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Sarah laughed. “Creepy-crawlies make me squeamish, too, but even I’m okay with these critters. They’re harmless, trust me.”
Casey momentarily looped her arms around Sarah’s neck. “Thanks for the pizza, Mom. You, too—” She hesitated. “Um, Mr. Marshall, I guess.”
“How about we reserve the ‘Mr. Marshall’ thing for school?”
Casey grinned.
“And soccer practice,” he added. “Otherwise it’s Jon.”
“Sure.”
Kate pushed away from the table and followed Casey across the deck. “Thank you for having us over. This was nice.” She hadn’t had a lot to say while they ate, but Sarah could tell she was a sweet girl and she liked her quiet confidence.
“You’re welcome. We’ll have to do it again sometime.”
“She’s a great kid,” Sarah said to Jon after the girls went inside and closed the sliding door behind them. “Nice manners, too.”
“Thanks. She has her moments but mostly, yes, she’s a good kid.”
He seemed both reluctant to give her too much credit and pleased that someone else recognized his daughter’s positive traits.
“Would you like coffee?” she asked. She hoped he would say yes. In spite of his parenting skills, which were awkward at best, she had enjoyed their conversation over dinner. “If you can afford the time, that is.”
“Ah...sure. That’d be nice.”
“I’ll run in and make some.” She gathered up the pizza boxes and tucked them under one arm, then picked up the tray with all of their empty plates and glasses.
“Let me help with those.”
“Thanks, but I can manage.” She gestured toward the bay. “You’ve had a long day. Sit and enjoy the view. I’ll be right back.”
Inside the kitchen, she poured water into the coffeemaker and filled the basket with grounds. While it brewed she quickly loaded the dishwasher and set a pair of bright red coffee mugs and a mismatched creamer and sugar bowl on the tray. Almost as an afterthought, she added a small plate with some of the cookies.
Jon had hesitated when she’d offered coffee. Perhaps because he still had a lot to do at home. Or maybe he’d had enough of her company for one evening. No, she didn’t think that was it. She’d felt a little spark at the pizza place. She was sure he had, too, although she had to admit to being completely out practice when it came to these things. Paolo and Maria’s matchmaking aside, an attractive single man would draw attention in a small town like Serenity Bay. There weren’t many single women here, but she knew a few married ones who’d be wishing they were. A thought that didn’t sit well, she realized.
She filled the two mugs and carried the tray back outside. Jon stood with his back to her, leaning on the railing. The view always captivated her, and tonight was no exception. The tide was low and the bay itself was calm. Out on the strait, though, a light breeze had the surface dancing, and in the distance a cruise ship destined for Alaska glided by, lights twinkling in the dusk.
“Here we go.” She set the tray on the table and he walked back to join her. “Cream and sugar?” she asked after they were seated.
“Black is good, thanks.”
She scooped sugar into hers, added cream, stirred. He was watching quizzically when she looked up.
“I have a sweet tooth.”
“I can see that.”
She held out the plate. “Help yourself.”
“Ah. Cookies. Thanks for the ones you dropped off this afternoon. They were...great.” And he was a terrible liar.
“You didn’t look at all guilty when you said that.” His grin suggested he was onto her. “Casey thought we should bake something to welcome you to the neighborhood, but I am not a cookie-baking kind of mom. Actually, I’m not much of a cook of any kind.”
“It’s the thought that counts,” he said, and he sounded sincere. “I was glad you stopped by. So was Kate, although she might not have let on.”
Sarah set the tray on the table and handed one of the mugs to him. “Kate seems like she’s got a good head on her shoulders.”
“She does. But she’s going through a...I don’t know...a phase? At least I hope it’s a phase.” He drank some of his coffee. “This is good.”
“Thanks. Fourteen’s a tough age, especially for girls.” She set her mug on the table and wrapped her hands around it. “No longer a child but not quite old enough to have any independence.”
“True. Boys seem to take a while longer to get to that point.”
“So I recall. I think raising girls is easier, don’t you?”
“I don’t know about easy, but then I never expected to be raising a kid on my own, boy or girl.”
“How long has it been?”
He drank some coffee while he contemplated his answer.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “That’s a personal question. You don’t have to answer it.”
“No problem. I was just doing the math. Georgette moved out a year ago but even before that she was busy with her career, pretty much working twenty-four/seven, so we—Kate and I—were on our own a lot of the time.”
