At Hidden Falls (Angel's Bay Novel) (17 page)

“But claiming his son might end his marriage.”

Charlotte sighed. “I know several of the wives. Not one of them deserves what’s coming.”

“People rarely get what they deserve,” Joe said heavily. “I learned that a long time ago.” The flash of hurt in his eyes was gone as quickly as it came. “I’ll be in touch.”

She nodded. “If there’s anything I can do, please let me. I know you don’t want amateurs getting in the middle of things. But I care a lot about Annie and her baby. If she wants to give her child away, I want it to be her decision, not someone else’s. I just hope it’s not too late.”

“Let’s go, we’re going to be late,” Megan declared.

Nick was surprised that his daughter cared about the time. But when she jangled the car keys in her hand, he realized why. “I take it you’re driving.”

“I need to practice. And you said you’d let me,” she reminded him.

“All right.” He grabbed his jacket as Megan opened the back door. She had announced that she’d agreed to babysit for his cousin Colleen’s younger daughter, and while he appreciated Megan’s desire to work, he’d hoped to spend some time with her. Apparently, the only time she wanted with him was while she was behind the wheel of his car. He supposed he should be grateful for that.

“What time will Colleen be back?” he asked as he got into the passenger seat. “And why isn’t Cord watching his younger sister?”

“Cord is going to some party. And Colleen said they’d be back around midnight. I can’t imagine anything in this town goes later than that.”

“I’ll pick you up.”

“I wasn’t planning on walking.”

He sighed. Megan was so afraid to let him in, even just a little bit.

“How did it go at the theater today?”

“Fine,” she said as she buckled her seatbelt.

“Where did you work?”

“Mostly in the costume shop.” Megan shot him a quick look. “Isabella thinks you’re a superhero because you saved her life. I told her she didn’t know you at all.”

That stung, as he was sure she’d intended it to.

She started the engine and adjusted her mirrors.

“Megan, wait. Before we both have to concentrate on the road, I’ve been wanting to ask you something.”

She sighed. “What?”

“Do you remember anything about your life with me before your mom took you to London?”

She stared straight ahead and was quiet so long he thought either she didn’t remember or she had no intention of answering him. Finally, she said, “I remember a place with stripes on the window and round tables and ice cream.”

“Sweet Treats. It was an ice cream parlor down the street from our apartment. I used to pick you up at preschool, and we’d get an ice cream. You were a vanilla girl, just like me.”

She turned to look at him. “How come you picked me up from school? Didn’t you have a job?”

“I had a couple of jobs—bartender, courier, busboy, whatever I could find. I wasn’t qualified for much, with just a high school diploma and a lot of theater experience.”

“Why didn’t you get a job in the theater, like Mom?”

“I never wanted to act.” He paused. “Whatever I thought about your mom, I never doubted her talent. Kendra was really good.”

“Yeah, she could make you believe anything,” Megan said. A small sniff ended her sentence.

He gave her a quick look and saw tears in her eyes before she looked away. “She loved you. She still does.”

“She loves herself the most,” Megan said. His daughter might pretend not to notice much, but she saw everything.

“She always wanted you with her, Megan.”

“I was a good prop until I got too old.”

He hated the cold cynicism in her voice.

“You were lucky she took me with her to London,” Megan added. “You got to go to school and become an architect.”

“Yes. But most of what drove me to find a career that I was good at and that I could be successful in was you.” Expressing his emotions had never come easily for him—one reason he’d never been a good actor. “I wanted to be someone you could look up to, Megan.”

“Me? Or my mother?” she challenged. “Did you do it so you could get her back? Isn’t that why you came to London and left without seeing me, because she was getting married to someone else, and you realized you were too late?”

“That wasn’t it at all.”

“You’re seriously telling me you don’t still have a thing for her? She’s beautiful. Every man wants her.”

“I don’t feel anything for her except extreme disappointment and anger. I messed up, but she did, too. And you were the one to pay for our mistakes. I’ll regret that till the day I die.”

Megan stared at him for a long moment. “Can I drive now?”

He couldn’t read her reaction, but for once, it wasn’t a sarcastic comeback. “Sure, let’s drive.”

