Beauty and the Beach (16 page)

After a couple of really good inspirational talks, and several well-earned awards to teachers and students alike, it was finally time for the graduates to walk. When Courtney received her diploma, the three of them clapped and cheered like crazy as she walked up in her white gown and was awarded high honors.

Afterward, they met up with Courtney at the prearranged location to take pictures. Dad slipped a lei around her neck, the pink and white flowers pretty against the white of Courtney’s gown, and after Isabelle had snapped a few shots with Erin and her father, and Erin had taken some with the three of them, it was Isabelle’s turn to pose with her sister. It didn’t take long for Isabelle to realize Courtney was barely speaking to her.

“Is everything okay?”

Courtney turned a hostile look on her. “What could possibly be the matter?”

Isabelle’s mouth parted. “You tell me.”

“Is he here?”

“He?” Isabelle was getting impatient with Courtney’s snappy attitude. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to be a little more specific.”

“Mr. Wilder.”

“No. He’s not here. What’s the problem?”

Courtney’s pretty features twisted into a scowl. “Gee. What could the problem be? Only that I have no idea if I’m even going away to college at the end of the summer. And my sister no longer lives with me. I hate that man.”

Isabelle didn’t want to fight with her sister, especially at her graduation, but she felt the need to defend Adam. “Look, I think Adam’s been very understanding about this whole thing. Did you know he helped Dad get a new job?”

Courtney’s mouth set in a tight line. “He hates me, doesn’t he? And I don’t care. I hate him, too.” She lifted a hand in the air. “No, don’t say anything. I don’t want you to say anything. I don’t want to know.”

Just then one of Courtney’s friends hailed her from across the crowd. Courtney looked at Isabelle, her eyes narrowed, hurt. “I don’t expect you to understand. As always, everyone thinks you’re awesome, and sacrificing, and I’m the troublemaker.”

“Courtney…”

She shook her head. “Just forget it. Forget I said anything. I’m going to party with my friends now while I still can.”

Confused and hurt, Isabelle watched her sister go. Where had that come from? She wanted to run after her, get her alone, and force her to talk it out.

As soon as she could, she’d sit Courtney down and find out what was going on. But with Courtney surrounded by her excited friends, and with them all making plans, it just wasn’t the time.

~~~

As soon as Isabelle got off work the next day, she showed up at the apartment, determined to take her sister clothes shopping. Courtney lay on the couch in her pajamas watching cartoons, hugging a pillow to her chest. “I don’t want to go.”

“You’re going. You’ve got five minutes to get ready. Now get your bratty butt into your bedroom, change into some clothes, and get out to the car.”

Courtney’s chin lifted.

“Now.”

As they drove to the mall, Courtney didn’t have anything to say. Arms crossed, she simply looked out the passenger window.

“I know it’s early, but we need to start getting you ready for college.”

Courtney shook her head. “What a joke. You know I’m not going to college. If Mr. Wilder had his way, I’d probably be in jail right now.”

“What is going on with you?”

Courtney didn’t say anything for a long moment, and then Isabelle realized she was crying. “Courtney?”

“If I just hadn’t lost that necklace…I’m so stressed out, you’re living with that horrible man. I know you blame me for it. I know you hate me. I hate myself.”

“Horrible man? What are you talking about?” Isabelle touched the necklace at her throat. “Courtney, Adam’s a great guy. He’s holding off and giving Dad a chance to find the necklace. He knows it might take a while. He’s not putting any pressure on any of us. So why are you putting so much pressure on yourself?”

Pressing her face to her hands, Courtney started to cry in earnest. “It will never be found. You know it and I know it. I’ll be spending the next five years of my life working and paying off that stupid necklace. When all my friends are graduating from college, I’ll just be starting school.”

Hearing Courtney’s conviction, the stark truth of the situation spoken out loud, made it seem more real again. If the necklace wasn’t found, if Adam agreed to come up with a payment plan rather than put their father in jail, that was exactly what would be happening for the next few years. For all of them. “Courtney, you’re not alone in this. If it comes to that, all three of us will be helping. But I’m not giving up hope. Maybe someone will try and pawn the necklace. Dad has posted pictures in all the pawnshops. The police are looking. There’s still a chance.”

Courtney pulled a couple of napkins out of the glove box and pressed them to her face. “You know that’s not going to happen,” she scoffed. They rode in silence for a while, and Courtney finally calmed, her sobs gradually stopping and her breathing evening out. “I’m thinking about giving up my scholarship and working full time right now so I can start paying Mr. Wilder back.”

“No, Courtney that’s not—”

“Stop it. I don’t want to hear it. I’ve figured it all out. If I get a nanny job during the day, and waitress at night, I could make enough to pay Adam back in five years. If…if the whole family helps, after household expenses, and we didn’t buy any extras, then maybe we could do it in half the time.”

Isabelle felt sick to her stomach as she pulled into the mall parking lot. “But your scholarship…”

She parked the car and turned to look at Courtney. Her little sister’s brown eyes looked so serious, it hurt Isabelle’s heart.

“Izzy. I’m not going to enjoy or even do well in school if Dad is rotting in prison. You know that. I’ll figure out school later. Other than your one-year scholarship, you did it by living at home and working. I’ll do the same in a few years. What do you think?”

She thought her poor little sister had grown up overnight and it pained Isabelle to see it. She nodded once. “Let me talk to Adam. I’m sure he doesn’t want to send Dad to jail. He really is a decent man. Maybe between me and Dad, we could work out a payment plan.”

“No, Izzy. I lost the necklace. And I appreciate the fact you’ll be helping.” She teared up again. “I can use your help. But I’ll do as much as I can myself. Okay?”

Isabelle was the one crying now. She pulled her sister into a hug and kissed her riot of light-brown hair. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure something out together. I promise. In the meantime, what do you say we go home and run the math?”

Courtney pulled away and nodded. “Thanks, Izzy, for understanding. I’d like that.”

