Treading Water (3 page)

“
The new symphony hall in
Boston, for one.”

“
Didn’t Neil Booth design
that?”

Impressed, he looked at her with new
appreciation. “You do pay attention. I work for Neil. My friend
Jamie is his son.” He wasn’t sure why he told her that. He usually
didn’t mention it since Jamie was sensitive about the advantages
that came from being Neil’s son in their profession.

“
Well, well. This just gets
more and more interesting, doesn’t it?”

“
Neil is a terrific guy.
Very normal despite the fame.”

“
I took an architecture
class in college. I read a lot about his work.” She scooped up
Jack’s empty glass.

As he got up to leave, he tried to recall
the last time he’d enjoyed a conversation with a woman this much.
Most of the women he met were either not interested in his work or
totally self-absorbed. The tiny dynamo with the blonde hair and
startling blue eyes was different.

“
Could I walk you home, or
do you have other plans?”

She studied him for a long time before she
answered. “I don’t have any plans, but how do I know you aren’t a
freak? We get a lot of freaks around here in the summer,” she said
with a teasing grin. “Besides, I don’t even know your name.”

“
It’s Jack
Harrington.”

She made him suffer through a seemingly
endless minute before she said, “I’ll go with you, Jack Harrington,
but I still have another half hour or so here.”

“
I’ll wait.” His heart
skipped a beat, and somehow he knew everything was about to
change.

The sting of shampoo in his eyes interrupted
Jack’s remembrances. Rinsing off the soap, he realized he’d been in
there a long time and shut off the shower.

He got dressed and straightened the messy
room. Stripping the sheets from the bed, he tossed them into the
washer along with the clothes that had piled up the last few days.
After he remade the bed, he wandered outside to the deck. With only
the relentless pounding of the ocean below for company, Jack sat
there until the sun began to dip toward the horizon, thinking about
his daughters, the huge job his company had been awarded to build
the Infinity Group’s Newport hotel, and the staggering list of
things he needed to do to get his life in order. First on the list
was reconnecting with his kids.

He eventually wandered downstairs, where
Frannie and the girls were about to sit down for dinner.

Frannie offered him a warm smile. “It’s good
to see you.”

“
I’m sorry I punched out
yesterday. I just needed a little time.”

“
I understand. We’re glad
to see you, aren’t we, girls?”

Their replies were mostly mumbles: uh-huh,
sure, I guess.

“
Are you hungry?” Frannie
asked.

“
I could eat.”

“
Great. Maggie, set another
place, please.”

Jack felt like a visitor in
the home he’d built largely with his own hands. Since the girls
seemed to have nothing to say to him, he took the opportunity to
study them, to really
look
at them for the first time in longer than he could
remember.

Each of them had healthy tans from long days
at the beach. While he hadn’t been paying attention, Jill and Kate
had become young women, and Maggie had lost the baby fat in her
cheeks.

Jill was sixteen and the image of him—tall
and dark-haired with gray-blue eyes. Kate, at fifteen, had Clare’s
blonde hair and her shocking blue eyes, but was tall like him.
Ten-year-old Maggie was a combination of the two of them: Jack’s
dark hair and Clare’s eyes. He and Clare had always joked that they
each had a “mini-me” and then, as a surprise, along came a
“mini-we.”

He hadn’t thought about that in a long time,
and the memory made him yearn for her.

His attempts to make conversation with the
girls were greeted with one-word answers. Only Frannie seemed glad
to have him there. Clearly, he had his work cut out for him.

“
I’d like to go out to the
island this weekend,” he said as they were finishing up.

“
Have fun,” Jill
said.

“
I want you girls to come
with me.”

They all spoke at once.

“
I have plans.”

“
Meghan’s sleepover is this
weekend.”

“
I’m
babysitting.”

“
I want you to come with
me.” Making eye contact with each of them, he added, “It’s
important.” He had no idea what he’d do if they refused.

His mother owned Haven Hill, a house on the
island, and some of their happiest times together as a family had
been spent there. Jack was counting on the house to work its magic
and help him reconnect with his daughters.

“
I think that’s a great
idea, Jack,” Frannie said with a meaningful look at each girl.
“Some time away together will be great for all of you.”

They never came right out and said they’d
go, but they stopped protesting when Frannie weighed in.

Jack sent her a grateful smile.

After dinner, the girls scattered. Jack
helped Frannie clean up the kitchen and then set out for a walk on
the beach. Usually, he ran at this time of day, but today he didn’t
feel like it. Taking in the soft late spring air and relieved to be
out of the house, he walked for miles and visited with Clare for a
short time. He returned home well after dark and took a moment to
stare into the dining room, which once again boasted a table and
chairs where a hospital bed had been for more than a year. Even
though he knew he’d done the right thing for his kids, it would
take some time to get used to not having Clare close by.

He trudged upstairs, halting when he heard
sniffling in Maggie’s room.

He peeked in to find her tucked into bed
with her favorite sleeping buddy, Froggie. She looked so cute in
her yellow pajamas with her cheeks pink from the day at the beach
and her dark hair shining.

“
Maggie? Are you are all
right?” When she scrambled to wipe her face on the sheet, his heart
began to ache.

“
Uh-huh.”

Stepping into the room, he moved hesitantly
toward the bed, not sure if he’d be welcome. “Can I get you
anything? Some water, maybe?”

“
No, thanks. I’m
fine.”

“
Okay.” As he turned to
leave, something stopped him. He wasn’t sure if it was Clare
looking down on him from wherever she was just then or what, but he
couldn’t bring himself to leave his child crying in her bed.
Summoning courage, he sat on the edge of the bed. “You want to talk
about it?”

