Stargazey Point (40 page)

No one spoke as Beau stepped away from the canvas, though next to her, Cab caught his breath. Marnie covered her mouth with both hands. And Abbie watched Beau, his expression calm, but years of emotion and memories rippling just beneath.

“Good God, Beau. Are there more of these?”

Beau nodded.

“Let’s see them, man.”

Beau moved to the bin, Dom at his heels. He handed one out; Dom took it and handed it to Cab who leaned it against Beau’s workbench. Another followed and another. When Beau at last stopped, eight carousel paintings lined the space, capturing the viewers in a magic circle.

“Would you be willing to let me show all these in the Charleston gallery? We get much more traffic there. A wealthier clientele. I’ll keep a couple of the horses to put in the window of the gallery here. “What do you say?”

“All of them?” Beau asked.

“Yes,” Dom said, drawing out the word. Abbie could practically see him calculating. “To coincide with the carousel opening.”

“Wow,” breathed Cab. “These are incredible.” He turned to Beau. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I kinda forgot about ’em till a few weeks ago. Ned kept the paintings for me all those years until I came back. Then I put them in here and just forgot. When I started carving that carousel for you, it all came back.”

“That’s why you remembered things so well.”

“You didn’t need these, son. You know what to do. You got it inside you.”

Dom cleared his throat. “I hate to break up this Hallmark moment, but if you’re going to let me have these, I suggest we get them in the truck before church lets out.”

They all pitched in and carried the paintings downstairs until only one painting remained in the bin.

“What about that one?” Dom asked. Abbie had noticed that Beau hadn’t brought out the picture of the young nude.

“Not that one,” Beau said.

“Intriguing,” Dom said. “But I have enough to bring out slowly over the next year or so.” He glanced once more at the lone canvas and left the room.

Beau and Cab drove with him back to town to unload the paintings. And, Abbie suspected, so they wouldn’t be there when Millie got home.

“Coffee?” Marnie asked.

“Absolutely,” Abbie said.

They were in the kitchen when Millie returned from church. She came straight into the kitchen and dropped her purse on the counter. Then turned and glowered at her sister. “What’s this I hear about Beau and Cabot seen riding in Dom Gaillard’s van this morning?”

Marnie shrugged. “Care for some coffee?”

Millie turned on Abbie, then back to Marnie. “This is her fault. Nothing’s been the same since she came here.”

“Bullshit.”

“Millie,” Abbie began.

“I don’t want to hear anything from you. And after all we’ve done for you.”

“Millie!” Marnie stood up so abruptly that she hit the table and coffee sloshed over their cups and spilled on the table. “You forget yourself. If anyone’s done anything for anybody around here, it’s Abbie. And you know it.

“If you must know, Dom has taken several of Beau’s paintings to be sold. And I’ll expect you to be glad for him.”

The blood rushed from Millie’s face and her lips pursed. “It’s evil, evil.”

“Oh good God in heaven,” Marnie exclaimed. “Get a grip. You sound like some lunatic from an old movie.”

Millie gasped. Abbie’s mouth dropped open.

“Beau and I let you have your way in almost everything, but this has gone too far. I know it isn’t your fault. Our illustrious father drove me from home and destroyed Beau’s hopes of becoming a painter. I’ll never forgive him for that, but mostly I’ll never forgive him for what he did to you.”

“He was good to me. He was a good man.”

“He was an arrogant bastard. We got away from him, but he bullied you into submission while he was alive and you’ve never been able to escape. Fine. If that’s how you want to live your life. But don’t try to impose that on Beau . . . or me.”

Abbie sat almost afraid to breathe. Had her actions been the impetus that would tear this family apart?

“I—I— How can you say such things and in front of our guest, too.” Millie reeled and caught the edge of the counter. “Abbie, don’t you listen to her. Daddy was a fine upstanding citizen and he loved his family. Shame, Sister. Shame,” she wailed.

“Perhaps you should go up to your room and calm yourself.”

