Love Letters: A Rose Harbor Novel (14 page)

“What did you say?” I asked.

“Nothing.”

“Yes you did,” I pressed.

He seemed to be weighing his response. “I don’t trust McConnell and I wasn’t comfortable with him being at the inn.”

“I can handle myself, Mark.”

His look said he doubted it. “McConnell’s a sleazebag, and I didn’t want him anywhere close to you.”

“Ah,” I said, and placed my hand over my heart. “You actually care.”

“I care about a lot of things.”

“So you do care about me?” I was beginning to enjoy this.

“Sure I do,” he said with a frown, “but not the way you’re suggesting.”

“I’m crushed.”

“Yeah, right.”

For a moment, I wasn’t sure if he was teasing or not.

His wagging finger reappeared. “You’ve got another look.”

“Another one?”

“I can’t read this one as easily as the first, but I’ve seen it before; I just haven’t figured out what it means yet.”

“When you do, let me know.”

He nodded, taking me seriously.

I’d eaten about half of my soup and all of the bread. Carbohydrates were my downfall, always had been and probably always would be. Leaning back in the wicker chair, I sighed, taking in the scenery around me. It was nights like this that I missed Paul the most. He’d been heavy on my mind all day. Despite my best effort, a deep sense of loss filled me.

Mark grew silent, too, gazing off into the distance. It came to me that I owed him an apology. “I’m sorry about earlier.”

“I know.”

“You know?”

“You’re sorry about a lot of things, Jo Marie. You think I can’t read that in you?”

He was beginning to worry me with his ability to see through me.

“You’re sorry you don’t have your husband with you any longer. He died much too soon.”

He was right about that.

“You’re sorry you won’t have children.”

How he knew that was beyond me. “Anything else?” I asked, a bit defensively.

He nodded. “Nothing that needs mentioning. If you look into your heart you’ll recognize more. We tend to do that, you know, when we’ve suffered a significant loss.”

We sat in silence for a long time. The only sounds were those drifting up from the waterfront and the birds overhead. And then there was an occasional snore from Rover.

After a few moments, I broke the peace. “I’m glad you stopped by,” I told him.

Mark didn’t say anything right away, and then, in a low voice, said, “I am, too.”

We looked across the table at each other and smiled.

By the time Ellie Reynolds arrived back at the inn she was walking on a cloud; her feet hardly felt like they touched the ground. For the movie with Tom, she’d silenced her cell phone. Because her mother was sure to make a nuisance of herself, Ellie had kept it off the entire night. They’d kissed several times during the movie and afterward, too. It’d felt natural and good to be in his arms. She experienced none of the awkwardness she had with other relationships. Tom was polite and sweet. She treasured that he was as nervous about meeting her as she’d been about seeing him for the first time. He couldn’t seem to stop looking at her as if she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

It was after midnight before she got back to Rose Harbor Inn. Everyone else had settled down for the night. Being careful not to
wake the others, Ellie let herself in the front door, locking it behind her, and then headed up the stairs to her room.

She’d been with Tom the entire evening, and the hours had sped past. When it came time to part, he’d been as reluctant as she was to say good night. It helped to know they’d be meeting again in the morning, right after breakfast. Tom wanted to take her out on Puget Sound in his friend’s sailboat. Ellie looked forward to the excursion but not nearly as much as she did to seeing Tom again.

This weekend, her visit to Cedar Cove was a test. After spending time together they’d decide if they wanted to pursue this relationship. Ellie already knew what she wanted, and she was fairly certain Tom felt the same things she did. Even now she felt like she needed to pinch herself to make sure this happiness was real and not part of her imagination.

Sitting on the edge of her bed, she closed her eyes and sighed. This was destined to be one of the most incredible nights of her life. And she had a full two days more to be with Tom before she had to return home.

Home.

