On Shadow Beach (15 page)

“It’s not important. We all have our baggage. I’m sure you do, too. You should go find your wife.”

“Yes, I should,” he said heavily. “Although there was a time when I didn’t always have to go looking for her. The good old days.”

As Joe left, Charlotte’s gaze returned to Andrew. He was part of her good old days—and some of the bad ones, too.

Sunday afternoon Lauren opened the door to the Angel Heart Quilt Shop with a tingle of anticipation. She’d loved the quilt shop growing up, and as
she stepped inside and breathed in the heady scent of fabric, she felt a delicious high. It wasn’t the same high she felt when she walked into a bakery, but it was a close second.

She stopped to take it all in: the colorful bolts of material; the hanging quilts on every available wall space; the shelves of threads, rulers, tissue paper, and quilting books. She hadn’t quilted since high school, but she could still remember the thrill of picking out the perfect fabric, making that first square, watching the design come to life. Quilting was a lot like cooking—starting with nothing and finishing with something amazing.

There was a teenage girl sitting behind the counter reading a magazine, probably bored without any customers to attend to. Everyone was upstairs in the big loft for Kara’s baby shower.

As she headed toward the steps, Lauren paused to take a look at the glass case that held the original Angel’s Bay story quilt. The quilt had been made by the twenty-four survivors to honor their families and those who had died. Leonora’s square was in the bottom right-hand corner, the design two gold rings with a butterfly in the center. The fabric had come from the light blue dress she’d worn the day she’d reunited with Thomas. The rings symbolized the intertwining of their hearts, and the butterfly referred to Tommy’s pet name for her.

Lauren smiled. The romantic tale had always captivated her, and she’d stitched that family square many times in her life. Did her father still have some
of those old quilts up in the attic?

The sound of laughter drew her out of the past, and she climbed the stairs with some trepidation. Despite Charlotte’s warm invitation, Lauren wasn’t sure how well she’d be received. It had been a long time since she’d been a friend to any of the women, and she was fairly sure some of the older ones would judge her harshly for not having come back to visit her father before now.

Her steps slowed as she reached the top. There were at least thirty women milling about the big room. The tables, usually covered with quilting fabrics, now boasted pink tablecloths and vases of flowers. The sewing machines had been pushed against a wall and a large of tower of presents filled one corner.

“I’m so glad you came,” Charlotte said, greeting her with a smile. Charlotte wore a pretty floral dress with a light sweater, and her blond hair hung loosely around her shoulders. “I was afraid you’d chicken out.”

“I was tempted. There are a lot of people here.” Baby showers, like so many other events in Angel’s Bay, were a community affair.

“Let’s find Kara,” Charlotte said, grabbing Lauren’s hand.

The warm contact felt both familiar and right. Just like when they were in kindergarten, Charlotte was taking her hand and telling her it would be fine. And just like before, Lauren wanted to believe her.

Kara broke away from a trio of women when she
saw Charlotte and Lauren approaching. Her brown eyes sparkled with what appeared to be genuine delight. “Lauren, you came! Charlotte told me she invited you, and I’m so happy you’re here.” She gave Lauren a hug.

Lauren felt a little awkward as she hugged her back. She and Kara had gotten close when she’d begun seeing Shane, but after everything that had happened, Lauren wasn’t sure how Kara felt about her.

“I’ll get you some punch, Lauren,” Charlotte said. “Can I spike it for you?”

“Absolutely.” She had a feeling she was going to need some alcohol before the afternoon was out. When Charlotte moved away, Lauren smiled at Kara. “You look great.”

“Liar. I look like hell,” Kara said, resting her hands lightly on her enormous belly. “But I appreciate the effort.”

“I was so sorry to hear about Colin.”

Kara gave her a small nod. “Thanks.” She glanced down at the package in Lauren’s hands. “You didn’t have to bring me a present. You just got into town.”

Lauren handed her the small box that she’d decorated with a yellow bow. “It’s the music box that your mother gave mine at her baby shower for me thirty years ago. I always liked listening to it when I went to sleep, and I thought it might be nice to return it to your family.”