Sarah gazed into her coffee cup, choosing her words carefully. “Juggling family and career is tough for a lot of women,” she said. “We want to be a success at both.”
“Georgette likes to live large. It’s not a lifestyle that lends itself to parenting...and I’m being honest, not critical. She adores Kate, and Kate is her biggest fan.”
“Your daughter’s lucky to have her in her life then,” she said. “Casey was only six when my...when her father died in a car accident.”
He looked genuinely surprised. “Oh, I’m sorry. That must’ve been rough.”
“It was at first.” She sipped some coffee and changed the subject. “What made you choose Serenity Bay as your new home?”
She didn’t particularly want to talk about herself, and she didn’t want to talk about her disaster of a marriage that ended even more disastrously. Keeping the conversation on current topics should be safe enough.
“I didn’t so much choose the town as it chose me. Deciding to leave the city was the first step. The town we moved to depended on where I could find a job.”
“Of course, that makes sense.”
“When I heard about the teaching position here, it sounded perfect. The school, the town, everything. Then I found this house, and here we are.”
“I hope you like it here. After my...Jim died, my parents tried to get me and Casey to move back to Ucluelet or least someplace on Vancouver Island where we’d be closer to them. They thought it would be easier for us to be near family, but Serenity Bay was the right place for us then and it still is. Great schools, friendly people. It’s a good place to raise kids.”
“That’s what I’m counting on.” “My daughter was not happy about the move.”
Sarah smiled. “Teenagers don’t like change, that’s for sure. Casey said she’ll show her around and introduce her to some of the kids at school. Maybe that will help.”
“I hope so.”
“It’ll be good for Casey, too, having a girl her age living close by. She can be a bit of a loner and I worry about her sometimes.”
“But isn’t she on the soccer team?”
“She is, and she plans to work on the student newspaper and wants to run for student counsel, but outside school she spends a lot of time by herself, doing homework, reading. Especially this summer because her best friend is away.”
“She sounds grounded,” he said. “Maybe some of her enthusiasm will rub off on Kate. She does what she needs to get by and then she hangs out at the mall, pores over fashion magazines, exchanges text messages with her friends.”
There was no mistaking his tone when he mentioned the magazines. As close to derisive as possible without being rude.
“Sometimes a child finds her passion,” Sarah said. “And sometimes that passion finds her. Our job as parents is to encourage them to keep the doors open and be willing to explore opportunities when they present themselves.”
“When it comes to school, it might take a crowbar to pry open Kate’s doorway to opportunity.”
The comment stung Sarah’s sensibilities. Did he say things like that to his daughter? If he did, then there was little wonder they had a communication problem. She stood with her cup in her hand and reached for his. “I’ll get more coffee.”
“Thanks.” He sounded awkward, as though he’d picked up on her reaction and regretted what he’d said.
He was on his feet again and taking in the view when she returned with their mugs refilled. She set his on the metal top of the glass rail, next to where he leaned on his forearms.
The western sky was still lit by the sun that had just dipped out of sight. The harbor was quieter than it had been earlier in the day. A lone fishing trawler chugged into the marina, and a pair of kayakers paddled near the resort on the other side of the bay. For a few minutes she and Jonathan stood and gazed across the bay, occupied with their own thoughts.
She set her red mug next to his. “It’s a beautiful view, isn’t it?”
“I was thinking the same thing. It’s why I decided on our place. We were lucky to get a one-year lease, which gives us time to decide if this is where we want to call home.”
“I never get tired of this. Every time I look out here, it’s a little different from the last time, depending on the tide, the angle of the sun, the marine traffic coming and going.”
“The real estate agent said we’d even see whales from time to time. I wasn’t sure if that was true or just a sales pitch but I put a pair of binoculars in the kitchen, just in case.”
“It’s true,” she said. “It’s quite common to see one of the resident pods of killer whales, but usually outside the breakwater. They seldom venture into the bay. Casey loves them. I’ll bet Kate will, too.”
“I hope so.” He finished his coffee, straightened. “She and I should be getting home.”
“Of course. I’ll let the girls know.” She took his mug and set it along with hers on the tray and carried it inside.
He followed without saying anything. She couldn’t tell if he had picked up on her disappointment with his negative comments about his daughter or if something else was bothering him. In her opinion, those had been terrible things for a parent to say about a child, especially the crowbar remark. Even if he didn’t say anything that harsh to his daughter’s face, a sensitive kid would pick up on his attitude.
