Wind Chime Wedding (A Wind Chime Novel Book 2) (4 page)

She knew how helpless it could make you feel, wondering if it would ever stop, wondering what you had done to cause it, wondering if one morning you would try to wake them up and find that you couldn’t.

She made a mental note to talk to Courtney this weekend. She knew Luke’s mother was busy, but if she had to schedule a haircut to get some time with her, she would. Things couldn’t go on like this. If no one else was going to intervene, she would take matters into her own hands.

Passing the old swing hanging from the branches of the black walnut tree, she let her fingers trail over the weathered ropes before stepping onto the wooden planks of the dock. “Hey,” she said, just as Colin ended his call.

“Hey, yourself,” he said, smiling and pocketing his phone. “Long time no see.”

She nodded, trying not to notice the way his thin gray T-shirt stretched across his broad shoulders and muscular chest. A pair of worn jeans hung from his narrow hips and his work boots made a dull thudding sound against the wood as his long legs ate up the pier.

If it weren’t for the subtle difference in the drape of the denim against his left leg, she would never know there was a prosthesis hidden beneath his jeans. Not that the loss of a limb seemed to be affecting his love life in any way. His picture had been in the newspaper several times over the winter and a different gorgeous woman had been hanging on his arm in every shot.

Annie and Della had started taking bets at the café on which one he’d end up with.

When he paused in front of her, she had to tilt her face to look up at him. At five-foot-two, she was short compared to most people, but Colin towered over her by more than a foot. “How’ve you been?”

“Good.” He shifted a little to the left, so he was blocking the sun. His features came into view even sharper—that strong chiseled jaw, those wide slashing cheekbones, that full, sensual mouth. “Busy. You?”

“Yeah, me too,” she said, suddenly at a loss for words. She had forgotten she tended to get a little tongue-tied around Colin. There was something about those cool blue eyes that unnerved her…and made her feel things she really shouldn’t be feeling when she was engaged to another man.

Her gaze shifted away from his face and she struggled to think of something else normal and natural to say.

“I just got off the phone with Will,” Colin said. “He said to say, hi.”

She brightened slightly. “How’s he doing?”

“Anxious to get back to the island.”

Anxious to get back to Annie was more like it, Becca thought. Will had fallen head over heels for the single mother when he’d come back to the island on temporary leave last fall. The two of them were engaged now. In a few weeks, they, along with Annie’s eight-year-old daughter, would be moving into the private wing that had been added onto the inn over the winter.

Jimmy and his crew had managed to build a brand new addition that fit perfectly with the historic structure. The contractor might be teetering on the edge of alcoholism, but no one would ever question his ability to get the job done, and get it done right.

Getting it done
on time
was another matter entirely.

“Jimmy told me about the crack in the foundation.”

“Yeah.” Colin rubbed a hand over his jaw. “The timing’s unfortunate. We’ll have to hire a bigger crew to get the place ready in time, but it’s either that or push back the opening, and we’re not pushing back the opening.”

She’d figured he’d say that. “Can I do anything to help?”

He shook his head. “We’ve got it covered.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, surprised by the confident tone of his voice. “Because Jimmy said—”

“Let me handle Jimmy.”

Becca’s gaze flickered down to the long, lean muscles of his forearms where he’d rolled up his sleeves and the big, wide-palmed hands that had earned him the reputation of being one of the Navy’s deadliest snipers before his career had been cut short.

She had no doubt the former SEAL could handle their small town contractor.

“So,” she said, forcing the thought of what other skills those hands might have out of her mind, “how’s the campaign going?”

“Pretty good. My father’s not thrilled that I’m cutting out early, but he’ll get over it.”

Becca nodded, remembering that when Colin had first raised the idea of the rehab center to Will, he had suggested they open by the fall. But once Will had signed on and Colin had started rounding up funding, things had picked up speed fast. The two men had pushed the opening date up to Memorial Day.

Colin gazed out at the water, watching a pair of ducks paddle toward the marshes. “I’m just happy not to think about it when I’m down here.”

Of course he would want to escape the campaign when he came to the island, Becca thought. According to Annie and Will, Colin had never wanted to work on his father’s campaign. He had only agreed to it because it would mean that he’d get to spend six months rubbing shoulders with some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in Maryland—people who might be interested in investing in the veterans’ center.

Unfortunately, she really wanted to talk to him about politics right now.

“I always feel like a weight has lifted when I cross the Bay Bridge. Like all that”—Colin gestured behind him toward the Western Shore, which was home to the cities of Baltimore, Annapolis, and the sprawling outskirts of D.C.—“is worlds away. I can’t wait to move here full time in a few weeks.”

A few weeks.

In a few weeks, Colin would be moving to the island…and she would be leaving.

Whenever she voiced her concerns about leaving the island to Tom, he accused her of being afraid of living in the city, of finding a new job, of fitting in with his friends. Maybe he was right. Maybe she was afraid.