Kara opened the music box, revealing a ballerina
spinning to a soft melody. “This is so sweet. My mother loved the ballet. It was her greatest disappointment when I hung up my tutu. And God knows Dee would never put one on,” she added with a laugh. “Maybe my daughter will take to dance.” She smiled at Lauren. “Colin will love this. He likes things that connect to the past, to our circle of friends and family. I can’t wait to show it to him.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

“I do. So, do you know everyone here?”

Lauren glanced at the crowd, many of whom were casting interested looks in her direction. “There are some familiar faces, but definitely some new ones. I seem to be drawing a lot of attention. I really don’t have to stay.”

“Are you kidding? I was
not
looking forward to being the focus today. It’s been a long three months, with every action being constantly analyzed and judged. Now everyone will be talking about you instead of me. It’s a welcome relief.”

“I’m glad I can help,” Lauren said dryly. “But I’m sure people aren’t judging you.”

“The people who believe Colin will recover want me to stay strong and positive, and the people who think I’m crazy for believing that my husband will ever get better want to see signs that I’m cracking. The truth is, sometimes I feel optimistic and other days the doubts overwhelm me, and then I feel guilty, because I can’t lose faith.” She paused and drew in a deep breath. “But today it will be about
you, and quite frankly, Lauren, that is the best present you could have given me. I do feel a little sorry for you, though.”

“Yeah, I can tell.”

Kara grinned. “So before everyone descends on us, what’s going on with you and Shane?”

“Nothing,” Lauren said, trying to quell the hopeful gleam in Kara’s eyes.

“Shane told me he saw you. Any old sparks still lingering?”

“Did he say there were?” She mentally kicked herself for asking such a thing. She felt like she was back in high school again.

“Shane doesn’t say much, but I know you meant a lot to him.”

“At one time, but there’s nothing between us now.” She tried not to think about how they’d almost made love on the beach the day before.

“That’s too bad. I always thought you were good for each other. You softened him up, and he brought you out of your shell.” Kara gave Lauren a speculative look. “Maybe you should give him another chance. Fate has brought you back together again, and you’re both single, right?”

“I am,” she admitted, “but fate didn’t bring me back here. I came home to help my father.” Lauren was relieved when Charlotte returned with her punch, interrupting their conversation. Charlotte was accompanied by a slender brunette Lauren didn’t recognize.

“This is Jenna Davies,” Charlotte introduced, as she handed Lauren a glass of punch. “Jenna has only been in Angel’s Bay a few months, but she’s related to Gabriella, the baby discovered after the shipwreck.”

“Really?” Lauren echoed in surprise. “That means you’re related to Rose Littleton, too. She was a descendant of Gabriella.”

“She was my grandmother,” Jenna replied. “Unfortunately, I never met her. She passed away before I came to Angel’s Bay. Apparently Rose gave my mother up for adoption, so I wasn’t aware of her existence until a few months ago. But I’m slowly getting caught up with the Angel’s Bay history, and it’s kind of fun to be tied to one of the original settlers of the town.”

“I remember Rose and my father poring over old family journals,” Lauren said. “My great-great-great-grandmother Leonora was on the ship, and my dad was obsessed with the family history.”

“We’re going to teach Jenna how to make the Gabriella quilt square so she can take over as the official descendant,” Charlotte interjected.

Lauren smiled. It was a tradition that the Angel’s Bay story quilt be reconstructed by the descendants of the survivors whenever possible. “That’s great. Are you a quilter, Jenna?”

“Not even close. I’ve taken two classes and I’m all thumbs.” She paused as her cell phone rang. “Excuse me, I need to take this. I’ll talk to you later.”

Lauren took a sip of her punch, feeling the kick
of bourbon. She met Charlotte’s smiling eyes. “You are a very bad girl, Charlie.”

“You’ll thank me later.” Charlotte turned away from Lauren as two older women engaged her and Kara in conversation.

Lauren glanced across the room, recognizing Dina from the café, Dina’s daughter Liz, Mrs. Stevens and Mrs. Hooper, who had both been friends with her mother, Mort’s daughter, Leslie, and . . . her heart skipped a beat as she saw Lisa Delaney.

Lisa had auburn hair and dark eyes that stood out against her pale, freckled complexion. She was dressed in black, which accentuated her extremely thin body and the lines around her eyes and mouth. She looked so much older now, not at all like the young girl who had spent so many hours sitting on Abby’s bed that Lauren had considered her a second little sister.

