, the only boy who’d ever stolen her heart. What did he think, now that his new girlfriend was pregnant? Did he remember Chelsea and what it had been like when she’d been a baby? Did he hope for a boy, since he’d already had a girl?

  What was on his mind?

  Still, Olivia found herself overwhelmed with gratefulness. There was so much to look forward to, and she shivered with anticipation. She had to be brave enough to live her life the way Great Aunt Marcia had. She had to stare life in the face and demand love and beauty and everything else she felt she’d missed out on in the previous six years.

  Chapter Thirteen

  It was the second week of February. Olivia sat in the Frosted Delights Bakery across from Susan Sheridan, who had just begun to work again as a lawyer on the island, a year after she had given up her role as a criminal lawyer in Newark. She clacked her nails across the table as Jennifer rushed forward with two piping-hot cups of coffee and two pink-glazed donuts and beamed at them. Olivia was a bit intimidated by the likes of Susan Sheridan. She was a woman who’d gone out into the unknown, represented countless criminals, and made a name for herself outside the island. What did she care about Olivia’s little case, with her Great Aunt Marcia’s silly will and her inheritance?

  Plus, Susan Sheridan herself was something of a force of nature. She’d just beaten breast cancer, still ran her family’s Sunrise Cove Inn over in Oak Bluffs, and had just gotten engaged to her high school sweetheart after reuniting on the island. Now she was in the midst of building her client base for her law office on the island. Olivia wasn’t entirely sure how someone could cram so much into one lifetime.

  “Thank you, Jennifer,” Susan said with a bright smile. “I don’t know how you manage to do all you do. Between this and the social media business, you run.”

  Jennifer waved her hand. “You’re one to talk, Susan. Eat up. And help my girl here figure out how to hit back at those cousins of hers.”

  Olivia blushed. “They’re such distant relatives that I can hardly call them family.”

  “But they think that your property should belong to them?” Susan asked.

  Olivia shrugged. “Yes. However, we all attended the reading of the will. They’re trying to say that Great Aunt Marcia wasn’t of sound mind when she named who would receive her inheritance.”

  “I see. Well, that’s an easy fix,” Susan said. “I’ll just have to speak to her lawyer. Get an official statement.”

  “Is it really that easy?” Olivia asked, looking at her incredulously.

  “Sure. It’s frustrating that it has to go through lawyers. Probably they thought you’d just run away from the situation when they threatened you. But we Vineyard girls, we stick together,” Susan assured as she lifted her cup of coffee toward her lips. “Don’t you worry about any of this. I’ll get on the phone with your great-aunt’s lawyer, and we’ll get this straightened out in no time.”

  Olivia heaved a sigh of relief. Slowly, she lifted her donut to her lips and took a tentative bite. Susan joined her and moaned at the flavor.

  “Absolutely delicious,” she moaned. �
�Over in Oak Bluffs, Christine has me on a constant croissant binge; here, it’s non-stop pastries and donuts, all the time. You can ask my daughter, Amanda. I’m always walking laps around our little office space to work everything off.”

  Olivia laughed a bit too loudly, proof of how good she felt. “So your daughter? She’s staying on the island?”

  Susan nodded. Her eyes remained bright. “It wasn’t her plan. Probably, the way this island gossips, you know about the wedding.”

  Olivia nodded. “It’s awful that he left her like that.”

  Susan shrugged. “Yes, in a way. But in another way, he gave me the gift of my daughter back. I’m selfish. What can I say? I want my daughter with me all the time. Oh, but you have a daughter, don’t you? You must get it.”

  Olivia thought about Chelsea, about the fact that she hadn’t looked her in the eye in the past week — about how when Olivia had tried to sit with her to watch a TV show the previous evening, Chelsea had just grunted and avoided all conversation.

  “Yeah. I get it,” Olivia lied, feeling the sadness in the pit of her belly. “There’s nothing like a bond between mother and daughter.”

