The Chesapeake Diaries Series 7-Book Bundle: Coming HOme, Home Again, Almost Home, Hometown Girl, Home for the Summer, The Long Way Home, At the River's Edge (64 page)

“No, you can leave it open.” Dallas glanced at the door as she sat back at the desk. “My, aren’t we looking fine today. Not to mention stylish.”

Berry smoothed the short-sleeved white linen jacket over her hips. She wore a matching calf-length linen skirt and a hot pink tank, and flat leather sandals that looked like snakeskin. Dallas didn’t ask if they were real: Berry never went for faux anything.

“One never knows who one might run into.” Berry slid her dark glasses down onto her face and repositioned the straps of her shoulder bag. “Come, boys. We’re off for an afternoon of fun.”

The house was eerily quiet once the three had departed, and after trying to work through a section of dialogue that she just couldn’t get to ring true—even after speaking all the parts aloud—Dallas went into the kitchen. She’d eaten little at breakfast and hadn’t had lunch, so hunger might be the cause. Low blood sugar, she told herself as she poked around in the refrigerator. She found the last bit of Anita’s chicken salad and some fruit salad from yesterday’s lunch, and ate both standing next to the table, looking out the window.

The sound of an approaching boat drew her attention, and she watched the bowrider slowly pass their pier as it headed out to the Bay.
Well, if that’s the same boat we saw last night, at least the driver has its speed under control today
, she thought as she polished off the cantaloupe. She thought the boat might be having engine trouble, as it appeared to be idling on the river when she went out the back door with the dogs a few minutes later. But as she drew closer to the trees, the boat resumed its journey.

Dallas found the red ball on the grass and tossed it to Fleur, who chased it merrily while Ally rested herself in the shade.

“These young kids, eh, Ally? All sass and energy, right?” Dallas took the ball from the returning Fleur and gave it one more toss. When the dog brought it back, she called them both into the house with her. After giving them each one of the organic treats she’d picked up at Bowwows and Meows and making sure there was fresh cool water in their bowls, Dallas went back into the library to work.

“ ‘I really can’t bear to think about this right now.’ ” She read off the line she’d written for Charlotte, then revised it. “ ‘I don’t think I can bear to talk about this right now.’ ”

She pondered both before making her selection, and moving on to the next line, then the next. She’d finished the first draft of the scene and was reading the lines aloud when the dogs began to bark. A moment later, the doorbell rang several times in quick succession. Dallas glanced at her watch on the way to the foyer. It was 4:20.

Through the glass panels, Dallas could see Brooke on the other side of the door. When she reached for the bell to give it another ring, Dallas opened the door.

“What do you want, Brooke?” Dallas made no effort toward civility.

“I know I’m early to pick up Logan, but I wanted to have a few minutes to talk to you alone, before the boys got back with your aunt. May I come in?”

“Why? Did you find another sleazy little tabloid story that you want to make sure I don’t miss?”

“It wasn’t meant like that. I mean, yes, I wanted you to see it, but—”

“All right. You showed me. I saw it.” Dallas started to close the door.

“You don’t understand …”

“You’re absolutely right. I don’t understand.” Dallas’s temper was ready to blow. “I don’t understand why you’d do something so cruel. Frankly, I don’t care why you’d want to hurt me. But do not ever—ever—bring such trash around here where my son might see it. Cody’s father is what he is, and Cody’s still trying to make sense of it all. You have a lot of nerve, coming here, after—”

“I understand why you’re angry, but if you’d give me five minutes to explain. This is a total misunderstanding.”

Dallas snorted. “Did I miss something? Was that Brooke’s evil twin who waved that tabloid in my face?”

“Please? Just five minutes?”

Dallas leaned against the doorjamb and looked at her watch. “Five minutes, Brooke. Starting now.”

“I saw the paper in the market,” Brooke began. “I knew that you were in town and I was pretty sure that you wouldn’t want Cody to see it. So I bought the papers and I put them in the trunk of my car. I just wanted you to—”

“Wait a minute. You bought them?” Dallas frowned. “How many did you buy?”

“All of them.”

“You bought
all
of the papers in the market?” Dallas asked incredulously. “Why?”

