A Modern Day Persuasion (13 page)

“Well, Anne, you’re like a sister!” Anne smiled in response. Switching gears, Etta asked, “Do you think I should invite Rick? I think he likes Louise.”

With that comment, Anne went from elation to swiftly having the wind knocked out of her. Quickly, Anne tried to recover her composure, telling herself it was bound to happen sooner or later. Anne couldn’t respond, not that Etta noticed as the girl continued spilling out her thoughts.

“And, I’m positive Louise will want Rick there. Speaking of which, you seem to be getting pretty chummy with Ben. Is there something happening there?”

Anne was taken aback. Horrified, she wondered if this was everyone’s impression, not just Etta’s. “Ben? No, he and I are just friends. I…”

“Ah ha!” Etta interrupted, grabbing Anne’s arm. “Take a look down there!”

Anne looked to where Etta pointed to see Louise and Rick walking up the beach path together. Her heart was gripped simultaneously with jealousy and pain at the sight.

Etta’s eyebrows rose with shrewd enlightenment. “I was wondering where my sister had run off to this morning. Normally she sleeps in until at least ten…well, anyway like I was telling you, Louise’s got it bad for Rick, and from what we’re witnessing right now, he doesn’t seem to mind.”

Anne looked away to hide her troubled thoughts, hoping to compose herself sufficiently to pull off an air of indifference for the rest of the day. As for the remainder of the trip, Anne couldn’t promise that her heart would comply.

Chapter 23

“So, where’s Melissa?” Rick asked as he ascended from his vehicle to join Harve and the others in the parking lot outside the town’s favorite local diner. The whole crew had agreed to take breakfast together before hitting the beach later that afternoon.

“Morning sickness,” Harve answered apologetically as he scrunched up his face. “She really wanted to come, but breakfast is her number one enemy right now.”

“Poor Melissa,” Etta cooed as Rick nodded and motioned for them to make their way into the restaurant.

The diner was located just off the main drag and had an incredible view of the ocean. The establishment was famous for their over-easy eggs and succulent French toast, something Anne couldn’t wait to devour. After her morning stroll, and the painful sight of Rick and Louise together, she was ready for some comfort food.

As they entered and waited to be seated, Anne took in the quaint setup, noting that the place probably hadn’t changed since it opened in the late 50’s. Memorabilia covered the walls and the booths looked like they still had the original cushions. As Anne’s eyes turned to observe the large breakfast crowd, she did a double take at noticing an attractive, muscular man blatantly sizing her up. His obvious perusal of her caused Anne to blush profusely, so she averted her eyes downward in an effort to ignore him. Anne tried to think of
any reason why he’d be staring at her but came up emptyhanded. Maybe the stranger thought she’d been checking him out?!? No, that was the first time Anne had laid eyes on him since coming in. Anne quickly did a mental checklist of her appearance, thinking surely, that something must be noticeably wrong to call such attention. Yet, she had taken special care of her hair and face that morning, dressing in jeans and a cute top with a zip-up hooded sweater…so then what could be prompting him to stare so openly at her? Mustering up the courage to look in his direction again, the man dared to cockily incline his head towards her in a nod. Anne was mortified—it was like he had been expecting her to look! Her face burned with embarrassment.

Etta and Louise, who had been observing this exchange, turned to Anne with coy expressions.

“I think Anne has an admirer!” Louise teased.

“I agree,” Etta chimed in. “Anne, do you know that guy?” she asked in a hushed whisper.

Anne attempted to shy away from their inquiries, explaining she didn’t have a clue as to the identity of the man. It only made matters worse that this humiliating interaction was now being noticed by the whole group, especially Rick, thanks to the girls’ excitement at Anne’s potential beau. At the realization of the latter, Anne’s countenance brightened somewhat. To think Rick was a witness of this was like balm to her wounded soul. Although Anne didn’t usually like to be singled out this way, at least Rick was there to notice that a man could still find her attractive.

