On Sunset Beach (19 page)

“So they asked Ellie if they could borrow them.”

Carly nodded.

“And they wanted all of Carolina’s paintings, the ones from the attic as well, I’m guessing.”

“They don’t know about those. Actually, no one except Ellie and Cam—and your mother—knows about those. That’s the part I’d like you to leave out of your article, if you don’t mind.” That rueful smile again. “They know that Ellie has a number of paintings hanging throughout her house, and they believe that’s what they’re getting.

“I’d wanted to make such a splash at my gallery with these paintings,” she explained. “Something the entire art world would sit up and notice.”

He nodded. He got it. “So if you can’t do that there, you want to do that here.”

“Exactly. But we don’t want anyone to know just yet what we’re planning.”

“Doesn’t that piss you off? That you had something spectacular planned that would draw big-time attention to your gallery, and it was snatched away from you?”

“Oh, I don’t look at it that way. I’m still getting to introduce the world to Carolina’s work, and that’s the important thing.”

“That sounds like rationalization, if you don’t mind my saying.”

“I don’t mind. I admit that at first I was really disappointed when I had to cancel my plans.” She looked momentarily wistful, then her face brightened. “But I still have the pleasure of setting up this new gallery, and bringing the attention of the art world to this lovely town, and that’s a good thing, so what’s to be angry about? I mean, Carolina’s paintings being shown are what’s important here, and the exhibit’s going to be great, no matter where we hold it.”

“Are you going to tell me there’s no resentment at all?”

She shook her head. “None whatsoever.”

“Okay, then.” He pretended to jot something in the notebook, but what he really was doing was trying to wrap his head around the fact that she was cool with the fact that her gallery wasn’t going to get to do the exhibit. He was pretty sure if he’d been in her shoes, he wouldn’t have been as easygoing.

She glanced at her watch. “Do you think you have enough for the first article? I promised Ellie’s sister I’d drive her to her field-hockey tryout this afternoon, since Ellie’s working.”

“Oh. Sure.” He tried to tuck the notebook into his back pocket but it was just slightly too big to fit. He tried to fold it, but the cover was too hard. The effort left him feeling just a little foolish and he hoped she hadn’t noticed.

“Do you want to schedule next week’s interview now?” she asked as she gathered her purse and her iPad and her phone, which she’d left on a nearby stool.

“What’s a good day for you?”

“I’m here every day, so whenever you need to write next the article …”

“I’m not sure. I don’t know the schedule for the paper.” He hesitated. “How ’bout early in the week … say maybe Tuesday? That way, we can be sure to meet the deadline.”

“Sounds great. I’ll be here.”

She was obviously leaving, having turned off the air-conditioning and the lights, so Ford had no choice but to follow her out the door.

“So I guess I’ll see you on Tuesday. Same time?” he asked.

“Great.” She stopped next to the big SUV and opened the driver’s-side door and slid in behind the wheel. “I’ll see you then.”

He would have liked to have just stood there until she’d gone, just to look at her, but he was parked behind her. He walked back to the car and got in and backed out of the driveway far enough to let her pull out in front of him. She waved as she drove off.

The last thing Ford had expected was what—who—he’d found when he stepped inside the carriage house. Carly Summit had all but knocked him off his feet. She was not only very easy to look at, but she was interesting in a way a lot of women in his experience had not been, and he was drawn to her in a way he hadn’t been attracted to anyone since Anna. Anna of the golden hair and the brilliant blue eyes and the heart and soul of a pacifist, a woman who was totally devoted to the job that she did, a woman who truly believed in the good of everyone she met. Apparently, the rebel soldiers she and the others had met up with hadn’t gotten the memo on that last part.

He had no idea how much time had passed, but a glance at his watch told him he’d been there for almost two hours.

So it was true, he thought as he made the turn onto Hudson Street. Time really did fly when you were having a good time—and the two hours he’d spent in Carly Summit’s company had been the best two hours he’d had in a very long time.

