Secrets in the Lowcountry--The River (14 page)

“Jeff,
w
ith everyone except Sara
and Tim off being spotters and
Mary
a
vailable to help Dad, I’m as much use as a mosquito at a garden party.”

“
W
hat a terrible thought.
Certainly never in th
e Lo
w
country.
”

She slapped his arm
, giving a
w
an
smiled
.
“Getting back to
w
hy I must
escape.
Mom and Dad’s
…
will
s have detailed instructions about
,
” Again, she stopped, “everything. Mary
will
decide
w
hat
to serve at the
reception after
…
”
She shook her head fiercely, as if shaking it
w
ould change the situation. “
And Dad
will
agree. Besides,
Mary
seldom let
s
me in the kitchen. She’s organized Dad and me since
…
” Again, her voice hesitated, “Mom left.”

Jeff
w
anted to crush her in his arms, but said,
“And your horses?”

“
W
hen I arrived at the stable,
I
sa
w
that
Jean
and the volunteers for Horseback Heroes
have everything under control.
Since my
…
honeymoon
sta
rted today
,
I’d arrange
d
for them to handle the group.
” She stared at him as if in disbelief. “
Today
,
w
e
w
ere
flying to
…
”
She sniffed.

Jeff took her into his arms and held her gently. He pulled
tissues from his pocket and dabb
ed her moist eyes. “
W
e’ll find him,” he said putting as much confidence in his tone as possible.

Pushing him a
w
ay
w
ith her hands, she said, “
If I stay here, I’ll drive myself and everyone around me nuts.”

Remembering ho
w
little patience Taylor had
and ho
w
much she
preferred
to be in control, Jeff in
w
ardly surrendered.

“
Y
ou gas up the skiff
.
I’ll
grab a couple of
w
ater bottles and
a fe
w
snacks, then
tell Dad and Mary
w
e’re leaving. I’ll meet you at the dock.”

As he suspected,
w
ithout
w
aiting for his acceptance, she dashed a
w
ay.

* ~ *

After telling Mary and her dad about their plans,
she hurried back to the dock.
Of all her friends only Jeff
remained constant, she thought.
She couldn’t expect her other friends to share her grief, bu
t she felt sure that Jeff did. The three of them
started hanging out
together from the first day
Rod had joined them in school. She participated as an equal in all their games, except football.
The inseparable three, u
ntil eleventh grade
,
th
en she started dating Rod.

“
Will
you cast off the lines?
After our last outing, I decided the safest place for me
w
as in the boat
behind the
w
heel
, not untying
,” Jeff teased her.

“Aye, aye, captain. Y
our mate hea
rs you.”
She quickly un
-
cleate
d the lines and stepped aboard.
“
W
here to you intend to go?”

“Remember the spot on the river, near the mound of o
ysters that has a sandy beach?

“I’m not sure.
W
hy?” she asked
, as she coiled the lines
.

“The place is n
ear
Brays Creek.
Years ago Rod and I
fished and s
w
am
there.
” 

He held the
w
heel loosely.
She’
d forgott
en
w
hat large hands’ Jeff had.
His palms almost encircled the pla
stic
w
heel,
w
hile his
fingers tapped on the t
opside of the console to a tune obviously inside his head.
He reeked of control
,
not of others
,
but of himself.
A
trait
she’d al
w
ays admire. As the tips of his hands beat out time to the silent song, she recalled
he used internal music to help him concentrate. For some strange reason, this gave her confidence in their success.

Suddenly, Jeff chuckled.

She shift
ed her eyes and stared at him.
“
W
hat’s funny?”

“I
remembered
w
hy you don’t kno
w
about this place. Rod and I decided
w
e
required
a secret place that y
ou didn’t kno
w
anything about.
One of us found the
spot,
can’t remember
w
hich one.
W
e decided this
w
ould be our ‘club
house’ only
w
ithout a building.
Actually,
w
e did construct
a flimsy
structure of discarded timber,
e
ven fo
und paint.
I
brought an old blanket or t
w
o.
Amazing,
w
hat one recalls
.”

“Ho
w
do you kno
w
he still came there?”

“I don’t
, but five years ago, he
…
”

She took a deep breath.
“About that
”

“Do you really
w
ant to go there?” Jeff raised his eyebro
w
s.

S
w
allo
w
ing h
ard, Taylor said, “Yes.
I do.
W
e may never have another
opportunity to talk like this.
I’ve
w
anted to explain
for a long time.
I must explain.
I hope
you
’ll
understand.
”

She
observed
him. He appeared entire
ly absorbed
on the
w
ater
’s depth
and ke
e
p
ing
the boat on an even keel.

“
W
hen I phoned
telling you I had broken up
w
ith Rod
for good, I meant every
w
ord.
He and I had been planning our
w
edding
. Then he announced
he real
ly
required
more time. He
told me a
n
MBA
w
ould give him
more
opportunities
. I suggested
w
e marry and I
w
ould
w
ork
w
hile he studied and received his degree. He totally disagreed, saying I’d find difficulty finding a stable to manage
w
here he planned to study. Next
, I offered to get an
MBA, too
, something
to enhance m
y management skills, again, no sale.

“
Much of this you kno
w
, but in case you’ve forgotten, let me tell the story in my o
w
n
w
ay.”

He nodded
.
W
ith his sunglasses on, she couldn’t read his face.

S
till, she pressed on
, “S
ince
w
e
had
started hang
ing
out
in high school, dated off and on t
hrough college, and began seeing each other
, I thought,
seriously after
graduation three years before.
I flipped. His expla
n
ation
w
as
he
w
anted more money for us
. ‘T
hat paper’
w
ould open the
w
orld for
him.
His goals included making money and
being successful,
in that order.”
Remembering the scene
still
hurt.

“You don’t need to explain
his values to me.
”

She thought she detected a
little bitterness.

“
W
e argued. F
inally
,
I
conveyed
my opinion. If money ranked over marriage,
he should
consider our engagement off.
I gave
b
ack his ring
, telling
him
to get out of my life. T
hen I called you.
Since you
’
re his best friend and mi
ne too, I hoped you’d help me.
Advise me
. ”

His face
w
rinkled
. H
e opened his mouth to speak.

“Please let me continue.
You
w
ere finishing the semester,
w
riting your
thesis, and
had exams.”
She surveyed his face
closely
.

He nodded, his ja
w
tightened.

“Shortly
before you arrived, Rod called and begged me
to
w
ait for a fe
w
more years.
He
stated
my family had mo
ney. H
e didn’t
w
ant me not to have all the
material things I currently had. I
n t
w
o or three more yea
rs and
w
ith his MBA, he
w
ould.
W
e
volleyed this point.
Eventually,
I
gave
him
additional
time.”

“Five years is a little more
time?” Jeff asked incredulously
.

“During the first t
w
o and a half years, he
w
o
rked on his degree at Clemson.
During the second year, I decided to visit an old roommate
from college.
She’d married an Ind
ian. T
hey’d moved to Delhi.
I spent
the follo
w
ing year traveling around India and Southeast Asia.
Upon coming
home, I experienced
almost
a
compulsion to assist disabled people.
I
joined
Horseback
Heroes
.
Time
drifted on. Finally
,
Dad
said either marry Rod or break the engagement.”