Millie turned on Abbie. “See what you’ve done? Everything was fine until you came.”

“Millie, go upstairs.”

“No good will come of this. You mark my words. I want her out of my house. Today. This afternoon. I won’t have her stay another day under my roof.”

“Millie, it isn’t your house. It’s Beau’s, and Abbie is his guest and mine.”

Abbie fought to find her voice. “No, Marnie, it’s okay. I’ll pack and go. Millie, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry, she says. I’ll never forgive you. Any of you.” Millie groped for her handbag and rushed from the room.

Abbie covered her face with her hands. “Marnie, I’m sorry. I never meant to cause such trouble.”

Marnie laughed. “Hon, you just witnessed a first-class Southern hissy fit. I didn’t know the old girl had it in her.”

“I should never have interfered.”

“Stop it! Would you rather Beau go to his grave never knowing that he had real talent? I didn’t even know there were paintings up there, and I doubt if Millie did. Maybe Celeste would have discovered them and done something with them. But more than likely, whoever buys this old dump would toss them on the fire with the rest of the contents. You gave Beau a chance to see his work, his passion, appreciated. Would you take that away from him?”

“No, but—”

“Millie will get over it.”

“Will she?”

“Of course. She always does. It might take her a day or two to work it around her convoluted sense of reality so that it makes sense. But, Abbie, don’t despise her. It isn’t her fault what she’s become.”

Abbie shook her head, so close to tears that she could hardly talk. “I don’t. I love her, all three of you.”

“That’s good to know.”

“But maybe I should stay at the inn from now until I leave.”

“If you feel you must, but think about this. If you do,
I’ll
be mad at you. And if you think Millie is dramatic, hon, I can leave her in the dust.” She gathered up the coffee cups and put them in the sink. “I’m going to do a little gardening. I think you should go get yourself a real cup of coffee at Penny’s, then drop by the carousel and tell the boys they’ve been found out.”

Abbie pushed to her feet, adrenaline and shock making her knees weak. She was still shaking when she started down the drive toward town. She was tempted to look back at the house to see if Millie was watching from the window. She didn’t understand what the big deal was about. And it didn’t seem like Marnie did either. And as she went over all the things the siblings had said, she wasn’t even sure that Millie knew what the argument between Beau and his father was really about.

It was none of her business. And to hell with it. She was glad Beau was getting a chance to show his work. He deserved that. But why did everything have to be so complicated?

C
ab’s phone rang. He checked caller ID and answered it. He listened for a few minutes, then hung up and looked over to where Beau was putting the finishing details on the drum.

“That was Marnie. Millie knows about the paintings; it seems someone saw us riding in the van and told Millie about it at Flora’s after church. Evidently she had a ‘hissy fit,’ Marnie’s words, and blamed Abbie who is on her way into town.”

Beau finished gilding the coronets on top of the music box, then sighed. “There’s no reasoning with the woman.”

“Which woman would that be,” asked Cab, deadpan.

“In this case, Millie. She’s gotten some strange notions over the years. Somehow she thinks everything fell apart when I left home. She was old enough then to know better. It started way before that. The old rascal drove Marnie away, drove me away, and finally drove my mother to the grave. For the life of me, I don’t see how all that escaped Millie. Now she’s latched on to this painting thing.”

“Your argument wasn’t over painting?”

“Every day of my life. But that last night before I left, it was about something else. Painting was a part of it, but not the part he hated most.” He rested the paintbrush on a cloth and climbed out of the housing. “Guess I’d better go smooth things over with Abbie. Don’t want the girl to feel bad. And I don’t want her leaving. God knows she’s the best thing that’s happened to any of us in I don’t know when. And that includes you, son.”

God knew that was true, Cab thought as he watched Beau walk away. But she sure wasn’t restful. Was always in the thick of whatever was happening, taking up the cudgels for some poor soul, whether it be the twins or Beau Crispin. Ervina had seen it right away; it took some time for the rest of them to figure it out.

He wondered if Abbie had figured it out yet. Understood how important she was to them all. And if she did, was it enough to make her stay?

