“No, not much. They have that long dock wrapping around their property on the bay, but no boat in the slip. Father always said he doesn’t have time for boats.”
“Though, he does rent out that huge yacht at the marina for his business partners and takes them down to the Keys, doesn’t he?”
“He does.”Heather shrugged.“Complete with its captain and crew. It’s part of his big-shot persona.”
There was no warmth in Heather’s voice when she talked about her father.“Have you seen your Mom since you’ve gotten back? Aside from when we ran into her at the wharf, I mean.”
“No.”Heather let out a long sigh.“I suppose I should stop by. Maybe have tea or something. I don’t think Father is home.”
She couldn’t imagine feeling like it was an unwanted obligation to visit her own mother. She’d often wished that Heather and Aunt Evelyn could work out a better relationship. But it seemed like that wasn’t ever going to happen. She missed the days when they were young girls and their moms would take them on outings together. Sometimes they went to the beach. Sometimes into the city for the theatre. But as Heather’s father had risen in the ranks of his company, Aunt Evelyn had spent more time throwing business parties and running very visible charity events. And somewhere along the way, Heather and her mother had grown apart.
“Oh, look, there’s The Destiny coming back in from her sunrise cruise.”Heather pointed to a large, double-decker boat passing by the wharf on its way to the marina.
“I’m glad to see she’s still running.”Heather looked out over the water.
“I heard that Jesse bought it.”
“Really?”Heather’s eyebrows rose.“Our Jesse?”
A smile tugged at her mouth.“Yes,yourJesse.”Heather and Jesse had grown up as next-door neighbors. Well, at least until she’d moved into the huge mansion her parents bought on the bay when Heather was about twelve.
“Well, good for him.”Heather watched as the boat slipped passed them.
“Want to stop by the marina after coffee and say hi?”
“What? No…No, I have things I need to do.”
“If you say so. I bet he’d like to see you.”
“Don’t be silly.”
“I’m not being silly. You two were great friends.”
“That was so long ago.”Heather shook her head.“Anyway, tell me about the store. Business good?”
“Same as always. Not great, not bad.”
“At least you have your job there. It’s secure. You do like working there, don’t you?”
“I love working there, I do. And it gave me so much flexibility when Emily was young. But sometimes…”She turned and looked out over the bay at the sunlight dancing across the rolling water.
“Sometimes, what?”Heather leaned forward, frowning.
She turned back to her cousin.“Sometimes I wish…I wish I could do more than just work in Mom’s store. Do something on my own. Make something of myself that isn’t all tied to Parker’s. My mom and her grandparents and her great-grandparents are what made Parker’s what it is today.”
“But you’re lucky. You work with your mother and you two get along. You help her keep the store running smoothly. You did all this while raising a great daughter.”
Olivia laughed.“You make me sound ungrateful, and I’m not. I’m very, very lucky. I just wonder sometimes…If things had been different…”
“You mean if you wouldn’t have had Emily so young?”
Olivia shook her head.“No, not that part. I wouldn’t change a thing about that. Emily is my everything.”She let out a sigh.“I just wonder what I could have done with my life. Accomplished. If I hadn’t just jumped into working in the store.”
“There’s so much history in that store. I’m sometimes jealous of you working there. I loved that your mother let us play there in the store when we were girls and help out. I’m pretty sure we were more work than help.”
A smile teased her lips.“I’m sure we were.”
“But you know, you could do anything you wanted now. Emily is older. You’re still young.”Heather pinned her with a look.“So…what do you want to do?”
