The Seacroft: a love story (Paines Creek Beach Book 2) (18 page)

Cody whispered in Viv’s ear. “That’s Libby’s father’s housekeeper. She’s been at The Seacrest for years.”

Libby listened intently, suddenly turning white. “Another one?” She slumped to a chair, then beckoned Finn to her side, whispering fiercely. “Dad’s having another heart attack.”

Cody touched Finn’s arm. “I’ve got a boat. It’s tied up down the hill.”

Finn nodded. “Can you watch the girls? They’re upstairs playing. I’ve got the generator working so you’ll have water and power, but try to make it last. We don’t have extra gas to run it.”

Cody nodded. “Of course. Go. We’ve got it covered.”

Finn urged Libby toward the door. “We’ll try to call you once we get there. But Libby says the service has been cutting in and out, so it might not work.”

“Don’t worry about us. If the phones are out, just do what you have to do. But be careful,” Cody said. “There are all sorts of things floating in that water. Cars. Coffins. You name it.”

Viv shot him a sharp glance. She hadn’t seen the coffins.

Libby still clutched the phone to her ear, crying silent tears while she continued to talk to Fritzi. With a sad smile, Finn said goodbye and guided her out the door and down the hill to the tethered boat.

Chapter 34

Three little heads appeared at the top of the stairs. “Where’s Mommy going?” one voice squeaked.

Cody trotted up the stairs toward them. “Hey, girls. I’m gonna take care of you for a little while. You remember Vivian, right?” He crouched beside them, beckoning her upstairs.

“Hi, ladies.” Vivian met the giggling girls on the landing.

“Can you three help us out? We need some dry clothes. Vivian and I got a little wet,” Cody said. “We went swimming with our clothes on.”

Ramona tugged at Viv’s hand. “In here,” she said.

Olivia ran ahead, screeching, “We have a huw-wi-cane.”

Sylvia hung back, but when Cody knelt to cuddle her she jumped into his arms.

“Okay, let’s go,” Cody said.

Ramona pointed to her mother’s bureau. “Clothes in der.”

Vivian smiled. “Thank you, honey. Let’s see if I can find something to borrow, okay?” She rummaged through the drawers and found a pair of jean shorts and an oversized white tee shirt that might have once belonged to Finn. “These will work.” She peeled out of her soaking wet pajamas and bathrobe, changed into them without underwear, and then hung her dripping clothes in the bathtub.

They reconvened in the hallway after both had changed. The three girls jabbered and jumped up and down.

“Can we play now?” Sylvia asked.

Vivian tried not to stare at Cody while they all played with “Frozen” dolls, Anna, Elsa, Olaf, Sven, and Kristoff, acting out scenes that thrilled the children and kept them giggling and bouncing on the couch. The girls argued over who would play with which doll, finally agreeing that they could switch to their favorites after fifteen minutes of play.

He looked so handsome, so sweet. And he was so good with the girls. In spite of the fact that he’d given in to Uvi’s temptation, she thought that deep down inside he was a decent person.

But she kept wondering about his statements.
I care about you
, he’d said.
I’m in love with another woman.  

She caught him glancing at her, too. And as much as she wanted to pummel the hell out of him for what he did with Uvi, she began to wonder again about the possibilities of a relationship with him.

Uvi really had wrapped her tentacles around him.
Not to mention her lips
. Viv heaved a sigh. She’d never done
that
to a man. She’d barely graduated from virgin to slightly experienced before her brother had gotten sick. Since then, she’d had no one.

Could she do such a bold and brazen thing to Cody?

She pictured herself over him, like Uvi had been. Imagined touching her lips to his cock.

She shivered and flushed.

I have to stop this. It’s sick. I must’ve bumped my head or something. I’m not thinking straight.

An hour after Finn and Libby left, the phone rang in the hallway.

Cody raced to pick it up. He listened for a few minutes and then gently replaced the receiver.

From the way Cody stood frozen in the hall, Viv knew something bad had happened. His blood had drained from his face, leaving him sheet-white. She reached for his hand. “What’s wrong?”

He slumped woodenly into a chair. “Libby’s dad, Rudy. He didn’t make it.”

“Oh, no.” She stepped closer. “I’m so sorry.”

“Thanks.” He brushed away a tear. “He was like a grandfather to me. He was wonderful.”

