One Summer (29 page)
“It’s something to think about,” he said, not wanting to burst her bubble.
“We could live here,” she said again, as if he couldn’t fully grasp her wonderful idea. “Then you wouldn’t have to go back to Salem, and I wouldn’t have to go back to Bend. And Social Services would never know where to find us.”
Oh, shit. Why didn’t someone just take that fish-fillet knife Fred carried on his belt and slice his heart into pieces? It would probably hurt a lot less than this.
“It’s a great idea,” Johnny said. “But what about school?”
“You’re ahead of me. You could teach me.”
She’d apparently thought it through. In eight-year-old fantasy fashion.
“I think,” he said slowly, “that if we ran away from camp, we’d get Fred and Ethel in a lot of trouble. Then they might have to close down the camp. Which would mean other kids wouldn’t get to come anymore.”
“Oh.” Her lower lip came out. “That would be sad.”
“Yeah.”
“Though I wouldn’t mind if those mean girls who were on the bus never got to come again.”
“Have they been bothering you again?” Maybe he should talk to Ethel. Or maybe Charity, who was really nice. More than one kid had wished out loud that she could be their mother. And although it felt disloyal to his real mom, Johnny had secretly wished the same thing.
“Not too much. Nobody else likes them, anyway.” She sighed. “I really thought it was a great idea.”
“It was.” He reached down and tousled her hair. “Maybe I can go to court to become an emancipated minor.” He knew a kid who’d sued to do that last year. “Then I could get Social Services to let me be your guardian and we could move here to Shelter Bay and come down here all the time.”
She perked up a little at that suggestion. “We could get rent money for an apartment from the diamonds.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.” He took her hand, squeezed her fingers reassuringly. “Though we’d better leave them here for now. So no other campers will steal them.”
“Good plan!”
Although it was too dark to clearly see her face, he could hear the smile return to her voice.
The Marine was walking toward them, which gave Johnny the feeling that he’d watched them leave and he’d come to check up on them. Which felt kind of strange, since Johnny wasn’t used to that many people caring what happened to him.
He wondered, since taking care of an eight-year-old’s changing moods was honestly wearing him out, how their mother would ever be able to handle the job. Even if she did ever keep her promise to return.
Which caused the anxiety that had eased with this day trip to the beach to return to gnaw at his stomach again.
42
Charity linked her arm with Gabe’s. “So, how are things going?”
“Okay. The kids seemed to like the cameras.”
“Didn’t they?” She beamed at the memory of all those smiling faces.
Even the tougher kids’ facades had cracked a bit once Gabe had set them taking photos of their siblings during yesterday’s beach trip.
“How did the dog training go?” he asked.
Although he would’ve enjoyed watching her work, Ethel had scheduled their sessions at the same time. Something Gabe had decided he was going to have to change. If he was going to be stuck here every afternoon, and it appeared he was, he fully intended to spend those afternoons with Charity.
Having discovered her penchant for sexy underwear, he was aching to know what she was wearing beneath those snug jeans and Camp Rainbow Kids T-shirt.
“It went really smoothly. Of course it helps that all the dogs have already been taught to do the basics like sit and stay, so we’re mostly training the kids. Well, yours hasn’t been to school yet, but he’s really smart and picks things up really fast. Of course you may not ever get him back.”
“Oh?” She smelled like vanilla, probably from the baking. Gabe had never realized, until now, that cupcakes could be an aphrodisiac.
“There’s this little girl who’s fallen in love with him. Her name’s Angel, though for some reason, she seems to have decided to change her name to Jasmine, but believe me, she looks as if she’s come from central casting to play the role of Zuzu in a remake of
It’s a Wonderful Life
.”
It’s a Wonderful Life
.”
That got his attention, which had been imagining spreading chocolate buttercream frosting over her lean, hot body, then slowly licking it off.
“Her brother’s the redheaded kid, right? About fifteen?”
“Johnny.” She tilted her head to look up at him. “And you called his age right on the money. How did you know that?”
“I saw his tattoo. It was one of those DIY ones. One arm reads
Mom
. The other,
Angel
.”
