That Summer Place (13 page)

“P
aul and I are going to explore the island,” Beth told Nikki when the girl wandered downstairs shortly after ten o’clock. She wore bulky coveralls and combat boots and her green-tinted hair was pulled away from her face in a spiky ponytail. “Would you like to come?”

Nikki tossed her a defiant look. “Not on your life.”

“We found a tandem and a couple of old bikes in the carriage house,” Paul said with unbounded enthusiasm.

Nikki made a couple of lazy circles with her index finger. “Yippee-skippee.”

“Would you like some breakfast before we go?” Beth asked, wishing she knew how to reach this child. Otherwise, the month would be next to impossible. Beth had expected John’s daughter to turn down the invitation to explore the island. Nevertheless, she’d hoped the girl would warm to them a little—accept her offer of breakfast, maybe even agree to tag along. But she could see it was a lost cause.

“I’ll fix my own breakfast,” Nikki muttered, heading for the kitchen. “If there’s anything to eat in this place.” She cast a disparaging look around. “If I want salmon for dinner, I’ll probably have to catch it myself. Can’t expect much when…” She went on mumbling half under her breath.

Beth felt completely inadequate in dealing with this kid.

“Sure you don’t want to come?” Paul asked.

“Positive.” Nikki dumped cereal in a bowl, then hid behind the refrigerator door as she rummaged for the milk.

“Come on, Mom,” Paul said. “I’ll meet you outside.”

Beth badly wanted to make peace, but she could see it wasn’t going to be easy. Nikki had no incentive.

“I don’t know how long we’ll be,” Beth told her as she walked toward the kitchen door. “Probably not long.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“Would you like me to pick something up for you while I’m in town?”

“Yeah, would you?”

Beth brightened. This was her first opportunity to prove she wasn’t the enemy. “Sure, what do you need?”

“How about a new life?”

“Oh, Nikki.” Beth stepped toward her, aching to give her a hug. She might have followed the impulse if Nikki hadn’t read her intention, stiffened and abruptly spun around.

“Mom,” Paul called impatiently from the yard. “Come on, let’s go.” He had the tandem out of the garage and was obviously excited about trying it out.

Still Beth hesitated, torn between making peace with John’s daughter and exploring the island with her son.

“Mom!”

“We won’t be long,” Beth said again as she headed out the door.

Paul frowned when he saw her. “Just leave Nikki alone for now,” he advised.

“I wish she’d come.”

“Why?” he asked with all the wisdom of his fifteen years. “She’d go out of her way to make us both miserable. Give her time. She’ll come around.” He hopped onto the front of the bicycle as if it was understood that he should be the “driver.”

Beth had never ridden on a tandem before and wasn’t convinced it was such a good idea. She might have suggested they ride the other bikes if Paul hadn’t been so keen on trying this. Besides, she wasn’t sure how well she’d do. The last time she’d sat on a bike, it’d been stationary and inside a gym. And
that
was at least a decade ago.

Paul stood astride the tandem while she climbed on. “You ready?” he asked glancing over his shoulder.

“I…don’t know.” Now that she was actually in the seat, she
knew
this was a mistake.

“Here we go.”

Before she realized it, the bike was in motion. It wobbled a couple of times before Paul’s feet pumped the pedals, but then they were moving. Well, sort of moving.

“Mom,” Paul grunted. “Are you helping?”

Hard as she tried, her feet kept missing the pedals. “Not yet.”

Paul strained to carry both of them up the short incline in the driveway. Beth couldn’t help it; she found herself giggling. Here was her son, working up a sweat, while she was still struggling to get her feet in place in order to help him.

The bike swayed, and before either of them could react, it toppled onto its side. Luckily the grass cushioned their landing. Beth lay there for a moment, stunned, and then she started to laugh. Really laugh. What a sight they must have made.

“Mom, this isn’t funny,” Paul said, but she could tell from his voice that he was smiling.

Soon they were both sitting up on the lawn, laughing until Beth thought they’d never stop. Paul helped her back to her feet, and as she stood, Beth caught a flash of green. Sure enough, Nikki was staring at them from the window above the kitchen sink. It was the first time she’d seen the girl smile, and the transformation was miraculous.

“You aren’t giving up, are you?” Paul asked.

