Since You've Been Gone (Welcome to Paradise) (14 page)

Seconds after Mari rang the bell, Della answered the door with a beaming smile. “I’m so happy you came by, Mari! Would you like to sit out on the deck? It’s a lovely day and I just made some fresh-squeezed lemonade.”

“Sounds great,” Mari answered as she walked inside.

The two women headed into the kitchen, where Della grabbed a pitcher of lemonade from the fridge and two tall glasses from one of the white cupboards. With their drinks in hand, they stepped out on the deck and settled in a pair of comfortable patio chairs around the large glass table.

When Mari spotted the sketchbook and drawing pencils on the tabletop, her eyes widened in surprise. “You draw?”

Della’s cheeks took on a rosy hue. “I do, but not often. It’s more of a hobby.”

“Austin never mentioned it.”

“That’s because he doesn’t know. It’s my secret hobby.” Della smiled ruefully. “I’m very critical of myself, so I don’t show my drawings to anyone.”

Mari gestured to the book. “How about making an exception for me? Because I’d love to see your work.”

The older woman looked both embarrassed and reluctant. But the reluctance slowly seemed to fade away, and then she slid the book across the table.

Mari opened the first page to find a pretty sketch of a mountainous landscape with an eagle swooping above one of the majestic peaks. The next page showed another landscape, this one a gurgling creek with a deer bending over to lap at the water. Nearly all the drawings showcased different aspects of Paradise, and the little town came to life in front of Mari’s eyes. The forests and lakes and mountains, the historical buildings and little shops, a gorgeous fireworks display in the town square.

“You’re really good,” she said earnestly, finally meeting Della’s anxious gaze. “I’m terrible at landscapes. But you really managed to capture the sheer beauty of this town.”

Della fidgeted modestly. “Thank you. That means a lot, coming from you. Austin told me you’re an art teacher. Do you also show work as well?”

“Yes, though I haven’t had a lot of time to work on my practice lately. But I guess now that I’m out of a job, I can start painting again.”

“I didn’t realize you’d lost your job,” Della said sympathetically. “I assumed you were off for the summer, being a teacher and all.”

“I wish this was just a summer break,” she said glumly. “But the school where I worked was forced to lay off a lot of staff, and, well, you know the arts aren’t considered too important these days, so my department was the first to go.”

“That’s such a shame. I think the arts are
extremely
important.” Della donned a pensive look. “You know, I just remembered something… I was talking to Harriet Burns earlier this week—she’s the principal of Paradise’s elementary school. Anyway, she mentioned that one of her teachers had a terrible accident. Jessie Dawson, a real sweet woman, about your age, I think. She’s four months pregnant, and last week she fell down a flight of stairs and broke her leg.”

Mari gasped. “That’s awful. Did she lose the baby?”

“Oh no. Fortunately, the baby is fine. But she’s totally immobilized now. She was supposed to go on maternity leave in November, but Jessie and Harriet arranged for the leave to start now. But see, this leaves Harriet in a real bind.”

Mari was wondering where Della was going with all this, but Austin’s mother apparently liked to take her sweet time getting to the point. For some reason, though, Mari found the woman’s penchant for telling stories in excessive detail kind of charming.

“Every summer the school runs a day camp for the children,” Della went on. “Jessie is the head of the school’s art and drama department, and she was responsible for that aspect of the camp. Harriet is desperate to find someone to fill in. This might be overstepping, but I can check if she’s willing to meet with you.”

Dumbfounded, Mari stared at Austin’s mom. “You mean, for a job interview?”

“Yes. Of course, I don’t know any of the details—you’d have to discuss them with Harriet—but if you’re interested in staying in Paradise for the summer, it might be a nice opportunity for you. I’d help the camp out myself, but I don’t think I could keep up with those rowdy kids, not at my age.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh pshaw, you can’t be a day over thirty-five.”

Della beamed at her. “I knew I liked you.”

Laughing, Mari reached for her lemonade and mulled over Della’s idea as she took a long sip. She would actually love to spend the summer in Paradise, and earning some money while she did it was definitely appealing. However, if she stuck around, she’d miss her interviews in Des Moines. Not only that, but she had no idea what Austin’s plans were. What if he didn’t intend on being here all summer?

On the other hand, what was the harm in meeting with Principal Harriet and hearing what she had to say?

“You know what, give her a call,” Mari decided. “It probably won’t amount to anything, but it can’t hurt to get some more details.”

“Wonderful! I’ll call her shortly.” Della’s eyes twinkled. “But first, I want to hear all about the road trip you took with my son.”

“It really wasn’t that exciting,” she admitted. “There was a lot of driving involved.”

When she glimpsed the disappointment in Della’s eyes, she realized that Della’s request had nothing to do with the trip itself—the woman simply wanted to hear about Austin.

Mari’s heart ached. God, Austin had totally shut Della out this last year, and the woman was probably desperate to feel any sort of connection with him, even if it was just a secondhand account of a silly trip through the Midwest.

“But,” Mari continued quickly, “I did discover that Austin absolutely sucks at car games.”

Della laughed in delight. “He was never a fan of games. He preferred playing sports. What games did you play?”

“Well, there was Family Feud, but the Fast Money round was a disaster, thanks to his ridiculous answers…”

For the next hour, Mari regaled Austin’s mother with random stories from the trip in great detail.

And knew without a doubt that she’d made Della Bishop’s day.

Several hours later, Mari walked into Nate and Charlotte’s living room and found Austin on the couch, watching TV with a grave expression.

“Holy shit, can you believe this?” he demanded when he spotted her.

She wrinkled her forehead. “Believe what?”

He glanced at her in surprise. “Haven’t you seen the news?”

“No. I was out all morning and—oh my gosh,” she blurted out when she glimpsed the images flashing on the television.

