The Inn at Rose Harbor (11 page)

“Well … yes.”

“Perfect. Bring her along, too, and I’ll bring my mom, if she’s available. She’s been volunteering like crazy ever since we lost my dad. Our mothers were in PTA together, remember?”

Abby didn’t remember, but she didn’t have a chance to say so because it was difficult to get a word in edgewise.

“We like to do this, you know?” Patty continued undaunted.

“Do what?”

“High school friends. We meet for lunch on occasion. All we need is an excuse and you’re the best possible excuse. Oh Abby, everyone is going to be so happy to see you.”

Abby wondered if that could possibly be true. Angela had been their friend, too, and Abby had taken her from them all. She couldn’t believe they didn’t harbor resentment or bitterness toward her. The one reassurance she had was that Patty had included Abby’s mother. No one would ask Abby uncomfortable questions about Angela or the accident if her mother was there to run interference. She was a bit old to cower behind her mother, but her mother had been her fierce protector following the accident and it was nice to know she’d be there.

“We invited our mothers to join us about six months ago … 
which, come to think of it, was the last time we got together. We all had such a good time and our mothers have as much in common as we do.”

Abby bit into her lower lip. Her mother would enjoy this. The accident had cost her, too. Abby didn’t know if it was possible to put the tragedy behind her, but maybe … just maybe it was.

The anger that had consumed Josh only a short while earlier now seemed pointless. He sat at a table by the window of the Pot Belly Deli, and watched the traffic flow down Harbor Street in a steady stream. Michelle sat across the table from him; he was glad she was there.

“Do you want to talk about it some more?” she asked.

He glanced up and saw that Michelle was waiting for him to respond. “There’s nothing to be done at this point. It is what it is.” He’d leave town and return after Richard died to settle the estate.

“You’re angry and you have every right to be upset, but I think there’s something to salvage here.”

“This isn’t life and death, Michelle,” he said, downplaying his
outrage. “I’m over it; now if you don’t mind I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Okay,” she said slowly, reluctantly. “I just think there’s a chance for you and Richard to connect on some level. It’s hard when someone dies and you haven’t said good-bye and made your peace. Even with someone you’ve had a very difficult relationship with.”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he said, loud enough that several people turned and looked in their direction. Immediately he regretted his outburst. She was right. But he just wasn’t ready to talk about anything having to do with his stepfather. Too much was happening and too quickly for him to fully comprehend its meaning. The best thing for him to do now was simply leave.

“You want me to forgive Richard.”

“In time, or at least let go of your anger and his power over you.”

Josh didn’t realize he’d spoken out loud, but he must have for her to respond.
Forgive
was a powerful word. He would like to think he was man enough to overlook what his stepfather had done, but Josh wasn’t sure he’d reached that point. Perhaps one day he’d be able to release the resentment he’d stored up against Richard, but not today.

She stared at him for a long time, as though there was more she wanted to say. Michelle appeared to be weighing her options, considering if this was the right place and time.

“What is it?” he asked.

She arched her brows in question.

“You want to tell me something, but can’t decide if you should or not. Just say it.”

“I don’t know that now is the best time.” She set the menu aside and leaned ever so slightly toward him, pressing her stomach against the edge of the table.

“Sure it is.”

“I’m concerned about you,” she said finally.

“Really? And why is that?” Her comment amused him.

Once more she hesitated. “I believe I know what you’re thinking. You want to leave Cedar Cove and come back after Richard has died.”

That was exactly what he was thinking. Josh could see that it wouldn’t do much good for him to hang around town. The two men would never see eye to eye, and as Michelle had witnessed, they didn’t respect each other. Josh had just finished managing the construction of a strip mall and had encountered one complication after another. He was both physically and emotionally ready for a break, and he wasn’t keen on spending his free time butting heads with his stepfather. Richard would prefer to have him out of his life, and Josh was more than willing to accommodate the dying man.

“I’m right, aren’t I?” she prodded.

