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Sawyer frowned. “I asked if she had family here and she said no.”
“She doesn’t anymore. Her parents moved away years ago, and her aunt Shelby Riggs passed away a few months ago.”
Sawyer sat up straight in his chair. “Ms. Shelby was her aunt?”
“Yes, her mother’s sister.”
Sawyer nodded. He’d liked Ms. Shelby. When he first moved to Catalina Cove she had been one of the first to welcome him and Jade to town. He’d even stayed at her inn overnight when he’d arrived in town to interview for the sheriff position.
“I guess she’s here to finalize the sale of Shelby by the Sea. I’d heard her aunt left it to her and there’s a buyer already. While growing up here Vashti loved that inn as much as Shelby did. I hate that she’s decided to sell it. I was hoping the inn would get her to move back. But in a way, I can’t too much blame her, what with the way some of the townspeople treated her.”
Sawyer had never been one for town gossip, but for some reason anything dealing with Vashti Alcindor interested him. “Why?”
“Teenage pregnancy at sixteen.”
He lifted a brow. “Are you saying people in this town stopped being nice to her because of that?”
“Pretty much. Before that she’d been a popular girl at school, straight-A student, head majorette of the school’s marching band and had won a lot of awards while a member of the school’s swim team. But I honestly think the reason some of the townsfolk turned on her had more to do with her refusal to reveal the identity of the guy who fathered her child.”
“It wasn’t their business.” That was the one thing he disliked about living in a small town. There was always a group of people who felt it was their God-given right to know everything about you. What time you woke up in the morning. The kind of toothpaste you used. If you wore underwear or not, and who you were having sex with or if you weren’t getting any at all.
“No, it wasn’t their business,” Trudy agreed. “But they felt it was. She didn’t even tell her parents. No one knew Vashti even had a boyfriend. Rumors began flying as to whose child it might be. It had gotten so bad it was probably unbearable for that young girl here.”
Sawyer shook his head. “Why didn’t the guy who got her pregnant step forward and claim the baby as his?” He would never forget when Johanna told him she was pregnant with his child. He hadn’t wasted any time marrying her. And to this day he never regretted doing so. Johanna had been a good wife and a wonderful mother to Jade. They had made their marriage work. Listening to Jade’s heartbeat for the first time was something he would never forget.
“I don’t know why he didn’t come forward,” Trudy intruded into his thoughts by saying. “I think he should have. That led people to speculate the guy wasn’t anyone from here but was probably some teenager in a family passing through who’d stayed at the inn one summer. Vashti hung out at the inn a lot helping her aunt. That would make perfect sense. Young love happens quite a bit at sixteen.”
As the father of a sixteen-year-old, he hoped it didn’t happen to Jade, he thought, tossing a paper clip on his desk. Luckily, Johanna had had the period talk with Jade before she’d died. But they’d had some crucial father to daughter talks, too, and she had listened attentively and asked questions and he’d found himself having a more in-depth conversation with her than he’d intended. The birds and the bees had become the roses and thorns. That open and frank discussion had established their future father and daughter talks, and she felt comfortable enough to ask or tell him anything. He was proud of their good relationship and he hoped it stayed that way. He had made sure that she understood he was not her friend but her father and there was a difference.
He glanced up at Trudy. “So what happened?” he asked.
“When she began showing, her parents sent her to one of those homes for unwed mothers. It was out of state. They wanted her to put the child up for adoption but those close to Vashti said she intended to keep the baby. I heard her parents threatened to disown her if she did, but she intended to defy them and keep it anyway. Her parents might have disowned her but she knew her aunt Shelby never would.”
“So in the end did she keep the baby or did she give it up for adoption?”
“Neither. Although the baby was born alive, it later died of complications.”
A part of Sawyer went still. “God, that’s awful.”
“It was and what was even sadder was that when she returned to town to pick up her life, there were some who made it hard for her. They were still upset about her not revealing the identity of the baby’s father. Her only true friends in town were Bryce Witherspoon and K-Gee Chambray. Somehow Vashti weathered the vindictiveness and when she left for college she swore she would never come back and she kept her word.”
He nodded. “I didn’t see her at Ms. Shelby’s memorial services.”