Chapter 12

T
HE
bleachers at the high school field were just a few feet too far from the tree line to have offered any shade before late afternoon, and Carly was lamenting the lack of sunscreen. Gabi had yet to run through the drill that was a required part of the tryout for the varsity field-hockey team, so Carly thought it would be rude for her to leave her seat and go back into the air-conditioned comfort of her car, so she stayed where she was. Some things, she reminded herself, you just had to suck up, and this was one of them. Early July on the Eastern Shore could be hot and muggy, and today was all that and more. She brushed sweat from her forehead and tried to find something positive in the experience, but it was tough with the inside of her head about to boil over like a cauldron of bubbling soup. She tried to distract herself by thinking cool thoughts, but the image of Ford Sinclair standing in the doorway of the carriage house left her anything but cooled off.

Ford had been wearing a dark blue polo shirt that deepened the storm-cloud gray of his eyes, and khaki shorts, and looked more like the adventurer he was
supposed to be than he had the first time they’d met. His sunglasses had hung from the V of the shirt placket and his hair was a few weeks past needing a trim. Her heart had all but stopped when he walked in. She tried to remember the last time she’d had such a reaction to a man, and sadly had to admit it had been probably never, unless the first time they’d met counted. Or the day he’d turned up at the tennis court …

“Carly.” Gabi stood on the step two rows down, waving a hand. “I said I’m finished.”

“Oh. Of course.” The image in her mind began to fade away. “How’d you do?”

Gabi laughed. “I did fine, but none of us will know if we made varsity or junior varsity until next week. So are you ready to go?”

Carly picked up her bag and walked down the bleacher steps till she reached the ground.

“Think we could stop at Scoop for ice cream on the way home?” Gabi leaned heavily against Carly as they walked toward the car.

“Absolutely, but stop leaning. I’m already so hot from sitting in the sun I’m about to spontaneously combust.”

“Why didn’t you move into the shade? Or go sit in the car?”

“I thought it would be rude.”

“Rude to who? Whom?”

“To you.”

“You’re kidding, right? I didn’t expect you to sit and watch. I thought you were going to just drop me off and I’d get a ride home with someone else.”

They’d reached the car and Carly unlocked it with the remote. “Now you tell me,” she grumbled.

It seemed that half the town—and most of its visitors—had the same desire for ice cream as Carly and Gabi. The line into One Scoop or Two stretched down the wooden boardwalk almost to the marina.

“Wow. Looks like Steffie is having an exceptionally good day,” Carly commented when she parked in the only spot she could find in the municipal lot. “I wonder if it’s been like this all day.”

“Pretty much. Paige was at tryouts and she had to leave as soon as she was finished to get back here to work. She said weekends are the worst, when all the tourists are in town. She said sometimes they even run out of ice cream ’cause Steffie makes it all herself and sometimes she underestimates how many people there will be.” Gabi paused. “Are you coming?”

Carly looked at the length of the line.

“We can go in the back door,” Gabi told her. “Steffie lets us.”

“That’s when you’re with Paige,” Carly pointed out.

“Yeah, mostly.”

“I don’t think those people who have been waiting out there in line would appreciate the two of us sneaking in the back door ahead of them.”

“Probably not.” Gabi thought for a moment. “But if you wait here, I can go in by myself and no one will notice.”

Before Carly could respond, Gabi was out of the car and yelling that she’d be right back.

Just as well
, Carly thought.
The last thing I feel like doing is going back into that heat
.

She turned on the radio, searching for a station that was playing something she could sing along with, when her phone rang.

“Ellie, hi,” she said after glancing at the caller-ID screen.

“Hey, where are you?”

“Sitting in the municipal parking lot waiting for your sister to emerge from the back door of Scoop, ice cream in hand. The line stretches halfway to the marina, so she decided she’d use her friends-and-family pass to go in, get the goods, and slip back out before anyone notices that she cut the line.”

