The New Ever After (The New Ever After Series) (16 page)

In an effort to keep his mind busy and calm his nerves, Peter tried to count the waves.
He watched the moon rise higher in the sky. But it still didn’t give off enough light for him to see what the splashes he heard all around him were. Fish? Waves against the masts? Whales? He hoped a whale didn't knock his boat. He had seen many during his years on the coast and their beauty had amazed him when he was out with his grandfather. He remembered all the hours he spent waiting to spot one. and now he felt like crossing his fingers and his toes to make sure he didn't see any. And sharks...there had been reports of great whites off the coast. He knew they had been spotted on Cape Cod over the last few years. If they were there, there was no reason they wouldn't be where he was now. He didn't want to contemplate having a Jaws moment. He prayed to a God he wasn't sure he believed in, asking that he be safe. He called to his grandfather to help him. He even thought about Hank and hoped he could guide him through.

Peter had never felt so alone
. He had spent countless years on his own but out in the vast ocean he was filled with an extreme fear of the fact that he was completely alone and out of contact with everyone in the world. He had searched for privacy and alone time over the last few months and now he had it and he couldn't remember a time in his life he felt so scared. He could barely see the lights on the lighthouses that dotted the shore. If his boat was upright now, he could have found his way to one of them in the dark. But there was no chance of going upright now. He saw what he thought were searchlights closer to the shore. Maybe from airplanes or helicopters. Were they looking for him? How would they find him in this vast sea? And would they find him before he grew too cold? His life jacket was dry and kept him warm - barely. The air had cooled off quite a bit but the wind had died down. The wind that caused all this trouble in the first place.

Peter needed to get back to Heather
. He knew this was going to wreck her. He wanted to hold her. To kiss the birthmark over her right eye. He wanted to run his hands through her hair. To wrap his arms around her and give her the kind of hug she craved when they first met. The hug she said nobody had offered since Hank died.

He had to keep himself awake
. He was growing tired, but he knew if he closed his eyes he wouldn't be able to save himself if anything changed or happened. What if his arms slipped or he jumped in his sleep? It was too dangerous to fall asleep. His situation was too precarious. He had to keep his mind busy. The attempt at calming himself by counting the waves was actually lulling his exhausted body into sleep.

Determined to stay awake, he thought more about Heather and their life together.

What if she fell asleep tonight and had a nightmare? Who would wrap their arms around her?

He wanted to touch the dimple on her stomach
. The dimple that disappeared when she was pregnant with the twins. He wanted to sit on the couch and rub her feet while she read all the local Facebook updates for the day.

As soon as he got home to her, he intended never to let her out of his sight
. He knew Heather had been on the edge for the last few months. He saw her shoulders release some tension when they arrived in Maine, but he knew the Kelly incident and this would be her undoing. Peter thought Janie exaggerated all of the things she had to do for the kids in school, but when he saw it first hand with Heather he thought differently about everything. Motherhood in the 2000's could be a fast track to insanity for some. And the night terrors she couldn’t shake made everything worse. His comment about living with a ghost would put her on edge while she was sleeping now too. He needed to get back to her to hold her and make everything ok. He wanted to make sure she knew he understood.

As the night went on, it got colder
. Peter could see the cabin wasn't taking on water and decided he should try to make his way in there to stay warm. The cold air and water were his biggest enemies at the moment. He held on to the steering wheel and carefully moved one foot in first. It was a balancing act. One move could change things for the worse. The warmth of the cabin felt good on his foot. He inched the other foot being careful not to let go or lose his perch while his legs would be stuck in the cabin. The waves kept coming and Peter stopped for a second to consider his next move.

Aiden, Peter's old assistant, was horrified when she heard the news
. She had the 11 o'clock news on at her parents' house and was incredulous when she first heard it. Peter was missing. Peter, the man who had stolen her heart. As soon as she had begun working for him, she had fallen for him. Even though they only worked together a few hours a week, it felt particularly intimate to Aiden because they worked at his loft. Until he met Heather. At first she thought Heather was just a random gold digger like all of the rest of the dates he had or took to his movie premieres. But then she saw Peter change and start acting differently, especially towards her. She was filled with jealousy when he fell for Heather. When she found out Heather was a writer too she just couldn't stand it. The whole thing with Peter started because she too wanted to be a writer, and she thought working with him would help her. She had feared the addition of Heather in his life would make him forget to help her too. And then Heather got pregnant. Peter would be bound to her forever. The jealousy and the envy had raged through Aiden, and she didn't know how to control it. She had wracked her brain to think of some way she could rain on Heather's parade. She had created a twitter account that she figured Peter could never trace back to her. She couldn't help herself. She had to send the tweet announcing the pregnancy to the world. Aiden simply miscalculated the lengths Peter was determined to go to in order to protect Heather. It only took him a short time to figure out who sent the mysterious tweet. He fired her immediately. She and Peter had been in touch since. He had originally told her he would help with her manuscript and she hoped he was keeping up his end of the bargain. But they had only exchanged a few emails and texts. She had given up on having a relationship with him. She was devastated and confused to hear that he was missing. Aiden couldn't get over the fact that Peter could be Heather's second dead husband. Was Heather killing them? Had something happened? Was she driving them crazy? Her fear for Peter's life turned into irrational anger towards Heather.

