Sea Glass Island (23 page)

“What are you doing here?” Ethan asked. “Has Sam Castle decided he wants to renovate and move in here?” He made the latter inquiry with a hopeful note in his voice. He wasn’t happy about the more obvious answer, that Samantha was sticking around and moving forward with her plans despite all the obstacles he’d predicted.

Tommy shook his head. “We’re gutting the house and turning it into a playhouse, at least that’s the plan as soon as Samantha and I can get all the designs drawn up and the permits pulled. She’s not wasting any time. The woman knows exactly what she wants,” he said.

Tommy’s admiring tone set Ethan’s nerves on edge. “I thought you were seeing Meg,” he said testily. “Didn’t the two of you hit it off?”

Tommy regarded him with bewilderment. “We’ve been out a couple of times. What does that have to do with anything?”

Greg shook his head. “Man, you are pitiful,” he told Ethan, then turned to Tommy. “Don’t mind him. He broke up with Samantha, but apparently doesn’t want another single male within a hundred yards of her.”

A grin broke across Tommy’s face. “You’re jealous? Of me and Samantha Castle?”

“I am not jealous,” Ethan said, grinding his teeth. He scowled at Greg. “He has no idea what he’s talking about.”

“Sounded to me as if he hit the nail on the head,” Tommy replied, clearly amused. “You’ve got nothing to worry about. Samantha is way, way out of my league. Besides, I thought things between the two of you were all but settled. It’s against my code to poach on a friend’s woman.”

“She is not my woman,” Ethan reiterated, imagining Samantha’s reaction if she heard him trying to claim otherwise. He doubted she’d like the idea of being anyone’s possession, and at the moment, since he’d let her go rather than publicly jumping to her defense, she probably wanted no connection to him at all.

“We need to go,” he said abruptly. “See you, Tommy.”

Greg gave Tommy a sympathetic look. “Don’t mind him. He’s a little stressed.”

As they took off, Ethan frowned at him. “You might want to remember that,” he warned Greg.

“What?”

“That I’m stressed. Shouldn’t you be trying to settle me down, rather than adding to it?”

Greg clapped a hand down on his shoulder. “Nah. My mission is to help you to see the error of your ways. We’re not there yet.”

Ethan gave him a resigned look, then upped his pace. He might not be able to stop Greg from sharing his annoying insights, but it was entirely possible that he could outrun him.

Only thing he couldn’t get away from, though, was his own conscience. A good man, the one everyone around here believed to be a hero, should have been in Samantha’s corner from the start of this debacle.

* * *

Samantha had been spending a lot of time with her father and Sophia, finalizing the design for the playhouse. He’d taken on the assignment of getting the plans approved at City Hall.

“I have a secret weapon,” he told her, gesturing to Sophia. “She’s charmed every single person in the place. It’s astounding to watch her in action.”

“Lots of practice,” Sophia said modestly, but pleasure sparkled in her eyes.

They’d been getting together every afternoon at Castle’s, spending an hour or so going over everything from budgets to promotional plans. Gabi sat in on those sessions, eager to help with the launch when the time came.

They were just winding up today, when Cass Gray came in looking for Samantha. Judging from her sullen expression, she wasn’t happy.

“Are we finished here?” Samantha asked her father. “I need to spend some time with Cass.”

“Go ahead,” he said. “We’re all set. We’re coming over for dinner, so we’ll see you later.”

When they’d left, Samantha gestured to the seat they’d vacated. “Join me.”

Cass tossed her book bag into the booth, then slid in after it.

“No rehearsal today?” Samantha asked her.

“I skipped it,” Cass said.

Uh-oh, Samantha thought. That was definitely a bad sign. “Why would you do that?”

“Because Mrs. Gentry said some stuff. I came to see if it’s true.”

Samantha’s heart sank. “What stuff?”

“That you were probably leaving town.”

It wasn’t the response Samantha had been expecting. “Did she say why she believed that?”

“She said there was some scandal, and you’d never live it down.” She stared at Samantha miserably. “It’s because of that stupid picture in the paper, isn’t it?”

“There was a bit of a fuss over that,” Samantha admitted. “You do know it’s not true, right? I’ve never been a stripper.”

“Oh, who cares if you were!” Cass said impatiently. “You’ve done all this other cool stuff. That’s what counts. I’ll bet Dr. Cole told you the same thing. How can you leave him? He was starting to have a life, you know what I mean? I saw him yesterday, and he was acting like a grumpy bear. That’s because you’re leaving, I’ll bet.”

