Find Wonder In All Things (26 page)

“Dad, is this you talking or is it Cooper? Since when have you worried about any of us ‘fitting in?’”

He looked crestfallen. “This weekend is important, daughter. Finally, you have a chance to be successful at what you love to do. It’s what you’ve always wanted, isn’t it — recognition for your talent and your hard work?”

“No, it’s what you’ve apparently decided you want for me, Dad, and I love you for it. But recognition wasn’t ever my motivation for my art. It was never what I always wanted. I wanted — ”

She paused.

“You wanted what?”

A life with James.
She didn’t utter that out loud, however, and just shook her head a little. “I just want to see my friend, and she’s free for lunch. I won’t break my plans with her because some better offer came along.”

“Well, when you put it that way, it does sound rude, but if she works for Neil Crenshaw, I’m sure she’d understand.”

“Perhaps she would, but that doesn’t make it right.”

Mr. Elliot sighed.

“You taught me to be like this,” she reminded him, “to follow my own path.”

“I know,” he said with some sadness. “What was I thinking, eh?”

“Go have a good time, Daddy. Make my apologies to Cooper and the rest of them. I’ll meet them tonight at the party.”

“All right, you win.”

She smiled as she went out the door. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

* * *

Her time with Adrienne was enjoyable, and Laurel had no regrets over missing what would have been a stuffy and pretentious luncheon. She wished Cooper would ask before he made plans for her. That quirk of his was becoming an annoyance.

On her way back to the gallery, she was again accosted by a familiar voice. For being 250 miles from home, she sure was running into a lot of people she knew! She turned and was thrilled to see James’s sister Susan and her husband Gary.

“Laurel!” they chorused, waving at her with frantic gestures.

“Hi, you two.” She gave Susan a quick hug. “What brings you to this neck of the woods?”

“You.” Gary put an arm around his wife. “Susan can’t resist a craft fair.”

“And when we heard you were going to be here, how could we not come to support our friend and neighbor?” Susan added.

“Thank you. I’m so glad you came! Have you seen my exhibit at the gallery yet? How did you know I was here?”

“No, we’re on our way this afternoon to see your work. And, to answer your second question — your brother Crosby’s been spreading the word all over town. So I knew, even before James told us you’d be here.”

“Pardon?”

“James, my brother. He mentioned it to me on the phone.”

“Oh, and how is he?”
And how did he know I would be here?

“He’s fine, but as to what he’s doing, I’m not sure. It doesn’t seem like he’s very busy. We’ve told him he should come back out and stay with us at the lake.”

“What about the cabin he rented? Can’t he stay there? Or did he give it up?”

“He’s pretty much turned that over to Benwick, I think. And given the circumstances, he might feel like a third wheel if he stayed there now.”

“Circumstances? What circumstances?” Had Laurel been so out of touch while she prepared for this fair?

“Well, Benwick started seeing that Pendleton girl, the one who broke her ankle,” Gary said. “What’s her name again, Susan?”

“Heather. Like the plant — Heather.” She looked at Laurel, amused. “He can never remember first names.”

“Didn’t need to know first names until I retired,” he teased back. He turned to Laurel and explained, “Aboard ship, all you need to remember are last names.”

Any other time, Laurel might have kidded him about his memory, or remarked to herself what a sweet marriage they had, but she only had ears for this latest news.
Heather and John are dating?

She had wondered about all the time John was spending up at Stu and Virginia’s place, but this was very unexpected! Bubbly, shallow Heather and brooding, intellectual John? It didn’t seem to fit, but then what did Laurel know? The state of her own love life certainly indicated that she was no expert.

“Serves James right for running off,” Gary went on.

“What do you mean?” Laurel asked tentatively.

“Why, just when he could have made his move on that girl and she couldn’t run away, he took off like a shot. Benwick swooped right in and took his place before James could bat an eye.”

“Was James upset?”

“You know, I don’t think he was. That’s why I feel I can joke about it, I suppose.”

“You shouldn’t provoke my poor brother like that.” Susan pushed playfully on Gary’s shoulder. “I think James was a little worried at first. After the accident, we really thought . . . He was so worried about Heather, talked about the accident constantly and even after he left, he kept calling to check on her. Then there were all those flowers, and he sent her the cutest balloon when she came home.” She shook her head. “I started to think he had fallen for her.”

Laurel felt a familiar bolt of hurt strike her heart.

Then Susan chuckled. “I wasn’t the only one, either. I think Stuart even asked him what his intentions were toward the sister, half-joking of course. But then James told me he had a long phone call with Heather, and he made his position on their friendship clear.”

“Yes,” said Gary, lips twitching, “the dreaded ‘friend’ speech.”

“I see.” But Laurel didn’t see.

“He must not have cared about her that way,” Susan broke in, eyeing Laurel in a careful, appraising kind of way.

Laurel’s heart was pounding as if she had just run a marathon. One of her big questions had just been definitively answered.
James didn’t start something with Heather, and now she’s with John.

Maybe it meant nothing, but her heart surged when she realized the door of opportunity was not slammed shut as firmly as she had feared.

“Where are you off to, my dear?” Gary wanted to know. “Can we tag along?”

With some difficulty, Laurel pulled her thoughts back to the present and managed a smile. “I’m on my way back to the gallery. Would you like to join me?”

“That sounds like a perfect way to start the afternoon,” Susan agreed.

Laurel walked beside them, but her mind was far away. She sent her love out toward California, although she wasn’t sure he was there anymore. Wherever he was, she hoped that the call of her heart was strong enough to find him and bring him home.

