Watching the ferry dock in the picturesque port of Gansett, Elisabeth felt like she was going to be sick. The sun had dipped toward the horizon during her passage, casting a warm orangey glow over the town as people followed the cars and bikes off the boat.
“This is it,” she whispered to herself as she stepped foot onto Gansett Island for the first time. She knew a moment of complete paralysis as she tried to figure out her next move. And then she shook it off and made her way to the taxi line, where a friendly looking older man with a shock of white hair and bright blue eyes waved her over to his woody station wagon.
“Give ya a lift?” he asked. His eyes lit up with mirth when he smiled, and his friendliness provided some badly needed comfort.
“Yes, please.” Elisabeth handed him the slip of paper on which Marcy had written Jared’s island address.
The cabbie let out a low whistle. “Nice place.” With a courtly bow, he opened the back door for her and held it until she was settled.
Elisabeth wasn’t surprised to hear that Jared’s place was nice. Of course it was. It was probably the nicest house on the entire island. He wouldn’t settle for anything less than the best. That was one of his personal mottos—and one she’d often taken issue with as she taught him the fine art of bargain living in the city.
“Where ya here from?” the kindly driver asked in a charming New England accent.
“New York City.”
“Long way from home. Not much of nothin’ here compared ta there.”
How could she tell him that everything that mattered to her was here? “It’s very pretty.”
“That it tis. What brings ya ta our little island?”
“I’m coming to see a friend, and I’m hoping he’ll be glad to see me.” Now she was sharing her personal business with a perfect stranger, proof she’d gone totally around the bend.
“He’d be a fool ta not be happy ta see a pretty gal like yerself.”
Elisabeth smiled for the first time in longer than she could remember and caught his wink in the rearview mirror. “He’s not too happy with me at the moment, so he may not be glad to see me.” There was something about the older man, something sweet and compassionate, that had her telling him the whole sordid tale.
“Well, now,” he said, “I can see why ya think he might not be happy ta see ya after all that.”
His words deflated the tiny bit of optimism she’d carried with her on this fool’s errand.
“However, it’s quite possible he’ll be thrilled ta see ya, ‘specially if yer here ta make things right with him.”
“I want to make things right, if I can. I just hope it’s not too late.”
“If he loves ya, really,
really
loves ya, it’s never too late.”
Just like that she was once again filled with optimism, because the one thing she was absolutely sure of was that before she’d screwed it all up, Jared James had really,
really
loved her.
The driver used his blinker to signal a right turn into a long driveway. “Here ya are, honey.” Jared’s prized Porsche and several other cars were parked in front of the garage, so the cab driver stopped behind them and put his car in park. He turned to face her and handed her a business card. “If things don’t work out the way ya want them ta, ya call me, and I’ll come back fer ya.”
Touched by his sweetness, Elisabeth glanced at the card. “Thank you, Ned. I’m Elisabeth, and I really appreciate you listening to my blathering.”
“Not at’all, Lisbeth. I got two girls of my own. I understand the need ta talk it out.”
“I guess you do.” Elisabeth eyed Jared’s big, beautiful contemporary home with trepidation. “Now that I’m here, I’m sort of scared of what might happen.”
“If ya don’t go in, ya’ll never know.”
“Here goes nothing,” Elisabeth said as she reached for the door handle. “Oh my goodness, I’m about to get out and I haven’t paid you!”
“Go on, doll. ‘Twas my pleasure to bring ya here.”
“I wouldn’t feel right.”
“Ya’ll hurt my feelins if ya try to pay me.”
“Well, if you put it that way…”
“I insist.”
“Thank you so much—for the ride and the ear.” Elisabeth got out of the car, toting her purse and the backpack she’d brought on the outside chance that he didn’t turn her away. She’d have to find somewhere to stay if he did. The last ferry left in an hour.
While she stared at the house, Ned received a call for a ride from the dispatcher. “I’m a phone call away if ya need anything while yer here.”
“Thanks again.”
He backed out of the driveway and left with a wave as Elisabeth stood there stupidly trying to muster the courage to see this mission through to the bitter end.
She followed music to the back of the house, where she encountered a party in progress. Actually, calling it a party would be generous. Jared was entertaining two blonde women in bikinis in the pool. They were playing an animated game of volleyball with an oversize beach ball. He was laughing at something one of them said.
As she stood frozen in place, he picked up one of the women by the waist and tossed her into the deep end. She came up sputtering and swam after him, clearly seeking revenge as he howled with laughter and tried to dodge her efforts to catch him.
Elisabeth couldn’t look away from his handsome, smiling face as he dove away from the woman who sought revenge.
Clearly, he was getting along just fine without her. She forced herself to look away, to stop staring at him like the lovesick idiot she had no right to be. She’d come here looking for closure, and she’d gotten it. He’d moved on. That was good. The thought of him heartbroken and decimated by her rejection was not the image of him she wanted to carry with her into the lonely future that stretched out before her.
Tears rolled down her face as she turned and walked back to the main road, clutching Ned’s card in her hand. Fumbling with her cell phone, she placed the call. Thankfully, he didn’t ask any questions and told her to wait for him by the mailbox, that he’d be back as soon as he could get there.
He didn’t express sympathy or anything else that would take her over the edge she was clinging to with her fingertips. Tears slipped from her eyes, and she brushed them away angrily. What right did she have to cry over him frolicking in a pool with two gorgeous blondes? She’d made her own bed. Now she’d have to lie in it alone.
Chapter 3
“I don’t feel right leaving Hope to deal with Mom tonight,” Alex Martinez said as David drove him to meet his fiancée at Jared’s house.
