A Sweethaven Summer (23 page)

“Can I help you?” She bounced a curly-headed baby on her hip.

“I’m looking for Jared Kimball.”

Her expression changed, and she looked Campbell up and down. “Has he gotten to you too?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Where’d he pick you up, the bar downtown? Or are you the girl from the smoke shop?”

“No, I’ve never met Mr. Kimball.” Campbell wrung her clammy hands.

“Obviously not.” The woman laughed. “If you had, you wouldn’t be calling him ‘mister.’ ”

“I just wanted a moment of his time. Is he here?”

The baby fussed, and the woman hollered inside. “Libby, get down here.”

The little girl Campbell had spotted in the window appeared in the entryway, and the woman handed her the baby. “Take your brother into the kitchen.”

The little girl could barely manage the weight of the baby, but she hobbled away, leaving the two women alone on the front step.

“I haven’t seen Jared in…oh, probably ten days now. Said he was going out for some smokes and he still isn’t back. I guess he drove down to Florida to get his cigarettes or something.”

Campbell nodded. “I understand.”

“What do you want him for?” She squinted, still seeming suspicious of Campbell.

Campbell knew telling this woman her real reason for coming was out of the question, so she searched her mind for another explanation. “It’s nothing, really. I heard he might’ve known my mom—a long time ago. They were art students together.”

“Yeah, Jared always said he was an artist.”

“Well, I’m sorry to bother you.”

“No bother. You want me to give him a message—if he comes back?”

Campbell opened her mouth to respond but quickly thought better of it. She shook her head. “No, that’s okay, thanks.”

“Suit yourself.”

Campbell got back in her car and stared at the run-down house. The little girl reappeared in the window and stared at her like a prisoner craving the sunlight. Campbell waved at her, but the girl disappeared without returning the gesture.

She started the car and drove back toward town. Perhaps it was better not to find out if Jared Kimball was her father.

Lila sat in one of the overly soft armchairs in front of the faux fireplace at the Main Street Café. She clutched her Chanel bag and watched the door. She’d asked Campbell to meet her there, but she hadn’t said why.

“Couldn’t we just talk tonight at dinner?” Campbell had asked.

“I think it would be better if we spoke in private.” Her cryptic response must’ve piqued the girl’s curiosity.

Unfortunately, the only information Jane had found in the past two hours was that the Davis family still owned the cottage down the street and that Mark was expected in town for the Blossom Festival.

This revealed nothing about his relationship with Suzanne. It was all just a hunch.

“You shouldn’t tell her until we know something,” Jane said on the phone.

“She has a right to know it’s a possibility. I would want to know,” Lila said. “We told her we’d tell her if we thought of anyone.”

“And if it’s not him?”

“Face the facts—she kept the secret for a reason.”

Jane’s heavy sigh told her she didn’t buy it, but Lila didn’t feel like forcing the issue. All she could do was present Campbell with the facts. She could do what she wanted with the information.

The bell over the door rang as Campbell walked in. Luke
followed behind her the same way boys used to follow Suzanne. Mama said ordinary boys wanted someone approachable and average—someone who didn’t challenge them. “But you don’t want an
ordinary boy
, Lila. You deserve someone special.”

Lila shoved the memory aside and waved in Campbell’s direction.

Campbell walked toward the armchairs while Luke spoke with one of the girls behind the counter.

“Lila, what is it?” She sat down and stared—her eyes wide and expectant. Second thoughts rushed to Lila’s mind.

“It’s…”

“My father? What’d you find out?”

Lila never empathized with the women in Macon. She purposely kept her distance from them. But the women here pulled her in, and she genuinely cared what happened to them and how they felt. Campbell’s heart lay on the line here, and she knew she could snap it in two if she weren’t careful.

“It’s just a hunch.” Lila proceeded with caution. “It could be nothing.”

Who was she kidding? All the qualifiers in the world wouldn’t keep Campbell from getting her hopes up. She’d spent her whole life without a daddy.

“I thought of someone who was around a lot that summer. He still owns a house here. In fact, Jane found out he’s going to be here this weekend.”