“Are you kidding?” Beth made a face at him. “I was just beginning to get the hang of this.” There were other things she was beginning to understand, as well.

John arrived back at Rainshadow Lodge at four o’clock. He wasn’t actually supposed to begin work until the following day, but he figured the sooner he got started on this project the better. Maybe he could even finish ahead of schedule and get out of here a week early. His temporary home was hardly going to be a haven of peace and quiet. If Nikki’s attitude wasn’t bad enough, he was stuck playing host to a widow and her teenage son.

He didn’t need the aggravation. Already he could see that he wouldn’t have a moment to himself. Mornings were his, and he liked it that way. Some people woke up cheerful and eager; not John. He eased into the day, accepted it gradually, without rushing. By habit he awoke early, showered, shaved, made coffee and took his time reading the paper.

One thing he didn’t want or need in the morning was a lot of chatter. Nor did he appreciate company. This was his hour alone and he preferred not to share it with anyone else. Including Beth. Yet not ten minutes after he sat down, she’d come into the kitchen, asking questions and making a general nuisance of herself. Well, to be fair, not exactly a nuisance. But he’d have to make sure she understood he didn’t want to be disturbed. If she was awake, fine, but she should stay in some other part of the house. He planned to tell her that at the first opportunity.

To John’s surprise the house was empty. The back door was open and the screen unlatched when he entered the kitchen. A salmon filet was marinating on the island inside a glass baking dish covered with clear wrap.

“Nikki?”

His daughter didn’t respond. Setting aside his briefcase, he worked his tie loose and wandered into the living room.

“Nikki?” he called again, and noticed the front door was wide-open. No one with a shred of self-preservation left a door unlocked in California. Unlocked was one thing, but unlocked and open was beyond comprehension.

He stepped onto the porch and saw his daughter sitting on a large rock that overlooked the beach.

“There you are,” he said, walking toward her.

“Hi, Dad,” she said, smiling at him.

He wasn’t accustomed to a warm greeting from her. “What did you do today?”

“Nothing.”

“I thought Beth and Paul were riding bikes into town.”

“They did.”

“You didn’t join them?”

She rolled her eyes, implying that was a stupid question. “No way.”

He wondered at her mood, which seemed to have improved vastly in the time he’d been away. Perhaps it was wishful thinking on his part. She’d been brooding for so long that anything even resembling a smile encouraged him.

“Where are Beth and Paul now?” he asked, certain he’d noticed the tandem and the two regular bikes when he pulled into the garage.

“There,” she said, and pointed toward the beach.

His gaze followed her gesture and he found mother and son walking along the beach side by side. The tide was out and they appeared to be beachcombing, stopping now and then to lean over and examine something the tide had left behind. Already Beth had a number of seashells cradled in her hands.

Then he heard her laugh. It’d been so long since he’d heard a woman laugh with such sheer pleasure that the sound took him aback for a moment, almost as though he had to identify its source. A brisk wind blew off the water, buffeting the pair.

Paul seemed to be enjoying himself, too. Every little while he’d race ahead of his mother, pick up a rock, stand back and hurl it into the water with all his might.

Beth removed her shoes and left them on the sand. She ventured toward the water and let it lap at her feet, then jumped back the instant the cold surf touched her toes. Her legs were long and white and slender. She really had lovely legs, although that wasn’t something he generally noticed in a woman.

Paul said something that made his mother laugh. Even without knowing what it was, John almost laughed, too. Watching Beth with her son had affected him the same way it had Nikki. That was what her small tentative smile had been about.

“Did you know Paul has his driver’s permit?” Nikki commented as though she found it hard to believe. “He’s
fifteen.
”

John’s only response was to arch his eyebrows. He wasn’t sure if Nikki’s tone meant the boy was that old or that young.

“Boys don’t mature as fast as girls,” she said, sounding like an expert on the subject of child development.

“Is that right?” he said, playing along. It was unusual to have a conversation with Nikki for more than a few minutes without some kind of conflict arising. He envied the camaraderie between Beth and her son. He would’ve given anything to share that kind of experience with Nikki—to explore the beach, to laugh with his daughter, to tease her and not have her react in anger.