Aiden decided to open up another twitter account
@savepeteradamson
. She sent only one tweet meant for all of his followers to see.

@savepeteradamson Is Mrs. Adamson innocent? What's happening to all of her husbands? #Padamson

Jenny was still on the computer digging around to see if there was any updated info on the web about Peter. Sometimes news found its way to Twitter and Facebook faster than regular news channels. When she logged onto Twitter and searched Peter Adamson, she found a tweet by
@savepeteradamson
and she knew who it was immediately.

How could anybody be so mean?
thought Jenny. Fortunately, she still had Aiden's cell number. They had needed to connect on a couple of issues after she had taken over as Heather and Peter's assistant.

12:05 Jenny: Remove the tweet by savepeteradamson or I'll blow your cover. I'm giving you five minutes and if anyone calls about it I am referring them to you and you will tell the truth or I will ruin you.

Jenny kept her fingers crossed that no one else had seen it. It was an odd time of night, but Peter had so many followers. She knew this wouldn't be the end. Jenny decided she needed to text Richard, Peter and Heather's agent, to seek some advice. She knew he would be up. No one who knew Peter could possibly be asleep. Technically, she had quit and wasn’t working for them, but she still felt obliged to take care of things for them for some reason.

She checked twitter
, and the tweet was gone. Jenny's phone rang and she hoped it was Heather, but she knew Heather probably wouldn’t attempt to contact her. Jenny was the one who needed to reach out. And she intended to.

"Hey, it's Richard."

"Hi, Richard."

"Anything new?"

"Not that I've heard. It's dark so I imagine we won't know anything till morning."

"How's Heather?"

Jenny took a deep breath. She didn’t want to air her own dirty laundry and tell Richard why she wasn’t speaking to Heather. She hoped if she blew over it he wouldn’t notice.

"I haven’t actually talked to her. I’m sure she feels like she's reliving losing Hank again."

"I can only imagine. My wife is so worried about her."

"How do you think we should handle this tweet business?"

"Ignore it for now, and if anyone picks it up we will crucify them for preying on a widow. That Aiden is a crazy one."

"Yeah, she is. I don't want Heather to find out about this for awhile."

"We'll keep it between us as long as we need to."

"Thanks and I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything."

"Sounds good."

Richard was right
. They could turn this on Aiden or the news outlets so easily. No one would touch this story without significant supporting evidence. It just worried Jenny that Aiden still had it out for Heather. But that was a problem for another day. Jenny called Janie to see how they could help. She couldn't just sit any longer.

I’m standing on the jetty. The wind is blowing throw my hair. Moonbeams are dancing on the waves. I see a hand. His hand. I can barely see the outlines of the tattoos. He’s waving. And then, for a second, I see his dark hair illuminated by the moon. I see his mouth open like he’s trying to talk to me. His head disappears. Then his elbow. I only see his hand waving as it sinks into the water. I scream, “NOOOOO! PETER! NOOOO!” I feel hands on my shoulders. They’re shaking me, shaking me awake.

“Heather, wake up, sweetie. You’re having a bad dream,” said Tom.

Heather wo
ke up just like Tom asked and for a brief second forgot what had happened. As soon as she remembered, she got up and ran to the bathroom and threw up. Only this time she wasn't sure what she was reminding herself of other than the fact that they simply didn't know anything. Her dream was so real. Peter was sinking in the ocean waving good-bye to her. She couldn’t believe that was what was happening. She had to hold onto some hope.

She went to the sink and rinsed her mouth out with some water
. Tom and Mary were kind enough not to ask any questions, but Mary's eyes were filled with tears. They were all on the cliff of some reality that they didn't know if they could handle.

As Heather walked back to the couch, she heard the shutter banging upstairs.

"Shit! We just had that thing tied down today. I don't know what's happening. Henry thinks it's a ghost."

"I'm sure it's the wind getting up and under there."

"I guess, but it's annoying." Annoying but Heather relished in the fact that something took her mind off of Peter even if it was only for a minute.

