Enright Family Collection (144 page)

“Any new or interesting guests?” he prodded, wondering if she’d mention this Tucker guy that Delia and Georgia had mentioned.

“Well, Gordon is still there. He’s taken a bedroom-sitting room combination for an unspecified amount of time. I guess until he’s done in Bishop’s Cove, which could be a year or better, depending on how long it takes him to find something of value on this ship.”

“He must have some kind of a crew,” Matt went on as if it was just occurring to him. “Where are they all staying?”

“Oh, most of the crew he’s hired on locally. He has brought a few specialty divers, though.”

“Anyone interesting?”

“Oh, you,” she shoved his arm lightly and laughed.

“Who have you been talking to?”

He hesitated. He was kind of enjoying the fact that she still had yet to figure out that he and Georgia had begun to forge a relationship.

“I just happened to be here last Sunday morning when Delia stopped by with Gordon. He told me he’d hired on a diver from Devlin’s Light who seemed to have trouble keeping his eyes off the innkeeper.”

“I met Tucker at Nick and India’s wedding. He’s an old family friend of the Devlins’.” Laura’s eyes stared straight ahead, as if searching for something in the distance.

“Gordon said he’s a great guy.”

“Gordon’s right. He is.”

“Has he asked you out?”

“Matt, I’m a married ...”

“Laura, don’t even say it. If you are still married to that lunatic, it’s only because you haven’t take the steps to unload him. For cryin’ out loud, what are you waiting for?”

“I really don’t feel like talking about this, Matthew.”

“Laura, are you staying married to him for Ally’s sake? Because he’s her father?”

“What difference does it make, Matt? I married Gary, we are still married. End of story.”

“It’s not the end, and you know it. What are you hiding?” He grabbed her arm. “Laura, you act as if you’re almost afraid to divorce him.”

“Matt ...” Laura hesitated. She wanted to tell him. Wished
desperately
that she could tell him, but the consequences were too frightening.

“Look, I know that it must be a scary thought, starting over after you’ve been married and had a child. I understand where that
might
cause you to maybe retain some loyalty to him. And I understand that maybe after this experience, you might be afraid to start another relationship. But Laura, all men are not like Gary, though I understand why you might ...”

“Oh, Matt,” she sighed. “You understand nothing.”

He had opened his mouth to protest when they rounded the side of the barn.

“Oh, Matt, look!” Laura pointed to Georgia’s garden. “Georgia’s scarecrones! Oh, isn’t it so like something that Aunt Hope would do?”

“It is,” he nodded, impressed and surprised by the display. He wasn’t, however, so distracted that he was willing to drop the discussion. “Don’t try to change the subject.”

“Matt, the subject has been dropped.” Better to let it go, she told herself she pretended to admire Georgia’s bumper crop of colorful cotton and polyester. For Matt’s sake as well as her own. “I’ve nothing more to say on the matter.”

“Well, I have.”

“I will say this one more time, Matt, and then it’s done.” Laura appeared, all of a sudden, to be very weary. “I am still married to Gary. Till death do us part. Don’t ask me again, don’t bring it up again, because I cannot change what is.”

“Till death do you part?”
he repeated incredulously.

“Laura, this is crazy. Have you even gone to the prison to visit him since he was incarcerated?”

She shook her head No.

“Have you thought about what’s going to happen when he’s released from prison? Are you going to live with him again?”

“No!” She went white.

“So you have no contact with him, you don’t even like the man, yet you ...”

“I told you I didn’t want to talk about this,” she said harshly, pushing him away from her.

“Laura,” he said softly. “We’ve always been so close. I love you and I worry about you and I want to
help you. Something’s not right, and we both know it. Why won’t you tell me? Why won’t you trust me with this?”

“Because there’s nothing you can do to help me, Matt. No one can.”

Laura turned her back abruptly and walked back toward the farmhouse.

Stunned, Matt stood amidst Georgia’s thriving garden wondering what was going through his sister’s head, and what could possibly motivate her to insist upon staying married to the likes of Gary J. Harmon.

“I was hoping you could find some time this weekend to stop out at the inn,” Laura was telling Georgia as she loaded her passengers back into the van when class had ended. The girls had exhausted themselves chasing Spam and Artie around the farmyard. “I wanted your opinion on the table settings for Zoey and Ben’s party. I can’t decide which colors to use.”