He responded with a sharp nod of his head. “I’ve given it some consideration.”

“Don’t,” she advised.

“Can you give me one good reason why I should stay?”

“I can give you more than one.”

He snickered and pretended to read the menu. “Did you happen to read the specials on the board when we came in?” he asked in an abrupt change of subject.

“No. Do you want to hear my thoughts or would you rather bury your head in the sand?”

His appetite gone, he set aside the menu. “Do I have a choice?”

“Of course you do.”

Josh would prefer to put his stepfather out of his mind, but he could see that was impossible, especially since Michelle was so keen to see this through.

He folded his arms and leaned back, prepared to listen. She didn’t disappoint him.

“As much as neither one of you wants to admit it, you need each other,” she said point-blank.

Josh nearly laughed out loud. He didn’t need Richard and his stepfather sure as hell didn’t need him. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“You’re all Richard has left in this world …”

“Like he cares,” Josh rebutted. It didn’t matter that Josh was Richard’s last remaining relative.

“And Richard is your last relative, too, and whether you want to admit it or not, the two of you are linked together. Richard is dying, and he’s afraid and alone. He would never ask you to stay but he needs you. And you need him, too. Josh, he’s the only father figure you’ve had in your life, and even if the relationship was a terribly disappointing one, you need to find closure. If you leave now, I’m afraid you’d always regret it.”

Unsure, he mulled over her words.

“By the way,” she added.

He looked up. “Yes?”

“The specials are cream of broccoli for the soup du jour and a shrimp basket for the entrée.” She read off the list that was posted on the countertop and smiled her dazzling smile.

A sudden childhood memory flashed before Josh. He must have been around ten years old at the time; this was before his mother had met Richard. It’d been just the two of them back then and his mother had taken him down to the Saturday farmers’ market on the waterfront. A boat had docked at the marina, selling fresh Hood Canal shrimp.

His mother had bought two pounds and they’d brought the shrimp home and boiled it in a mixture of spices. In all his life, Josh had never tasted more succulent shrimp. The two of them had feasted on the shrimp with homemade hush puppies and fresh coleslaw. Teresa had found some Cajun music and they’d done a silly jig around the living room. It was one of the happiest memories
of his childhood … a childhood with far too few such memories.

“Josh?”

He looked up from the menu to find Michelle staring at him. “Sorry, my mind wandered away for a moment.” He realized he was too much in the habit of keeping everything to himself and so he described the memory to her. Once again he was reminded of how much his mother had loved Richard.

“What do you remember about your father?” Michelle asked.

Josh guessed she was offering him the opportunity to compare his birth father to his stepfather.

Josh shrugged. “I have only vague recollections of him from when I was small. The only thing I really remember is Dad throwing something at my mother and her screaming, grabbing me, and then running into the bathroom and locking the door.”

Michelle simply shook her head and didn’t comment.

“I never saw him again after that. Well, not that I remember, anyway.”

Michelle placed her hands in her lap. “You’ve never looked him up?”

Josh leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “I did when I was discharged from the army. Apparently he died when I was seventeen. It wasn’t that long after I lost my mother … six months I think. He was living somewhere in Texas at the time and had remarried.”

Not once had Teresa said a negative word about Josh’s father. Not a single word. No need really. What little Josh remembered of his father said it all.

The waitress came to their table. Josh ordered the shrimp basket and Michelle asked for the soup.

“You’re not eating much,” he mentioned when the waitress left their table.

Michelle hesitated. “I’m so upset with Richard that I could scarf
down half the menu in one sitting. But I know better than to let emotional eating get the better of me.”

Josh admired her ability to gauge the difference between real hunger and emotional hunger. It occurred to him that she was much more self-aware than he was.

“You said that Richard had a hard time after Dylan passed,” he said.

Michelle set her fork and spoon next to each other in perfect alignment. “He’s never been the same.”

Josh had suspected as much.