He’d been telling her for years that it would be good for her to leave the island. That people needed to leave their hometowns to change and grow, to become the people they were meant to be. It was just that sometimes, late at night, when she lay awake, she knew without a doubt that
this
was all she had ever wanted to be.

But marriage was all about sacrifices, right?

Glancing over her shoulder, she looked back at the picturesque farmhouse. Six months ago, when Will had inherited this inn from his grandparents, he had almost turned it over to a developer who’d planned to tear it down. Thanks, in large part to Colin, Will had changed his mind at the last minute and decided to keep it.

Becca couldn’t imagine the island without this inn, anymore than she could imagine it without the elementary school. If they had found a way to save this inn, surely they could find a way to save the school.

“Colin,” she said, turning back to face the man who might be their only hope. “I need to ask you a favor.”

“Sure,” Colin said,
wondering why she looked so nervous all of a sudden. Whatever she needed probably had something to do with the wedding, and while he wasn’t a big fan of weddings at the moment, he was always happy to help out a friend. “What’s up?”

The wind pushed a few strands of brown hair into her eyes. She attempted to force them into the clip that held the rest of her hair back, but pieces kept falling loose, framing her pretty, heart-shaped face.

The sharp tug of attraction took him by surprise, just as it had the first night they’d met almost six months ago. With her shy smile and expressive brown eyes, she was more of a girl next door type of pretty—not the type he usually went for—but there was something about her that pulled at him.

He had noticed her immediately, even before Will had introduced them that first night back in November, but he’d backed off as soon as he’d spotted the rock on her finger.

It was still there, catching the sparks of sunlight that bounced off the water—a glaring reminder of the promise he’d once made to a different woman, back when he’d still had his leg, his career, and a foolish belief that no matter what happened to him overseas he would always be enough for her.

“I know you have a million other things to do and I completely understand why you don’t want to think about your father’s campaign while you’re down here,” she began, jolting him back from his thoughts.

His father’s campaign?
That was the last thing Colin had expected her to say.

She tugged on the single charm that hung from a gold chain around her neck. “You know that I work at the elementary school, right?”

He nodded.

“I just found out that we might get shut down at the end of the year.”

“Shut down?” Colin stared back at her. “Why?”

“The board has been threatening to do it for years. I never thought they’d actually go through with it, but now, with the budget cuts coming…”

Budget cuts?

Shit.

She meant
his
father’s
budget cuts.

In a few days, the governor was planning to announce a brand new fully funded program to help Maryland veterans find jobs. It was a program Colin had worked tirelessly on for the past six months. If it became a success, it would act as a model for similar types of programs all over the country. But to fund the program, they’d had to borrow money from several other sectors.

After weeks of analysis, they had determined that since Maryland already had one of the best school systems in the country—thanks to an increase in national funding and hefty donations flowing in from individuals and private businesses over the past several years—it could handle a slight cut.

But Colin hadn’t considered how that decision would affect some of the smallest schools in their state’s most rural communities. And he sure as hell hadn’t considered how that decision might affect eight-year-old Taylor Malone, the future stepdaughter of his best friend and business partner.

If he had known there was even a chance that this island school might close, he would never have pushed so hard for those cuts.

“How many people know about this?” Colin asked.

“Right now, only you, me and Shelley. The board will probably make a formal announcement at the end of next week, but Shelley’s planning to tell the teachers on Monday.”

“Will and Annie don’t know yet?”

“No.”

“Will’s going to lose it when he finds out.”

“I know.” Becca moved the tiny charm back and forth on the chain. “Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” She glanced back up at him, her doe-brown eyes hopeful. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but is there any chance you or your father might be willing to make a few calls to some of the board members over the weekend? It might go a long way toward changing their minds.”

“Of course,” Colin said quickly. There was no way he was going to let the board take Taylor’s school away from her, not after everything she’d been through. “Let me see what I can do.”

Becca let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” he said, far more confidently than he actually felt. “Would you mind if we kept this between us for a few more days?”

Becca nodded. “Do you need me to do anything? I could type up an email to your father about how well Taylor’s doing. About how important this school is for her. Offer some specifics, as her teacher.”

He was about to tell her that wasn’t necessary, then he paused, reconsidering. “Would you like to tell him in person?”

“In person?” Becca asked, surprised.

Colin nodded. This could be perfect. He still needed a date for the event on Saturday night and it couldn’t hurt for his father to hear from Taylor’s teacher, to get a better grasp on the situation before he reached out to the board members. “There’s a fundraiser for the campaign in Annapolis on Saturday night. Why don’t you come with me and I’ll make sure you get some time with my father to talk about the school?”

Becca hesitated. “Aren’t there guest lists for things like that?”

“Yes,” Colin admitted. “But I already told my stepmother I was bringing someone, and I don’t have time to find a date. You’d actually be doing me a favor.”

Becca looked up at him doubtfully. “I have a hard time believing you have trouble finding a date.”