Samantha thought the dynamics of her relationship with Ethan should remain between the two of them. “Let’s leave Ethan out of this. The bottom line is that I’m not going anywhere.”

Cass’s eyes lit up. “You’re not? Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Samantha confirmed.

“But you haven’t called about classes.”

“I had some things to take care of before I could think about those,” Samantha told her.

“Like what?”

“Like drawing up plans for a playhouse and getting the work started,” she said.

“Holy cow!” Cass said, clearly astonished. “You’re going to produce plays here? In a real playhouse?”

“That’s the plan.”

“Can I be in one?”

Samantha laughed at her eagerness. “If you can handle any of the parts, you definitely can be. And before you ask, I have no idea what the first production is likely to be. I’m sure it won’t be before next summer, though. There’s a lot that needs to happen before we get to that point.”

“But you’re not leaving, for sure?”

“For sure,” she promised.

Cass beamed at her. “That is the best news ever!”

Samantha could only pray that everyone would see it that way. She smiled at Cass. “Now tell me how the rehearsals are going.”

“Well, to everyone’s shock, Sue Ellen’s gotten her act together. She’s not half bad.”

“Glowing praise, coming from you. I guess that means you’re not likely to get onstage. How are you feeling about that?”

Cass shrugged. “What can I say? I hate it, but things like this are going to happen. I have to learn to deal with it, right?”

“Then maybe this lesson wasn’t such a bad thing, after all,” Samantha suggested. “Because you’re right. There will be rejections, Cass, and disappointments. It’s the nature of the business.”

“Have you been rejected?”

“More times than I can count,” Samantha admitted.

“What do you do?”

“Eat a lot of ice cream,” Samantha said ruefully. “And then I go out on another audition, and then another, till something clicks.”

Even as she spoke, she realized it was a practice she’d almost forgotten. She’d let the situation with Ethan throw her so badly she’d been ready to leave town rather than dealing with it. Hadn’t she learned anything from all those times she’d had to bolster her spirits and face another casting director or producer?

Thankfully her father, Sophia and Cora Jane had kept her from making a terrible mistake, but she needed to remember her own philosophy and the fighting spirit that had kept her working when others might have given up.

“Thank you, Cass.”

The teen blinked. “For what?”

“Reminding me how important it is to keep trying when something matters enough.”

“Isn’t that what you’ve been telling me all along?” Cass asked, her expression puzzled.

“Yes, but apparently I hadn’t been listening to my own advice.”

“Am I supposed to know what you’re talking about?”

Samantha laughed. “No, not really.”

“But I helped?”

“You did.”

Cass beamed. “Cool.”

“We’ll talk soon,” Samantha promised her. “I hope to announce those classes in the next week or so.”

“Great. And don’t worry about Mrs. Gentry. I’ll spread the word. I know Sue Ellen wants to come. She thinks you’re some kind of goddess because you cured her of stage fright and got me out of her hair. Some of the other kids are really interested, too. And when they hear about this theater thing, they’re going to go crazy. Can I tell them?”

“Of course,” Samantha said.

Maybe if word got around town that Samantha was here to stay, a certain gun-shy physician would have second thoughts about walking away from what they had. And if not, well, she intended to take one last stab at showing him how wrong it would be to throw their future away.

* * *

Once Greg had planted that seed about Boone’s former in-laws being behind that photo in the paper, Ethan had given it a lot of thought. On the one hand, he’d told himself to let it go, that what was done was done. On the other, he knew he owed it to Samantha to set the record straight.

He drove over to the newspaper’s office, determined to get to the bottom of it. He also intended to do what he should have done when he’d first seen the paper, demand that a retraction of that bit about Samantha being a stripper. Maybe that was her fight if she wanted to pursue it, but as Greg had reminded him, he had a history with Ken Jones and he intended to use his clout to force the issue.

Ken looked up when Ethan crossed the newsroom, removed his glasses and stood up. “I was expecting a visit from you a lot sooner,” he admitted, his expression somber and maybe just the slightest bit guilt-ridden. “Look, I know that picture was probably upsetting, but you and Boone are news around here. It was too good an opportunity to pass up.”

“Sure, if you’re more worried about selling papers than destroying reputations,” Ethan countered. “Is that it, Ken? Is this little rag of yours in financial trouble?”

Ken blinked at the attack and put his glasses back on. Ethan wondered if the little weasel subscribed to the idea that no one would hit a man wearing glasses.

“It was news,” Ken repeated, though he sounded a little more nervous than he had.

“And describing Samantha as a stripper? Where’d that idea come from? You know it’s not true.”