David had gone to the Martinez home to check on Alex’s mother, Marion, who suffered from dementia. She’d had a particularly rough day, and Alex had asked him to come by on his way home to make sure there was no medical reason for her increased confusion.
“Hope is great with her,” David said. “And you hired her so you could get some relief.”
“I know, but I still don’t feel right about leaving Hope to manage Mom after the day she’s already had.”
“You and Paul are still getting used to the fact that you now have help, so it’s only natural you’d feel like there’s something you’re supposed to be doing for your mom. However, tonight you’ve got plans with your fiancée and your friends. That’s what you need to be doing. It’s okay to give yourself permission to have some fun, Alex.”
“I guess so.” Alex scratched wearily at the stubble on his jaw. “No matter what I’m doing, I feel guilty about what I
should
be doing. Mom doesn’t even know I’m there most of the time, but I feel like I should be with her rather than at a cookout.”
“Let me ask you this… In her right mind, what would your mom say to a statement like that?”
“She’d tell me I’m being ridiculous,” Alex said with a grunt of laughter.
“There you go.” David had known Marion Martinez—and her sons—all his life, and he had no doubt that Mrs. Martinez would hate to see her sons putting their lives on hold to take care of her. They’d ensured she was well cared for by hiring Hope Russell, a nurse from the mainland, to live onsite to help out with their mother’s care. They continued to oversee all aspects of her medical situation, even with Hope now onboard. “She’d want you both to be happy.”
“I hate this.”
“I know. I hate it for you.”
“What did she ever do to deserve such an awful affliction?” Alex asked with a sigh.
“Absolutely nothing. That’s the bitch of it.” David took a series of turns that led to Jared’s waterfront estate, where he’d been lucky to score the garage apartment. He loved the place and had enjoyed getting to know Jared this summer. “Is Paul coming tonight?”
“He said he’d try. He’s got some meeting with the land trust or something.”
“He’s Mr. Gansett Island, huh?” David said with a chuckle.
“That he is. I don’t know how he does it all—runs the business, helps take care of Mom and volunteers so much time to the town council and all the accompanying demands. Those council meetings would bore me to tears, but he loves it all.”
“The town needs people like him to protect what we’ve got here. I’m glad he’s on the job.”
Alex nodded in agreement. “He’s dedicated. That’s for sure.”
“How’re the wedding plans coming along?” Alex and his fiancée, Jenny, were hoping to be married in the next couple of months.
“Not so good. Everything is booked years in advance on this island.”
“Why can’t you do it at the lighthouse?” David asked. Until her recent move to live with Alex and his family, Jenny had been the lighthouse keeper at the Southeast Light. Now she was managing the retail portion of Martinez Lawn & Garden while she and Alex made plans to build a house next to his childhood home.
“The town is skittish about the liability of having a wedding out there. Something about drinking and nearby cliffs.”
David laughed at the disgust he heard in Alex’s voice.
“As if we wouldn’t take steps to ensure none of our drunken guests pitched off the cliffs.”
“I’ve had the unhappy luck of tending to a number of people who’ve pitched off our unforgiving cliffs,” David said. “I hate to say the town might have a point…”
“You would side with them,” Alex joked. “Mac and Maddie offered up their yard, but Jenny doesn’t love that idea. It’s a lot to ask of them.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” David said as he slowed to take the turn into the driveway that led to Jared’s estate. A woman standing by the mailbox had him stopping the car. Something about her was familiar. She was tall and slender with silky brown hair that fell just past her shoulders. As he opened the window, he noticed she was crying. “Hi there. Can I help you with something?”
“Oh no,” she said, wiping the tears from her face. “I’m waiting for a cab.”
“Have we met?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“You look really familiar to me.” And then he remembered where he’d seen her… in pictures Jared had shared with him and Daisy. She was Jared’s Lizzie, and she was standing at the end of his driveway waiting for a cab. David put the car in park and got out. “I’m David Lawrence, a friend of Jared’s. You’re his Lizzie, right?”
She gasped and shook her head. “I’m not his anything. I’m Elisabeth.”
“Have you been to see him?” David asked gently, careful to avoid saying something that would upset her even more.
“Not exactly. He’s very busy entertaining a couple of beautiful, busty blondes in bikinis.”
The bitterness in her tone took him by surprise. Busty blondes? Jared had been too busy nursing his shattered heart to entertain anyone until today. Suddenly, he realized who she must be referring to and was forced to hold back a laugh. “Um, I think you might be referring to my girlfriend and his fiancée,” David said, using his thumb to point at Alex, who’d waited in the car.
To his credit, Alex waved and smiled.
“Y-your girlfriend?” she asked, her voice wavering as new tears filled her eyes.
“Yes, my girlfriend, Daisy, and his fiancée, Jenny. We’re meeting them here. Alex and I were detained, so we sent them on ahead to give Jared a hand getting ready for the cookout he suddenly decided to have today after weeks of moping around.”
“H-he’s been moping?”
“He’s been heartbroken.” David hoped he was doing the right thing by telling her the truth about what a mess Jared had been. “I know for a fact he’d absolutely love to see you.”
“He would? Really?”
“Really. Could I give you a lift to the house?”
She seemed frozen with indecision as she contemplated his offer. “I have a cab coming to take me back to town.”
“You could cancel that. If you decide you want to go to town later, I’ll take you myself. No questions asked.”
“Oh, you will?”
“Standing offer, but knowing how sad Jared has been without you, I doubt you’ll need to take me up on it.”
“He’s sad, not angry?”
“He’s very sad. I haven’t seen any anger. Doesn’t mean it isn’t there, but all I’ve seen is the sadness.”
“I hate that I did that to him,” she said softly.