One Summer (16 page)

The young men walked off.

“What was that all about?” demanded Jack.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” a grinning Cory wanted to know. “I thought you liked this Liam guy.”

Mikki’s face reddened. “Will you two just knock it off?”

“That guy doesn’t even have an earring, and his hair is perfectly normal,” said Jack. “He’s not your type. He’s a football player, for God’s sake. You hate football players.”

“Who told you that?”

“Your mom. She made a big joke out of it because she
married
a football player.”

“I think I can decide for myself what my type is,” Mikki said hotly.

“Well, I’m still your dad and I don’t like the idea of—”

“Hey, Miracle Man!”

Jack jerked around to see where the voice had come from.

“Over here, Miracle.”

Jack turned to see two large men sitting in the cab of a pickup truck staring at him. One man stuck his head out of the truck. “I need me a miracle. You want’a come over here and sprinkle some water on my head?” He waved a five-dollar bill. “I ain’t expecting miracles for free. I’ll pay good money for it.” Both men burst out laughing. They got out of the truck and leaned against it, their big arms folded over their thick chests. They were dressed in jeans and dirty T-shirts, with greasy ball caps on their heads. Their bare arms were covered in tattoos.

Cory said fearfully, “Dad?”

“It’s okay, son. We’ll just keep on walking.”

They passed by the men.

One of them said, “Hey, Miracle, you too good to stop for us poor folk?”

Mikki whirled around and said, “Grow up, you creeps!”

“Mikki,” Jack snapped. “Just keep walking.”

“Yeah, Mikki,” mimicked one of the men. “Just keep walking, sugah.”

Jack stiffened at this remark. He almost turned around, but his kids were with him, and he knew nothing good would come out of a confrontation. Jack said to the kids, “We’ll go on down to the beach when we get back, and—”

“Hey, Miracle, was it true your slutty wife was cheating on you with your best bud?”

Jack moved so quickly, Cory’s hand was still up in the air
where it had been clutching his dad’s. When Jack rushed at them, the first man threw a punch. Jack ducked it, grabbed the man’s hand, ripped it back and then over his shoulder, swung him around, and slammed him headfirst into the truck. When the bloodied man turned back around and charged at Jack, he sidestepped the attack and leveled the guy with a crushing blow to the jaw. The second man slammed into Jack’s back, propelling him forward and face-first into a lamppost. In the next instant he’d spun out of the man’s grasp, laid a fist into his diaphragm, doubling him over, and then kicked his legs out from under him. Jack’s elbow strike to the back of the man’s neck sent him down to the pavement, where he stayed, groaning loudly.

Jack was bent over, his breaths coming in gasps and blood pouring down his face from where he’d hit the post. As he straightened up and looked around, it seemed like the entire town of Channing was staring back at him. No one moved; no one seemed even to be breathing. As he glanced across the street, he saw Jenna and Liam staring at him from the door to the Little Bit. When he looked to his left, he saw Bonnie and Fred gawping at him in shock from the entrance to the gift shop. Bonnie looked at Jack, then to the unconscious men, and then back at her bleeding son-in-law.

“Daddy!”

Jack looked over his shoulder. Jackie was standing on the sidewalk bawling. Cory stood there looking in amazement at his dad, while Mikki glowered contemptuously at the two men lying on the pavement. “Idiots,” she said.

Jack quickly piled his kids into the VW and drove off.

Jack sat at the kitchen table with ice wrapped in a paper towel and held over his left cheek. Dried blood was stuck to his forehead from the impact with the street lamp. When someone knocked on the door, Jack half expected it to be the police.

“Old man and wady,” squealed Jackie after he managed to open the door.

Jenna and Charles strode in. She was carrying a small bag and sat down next to Jack. She started pulling things out: sterilized wipes, Band-Aids, an ice pack, and antibiotic cream.

“What are you two doing here?” asked Jack.

Jenna moved Jack’s hand away from his battered face and cleaned up the cuts, applied the ointment, and covered it all with a large Band-Aid.

Charles said, “We thought you might need a little assistance.”

“Those two idiots,” said Jenna. “Going off half-cocked like that. Probably drunk.”

“You know them?” asked Jack.

“They come into the bar every once in a while. But I can’t really say I know them.”

“They’re from Sweat Town,” added Charles.

