Tidewater Inn (42 page)
Her head bumped the side of the opening, then Alec maneuvered them both through. The current caught them as they exited into open water. Her lungs began to burn with the need for oxygen. She cast her gaze upward. The top of the waves seemed so far away. She wasn't sure she could make it. Her panicked glance at Alec caused him to propel them faster.
Just when she thought she would have to inhale water, her head broke the surface. She dragged in air, then choked when a wave splashed her in the face. Alec still had his arm around her, and they floated in the waves.
He cupped her face with his hands as they floated. “I thought I'd lost you.” He kissed her.
She clutched him and kissed him back, relishing the heat that swept through her veins, exulting in the fact that she was very much alive. When he lifted his head, she was even more breathless. “Where are Nicole and Bree?”
“On shore. I can see them.” He turned her in the water so she could see her friend waving. Bree and Samson were with her. Libby's limbs went weak.
“Let me see if I can loosen these ropes.” He tore at the knots, then shook his head. “They'll have to be cut off. I'll help you.” With his arm around her, they began to swim toward the shore.
It was slow going with only one of them able to propel them. She tried to pretend her bound legs were the fin of a mermaid, but it was awkward. Her muscles burned by the time her foot touched sand. Alec lifted her in his arms and staggered to shore with her, where they collapsed in a heap on the beach.
Samson licked her face and barked. “Good boy,” she crooned. Nicole dropped to her knees beside her and burst into tears. “It's all right,” Libby said. “We're safe.”
T
idewater Inn was even more beautiful after Libby's brush with death. It was home already. But what was she going to do about the mansion? She loved it so, but she couldn't afford to keep it up. As Alec guided the boat to the pier, she soaked in the sight of the lovely old Georgian house. She'd never own something so wonderful again.
“Libby!” Vanessa waved from the porch and ran down the curving steps.
Libby nearly fell off the pier when her sister grabbed her and held on as though she'd never let go. “Vanessa?”
“You're okay! I was so afraid when I heard you'd disappeared.”
Libby hugged her back. “We're both fine.”
Alec hovered at her side as though he feared letting her out of his sight.
“I'll talk to you later,” Bree said. “I need to check on the children.” Smiling, she went toward the house with Samson at her heels.
Libby followed with Alec close beside her. She wished she dared to reach out and take his hand.
Vanessa was still smiling. “Everyone is inside. The pastor came over to lead us in prayer for your safety.”
Libby's gaze went to the necklace around Vanessa's neck. Maybe she'd really begun to think about what it meant. “We needed the prayers more than you know.” She told Vanessa what had happened as they walked to the house.
Vanessa stopped at the base of the steps. “I know I've been nasty to you, Libby. I'm ashamed of myself when I remember all the terrible things I said. I'm sorry.”
“You were in pain,” Libby said. “I understand.”
Vanessa shook her head. “I don't deserve for you to let me off the hook so easily. I know we have a long way to go, Libby, but I realized today when I thought you might be dead that I wanted you around. I want to learn what makes you laugh and cry. I want to try to learn to like reggae.”
Libby smiled. “I'm not promising anything about oysters, but I'll try.”
“It's a deal. You're not leaving, are you? You're staying here?”
Libby's smile faded. “I think I have to sell this place, Vanessa. There's no money for repairs.” She gestured to the roof. “Look at the rot going on around the eaves. It's going to take a lot of money to fix it. But I'll split the sale price with you and Brent.”
Alec tensed beside her. She wanted to explain her decision, but there was no way to make him understand.
Vanessa shook her head. “I realized today that if this place goes, everything will change. Brent argues that it will be change for the better, but I don't think so. There would be no more long walks on a nearly empty beach. No more pure sound of the waves and wind.” Her voice broke. “There has to be another way. How much would it cost to fix it? I have an inheritance. I'll help.”
Though the offer touched her, Libby shook her head. “It would be a hundred thousand dollars, I think. I couldn't let you do that. I'll pray about it. Maybe God will show us a way to save it.”
Brent opened the door and came toward them. “I brought Tom up to speed. He left to go arrest Horace. It took some talking to convince him I was telling him the truth. Horace has been part of this village forever. He was born and raised here. One of our own.”
“I really liked him,” Libby said. “I still can't believe it.”
“The state police are going to come out and get a statement this evening. Are you up to that?” Brent asked. “You look wiped out.”
“Yes. I just want it over with.”
“I'll be inside,” Vanessa said. “I want to talk to Brent.” She joined her brother and they went inside.
Alec slipped his arm around Libby's waist, and they walked up the stairs together. “It's all over. Hard to believe. Now what?” he asked when they reached the porch.
“I'm going to make the biggest mess of chicken fajitas you ever saw and slather it with guacamole.”
He grinned. “I'll even eat the hot sauce with you.” His fingers traced the outline of her jaw. “You haven't answered my question.”
She couldn't think with his touch igniting feelings she didn't know existed. “I don't know. I have to sell this place, Alec. You know I do.”
“Don't decide too quickly. Are you willing to see what door God might open?”
“When you put it that way, how can I refuse?”
Laugh lines crinkled around his eyes. He bent his head and kissed her, then pulled back. “I think I can sweeten the pot a little. I don't want you to go. I want you to live here where I can take you out to dinner and to the movies.”