Unwittingly coming to Anne’s rescue, the waitress finally arrived and led the party to a booth overlooking the sea. Anne didn’t dare look back to see if the stranger was still perusing her as she walked to the table, but she found it almost impossible to walk normally knowing he might be staring. Her gait felt awkward and her arms just seemed to dangle doing nothing—should she move them? Clasping them together, she scooted into the booth first, sitting next to the window
with her back to the entrance, and more importantly…
that
man. Rick scooted down the bench opposite her, and Anne watched as Louise made sure to secure a seat next to him. She also watched wearily as Ben took great pains to sit next to her. She didn’t want to hurt this already heartbroken man, but on the other hand, she didn’t wish to encourage him either. Luckily for her, Anne now had the menu to prop up in front of her fading red face. This allowed her some privacy as she took deep breaths and alternately applied cold hands to each cheek. By the time Anne lowered the menu to tell the waitress what she wanted, her appearance and composure were almost back to normal. The waitress took away Anne’s “security blanket”, aka the menu, and promised to return soon with their food.

“What do you all think about visiting the sea lion caves after our time on the beach?” Charles suggested to everyone’s delight.

“Oh, too bad the boys aren’t here,” Mary said to Anne’s surprise. Sadly, it was rare when Mary missed her sons, which deeply disappointed Anne at her sister’s lack of maternal instinct. Perhaps now that the boys were getting older her sister’s attachment to her children was growing. Anne hoped that was the case.

“Sure, I wouldn’t mind,” Rick said shrugging as he took another sip of the hot coffee the waitress had refilled before she left.

Louise began to recount a past experience with a sea lion during an internship she held at a sea life aquarium two summers ago, much to the enjoyment of the group. Her story was cut short though when a waitress from the counter called out, “Order to go for Will Elliot!”

The familiar sounding last name caught the group’s attention and collectively they turned to see who would claim the food. Lo and behold, the same man who earlier had been checking Anne out approached the counter to receive the order.

“Anne…are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Mary asked Anne dramatically.

“Do you know him?” Rick queried, trying to curb the jealous twang in his voice.

“Not him personally,” Anne responded, a little surprised at Rick’s latent displeasure. “Our family is related to someone with that name. The ‘Will Elliot’ we’ve always heard about is a second cousin, once removed or something like that. Elizabeth—”

“That’s our oldest sister,” Mary interjected quickly.

Anne grimaced, knowing Mary was getting excited to embark on some family gossip. Continuing where she left off, Anne began again, “Well, our sister used to date him when the two of them attended Dartmouth together.”

Anne was not surprised, when once again, Mary interrupted.

“That is, until Will found someone richer and married her! The woman’s inheritance made Daddy’s fortune look like nothing! Sadly, we never got to see what the ‘rat’ looked like though, since Elizabeth wanted to keep the guy all to herself. The only ones who got that privilege were Dad and Mrs. Russell when they visited Elizabeth at college.”

“Needless to say,” continued Anne amused, “My family is not on good terms with him.”

“The name is certainly a coincidence, but it’s probably a different guy,” Charles advised, bringing the discussion to a close as they saw their food approaching.

Anne continued to observe Rick as he received his plate of pancakes while still maintaining a visual on the stranger. She wondered what Rick must be thinking.
Is he just curious about the coincidence, or is he a little jealous
?

Rick was glad when he watched the stranger finally exit the restaurant. Now that Anne’s admirer was out of the picture, he could turn his full attention to breakfast. Yet, while taking the first mouthful of the delicious pancakes set before
him, Rick couldn’t quite understand the jealousy he felt at seeing another man admire Anne.

Anne, slicing a piece of her syrup-sweetened French toast, was also reflecting on the stranger. She had assumed the man at first was merely appreciating her looks, but now knowing he could possibly be her sister’s ex-boyfriend, wondered if his interest was because of a resemblance to Elizabeth. If so, that would be a first. No one had ever remarked on the two of them looking similar, in fact, quite the opposite. Well, so much for her ego. Surely now, knowing his name, it would explain his keen observation of her. Her growling stomach took priority over further pondering, and she put aside the thoughts for later.

