Tiny Island Summer (10 page)

“And how’s your summer going?” Char asked after taking her first sip.

“It’s fine.”

Char nodded and looked at him intently, almost as if John had been sharing some of their struggles with her. Some things, especially family business, were best left unsaid. No matter what she might know, Ben didn’t feel comfortable talking to anyone about his life.

“Any big plans for the weekend?” Ben asked again.

“Are you trying to get me out of the house?” John asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Ha, no. I’ll be gone until Saturday.”

“I think Darcy will be back tomorrow,” Char suddenly interjected. “But she’ll be locked in her room until Friday finishing this appraisal.”

“It sounds like we could all use a relaxing weekend. Maybe we should go camping?” John offered.

Both Ben and Char glared.

“Only you find camping relaxing, John.”

“And Todd.”

Ben rolled his eyes.

“Who’s Todd?” Charlotte asked.

“Our youngest brother,” John replied.

“I forget that you two have three other brothers. Neither of you talk about them.”

John squirmed.

“There have been some unfortunate complications lately,” Ben said as diplomatically as he could manage.

Char nodded. “How much younger are they?”

“Todd is still in college, Teddy started working a year ago, and William has been out and working for a few years and just went back for his MBA.”

“Are you trying to get me to tell you how old this geezer you’re out with is?” Ben teased.

Dinner continued on with much ribbing between the brothers. As Char’s laughter came easier and lasted longer, Ben knew he had reached the point where he could ask her questions that she might not remember answering. But if he didn’t start soon, she’d be liable to pass out completely.

“So what’s the deal with Darcy?” Ben asked.

John, who was buzzed but sober enough for normal mental capacity, grinned. Ben ignored his brother.

Charlotte threw her hands up in the air, unnecessarily adding drama to her answer. “She works.”

“Yeah, I get that. Is that it? She works?” Ben prodded, keeping his face still.

“Pretty much,” Char sighed and leaned against the back of her chair. “Since we graduated college, she’s thrown herself into her job. She dated a bit in college. But I don’t think she’s even flirted with a guy since.”

She’s flirted with me.
Ben puffed out his chest, feeling rather proud of himself.

“If you like her, you’ll have to step up. Because she won’t,” Char added.

Ben nodded thoughtfully. What wasn’t Charlotte saying?

“I think she likes you,” Char whispered sotto voce then winked for extra measure. The wink morphed into an exaggerated blink, thanks to the alcohol.

“Thanks,” Ben whispered back.

Char turned to John then and, feeling amorous, began snuggling against him like a kitten.

“Okay, I think that’s the signal to call it a night,” Ben announced.

He excused himself from the pair, found the waitress, paid the bill, and led the two outside. The best part of living on the island was its walkability. He had never taken a car into town, and he never would. Ben walked slightly ahead of John and Char, giving them plenty of privacy but being close enough in case of trouble. He wandered into his house alone and began packing. He felt anxious suddenly and unable to sleep. He needed to do something; he needed to take action. Sitting around waiting for life to happen had grown old. Ben filled up a duffel bag and loaded up his car.

Talking about his brothers and Darcy had agitated him. He did his best to block out thinking about them but lay awake in his bed until well past two in the morning. He must have fallen asleep because at ten he woke with a start, raced into the shower, scribbled a note to John, and left. With the ferry, a requisite stop for coffee, and a break at the gas station, Ben pulled up much later then he had been anticipating. Oddly, a car pulled out of his mom’s driveway and turned down the road before he got a good look at either driver or vehicle.

Ben parked his car in front of the house and wandered in.

“Hello?” He called out.

“In the dining room,” his mom answered.

“Was someone here? Is everything all right?” he asked, racing to assure himself that she was fine.

“Fine, darling,” she said turning to face him. She put a key back in her pocket and moved to the kitchen.

“Come get some coffee, and I’ll tell you everything.”

He nodded, feeling unsettled.

Ben poured himself a cup of coffee, but instead of moving to the dining room, his mom pointed to the kitchen table. The big farmhouse table had been used for food prep, never for eating, despite the benches that flanked it. He uneasily sat down opposite his mom and waited.