“He retired from the shipyard and hibernated,” Michelle continued. “He sat in front of that television day in and day out. My mother and father tried to draw him out but Richard wasn’t interested, and eventually he started resenting their help. When he stopped mowing the lawn my dad knew something wasn’t right.”

“It made him think of my mother,” Josh whispered, hardly aware he spoke out loud.

“He used to make you work in the yard, too, remember?”

Josh chuckled. “I’m not likely to forget. You know what’s funny?” Michelle would probably laugh, but he didn’t care. “I have a rental house in San Diego and my yard is the best-looking one on the block.” He didn’t realize he’d picked up his enjoyment of yard work from his stepfather as well as his mother. If Richard ever found out, he’d get a good laugh out of it for sure.

Their food arrived and for the moment they were distracted from conversation.

“My mother’s death was hard on him, but losing Dylan, well, that must have been more than Richard could take,” Josh said as he reached for a deep-fried shrimp. He dipped it in cocktail sauce before plopping it in his mouth.

Michelle’s spoon hovered over her soup. “Dylan wasn’t as wonderful as everyone thought.”

“Oh?” Josh asked, looking up. He reached for another shrimp, waiting for her to elaborate.

She didn’t.

Josh decided not to push her. If Michelle had something to say, then she’d do it when the time was right; when she was ready.

“You were kind to me at a time when I needed kindness, and I want you to know I’ve never forgotten what you did,” Michelle said.

“You mean on the bus that time.” The teasing incident remained vivid in his mind.

“No, what happened in the hallway at school.”

Josh’s mind was a complete blank. He didn’t remember anything happening with her at school that involved him.

“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten?”

“Refresh my memory.”

Smiling, she leaned back in her seat. “Does the name Vance Willey ring a bell?”

It did. Vance had been a bully. A loser who preyed upon anyone smaller and weaker than him.

“I remember Vance,” Josh admitted.

“He thought I was too ugly to live and he decided to humiliate and embarrass me in front of half the school.”

That sounded like something Vance would have done. “What happened?”

She squared her shoulders. “You stood up to him and told him to cut it out.”

“I did?” Josh still had no recollection of the incident.

“You said if anyone was ugly it was him, and that was sad because outwardly he was okay, but the ugly part was on the inside. You nailed him,” she said, smiling with the memory. “You told him that the only way he felt powerful was by putting other people down.”

“I said that?”

“Every word. You could have heard a pin drop in that hallway, too. And then you said you felt sorry for him. Everyone held their breath wondering what Vance would do.”

“He walked away, didn’t he?” Josh whispered as a vague memory wormed its way into his consciousness.

“He did, and I don’t think anyone was more shocked than Vance. I saw him later and you know what?”

Josh couldn’t venture a guess.

“Vance apologized to me.”

Josh found that almost impossible to believe. “Now that’s cool.”

“I thought what you said was the wisest thing I’ve ever heard,” Michelle confessed. “You didn’t leap to my defense; you didn’t fight him. Instead you hit him with the truth and he backed down.”

It took Josh a moment to connect all the dots. Michelle had a specific reason for recalling the story. “You’re more or less doing the same thing with me, aren’t you?”

She set the spoon aside. “Josh, don’t make the mistake of deserting Richard. If you do, you’ll find yourself dealing with unresolved issues. Richard’s being cruel because he doesn’t want to need you and admitting that he does is far too difficult. Look beneath the surface of his behavior and be as patient with him as you can.”

Josh knew she was right, although she was asking him to stay when every instinct told him it was best to turn his back on the old man and walk away. “I actually feel sorry for him,” Josh admitted.

“You’ll stay?” she asked.

After a moment he nodded. He didn’t like it, but he knew she was right.

Michelle reached across the table and grabbed hold of his hand, squeezing his fingers tightly. “Thank you.”

She was the one who deserved his appreciation.

When they’d finished their meal, Josh paid and together they returned to Richard’s house. Stepping inside, he called out, “We’re back.”

No response.

“Richard?”

Josh found his stepfather in the chair, struggling to breathe. “Richard?” he said again.