Breakwater Bay (26 page)

“Nora’s ready to
part-
tee,” Carlyn said, with a mischievous glance at Alden.

Go for it,
Meri thought. Nora had also seen that look and was paying close attention to her father’s reaction.

Meri took Alden’s arm and looked innocently up at him. “Don’t worry, we’ll take really good care of her.”

“We’re going out to dinner,” Nora said. “You can come if you want to.”

Alden laughed. “Thanks, but I wouldn’t want to cramp
your
style.”

Nora flashed a look at Carlyn.

Oh boy,
Meri thought. If she’s going to try to set up Alden with Carlyn . . . Then again, why not? “You’re welcome to come.”

“Thanks, but I have a hot date.”

“You do?” Nora asked.

“With Therese. She’s making chicken and dumplings.”

“You’re so impossible.”

“I know, I’d better get going.” He stood there.

Nora finally sidled over to him. “Bye, Daddikins. I’ll be good.” She gave him a loud smack on the cheek, before dissolving into the hug she clearly wanted. “Will you be lonely without me?” she asked, only half kidding, Meri thought.

“Of course, but I’ll survive.”

“And if the weather’s good Saturday, you’ll take us sailing?”

“If you get back early enough.”

“Me, too?” Meri asked. “I haven’t been in ages.”

“You, too, if your hand’s okay. Carlyn, care to join us?”

“Thanks, but I’ll pass. Want to meet us Friday night for karaoke?”

“Thanks, but
I’ll
pass on that one.”

Nora let out a silent whew.

“I’ll walk you out,” Meri said.

“No talking about me,” Nora warned as they walked to the back door.

Meri stopped Alden before he got in the car. “Any instructions, Dad?”

“Of course not. If I can’t trust her with you, where am I?”

Good question.
“Before you leave, there
is
something . . .”

He leaned back against the side of the old station wagon, one leg stretched out in front of him, arms crossed, relaxed. A man comfortable with himself, his reclusive, solitary self.

“Okay.”

Meri crossed her own arms, but more as a protective gesture than ease. “I went to see Everett Simmons today.”

“And he would be . . .”

She took a breath. “My birth father.”

“Oh crap.” Alden straightened up, no longer detached or slightly amused.

“Did you know he was my father?”

“I don’t even know who he is, period.”

“He’s a local lawyer. I just wanted to find out if he really was my father. I had a picture of him and Riley. I just wanted to know,” she finished lamely.

“And did he confess?”

“He didn’t know. He thought I was trying to blackmail him.”

“Ah, Christ Almighty. Did you dissuade him of that idea?”

She shook her head. “I lost my temper and stormed out of his office. I’m afraid I might have made a scene.”

Meri glanced up at him through lowered lashes. It wasn’t the first time she had something she needed to confess to him. Over the years, she’d had to apologize, defend, and wheedle, but she hadn’t stood before him contrite and needing advice for a long time.

And she didn’t like the feeling.

And she didn’t need him to tell her she’d been an idiot for opening up a dead subject. Or that she may have brought trouble on all of them with her actions.

He didn’t say any of those things. Just opened his arms so she could walk into them, which she did. He held her close. “Are you okay?”

She nodded against his jacket. “It was a stupid thing to do, I know.”

“You needed to find out. Will you see him again?”

She shook her head.

“Did you at least ask him about the family medical history?”

She nodded, feeling ashamed and foolish and thankful that she had someone who understood her so well.

“That’s the real reason you wanted to see him, right? To make sure your and Peter’s children would be healthy?”

She pulled away. “That was only part of it. And besides . . .”

“I know, it’s none of my business.” He tapped her nose. “Don’t worry about it. It’s done. You don’t have to wonder anymore. Take good care of my daughter.”

She smiled, feeling better. “You sure you don’t want to go to dinner with us?”

“Yep. You girls go have fun. . . . But not too much.”

“Not to worry. See you on Saturday.”

A
lden drove away, thinking about Nora and Meri. They grew up but you never stopped worrying about them. His daughter on the brink of adulthood. His . . . What? What was Meri to him? . . . Too many things to contemplate and on the brink of marrying someone who was totally wrong for her.