Jenna frowned. “I despise that term.”

“Well, it’s not very nice, but I think the residents actually coined it,” said Charles.

“What exactly is Sweat Town?” asked Mikki.

“Other side of the tracks,” replied Charles. “Poor side of town. Every coastal area has them. Most of the people who do the actual work around here live there.”

Jenna said, “Here’s an ice pack. It’ll work faster on that swelling.”

“Thanks.”

She closed up her bag, sat back, and studied Jack’s face. “Okay, you should be good to go.”

“You’re pretty slick at that,” said Mikki.

“Just your mom-standard-procedure stuff.”

Jackie jumped up and down trying to get to her bag of medical supplies. Jenna finally placed a Band-Aid on his finger and kissed it. “Now your boo-boo is all gone too.” She straightened back up and gazed steadily at Jack. “Looks like you didn’t forget your army training. Those weren’t small guys, and you put ’em down pretty fast.”

Jack grimaced. “It was stupid. Never should’ve happened.”

The door opened, and Sammy walked in carrying his motorcycle helmet. “Had a nice little ride—” When he saw Jack, he exclaimed, “What the hell happened? You fall off a ladder?”

Jackie yelled, “Daddy pighting.” The little boy did a kick and then swung his fist so hard he fell over.

“Fighting? Who with?” demanded Sammy.

Mikki and Cory both started telling Sammy what had happened. The older man’s features turned dark as he listened to them. When they got to the slur that the one man had called Lizzie, Sammy went over to his toolbox and pulled out a crowbar. “You tell me what they look like and where I can find these maggots.”

“No, Sammy,” said Jack.

“I’m not letting them get away with this crap,” barked Sammy.

“I’ll handle it.”

“What, you think I’m too old to take care of myself?”

“That’s not the point. You beat them up, your butt will land right in jail.”

Charles said, “He’s right, Sammy. That’s not the way to go about it.”

“Uh-oh,” said Jackie. He was peering out the window into the front yard.

“What is it, Jackie?” asked his sister.

Jackie pointed to the door, his eyes so big they appeared to touch.
“Cop dude,”
he said in a very un-Jackie-like whisper. Then he sped into the next room to hide.

Jack looked sternly at his older kids. “Cop dude? Where did he learn that?”

Mikki looked uncomfortably at the floor. Cory studied the ceiling, his teeth clenched over his bottom lip.

“Great,” said Jack stiffly as he rose to answer the door.

The sheriff identified himself as Nathan Tammie. He was a big man with a bluff, serious face and dark curly hair. He took Jack’s statement and scratched his chin. “That pretty much matches up with what other people said happened. But you
did
go after them.”

“He was provoked. They were saying nasty things about our mom,” exclaimed Mikki. “What did you expect him to do?”

Jenna said, “Sheriff, Charles and I saw the whole thing. It’s exactly as Mikki said. He was provoked. Anybody would’ve done what Jack did.”

“I’m not saying I wouldn’t have done the same thing, Jenna, but I also can’t let things like this happen in town without consequences. I’ve already told those two boys to back off. And I expect you to hold on to your temper, Mr. Armstrong. If something happens again, you come tell me, and I’ll handle it. Do we understand each other? ’Cause if there’s a next time, people are gonna end up in jail.”

“I understand.”

After the sheriff left, Charles said, “He’s a good man, but he also means what he says.” He looked at Jenna. “I can drive you back to town.”

“Can you give me a minute, Charles?”

A sulking Sammy had gone into another room, and the kids had disappeared.

Jenna said to Jack, “Miracle Man?”

Jack stared at her, the ice pack held to his face. “It’s a long story.”

“I’m a good listener.”

“I appreciate that, Jenna. It’s just that…”

“I can tell you’re the sort of man who doesn’t open up easily. Keeps it all inside.”

“Maybe we can talk about it. Just not right now.”

“Well, you need anything else, just let me know.” She rose to go.

“Jenna?”

She turned back to see him watching her. “Yes?”

He touched the Band-Aid on his face. “Thanks for coming over. Means a lot.”

She smiled. “Only next time I hope I don’t have to bring my first-aid kit.”

The sound woke all of them. Lights burst on. Jack and Sammy made sure the kids were okay before checking the rest of the house.

“Sounded like a bomb going off,” said Sammy. “Or a building collapsed.”