Viv watched him, feeling helpless. She saw the emotions playing across his face. The need to cry. The shock. The freezing numbness that comes with such news. She knew how it felt, of course. She’d felt the same way when her brother died. She remembered so well, that big, raw hole that grew in her chest. The heaving, surging waves of grief. The desire to deny everything, to refuse to believe it had happened.

“How can I help?” she asked.

He raised his welling eyes to hers. “I—” With one big convulsive shudder, he leaned forward and covered his face with his hands.

She didn’t think. She just did it. “Come here. It’ll be okay.” She dropped to a crouch in front of him and threw her arms around him. “Shh. It’s okay.”

He shook his head without lifting it. “No. It’s not.”

“I know, I know.” She murmured soft words of comfort that were lies—all of them. Of course it wouldn’t be okay. But she didn’t know a better way.

He leaned into her, stifling his own sobs.

She stroked his muscled shoulders and back, feeling guilty about enjoying the proximity of his maleness. Although his damp hair still smelled of seawater, there was an underlying muskiness that appealed to her.

After a few minutes, Ramona emerged at a run from the bedroom, screaming as if her worst nightmare had just come to pass.

Cody leapt up, swiped his cheeks, and took her little hands in his, bending down close to her. “What’s wrong, sweetie?”

“Livie took my doll!” she cried, spilling fat tears that instantly soaked her cheeks.

“She did?” He picked her up and kissed her forehead. “Well, let’s go see about this.” He set her down and they walked hand-in-hand to the bedroom.

Viv followed and watched him resolve the dispute with ease. Minutes later, all three girls resumed their game as if nothing had happened.

Back in the hallway, she stood close to him, watching the girls in the bedroom. “You are so good with them.”

He loosed a half smile, still tinged with misery. “Thanks.” He slumped against the wall, looking lost.

“Hey. How about I go figure out some lunch, huh? Let me see if the stove works. What do the girls like?”

“Huh?” His glazed eyes refocused on her. “Oh. Um. They all like macaroni and cheese. You know. The blue box.”

She smiled. “Of course. Let me see if I can whip some up. You stay up here with them, and we’ll get it done in no time.”



Cody mechanically made his way through the afternoon and early evening, playing half-heartedly with the girls. Would they notice his lackluster performance in the world of dolls and ponies? It seemed not, because so far, they’d played happily, stopping only for meals. Viv had been good with them, tucking napkins under their little chins and refilling their cups endlessly. He liked the way she interacted with the girls, and couldn’t help but think she’d be a great mother some day. In spite of what she’d seen the night before, she’d kept quiet about it. As if it hadn’t happened. She hadn’t rubbed it in nearly as much as she could have. Another woman might have lorded it over him, really made him suffer. But Vivian didn’t. She seemed to be above that kind of behavior.

He still felt so bad about the whole thing. He’d given in to Uvi’s persistent commands, like he’d been some kind of slobbering puppy hungering for a bone.

Why had he done it?

Was it pure lust? Simple physical need?

He mentally shook his head.

No.

He’d done it because it felt good and he thought he could hide it from Vivian. So, he was a jerk. Plain and simple. A sex-driven, unthinking, jerk. He’d hurt her badly, he could feel it. And still, she hadn’t responded with the hateful bitterness he might have expected. Except for that one comment in the boat, she’d moved past it to help him and the girls. She’d been sweet to him about Rudy’s passing, and from the way her big eyes searched his, he knew it was genuine.

The girl was one class act, and he sure as hell didn’t deserve her kindness.

When the phone rang at seven, he roused himself from washing the dishes, jumping for the landline handset. “Hello?”

“Cody, it’s Uncle Finn. How are you guys holding up?”

He switched the phone to his left ear. “Uh, okay, I guess. The girls are fine. Viv made dinner for us and now she’s reading them bedtime stories.”

“Good. Thank her for us, will you?”

“Of course.”

“We’re going to stay here at The Seacrest with Fritzi until the flood waters recede. They’re predicting most of it will be gone by tomorrow midday.”

“Good idea. It’s not safe to navigate around all that junk floating in the water, anyway.”

 “Agreed. We almost got capsized by a floating Volkswagen on the way over here.”

“No kidding?” Cody said.