When he first learned he’d been granted sole custody of Nikki, he’d felt relieved. Not for the important reasons; he understood that now. He simply hadn’t wanted to be alone. It’d been difficult enough to lose his wife, to have his marriage jerked out from under him. He hadn’t wanted to lose his daughter, too. Yet in many ways he
had
lost her.

“I don’t think Paul’s going to be much of a driver,” Nikki said.

“What makes you say that?”

“You should have seen him and his mom on the tandem. I’m telling you, Dad, it was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. I laughed so hard I had to hold my stomach.”

She relayed the scene for him, and John soon found himself grinning.

“Did they pick up the salmon while they were in town?” he asked casually.

“Yeah.”

“Did you ask her to?”

“Nope.”

Salmon was his daughter’s favorite dinner; she’d eat it seven nights a week if she could. If she
had
made some remark, it was considerate of Beth to notice.

Beth and Paul turned back toward the house and must have seen him and Nikki. With a smile as bright as a lighthouse beam, Beth raised her free hand above her head and waved.

Even from this distance, John was warmed by her welcome.

“A
t least come down to the dock with us,” Paul urged Nikki the morning of their scheduled kayaking lesson. The first few days with Nikki had been rough, but Beth soon realized her most powerful ally was her own son. When Paul did the inviting, the chance that Nikki would tag along immediately increased. She’d joined them for a couple of outings, and while she laughed and goofed around with Paul, she kept a protective distance from Beth.

Beth acted as if it was understood that Nikki would be joining them in all their activities. As if this was how things had been planned from the very beginning.

“I’m not getting inside any boat that rolls over in the water,” Nikki protested.

“The least you can do is come down to the dock with us,” Paul said. “It’s better than sitting around the house all day by yourself.”

Nikki hesitated. “Oh, all right,” she muttered with ill grace. “But don’t expect me to change my mind.”

Beth tossed her son a triumphant smile, marveling anew at what an asset he’d turned out to be in this situation. It didn’t hurt any that Nikki and Paul were becoming friends.

Nikki raced upstairs and returned in shorts and tennis shoes—black, of course—with a backpack slung over one shoulder. Once she was ready, they headed toward the carriage house for the bicycles. Up to this point Beth had ridden on the tandem with Paul, but she’d seen Nikki glance enviously at the two of them.

“Nikki,” she whispered conspiratorially, “would you mind riding the tandem with Paul? I don’t seem to be able to get the knack of it and…well, frankly I’m a bit afraid to try it again. I’ll take one of the regular bikes.”

She wondered briefly if Nikki had seen through her ploy; if so, the girl chose to overlook it.

“Yeah, sure,” Nikki said.

For just an instant Beth thought she might have seen the girl smile. It astonished her how gratified an almost-smile made her feel. While no longer openly hostile, Nikki wasn’t exactly friendly, either. But thanks to Paul, Beth felt she was making progress, bit by bit, day by day.

As soon as they got down to the dock and met their instructor, Nikki decided—with a little persuasion from Paul—to try kayaking herself. Beth’s reaction to the girl’s change in attitude was a blend of relief and unreserved delight. So what if she couldn’t expect that change to last? Needless to say, Nikki grumbled and complained until she was in the water and paddling on her own. A smile teetered on her lips, then gave way to a full-blown laugh as the three of them practiced maneuvers in the protected waters of the marina.

Concentrating on her own kayak, Beth was shocked at how low she sat in the water. She felt every ripple, every wave. Had they arrived a week or so earlier, she learned, they could have actually gone whale-watching by kayak. Normally, more than eighty whales lived in the Puget Sound area. Beth could only imagine what an experience that would have been.

High on their adventure, they rode home. Naturally Nikki and Paul were well ahead of her, two pairs of legs pedaling to her one. It surprised her that they waited at the top of the hill for her, but again she attributed that to Paul. When they biked into the yard, Beth noticed John’s car parked in the carriage house.

Nikki couldn’t get off the tandem fast enough. “Dad, Dad!” she shouted as she ran toward the house.

John must have been standing at the kitchen window because the next thing Beth knew he was on the back porch.

“I saw an eagle!” Nikki called out to him, breathless with excitement. “I mean, I really saw an eagle.”

“I thought it was going to claw me,” Paul said, and shaped both hands into giant hooks. He dove at Nikki, who ducked and raced to her father’s side.