“I took your advice and contacted someone about selling my things.”

“Mom, that wasn’t my advice.”

“Sure it was. You mentioned it.”

“I mentioned it in passing, and I thought I made it clear I didn’t want you to do this.”

She waved a hand dismissively. “I think it’s a good idea.”

“You want to sell all your memories and live in an empty house? How is that a good idea?”

“When you say it like that it doesn’t sound good. But when I say it’s a way to make sure everything is disposed of in the way I want, then I like that.”

“Mom, please don’t do this.”

“It’s done. I met with a lovely girl, and she’s working on a proposal for me. I don’t have to sell. She made that clear, but I do want to get an idea of what we’re talking about.”

Ben groaned.

“You know probably you’d have to get rid of things anyway to pay my estate taxes.”

“Let me deal with that,” he told her.

“If you’re here to yell at me, maybe you’d better go back.”

“I’m sorry,” he sighed. “What do you want to do? What do you need?”

She smiled. “I have a few ideas.”

“Don’t be fooled. I am not here,” Darcy announced to Charlotte as she sailed through the front door of the town house.

“I’ve always wanted to live with a ghost.”

“Ha-ha. I’m serious. I am going to lock myself upstairs and will probably be awake for the next thirty-six hours.”

“Can I help at all?”

“Yes. Keep the coffee going and occasionally bring me food,” Darcy called out as she raced upstairs.

Char followed her into her bedroom and sank onto the bed as Darcy raced about, changing into her most comfortable pajama pants, washing off her makeup and throwing her hair into a bun.

“What is it Char? Honestly? I don’t have time for games today.”

“I know, sorry. We went out with Ben the other night.”

“Oh right. How’d it go? Did you learn that the girl is stripping to put herself through college?”

Darcy bit her lip and put her hairbrush down. She turned to see the aghast look on Char’s face that meant she’d been rude.

“Sorry, that was mean. I didn’t need to say it.”

“It’s kind of true, though,” Char relented. “No, he actually came alone.”

“He did?” Darcy knit her brow in confusion.

“Yeah, it was just him and John and me. It was nice.”

“That’s good,” Darcy replied, turning back to the mirror to finish putting her hair up.

“He asked about you,” Char added after a moment.

“He did?” Darcy’s confusion only grew. The man was a puzzle she didn’t know if she wanted to solve. Darcy finished her hair and joined Char on the bed. “What did you say?”

Char blushed.

“What did you say?” Darcy demanded, her face white at the thought of all the secrets and embarrassing tidbits her best friend knew.

“Nothing bad, I promise,” Char rushed to add, the words tumbling out as her cheeks reddened further and she turned to look around the room. “But I may have mentioned that you don’t date.”

“Char,” Darcy exclaimed. She jumped off the bed and paced. What did that mean? What did he think it meant? Darcy’s stomach churned at the possibilities. She forced herself to stop, closed her eyes, and took in a deep breath. “I can’t think about this right now. I have too much to do. This sounds embarrassing, and I don’t want you to go any further. I can’t have something else to stress out about at the moment. Okay?”

“Okay, I’m sorry.”

Darcy kissed her best friend on the forehead.

“Char, I’m sure it’s fine. You didn’t tell him anything that he couldn’t easily figure out for himself. But please, I can’t say this enough. I have to get work done. I can’t sit around and be worried about Ben today. I have to finish this appraisal.”

Char nodded and left.

True to her word, Charlotte kept Darcy caffeinated and fed. Darcy worked solidly through the first night but found herself falling asleep in the shower the next morning. After a quick power nap, she dove back into work. She finished researching prices for the property by the end of the day and spent the following night formatting and editing.

Friday morning came and Char drove her to the mainland to professionally print, bind, and ship same day the proposal to her client. A quick celebratory lunch out at the brewery followed as Darcy hit “Send” on the digital copy of the proposal for her boss via her smartphone. Char drove Darcy home, and she slept solidly from noon until the next morning, leaving her phone unattended.

On Saturday morning, she woke up with the sunrise and decided to leave and get some air. She had barely begun to explore the island, and with her biggest project behind her, now seemed an opportune time.