Sinking on the couch beside him, Mari gaped at the words scrolling along the bottom of the screen.

Tsunami devastates Malaysian coast. Thousands dead. Entire villages wiped out.

“When did this happen?” she breathed in horror.

“Earlier today.” He sounded grim. “A dozen resorts along the coast were hit, and some towns are completely destroyed. It’s a clusterfuck over there—thousands dead, missing, trapped under debris.”

Her horror only grew the longer they watched the news reports. It was almost unfathomable—buildings and houses submerged, cars and garbage and debris floating in a sea of water that covered what was formerly land, the dirty, bloodstained faces of survivors. And the footage of the monstrous wave brought tears to Mari’s eyes.

“Those poor people,” she whispered.

Austin reached for her hand and stroked her knuckles. “I can’t even begin to imagine what the survivors are going through,” he said sadly.

For the next twenty minutes, they watched TV in silence with their fingers interlaced. It was after a particularly heartbreaking interview with a man whose wife and son had drowned when Austin spoke again.

“My agent called before you got here.”

Mari’s gaze flew to his. “Why?”

“He wants me to fly out there.”

“Out where?” Her jaw fell open. “You mean,
there
?” she demanded, pointing at the screen.

“It’s a great freelance opportunity,” Austin answered softly. “But more than that, it’s a chance to help those people. They’re setting up triage stations in areas that haven’t flooded, and they could always use more volunteers. I checked the flights online and—”

“Wait a minute, you’re actually considering going?” she cut in, incredulity hanging from her voice.

“It’s what I do. I take pictures of important events. And not just the pretty ones. I capture real life, Mari, no matter how ugly it is. And that—” he hooked a thumb at the screen, “—that’s fucking life.”

She bit her lip in dismay. “You can’t go to Malaysia. I mean,
look
at it. The entire area has been destroyed. It’s dangerous and reckless and…”

She trailed off, suddenly realizing how heartless she sounded. He was right—the victims of the tsunami
did
need help. The makeshift hospitals and triage stations were overflowing with patients and desperate for volunteers. How could she possibly tell Austin
not
to go and offer his assistance?

But…she had to wonder, was that
truly
why he wanted to go? To photograph the destruction and help those in need?

She wanted to believe his motives were that pure, but she’d noticed how distant he’d been acting this week. Restless, like he was itching to leave Paradise again so he wouldn’t have to deal with his strained relationship with Della and Rice.

“The flight I’m booking leaves tomorrow night.”

His quiet admission snapped her out of her troubling thoughts. “That soon?”

He nodded, then paused uncertainly. “There’s one other thing.”

“What is it?” Butterflies of uneasiness fluttered in her belly. For some reason, she was expecting the worst.

But Austin stunned her with his next words.

“Come with me.”

Chapter Ten

Mari’s eyes widened as the request sank in. He wanted her to go with him? To
Malaysia
?

“Are you serious?” she exclaimed.

“I am.” His expression conveyed an unusual combination of uncertainty and determination. “I really want you to come with me. I guess…I guess I’m not ready to say goodbye to you yet.”

“Then don’t.” She shook her head in frustration. “Let’s stay in Paradise. Together.” As she voiced the suggestion, she suddenly remembered what she’d been doing for the past two hours, and she felt slightly sheepish as she met Austin’s eyes and said, “I got a job offer today.”

His brows shot up. “You did?”

Her gaze drifted back to the screen, and she couldn’t help but sigh. “I know it’s probably selfish and insensitive to bring it up right now considering what’s happening on the other side of the world, but yeah, I actually got offered a job today. It was all thanks to your mother.”

He narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“I went over to her house today. You know, just to hang out.” She gave a little shrug.

“Just to hang out?” he echoed, sounding more and more suspicious.

“I like her,” Mari said defensively. “And I thought it would be nice to drop by and spend a little time with her.”

“And somehow this led to you getting a job?” he asked in a skeptical voice.

“Pretty much, yeah.” She quickly told him about Harriet Burns and the teacher with the broken leg, then finished up the story. “So your mother called Harriet, who wanted to meet with me
today
—I guess she’s really desperate to find someone to fill in for Jessie. We spoke for about a half hour and then she offered me the job on the spot. She’s calling my old school and running a criminal check, but that’s just a formality. If I take the job, I’d start on Monday.”

Austin looked confused. “And you’ll be what, a camp counselor?”

“I’d be running the arts program at the camp,” she explained “It’s five days a week, nine to five, and it pays great.”

Actually, she’d be earning an absurd amount of money. Eight thousand dollars for six weeks of work, which Mari still couldn’t believe. She remembered working at a camp when she was a teenager and earning five hundred bucks for the entire summer.

Austin’s confusion seemed to grow. “You’ve only been in Paradise for a week. And now you’re considering moving here?”

“I won’t necessarily be moving here. This will just be for the summer. But…” She hesitated. “Harriet did say they’re looking to fill Jessie’s position at the school as well. She’ll be on maternity leave for the upcoming school year, so…yeah, I guess this camp thing could lead to a teaching position in the fall, but it’s no guarantee. Just in case, I can reschedule my interviews in Iowa for the end of August, after camp wraps up.”

Austin released a heavy breath. “You want to do this, don’t you?”

She bit her lip. “I don’t know. I mean, I get that it sounds nuts, but I really do love it here.”

“That makes one of us,” he mumbled.

She stifled a sigh. “You don’t mean that. This is your hometown, Austin. And no matter what you say, I know you’re happy to be back.”

“Part of me is,” he admitted. “But I travel for a living, Mari. There’s a reason I don’t own a house here—I’m gone for at least eight months out of the year.” He paused in afterthought. “Where do you plan on staying if you take the job?”