The word alone was enough to cause her shoulders to droop. No doubt by now her mother was frantic with worry because she hadn’t heard from her. Knowing her mother, Ellie felt sure Virginia would assume that Ellie had been abducted and she’d never hear from her again.

With only a slight hesitation, Ellie reached into her purse and looked at her phone for the first time in several hours. Sure enough, there was another message from her mother. Ellie didn’t bother to read it. It wasn’t necessary; she already knew what it said.

Forcing herself back into the real world, she selected her mother’s number. No doubt her mother would be sitting up in bed, awaiting Ellie’s call. Virginia would be afraid to fall asleep until she was assured her daughter was safe and secure.

Sure enough, Virginia answered on the first ring. “Eleanor? Oh thank God. You don’t know how worried I’ve been.”

“Yes, I know.” She kept her voice flat, devoid of emotion.

“Why didn’t you answer my text?” her mother demanded, as though it’d been a matter of life and death. “If you’d sent me a simple
I’m okay
it would have made a world of difference.”

“Sorry, Mom.”

“Well … tell me how your date with Tom went,” her mother said, slowly releasing her breath as though a heavy burden had been lifted from her heart. “Is he everything you expected?”

“Yes.” Ellie purposely kept her responses as brief as possible.

“Sweetie, I want details.”

“Oh Mom …” Ellie didn’t want to dilute the magic of the evening by relating the specifics to her mother, who was sure to dissect the evening into tiny parts.

“Did he kiss you?” her mother asked, her voice dipping slightly, as if this was a fact to be shared in confidence.

“Mom! I’m twenty-three years old. You make it sound like I’m thirteen and just went to my first boy-girl party.”

“I know, I know, sorry,” Virginia apologized. “I guess no matter how old you are, you’ll always be my little girl.”

That was the problem in a nutshell. Her mother continued to treat her like a child in need of care and protection. “I like him, Mom, so much. Tom is kind and thoughtful and funny.”

“Your father was all those things, too,” Virginia whispered, her voice tightening.

Ellie tensed. “So I should be cautious, right?”

“No,” her mother protested. “Well, yes, you should be cautious, but then you should do that with any man you meet. What I meant was that it’s very easy to fall in love with a man when he’s all the things you mentioned.”

“But there’s a dark side to him, too,” Ellie murmured, not wanting to hear yet another forewarning, “one that most likely won’t show itself until after we’re married.”

“Ellie, sweetheart, quit putting words in my mouth. I didn’t mean to imply anything of the sort.”

“But you were thinking it.” Ellie was only voicing the very comment her mother had made previously when she’d first learned about Ellie’s growing relationship with Tom.

“Well, yes,” her mother confirmed. “Everyone has faults, and character weaknesses. When we first meet others we tend to put our best foot forward, so to speak. I’m sure you did, and Tom, too. You both want to make a good impression, right?”

Ellie had no option but to agree.

“It’s only later that our faults become apparent.”

“And by then you’re married and pregnant and you’re stuck in a relationship that makes you miserable and he doesn’t understand your needs or love you the way you feel you deserve to be loved and you’re so unhappy you don’t know if you will survive,” Ellie said in one long breath, stopping only when she needed to breathe again.

A shocked silence reverberated from the other end of the line. “You’re putting words in my mouth again.”

“What I’m doing, Mom, is repeating all the warnings you’ve given me through the years.”

“I said all that?” Virginia asked, sounding as if she found it impossible to believe.

“That and more.” The truth was, Ellie had heard the story of how her father had done the family wrong so often she could repeat it verbatim.

“Oh dear,” Virginia murmured in a rush, as though stunned.

“Can I go now?” Ellie had fulfilled her obligation and called to reassure her mother. It was late and she’d had a long day.

“Well, yes, of course,” Virginia said, with such deep disappointment that Ellie felt instantly guilty. “But you really didn’t answer any of my questions,” her mother added.

“It’s late, Mom.”