Lisa’s parents had split when she was five, and she’d ended up with a mother who was more interested in finding a second husband than taking care of her daughter, so Lisa had spent most of her free time with Abby.

Lisa looked up and caught Lauren staring. Her smile faded and she looked somewhat torn, as if she knew she had to say hello but didn’t really want to. Lauren could understand her ambivalence. After Abby died, Lauren and her parents had shut Lisa out; she’d reminded them of the girl they’d lost. It wasn’t fair, but it had happened.

Lisa squared her shoulders, excused herself from
her conversation, and headed over to her. “Lauren, I heard you were back. How are you?”

“I’m good. How are you?” Lauren inquired.

“Great. How’s your father?”

“His health is slipping, as you probably know.”

“Yes, I’m so sorry.”

Lisa didn’t sound sorry. She sounded uncomfortable and looked like she’d rather be anywhere else than engaged in this particular conversation.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Lauren said. “I was looking through some of Abby’s things last night, and remembering how much time you used to spend at our house. I thought you might want something to—”

“I really don’t want to talk about Abby,” Lisa interrupted. “It’s still so painful. I miss her every day. She was like my sister.”

“I know.” In the face of Lisa’s comment Lauren was hesitant to bring up Devlin’s suspicions, but she didn’t know how long she’d be in town, or when she’d have another opportunity to speak to Lisa. “Mark Devlin told me about the movie he’s making based on Abby’s death. He mentioned something to me, and I’m sure it doesn’t mean anything, but it got me wondering.”

“That man is making up lies,” Lisa said abruptly. “You shouldn’t believe anything he says, Lauren.”

“I’m not inclined to believe him, but he told me that you and Abby were seen sitting in a car outside Coach Sorensen’s house the Saturday night before Abby was killed. It didn’t make sense to me, because you told the police that you and Abby stayed
in that night. And if you were out, I wondered whose car you were in, since neither of you could drive.”

Lisa hesitated, shifting her weight from one foot to the other as she crossed her arms. “We were in Jason Marlow’s car. We were just driving around town; we weren’t spying on anyone. I don’t know what that woman was talking about.”

“Jason Marlow?” She had a vague recollection of the guy. He’d been a year younger than her and very close to Colin and Kara. “I don’t remember you mentioning his name.”

“Really? I’m pretty sure I gave the police the name of just about every boy we’d ever spoken to.”

Was that true? It had been a long time since the investigation, and Lauren certainly hadn’t been privy to all the details. “I know you didn’t mention that you left your house that night.”

Lisa shrugged. “It wasn’t important.”

“Do you know that for sure?”

“Good grief, Lauren. Why are you grilling me?”

“I’m just trying to understand what was going on.”

Anger simmered in Lisa’s eyes. “Nothing was going on. Look, I had promised my mom that we’d stay in the house that night, but we snuck out for a while. I didn’t say anything back then because I didn’t want to get in trouble. It was two nights before Abby died. It didn’t have anything to do with anything.”

Lisa’s words reminded Lauren of what Shane had said when he’d claimed that his errand at the
lawyer’s office hadn’t been relevant to Abby’s death. And the woman who had spoken to Mark Devlin had suddenly come forward now because she was divorced and she could speak freely.

How many people were holding on to information they didn’t deem important? Or that they hadn’t revealed because they were afraid whatever they had seen would get them into personal trouble? Was it possible that Mark Devlin’s movie
was
actually bringing new evidence to light?

“You should have told the police, Lisa. You should tell them now.”

“Why would I need to tell them? Jason Marlow is a police officer. He knows what we were doing that night.”

Lauren was surprised. “Jason Marlow is a cop in town?”

“He has been for years. Mr. Devlin is just stirring up trouble, Lauren. We weren’t spying on the coach. Why would we? We were riding around town that night, like we did a million other nights, like you and Shane used to do, and all the other kids in this town. I don’t know why you’re bringing this up now.”

“I hadn’t realized there was anything I didn’t know about that night.”

“Abby was a good girl, Lauren. She didn’t drink much. She didn’t do drugs or hook up with random guys. She certainly didn’t get into the kind of trouble you did when you hopped on the back of Shane Murray’s motorcycle,” Lisa added. “I still think
Shane is the most likely suspect. I know you don’t want to hear that, but most people believe he did it.”