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“Of course.”
“Good. As much as I respect Ed, he is her brother.”
“Yes, and for that very reason he’ll do what he can to get this legal stuff taken care of as smoothly as possible. He knows our situation. As soon as Beth comes home, she’ll sign the necessary papers and that will be that.”
His words stilled Lucy’s hands, which had been busy rearranging the condiment tray. “Beth is coming back to Riverbend?” she demanded. “When?”
“I’m not sure.”
“How long is she staying this time?”
“I don’t know,” he said, which was the truth. Despite the divorce, he and his ex-wife’s brother had managed to remain friends by not talking much about Beth. As much as Charlie had been tempted to ask Ed the details concerning her visit, he had kept his questions to himself.
Lucy wouldn’t let the subject rest.
“I wonder why she’s even coming. She doesn’t want to be here. Not that I blame her. She’s made a new life for herself. She doesn’t fit in here anymore.”
Talk of Beth made Charlie’s breakfast stall on its journey to his stomach. The food seemed to stick in the middle of his chest. He took a sip of his coffee in an attempt to wash it down. “You’re sounding like Mom again.”
Lucy threatened to smack him with her order pad. “Oh, hush!”
“It’s true. Every time Mom hears that Beth is coming back to Riverbend, she starts saying things like, ‘Beth doesn’t belong here, she doesn’t like it here’—as if she needs to remind me that Beth’s never going to be a part of my life again.” He pointed at her with a strip of bacon. “In case you and Mom haven’t noticed, I haven’t exactly been losing sleep all these years over my ex-wife. I have a life.”
“Of course you do, and the reason Mom and I say those things is that we don’t want your life getting messed up by her again.”
“That’s not going to happen,” he stated firmly.
“I hope not. She was all wrong for you, Charlie.”
“I agree. Now can we drop the subject? I’m trying to enjoy my breakfast.”
She looked as if she wanted to continue the discussion, but the bell rang again, indicating more food hot off the grill.
When she had gone, Charlie took a bite of the whole-wheat toast. It tasted like cardboard. What little appetite he’d had when he’d come into the diner had disappeared, thanks to Lucy.
It wasn’t really fair to blame his sister, he knew. She hadn’t said anything he himself hadn’t been thinking the past week. Ever since he had learned that Abraham Steele had left the houseboat to him and his ex-wife, he’d been bothered by memories of Beth. He knew what his mother and sister said were true. Even Beth’s brother had voiced pretty much the same thing. Beth had made a life for herself that didn’t include Riverbend. Or him.
And that was fine. He didn’t want to share the houseboat with her, anyway. According to his attorney, there was no need for them to see each other. Papers could be signed without any contact between them.
“Are you thinking about her?” his sister’s voice interrupted his musings.
“Who?” he asked, feigning ignorance.
She gave him a disbelieving look as she refilled his coffee cup. “If you’re lucky, this visit will be no different from the others. It’ll be short, and neither one of us will be on her calling card.”
“Hearing you talk, no one would ever guess that you and Beth used to be best friends,” he said dryly.
“That was a long time ago. People change.” A spoon fell to the floor and she bent to retrieve it. “I don’t plan to see her and neither should you, especially not now.”
“Why not now?”
“You’re vulnerable.”
He looked at her over the rim of his cup, trying to hide his amusement. “I am?”
“I’m not stupid, Charlie. I know that men have certain…needs.”
He chuckled. “You think I’m going to fall for Beth because I’m lonely?”
“She’s always been able to do a number on you.”
This time he laughed out loud.
Lucy planted her hands on her hips. “I’m serious. I’m worried about you. Owning this boat with her…well, it could present all sorts of problems.”
“None I can’t handle,” he assured her.
Her sister harrumphed. “She hurt you once. What makes you think it won’t happen again?”
“I learned a long time ago that even if I could ride a white horse, they don’t make shining armor in my size.”
Charlie was spared Lucy’s reply when a customer signaled for her attention. He ate as much as he could of the breakfast and finished his coffee.
With luck he figured he could exit the diner with a simple wave in Lucy’s direction. But luck wasn’t with him. As he paid the cashier, his sister caught up with him.
“Here. Let me give you a hug for good luck at the hearing today.” She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed.
“Thanks. By the way, I’m going to be gone for the weekend. After I get this stuff straightened out with Nathan, I’m going to Indianapolis.”
“Who’s in Indianapolis?” she asked, her eyes widening with interest.
“Not who. What. A trade show. Mitch Sterling and I are going.”