“Yeah,” he said, wincing. “I got an earful about that from Cora Jane and from my mother.”

Ethan allowed himself a smile. “Good for them. I should have been here sooner to add my two cents. You do know it probably rises to the level of libel if Samantha wants to pursue it?”

“So I’ve heard from my lawyer, who’s no happier about it than you are.”

“Where’d you get the idea that she was a stripper in the first place?”

“The photographer,” he admitted.

“Who is? I noticed there was no credit line under the photo.”

Ken winced. “The picture came to me via email with no request for credit or payment. Since cameras don’t lie, I printed it.”

“But people who send anonymous emails do lie, and they do leave a trail. You’re not stupid, Ken. You were the biggest computer geek in our class. And somewhere buried deep inside are the remains of a real journalist. Where’d the picture come from? I’m sure you know.”

Ken hesitated, probably trying on several arguments about confidentiality for size. Then he caved. “Jodie Farmer,” he admitted. “And I know she has an axe to grind against the Castles, or against Emily, anyway. I should have used better judgment, okay? No question about it.”

“Then I imagine you won’t have a bit of trouble using all that temporarily forgotten integrity to correct the situation,” Ethan said, his tone mild but unyielding.

“I don’t know what good it would do now.”

Ethan regarded him incredulously. “You describe someone as a stripper, which you know could hurt her reputation, and you don’t see why it’s necessary to fix that? Let me help you. If clearing your conscience and the record aren’t good enough reasons, how about this? I will encourage Samantha to sue you for every penny she can get from this sleazy rag of yours and from you personally for knowing you made a mistake and not fixing it in the next edition. How’s that for motivation?”

Ken heaved a sigh. “Okay, you’re ticked off. I get that, Ethan. Want to tell me what your stake is in this? Are the rumors true? Are the two of you a hot item?”

“My relationship with Samantha is none of your concern. This is about righting a wrong.” He held the other man’s gaze. “On the front page in type big enough that the world can see it from across the street, the same way they could spot that photo.”

“Come on, now,” Ken protested.

“Do it,” Ethan repeated. “Or I will see that Samantha nails your sorry hide.”

He felt a thousand percent better when he walked away, but he wondered if he’d done enough to make things right. Or was this one of those situations he’d be regretting for a lifetime, berating himself for doing too little too late?

23

S
amantha was walking through the gutted building that would eventually become a small theater seating a few hundred patrons when Gabi came running in, waving the local weekly. Samantha regarded her warily.

“Not again,” she muttered. “What did they print this time?”

“Wait till you see,” her sister gloated. “It’s an apology, on the front page, no less.”

Samantha stared at the large front-page display in shock. “What on earth brought this on? Retractions usually appear in teeny-tiny type buried somewhere inside the paper.”

“According to the editor, the fact that there was no evidence that you were or ever had been a stripper was brought to his attention by none other than local hero Ethan Cole!”

“What?” Samantha said incredulously. “Let me see that.”

Gabi held the paper away from her. “Wait, it gets even better. He also conceded that the initial report was given to him by someone who might have had an axe to grind against the Castle family.”

“Who on earth?” Samantha asked.

“Jodie Farmer, that’s who,” Gabi said. She jabbed a finger at the front page. “It says that right here. Boone is going to have a conniption.”

Samantha sank down on a convenient sawhorse. “Oh, brother! I never saw that coming.”

“Well, apparently Ethan forced the information out of the editor, some guy named Ken Jones. Wade was so indignant when he saw this he charged over to the paper himself and had a little come-to-Jesus chat with Ken. I guess Ken spilled his guts about the way Ethan stormed into the office, demanded answers, threatened lawsuits and who knows what else. Wade added his two cents. It’ll be a long, long time before this Ken Jones takes on any of the Castles again.”

Samantha was more stunned by Ethan’s late display of loyalty than Wade’s. “Ethan did all that?” she murmured, bemused. “Why?”

“Because he loves you, you idiot. He was standing up for you.”

“But he wants me to go away. This whole brouhaha came close to accomplishing that,” Samantha protested, trying to make sense of it. Had he been doing her one last favor so he could let her leave with a clear conscience?

“I’d say that this proves otherwise,” Gabi insisted. “Wade thinks so, too.”

“Or maybe Ethan found out I’d decided to stick around and this was some sort of peace offering,” Samantha speculated.

Gabi regarded Samantha intently. “Whatever it was, what are you going to do about it?”

“Nothing,” Samantha said wearily. “Ethan made his wishes perfectly clear. Whether I go or stay, he’s done.”