Laughing, Nikki glanced at Beth. “You should’ve seen Beth. She screamed for us to cover our heads and—”

John frowned. “Perhaps you’d better start from the beginning.”

“We were kayaking…”

“You went kayaking?” John asked, his look incredulous. He glanced to Beth for confirmation.

She nodded, still breathless from the effort of keeping pace with the kids.

“We were about a hundred yards off the island when an eagle started circling overhead.”

“I saw him first,” Paul announced proudly.

“Paul pointed him out,” Nikki added, “and it was as if the bird saw him, because he swooped down to the water with his claws open.”

“That was when my mom started screaming.”

John’s mouth quivered with a smile.

“But he wasn’t after us,” Nikki said. “He dipped his claws in the water and grabbed a fish. Dad, Dad, it was so close I saw the gills of the fish move.”

“He dripped water all over me,” Paul said as though it were a matter of pride.

John’s smile widened. “That must have been an incredible sight.”

“The most awesome experience of my entire life,” Nikki said solemnly, pushing her way into the kitchen. “I need something to drink. Anyone else want lemonade?”

“Me,” Paul called, and hurried in after her.

John remained on the porch with Beth. Their eyes met for the briefest of moments, then she glanced away.

Feeling the need to say something, she brushed back her bangs with one hand and said, “We had a great time.”

“So it seems.”

“Here,” Nikki said, shoving open the door from the kitchen. She thrust a tall glass of lemonade into Beth’s hand. “I’m glad I went kayaking,” she whispered.

“I’m glad you did, too.”

“But it doesn’t mean anything,” she said as if warning her not to expect more.

“I wouldn’t think of assuming that it did,” Beth said, not sure whether to laugh at Nikki’s stubbornness or feel discouraged. She supposed she was leaning toward discouraged. Just when she seemed to be making progress with the girl, Nikki went out of her way to prove otherwise.

It really was beautiful here, John had to admit. The water was a deep blue-green. The surrounding fir trees had a delightfully pungent scent. The air, which retained the day’s warmth, was fresh and clean. He sighed with complete satisfaction as he stood on the front porch, hands in his pockets. Beth sat in a wicker chair no more than five feet from him. He’d been wanting to talk to her for some time now, to thank her for the subtle softening he saw in his daughter. But he felt awkward and wasn’t sure how to go about it.

This had been his problem with Lorraine, as well. He could analyze a business’s computer system, see its mistakes and offer suggestions on how to correct them, but he couldn’t seem to apply those same analytical skills to his own life. Somehow words just got in the way.

“It’s a lovely evening, isn’t it?” Beth asked.

John nodded, grateful she’d taken the initiative in starting the conversation. “I didn’t expect it to be this beautiful here. I’ve always pictured the Seattle area as having lots of rain, fog, gloom, that sort of thing.”

“Not according to what Paul read,” she said, gazing out over the water. “He checked out a number of library books about the Pacific Northwest and discovered that New York City has a higher annual rainfall than Seattle.”

“You’re kidding!”

“In Seattle there are more days that it rains,” she clarified, “but often it doesn’t amount to much. Apparently the Northwest isn’t nearly as wet as people have been led to believe.”

On days as sunny and gorgeous as this one, it was difficult to believe it ever rained here. This was the kind of weather he expected living in Southern California, but Puget Sound had the advantage of lush greenery in addition to sun and sea. A short ferry ride away was an actual rain forest.

“The weather doesn’t surprise me as much as Nikki and Paul volunteering to put the dishes in the dishwasher,” John said, sitting down in the empty chair beside her.

“That really was very sweet.” She relaxed in the wicker chair and sipped her coffee.

“Well, it was fair exchange after that wonderful dinner.” The halibut had been simply prepared, broiled and served with fluffy rice and crisp green beans. There’d been a salad, too, and a strawberry pie for dessert. One thing about living in Rainshadow Lodge—these were the best meals he and Nikki had eaten in years.

