Beach Rental (28 page)

“Juli’s guilty—guiltier than me. It was all her idea. She planned everything. I do the deed, she sneaks it out in her backpack. No one would ever suspect her of anything.” He switched his wide-eyed look from Pat to Adela. “Jules is a smart chick. She’s the brains. I did what she told me. You let me go, or she’ll be in jail like me. Maybe for longer.”

He turned his best pleading, boyish expression on Maia. “I’ll slip out the door. I’ll disappear. None of you, not even Jules, will ever see me again.”

Maia’s weapon wavered.

Luke had moved down the last step onto the landing. “Stay where you are.”

A swift movement and Frankie’s position changed to something like a modified sprinter’s stance. He spoke to Luke. “You’re running out of time. If you want to help her, protect her, let me go. Her fingerprints are on everything. They’ll nail her. She was at every location. It’s all about opportunity and finger prints. She’ll be having that baby in prison.”

Juli stepped into full view as Frankie shifted again and half-rose, but when he looked up and saw her standing there, he dropped to his knees.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Juli said. “I’ll tell the police the truth and take my chances.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

“No,” Juli told the officer, “I’m fine. I just want to rest.” Officials, friends and other people—she didn’t know what category Adela fit into—filled the living room. Her attention was focused on Luke as he stood by the side door talking to an officer. She didn’t try to hide or disguise her stare.

Luke was hers. Anyone was free to think what they would.

He’d said he loved her. It almost eclipsed the whole mess with Frankie.

Regarding Frankie, she could hardly believe it, but no one no one had given the least indication that she’d done anything wrong despite the lies Frankie was throwing around. The authorities, everyone, was treating her gently, respectfully. Like someone of substance.

And Luke loved her.

How much worse could this have been? A tremble seized her. The pocket of calm she’d felt on the stairs had evaporated soon after she’d begun answering questions. Pat had cleared most of the people away to give her some air.

Juli closed her eyes and sent a special thank you straight from her heart to God.

When she opened her eyes again, they fell on Pat.

Pat. What had she said? She’d seen the flying backpack and alerted the others. The others? How could they have been so close? Unconsciously, she placed her hands on her belly.

Petite, gray-haired Pat had stood there with the gun trained on Frankie like she did such things every day. Juli shook her head. She had questions of her own.

Pat had seen the backpack airborne. How had Adela come into the picture?

Adela was in the study with an officer now. Speaking her mind. Juli shuddered.

Luke turned toward her. His smile muted the what-ifs, even about Adela, at least for the moment.

“Ma’am, if you won’t go to the hospital, then you should see your doctor right away.”

He was a grandfatherly man, a local officer, and she appreciated his concern. She was sore, but the last thing she wanted was to attract more attention. Lying low, literally and figuratively under a feather quilt, had never sounded so good. Her feet were propped on the ottoman where Maia had put them—Maia, who was now returning with a pillow.

“No, Maia, I’m not going to lie down on the sofa. Not here among all of these people.”

Luke crossed the room to join her. “How do you feel? Which do you prefer? Hospital or doctor? We’re doing one or the other.”

“I’m staying here.”

Adela arrived and shoved Luke aside. “Juli—”

Luke tried to step in front of her. “Don’t, Adela.”

“Nonsense. Get out of my way.”

Adela thrust herself forward. Juli cringed.
No more
. She raised her hands, wanting to cover her face, but then changed her mind. She wasn’t up to doing battle with Ben’s sister, but she wasn’t going to hide from the woman either. Juli rubbed her hip. It ached where Frankie had kicked her. She tried to pivot on the sofa, away from Adela’s aggressive glare.

“Luke will drive you to the hospital. You’ve had a shock.”

“I’m fine.”

“You have obligations.”

“Obligations?”

“To Ben’s child. My niece or nephew. You have obligations and you can’t take chances with his, or her, well-being. Or your own.” Adela moved in more closely. She perched on the edge of the sofa. “What would Ben want you to do?”

Juli looked at her in disbelief. Did Adela intend it as a dig? “What would Ben want?”