“And you don’t think he’s allowed to change his mind, or to wake up and regret what he said?” Gabi protested. “Come on, Samantha. Whatever happened to second chances? You’d want one if you’d done something stupid.” She smacked her forehead in an exaggerated gesture. “Oh, wait. You did.”

“What did I do?”

“You caved in to Emily’s ridiculous insecurities and went to that party inside a cake, putting your reputation and Ethan’s at risk.” She held up a hand when Samantha started to argue. “I know I didn’t help the situation. By the time we finished pressing you, we didn’t leave you a way out. I get that.”

“Bottom line, no matter who pushed me, it was not a big deal, or it shouldn’t have been,” Samantha said defensively. “Anybody with half a brain could see it was nothing more than a bachelor party prank. It happens all the time. Nobody ever gets this worked up over it.”

“Because nobody else is local war hero and respected physician Ethan Cole or actress Samantha Castle,” Gabi reminded her. “As wrong as it was for Ken to splash that picture on the front page with that whole bit about you being a stripper, I can almost see why he did it. People eat that stuff up, especially when such big names are involved. And let’s not forget that Boone is a proud son of Sand Castle Bay, too.”

“I’m a has-been Broadway and TV actress,” Samantha argued. “Even with your excellent prowess at spin, you couldn’t have gotten something this silly in a major news outlet.”

Gabi gave her a challenging look. “Want me to try?”

Samantha shuddered, knowing full well that it wouldn’t be that huge a test of her sister’s PR skills. “Absolutely not,” she said flatly. “This needs to die down and go away.”

“And then what?”

“And then I will go on with my life, build this theater, teach a few classes and create a fulfilling life for myself right here where I can hang out with family.”

“Where does Ethan fit in?”

“He claims he doesn’t want to,” she insisted.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, haven’t you heard a word I said?” Gabi protested impatiently, waving the newspaper. “
This
says otherwise. Give the man a break.”

“I am not the one who broke us up,” she said stubbornly.

“But you are the one who’s letting pride stand in the way of a reconciliation,” Gabi said. “This act by Ethan, that’s
his
apology. Now it’s your turn.”

“But—”

Gabi’s gaze was unrelenting. “Fix this, Samantha. You’ll regret it if you don’t. And make no mistake, it is up to you. Grandmother, Emily and I can’t do it, not with all the clever meddling in the world. You’re on your own, just the way you claimed you wanted to be from the beginning.”

Samantha regarded her sister wearily. She knew Gabi was right. Unfortunately, this was one of those rare times when she wouldn’t have minded a little well-meant meddling.

* * *

Cora Jane had vowed to stay out of the middle of this ridiculous spat between Samantha and Ethan, but with two stubborn wills involved, she could see their whole future disintegrating unless someone with better sense stepped in. She left Jerry in charge at the restaurant and, ignoring his advice to stay well away from either of the injured parties, she drove to Ethan’s clinic.

Inside, she nodded toward the back. “Is Ethan with a patient?” she asked Debra.

“No, ma’am, but he doesn’t like being disturbed.”

Cora Jane smiled. “I think he’ll make an exception for me.” When Debra reached for her phone, Cora Jane shook her head. “Maybe you should just pretend you never saw me.”

Debra shrugged and put the phone back.

Cora Jane found Ethan in his office, a clutter of files spread out on his desk, though his back was turned to the mess and he was staring out the window.

“I came to thank you,” she announced, startling him.

He whirled around and regarded her warily. “Cora Jane,” he muttered, his tone not especially welcoming. “What brings you by? Everything okay? Did you get cut or burned or something?”

She smiled at his attempt to turn this into a medical visit. “Nope. Like I said, I came to thank you for going to bat for my girl.”

“Samantha would have been okay without me,” he said. “Still, I figured I owed her a little backup. I understand you did your share of rabble-rousing in Ken’s office.”

“I did, but I’m not the one who persuaded him to print a retraction or got to the bottom of who was behind this in the first place. I’m afraid I was too busy ranting to ask the right questions or make the right demands.”

“Well, the record’s straight now,” Ethan said. “All’s well that ends well.”

Cora Jane gave him an impatient look. “That’s it? You see this as the end of things?”

“No other way to look at it,” Ethan said.

She studied him for a full minute, then shook her head. “You think she needs to come to you, don’t you? You want Samantha to reach out, put her heart on the line again, prove she really wants you.”

Ethan actually flinched at what she could only assume was a direct hit.

“She’ll never do it,” Cora Jane told him. “It doesn’t mean she doesn’t love you. It just means her pride runs as deep as yours. I hope to goodness one of you snaps out of it before it’s too late. Anything else would be a crying shame.”