  She wanted that to be true more than anything in the world for her and Chelsea. She just wasn’t sure how to make it happen.

  Several days later, Susan called Olivia to report that she had everything in writing. “The lawyer asserts she was of sound health and mind when they created the will. I’ve sent the document to the lawyers of your relatives that filed the dispute. We might not even have to go to court on this one.”

  Olivia, who had been in the midst of chopping up a green pepper for a salad, dropped the knife on the ground in shock. It rattled around by her feet.

  “That’s wonderful news,” she said.

  “It really is,” Susan affirmed. “But they seem very smart and I get the feeling they don’t play by the book, if you know what I mean. They might come at us again in a different way. That old building is certainly an Edgartown treasure. I understand why they would want it for themselves.”

  Olivia’s stomach shifted with panic. “I know. But thank you for everything you’ve done, Susan. I appreciate it.”

  Just after they said goodbye, Olivia received a call from an unknown number. This was a rare thing. Normally, the only people she ever communicated with were people she’d known for years and years. After a pause, she lifted the phone and answered. Her voice was tentative.

  “Hello? This is Olivia Hesson?”

  “Olivia Hesson. Do you always use your first and last name when you answer the phone?”

  It took Olivia just a snap-second to recognize the voice. Marnie.

  It was edged with cruelty.

  “Marnie,” she said. But what the heck was she supposed to say next? Obviously, she’d called with her own reasons. “What can I do for you?” she finally said in a stern voice.

  “What you can do for me is to recognize that my grandmother should have left that building to me,” Marnie affirmed. “I know you’ve had your little small-town lawyer draw up a document or whatever, but please. I implore you. Listen to reason.”

  Olivia rolled her eyes into the back of her head. “Marnie. Have you ever gone out to see the place lately?”

  Marnie’s laugh sounded wicked. “I’ve driven by several times. I know Grandma has that awful man staying there. That redneck that wants it all for himself.”

  Olivia’s heart shattered with anger. “The place needs so much work, Marnie. The fact that it isn’t in your hands should be a blessing to you. I mean, I’m out there about four times a week, doing repairs, and tearing down, and building, and —”

  “You know you can hire people to do all that,” Marnie said flippantly.

  Olivia’s nostrils flared. “My point is, what do you want with that old place, anyway? It’s a historical building on Martha’s Vineyard. You’ve never even lived on the island. What do you care?”

  Olivia had never spoken so brashly in her life. She felt a jolt of confidence. For whatever reason, she remembered Michelle and all the energy she’d put out into the world. Deep down, she felt like the thought of Michelle was giving her the confidence she needed right at that moment.

  “What do I care?” Marnie sputtered as though she hadn’t expected this. “What do I care? I mean, that place. It was built by my great-great-great-grandfather. It has so much of my family’s history. My great-great grandfather left us this place and —”

  At this moment, Olivia remembered what had occurred to her that night at the mansion, when she’d found the diaries on Anthony’s desk. There was a very good chance that Marnie had heard tell of this “treasure,” or whatever it was. And there was a very good chance she wanted it all for herself.

  “Tell me one good reason I should hand this property over to you,” Olivia said. Arrogance mounted in her voice as she leaned heavily against the counter. The knife remained on the ground; she’d almost forgotten.

  “I told you already! It runs in my family! I care about it. I —”

  “Tell me the real reason,” Olivia egged her. “Tell me what you’re really after. Is there maybe something in particular you think your great-great-grandfather left behind?”

  There was a long silence. Olivia had hit the nail directly on the head. She was sure of it.

  “You found it?” Marnie whispered.

  Olivia’s heart nearly burst with excitement. “Goodbye, Marnie,” she snapped. “I wish you luck with everything. Remember, have your lawyer contact my lawyer with any other problems. I have a mansion to restore.”

  With that, Olivia hung up the phone. She pressed it hard against her chest and blinked through the grey light of the kitchen. She had never felt more confident in her life.