Campbell’s face went pale.

This was a mistake. Lila should’ve listened to Jane and dug around a little more before telling Campbell anything.

“It may be nothing, but I thought we should check it out. I can find out for you if you want me to.”

Campbell stared at her. “I’ve got a few leads I’m looking into too. I’d love to hear what you found.”

Lila took the scrapbook page from her purse and showed Campbell the confession. “His name was Mark Davis. He was Jane’s neighbor, and she had a huge crush on him for a few summers in a row, really until she met Graham. Your mom would’ve never done anything to hurt Jane, but—”

“It does look like Mom’s handwriting,” she said.

Lila leaned back in the chair. “I know this is hard for you so take your time with it. I was thinking Jane and I could get in touch with him if you’d prefer. We can let you know if there’s anything to it.”

“So is there anything besides this confession to make you think it was this Mark guy? Did my mom spend any time with him?”

“We all did,” Lila said. “Jane knew him best, but boys were naturally drawn to your mom. I don’t think she meant for it to happen, but if it did, I can see why she’d want to keep it a secret.”

“Because of Jane.”

Lila nodded and ran a hand through her hair as she looked around the café. Being back in Sweethaven unearthed every regret she’d worked hard to bury. She’d convinced herself those three girls meant nothing to her. It’d made it easier to walk away, but it wasn’t easy, and she had suffered for it. She’d masked her loneliness and covered it with pride.

Had Suzanne suffered for it too?

“If he’s coming this weekend, could you point him out to me?” Campbell asked.

“Sure, and I’ll see what else we can dig up.” Lila leaned forward. “I hope it was okay for me to tell you—even though it’s not certain.”

“Of course. I’m glad you did. I was starting to get discouraged.”
Campbell picked her bag up off the floor and then turned back to Lila. “Thanks for letting me know.”

Lila smiled and watched as Campbell walked toward where Luke stood waiting for her. He leaned against the counter nonchalantly, but Lila could see plain as day that he’d fallen for this girl—hard.

He had that look in his eyes, the same look she’d seen in Graham’s eyes. Concern. Worry. Love. Had Tom ever looked at her that way?

She pulled her cell phone out and tried to reach him one more time. Still no answer.

This time, she decided to leave a message. “Tom, Suzanne died. She was gone before she could make it here. I’d really like to talk to you.”

As she spoke, her mind wandered. Maybe he was at the attorney’s office, working out the details of their divorce.

“Could you possibly call me back?” Anger wound its way around her heart.

Or maybe one of the flight attendants had caught his eye. She slammed the phone shut without saying good-bye and forced the thoughts away.

Luke waited for her by the counter, anticipation in his eyes. “Well?”

“She thinks she figured out who my father is.”

“Really? That’s great.” His smile faded as he read her expression. “Why aren’t you smiling?”

“Just nerves.” She forced a smile. She hadn’t told Lila about Jared. Maybe a part of her was too afraid to find out the truth.

“What if he didn’t know you were his?” Luke asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

“You mean, like, my mom never told him?”

He shrugged. “Could’ve been. If it was that big a secret. There’s got to be a reason she kept it to herself. Maybe she didn’t even tell the guy.”

“I guess.” She almost hoped that was the case.

“Who’d she say it was?”

“Some guy named Mark Davis.”

“Dr. Davis? Really?”

“You know him?” A twinge of hope flickered in her mind, but she forced it away. She could not get excited about a maybe. All the childhood fantasies of fathers she never had rolled into one giant ball of humiliation and taunted her.

“Sure. He’s here every summer. A lot. He’s a big-shot cardiologist or something.”

“He’s coming this weekend for the Blossom Festival.”

“He’s a good guy. Has three kids, I think.”

“And a wife?”

He nodded. “Melissa. Nice lady.”

Campbell looked away. If she confronted this maybe-father, she could ruin things for his real-life wife and family.

“You want to get back to the photos?” Luke glanced outside. They’d cut their tour short when Campbell got Lila’s call. “I had to promise Russ another week, but he said we could come back.”

