“Yes. We were wondering if you were ever going to settle down. You must get tired of all the travel.”
“I love all the travel,”she corrected Jillian. And she did love the travel. Loved to see new places. Usually.
“Your father’s been out of town a long time this time,”Jackie jumped in.
“Oh.”If she kept giving them‘oh’answers would they leave her alone?
“Yes, a very long time this time.”
“He travels a lot with his business.”She didn’t know why she was defending his absence. She wasgladhe was gone while she was in town.
“He’s gone a lot.”Jillian bobbed her head.“Leaving your poor momma all alone. And you rarely come home either.”
She glanced at her watch.“Oh, look at the time. I’m going to be late. It was so nice to see you both.”Nothing like a bald-faced lie to start her day.
She turned away and hurried down to the end of the pier, glancing over at the marina. The Destiny was tied to her slip at the end of the second long dock that extended out over the water. Jesse Brown. She hadn’t thought about him in years.
As if her thoughts had conjured him up from the depths of her memories, she saw him coming down the lengthy dock, his face tanned, his legs stretching out in long strides.
She stepped back into the shadows by the last shop. Not hiding from him. Not really. She watched as he turned and headed the other direction. When he was far enough away, she walked back out into the sunlight and headed in the opposite direction than Jesse had taken. Even though shehadplanned on going in his direction to her mother’s house, but not now.
Not after the huge fight she and Jesse had the very last time she saw him. Even Livy didn’t know about that.
Heather took the long way to her mother’s house to avoid Jesse and slowly walked up the long circle drive. Maybe her mother wouldn’t be here and she could just leave a message with the housekeeper that she’d stopped by…She sighed. But if that happened, she’d still have to make time to come see her later.
She rang the doorbell and her mother opened the door, surprise showing on her face.“Oh…Heather.”
Equal surprise probably showed on her own face at her mother answering the door instead of the housekeeper.
“Hi, Mom.”She walked past her mother into the impressive two-story foyer. She glanced over at the large stack of boxes against one wall in the usually spotless foyer.“What’s that?”
“Oh…nothing. Just getting rid of a few things.”
She didn’t miss the slight look of guilt on her mother’s face. Maybe her mom felt guilty about all the stuff she bought and now was trying to dispose of. All the things that she justhadto have. The constant shopping expeditions. The paintings and art pieces precisely placed in the house. The furniture that was never the same any time she came to visit. Really, how many times could one person replace a couch?
“I was nearby and I thought I’d stop by.”She got the distinct feeling her mother wasn’t very thrilled about her visit. And yet, hadn’t her mother looked like her feelings had been hurt when she saw her at the wharf with Liv and hadn’t known she was in town?“Do you want me to come back another time?”
Her mother’s look rested briefly on the tower of boxes.“No, of course not. I’m glad to see you. Come have some tea out on the patio with me. Go on out. I’ll get the tea.”
Heather walked through the foyer into the great room and out through one of the numerous French doors leading outside. The view across the bay always made her pause. It truly was a beautiful view. She missed watching the sunsets from her upstairs bedroom she’d had at the house when she’d lived here. That had been one of the few things she loved about moving here. She loved watching the brilliant colors illuminate the sky, then dim into nothingness as the stars came out to twinkle over the bay. Her parents were lucky to have this view. Not that she remembered them sitting out and enjoying it often. They weren’t really outside people.
She turned to see her mother coming out with a tray with a pitcher of tea, glasses full of ice, a small plate of lemon slices, and another plate of some kind of fancy pastries. She might let the cook put dinner on the table and the housekeeper run the house, but her mother knew how to bake. She was always making some kind of scrumptious recipe, usually one passed down for generations in their family. Alas, she hadn’t inherited the baking gene from her mother.
Her mother sank gracefully down on a chair and she plopped down on a seat beside her with recently recovered cushions—she was certain this was a new pattern than last time she was here—and picked up her glass of sweet tea.
“So, are you here for long this time?”her mother asked in her perfect polite-society voice.
“I’m not sure. For a while.”She looked over at her mom.“Is…is Father here?”
Her mother averted her eyes, suddenly very interested in her tea.“Ah…no. He’s away.”
She hid her sigh of relief. The last thing she wanted was to run into her father.
“When is he returning?”If she was smart and lucky, she’d get out of Moonbeam before then.
“I—I’m not certain.”
She frowned slightly. That wasn’t like her mother. Her mother had a planner and things written in it at least a year out. She always knew exactly when her father was returning and no doubt had planned a half-dozen social dinners for them.