“To hide them. Or burn them. So that no one else would see.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Look, I know I wasn’t very nice to you back when we were kids.” Brooke sighed deeply.

“That’s putting it mildly.”

“I know, I know. I did everything I could to make you hate St. Dennis so that you’d go away and never come back. I was not the nicest kid in my class. I admit it. But that was twenty years ago. I’ve grown up a lot since then.”

“So what’s this got to do with that gossip rag?”

“I didn’t know if you’d seen it …”

“I hadn’t.”

“… and I thought you should know what was being said, that’s all. I just wanted you to know that this was making the rounds here in St. Dennis in case someone said something to Cody. I thought you should be prepared.”

Dallas stared at Brooke. Kindness from Brooke? Consideration from the girl who once made her life a living hell? This was one of the last things she’d expected.

Dallas stepped back and held the door open. “Would you like to come in and finish this conversation inside over a glass of iced tea?”

Brooke nodded. “I would. Thank you.”

As they walked to the back of the house, Brooke said, “I know it sounds pretty stupid now. But I wanted to clear the air between us, and I thought that might be a start. I haven’t been back in St. Dennis for very long, and it seems like everyone I know is married or has moved away.”

Except Grant
, Dallas thought, wondering if there was any truth to the speculation that Brooke had
come back to St. Dennis because she was hoping to catch his eye.

“I thought … I don’t know, I guess I thought maybe we could be friends. Logan likes Cody so much, and they seem to be such good friends. It’s been hard on him, too, these past few years. Losing his dad, then moving from our home in Florida to Myrtle Beach to stay with my mom after both my dad and my husband died. It took Logan a while to get settled there and to make friends. I guess to him, it seems he had no sooner gotten comfortable there than we moved again.” Brooke swallowed what must have been an enormous lump in her throat. “He was all loose ends this summer, until Cody started coming to the library story hours. Cody’s friendship means so much to him. I wouldn’t do anything to spoil that.”

“Nor would I.” Dallas pulled a chair out from the table and offered it to Brooke. “Please,” she said, “have a seat.”

Brooke sat and looked around the room while Dallas found glasses and took the pitcher of iced tea from the fridge.

“I’ve driven past this old house a thousand times over the years, and I always wondered what it looked like inside. It’s really beautiful. I love that all the old wood is still natural and the moldings are all so ornate.”

“Thank you. Berry’s done a fabulous job in maintaining it. It’s her pride and joy,” Dallas said.

“And you have this wonderful view of the river.” Brooke turned her head and stretched her neck to see out the window. “You must love coming back here.”

“I do.” Dallas poured their tea and took both
glasses to the table. “I haven’t been here in a long time—not to spend any significant time, that is—but I’m glad we’re here now.”

“Logan said Cody told him he was staying for the rest of the summer.” Brooke took a sip of tea. “He said until September seventh, as if that was some magical date.”

“I guess for Cody it is.” Dallas laughed. “He memorized it so he could tell everyone. He was so happy when I told him. He was having a hard time of things back in L.A., and he was so glad to leave and come here. I think he would have been happier anyplace than in L.A. But for the record, I’m equally pleased that he found such a nice friend in Logan. He’s a really nice boy.”

“I appreciate that. Thank you. He’s so much nicer than I ever was as a kid,” Brooke said matter-of-factly. “Don’t bother trying to think of something nice to say. It’s the truth. I was an obnoxious child, and a mean girl in high school. You have no idea of the number of things I regret having said or done back then.”

“Is there anyone who doesn’t look back sometimes and think, ‘I wish I hadn’t …’?”

“Oh, but I took it to the extreme. Take you, for example. I really disliked you from the first day you arrived. There was just something about you …” Brooke shook her head. “Not that you did or said anything, but even back then, I knew that you were going to be trouble in my life.”

Dallas laughed.

“Seriously. You were such a thorn in my side. And
it used to kill me that you just didn’t seem to be aware of it, that you just didn’t care.”

“I knew. I cared,” Dallas said softly, remembering the years of snubs and whispers behind the hands of the girls who hung around with Brooke. “I just didn’t know what to do about it. I didn’t really know how to make friends with any of you.”

“Except for Grant.”