Mom
. The other,
Angel
.”
“Oh. That’s so sad.”
“Yeah. It sucks. He asked me if I’d ever killed anyone.”
“What did you tell him?”
“The truth. That I had and I hadn’t liked it. We didn’t exactly get off to a great start, but he showed up for the camera class.”
“He probably wants to make sure his sister has photo memories of the summer to take home.”
“Yeah. That’s what I was thinking.”
His fingers were itching with the urge to touch her. Just a hand to her hair. Or her face. But having already created enough of a public stir by showing up with her at the Sea Mist, he resisted the temptation.
“So, when can we blow this pop stand?”
“Feel free to leave any time.”
“I meant us. You and me.” He bent down, his lips next to her ear, and shared some of the things he’d been thinking about doing to her. With her.
“You’re so bad.” She laughed and lightly slapped his arm.
“I didn’t hear you complaining last night.” Which had, amazingly, been even better than their first night together.
She glanced around, as if looking for eavesdroppers, then lowered her voice to something just a few decibels above a whisper and said, “And you won’t tonight, either.”
She checked her watch. “I need to retrieve the dogs. One of the volunteer counselors decided to set up an agility course. The kids and the dogs were all having a grand time when I got called away to play kitchen assistant to Sedona’s Top Chef. Why don’t I take them back to the house and meet you out at the campground?”
“Works for me. I’ll pick up dinner.”
“That’d be great.” She watched as a car pulled into the parking lot and her mother got out. “Uh-oh.” Amanda’s hair was a very uncharacteristic mess. Mascara had streaked down her cheeks. “Hold that thought.”
Gabe watched as she met her mother halfway. Her mother’s hands were wildly fluttering in the air. She appeared to be talking a mile a minute even as Charity was obviously trying to get a word in edgewise.
Finally, Charity put her hands on the older woman’s shoulders and said something to her. Then turned and walked back to him.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m going to have to take a rain check.”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s Benton. Her husband. Although she’s really upset and not entirely making sense, I think he’s gone missing.”
43
“I don’t understand it,” Amanda wailed as she paced a patch in the hardwood floor. “Where could he be? How could he just take off without letting me know where he was going?”
“He left about a gazillion voice mails on your home phone,” Charity pointed out.
“Not to apologize,” she sniffed. “But to talk to me in that oh-so-reasonable tone, accusing me of trying him and convicting him on circumstantial evidence.” She wiped the backs of her hands against her wet cheeks, looking for all the world like a heartbroken five-year-old. “Sometimes he talks just like a damn judge.”
“Maybe because he
is
a judge,” Charity said, looking over toward Gabe, who’d followed them back to the house.
is
a judge,” Charity said, looking over toward Gabe, who’d followed them back to the house.
“He’s a liar and a cheat and if he isn’t already an adulterer, it’s probably only because I caught him before he had a chance to use that damn Viagra.”
She was quickly working herself from heartbroken to injured party. Charity had watched this scene play out so many times she could probably write the script in her sleep.
“You said you didn’t talk to him.”
“I didn’t.” Amanda took the Kleenex Gabe handed her and gave him a watery smile. “Thank you, darling.”
He just nodded. Charity suspected that getting involved with anyone else’s personal family problems was the last thing he wanted to do.
“But he said—”
“He was in the air,” Amanda broke in. “So I left a message on his cell telling him I’d found the damn blue pills and I was leaving him. And filing for divorce.”
“You were going to file for divorce without letting him explain?”
“No. I wanted him to suffer. The way he’d made me suffer. Then grovel.” Gabe handed her another Kleenex. She used it to dab at her eyes. Then stopped pacing in front of him. “You’re a man. Tell me something.”
He shot Charity a panicky look that suggested he’d rather face down a horde of Taliban armed with AK-47s than be dragged into this conversation.
“Mother.” Although she doubted it would work, Charity tried for reason. “Gabriel doesn’t even know Benton.”
“He’s a man,” Amanda repeated on a flare of heat. She put her manicured hands on the hips of a purple gauze sundress. “And we need a man’s point of view right now.”