He didn’t really worry about Nora staying with Meri; Meri was nothing if not responsible. And he was kind of hoping that they would get a chance to talk. That Meri might get some insight on what was really troubling Nora and if it was something he should act on.

He didn’t have to worry about Meri, either, though he did. It wasn’t his business to worry about her. Peter would make her happy or not, but it was her choice. She was perfectly capable of deciding for herself.

He worried about himself. Losing the two of them would take a big chunk out of his life. Not that he saw either of them that much, and not that they needed him that much. But they were both so much a part of him that he was afraid of what would be left once they were gone.

It wasn’t like that with Lucas. Luke had always “marched to a different drum” as Therese would say. But it was because Luke listened to a different frequency. A lot like Alden. The inner life was strong and made them sometimes forget about what was outside.

Lucas was a scientist, but that in itself was a kind of art, to see, to understand, to feel the inner workings of everything.

Alden remembered one night a few summers ago, they were out watching the stars. Nora had gone inside to read a magazine. Alden stood in the yard next to his son, both looking up at the sky. Alden was thinking of an illustration: a princess whose hair was made of the Milky Way that wove and lifted and trailed up into the universe.

And as the two of them stood there, Lucas told him the distance to Orion’s belt.

Alden was floored and asked him if he’d memorized it. And Lucas said, “No, Dad, I calculated it using triangulation. It was easy. It just makes sense, like it all just talks to me in a language I understand.” The kid was ten years old.

What Lucas understood might as well have been Greek to Alden, though Alden did know a smidgeon of Greek. But he understood one thing. Science spoke to Lucas the same way line and color and movement spoke to Alden.

Lucas seemed perfectly content with his new life. He liked his new school, one of those satellite schools that emphasized the sciences. That was something he wouldn’t get out here at the county school. But Alden knew that having the ability to withdraw into your own world didn’t mean you were happy or even content.

He’d tried to ask Nora about him without prying. But she just said he was a world unto himself and it was anybody’s guess. In her own way, Nora was just as precocious as her brother.

M
eri heard them as soon as she stepped back inside. Her pensive mood turned to delight and she hurried down the hall to join in. She got to the open door of the kitchen just as Nora and Carlyn pantomimed Signed, Sealed, Delivered as they sang. And Joe crooned Oh, Baby, in a falsetto that would rival Tiny Tim, which he ended with a tight turn and a body wave.

Meri watched him, awestruck.

Then Carlyn motioned her over and they sang backup for Joe’s rendition of Stevie Wonder’s upbeat song. Nora didn’t know all the words, but she jumped right in on the chorus. Doug came in as they were taking their bow and shimmying.

“Where have you been?” Carlyn asked, shedding the remnant of her laughter.

Meri introduced him to Nora. Then added her question to Carlyn’s.

“Beating a dead horse. I haven’t been able to get on anyone’s agenda for the next several months. We’ll have to try a different approach.”

“What kind of different approach?” Carlyn asked.

“Hold a fund-raiser here.”

“Here? Where here?”

“The foyer, the parlor, the front porch if we do a little reconstruction work. Hell, we can pitch one of those big tents in the backyard.”

“Doug, we’ll figure out a way to keep this project going, but this is not the most efficient way to do it.” Carlyn smiled, trying to soften the blow.

But Doug deflated. “Anybody got a better idea?”

No one did. It was a crazy idea. They weren’t ready to show . . . anything.

“Well, everybody go home, and start thinking.” Doug wandered out of the kitchen.

“I’m going home to think.” Joe saluted them and left.

“Well,” Carlyn said. “Does that sound like desperation to you?”

“Pretty much. But we’ll figure out something. Is anyone but me starving?” Meri asked.

“Yes, count me in,” Carlyn said, brightening. “Where shall we go?”

“Someplace where they’ll check my ID,” suggested Nora.

“Only Virgin Marys for you.”

“I have a fake ID, you know.”

“I’m sure you do. And I’m sure you drink. But I’m not going to call your dad and tell him you got busted and to come get you out of jail.”

Instead of balking, Nora burst out laughing. “I swear he said exactly the same thing. ‘Don’t make Meri have to call me to get you out of jail.’”

“Great minds.”

“He’s so old-fashioned.”