“This compromise of ours is working out rather well,” he said. Better than he’d ever imagined. Like Nikki, his attitude hadn’t been the greatest when he discovered he’d be sharing the house with a school chum of Mary Jane Reynolds. Yet within a week, Beth and Paul had influenced Nikki’s attitude for the better. He felt confident that it wouldn’t be long before Nikki was her old self again, laughing, running, being a kid. She’d been forced to grow up too fast since the divorce, taking on extra responsibilities. She seemed to want to make it up to him for Lorraine’s leaving when
he
should be the one making it up to her.

“If I haven’t told you before—thank you for letting us stay.” Beth’s voice was low and mellow, as though she was half-asleep. John was sure she had no idea how sensual she sounded.

“This afternoon…” He hesitated, finding it difficult to speak because of the emotion crowding his heart. “I can’t remember Nikki ever being that excited about anything.”

Beth took another sip of her coffee. “Well, you have to admit it was a pretty incredible sight. Oh, John, I wish you’d been there. The entire afternoon was fantastic—the kayaking, biking with the kids, everything. I’m so grateful to be here, to experience this.”

“Even without Mary Jane?” He wasn’t sure why he’d asked, possibly because he needed to know she enjoyed his company. Without realizing it, he’d come to look forward to the few hours they spent together in the evenings. It wasn’t a lot of time, but each instance left him wishing he knew her better.

“I miss Mary Jane,” she admitted. John knew as much, although they spoke by phone nearly every day. “But I’m enjoying my vacation nonetheless—more than I expected.”

“Mom.” Paul burst onto the porch, Nikki at his heels. “Can we have a fire on the beach tonight?”

“Ah…” Beth glanced at John.

“Why not?” John asked lightly. If ever he’d had a reason to celebrate, he did today. His daughter was happy, and just hearing her laugh again was cause enough.

“Come on,” Nikki said to Paul. “Let’s go collect the wood.” She leaped off the top step and raced toward the beach with Paul right behind.

The two of them ran along the shoreline, shouting instructions at each other.

“Such energy,” Beth murmured.

The silence seemed even louder once the children had come and gone. “I haven’t been much of a father,” he confessed.

“Oh, John, that’s what every parent believes.”

“But you…”

“I suffer my own doubts.”

“Paul didn’t dye his hair green.”

“No,” she agreed, “but he sucked his thumb until he was six. I was convinced I hadn’t nursed him long enough, that I’d failed him as a mother. It’s obvious how much you love Nikki, and really, that’s all she needs, all any child needs.”

Hearing her tell him that was just the balm his heart craved. Gratitude filled him, but he could think of no way to tell her how he felt. He stood. “You ready for this fire?” he asked.

She groaned. “If you had any idea how sore I am after today, you’d never have agreed to this.”

He held out his hand to help her up. “Do you want to beg off?”

“And let Paul and Nikki think I’m out of shape?” She groaned again. “No way.” She placed her hand in his and let him pull her to her feet.

They stood with only a few inches separating them. In any other circumstances John would have stepped back, but neither of them moved. Their eyes met and he studied her, looking for some indication of what she was thinking, what she was feeling.

He read the question on her face and knew it was a reflection of his own doubts. He hadn’t kissed another woman since Lorraine, hadn’t even been tempted. But he was now. More than he’d dreamed possible. It required every ounce of restraint he possessed not to ease her into his arms and taste her lips. The need pulsed through him.

Something was happening.
His heart pounded like a teenager’s, an odd staccato that echoed in his ears.

He cleared his throat. “I guess we’d better see how the kids are doing.”

She nodded and lowered her gaze. “I’ll put my cup in the kitchen and join you in a couple of minutes.”

“Sure,” he said.

As she entered the house, John exhaled a deep breath while he tried to reason out what had just happened.

“Dad,” Nikki shouted, running up from the beach. She stopped short of the house and stared at him.

“What?” he asked, certain that his attraction to Beth showed in his face. Another minute and he would have kissed her, and he strongly suspected she would’ve let him. In another minute…hell, he didn’t know
what
he would have done. Thank goodness he’d regained his wits when he had, otherwise he might have made a first-class fool of himself.

“Are you all right?” Nikki gave him an odd look.

“Of course I’m all right,” he snapped, and then instantly apologized.

Nikki readily forgave him. “We’re going to need matches,” she said.

“I’ll take care of it,” he told her, but as far as he was concerned he didn’t need anything to light a fire. A lovely widow had already set one under him.