“She’s a slick one,” Ellie admitted. “But it’s better than waiting an hour for a ice cream cone that’ll take you less than five minutes to eat.”

“True.”

“The reason I’m calling … you mentioned you might want to take a look at the house that Sophie Enright was renting.”

“Yes.”

“I’m sitting outside of it right now, key in hand, if you want to come by.”

“Of course I do, but how did you manage that?”

“The job Cam had lined up this morning was to help Jason finish painting the apartment on the second floor of Sophie’s restaurant. They’re pretty much done, and since Sophie brought very little of her own furniture with her—she only had some pieces in the bedroom—she doesn’t have much to move other than her clothes and personal items. The lease is still in Jesse’s name, but he’ll sublet to you until it runs out in November. By then, you’ll most likely be back in New York, right?”

“That’s the plan, yes.”

“So come over now and take a look.”

“As soon as Gabi gets back, I will.”

Carly tapped her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, wishing Gabi would hurry. Now that she knew she’d be in St. Dennis for at least a few months, she was eager to get into a place of her own, a place where she could work at night without being disturbed. She had to admit that were it not for work required to finish Carolina’s book and design the catalog for the exhibit, she’d love the bustle of life in Ellie and Cam’s house. But right now, with so much to be done in so little time, she needed the evening hours to read, and to write.

Finally, she saw Gabi’s head bobbing along between the cars in the lot. When she drew closer, Carly could see she was carrying only one dish of ice cream.

“What, you ate yours while you were on the way to the car?” Carly asked when Gabi opened the door.

“No, Steffie wanted me to work with Paige for a while this afternoon, so I’m going to stay.”

“Are you old enough to do that?” Carly reached for the bowl.

“I guess.” Gabi shrugged. “I’ve helped out before when they got real busy, and Paige does it all the time and she’s the same age as me.”

“Paige is Steffie’s niece, though, right?”

Gabi nodded. “It’ll be okay. I just have to let Ellie know.”

“I’m going to see her in two minutes. I’ll tell her.”

“Great. Thanks. And thanks for coming to tryouts with me.” Gabi blew her a kiss from the open door. “And for staying, even though you didn’t have to.”

“We’re even. Thanks for the ice cream. Now close the door before it melts.”

“It’s blueberry cobbler crunch. Steffie just made it
this morning.” Gabi slammed the car door and waved, then ran back toward Scoop.

Carly took two spoonfuls of ice cream and all but sighed. It was cold and delicious and tasted of fresh blueberries, and if she hadn’t been in a hurry, she’d have finished it right then and there. But she was anxious to see the house, so she placed the ice cream container on the console and prayed it wouldn’t tip over.

The drive to Hudson Street took exactly four minutes, most of it spent at the light at the corner of Charles Street and Kelly’s Point Road due to the number of visitors to the town. But once she turned onto Cherry, it was a quick hop around the corner. An SUV sat in the driveway, the back hatch up, and Ellie’s car was parked on the street out front. Carly parked behind Ellie and went up to the side door, which stood open.

“Hello,” she called.

“Carly, in here,” Ellie called back.

The door led into a small room off the kitchen. Carly followed Ellie’s voice into the living room, which, like the rest of the rooms, was on the small side, but neatly furnished.

“I’ll be out of here in a few minutes.” Sophie Enright poked her head out from a door at the end of a hallway. “I’m on my last load. I think …”

“Take your time,” Carly told her.

“It’s cute, right?” Ellie whispered.

“
So
cute.” Carly looked around. “She’s not taking the furniture in the living room?”

Ellie shook her head. “Whatever is still here belongs to Jesse, who doesn’t need it and doesn’t know what to do with it. He took the few pieces he wanted
when he and Brooke got married and he moved in with her. The stuff from Sophie’s bedroom has already been moved out, but the living room and the dining room stuff stays. Oh, and there’s nothing in the kitchen. That all belonged to Sophie and she’s taken it, so you will need some dishes and pots and flatware and all that stuff.”