“I’ll be driving out this afternoon,” Matt said as he approached the van. “I’d be happy to give Georgia a ride.”

“Oh, thanks, Matt,” Georgia said casually. “That would be nice.”

In spite of her earlier pique, Laura’s eyebrows raised. Had that really been Matt offering to drive Georgia to Bishop’s Cove? Offering to spend a certain hour or so in her company? Will wonders never cease?

Pleased by this unexpected development, Laura
smiled. “Will you both be able to stay for dinner? We’ve had some knock-out crabs this week. Gordon and his crew have been catching them in the bay.”

“That sounds great.” Matt smiled benignly. “How ’bout it, Georgia? Do you have plans for dinner?”

“Why, no, I haven’t. Dinner at the inn sounds like fun.”

“Great.” Laura looked from one to the other, marveling at the change in her brother’s attitude.
Maybe they’re learning to get along. Maybe someday they’ll even learn to like each other. Maybe there’s hope for Matt yet ...

“Great,” she repeated, trying not to appear too hopeful. “What time do you think you’ll get there?”

“I just need to shower and change. Maybe we could leave in, say, an hour?” Georgia looked at Matt and tried not to grin.

“That would be fine.” He nodded nonchalantly. “I guess we’ll probably be arriving around three or so.”

“Great,” Laura said for the third time, thinking, as she drove away, how nice that Matt and Georgia were getting to know each other. It was the only good news she’d had that day.

On the drive to Bishop’s Cove, with Artie between them on the seat. Matt repeated his conversation with Laura, asking Georgia, “Does this make any sense to you?”

“None,” she shook her head. “I can’t think of one reason why Laura would want to stay married to that man. It’s so unlike her to behave so oddly.”

“Laura is so logical about everything else, I just can’t understand it.” Matt slowed down as he approached the turn for the inn’s parking lot.

“Well, let’s see how she acts around this diver guy. I have the feeling there’s a lot going on here that we don’t know about.”

“It should be an interesting dinner.” Georgia swung the door of the cab open and hopped out. “I’m betting that Laura will be watching us as much as we’ll be watching her.”

Matt laughed. “Poor Laura is so transparent. She’s just so tickled that we’re being nice to each other.”

“When shall we tell her just how nice ...”

“Oh, not just yet. It’s kind of fun, letting her think she’s bringing us together. And I’m sure she’s thinking, today, Georgia, tomorrow, Delia ...”

Georgia laughed out loud, smiling at the two men they passed in the parking lot as they walked toward the back of the inn.
Interesting tattoos,
she thought at the time.
Must be some of Gordon’s crew ...

“Laura?” Georgia stuck her head into the kitchen.

“Hi, guys,” Jody waved from the opposite side of the stainless-steel counter, her light brown hair pulled atop her head in a tight ponytail that swung around her pretty face with every movement of her head. “Laura’s not back yet.”

“Not back yet?” Matt frowned. “She left an hour before we did.”

“Oh, she’s back from O’Hearn.” Jody’s eyes took on a twinkle. “She went for a walk on the beach.”

“Oh? With anyone we know?” Georgia brightened.

“Well, she went alone. However, I did notice that a certain tall, dark and handsome diver wandered off in that direction a few minutes later.”

“Really?” Georgia winked at Matt. “Well, then, fancy that.”

Matt opened the refrigerator and took out two cans of soda. Handing one to Georgia, he said, “Maybe we should take advantage of this beautiful afternoon and sit on the front porch and enjoy the breeze.”

“Sounds like a good way to pass some time.”

Georgia saluted Jody as they passed through the swinging door into the front hall.

“I heard there are crabs for dinner tonight.” Matt called back over his shoulder to Jody, who was taking a knife to a large head of cabbage.

“Yep. We’re setting up a picnic table in the backyard. Crabs are too messy for the dining room. At least, if they’re eaten correctly, they’re too messy.” Jody laughed. “Brown paper on the table, mallets and paper plates. That’s the only way to eat crabs, as far as I’m concerned.”

“And lots of cold beer, iced tea, and a big salad.”

Matt held the front door open for Georgia. “Oh. I just realized that crabs are hardly vegetarian fare.”