She was halfway to the door when he said, his tone miserable, “What am I supposed to do?”

“You could start by admitting you love her,” she said, relieved that he’d asked.

“I do,” he said firmly.

Cora Jane smiled and turned back. “Not to me. I meant to her.”

“I was afraid that was what you meant.”

“For a man who braved death, probably more times than either of us would like to count, why are you so scared of three little words that could give you everything you want?”

When he started to reply, she held up a hand. “Never mind. I know. You’re thinking if she doesn’t say them back, it’ll be humiliating, maybe leave you with a broken heart.”

He nodded. “Something like that.”

“You feeling real good with the way things are now?”

A smile played at the corners of his mouth. “Point taken.”

She gave a nod of satisfaction. “Good. I knew you were smart. And for whatever it’s worth coming from me, she does love you. Not a question in my mind about that, or I’d never have set foot in here.”

“Thanks, Cora Jane.”

“No thanks necessary. Just do right by my girl.”

“I’ll try,” he responded.

She gave him one of her fiercest looks. “And do it soon, too,” she ordered. “Jerry’s getting impatient. I can’t hold that man off much longer, and we’re waiting on the two of you before we set our wedding date.”

“Pour on the pressure, why don’t you?”

She laughed. “Best way I know to get things done.”

And then she left him to think about what she’d said.

* * *

Despite his reassurances to Cora Jane the day before, Ethan still wasn’t a hundred percent sure what was right. Maybe things had turned out exactly the way they were meant to. Unfortunately that thought left an empty place inside him.

He’d almost convinced himself to live with that lonely destiny when he walked the few blocks from his home to the clinic Thursday afternoon to meet the kids for this week’s outing. At the edge of the parking lot, he stopped in his tracks.

There was Samantha, sitting on a bench beside Cass, who was staring at her with the rapt attention of a starstruck fan. Cass’s face was transformed. The sullen teen was gone, replaced by an animated young girl. In that instant, all the feelings he’d been denying he had for Samantha—the ones that ran so much deeper than a longing for a quick roll in the sack—surfaced. There was so much about her he had yet to discover, but he already knew just how deeply she cared about people, including—thank God—him.

Drawing in a deep breath, he took his time before joining them, stopping to chat with the parents, bestowing hugs on the kids as he helped them into the van.

A few of the parents had clearly recognized Samantha, but they didn’t seem unduly disturbed by her presence now that the situation had been clarified by the paper.

When he could no longer put it off, he walked over to stand beside them—the woman he’d fallen for and the girl who’d been his biggest failure to date. Thanks to Samantha, though, Cass’s view of her future was changing.

“What’s going on?” he asked, looking from one to the other.

“Samantha’s going to start teaching acting classes right here in Sand Castle Bay next week,” Cass said, her eyes alight. “And if I’m any good, which we all know I am, she’s going to introduce me to her agent.”

Then with an impish gleam in her eyes, she added, “And I’m going to star in next summer’s first production at her playhouse.” She nudged Samantha with an elbow. “I know you didn’t promise that, but I am going to earn that lead role.”

Cass’s delight was palpable, but it scared Ethan even more than her announcement that Samantha was staying. Even though he’d known she planned to stay, this confirmation made it feel even more real. More important, it eliminated any last chance of him forgetting her.

Samantha caught his gaze. “I always keep my promises,” she said quietly, clearly understanding his worries, at least where Cass was concerned. “Always.”

Hearing the firm, reassuring commitment in her voice, Ethan felt the last of his reservations ease. “Okay, then. You planning to come along today?”

She stood up eagerly, surprising him a little. “Sure, if I won’t be in the way. What’s on the agenda?”

“Bungee-jumping,” he said, just to see the quick rise of panic in her eyes, but it didn’t come.

“Sounds like fun,” she said, her gaze never wavering.

“We are so
not
going bungee-jumping,” Cass said, rolling her eyes. “Can you see Mrs. Gaylord if you took her precious son to jump off some bridge?”

“Darn, and I was so looking forward to it,” Samantha claimed.

He laughed. “Just one more thing I need to remember, I guess. You’re a daredevil.” He glanced at the teenager, whose fascinated gaze kept shifting from him to Samantha and back again. “Cass, hop on the bus. Make sure the kids aren’t going wild. We’ll be right there.”

Samantha grinned at him after Cass had gone. “You know you just ruined her day. She thought she was about to witness what could turn out to be the hottest gossip in Sand Castle Bay, even better than the front-page news in the local paper a couple of weeks ago.”