She bit her lip, and his heart broke all
over again when her eyes filled with new tears. “Is Mommy ever
coming back?” The small voice was so unlike her. Apparently, he
wasn’t the only one adjusting to yet another change in their
lives.

“
Oh, honey, I don’t think
so.”

She sat up and reached for him. “Why did
Mommy let that car hit her?” she asked with a sob as she clung to
him.

How long had she waited to ask him these
questions? “Baby, she didn’t do it on purpose. She froze because
she was scared. The accident hurt something in her brain, so she
can’t be with us. But inside, where her heart is, she still loves
you and Kate and Jill and me very, very much. You have to believe
that.” He settled her back onto the pillow and tucked her in
again.

“
I do,” she said, wiping
her face.

“
Good, because as long as
you believe it, then you’ll feel Mommy’s love, no matter where she
is.” He wished
he
could believe it.

“
Will you be here when I
wake up?”

The question tugged at his already raw
emotions. “You bet. I’ll even make my famous chocolate chip
pancakes.” It was the only thing they allowed him to cook.

“
Awesome!” she said,
sounding more like herself again.

“
See you in the
morning.”

He walked out to find Frannie waiting for
him in the hallway. She had gathered her long auburn hair into a
ponytail and was dressed for bed in a T-shirt and sweats.

Spent, he rubbed the back of his neck. “How
much did you hear?”

“
Enough. You said all the
right things.”

“
I’m so tired,” he said,
anxious to get upstairs where he could be alone.

“
Go to bed. I’ll wait up
for Jill.”

“
Where is she?”

“
On a date.”

“
With who?”

“
A boy in her class named
Kyle. I’ve met him. Seems nice.”

Jack realized that
he
should’ve met the boy
his daughter was out with. Next time, he’d make sure he did. “Well,
if you don’t mind waiting up…”

“
I’ve got a movie to watch.
Go to bed.”

“
Thanks, Frannie. For
everything.”

“
My pleasure.” She kissed
his cheek and headed downstairs.

Jack went up the spiral stairs to his room
and wandered again to the deck overlooking the pool and ocean
farther below. He waited to crawl into bed until he was certain he
was tired enough to drift off to sleep without being tortured by
unpleasant thoughts. Just as sleep overtook him, the phone rang,
jarring him awake.

He waited, hoping Frannie would answer it.
On the third ring, he grabbed it.

“
Dad?” Jill sounded a bit
frantic. “Can you get Frannie?”

“
She must’ve fallen asleep
downstairs. She didn’t pick up.”

“
I need to talk to
her.”

Something about Jill’s tone and the slight
slur to her speech caught his attention. “What’s wrong?”

“
I need a ride
home.”

“
What happened to your
date?”

“
Can you just get Frannie?
Please?”

“
I’ll come get you. Where
are you?”

“
That’s all right. I’ll
find a ride.”

“
Jill. Tell me where you
are. Right now.”

Reluctantly, or so it seemed to him, she
gave him the address.

“
I’ll be right there. Don’t
move.”

He threw on clothes, grabbed his keys and
cell phone, and went downstairs, where Frannie was curled up on the
sofa sound asleep. Not at all sure of what he would find when he
got there, he drove into downtown Newport. At the address Jill had
given him, several police officers were attempting to break up a
raging party. His heart in his throat, he called Jill’s cell.
“Hurry up and get out here. The place is crawling with cops.”

Jack watched the police drag one teenager
away in handcuffs while another puked in the empty lot across the
street before Jill materialized out of the darkness.

She slid into the car and slammed the
door.

“
What’re you doing here?
Have you been drinking?”

“
Spare me the fatherly
concern, will you?”

“
Fine, then let me get one
of the cops to take you for a sleepover at the city jail.” He
reached for the door handle.

“
Yes! I had a couple of
beers. Who cares?”

Punching the gas to get out
of there, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I care!
You’re
sixteen
,
Jill!”

“
I know how old I
am.”

Under the glow of the
streetlights he could see her eyes were glassy and deduced that
she’d had more than a couple of beers. Jack’s mind raced with
things he wanted to say, but he kept his mouth shut until he
figured out what he
should
say.

Jill stayed quiet on the way home.

“
What happened to the guy
you were with?” Jack finally asked.

“
I don’t know. We got
separated.”

“
What were you even doing
there?”

“
They’re friends of his. We
were just going for a little while.”

“
How much did you have to
drink?”

She shrugged. “I told you. A couple.”

“
Really, Jill. I just can’t
believe you’d—”

“
Relax, Dad! It’s no big
deal. Everyone does it.”

Jack bit back the urge to snap at her.
“You’re not everyone, and don’t tell me to relax.”

“
Whatever.” Her cell phone
rang as they pulled into the driveway. “Where’d you go?” She
glanced at her father. “I got a ride. All right. Yeah, I’ll talk to
you tomorrow.”

Jack waited for her and watched her teeter
on the way into the house.

Frannie sat up as they came in. “Hey, what’s
going on?”

“
Someone had a few too many
at a party and got separated from her date.”

Frannie frowned at her niece. “Jill…”

“
Can we save this Hallmark
moment until tomorrow? I’m tired.”

“
Sit down,” Jack
said.

Releasing a dramatic sigh, she dropped into
a chair.

“
Is this what you do with
your friend Kyle?” Jack asked. “Go to out-of-control parties and
get drunk?”

“
I’ve never been to an
out-of-control party
or
gotten drunk with Kyle before.”

“
You might want to lose the
sarcasm, Jill,” Frannie warned.

“
You’re not my mother! You
can’t tell me what to do.”