“He’d want you and the baby to be safe. No more than what Luke wants.” Adela’s eyes teared up and in a very small voice, she said, “And me, too.”

The room was emptying. A fresh draft of cold sea air spilled in as Pat walked outside with the last officers.

Juli took a deep breath, then said, “You know there may be trouble. I didn’t steal. I wasn’t involved in it, but Frankie will say otherwise. You heard him. My fingerprints are on the stuff in the backpack because when I found it, I touched it.”

“You are not to worry. Clearly, you’re innocent. Frank…Frankie? Frankie’s record will speak volumes.”

“You say that, but—”

“I say you are one of us. One of the family. You aren’t alone and we aren’t without resources. You’re not to worry.” Adela took her hand. “I don’t mind saying what Luke won’t. I insist you go to the hospital. If you call your doctor and he’ll see you now, fine. We’ll take you there. Otherwise, it’s the hospital.”

Juli looked at him. “Luke?”

He smiled. “What she said.”

Maia gave up with the pillow and tossed it across the room. “Juli, what’s the doctor’s phone number? Oh, never mind. I know her name. I’ll get the phone book.”

“I’m outnumbered. Fine. I’ll go, but you’re forgetting something.” She pointed at the front door. The door frame was splintered. “I can’t leave the door unsecured. I need to get it fixed.”

Adela spoke. “Luke didn’t have time to fiddle with a key. I’ll call a carpenter and get it taken care of.”

Pat came back inside. “They’re going now. They got the statement from you, Juli, but they’ll want more. They understand they’ll get it later. First, you need to be checked out.”

“So, I’m told. How did you get involved in this? You were holding a gun on Frankie.”

Pat looked at Luke. Luke looked at his shoes.

“Luke?”

“Get angry if you must. You wouldn’t accept my help. I had to keep you safe. I hired Pat to keep an eye out for Frankie and for any other threats that might come your way.”

She digested that. She didn’t like the idea of people keeping secrets about her, from her. “Okay. Well, you were conspiring to help me. I can live with it this time. Thank you.”

“What about you, Adela? Where’d you come from? Why the change of heart?”

“I came because Luke told me about the baby.” She folded her hands together. “I was upset at first because I didn’t understand, but Luke explained something to me.”

“What?”

She struggled with the words. “That sometimes you have to trust people. Sometimes you have to—you have to have faith.”

“What?”

“If you insist, I’ll spell it out. Faith. That things will work out, sometimes in ways we don’t understand, if we—if
I
put my faith in God and not try to control everything myself.” She looked down, shaking her head. “But, it’s hard for me.”

Juli reached out and took Adela’s hands. “It’s very hard, I know. I’m trying to learn that wisdom myself.”

Maia said, “Dr. Oehler said you should come into the office now.” She put her hands on her hips. “Right now.”

Luke knelt next to Juli and took her hand. “We’re going to the doctor now, but when we’re done, you and I have to finish our talk.”

“You remember what I said before….”

“I do. I’ll wait if you insist, but after Ben’s child is born, I hope you’ll marry me and there’s no reason we can’t agree on that now.”

Adela snapped, “Marry?”

“I’d marry her this minute if she’d have me.”

“Nonsense.”

“I mean it, Adela.”

“Nonsense, Luke. It will take at least six months to arrange a proper wedding. Longer would be better.”

After a few speechless seconds, Luke said, “Six months is too long to wait.”

“Shows how much you know about planning a wedding. Let’s do this one right.”

Maia pushed in between Adela and Luke. “Wait a minute, both of you. You can fight this out later. Juli, get up. We’re going to see your doctor.”

“I’m taking her,” Luke said, “if she’ll go with me.”

Juli held out her hands. He clasped them, pulled her to her feet and wrapped one arm around her back.

“I’m with you, Juli, on this journey and any other. You can trust me.”

“We’ve already come a long way. Both of us. I can hardly wait to see what lies ahead, Luke. It’s going to be wonderful.”

Epilogue

On a Friday morning in late April, Juli knocked on the door of
Sea Green Glory East
. She could have telephoned, but she wanted to deliver the news in person.