Her mother hesitated. “Is there something you don’t want me to know about Tom?” she asked, in a gentle way that lent itself toward expressing confidences. “I am your mother, and, sweetie, there isn’t anything you can’t tell me. Did he try to get you into bed?”

“Mom, no. He’s not like that. You raised me, so why don’t you trust my judgment?”

“I do, but when I met Scott my head was in the clouds. All common sense deserted me and—”

“And then it was too late.”

“Eleanor, please don’t.”

Her mother’s tone told Ellie she was quickly growing impatient with her, but Ellie couldn’t make herself stop. For once she refused to allow her mother’s unfortunate past to cloud her own future. “Good night, Mom,” she said, letting her know the conversation was over. She’d done her duty as a daughter, and while she loved and respected her mother, she was more than ready to become her own woman and make her own decisions.

“Good night, sweetie,” she said, and then, as if she had to know, she rushed the question, “Are you seeing Tom tomorrow?”

What did her mother think? Ellie hadn’t come this far to spend the weekend in her room reading a romance novel, although she often devoured books in the genre.

“Yes, Mom, I’m seeing Tom on Saturday.” And then, for shock value, she added, “He’s taking me boating on Puget Sound.”

Her mother sucked in a breath. Ellie paused, awaiting a tirade of dire warnings, but thankfully, and to her amazement, none came.

“You aren’t going to remind me of how many people drown every year?” she asked, half in jest. This was commonly how her mother approached the subject of Ellie being on the water.

“No. Tom’s boat has life jackets, doesn’t it?”

“Mom!”

“Okay, sorry, you’re right. You’re an adult and capable of taking care of yourself.”

“Thank you!” The least her mother could do was credit her with some intelligence. Ellie had never been a daredevil and had no desire to drive fast cars, leap out of airplanes, or go bungee jumping. Probably the most dangerous task she’d ever undertaken was opening a tin can with a handheld opener!

“Will you be out on the water all day?”

“No. In the afternoon, Tom said he has a surprise for me.”

“What kind of surprise?”

“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I knew what it was, would it?”

Her mother gave a small, halfhearted laugh. “You’re right, it wouldn’t.”

“Night, Mom.” Hadn’t she wished her mother that once already?

“Night.” Her mother’s voice was heavy with reluctance.

At the last moment, Ellie thought of something important she wanted to say. “Mom,” she said urgently.

“Yes, honey.” How eager she sounded, how excited.

Ellie felt a little uneasy with the fib. “I thought you should know I’ll be out of cell phone coverage all day.”

That laugh again. “Very funny, Ellie.”

“I’m serious, Mom.”

“Okay, message received. I’ll wait for your call and I won’t bother you.”

Ellie was grateful. “I appreciate that. Now, for the third time, good night.”

“Good night.”

Ellie ended the call before she or her mother found yet another reason to stay on the line. As she went to plug her phone into the charger, she noticed another text message. If it was from her mother, Ellie would be tempted to scream.

Instead, the text was from Tom.
Thank you for a lovely night. Morning can’t come soon enough.

It couldn’t come fast enough for Ellie, either! Her phone alarm woke her at seven, and it felt like she’d been asleep only a few minutes. As happy and excited as she’d been, it’d taken her a long time to fall asleep. Her inclination was to pull the sheet over her shoulders
and go back to sleep. She might have given in to the temptation until she remembered Tom would be picking her up in less than two hours.

Leaping out of bed, she headed for the shower, eager to dig into her day. Another day with Tom.

By the time she’d showered, dressed, and fussed with her hair—and fuss she did—breakfast was ready.

With a smile as bright as the August morning, Ellie practically floated down the stairs. She wore a pair of cropped white pants and a blue-and-white loose-fitting tank top with a blue pair of Toms shoes. She hoped Tom would find it amusing that she’d chosen that brand of shoes. Then, in case it was chilly on the water, she brought along a white cotton cardigan, which she had draped over her shoulders.