  In the wake of her words, Chelsea even turned away from the TV and asked with a puzzled look, “What the heck was that about?”

  Olivia chuckled. “I think I just gave someone a piece of my mind.”

  “Finally,” Chelsea said. The smile she then gave Olivia made Olivia glow with pride. Her daughter had never looked at her like that before.

  The day wasn’t over. Olivia rushed to her bedroom, slid a brush through her black locks, and then rounded her dark eyes with eyeliner. She swapped out her outfit not just once but three times, then gave herself a critical once-over before she ducked back into the hallway. Again, Chelsea eyed her.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “I just want to check something at the house,” Olivia told her. “I’ll be home soon.”

  Throughout the drive over to the mansion, Olivia blared the speakers in the old car and opened the windows just the slightest bit. The smell of the frigid February cold and the sharp slice of the wind across her cheeks reminded her of just how alive she still was. She wanted to relish this feeling. She wanted to feel just exactly like this when —

  Well, when she saw him.

  But when Anthony opened the door, Olivia’s heart thudded with fear all over again. She gazed into those beautiful seafoam green eyes and, for a long moment, actually forgot why she’d come all the way over here.

  “Olivia!’ What can I do for you?”

  For a moment, Olivia thought she might just jump forward and kiss him flat on the mouth. She hadn’t kissed anyone besides Tyler in her entire life, which meant that she hadn’t kissed another human soul in over six years. Probably, she’d forgotten how. Was it “just like riding a bike”? Or was it something different?

  “I got some news from my lawyer,” Olivia said finally. “And I even talked to Marnie, Marcia’s granddaughter.”

  “Well, come in! Come in! I just opened a bottle of wine, actually, so you’re just in time,” Anthony said. “And you sound happy. I take it this is all good news?”

  Olivia followed Anthony into the kitchen, where he’d already poured himself a hefty glass of red. He poured her a second as she shivered beside him.

  “Susan, my lawyer says that they really don’t have a case. Marcia’s l
awyer provided a document that says Marcia was of sound mind. But then, Marnie caught wind of all of this and actually called me. And we were right, I think. She knows about the treasure.”

  Anthony furrowed his brow. “Wow. She must be chomping at that bit of information.”

  “It’s totally like Marnie to go after this place now when she knows about it,” Olivia said.

  Anthony laughed. “Definitely. But they won’t get the place. It’s all yours, Olivia.”

  “And yours,” Olivia insisted. “Marcia obviously trusted you more than anyone else.”

  “Or I was just the only one she could find to come out here. When I contacted her over a year ago, I was a bit lost. Nowhere to go. And she gave me this. She gave me something to care about.”

  His eyes shone with excitement. His gaze seemed overly powerful. Olivia sipped her wine and again dared herself to do something about her feelings.

  “I think, in a way, I really needed this place, too,” Olivia admitted. She then licked her lower lip and took a delicate step forward. “It occurred to me recently, Anthony, that you know so much about me, about my family and about Marcia. But I don’t really know much about you.”

  This was the kind of thing you’d say on a date, wasn’t it? Olivia wasn’t sure.

  Anthony brushed a curl back behind his ear. “There isn’t much to know. I was born, I ran around for a while, some stuff happened —”

  “Vague. The vaguest story I’ve ever heard,” Olivia said with a laugh.

  Anthony shrugged. “All I can tell you is that right now, I’m happy. And I’m trying to live in the present these days. Care to join me?”

  Olivia nodded as her heart thudded wildly. “Yes. I’d like that.”

  That night, Olivia called Chelsea to tell her she wouldn’t be home and to call her if she needed anything. She fell asleep at the old mansion after she and Anthony drank their way through two and a half bottles of wine and ate their weight in pasta. Her stomach ached after hours of laughter, and her heart was tremendously full. Anthony insisted she take the upstairs bedroom while he took the couch downstairs and said, “You’re a lady, Olivia. And I can’t in good conscience allow a lady to sleep on the couch.”