Heart Echoes (17 page)

“What does that mean?”

“It means his abandonment is on record and he doesn't have a leg to stand on. Are you up for going through a few more questions?”

“Sure. I'm sorry that you have to work on your vacation.”

“I'm not on vacation. A family emergency took me out of town. I apologize that I'm not there in person, but you know I'm available, and everyone at my firm is at your disposal.” She heard a beep. “Hold on a sec, please.”

She lowered her cell and saw that River was calling. Answer or not?

He would have to wait. He would understand.

Wouldn't he?

Of course he would. It was their life. They had each married not so much a workaholic as an advocate for the helpless. At times, for short periods, the helpless one was prioritized above the spouse. From the beginning they had realized this about their relationship and agreed not to take it personally.

The fun part of such a crazy lifestyle was the catch-up time afterward. They would abandon themselves to each other. Special dinners were in order or daylong dates that included beach strolls, movies, and museums.

River was fine.

In spite of last night's conversation. In spite of the fact there was no available catch-up time anywhere near on the horizon.

She put the phone back to her ear. “Sorry, Hannah. I just have a few questions.”
And a hope.
If the original version of Hannah's story was the complete truth, then they were most likely home free. If not, then Bio Dad—who perhaps did not fit the ogre profile—might get a chance to meet his daughter.

A shiver went through Teal. She blamed it on the rain.

Chapter 30

Early afternoon Teal's back and head ached from hours on the cushion, talking and e-mailing on her phone. Besides needing a change of position, she needed wireless.

As she walked inside Happy Grounds, the bell on the door tinkled its happy sound. Two people browsed the gift section and six others sat at tables in the dining area. Teal wondered how businesses like her sister's ever made ends meet between September and June.

Two of the six patrons were Maiya and Baker, the latte expert. Their heads nearly touched over an open textbook.

Teal dropped her laptop and briefcase on the nearest table and met Lacey at the counter.

Her sister handed her a mug of steaming coffee. “I saw you coming.”

“Mm. Thank you.” She nodded in Maiya's direction. “What's with Mr. Latte here at this hour?”

“He got off school early today for some reason or other. Maiya seemed glad to start math with him even after our full day.”

“How did you two do?”

“Great. She has syllabuses for most of her classes, so from those we figured out what to cover in the next few weeks. Health and US history will be fun, but Plato will be a stretch. It's been a while.” She smiled. “From the looks of those two, I think we've got math covered too.”

Teal noticed that Maiya and Baker were still huddled over the textbook and talking with animation, as if trig were the most fascinating topic in the world.

“Hey, I saved a tuna salad for you. Maiya said you like it.”

“You are the hostess with the mostest.”

“That would be my mother-in-law. I just try to mimic her.” Lacey glanced down at her long-sleeved T-shirt and blue jeans and laughed. “However, the wardrobe would not pass muster.”

Teal sipped her coffee and studied her sister. The green shirt with its pine tree and “Green is not just a color” message fit the tender expression on Lacey's face. She would love trees and whales, customers and nieces. Maybe even wayward sisters.

Lacey looked up. “I probably won't wear this when Nora's here next week.”

“Nora's coming? When?” The muscles in Teal's neck stiffened again. She remembered Will's parents as being friendly. The thought of relating to more people from her past, though, felt like overload.

“I didn't mention that? I told Maiya. Sorry. Sometimes talking to her feels like talking to you.” Lacey smiled. “Nora and William plan to arrive whenever their RV pulls into my driveway, sometime next week.”

“Weren't they in town already this summer?”

“Yes, but when they heard you and Maiya were here, they decided to swing by again on their way home to Phoenix.” She leaned across the counter. “You know you're the talk of Camp Poppycock.”

Teal frowned. “With a population of a thousand, I figured as much.”

“But it's all positive. The fact that you're a big-time Beverly Hills attorney impresses us.”

“Lace, please. It's Los Angeles, and it's not a big-time deal.”

“You're so modest.” She giggled. “But you do need a place to work, so Will's getting a store key made for you. It's silly for you to sit on the cottage floor and not be able to come in here after hours.”

“That's—that's . . .” She wanted to say “unnecessary,” but that would be a lie. “Oh, Lacey. I wasn't supposed to be working so much, but this particular case . . .” She shook her head. “Thank you.”

“Sure. Come look in the back. I want to show you what Will did with the desk.”

Teal walked around the counter and followed Lacey into the back room. She had been given the tour on the day they arrived and noticed the desk nearly buried under piles and piles of papers.

The windowless room was rectangular, the width of the coffee shop, painted an off-white and glowing from a ceiling full of recessed lights. It was half kitchen, half office. An exterior door led to the alley. There was a recliner in a corner. It seemed out of place. It had been added for Lacey's comfort, for those days when she had insisted on working but needed frequent breaks to rest.

Lacey gestured at the desk. “Will's done for the day. Make yourself at home.”

The work space had indeed been cleared. “What did he do with all of his stuff?”