Darcy padded down the stairs to discover an empty house. She wandered out to the garage to find a lime-green comfort bike leaning against the garage door. Darcy hadn’t ridden a bike since childhood, and she hesitated before walking over to it. Looking around surreptitiously to make sure no one was watching, she jumped on it and immediately began to peddle, eager for practice.

After a few shaky movements, she had moved onto the street. Darcy rode to the main road, then turned around and rode back. She stopped in front of her garage, dropped one foot immediately to the kickstand and nearly fell over. Dismounting would take a bit more practice, but the day couldn’t be wasted inside waiting for Char’s return.

She scanned the street to make sure no one had materialized, hopped on the bike, and set off down the road. Darcy made it out of the neighborhood and took Middle Road toward Big Bay State Park, riding in the bike lane on the shoulder until reaching Hagen Road, even farther from civilization.

She made it about twelve miles from home, when the skies opened and released a torrential downpour. One moment the skies had been a clear, bright blue, and the next they had turned a dark, ominous gray. The warm rain thoroughly drenched her.

She dismounted and pushed the bike next to her at a jog, searching for a tree to hide beneath. She collapsed under the first pine she found, grateful that this wasn’t an electrical storm, and waited for it to pass. Darcy found unexpected peace sitting in the middle of a forest during a rainstorm. The rain didn’t pelt the trees the way it pummeled the roof and windows of her house. It lightly kissed their leaves and branches with featherlike touches as it dripped its way down the trunks. The green of the forest somehow became more vibrant against the darkened sky, each fern and tree and plant nearly blinding in its brilliance.

It was not a bad place to be, until Ben stumbled upon her a mere ten minutes later, crashing his way into her solitude.

“Hi, Ben, looking for shelter?” She asked, flashing him a brilliant smile.

Ben stood there, mouth agape.

“What?” Darcy asked in shock.

Ben shook his head and came to sit next to her, sliding down the tree.

“You’re unbelievable, Darcy.”

“I get that a lot,” Darcy teased. She shoved him with her shoulder. “What’s going on? You look upset.”

Ben snorted. “You could say that,” he said with an ominous edge.

“Ben, I’m not a mind reader. What is it?”

“You have some nerve. I’ll give you that. You’re pretty ballsy.”

“I don’t follow,” Darcy furrowed her brow in genuine confusion.

“Oh come on. Going after families as they suffer through pain. Swooping in to convince them to sell everything.”

“I wouldn’t describe it like that,” she said slowly, his words putting her on the defensive.

“But when it all boils down to it, that’s what you do.” he said with mock enthusiasm.

They fell silent, Darcy entirely perplexed by the conversation.

“Ben, what’s going on? Why are you upset with me? What did I do?” Darcy pleaded.

Ben stood up and walked away from the tree. She thought he intended to walk away from her and leave her with half a conversation. But suddenly he turned back and practically raced up to her.

“Leave my family alone. She’s not dead yet, and I have no intention of selling anything. And if I did, I wouldn’t go with you. Not after you tried to swoop in and confuse her and get her to give you everything.”

“Ben, I don’t know who you’re talking about. What are you . . .” Slowly comprehension dawned. She reddened from his accusations, feeling guilty even though she’d done nothing wrong. She got up from the tree, anxious for movement and not wanting Ben to talk down to her. Darcy needed to get on his level.

“Wait. Mrs. Hampton is your mom?”

“Don’t pretend like you didn’t know.”

“I didn’t,” she gasped. “How would I have known?”

“Oh come on Darcy. Don’t pretend like you’re not up here scoping out who has money and then swooping in like a vulture.”

“Ben, listen to yourself. I had no idea she was your mom. I had no idea she was sick. I didn’t know any of these things. She called me.”

“Sure, someone calls you completely out of the blue?” He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. She had some nerve; he’d give her that.

“Yes! That’s what happened. Look, I’m sorry. Honestly, I’m sorry.”

Then comprehension dawned.

“If it makes you feel any better, I’ll be fired over this. Actually, I’m probably already done.”

“Don’t do that. Don’t turn this around to make me feel bad for you.”

“Fine. Don’t feel bad for me,” she bit out.