“No, but I imagine she attended the funeral services held for her in Connecticut where Ms. Shelby was from. Shelby always said she wanted to be returned there for burial when the time came.” Trudy sighed as she glanced at her watch. “I’m leaving. Let me know how dinner turns out.”
“Trust me I will.” Sawyer glanced at his own watch. His deputies for the evening shift had arrived and he could leave knowing things were in their capable hands. Anderson and Minor knew how to reach him if anything crazy went down. Things never did in Catalina Cove. He would admit it was a nice town and the perfect place to raise a family. He was glad of his decision to accept a job and move here.
His thoughts shifted back to what Trudy had told him about Vashti Alcindor. He hoped the townspeople now saw the error of their ways and would make her homecoming a lot different than when she’d left.
* * *
“YOU REALLY GOT a ticket for speeding?” Bryce asked as they sat in her kitchen enjoying blueberry muffins and iced tea.
Vashti shrugged. “Hey, I wasn’t speeding intentionally. In fact, I honestly hadn’t realized I was doing so,” she said in her defense. “That Corvette has more power than I realized. Besides, it was only five miles over the speed limit.”
“And you couldn’t talk your way out of it? Or get the patrolman to go easy on you with just a warning ticket? You used to be good at doing that when you first started driving.”
Vashti remembered those days. Back then she’d been deliberately speeding. All the teenagers in town considered that stretch of road as the Indianapolis 500. “No, this cop wasn’t friendly. In fact, he seemed like he wasn’t in a good mood, and when I asked him about a warning ticket he got all huffy and said he didn’t give warnings.” She took a sip of her tea. “The only good thing in his favor was his looks. Definitely eye candy.”
“Did you get his name?”
“Yes. His name tag said S. Grisham.”
“I figured you were talking about Sawyer, and he’s not a patrolman. He’s our sheriff.”
“Whatever happened to Sheriff Phillips?”
“He finally retired, and after his son was killed while hunting, there wasn’t another Phillips to pass the badge to, thus ending the dynasty.”
There had been a Phillips enforcing the law in Catalina Cove since the beginning of time. It had become a foregone conclusion that if a Phillips ran for sheriff he would win. “When did sheriffs begin staking out speeders? I’ve never known Sheriff Phillips to come out of his office to do anything, other than to show up at your parents’ restaurant every day around three for his blueberry muffin and cup of coffee. His deputies did all the work.”
Bryce chuckled. “You remember those days, do you?”
“Can’t forget them.”
“Well, Sheriff Grisham is nothing like Sheriff Phillips. He’s a hands-on sort of sheriff. He gets out of his office a lot and will do anything he’d ask of his deputies, which includes setting speed traps. He’s strict when it comes to enforcing the law but is very approachable. He doesn’t act like he made the law the way Sheriff Phillips used to do. Like he thought he was King Phillips or something.”
She and Bryce spent the next hour sitting at the kitchen table, eating blueberry muffins and drinking tea while reliving the past; at least the fun days when she’d thought the cove was the best place in the world to live and she would never leave. Life was good. The people were great. The natives stuck together and it took a while for any outsiders to be accepted.
“So, what’s the story with Sheriff Grisham?” Vashti finally asked. During her and Bryce’s stroll down memory lane, she’d kept pushing thoughts of him to the back of her mind. For some reason she couldn’t forget the moment she looked up into his face. She’d been mesmerized.
“He’s ex-military and ex-FBI. Moved here from Reno, Nevada, four years ago after being offered the job. It’s just him and his daughter, Jade.”
Vashti nodded. “No wife?”
“He’s a widower. His wife died of cancer around five years ago. I heard they buried her on her thirtieth birthday.”
“How awful.”
“I don’t remember her, but she was the Smithfields’ granddaughter who’d lived in Texas.”
“I remember her. She spent a few summers here visiting them,” Vashti said. Herb Smithfield had been a federal judge, and he and his wife, Lora, had been members of her church while growing up. She remembered them as a nice older couple.
“Well, she grew up and married Sawyer Grisham. When the Smithfields passed away they left their house to her, but she never moved here to live in it. Instead she had it rented out as one of those Airbnb places and was making pretty good money off it since it was always occupied by honeymooners. I guess Sawyer Grisham decided to put it to good use when the sheriff position came open.”