“That’s okay. I’ll eat salad.”

“That’s not very substantial. You need to build up your strength,” he told her, “if you plan to watch the rest of that movie with me tonight.”

Georgia laughed, then paused on her way to the seating arrangement of wicker furniture at one end of the wide front porch. Two of the chairs that stood opposite each other were occupied by the men they’d passed in the parking lot.

Georgia smiled and passed between the seated men. Matt greeted them pleasantly and they nodded to him as he walked past them. Taking seats on the settee at the end of the porch and a few feet away
from the other guests, Georgia said, “I wonder where Ally is.”

“Probably at a friend’s house.”

“She was so cute in dancing class this morning,”

Georgia told him, then proceeded to describe Ally’s antics while at the same time trying not to stare at the forearms of the two men who sat only a few feet away, their long thin tattooed swords reaching all the way to the elbow.

A discussion then followed of Georgia’s students, who seemed to have true potential as a dancer, who did not. This led Matt to think about his visit to Georgia’s garden while she was teaching her class, and he complimented her on her crones. Talking about the crones reminded Matt about his conversation with Laura. And that reminded him that his sister was still down at the beach with a man for whom she professed she had no interest.

Matt turned his wrist to look at his watch. They’d been there for almost an hour already.

“Let’s walk down to the beach and see what Laura and this diver are up to.”

“Okay. I’m interested in seeing what you think of him. I personally think he’s perfect for Laura.”

The couple excused themselves as they once again walked between the two men, unaware of the long, dark look exchanged by the strangers, and of the brooding eyes that followed them down the path on their way to the beach.

The beach was almost—but not quite—vacant on this Saturday afternoon. A young woman walked her
cocker spaniel up toward the dune. Down near the water’s edge three small children searched for sand crabs. An athletic-looking man in his twenties jogged along the beach, and a young mother sat on a sand chair reading a novel, her twin daughters digging a circle around the chair with their hands. Down the beach toward the jetty, Laura and Tucker Moreland sat deep in conversation.

Matt called to his sister from a distance but she did not appear to hear.

“Hmmm,” Georgia grinned as she slipped off her shoes and dug her toes into the sand. “It would seem that Tucker has managed to capture Laura’s complete and total attention.”

“So it would seem,” Matt replied as he rolled up his pants legs, then took off his own shoes and, carrying one in each hand, walked toward the water where he tested the foamy wake from the last wave.

“Still just a little too cold for my taste. Maybe in another few weeks it’ll be warm enough to swim in.”

Georgia caught up with him and walked straight ahead into the surf for a few feet. “I don’t mind. I like it on the cool side.”

They walked up the beach, chasing some small birds that followed the ebb and flow of the sea, hunting for snacks. They were practically on top of Laura before she looked up.

“Oh! You’re here already! Hi!” Slightly flustered, she was obviously surprised to see them.

“We’ve been here for almost an hour now. We were wondering where you were.” Georgia said, then greeted Tucker saying, “Hi, Tucker. How’ve you been?”

“Well, thanks,” he nodded, then stood to offer a hand to Matt, introducing himself saying, “You must be Laura’s brother. I’m Tucker Moreland.”

At six feet four inches, Tucker stood several inches over Matt, who immediately noticed that Tucker was a man who had a firm handshake and a steady gaze.

“Good to meet you,” Matt said.

“Tucker was just telling me about the dive he made this morning to the
True Wind
and what he thinks might be down there.” Laura pushed back the long sleeve of her shirt to check her watch. “Oh, would you look at the time? I didn’t realize it was so late! I need to get back to the inn to give Jody a hand. And I wanted you to look over some table linens with me before dinner, Georgia.”

“Sure. I’m ready.” Georgia shrugged, trying not to stare at Tucker. She’d forgotten just how handsome he was.
Be still my heart
—
no wonder Laura’s smitten. And she clearly is. Why, just look at her face!

Matt, it appeared, was doing just that.

“Well, then, why don’t you go back on up to the inn and take care of business while Tucker and I sit and watch the gulls,” Matt told his sister. “It will give us some time to get acquainted.”

“Sounds good to me,” Tucker sat on the sand and leaned back on his elbows, slid his sunglasses, which rode atop his head, down onto his face.