“No kidding. Scared the hell out of me. But we made it and as long as you guys are doing okay, we’ll stay put for a day.”

“We’re fine.”

“Cody? Are you okay? I mean, about losing Rudy?”

Cody fell silent for a minute. “Not really.”

“I understand. You two were pretty close.”

“Yeah.” Cody sighed, then straightened, uncomfortable with the topic. “Well, I’d better get back to the dishes. I have no idea when the gas will run out for the generator.”

“Okay. Fill up some extra thirty-gallon trashcans with water tonight so you’ll have plenty for the next few days in case the power doesn’t come back on, okay?

“Sure thing.”

“Cody?”

“Yeah.”

“Thanks for being there for us. Libby and I really appreciate it.”

“No problem. See you soon.” He hung up and finished the dishes, stacking them in the rack to dry. After tending to the horses, he came back in and found Viv standing in the doorway of the girls’ room.

“I guess we wore them out. They’re asleep, all of them.”

“Really? Even Sylvia? She’s usually the last holdout,” he whispered.

“Even Sylvia,” she smiled. “So, where are we going to crash? I’m beat.”

“We’ll stay upstairs. You can have my uncle’s room, and I’ll stay in the guest room.”

She cast a sideways glance at him. “Okay.”

Is she disappointed? Would she rather stay close to me?
He shook himself and laughed at his wishful imagery.
What an idiot I am.

They climbed the stairs together, separating at the top of the landing.

“Will you be okay?” she asked gently. “About Rudy?”

He nodded. “I’ll get there.”

“Okay. Well. Good night.”

He watched her longingly as she padded toward the other end of the hall. “Good night, Viv.”

Chapter 35

Vivian ran her fingers along the bedclothes she’d hung over the bathtub railing. “Ugh. Still wet.” She was about to hang them back up when she remembered the important papers she’d zipped into the bathrobe pocket. Realizing they were probably ruined, and in spite of how angry she was at Uvi, she decided it would be best to fish them out and lay them on a table to dry.

Carefully, she pulled a sodden mass of pulpy paper from the pocket, followed by the passport, which although slightly wrinkled, was still legible in its plastic laminated cover. She separated the wet documents, careful not to rip them, and opened the passport.

There he was. Mr. P stared at her from the photo, smiling up with that insouciant grin, as if everything in her whole universe hadn’t just been practically drowned in Hurricane Delilah’s wake.

She shook her head and laid the passport on the bathroom counter. Leaning down, she scrutinized it. Was it ruined?

No. She could still make out his name, address, and the expiration date.

With a start, she read it aloud. “Expires in 2016? How’s that possible?” She gawked at the date again, realizing she’d read it right. But if it were a current document, how could Mr. P be traveling abroad?

Could he have lost this one and applied for a replacement?

She frowned. That didn’t make sense. The passport had been right out in the open, in the drawer where Uvi obviously kept all her important papers. So how could he have lost it?

“Strange.”

She searched beneath the sink and found an unopened pack of new toothbrushes. After brushing her teeth, she jumped in the shower for a quick rinse—she didn’t want to waste the power to pump water for a longer shower. She dried off and redressed, realizing that maybe Cody would like a fresh toothbrush, too. Choosing a blue one, she wandered down the hall past the girls’ room and headed for the guest room.

“Cody?” She peeked into the bedroom and found him huddled on the bed on his side. “I don’t mean to intrude,” she stammered. “I…I just thought you might like a toothbrush.”

Hollow-eyed, he raised his face to hers, croaking his answer. “Uh. Yeah. Thanks.” He sat up and reached for the toothbrush. “Be right back.”

She heard him brushing in the adjoining bathroom, and waited for him to return.

Waited for what?

He came back with a weak smile. “Thank you.”

She nodded, but didn’t speak.

He went back to the bed and dropped onto it, leaning back against a pile of pillows. With a long shuddering sigh, he raised sad eyes to hers. “Thanks again.”

She went to his bedside, leaning down to impulsively hug him. “Are you gonna be okay?”

His face fell. “I’m not sure. Would you stay a while?” he asked softly.

It didn’t sound like a ruse to her. It sounded genuine. She sank onto the bed beside him and took his hand. “Sure I can. Push over.”

Cody slid sideways and plumped up more pillows. “There you go.”