Chapter 22

Although Laurel had no way of knowing at the time, her love didn’t have to travel far to reach James Marshall. He was already in the air on the second leg of his flight from San Francisco, high above the Cumberland Plateau. As if in response to her surge of hope, he awakened from a light doze and adjusted his long frame in the cramped coach seat. He preferred first class, and he’d gotten spoiled about having it, but the decision to travel had been somewhat last minute, so he settled for whatever seat he could get.

He rested his chin on his hand and stared out the window at the rolling terrain below. Odd how his life, after heading one way for so many years, had taken this sudden change in direction. Or maybe it wasn’t so odd, given everything that had happened since New Year’s Eve: Breaking his long silence and finally telling Eric about Laurel, Fiona’s sudden illness and death that left John a broken man, the incredible coincidence of Susan meeting up with Stuart and Virginia in Kentucky that pushed him to face his demons once and for all and show Laurel what she had missed out on, the uncomfortable experience of watching her grow closer to John — not to mention the way he’d lost control of his emotions the night of Heather’s accident. At first, he was angry with himself, but then a strange acceptance settled over him. He wasn’t over Laurel; he’d probably never be over her, and it was time to come to terms with that — even if it was too late.

Then he got a phone call a few days earlier from his old friend and new house sitter, John Benwick. After a few minutes of stilted small talk, John said in his quiet, but resolute way:

“James, I have something to tell you.”

“Okay, buddy, shoot.”

“I’m thinking about relocating to the East indefinitely.”

“Oh.” James paused, letting that sink in for a second before he went on. “Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. You seem to really like it there. Are you going to pick up the lease on the cabin?”

“Perhaps, at least for a while, but it isn’t the
place
that’s keeping me here.”

Every nerve in James’s spine went on alert, and his carefully suppressed worries about John and Laurel rose immediately to the surface. Could she be the reason he wanted to stay? Strong and unacceptable emotions welled up inside him: anger, jealousy, despair, possessiveness, and most of all, deep sorrow at an opportunity lost.

“Okay . . . ”

“I know this might surprise you, and I’m not sure how you’re going to feel about it, but I’m seeing someone.”

John’s voice seemed far away as the sound of blood rushing in his ears drowned out everything but James’s own frantic thoughts.

“Who?” came out, much harsher than he intended.

“Heather Pendleton.”

The cacophony of emotions popped like a balloon stuck with a pin. After several seconds of shocked silence, James found his voice. “Heather?”

“Yes.”

“Stuart’s sister?”

“Yes, James. How many other Heather Pendletons do you know?” John sounded amused.

“Wow . . . um, I see. Well, uh, congratulations. Yeah” — his voice picked up strength — “Congratulations. Heather’s a great gal.”

“She is, isn’t she? I’m not sure yet, but I think I can see a future with Heather.”

“Well . . . I’ll be damned. When did this happen?”

“After you left. You know how it is around here . . . pretty isolated, especially for a woman like Heather who’s used to being with people. Then she’s stuck at Stuart’s house right after everyone went home, so I started visiting her. She’s very interesting . . . deeper than you’d think. I never saw that before because she was always talking with . . . well, with other people.”

James cringed. He knew John was thinking how Heather was always talking with him. He hadn’t considered how all that attention he gave her and Carrie would look to the others. No, his mind was full of beautiful, serene Laurel sitting in the corner, ignoring him, engaged in deep conversation with John Benwick.

“Anyway, we had some great discussions about books. She has a minor in English literature. Did you know that?”

“No, I didn’t.” James felt a little embarrassed. He’d never bothered to ask those kinds of questions. He was more interested in making an impression on Laurel than finding out much about Heather; he’d been content just to talk about himself.

“She’s looking for a job now that her cast is off and wants to be out of Stuart and Virginia’s house so they can start getting ready for the baby. She doesn’t want to wear out her welcome.”

“Makes sense.”

“She’s interviewing several places around this area, so I offered for her to stay with me.”

“Oh?” James was even more surprised. “It’s pretty serious, then.”

“Yeah.” He heard John’s smile over the phone. “It’s pretty serious. When is the lease up on the cabin here?”

“It’s up the end of September, but I bet you could pick it up after that. It’s hard to rent those places in the off-season.”

“Good idea. I’ll talk to the guy tomorrow then. I just wanted to run it by you first. See what your plans are.”

“I have to say, I’m a little shocked, John. I mean, I kind of thought maybe you and Laurel — ”

“Oh no, not at all. It’s not like that at all with Laurel. I mean, she is a terrific woman . . . ”

“Yes, I know,” James said softly.

“Heather just loves her — for obvious reasons — but she loved her even before the accident. Everybody loves Laurel, but she and I are just good friends. I don’t think she’s real interested in men. She never talks about anybody. Do you think maybe she’s a lesbian?”

James gave a short laugh. “No, John, I’m pretty sure she’s not a lesbian.”

“Oh, well, you never know.”

“Well, I know she isn’t. She dated somebody . . . when we were younger.”

“Ah.”

“Have you seen her recently?”

“Who — Laurel? Nah, she’s been really busy getting ready for that art show in Asheville.”

“Art show?”

“Yeah, it’s a pretty big deal — real prestigious gig — and a gallery is going to do a showing of her pottery. That friend of her father’s — what’s his name again? Heather says he started hanging around last summer.”

“Edwards?”

“Yeah that’s it — Cooper Edwards. He set it up for her with some friend of his.”

Once again, James heard warning bells go off in his head.

“It’s all the Elliots can talk about these days; they’re so proud of her. Crosby and her dad are going with her.”