Megan was actually a better driver than he’d anticipated, and it was obvious she loved it. It probably had something to do with finally being in control of one part of her life. A few minutes later, Megan pulled up in front of Colleen’s house and turned off the engine. “Colleen said she could give me a ride home.”

“All right, but if something changes, call me, and I’ll come and get you. Doesn’t matter what time it is.”

He got out and walked around to the driver’s side as Megan hurried up the walk. Colleen opened the door and gave Megan a hug. Her eight-year-old daughter squealed with delight and followed up with another hug. He was happy to see their affection; Megan needed love. He hadn’t realized how much she needed until now.

Pulling away from the curb, he headed downtown to get a drink. Murray’s Bar was crowded when he walked in. A band was setting up in the corner, and the pool tables in the back room were packed. Nick made his way to the bar and was about to order a beer when Michael Murray, the bartender, shouted that drinks were on the house because his brother Shane was getting married.

Nick grinned as Shane glared at his brother. Shane wasn’t one to enjoy a lot of attention, and now he was the center of it. Nick couldn’t really blame him for not wanting the spotlight. Shane was the black sheep of the Murray family. He didn’t just have dark hair and eyes while the rest of the family was fair, but he was also a moody loner who’d gotten into all kinds of trouble in school—the worst coming when he was accused of killing the sister of his teenage girlfriend.

Nick was happy that dark cloud had recently lifted. He’d been good friends with Shane in high school, and while they’d gotten into a lot of trouble together, Shane had always been a good guy at heart.

As the crowd dispersed, Nick moved down the bar. “Congratulations. I guess hell has frozen over if you’re getting married.”

Shane grinned. “I was lucky enough to get Lauren back. I’ve got to seal the deal.” As the person next to him slid off the adjacent stool, he added, “Have a seat. I hear you’re back in town for good.”

“It looks that way.” Nick accepted a beer from Michael, nodding his thanks. “I can’t believe you and Lauren finally worked things out. I never thought that would happen after everything that went down.”

“I didn’t, either.” Shane gave him a speculative look. “I also didn’t think you’d be back or that you’d have a teenage kid with you. How did I miss that?”

“I met Kendra the summer you left Angel’s Bay. I was stupid enough to get her pregnant. We tried to make things work; they didn’t. She took my daughter to Europe with her, and I just got her back. Megan is fifteen now, and she hates my guts.”

“Sounds about right. We weren’t big on our parents at that age, either,” Shane said, lifting his beer to his lips.

“Megan has a lot more to be pissed off about than the normal teenage shit. But she’s a handful, man.”

“Sounds like she takes after you.”

“I pushed a few boundaries in my time, which makes me a hell of a role model for a teenager. How can I tell her not to do what I did? And how can I expect her to listen to me, when I didn’t give a shit what my parents thought?”

Shane shook his head. “I have no idea. Try being honest. At least you won’t be bullshitting her. And you’re not the punk I hung out with fifteen years ago. You’ve changed. You wear suits to work and probably have some money in your bank account.”

“A little.”

“I always thought you’d end up playing in a band,” Shane said. “You could play a mean guitar.”

“I tried to pursue music when we moved to New York, but it didn’t work out.” He paused. “What about you? You’ve come back to work with your father’s charter boat business? What happened to sailing the most dangerous seas in the world?”

“Been there, done that. Realized that what I really wanted was here.”

As the band began to warm up, Nick turned his gaze toward them and recognized Hank Bremmer. They’d jammed together in high school, and he felt a twinge of regret that he hadn’t kept up with his music. He’d been so caught up in trying to make himself into someone else, someone better, that he’d lost track of who he’d once been.

He’d lived his life at two extremes. At one time, he’d been completely reckless and irresponsible, living whatever emotion he was feeling and not thinking beyond the next five minutes. That had gotten him into all kinds of trouble. Now he stayed completely within the lines, never broke the rules, saved for the future, and tried not to care too much about anything or anyone. But that wasn’t working for him, either. He’d been feeling restless for a long time, but now he was feeling
reckless,
too.