As he left the café he glanced back through the plate-glass windows and saw his sister chatting with Evie Mazerik, the cashier. As much as he wanted to think Lucy was talking to the older woman about work, Charlie had a pretty good idea the two were discussing the one subject he didn’t want to share with the town. Beth.
BETH PENNINGTON breathed a sigh of relief as she crossed the Illinois border into Indiana. At least twice during her trip from Iowa the engine light had come on, giving her cause to believe her car had mechanical problems. At least now she was close enough to Riverbend that she wouldn’t feel guilty about calling her brother, Ed, if she needed help.
As she left the gently rolling farmland behind and the brick buildings and treed streets of Riverbend came into view, she was surprised by the nostalgia that washed over her. Seeing her hometown sent a shiver through her—and not an unpleasant one.
Just the opposite, in fact, which was why it caught her off guard. She didn’t expect to feel good about coming home—although she really couldn’t call it home anymore. Once she’d crossed the Sycamore River she took a right, instead of proceeding straight through town, inexplicably wanting to drive through her old neighborhood.
She felt a catch in her chest at the sight of her childhood home. It was a two-story frame house, nothing fancy, but full of memories. Most of them good, but a few painful. Along the walkway day lilies bloomed in a profusion of orange, a legacy of her mother, who’d planted them only a few weeks before she’d died.
“You’re still here, Mom,” Beth murmured quietly. As a nine year old, she’d taken her grief out on any weed that dared to pop up in that garden, tugging at it with a vengeance and tossing it aside. Every spring and summer that followed, she’d nurtured those lilies with the same tenderness her mother had nurtured her, knowing that when the flowers bloomed, she’d feel her mother’s presence again.
As Beth glanced at the wooden porch, she imagined her father lying in his hammock, the newspaper propped on his belly. How many times had she and Lucy Callahan run past him in a hurry, slamming the screen door on their way inside, only to have her father holler, “Where’s the fire?”
Up the stairs to the second floor they’d race, eager to plop down on her double bed and dissect everything that had happened at school that day. Although Lucy was the same age as Beth, she’d been a year behind her in school because Beth was in the accelerated program. That hadn’t stopped them from being the best of friends, sharing their fears and disappointments, along with their hopes and dreams.
Automatically Beth’s eyes sought the Callahan house next door. Although her father had moved away, Beth knew that Lucy’s parents still lived there. Time was, she would have never dreamed of passing their house without stopping to say hello. They would have scolded her if she had.
A honking horn startled her out of her musings. She wasn’t twelve, she was thirty-one, and Mr. and Mrs. Callahan no longer regarded her as a daughter. There was no point in stopping, so she turned her attention to the street and drove away.
As she reached the heart of town, she saw that, although time had brought some changes to Riverbend, most of the commercial district looked the same. There was Steele’s bookstore and the Sunnyside Café, two of her favorite places. The Strand Theater still showed movies nightly, according to the marquis, and Beck’s was selling shoes right next door.
Beth continued down Hickory Street, suddenly impatient to see her brother and his family. When she reached his home, the excitement bubbling inside her had her hurrying out of the car and up the front steps.
“Omigosh! You’re here!” Grace Pennington’s mouth dropped open when she saw Beth standing on the front step. “Ed didn’t think you’d come.”
“Should I leave?” she joked.
“No, this is wonderful. Come on in.” After a warm welcoming hug, Grace ushered her sister-in-law inside.
As she stepped into the living room, Beth saw Grace’s parents seated on the sofa.
“Mom and Dad are here for the weekend,” her sister-in-law told her. The two seniors smiled and greeted Beth warmly.
“I should have called before I came,” Beth apologized. “I didn’t even think that you might have company.” For once in her life she’d made an impulsive decision and it looked as if it was the wrong one.
“We’re not company,” Grace’s father bellowed. “We’re family.”
“That’s right, and there’s always room for family,” Grace assured her, pulling Beth into the living room with a loving hand.
In their hearts maybe, Beth said to herself, but in her brother’s house there was only one guest bedroom, which was now occupied. Maybe she could bunk in with one of her nieces. She was about to make that suggestion when her niece Kayla came bouncing into the room followed by a set of twins.
“Hi, Auntie Beth,” said Kayla. “Look who Grandma and Grandpa brought with them. My cousins Erin and Jenny. They’re sleeping overnight, too.”
Beth’s eyes met those of her sister-in-law. “The more the merrier, right?” Grace said in her usual calm manner. “I bet you could use a cold drink. Why don’t you come into the kitchen with me. While I put the finishing touches on dinner, you can bring me up-to-date on everything that’s happened.”