“He was the first person who was nice to me. Actually, now that I think about it, he was the only person who was nice to me.”

“That’s because he was in love with you.”

“Not when we were eleven,” Dallas said.

“Yes, starting when we were eleven. That’s why all the girls hated to see you arrive back in town, didn’t you know that? Everyone had a crush on him. During the school year, things would be great. We all went out with him at one time or another. Parties, football games, dances.” Brooke rested her arms on the table. “Then every year, June would come around, and there’d be no more Grant until September. And all the other guys would sort of hang around, hoping you’d get tired of Grant and give them a chance.”

“Gee, this makes me feel swell.”

“I’m sorry. It was a lifetime ago. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Ally came into the room from her living-room perch where she watched for Berry, and went to the back door.

“Want out, girl?” Dallas walked to the door and opened it. “Stay right where I can see you.”

She turned to Brooke. “I can’t believe I talk to this
dog as if she’s a person. But if Berry came home and her dog was missing … yowzer.”

“Is that one of the dogs you got from Grant?” Brooke asked.

Dallas nodded.

“He mentioned it the other night, that he’d found a dog for your aunt and one for your son. Of course, now Logan
must
have a dog, too, and Grant would be happy if we took one, but I don’t know if I want to take on a dog right now. I’m still geting used to being in St. Dennis again. It’s very odd, coming back to the place where you were a child, living in the same house you grew up in.”

“I’m sure.” Ally scratched at the door and Dallas got up to let her back in. She gave the dog a treat, as she always did, and Ally took it into the front room. “So, are you seeing Grant, now that you’re back?”

She tried to sound nonchalant but wasn’t sure she succeeded.

“I see him a lot, yes.” Brooke nodded. “Regardless of how much the population grows from May to September with all the summer people and the tourists, this is still very much a small town, you know? You see everyone.” She started to raise her glass to her lips. “Oh. You mean, am I
seeing
Grant? As in dating?” Brooke shook her head.

“I know that’s the rumor that’s going around, but it isn’t what people think. Once I got past the indisputable fact that Grant was never going to like me in that way.” She smiled wryly. “When he came back after visiting you that last summer and told everyone you’d broken up for good, I thought, wow, here’s my
big chance. As it turned out, it was my big chance to prove what a good friend I was by letting him cry on my shoulder every waking minute until I left for college. We’ve been friends ever since.” Her voice dropped. “I know that everyone is saying that I came back to St. Dennis because of Grant, and in a way, it’s true. After my husband died, I needed a friend. Grant wrote to me after he heard about Eric, and it was very comforting to know that someone I hadn’t seen or thought about in a long time remembered me and cared enough to reach out to me. He’s let me take my turn crying on his shoulder, and I appreciate that a great deal.”

“I’m so sorry for what you must have gone through.” Dallas realized how that sounded, and amended it by adding, “What you’re still going through.”

“Thank you. It’s been a living nightmare, the kind you never wake up from.” She shook her head from side to side as tears welled in her eyes. “I wish you’d met him. I can’t even begin to tell you what he was like. Eric was the absolute best, most wonderful guy in the world. There could never be anyone else like him.” She opened her bag and rummaged for a moment, then brought out a small leather volume. Opening it, she passed it to Dallas. “This is Eric, on our wedding day. Did you ever see a more handsome guy?”

“Wow. What a gorgeous bride you were. And yeah, he just might be the handsomest groom I ever saw. He certainly did justice to that tux.”

“I know, right? He was … everything good. We were going to do so many things together.” She pulled a tissue from her bag and wiped her eyes. “Logan was
an accident. We’d decided we weren’t going to start a family until Eric’s last tour of duty was over. We were going to find a great place to settle and have three or four kids. But you know what they say: man plans, God laughs.”

She smiled at what might have been a memory. “Not that either of us was ever sorry about Logan. Surprised, yes, but sorry, never. And so happy. Eric was so proud of his son.” She began to cry. “It just kills me to know that Logan will never know just how good a man his father was.”

“He’ll know.” Dallas got up and put an arm around Brooke. “You’ll tell him. You’ll make sure he knows.”

Brooke nodded. “It’s not the same …”

“Of course it isn’t. But he’ll know his father through you and the stories you’ll tell him.”