His problem is not your problem. He seemed like a nice guy and he was definitely nice to look at, but she had no time for anyone who was not fully engaged as a parent. She’d been there once and that had been one time too many.
* * *
AS BEDROOMS WENT, Casey’s was a total train wreck, Kate Marshall thought. There were books everywhere. The walls were covered with World Wildlife Fund posters of a rhinoceros, a baby monkey and a bamboo-eating panda. Built-in shelves running the width of the room, beneath the window, were lined with cages and aquariums.
Casey opened the door of a tall wire cage that was filled with ramps and a wheel, reached inside and produced a small brown mouse.
“This is Jane,” she said, extending her hand. “Would you like to hold her?”
Did she want to hold a rodent? In her hand? Not even a little bit. “Oh, gee, ah, no. But thanks.”
The girl grinned at her as she reached into the cage and brought out Jane’s identical twin. “This is Dian. Lots of people are afraid of mice, but they’re actually sweet and very gentle. I named these two after famous scientists.”
“Oh.” Kate searched her memory for famous scientists. Other than Albert Einstein, she drew a blank.
“Jane Goodall studies chimpanzees and Dian Fossey wrote Gorillas in the Mist. Have you read it?”
A book about gorillas? Seriously? “No, I haven’t.”
Casey placed a rodent on each shoulder, giggling softly as one of them nuzzled her neck. Kate shuddered.
“You’re welcome to borrow my copy.”
“Oh, gee—”
“Let me guess. That’s another no.”
“Science books aren’t really my thing,” Kate said.
“That book’s not really a... Never mind.” Casey scooped nuts and seeds out of a glass canister and into a little dish inside the mouse cage. “I’m going to be a veterinarian some day because I want to work with animals, so I read a lot of...science books.”
Her emphasis on science...was that a put-down?
“Most kids who haven’t even started high school haven’t figured out what they want to do when they graduate.”
“Yeah, most people think it’s weird, but I’ve always known. My mom says I figured it out in kindergarten when the local vet visited my class. Dr. Jacobson still runs the animal clinic in town and she does a lot of work for Serenity Bay’s animal shelter. She even has three rescue dogs of her own. She helped me get on as a volunteer at the animal shelter this summer.”
Casey tossed a carrot and a piece of broccoli into the cage, and then she took one mouse off her shoulder, holding it in her palm, stroking its head and along its back with the tip of one finger before setting it gently in the cage.
“Nighty-night, Jane. You, too, Dian,” she said, repeating the process with the other rodent. “I’ve always wanted a dog, or a cat, or both, but my mom’s allergic to cats and she says we’re too busy to take care of a dog.”
Anyone who could be this crazy about a mouse definitely should have a real pet. Kate had never had a dog, but there’d been many nights when she’d crawled into bed, snuggled up with Princess and cried herself to sleep because her mom wasn’t coming home. She hardly cried about that anymore, but it still made her sad. If her dad knew, he’d freak out for sure, and she did not need that. She was glad Princess was a good listener and an even better secret-keeper. For a while she’d cried about having to move, but that hadn’t made any difference, either. And she wasn’t so much sad as she was totally furious with her dad for making her come to live in this stupid little town in the middle of freaking nowhere. Especially if Casey was any indication of what the other kids were like.
“Maybe you can convince your mom to change her mind about a dog.”
“Oh, I’m working on her.” Casey grinned and moved on to a terrarium that housed a small brownish-gray reptile. “This is Rex,” she said. “He’s a green anole lizard. I named him after my favorite dinosaur. Lizards aren’t dinosaurs, though.”
Like anyone cared.
“Birds are more closely related to dinosaurs than lizards are.” Casey opened a plastic container that had small holes poked in the lid, took out a bug that was...ew! ew! ew!...squirming!...and dropped it into the glass enclosure with the lizard.
Kate hastily averted her gaze, not wanting to see this particular critter consume its meal. She didn’t respond to the dinosaur trivia, either, but Casey didn’t seem to notice.
“Rex eats crickets,” she said. “I buy them at the pet store.”
The only thing creepier than keeping live bugs in your bedroom? Picking them up with your bare hands and feeding them to something even creepier. Ew.
“What do kids do in Serenity Bay?” Kate asked, hoping to shift the conversation away from the science of Casey’s critters. “Besides school, I mean.”