Vashti remembered the Smithfields’ house at the end of Meadowbrook Lane. It sat on three acres of land with a small portion of the cove in the back, and she could see how it would be a perfect honeymoon getaway.
“With Sawyer Grisham looking so good and all, I bet most of the single women in town are clamoring for his attention,” Vashti said.
“You wouldn’t believe how ridiculous they are,” Bryce said, grinning. “Although he’s friendly enough, he’s a private person and pretty much stays to himself. He and K-Gee are good friends, though. I guess their friendship became close since they’re both ex-marines who’d spent a lot of time in Afghanistan.”
“Does he date much?” She could see women standing in line to go out with him.
“So far he hasn’t dated any woman in town, and it hasn’t been for lack of trying on any of their parts, trust me. Like I said, things got downright ridiculous. You wouldn’t believe all the blueberry pies left at the police station for him and the mass of dinner invitations I heard he got. Even Rachel Libby tried catching his eyes.”
“Rachel Libby? You’ve got to be kidding me? Isn’t she a lot older than him? I would put his age to be at thirty-four or thirty-five.”
“He’s thirty-six and she is older, about ten years older to be exact. But she’s been acting the part of a cougar lately. An aggressive one at that. She began acting all crazy and wild ever since Mr. Libby died a few years back.”
“So he hasn’t dated anyone in town since moving here?”
“No, not a single feminine soul. Rumor has it that he’s involved with some woman living in New Orleans. I don’t know if that’s even true and if it is, I don’t know how serious it might be since he’s never brought her to town to attend any of the local events. All we know is that he is a good sheriff and a great father to Jade.”
Vashti took a drink of her tea. “How old is his daughter?”
“Jade turned sixteen earlier this month and is a real cutie and extremely friendly. She’s popular in town and well liked by all.”
So had she been at sixteen, Vashti thought. Until she’d gotten pregnant. Then all the townsfolk hadn’t wasted any time kicking her off that pedestal they’d placed her on. Being popular and well liked by all in Catalina Cove wasn’t all it was made out to be as far as she was concerned.
Not wanting to seem too interested in the sheriff, Vashti asked, “So why didn’t you mention K-Gee had moved back to town? And don’t hand me that BS about me not wanting to know what was going on in this town. Any news about K-Gee would have been an exception to the rule and you knew that.”
She watched Bryce stiffen and knew this was one subject she didn’t want to talk about, so Vashti asked, “Why, Bryce?”
Bryce set her glass of iced tea down and looked at her. “Because eventually that topic of conversation would have led to others about K-Gee that I wasn’t ready to talk about. I’m still not, Vashti.” She paused a moment and then said, “You’re not stupid. I’m sure you’ve figured out something happened between us during that time you were away in Arkansas. And it continued even after he left town. And by the way, he prefers going by Kaegan now. No nickname for him anymore.”
Vashti nodded. “Okay, I got that and I understand. A grown man still being called K-Gee is a bit much. So, what questions would I have asked that you didn’t want to answer? And you’re right, I’ve always suspected something went on between you two, but you didn’t talk about it and I didn’t push it. I had my own problems to deal with, but I hope you know I would have been there for you. You’re my best friend. So tell me, are the two of you seeing each other now?”
Bryce got up from the table and poured more iced tea into their glasses. “No. K-Gee hasn’t talked to me much since returning.”
“Why?”
Bryce sat back down in her chair and took a drink of her iced tea before saying, “Long story. And please don’t say that you have time to hear it because I don’t have time to tell it. Not only is it long, but it’s also draining and I don’t need to deal with that today.”
Vashti knew her friend well enough to know when to back off. Whatever the issue was, Bryce wasn’t ready to let her in on it...like before.
“Well, whatever the problem, I hope the two of you work it out. I love you both. It’s been years and there are some things that happen in the past, that are best left there. In the past.”
“You’re a fine one to talk. You haven’t left the things that happened here behind you, Vashti. Look how long you’ve been gone. The only reason you’re here is to sever one more tie by selling your aunt’s property.”