Her heart was full to bursting. “You mean to see year-old movies?”
His breath stirred her hair. “I want to neck with you in the balcony and I don't care how old the movie is.”
Her blood warmed at the expression in his eyes. “I'd like that too.”
“I think we have something special, Libby. Something that will last. But you have to stay here to find out. You game?”
“I'm game,” she said, suddenly breathless.
Her family. Libby's gaze lingered on every person around the large dining room table. Mr. McEwan, with his rheumy eyes and sparse hair. Delilah and her no-nonsense love for this place and for Ray. Bree and her family. Old Mr. Carter, who had already grabbed the homemade bread in the middle of the table. Her siblings Brent and Vanessa, already so dear. And Aunt Pearl, whom Libby loved so very much already. Only Nicole was absent. She'd given her statement to the state investigators, then gone back to Virginia Beach to attend to business. At least she wasn't pressuring Libby to sell the property.
Libby locked gazes with Alec, who was sitting across the table from her. Whatever happened, she wanted to live here on Hope Island, even if it wasn't in the beautiful old inn. This was home now.
Horace was sitting in jail awaiting trial, and everything he'd schemed to avoid would happen to him and his family anyway. Though he deserved his punishment, she grieved for his wife and children. He wasn't leaving a legacy of generosity like her father had. The police had checked out his computer and confirmed he had erased the video of the men he'd hired to get Nicole out of the way. With Horace's information, they'd been arrested too.
The police had discovered that Rooney and his goons hadn't actually killed Tina. She'd fallen and drowned in the cellar's standing water. When Poe found her, he'd panicked and left her there, then scuttled her boat to make it appear she'd been lost at sea. He was also in jail.
“I need your advice,” Libby said during a lull in the conversation. “I don't want to sell this lovely old house. But I have no idea how to keep it.” Libby listened to the hubbub around her as folks argued against selling the property.
She held out her hands. “Nothing would please me more than to keep Tidewater Inn, but I need some suggestions on
how
to make that possible. I got some quotes on restoration. Material alone is going to be seventy-five thousand dollars.”
The group fell silent, and the dismay she saw on various faces made her heart plunge. But she could do a lot with the money from the sale of the property. Help her stepbrother and his family. Fix up the lifesaving station and other historic buildings in town. Help people recover from the hurricane. Buy Alec a new boat. There would be compensations for the blow to her soul if she had to give up Tidewater Inn.
Old Mr. Carter in his straw hat pointed a tobacco-stained finger at her. “I'd like to donate the money you need, young lady.” He reached down to the old suitcase beside his chair, the same case he'd asked Alec to rescue during the hurricane evacuation, and it opened to reveal stacks of money. “There's plenty in here for materials if the townsfolk will donate the labor.”
There was a group gasp around the table. “I couldn't. It might be years before I can pay you back, Mr. Carter,” Libby said. She didn't want charityâshe wanted a viable solution.
“Oh good grief, Libby,” Vanessa said. “I've been looking at Daddy's art. There's our answer. Sell them.”
The Allston paintings
. Such an easy answer. Why hadn't she thought of it? “You're right,” she said. “They are worth more than I need.” She glanced at the dear faces around her. “But what about the town? Is selling better for the town, for progress? We need to be realistic.”
“The ferry is still coming,” Delilah said. “Tourists will need a place to stay. Why not here? The rest of the town needs to think about what kinds of businesses are lacking and fill the need. We could end up with the best of both worlds. Like Ocracoke.”
The ideas began to flow quickly. Libby couldn't stop smiling. She took notes in between bites of chicken fajitas, then later, after the table had been cleared, carried the dessert of flan out to the swing with Alec.
“Hey.” He put his flan on his knee and slipped his arm around her. “I told you it would work out. You ready to accept the answer?”
“It's more than I'd hoped for.” She touched his cheek with her fingers. “
You're
more than I hoped for.”
His gaze held her rooted in place. “I look forward to exploring the future with you. Want to go to a movie tonight? I hear
An Officer and a Gentleman
is playing.”
“Now that's
really
old,” she said. “But I always sigh when Richard Gere sweeps her into his arms and carries her out of the factory.”
“Would you settle for a moonlit ride in my fishing boat?” His smile was teasing.
“Will there be kissing involved?”
“Most certainly,” he said.
“Then I accept.” She didn't wait for the promised kiss, though, and lifted her face toward his in the moonlight.
I
'm so thrilled to share
Tidewater Inn
with you! The theme of the storyâgreed versus generosityâis one that resonates so much with me personally. If you're like me, you struggle to find the balance. No matter what resources God has blessed us with, he expects us to use them to help other people. Money isn't our only resource. Time, talents, and other gifts are to be given generously.
I also wanted to share the personal background of a character in the novel who is very special to me. Pearl is my grandma in the flesh, though the name Pearl is my first teacher in Sunday School. My grandma helped shape me in so many ways. She's been gone over twenty years, but I still hear her voice in my head. I strive every day to be more like her. I learned about Jesus at her knee. She taught me about generosity and loving other people. I owe her so much, and I wanted to share her with you. I hope you love Pearl as much as I loved my grandma! People say I'm just like her, and it's the highest compliment I could have.