“He’s also right.”

Nora made a face. “I know, I really do. And I won’t do anything to . . .” She lowered her voice and intoned, “Jeopardize his trust.”

Meri laughed. “Did he really say that?”

“No. He said to be cool and have fun. He isn’t half as obnoxious as mother and Ma-a-a-rk are. They’re absolutely Gothic—and not in a chains-and-nose-pierced way.” She grew serious. “Did Dad take you out to give you the talk?”

“No, even though you are the center of his universe, we were actually talking about something else.”

She’d said it in jest, but Nora frowned.

“Am I?”

“Are you what?”

“Do I mean that much to him?”

“Of course you do, but he’ll survive a couple of days without you. Gran is going to feed him.” Meri said it trying to keep the conversation light. But she should have thought first. Because Nora’s face lightened, then turned a little sly. And too late Meri remembered her determination to stay after spring break was over and the fact that Gran had been teaching her to cook.

A
lden twisted the corkscrew into the bottle of wine he’d brought over for dinner, which was smelling delicious. There was no better comfort food than Therese’s chicken and dumplings, thick and creamy. Bound to make you feel at home. Make you relax, feel easy, not worried, not old, not fed up.

“Alden, sweetheart, are you going to open that bottle or just stand there hugging it like it was a lady friend?” Therese shot him a knowing smile. “She’ll be fine with Meri. And Meri will be fine, too, though I wish she had consulted me about searching for her birth father.”

“I do, too, but she seemed okay.” He smiled. “She was pretty angry, which is much better than feeling rejected. But I wonder if he will leave it at that? Should we intercede?”

“No.” Therese shook her wooden spoon at him. “Let’s just wait and pray he doesn’t want to rock the boat. Now open that wine and sit down and eat.”

He pulled the cork out, poured two glasses, and set them by their places at the kitchen table.

Therese put two shallow bowls of chicken down then drew a pan of homemade biscuits from the oven. She folded them into a cloth-covered basket, and he pulled out her chair.

She smiled up at him as she sat. “You should think about getting married again.”

He stopped. “Is that a proposal?”

“You better hope it isn’t. You’re a catch, Alden Corrigan.”

“Yeah, well, I was caught once before. That didn’t work out so well.” He sat down across from her.

“You have two wonderful children.”

“That I hardly ever see.”

“Whose fault is that?”

He stared at her. “What was I supposed to do? Take her to court, where she threatened to accuse me of everything from physical and emotional violence to child abuse? Where she would have made sure Nora and Lucas would have to testify? I couldn’t do that to them. I didn’t even want them hearing things like that even if it wasn’t true.

“I’m not a violent man. I have a temper just like anyone else. But I swear, Therese, she was right. I would have gladly killed her at that point.”

“Nora and Lucas both need to know your side of the story. I’m sure they’ve heard her side more than enough.”

“I don’t want to keep that part of the past alive by talking about it. Nora’s okay, I think, but I don’t know about Lucas. He seems so . . . so . . . detached.”

“Lucas is the peacekeeper. Nora is the activist. She acts out when she’s upset and when she’s happy. You pretty much know where you stand with her. Lucas is more like you. ‘Deep’ as my father would say. But you’re going to have to deal with them both sooner or later.

“Now I didn’t want to put you off your food. Eat. And just know that Meri and I are here to help.”

Alden ate. He didn’t want to bring up all those hateful feelings. He’d managed to bury them over the last few years.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, then he said, “What should I do about Nora? Do you think she really wants to move back here? Or is it just a passing whim?”

“Did you ask her?”

He shook his head. “I’ve avoided doing that, because we were having such a good time. I didn’t want to wreck it. But I know I should talk to her.”

“Don’t you think you should at least take her seriously and hear her out? That’s more than she gets at her other home, I’m sure.”

“Yes. They’re both old enough, I guess, to deal with whatever Jennifer wants to say about me. I think they can ferret out the truth. But . . .”

“There’s something else, isn’t there?”

“I just wanted my kids to have a mother.”

Therese shook her head at him. He knew what she was thinking. He knew he was being less than rational. After all, he’d done without a mother and come out all right. He was lucky in that he had Therese and Laura as surrogates.