Vashti couldn’t dispute what Bryce had just said. That meant she was a fine one to think she could give anyone advice about letting go and moving on. “You’re right. Today is not a good time to talk about anything. I want to shower and take a nap. Then what can I do to talk you into preparing some of your crab bisque?”
Bryce smiled. “Consider it done.”
“Thanks. Since the zoning board meeting isn’t meeting until tomorrow evening, I think I’m going to get up in the morning and go visit Ms. Gertie. Then I’m going to Shelby by the Sea and check out the place.”
“Get prepared, Vash. Ms. Gertie has dementia pretty bad. Her family put her in that nursing home on Silas Lane after she kept wandering off. Don’t be surprised if she doesn’t recognize you or if she thinks you’re somebody else.”
Vashti didn’t want to see Ms. Gertie in that condition, but she had to see her before she left town. “Getting old sucks.”
“Yes, it does. By the way, I took the time off to spend tomorrow with you. We’ll take my car and I’ll do the driving.”
Vashti raised a brow. “Why?”
Bryce grinned over at her. “I’m trying to save you from getting another ticket while you’re here.”
* * *
“SO, DAD, WHAT do you think?”
Sawyer wondered if his child really wanted to know. He placed his fork beside his plate and glanced at her. Her smiling face showed she was in good spirits and he knew his words could be a setback and wipe that happy look right off her face. She was expecting positive feedback and this was where his “truth-time” habit had to be done in a way that wouldn’t hurt her feelings...at least he hoped not.
“It tastes different than the one Trudy makes.” It tastes a lot different.
“I know,” she said, smiling. “I changed the recipe.”
You most certainly did, he thought. “May I ask you why?” he asked standing to take his plate to the kitchen.
She followed him. “I thought it needed more than what was on the recipe.”
After placing his plate in the sink he turned and leaned against the counter. “Then why bother following a recipe? It’s no different than following a road map. If you want to get to New Orleans and I gave you directions as to how to get there, but you choose to change those directions, you might end up anywhere.”
Her smile faded. “Are you saying I should have followed the recipe?”
“I think when Trudy gave it to you she expected that you would and not experiment. How do you think she’s going to feel tomorrow when she asks me how the beef strudel turned out and I tell her you changed the recipe? She’ll think you thought the original recipe wasn’t good enough for you.”
“It was good, but...”
“But what, Jade?”
“I thought I could make it better.”
Evidently. “Well, I’m going to be honest with you, Jade. You didn’t. I’m not saying some good things can’t be improved on because they can, but it often takes a lot of work and trial and error.”
“I guess I blew it tonight, huh, Dad?”
He reached out to tweak her nose. Lord, how he loved this kid. Whenever he looked at her he was amazed that this incredible child was made by him and Johanna. “No, you didn’t blow it, but can I make a suggestion?”
“Yes.”
“Follow any recipe you get the way you should. Then if you think it can and should be improved try it, but know why you’re doing it. Ask yourself what’s your goal and what you’re trying to achieve.”
He knew that look. She was thinking and that was good. “Take the beef strudel recipe for instance,” he said. “You got carried away with certain ingredients so it didn’t taste so hot. If you’re really serious about learning to cook, how about taking a cooking class? I understand there’re several good ones in New Orleans. If you’d like, I’ll see if they offer Saturday classes.”
Her smile came back and it brightened her entire face. “You would do that for me, Dad?”
He smiled at her. “Don’t you know that I would do just about anything for you, Jade?”
She nodded and then flung herself into his arms and hugged him. “Yes, I’d like that and you are the best dad ever.”
And you, he thought, are my pride and joy.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE NEXT MORNING after breakfast, Vashti and Bryce went to Berkshire Nursing Home to visit Ms. Gertie who didn’t recognize either of them. Bryce had tried preparing Vashti, but seeing the older woman in such a state tore at her. She tried engaging in conversation with Ms. Gertie but the older woman became annoyed and told them she didn’t appreciate being interrupted while watching CNN.
According to Bryce, Ms. Gertie’s son, daughter-in-law and grandson didn’t visit her often because it bothered them when she didn’t recognize them. Vashti thought that was a poor excuse. Whether Ms. Gertie recognized them shouldn’t matter. The important thing was that she wasn’t left alone, and that they recognized her and remembered her importance in their lives.