As he lifted the beer mug to his lips, he saw a flash of dark hair at the other end of the bar, and for a second he thought it was Isabella. When the woman turned and he realized it wasn’t her, he was shocked by his disappointment.

Isabella strolled through downtown, surprised to find so many people out and about. For a small town, there was a fair amount of action on a Friday night. Joe had gone back to work after sharing a quick dinner with her. He seemed to be consumed with finding the missing girl. The people of Angel’s Bay were lucky to have her brother; he was one dedicated cop.

She, however, was at loose ends. Too much quiet gave her too much time to think, which was always a little dangerous where she was concerned, so a walk seemed in order. Although most of the retail shops were closed, she could hear laughter and music coming from some of the bars and restaurants. There was an infectious lightness in the air, as if something good was about to happen—maybe it was just the prospect of the weekend. Judging by the number of colored flyers posted on shop windows, all kinds of events were taking place.

Joe had told her that the town made an occasion out of every possible holiday. She’d thought he was exaggerating, but apparently not. It was fun to be somewhere with such a strong sense of community. She was beginning to see why her brother liked Angel’s Bay so much. She also understood why Rachel had not felt as comfortable.

Her sister-in-law was big-city, from her sophisticated sharp-angled hairstyle to her stiletto heels. Rachel liked movie premieres and designer clothes, and she made a good living selling real estate to the rich and famous. No wonder she and Joe had found themselves at an impasse. The one thing they had in common was stubbornness.

Her pulse quickened as she approached the Angel’s Heart Quilt Shop. It was after nine o’clock, but the front door was open, the lights blazing. She’d intended to check out the shop tomorrow, but maybe now was a good time.

As she stepped inside, she could hear laughter coming from the second floor. Three women came down the stairs, engaged in conversation. They gave her friendly smiles as they passed by, but didn’t question her presence, so she decided to look around.

She’d spent many hours of her life looking at fabrics, but she’d never made a quilt. She’d always been more interested in clothing herself or the people around her, but as she studied the beautiful designs decorating the walls, she had a distinct urge to try her hand at one.

Behind a large glass case on one wall was the original Angel’s Bay Memorial Quilt that Joe had told her about. Each square had a different theme and was made of a different material. A placard underneath the quilt read, “In memory of those lost in the wreck of the
Gabriella,
1850. She perused the squares, wondering which one of them had belonged to one of her ancestors. Joe had said that Fiona Murray was the one to ask. With that in mind, she headed up to the loft on the second floor.

A couple of women were stacking up chairs along the wall, while several others were gathered around the coffee urn and the dessert table. She was pleased to see two familiar faces, Charlotte Adams and Kara Lynch.

“Isabella, hello,” Charlotte said as she joined them. “How are you?”

“I’m very well, thanks.”

“Do you know Kara?”

She smiled at Kara. “Yes, we met the other day. And Joe said as soon as he wraps up this case, he’d love to come to dinner.”

“Great. I hope that will be soon,” Kara said, her smile dimming.

“Let’s hope so,” Charlotte echoed. She reached for the bottle of red wine on the table. “Would you like a glass, Isabella?”

“Sure. What was going on up here?”

“One of our many quilting parties,” Kara said. “Do you quilt?”

“I’ve never actually tried it, but now that I’m here, I’m getting the itch.”

“Don’t start scratching it, or it will never go away,” Charlotte advised with a laugh.

“Charlotte only enjoys stitching up people,” Kara said with a grin.

Isabella shuddered at that thought. “I can’t imagine.” She took a sip of wine, glancing around at the few remaining women in the loft. “I was wondering if your grandmother is here. Joe told me that one of our ancestors might have been on the ship that went down and that we might have a square on the quilt.”

“Yes, you do have a square,” Kara said. “I tried to tell Joe about it a long time ago, but he wasn’t interested.”

“Imagine that,” Charlotte murmured dryly.

“The family name was Cardoza,” Kara said. “Miguel, his wife, Beatriz, and their sons survived the wreck. They were from Mexico and went to San Francisco for the Gold Rush. He worked in the mines, while Beatriz took in mending to make ends meet. I have all of the survivors and their families pretty much memorized,” she said. “My grandmother has been in charge of Founders Day since I was born.”