Breakwater Bay (42 page)

She walked past them until she got to Doug and Alden.

“Holy crap,” Doug said under his breath.

“I hope I haven’t screwed everything up,” she said to him. “Alden, would you take me home now?”

“With pleasure.”

I
can’t believe I missed it,” Nora complained as she sipped her soda in Meri’s apartment. Meri was sitting on the couch, changed into sweats and sipping a cup of hot tea.

Alden stood over both of them like a guard dog, nursing a scotch.

“I think we’re safe now,” Meri said, trying to make light of a bad situation. “Oh God, I can’t believe that happened. I knew they would be there. I planned to ignore them. I didn’t think that Everett would lose it. I mean, he’s had to deal with them for years.”

“I think seeing you looking a lot like Riley and seeing them so pompous and clueless just pushed him over the brink.”

“So he’s really your father?” Nora asked.

Meri nodded.

“Nice guy,” Alden said.

“Are those people, the Rochforts, really rich?” Nora asked.

“Really,” Meri said.

“Do they live in one of those big mansions?”

“Not a big one. But they’re very full of themselves.”

“And it’s not something to aspire to,” Alden added.

“I thought they were gross. Anyway, we have our own mansion.” Nora blushed, aware of what she’d said.

Meri and Alden both ignored her.

“I just hope I haven’t jeopardized the restoration,” Meri said. “I don’t know why I said all those things. I just meant to leave. But they came after me.”

Alden shook his head, a glint in his eye. “You were pretty incredible.”

Meri groaned. “Doug will never forgive me if I blew this evening. I should have stayed home.”

Alden’s phone rang. He went into the bedroom to take it. He came back in a few minutes. “That was Doug. Emotional outbursts aside, it was a good evening. Everett put in ten thousand as seed money and the Historical Preservation Group board followed with a promise to fund the project at least long enough to see if it is worth investing in.

“Evidently as soon as Rochfort went back inside and started bad-mouthing the project, most of the rest of the board agreed then and there to give it serious consideration. I guess no one really likes the Rochforts and who can blame them.

“Come on, chickadee, let’s let Meri get some sleep. She has another big day tomorrow.”

“What? Don’t they get a few days off? I thought we could go sailing.”

“You have to get ready for school on Monday.”

Meri walked them to the door. She hugged Nora and hugged Alden, trying to sense what he was thinking. Did he know she was seeing Peter in the morning? And would he care about the outcome?

I
t was way later than Meri had planned when she pulled up to the back door of Gilbert House. She’d met Peter. They’d talked. For a really long time. Then there was an accident on the highway that took forever to clear. And now it was late. Carlyn’s and Doug’s cars were there, but Alden’s truck was gone.

She jumped out and ran down the hall. No one was in the kitchen. She ran through the house and to the back corridor and Alden’s studio.

And stopped. It was cleaned out. Like no one had ever worked there. Or created a presentation that helped sell the board on the project.

She turned away and right into Carlyn, who said, “He packed up and drove away earlier this morning. Where have you been?”

“In New Haven. Then I hit traffic. Did he say where he was driving to?”

Carlyn shook her head. “Just said it had been a pleasure and wished us luck on the project. He didn’t look too happy. What happened with Peter?”

“He asked me to marry him and move to L.A. I said no on both counts. We had a long talk, but I’ll have to tell you later.”

“I can wait. Go for it.”

Meri ran back through the house and jumped in her car, just as Joe Krosky’s bike rumbled to a stop. She waved but continued to back out of the parking lot.

She drove as fast as weekend traffic allowed, but it was too slow for her nerves. What if they had gone straight to Manhattan?

No, they wouldn’t take the truck to Manhattan and they couldn’t leave it at the station with all the equipment in it. They’d have to go home first. Where would he even keep a truck in Manhattan?

In a garage like everybody else.

When she finally pulled in the track to both houses, she knew she was too late. The truck was gone. The workmen were still there.

God, she had messed everything up. Except maybe the restoration project. And that had been a close call.

Meri parked beside the farmhouse and dragged her suitcase out of the backseat. She’d thought she would spend a few days with Gran, try to tell Alden how she felt, see if he felt the same.

Now she just felt stupid. And alone.

Gran was waiting for her at the door.

“Oh dear, is something wrong?”

“Well, I’m not going to marry Peter.”

“Oh, what happened?”

“Nothing. He’s staying in California and I didn’t want to move there even to be with him. I guess Dad and Alden were right all along.”

“Well, better to find that out before you married him. Come on in and help me with the beans.”

“You’re making dinner?”

“Well, we have to eat.” Gran handed her an apron.

“And Alden and Nora are gone. I wanted to say good-bye. I guess that means”—she cleared her throat—“that he’s still selling Corrigan House.”

“Oh, I suspect he’d stay if he had a good reason to.”

Meri tried to see her face. She was taking this a lot calmer than Meri was. “He obviously doesn’t think he has reason enough to stay.”

“Well, did you ask him?”

“What? Ask him to stay?”

Gran turned with her hands on her hips. “Isn’t that what we’re talking about?”

“Well, it’s a little late. They’re gone.”

“I expect they’ll be back.”

“I’m not holding my breath.”
Or my hope.
“Well, one good thing, is Gilbert House has funding at least for a few more months.”

“I heard. Congratulations.”

The sounds of a vehicle pulling into the yard interrupted their talk.

“Ah, here they are.”

“Who? Is Dad coming out this weekend? He didn’t say anything.”

Gran raised her eyes to the ceiling.

“Nora and Alden.”

“But they left.”