~~~

When Isabelle arrived home and called his name, Adam couldn’t have been happier that she was seeking him out. “I’m in here.”

She stopped in the dining room entry a moment later, the curved opening a perfect setting for her beautiful face and figure. The saying pretty as a picture came to mind.

“Hi,” she said, her tone serious.

“Hi, yourself. I haven’t seen much of you the last two days.”

“I’ve been working a lot, and, what with Courtney graduating…” She shrugged. “What are you doing?”

Adam looked at the forms and paperwork he had spread across the table. “I’m catching up on store-related paperwork. Ordering gems, gold, and taking care of some financial issues.”

Was it his imagination or did Izzy flinch? “Come in and sit down.” He grabbed a card and held it up between two fingers. “We got an invite to the neighbors’ annual bash. Mrs. Gilroy and her husband put it on at the end of June every year. We need to RSVP. Do you have any desire to go?”

Last year Adam had met Caitlyn at the party. He wouldn’t bother going this year, but any chance to spend time with Izzy in a date-like situation appealed. “It’ll give you a chance to meet all the neighbors.”

Isabelle shrugged. “I don’t know.” She glanced up at him, then away. “Look. I really need to talk to you about something important.”

“So have a seat.”

She finally slid onto a chair.

“What’s the matter?”

Isabelle gripped her fingers together and let out a breath. She turned toward him and finally looked at him. “Adam, I’m so grateful for everything you’ve done. Everything you’re doing. Seriously, I can’t thank you enough for not turning this matter over to the police on the day you found out my father had taken the necklace.”

A chill ran down Adam’s spine as he wondered where this was going.

She sighed, and looked down at her clenched fingers. “My sister has come up with a plan. If we all work very hard we could hopefully pay you back the money in three years or less. I’ve run the math and I think we could do it.”

She glanced up. “I promise we’ll all work very hard to pay you back. Thanks to you, my dad is employed again. My sister is planning to get two jobs and I’ll be applying for full time work. We’ll sign a contract and come up with a monthly payment plan. We will do everything in our power to pay you off as quickly as possible. I hope you’ll consider this rather than prosecuting my father.”

Adam tried to keep his expression neutral as he felt panic welling within him. All he could think about in that moment was he didn’t want to lose her. Yes, he hated that she was worried. He wanted to pull her close and assure her he’d shoulder every one of her worries, tell her that her family could forget all about the money they owed him.

But if he did, Isabelle would move out. He just needed a little more time with her. Time to convince her they were meant to be together.

He swallowed. “What I think is that we shouldn’t be in such a hurry to write the necklace off.”

“But—”

He held up a hand. “We should give the pawnshop idea some more time. The police are working on it and they have experience with this sort of thing. And your father’s idea to give a color picture of the necklace to all pawnshops and jewelry stores was inspired. Someone might find it somewhere and wonder what it’s worth and take it in for an appraisal.”

“But--”

He held up a hand. “I’ve been checking the classified ads in all the online forums. If it still doesn’t show up, I’ll list it as stolen and do a write up in all the jewelry magazines. That will take it national. So there are still things we can do, and there’s still a very real possibility it could show up. But it’ll take time.”

“Are you sure?”

“I have more experience with things like this than you do and I’m not worried.”

“But how long do we wait? If we need to pay you back, getting started sooner rather than later would make us all feel better, as well as show you good faith.”

He sighed. “To tell you the truth, I’m really glad you brought up the subject. If it doesn’t work out, then coming up with a payment plan is a sound idea. I admire your family for thinking up a way to pay me back. But your sister needs to be getting ready for college, not taking on extra work and worrying about this. And just so you know, I’ve decided not to prosecute. We’ll figure something out. We just need to play the waiting game. I have a really good feeling that the necklace will show up. These things just take time.”

Isabelle looked into his eyes for a long moment, then finally nodded. “You’re being really decent about this, Adam.”

He felt like a jerk. He just couldn’t stand the thought of her moving out and working herself to the bone to pay him back. He shrugged. “Let’s just wait and see what happens. Okay?”

She looked relieved. “Okay.”

He held up the party invitation. “So, yes or no? Are we partying next Saturday? Meeting the neighbors is always fun.” And, of course, what he really wanted to know was, was she staying?

She hesitated. “I thought you didn’t want anything to do with the Gilroys?”

He didn’t. But as he wanted to spend time with Izzy, he was willing to be flexible. “You’ll be there to protect me, right?”

She smiled. “It does sound fun.”

He relaxed back into his chair and tried to smile normally, breathe normally. “Oh, it will be.”

~~~

Three days later Isabelle smiled as she pushed a cart past the nurses’ station. Carolyn lifted a brow and, her gaze remaining steady on Isabelle, said to Paulette, “Is it just me? Or does it look like Isabelle is in a good mood again this morning?”

Paulette snickered. “Maybe she’s seeing someone?”

Tammy looked up from the file she was writing in and smirked. “Something is certainly going on. There’s got to be an explanation for this excess happiness.”

Isabelle stopped and placed a hand on her hip. “What? A girl can’t be in a good mood on occasion?”

“Sure,” said Carolyn. “Once in a while, maybe. But this is day two of Isabelle walking on clouds, so what gives? Did something happen this weekend?”

“Nothing gives.” Isabelle couldn’t exactly admit that, with the shadow of her father going to prison a thing of the past, she was finally able to relax and enjoy living in a castle with Adam. And cooking with Adam. And shopping, beachcombing, and watching movies with Adam. “I just like my job.”