“When you visit her tomorrow it might be a different story,” Bryce said as they left the nursing home. “She might remember you.”
“Unfortunately, I’m leaving first thing in the morning.” And what she didn’t have to tell Bryce was that she didn’t plan to come back.
Bryce gave her a look that told her exactly what she thought of that, but let it be. “We’ll stop by the folks’ place before driving out to Shelby by the Sea. Mom and Dad would love to see you.”
“Alright.” Vashti wanted to see them as well. Vashti would admit to being surprised at how friendly two of her former classmates had been when she ran into them at the nursing home, almost as if they were glad to see her. She had once considered Charlette Hansberry and Mavis Green to be her good friends, until she’d gotten pregnant and they’d become scarce. Their mothers had probably ordered them to stay away from her, but still it hurt. She’d needed more of her friends during that time, not less of them.
It turned out Charlette owned the nursing home, having taken over for her parents when they decided to retire and move to California to be close to their only son and grandkids. Charlette was divorced with a six-year-old son. Mavis was the head nurse on staff. She had married her childhood sweetheart, Hugh Green. Like a number of men in town, Hugh worked at the blueberry factory and the couple had two kids.
“I was surprised Charlette and Mavis gave me the time of day,” Vashti said, getting into Bryce’s car and buckling the seat belt.
“Why wouldn’t they?” Bryce asked glancing over at her before starting the car.
“Do I need to remind you of how things were for me here, back then?”
“No, but that was back then, Vash. Years ago. People change and ideas they might have had change, too. I’m sure they look back at that time with regret about how they treated you. If I remember correctly, it was their parents forbidding them to have a friendship with you and not them doing it on their own.”
“Your parents didn’t forbid you to hang out with me,” Vashti reminded her. Once she’d gotten pregnant, the parents of some of her friends acted like pregnancy was catching. However, she knew what they were really worried about was that since she’d been sexually active that made her a loose girl and they didn’t want their daughters around anyone they thought lacked morals.
“My parents weren’t your typical parents,” Bryce said.
“Yes, that’s true.” It had been rumored that back in the day when he’d graduated from high school here, Chester Witherspoon had fled to Canada to avoid fighting in the Vietnam war. It wasn’t that he’d been a coward; he just didn’t feel the country needed to go to war. At least he hadn’t at first. A year later he returned with a wife and baby in tow. It was then that he’d decided to do his patriotic duty and enlist, leaving Bryce’s mom and three-month-old brother in the care of his parents.
After returning home from the war, Bryce’s parents had another son before Bryce, their only daughter, was born. Although Bryce never said and Vashti never asked, if you did the math of the date the Witherspoons celebrated their anniversary and the close proximity to Bryce’s oldest brother’s age, her mother was pregnant before her parents had married. Both of Bryce’s brothers, Ryan and Duke, lived in Catalina Cove and were partners with their parents in the family-owned café.
“I honestly think Mavis and Charlette were glad to see you again,” Bryce was saying, interrupting Vashti’s thoughts. “If you give Catalina Cove a chance, I think you’d find people aren’t the same.”
Vashti chuckled. “Oh, they feel they can change but they want the town to stay the same?”
“Pretty much. I don’t have a problem with some change here but I don’t want too many developers coming in here and changing things. You recall what I told you about Allen Heart.”
Yes, she remembered. Bryce had family who’d lived in Allen Heart, South Carolina, years ago when it had just been a small town with no name recognition. A mass of developers came in and all but ran the locals out when property taxes soared. Most of the residents had been forced to sell homes and land that had been in their family for years when they couldn’t pay escalated taxes.
Vashti glanced over at Bryce. “Are you saying you don’t want the Barnes Group to buy Shelby by the Sea? Do I need to remind you how much commission you’d make with the sale?”
“No, you don’t need to remind me. I was thinking about what I would do with all that money. It would be nice but it won’t buy me happiness, Vash.”
Vashti thought about that then asked, “And what would make you happy, Bryce?”
They had stopped the car at a traffic light and Bryce glanced over at her. “I’m thirty-two and have never been married so to start off, a husband would be nice.”