The Love Letter (3 page)

“Don’t tell me that; I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”

Sabrina considered telling her about David’s reasons for coming to the island and then decided against it. He’d seemed hesitant to admit his purpose to her; he probably didn’t want anyone else to know. “I have, too. He’s alone and bored – that’s the only reason he invited me along.”

Casey stood up and placed her hands on her slim hips. “
Whatever his reason, he appears to like you. I suggest you make the most of it.” She didn’t wait around to hear what Sabrina thought.

When David didn’t appear for tea, Casey
went through every scenario she could think of before deciding to blame Sabrina. “You have to give a man some encouragement. I bet you didn’t even remind him about tea.”

“You’re being ridiculous.
If he’s as interested as you believe, he won’t require any help from me. In the meantime, concentrate on your own affairs.”

“My affairs run smoothly because I know how to treat
a man. I’m beginning to think you’ve deliberately forgotten everything you knew. I’m through worrying about you. I’ve got a date to get ready for.”

Smiling at her sister’s expression, Sabrina gently removed the tray from her hands. “Go ahead. I’ll finish up here.”

After Casey departed, leaving behind an invisible cloud of expensive perfume, Sabrina made her way to the reception area. She and Casey took turns manning the front desk in the evenings. It wasn’t so much difficult as tedious. Sabrina usually spent the time checking supplies, sorting brochures and reading. She was doing the latter when the door opened, and David strolled in.

“It s
mells, um, very nice in here,” he commented as he walked toward her.

“
Be honest – it’s overpowering. Casey was trying a new perfume, but she got a little carried away.”

“Are you allowed to eat when you’re on duty? I was thinking of getting pizza.”

“I
can
eat on duty, and I’d love to share your pizza.”

“
Great. I’ll be back shortly.”

Sabrina cleared the magazines from the round table in the
paneled parlor and collected plates and napkins from the kitchen. As she filled tall glasses with ice, she found herself smiling. David was a little overpowering, but she couldn’t help liking him. Beyond that she refused to think; it had been a long time since she’d been in the company of a man.

Once
the pizza had been eaten, David sat down on the couch facing the fireplace and patted the seat next to him.

“
Since you were kind enough not to laugh in my face, I thought I would give you a ‘Heather’ update. After I left you today, I remembered that she used to babysit my neighbor’s grandkids. This afternoon, I went to see if my neighbor still lived there. I wasn’t sure she would remember me, but she did. I steered the conversation in the right direction and found out Heather left the island about six weeks ago.”

“Where did she go?”

“As far from here as possible - California.”

“
That’s too bad. I’m sorry, David.”

“All I could think on the way back here was how ridiculous I’m behaving over this. Even if I’d come back sooner, there’s no guarantee
anything would have come of it. Too much time has gone by; I’ve been chasing a dream that ended long ago.”

Sabrina could tell him all about
that. She’d been doing it for years now. “Did the neighbor have any clues that might help you track her down?”

“She thinks
Heather took a job with a cruise line based out of Los Angeles. That could make finding her a challenge.” He hesitated a moment and then went on. “Thank you for listening to the grumblings of a stranger. You’re very sweet.” David leaned forward and lightly kissed her cheek.

A
fter he left, Sabrina absently straightened the brochures on the table, a reminiscent smile on her lips. Who would have thought that after all this time she would know the identity of the man who’d featured prominently in her journal. With a soft sigh, she locked the door and headed upstairs.

Nine years ago in the g
azebo, David kissed her cheek, and it had meant everything to her. Tonight he kissed her again, and it meant nothing at all.

The next morning Sabrina said goodbye to David for the second time. Casey watched their tame handshake with a frown. She only waited for his car to disappear to let out her frustration.

“You didn’t give him much incentive to come back.”

Sabrina threw her arm around her sister’s shoulders and urged her back inside. “How do you know what David considers incentive?”

Casey
laughed despite her irritation. “I wonder what you mean by that.”

“You must allow me a few secrets.”

“I forgot to give you my news. I booked our remaining two rooms this morning. I think David started something because one of them is another single.”

Once in the kitchen, Sabrina leaned against the counter, watching as Casey began to work on a bowl of strawberries. “I don’t understand someone wanting to stay
alone at an inn that advertises itself as a romantic getaway.”

“
He said he wants solitude, and we can certainly provide that. You can’t get much more isolated then this. The only trouble we’re likely to have is from the female population if they get wind of his presence here.”

Sabrina
plucked a ripe berry from the bowl and plopped it into her mouth. “Who is this heartthrob?”

“
Meredith Copplin.”

Sabrina carefully
swallowed the strawberry, hoping the shock spreading through her body wasn’t obvious to her sister. It couldn’t be, and yet how many other Meredith Copplin’s were there?

When she did
n’t immediately reply, Casey added, “You might know him better as Michael Copeland, the author of those mystery thrillers.”

Sabrina
hadn’t known about the Michael Copeland connection. Was that why he’d left the college? To pursue a writing career? Her face broke into an uneasy smile. “What a novelty for us, having someone famous stay here, even if it’s only for the weekend.”

“Oh, didn’t I say? He booked for a month.”

“A month?” Sabrina exclaimed in alarm before she could stop herself. At her sister’s puzzled glance, she explained, “That’s a long time to keep those adoring fans away.”

Casey
deftly scooped honeydew and watermelon into bowls. “We’ll do all we can to respect his privacy. Isn’t it thrilling to think that his next bestseller will be taking shape under our roof?”