“I can’t really speak for all men,” Gabe said. “But I’ll try.”
“If you loved a woman, truly loved her, and had pledged a vow to love, honor, and cherish her, until death you do part, and then did something to break her heart, wouldn’t you do anything to make amends?”
For not the first time since he’d come back to the house with Charity and her mother, Gabe wondered what the hell he’d thought he could do about this situation.
Until death you do part.
He’d already tried that, and although neither he nor his ex had died, when he’d first heard those words said, while standing in front of that Marine chaplain in that pretty white chapel at Camp Pendleton, they’d sounded ominously like a death sentence.
He’d already tried that, and although neither he nor his ex had died, when he’d first heard those words said, while standing in front of that Marine chaplain in that pretty white chapel at Camp Pendleton, they’d sounded ominously like a death sentence.
This was so above his pay grade.
“I think—”
“I mean,” she overran what he’d been about to say, “wouldn’t you be willing to crawl naked, down the main street of town, over broken glass, if that’s what it took to get the woman you loved back?”
Gabe dearly hoped the judge—who may or may not have been cheating in Hawaii—wouldn’t be held to that penance when he resurfaced, but understood how Charity’s mother might not be thinking logically at the moment.
“I’d do whatever it took,” he assured her.
“See?” The skirt swirled around her still-shapely calves as she spun back to her daughter. “If he really loved me and was innocent, he would’ve been on the first plane back home. Instead of staying down there with his slut bimbo.”
“You don’t know that’s what he’s doing. I understand how upsetting this is,” Charity said, “but you’re not exactly being fair to him, Mom.”
“Like he was fair to me?” She tossed her auburn head as anger began to overcome her earlier distress. Gabe wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d stamped a sandal-clad foot.
He could tell that Charity’s patience was growing thin. In fact, it looked to be hanging by its last thread.
“Maybe you should call the police,” he suggested.
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to do that,” Amanda said quickly. “He’s a judge. He has a reputation to protect. I may want to kill him, but I certainly wouldn’t want to injure his reputation. Especially since judges have to stand for election in Washington. I’d never forgive myself if I cost him a career he loves.”
Gabe exchanged a look with Charity that told him they were thinking the same thing. That she might be furious and hurt, but there was still at least a spark of love there.
“I know some people at MCBH,” he said. “That’s the Marine base in Hawaii. Maybe I can find someone with connections who’ll do some checking without raising flags.”
“Oh, thank you!” When the older woman flung her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek, Charity rolled her eyes.
She was clinging like poison ivy. Taking hold of her waist, Gabe put her a little away from him.
“I can’t promise anything.”
“I understand.” Even as she nodded, Gabe knew she was expecting him to solve her problem. Charity couldn’t be more dissimilar from her high-maintenance mother if she’d tried. Which, he realized on a sudden burst of insight, she probably had.
“Why don’t I give you two some mother-daughter time alone while I go back to the motor home and make some calls,” he told them both. “I’ll let you know if I find out anything.”
“You’re my hero,” Amanda said with a watery smile.
This time Charity didn’t roll her eyes. Merely mouthed
thank you
behind her mother’s back.
thank you
behind her mother’s back.
She walked him to the door. “I really appreciate this,” she said as they went out on the porch, the mutt trotting along between them, while the ridiculously named Peanut stuck to Charity’s side.
“Like I told your mother, I can’t promise anything.”
“I totally understand and I’d be surprised if you do find any information. But you stopped the floodgates, at least for a while. And calmed the storm. Which I’m hugely grateful for.” She went up on her toes and kissed him.
He put his hands on her waist. “I suppose sex on the front porch is frowned upon in Shelter Bay.”
She looped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. “I suspect Kara would have us in the slammer.”
“Jailhouse sex.” He tipped her head up and kissed her again. Longer. Deeper.
“Truly bad,” she said on a laugh even as her lips clung. “And you know what?”
“What?”
“I like that about you.”
Gabe had never thought of himself as a greedy man. His wants and needs had been fairly basic. But as restless need pumped through him, he realized he’d been wrong. Because he wanted Charity in every way possible. For as long as possible.
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