Chapter 24

The Oregon Coast, although beautiful, was normally a little chilly. Today was no exception. The group sported sweatshirts and jackets to fend off the cold breeze as they enjoyed some time on the beach.

“Anne, I can’t begin to tell you how much I’ve enjoyed our conversations,” Ben said as the two of them sat talking after breakfast on top of a dune.

The others were playing Frisbee below on the sand, with the exception of Mary who elected to read the latest
Enquirer
(she wasn’t much for games), and Harve, who had earlier sprained his ankle.

Anne responded to Ben politely, “I’ve also valued our chats.” Anne did her best to keep her tone reserved. Although she thought her answer appeared neutral, Ben’s confidence was boosted by her response so he continued.

“We really do have a lot in common,” he said, searching her eyes for any hint of coinciding passion.

With the sun shining behind him and into her face, surely the only thing Ben was bound to see were reddened eyes. The combination of wind, rain, and light were making them irritated and painful. In fact, they were already beginning to water. Instinctively, Anne pulled her jacket tighter around herself. She wasn’t sure if it was because of the icy gust of wind that blew upon them at that moment or rather
the nagging feeling which told Anne she needed to tread cautiously.

The way Ben was gazing at her made Anne feel distinctly uncomfortable. She recalled Etta’s words asking if the two of them were an “item” and with today’s pointed admiration from him, Anne could no longer delude herself that Ben simply thought of her as a friend. The notion unnerved her.

“So you’re moving to Napa Valley?” Ben asked. Anne nodded, striving to make her answers seem nonchalant. Without warning, Ben eagerly grabbed Anne’s hand. Startled, Anne sat in shock at Ben’s next revelation, “I’ve been considering a move to California myself,” he ventured, no doubt hoping to spark an outburst of joy from her lips.

Anne tensed, but was saved from responding when they heard Rick call out to Louise in alarm. She took this distraction as an opportunity to take back her hand. Ben looked a little injured, but to Anne’s immense relief, the commotion below caused him to overlook the slight.

“Louise! Not so far out!” Rick shouted.

Despite his warning, Louise continued to walk backwards into the shallow surf, shaking her head playfully as she did so. “What?” taunted the flirtatious Louise, “Afraid you won’t be able to throw the Frisbee this far?”

Anne sighed. Sometimes that girl could be so headstrong! The foolish Louise regressed further into the sea water while continuing to motion for Rick to throw her the disc. Goaded, he tossed the Frisbee to her and she caught it.

“Louise,” Charles sighed with annoyance. “Don’t be an egghead! Come back now.”

Stubbornly, Louise refused as the icy waves slapped against her legs. Spying a large boulder exposed by the receding waters, she chose instead to hoist herself onto it. Once reaching the peak, she flauntingly waved the Frisbee.

“Louise, get down from there! The tide is starting to come back in,” Rick said, his voice displaying his annoyance.

Louise’s only response was to continue laughing, despite the concern plainly written on everyone’s face. This was her day to shine, and Louise reveled in the attention she was receiving.

Ben’s touch on Anne’s arm caused her to look away momentarily from Louise’s daring antics only to hear Etta, seconds later, let out a horrifying scream.

“Louise! Watch out!” Mary shouted.

Anne looked back just in time to see a sneaker wave crashing over the boulder, knocking Louise off her perch. The party stood helpless as they watched Louise fall and strike her head on a jagged rock before sinking unconscious into the rushing water below. Bursting forth, Rick plunged himself into the mighty waves, jumping in after her.

“Oh, dear God!” Anne said with a shaking voice as she got up and ran down to join the others with Ben following close behind.

By the time they reached the scene, Rick had managed to grab Louise and was barely holding onto a protruding crag on the face of the boulder. His grip, although not totally secure, was just enough to stop them from being swept out into the ocean by the strong current. Anne felt as if she was watching a horror movie. She wished she could push “stop” and rewind this moment to keep Louise from being harmed. Instead, all she could do was stand there helplessly, and pray to her Heavenly Father for a miracle.