“Only to go into town to the store. Nora wanted to make a lemon custard pie. I was out of lemons.”

“Gran!”

“Good heavens, what is it?”

Meri went to meet them.

Alden slowed when he saw Meri, but Nora ran forward, grabbed her left hand, and looked. “You’re not engaged?”

Meri shook her head.

“You’re not getting engaged?”

Meri shook her head again.

“Yes.” Nora fist pumped the air.

The door opened. “Nora, bring those lemons in here if you want a pie for tonight.”

Nora looked torn, but she followed Gran into the house.

“Are you okay with that?” Alden asked.

“More than okay. It was my choice.”

“Ah. Well.”

“Are you still moving to Manhattan?”

“Depends.”

“On what?”

“On you.”

“Really?”

“Oh, Meri. Really.”

“Kiss me.”

He tilted his head to kiss her cheek.

She stopped him. “A real kiss.”

His eyes snapped with amusement. “Are you sure?”

“No. But let’s just try it and see what happens.” She stepped toward him, saw the unconditional love in his eyes, and saw the moment that love changed to desire.

“W
hat are they doing?” Nora pressed her nose to the kitchen window.

Gran stood on tiptoe, peering out. “Something I’ve been expecting for a long time.” She pulled Nora from the window. “So let’s leave them to it. We’ve got a pie to bake.”

  
1.
  
Meri is expecting an engagement ring for her thirtieth birthday; instead she finds out that she was adopted. Her initial response was a total emotional breakdown. Do you think you would react in the same way under the same circumstances? Why did she feel that others would change their opinion of her because of the adoption? Do you agree?

  
2.
  
Do you think Therese and Laura Calder did the right thing by keeping Riley’s baby? Or should they have turned her over to social services? Was it a selfish act or an act of love? Can it be both? What do you think you would have done in their place?

  
3.
  
When I first thought about what would happen to an abandoned baby in twentieth-century Rhode Island (or anywhere in the States) I wondered if the idea was too far-fetched. So I researched instances of this happening and how this kind of situation might slip through the cracks. I was astounded by the things I learned. Would you think this was possible in this day and age?

  
4.
  
Do you think Meri was obligated to tell the story of her birth? How much do you think other people have a right to know about your own personal history? She knew she had to tell Peter for the sake of any children they might have and the possible medical repercussions. But what about the others? And what about the authorities?

  
5.
  
Alden was just a boy when he saved Riley from the breakers. Laura is afraid that it may have marked him for life. Do you agree? He promised to take care of Meri and he did. Did this make him more of a prisoner to his promise or did it grow out of love for Meri?

  
6.
  
Do you think this promise colored Alden’s life, his artwork, or his marriage? And for better or worse?

  
7.
  
Peter doesn’t make too many appearances in the novel. Many stories involve an ex-boyfriend or husband who was bad, or a failure, or died, but sometimes people just change or grow apart. It might not be as dramatic as catching a cheating boyfriend with your best friend, but do you think the final breakup can be just as hurtful as the other? Is the sense of loss heightened or dulled when a person has to come to a decision without an inciting incident.

  
8.
  
When do you think Meri began to question her relationship to Peter? Realize she didn’t want to marry him? Did her decision have more to do with Peter, with Alden, or with herself?

  
9.
  
Therese has watched Alden and Meri grow up together and grow into adulthood. Do you think she knows they should be together? Or do you think she just wants them to be together? When we see two people we think should be together or not be together, how much do our own feelings about relationships come into play?

10.
  
I like to have different generations in my stories because, depending on your age and experience, the same events can affect you so differently. How do you think Therese, Nora, and Meri are affected by the events in the novel? How did each of them react when faced with important decisions?

11.
  
Alden didn’t fight for shared custody of his children. Meri tells Nora that she thinks it’s because he didn’t want them to grow up without a mother like he did. Do you think this is all of the truth or were there other reasons he let them go?

12.
  
Nora and her brother, Lucas, seem very different from each other. Is this just in personalities and external displays of emotion or is there something fundamentally different about them? How do they each handle the divorce and growing up in a home with a stepfather and new stepsiblings? How do they feel about their father?

13.
  
When Nora runs away back to Newport was she being a selfish, spoiled teenager or did she have a valid reason? Do you think Alden should have sent her back to her mother and stepfather and tried to work out a compromise later, or was he right to insist on keeping her with him? How do you think Lucas will feel about this?

14.
  
Meri knows she doesn’t want to move to California to be with Peter, but when Carlyn asks if she would move to Manhattan to be with Alden she says she doesn’t know. What do you think she would do if put to the test? What do you think would be the right decision for her?

15.
  
Meri doesn’t realize until late in the book that she may love Alden, that she does love Alden. Can love hit a person unawares like that? And what about Alden? He’s loved her all his life, though that love has transformed over the years. Do you think he was patiently waiting for her to discover him? Or was he accepting of whatever it was going to be? What do you think about the way he thought about her? Can platonic love turn to romantic love?

16.
  
What do you think the future holds for Meri and Alden? Will they stay together? Get married? If they do, how will they adapt to having a teenage girl living with them from the beginning? Will it be hard on the relationship? Where will they live?

17.
  
Meri and Alden both have demanding professions. Do you think their relationship will ultimately suffer because of this, or will they have to compromise down the road? Do you think they can compromise without resenting the loss?

18.
  
At the end of the story, we see Therese and Nora about to bake a pie, and Meri and Alden about to embark on a new kind of relationship. Three generations together. Most of us have families spread from state to state and sometimes in other countries. How important is it for families to have a place they can call
home?
What do you think the future will hold for Corrigan House and Calder Farm?