“I feel really stupid,” Beth told her as she took a seat at the wooden table. “I should have called before I came.”
“Nonsense. We love surprises—especially ones that bring us our favorite people. Now, don’t even worry about the sleeping arrangements. We’ll figure something out after dinner.” She gave Beth’s arm a squeeze. “I’m so glad you’re here—Ed’s going to be delighted.”
“Where is my brother?”
“Working, but he’ll be home for dinner.” Grace opened the fridge and took out a pitcher of lemonade. She poured a large glass for Beth. “He’s going to be surprised. Now that July’s half gone, he thought you’d keep postponing your visit until the summer was over.”
“It was tempting,” Beth confessed, accepting the cold drink gratefully. “I can’t remember the last time I didn’t work over a summer break.”
“You work too hard, Beth. You and your brother have that in common.”
“Guess it’s in the genes,” she said lightly. “If I didn’t work I’d get bored.” She watched her sister-in-law tend to the pots on the stove. Despite having a houseful of kids and extra guests for dinner, she looked her usual calm self, not a hair out of place on her blond head, her makeup as fresh as if she’d just put it on.
“You won’t have to worry about being bored here. We’ll find plenty of things for you to do. The girls were counting on you coming and they’ve made plans to take you on picnics and a dozen other things.”
The girls were Beth’s nieces—Kayla, who was eight, Allison, five, and little Cierra, who was three. “They’re the real reason I’m here. It’ll be good to spend some time with them.”
Grace grinned. “They love being with you, but I have to warn you. They’ll run you ragged if you let them. No reason you can’t lie around and do nothing if that’s what you want.”
Beth had never been very good at doing nothing, which was why she said, “Ed mentioned that Dr. Julian Bennett might be looking for someone to help out at his clinic.”
“Are you thinking about working while you’re here?” Grace asked.
Beth shrugged. “It would only be part-time.”
Just then her brother walked in through the back door. “Hey! I thought I recognized that car out front.” He spread his arms to welcome his sister, who jumped up to give him a hug. “It’s good to see you, sis. You look great.” He pushed her back at arm’s length and let his eyes take her in.
“You don’t look so bad yourself,” she told him, returning his gaze with the same affection. “I see you cut your hair.” Ever since she could remember, his dark, wavy hair had reached the edge of his collar.
He rubbed a hand over his closely cropped brown hair. “Thought I should start looking like a thirty-five-year-old attorney instead of an aging rebel,” he said. “Besides, it’s easier this way.”
“I like it,” she stated sincerely.
“Has Grace been bringing you up-to-date with what’s been going on around here?” he asked, giving his wife an affectionate nuzzle on the neck as she stood next to the stove stirring a pot.
Grace replaced the lid on the pan and said, “I’ll let you do that, Ed. I’m going to set the dining-room table and get the kids washed up for dinner.”
“Let me help.” Beth started to rise to her feet, but Grace put a hand on her shoulder.
“You sit and visit with your brother,” she ordered, then grabbed a stack of plates and disappeared into the other room.
“So what’s wrong?” Ed asked as soon as they were alone.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Beth denied indignantly as he sat down across from her. “Have you forgotten that you invited me to come spend the summer with you?” She spread her arms. “So here I am.”
“It’s mid-July.”
“All right, so I missed the first part of summer.”
He smiled slyly. “You cost me a hundred bucks.”
“How’s that?”
“I bet Grace you wouldn’t come at all.”
Beth chuckled. “No wonder she was so happy to see me.”
“I’m happy to see you, too. You haven’t exactly been a regular visitor to Riverbend,” he reminded her.
“I have a very demanding job,” she said, then immediately added, “Or I should say I had a very demanding job.”
“Does that mean you’re still unemployed?”
She could see concern in her brother’s eyes and it touched her. Even though they were separated by distance, they had remained close over the years, and she had confided in him often about the difficulties she’d had getting along with the athletic director at the college for the past year. Ed had been a rock of support when she’d made the decision to quit her job, and he understood her anxiety about her uncertain future.
“Yes. I told them in the spring I wasn’t going to renew my contract,” she said, not wanting to rehash the betrayal she’d felt on not only a professional but a personal level. As an athletic trainer she had always put the well-being and safety of her students first. To have someone question her judgment, then overrule her decision to keep a player out of a game was a breach of professional conduct she couldn’t tolerate.
“I’m glad to hear that. I was worried they might have coerced you into returning to your position.”