"I have some Xanax at home
. Do you want me to get some for you?" asked Mary.

"No
. I want to be present for anything I need to do." Heather remembered back to a time she had taken some before she was going to fly and it had made her a strung out mess. At least she assumed the Xanax did. It could have been her fear of flying on its own. She couldn't risk medicating herself right now. What if there was some way she could save Peter? She had to be prepared.

"Ok but just tell me if you change your mind."

"They wanted to give me a sedative after Hank died. I refused. I knew I needed to be there for the kids. They couldn't have a dead dad and a stoned mother. There have been so many times I've wanted to numb myself. Numb myself from memories or reality. Only thing I did was take a little Zoloft to relieve my anxiety a bit after Hank died."

"You've been through so much
. I hate this for you," said Mary.

"I know it's hard for you too
. Your son’s out there. It's not only my sadness."

"I can see why Peter fell in love with you. You are so genuine and real. You have a good head on your shoulders
, and I'm so proud to have you as my daughter-in-law," said Mary with a tear running down her cheek.

"When Peter gets back we are having the biggest lobster bake on this side of the Atlantic," said Tom.

Heather managed a smile.
When
, she thought,
I hope it's not if Peter gets back
. Heather forced herself to stay awake. She walked over to the counter and made a cup of coffee. She couldn't face that moment when she would wake up again and have to remind herself of the nightmare that had suddenly become her reality again. She promised herself she wouldn't sleep anymore. When her coffee was ready, she wrapped herself up and stepped onto the porch. There was an officer down below the beach path, sitting there to stop any unwanted people from approaching Heather and the house.

How did my life turn into this? How did I become someone who has to be guarded by police officers? How did I become a wife who might be on the verge of becoming a widow again?
Heather sat on the steps that lead down to the beach. Her phone rang and she answered without looking.

"It's me," said Lauren. "Figured you'd be up."

"I am. I dozed off before but felt worse when I woke up."

"They'll find him, Heather
. They have to. I have to believe that God or whoever is out there would not let this happen to you twice. It just can't," cried Lauren.

"Honestly, I don't believe in anything right now
. What did I do wrong? Forget about me, my poor kids. I'm not sure Hayes can do this again. We're finally reaching a place of healing. We're a family again. They are still the kids with the dead dad, but now they have Peter. Is it on the news?"

"Yeah
. Even the guy from the cafe you went to today is getting his fifteen minutes of fame."

"Oh, shit
. That was a clusterfuck."

"Sounds like it. He'll probably get more than your bill in donations now."

"Ugh, he said I didn't pay?"

"Yep, he said you forgot your wallet and were flustered."

"Typical me. I always get caught."

"You're such a rebel." Lauren got a little chuckle out of her. "Look, I know this world is filled with crappy stuff happenin
g all the time and you’ve had your fair share happen to you. But I'm sure that this happily ever after you have right now is for good. It's not going to disappear again. It can't. I won't let it. I won't let Peter disappear, and you know how bossy I can be."

"Thanks. I hope not. Love you."

"You too, honey. I'm here if you need me. Wish I was beside you right now.”

"Thank you. Talk to you later."

The hands on the clock turned slowly. Heather filled herself up with more coffee and paced around the house between windows. She looked at her wedding ring and smiled when she thought about the day Peter had asked her to marry him. Her morning sickness had reached its peak and she threw up moments after he had asked her. She was happy not to have thrown up as he asked. Her pregnancy was not easy and Peter had been a rockstar caring for her every need. He had put his life on hold to make sure Heather and the babies were healthy. He was well aware of the health risks of a pregnancy at 40 especially a multiple pregnancy. So he got good at writing anywhere he could and stopped all of his appearances for the time being. And then when the twins were born he was a doting dad. He changed diapers, cleaned bottles and forced Heather to rest. She had started to worry about him and his lack of sleep. But his happiness and love of caffeine carried him through. Maybe it was because he hadn't done this before. He was a first time dad and had stored up all kinds of energy.

She remembered their first Father's Day together last year. Henry asked if they could do something special for Peter
. He wanted to get him a paddleboard that he could take down to the river, in their backyard, and paddle on it to give him time to relax. Heather was bursting with babies at that point and had to ask Jenny and Matt to pick it out, which they did with ease. Peter loved the gift, but what he loved more were the cards each of the kids made for him. Heather remembered him being in shock that the kids, Hank's kids, would do anything like that for him. She had been so proud of them. Especially since they did it without prompting. They had so much more to do as a couple, as a family. Their life together was just in the beginning stages. Heather wanted at least 32 years with Peter like she had with Hank.