A
bbie looked up to see Beau ambling toward her. She dreaded seeing him and having to tell him what had happened; heat suffused her face. Today there was a spring in his step. He seemed so happy, and anger flared in her again when she thought of what Millie’s reaction would do to him.

Well, she wasn’t going to be the one to burst his bubble. Let the man have a little joy for a change. It was going to end soon enough. She forced a smile and went to meet him.

As soon as he reached her, he took her elbow and steered her toward the old pier.

“Heard you had some problems with Millie this morning.”

Abbie stared at him. Marnie must have called him. So his energy hadn’t been dampened by Millie’s outburst. Unless Marnie had sugarcoated it. Then why tell him at all?

She let him lead her through the pylons and sat beside him on the concrete wall.

“Families are a strange beast,” he began. “You think you can tame them, but you only fool yourself. One day you wake up and know you just have to accept them for what they are or leave them behind.” He grew silent, looked out to the gentle waves.

Abbie understood what he meant, not that she’d ever been challenged by her family the way Marnie and Beau had been by theirs. But then she’d never veered from the family path. The fact that it was a very wide path made it easy. But what if she’d chosen to be a corporate lawyer or an investment banker? Her father might accept it, but her pacifist, we-are-the-world mother would throw a hissy fit to rival Millie’s. The thought made her smile.

“Good,” Beau said. “I was afraid Millie had upset you.”

“Only because I don’t want to cause dissension between the three of you. She was really upset.”

Beau took her hand, patted it. “Millie is only a half-formed woman, Abbie. She’s half child, dependent, needy, and, yes, selfish. Not much any of us can do about it. Just accept it and get on with life the best we can.”

“That’s so unfair,” Abbie said; she couldn’t help herself. No one should have to cater to someone so selfish.

“Maybe, but it’s not worth fussin’ over.”

“But your paintings.”

Beau smiled and squeezed her hand. “Are out there for the world to see. Thanks to you.”

“But what if—”

“It’s too late for what-ifs about the past. What-ifs are for the future. Me, I mostly just live in the present. Future doesn’t have all that much adventure left for me.”

Impulsively Abbie threw both arms around him. “You don’t know that. You might become famous and have to go on an international tour.”

Beau chuckled and patted her back. “Wouldn’t that be something.”

They sat that way for a few seconds, then Beau pulled away. “Now let’s just wait and see. And no more talk about moving to the inn.”

“But Millie—”

“Will forget why she’s upset when she sees this.” He fumbled in his breast pocket, but instead of a block of wood, he pulled out a folded check and opened it for her to see.

“Wow! Is that from Dom Gaillard already?”

“Yes. He inflated the price for the buyer in exchange for giving him first look at the rest before they go on sale. And he refused to take a commission if I agreed to let him handle the sale of the collection.

“Twelve thousand is a lot of money, for us anyway. Enough to pay off this year’s taxes, with plenty left over. And, God willing, there will be more coming in.”

“What will you do with it?”

“Marnie will have some for household expenses. I’ll take some for a rainy day. And the rest I’ll give to Millie to play with.” He grinned.

“You know she’s planning a big formal surprise party for your birthday.”

Beau smiled beneath bright sparkling eyes. “She does every year. But this year she’ll have something else to think about.”

“What?”

“Cab is going to ask her to host the premiere of the Stargazey carousel video as a present.”

“He is? She’ll never agree, Beau. She practically threw me out of the house.”

“You just place your faith in that young man and we’ll see.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Absolutely. She’ll bother you with so many ideas and plans that before it’s over, you’ll wish she was still mad at you.”

He slapped his knee. “Now I need to get back to work, before Cabot comes looking for me. So start thinking about what you’ll need for the showing. Silas has already agreed to make barbecue.

“Now let’s go tell Cabot that you’re staying with us and everything is fine. Though I think he’ll be disappointed. He was hoping that he’d get you all to himself.” He stood up and offered her his hand. “Enough time for that down the road.”