Luke opened the door. “Is it time?”

“I think so.”

“We should have known it would be today.”

She laughed. “You mean the anniversary of the day Ben and I met? And—”

“And of the day we met.” He grabbed the keys from the table by the door and the jacket he’d kept nearby for the past two weeks. “We’re on our way.”

There was no suitcase to carry because it had been packed and in the trunk of her car for the past two weeks. Luke had insisted. He held her arm as they stepped carefully down the front stairs. He got her situated into the passenger seat and then himself, cool and calm. “Where are my keys?” He started checking his jacket pockets.

“In your pants’ pocket.”

“Right.” He grinned. “On our way.”

Atlantic Avenue ran straight and true ahead of them, with little traffic until they neared Atlantic Beach and the bridge to Morehead City.

The water below, in Bogue Sound, was calm and the sky was serenely blue.

“Are you nervous? Worried?” Luke asked as he turned the car east on Arendell Street.

“I’m excited. I would be worried, but with you beside me, I’m happy.”

Benjamin Daniel Bradshaw was born on April twenty-third, seven pounds, eleven ounces of baby boy and, for a moment, as the obstetrician received him, Juli felt Ben nearby and knew he was smiling.

THE END

About the Author

Grace Greene writes fiction with romance, suspense and inspiration, always with a strong heroine at its heart. Vivid settings and quirky secondary characters round out the stories and there’s a happily-ever-after ending—most of the time.

Grace is also an artist and photographer. She is drawn to houses and landscapes that ooze character and is fascinated by history and human nature. When she’s writing, all of these interests show up on the page.

Beach Rental
is her debut release. Her next novel,
Kincaid’s Hope
, is scheduled for release in January 2012. In
Kincaid’s Hope
, Beth Kincaid finds that swearing off the Kincaid temper and creating the perfect life free from untidy emotionalism has its own dangers and can even get you killed.

A Virginia native, Grace lives in central Virginia. Stay current with Grace’s releases and appearances at
www.GraceGreeneAuthor.com

Coming in 2012

Kincaid’s Hope

Primary Locations in BEACH RENTAL

And Et Cetera From the Author

Summertime. Toes in the sand time. Time for a trip to the beach.

What’s your favorite east coast beach?

Ocean City, Maryland has wide, clean sandy beaches and a horizon reaching into forever. I visited there last summer and had a grand time. I hear the Jersey shore is beautiful, but I’ve never been there. Maybe someday soon! Miami Beach, Daytona Beach—marvelous. Virginia Beach, Virginia, where I first wet my toes in the Atlantic Ocean, has impressive beaches and is my heart’s favorite. But the Bogue Banks….

Bogue Banks and Emerald Isle, North Carolina

Never heard of the Bogue Banks? Put your pointer finger on the justly famous Outer Banks of North Carolina. Duck, Nags Head, Hatteras, Ocracoke and so on. Trace the line of beaches and barrier islands until it curves west and then west again.

See Shackleford Banks where the wild horses run? And where you’ll find a world class shelling beach? I didn’t see the horses, but the shells were amazing. Then skip over the inlet and you’ll be at Bogue Banks—the barrier island shared by Atlantic Beach, Pine Knoll Shores, Salter Path, Indian Beach—and last, Emerald Isle, altogether twenty-one miles of sand and waves.

In Emerald Isle and the other towns on the Bogue Banks, you can walk or jog to the sunrise in the morning and the sunset in the evening. You can enjoy the timeless beauty of the Atlantic Ocean or cross to the sound side for a more serene water experience.

I love to walk to the rhythm of the waves. The timelessness, the eternity of it, echoes deep inside and restores me.

Don’t forget the sunscreen and don’t forget a good book.
BEACH RENTAL
.

Get the details at:
www.emeraldisle-nc.org
.
For information about the Crystal Coast, check out:
www.crystalcoast.com
and
www.crystalcoastnc.org
.

These are only a few URLs. Search on Crystal Coast and Bogue Banks and you’ll find many more.