Thrilling wasn’t the word Sabrina would have used.
“I guess so. Well, if he’s going to write all day, we probably won’t see much of him. I’m off to set tables.”

“
After breakfast, could you check on Room 5? Our celebrity will be arriving this afternoon, and I want everything to be perfect.”

As
Sabrina calmly folded cloth napkins into elegant flower trifles, her thoughts were racing. What were the chances of meeting someone you’d last seen almost a year ago in a place some five hundred miles away? Probably as slim as her meeting David again, but that had been a nice thing. Meredith Copplin was something else altogether.

Wi
th a swift shake of her head, she returned her attention to the task at hand. Only when the ten tables were as pleasingly arranged as humanly possible did she allow her mind to return to the subject of their new guest.

Here was an episode in her relatively
uneventful life she’d hoped was buried in oblivion. Was it unreasonable to suppose that this far from home she was safe from meeting the man who knew all about her worst moment? If it were at all possible, she must keep this foolishness from Casey.

There wasn’t the slightest chan
ce he would have forgotten. The next best thing would be for him not to mention the incident, and there was only way to ensure that. She wondered if she had the nerve to ask a favor from someone who had every right to refuse.

O
nce breakfast service began, there was no time to think of anything else. Paying guests deserved proper attention even if one’s major indiscretion had suddenly resurfaced. It didn’t matter that the calm pattern of life Sabrina had worked so hard to achieve had suddenly been shaken to the core. Somehow she must smile and make conversation while her feverish mind dwelled on all the things that could go horribly wrong if this ghost from her past didn’t choose to be cooperative.

When all was quiet again,
Sabrina exited through the back door and followed the walkway around the long side of the inn. It seemed almost fitting that Casey had given him Room 5 - it happened to be Sabrina’s favorite. She wished anyone but Meredith Copplin was going to enjoy its elegant furnishings and comfortable luxury as well as its unparalleled view of the beach. She entered the room quickly, her pleasure in its beauty only slightly dimmed by her agitation of mind.

The mahogany four poster bed was huge by any standard and would easily accommodate
the future occupant’s tall frame. There was a table and chairs situated by the window where he could write to his heart’s content and a comfortable loveseat and chair by the fireplace where he could relax. Not even the most fastidious person could find fault with these accommodations.

Sabrina
drifted over to the window and pushed aside the lace curtains. It was difficult to believe three years had passed since she’d first seen the man who was destined to play such a significant role in her life. The sandy beach and blue water outside the inn slowly changed to a picturesque college campus dotted with brick buildings set among rolling hills.

S
he stood on the fringe of a group of girls. The subject of their animated conversation was the tall figure striding across the manicured grass of the common area, his wavy, dark hair blowing in the wind.

“Who is
he?” Sabrina asked her roommate.

“Profess
or Copplin. He teaches English Lit. Isn’t he gorgeous? And think of it, he’s only twenty-seven.”

Sabrina looked in his direction again and
shrugged. There were too many good-looking male students on campus to worry about a faculty member. “Does it matter? A professor is way out of our league, Sheila.”

“I can dream, can’t I? I’ll get to see him three days a week starting next Monday.”

Sabrina consulted the class schedule in her hand. “I won’t be seeing him at all. How will I survive?”

Over the next few weeks, she listened with amusemen
t to the accounts of Professor Copplin’s growing list of attractions. He appeared to be the embodiment of the perfect man. Sabrina was amazed that so many girls could act so silly. What was all the fuss about?

Her opportunity
to find out came sooner than she imagined. Sabrina received notice that her own literature professor needed an operation and would be replaced by Professor Copplin. When Sheila heard the news, she willingly gave Sabrina the benefit of her advice on what to wear and where to sit.

Sabrina tried to show her appreciation, but found it difficult not to laugh. It was unlikely that
any of these strategies would impress the man. This campus-wide infatuation had officially reached the ridiculous stage. Sabrina vowed she wouldn’t be part of it.

As she walked to class, her thoughts drifted away from her substitute professor, and on to more important things; namely, her upcoming research paper. Her preoccupation with that assignment
would prove to be costly.

C
oming around the corner with her head in the clouds, she didn’t see Professor Copplin approaching from the opposite direction. Though he tried to avoid her, they still managed to have a decent collision at the door of the classroom.

As she stared into those nearly perfect features,
the apology hovering on her lips was replaced by an exclamation of surprise. Sheila hadn’t been exaggerating the perfections of Professor Copplin. There didn’t seem to be an adjective that would do the man justice.

Of course, Professor Copp
lin didn’t feel anything close to the same sort of rapture over meeting Sabrina nor did her ordinary features leave him with a loss for words.

“I think y
ou’d know me again. Can we go inside now?”

Those words
, spoken in attractively cool tones, spurred her into action. Sabrina darted through the door and took a seat as far in the back as possible. And there she stayed for the remainder of the semester.

With
a sigh, Sabrina let the curtain fall back into place and walked into the bathroom. On the towel rack hung the inn’s monogrammed his-and-her towels. She smiled grimly as she removed the pink ones as well as the bowl of floral scented bath salts.

Were the rumors
that had swirled around him on campus true? Was he a woman-hater? Or was he simply a man who kept his personal life private? No one had been able to find out anything about him. The one girl daring enough to follow him home only succeeded in finding out that he volunteered at a youth center.