“I think maybe I need to be alone.” Sorrow wormed its way into her belly as she said the words. It wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted to hop back on the trolley, tour Sweethaven with this handsome guy, and take pictures of all the places her mom had painted. Land and buildings rich with history—
her
history.

She did not want to watch his face fall or his smile fade.

“I’m sorry, Luke. I think I have some things to sort out.”

“I understand. Will you be at my mom’s for dinner? She’s throwing a pre–Blossom Festival bash and she wants you to come. I think Jane’s whole family will be there and Lila’s coming…”

“Sure. I can do that.” She forced a smile. “Thanks for understanding.”

They stared at each other for a few seconds that felt a lot longer, and finally Campbell looked away.

“I guess I’ll see you tonight,” he said.

She nodded and walked outside.

As nervous as she was to meet Dr. Mark Davis, her conversation with Lila had given her hope. A big-shot cardiologist or a deadbeat dad: one of these men had to be her father. She wanted to cautiously entertain the idea that in a matter of days, she could find out his identity. The sun shone down on her face, and she
reveled in having an open afternoon. No commitments—only her and her camera.

As she walked toward the lake, her mind wandered. She took her shoes off, feeling the warm sand soft beneath her feet. In the distance, she glimpsed the lighthouse her mom had painted. The carousel. The boardwalk. The places of her mom’s youth.

And her dad’s.

Zoom. Click. Click. Click
. Her camera captured the sights.

The more time she spent here the harder it got to ignore the fact that she had another parent. Somewhere. And for years she’d been trying on different dads in her imagination, but none of them had stuck.

What would it be like to find him? What if Dr. Mark Davis had her upturned nose or her blond hair? What if he had long, thin fingers like hers? What if his three kids were her half-siblings, and they invited her to be part of their family?

Or what if his wife left him because he’d never told her the truth about having a daughter? She’d already ruined enough families—she didn’t want to risk ruining another.

But you deserve the truth too
.

The names Jared Kimball and Mark Davis rambled through her head. Someone had to know the truth.

Seagulls chirped overhead. She imagined the beach was filled with people during the summer, but now it was virtually empty. A man threw a Frisbee to a golden retriever, a young woman jogged on the sand near the water, and an old man sat on a bench just ahead in the distance.

An old man. Tall. Lanky. Familiar.

Her grandfather.

He didn’t see her. She could run the other way, but something stopped her. This man could have the answers she needed. Would
he turn and walk away from her after the way she’d spoken to him at the auction?

Her words rushed back and heat crawled up the back of her neck.

She had to find out for herself.

But the nagging question of the money rose in the back of her mind. And what if he had forced her mom to tell him who had gotten her pregnant?

But Lila and Jane will find out the truth. You don’t need him
.

She could ask him and then go. Luke was right—she didn’t have to have a relationship with him. She’d ask him the question and that’d be it.

Simple.

But as she got closer, as he looked up and saw her approaching, she realized there was nothing simple about it. In all her years of imagining the perfect father, she’d never considered a grandfather. She’d never entertained the idea that her mom hadn’t told the truth.

He stared at the ground, as if he couldn’t bear to look her in the face.

The closer she got the more she wanted to turn around. Run away. Get back in her car and never come back to Sweethaven again.

But she had questions. And he had answers, so she kept walking.

“Would you like to sit?” He looked at the bench next to him. His quiet voice surprised her. He seemed…broken.

She willed herself not to feel sorry for him after what he’d done to her.

They stared at the water as it lapped the shore. Birds hopped on wet sand. A man with a metal detector passed by and waved. The man at her side lifted a hand in recognition.

The tense silence stretched between them like a tightrope pulled taut. Her mind whirled with questions.

“It’s beautiful here, don’t you think?” He focused on the lake.

A quick glance at him and then back to the lake. She didn’t respond.

“I moved here year-round when Cath—your grandmother—died. People thought I was crazy, but they’d never been to Sweethaven. What do you think of it?”

She shifted in her seat and straightened her shoulders. She didn’t want to have a conversation with him. She didn’t want to enable him to ease his guilty conscience with a quick chat about the weather.