Jack looked at him quizzically and then said, “Oh, damn!”

He ran toward the rear of the house.

“Jack! What is it?”

Sammy raced after him.

Jack sprinted across the backyard and over to the rocks. He ripped open the door of the lighthouse and stopped. The stairs had collapsed. He shone his light upward. Forty vertical feet of wood had tumbled down.

Sammy ran up next to him and saw what he was looking at. “Hell. Weren’t you just up there?”

Jack nodded, his gaze still on the fallen structure. Now he couldn’t get to the top.

“Close call, boy.”

Jack turned to him. “I need to rebuild the stairs.”

“What?”

“We can go get the materials tomorrow.”

“But we still have to finish some other jobs. And Charles has got some more referrals for us. Lady named Anne Bethune has a big house on the beach. She wants a screen porch enclosed and some other stuff done. Good money.”

“I’ll do this on my own time.”

“Yeah, all your spare time.”

“I
have
to do it, Sammy.”

Sammy looked at the jumble of splintered wood. “Gonna be expensive.”

“Take it out of my share. And I don’t expect you to help.”

Sammy frowned. “Since when do we have shares and don’t help each other?”

“But this is different, Sammy. I can’t expect you to do this too.”

Sammy looked at the hand-painted sign next to the door and said quietly, “We’ll take some measurements in the morning. Get the materials. We’ll do the paying stuff during the day and this after hours. Okay?”

“Okay,” said Jack. As Sammy turned to go back in the house, he added, “Thanks, Sammy.”

He turned around. “Never been married, Jack. But I understand losing somebody. Especially someone like Lizzie.”

He continued on into the house, and Jack turned to look back at the lighthouse he was now going to rebuild.

“What’s all this for?” Charles asked as Jack and Sammy finished loading the truck to capacity. He eyed the items in the
truck bed. “Scaffolding, and you’ve ordered enough wood to build another Noah’s ark?”

“Had a little accident at the Palace,” said Sammy when it appeared Jack was not going to answer the man’s question.

Charles looked alarmed. “Accident? Was anyone hurt?”

“Stairs in the lighthouse fell down,” said Jack. “No one was hurt.”

“So you’re going to rebuild the stairs?” he asked, looking perplexed.

“Yes,” said Jack tersely.

Sammy eyed Charles and shrugged.

“But the light doesn’t even work.”

“He plans on fixing that too,” replied Sammy.

“But why? It’s not registered as a navigational aid anymore.”

Jack finished strapping everything down before he looked at Charles and pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to him. “I found a schematic on the lighting system. I’d appreciate it if you could see if these pieces of equipment could be ordered.”

Charles glanced down at the list. “Might take some time. And it won’t be cheap.”

Jack started to climb into the truck. “Thanks.”

Sammy gave Charles a helpless look and got in the truck.

As they were driving out of town, Sammy said, “Isn’t that Bonnie?”

Jack looked where he was pointing. It was indeed Bonnie. And she was sitting in a car with a younger man dressed in a suit.

“Who’s the guy?” asked Sammy.

“Never seen him before.”

“She’s a strange bird.”

“Yeah.” Jack glanced back at the woman and then drove on.

They unloaded the materials at the Palace. Then Sammy took the VW and drove off to meet with Anne Bethune about what she needed done, while Jack continued on to Jenna’s house in the truck.

Jenna met him at the door. She was still dressed in a robe and slippers.

“Sorry about my appearance. The restaurant business isn’t nine to five; it’s more like ten a.m. to midnight. You want some coffee?”

Jack hesitated.

“No extra charge,” she said, smiling.

“Okay, thanks.”

She poured out a cup and brought it down to him in the music room. She watched him work hanging new drywall.

“You really know what you’re doing,” she said.

“It’s just drywall. Once you know what to do, it’s pretty easy.”

“Right. I can’t even hang a picture.”

“I doubt being a lawyer in D.C. was easy.”

“Just a bunch of words, legal gobbledygook.”

“If you say so.”

Jenna sipped her coffee and continued to watch. “Our kids have really hit it off playing music together.”

“Yeah, Mikki told me.”

“First time I’ve seen Liam really take an interest in anyone down here.”

“He seems like a fine young man. And Mikki’s mood is a lot better. That’s worth its weight in gold.”