Lacey pointed to two cardboard boxes on the floor beside it. “There.”

“I don't mind working in the other room at a table. If you don't mind.”

“I certainly don't mind, but I saw people interrupt you yesterday.” She put an arm around Teal's shoulder and hugged her. “Suit yourself. I'm just so happy you're here.”

Teal returned her hug and stared at the desk so as not to stare at the recliner in the corner.

It didn't matter where she looked, though. Her ears still burned and her mind still visited the back room as it had looked nearly seventeen years ago.

The kitchen had contained old, smaller appliances and cabinets with doors that did not stay shut. The walls had been covered in dark paneling, the lighting dim. There had been no computer atop the desk, no recliner in a corner.

There had been a couch.

And two young people fraught with a passion that had nothing to do with making love and everything to do with expressing hatred.

Teal patted her sister's thin back and felt the sharpness of a shoulder blade. “Lace, thanks, but I don't want to take Will's space. I'll use any available table out front and be just fine.”

“Well, if you need privacy, this is here for you.”

Teal smiled tightly, unwilling to describe the ghosts that kept the back room anything but private.

It was after 5 p.m. Teal sat in the closed and deserted coffee shop and tried to decide if River should phone her first. Technically he had that morning, but she was talking to Hannah Walton at the time and he did not leave a voice mail. That gave her stubborn side permission not to return his call.

But almost nineteen hours had passed since they last spoke. Suddenly stubborn felt ridiculous.

She pressed the speed dial for him.

His cell rang and rang.

She checked her watch again. Classes were over for him. The boys would be busy with kitchen or other duties and soon sitting down to dinner. He didn't normally schedule counseling sessions for this time of day. He might be—

The ringing stopped. She expected voice mail to pick up and wondered what to say.

“Teal?” It was River, live.

She readjusted her thoughts, a torturously long procedure. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

She hated being at a loss for words. “I didn't think you were going to answer.” She cringed, hating more the reduction of her words to pointlessness.

“I was out in the hall with some guys; my phone was on the desk.” He said no more.

She breathed.

“Teal, you want to go first?”

“I'm not sorry for being angry.”

He laughed, long and hard.

A smile wobbled into place.

He said, “I didn't think you were. The question is, are we cool?”

It was River-talk for
was she calm enough to engage in normal conversation?
“We're cool. How was your day?”

They engaged in normal conversation, a lengthy exchange that soothed her nerves. Backroom ghosts and Hannah Walton's distress faded from the forefront of her mind. Jake's importance in the overall scheme of their life lessened.

Teal was married to a good man. She was the mother of a wonderful daughter whose hormones would even out in the long run. All was well with the world.

“So,” he said, “work sounds like it's becoming an issue. What do you think about cutting your visit short?”

“I think that would totally defeat its purpose.”

“That would be your ‘mommy time,' which seems to be on the wane?”

Like a mommy bear, Teal felt something primal rise up inside of her. “River, we've only been here four days. Once the countersuit and motion to dismiss are filed, I can work on the discovery in my spare time. Maiya is—”

“I miss you.”

She went silent.

“Teal, I miss you so much it hurts. I physically ache inside.”

“Maybe it's your ribs?”

“It's not my ribs.”

“I'm sorry, hon.”

“I'm sorry for being so deeply in touch with my feminine side.” His chuckle fell short. There was no humor in it.

“Look at it this way: less than five weeks to go.” She had tentatively set the first of October as a departure date. That would put Maiya back in time for the end of her suspension. “It's not
that
long, right?”

“Only if I don't see you before then. I guess I better buy the ticket I put on hold.”

“You're coming! For Maiya's birthday?”

“Yep, for a long weekend.”

“What about the auction?”

“I'm learning to delegate. I'll be back in time to fix any screw-ups and finalize things.” His tone held little conviction.

As they continued to talk, she heard the strain in both of their voices. As much as he missed her and Maiya, it was a difficult choice for him to leave school even for a few days. He did not mention the cost, but she knew that a flight to the nearest airport—located at Camp Poppycock's twin town up the coast, where few people chose to go—would be priced sky high.

She felt a rush of guilt for causing the situation but quickly reminded herself that maintaining a relationship required sacrifices. Despite his show of a feminine side, he was totally in tune with his masculinity. He would be fine.

She wasn't so sure about herself. Call it pride or whatever, revealing to River the ugly part of her life would hurt. The thought of his meeting Randi and Owen and seeing firsthand the poor, backward town turned her stomach. It was not who she was; it was not the woman he had married.

And yet it was still a part of her.

Before River came into her life, she had grown by leaps and bounds. In the light of his love, though, she had positively blossomed. How else could she have found the courage to return to Cedar Pointe?

And yet she was wilting.

There were ghosts in the back room of the coffee shop. There were ghosts at her mother's house, on the stone walkway where she had clung to her father when she was three. There were ghosts in Lacey's naiveté. There were ghosts of Maiya's bio dad in casual conversation at every turn.

Teal feared that not even River could withstand them.