An Invincible Summer (Wyndham Beach) Page 35

  “Already did.” Natalie held up her phone. “He’s going to love seeing his mom having a good time.”

  The carousel filled, the music began, and Owen started the ride. Slowly the carousel turned, the horses on the posts bobbing up and down as the music played. Maggie opened the brochure and read a few lines.

  “The horses that move up and down are called jumpers,” she told Natalie. “Daisy’s horse is a prancer, the front legs in the air and the back legs on the ground.”

  Daisy’s ride came to an end, and she ran excitedly to her mother to relate the wonderfulness of her experience on the black horse as the next round of riders chose their horses and the music began to play again.

  Liddy stepped away to greet a tall dark-haired man accompanied by three children. She ruffled the hair of the oldest child, a boy of about eight, then knelt to speak to the two girls, twins of maybe five or six. Maggie noticed Grace watching, her attention not on the children but on the man. The expression on Grace’s face was unreadable, though Maggie thought she detected a hint of disappointment.

  “Who is that with Liddy?” Maggie asked Emma, who’d followed Natalie.

  “Oh, that’s Linc Shelby. Remember Emmett Shelby, three classes ahead of us? Linc’s his son. Listen, Maggie, would it be all right if Owen joined us at your house for the cookout?” Emma asked quietly.

  “Of course. I’m sure everyone will love to talk to him about his amazing carousel.” Smiling, Maggie leaned closer to Emma. “So. Owen.”

  “Stop.” Emma laughed self-consciously, her cheeks pink. “He lives all over the place, travels all over the world. I was surprised he actually came this weekend. If it weren’t for my nagging reminders, I doubt he’d even have remembered. Though he does seem interested in the carousel now that he’s here.”

  “I think he’s interested in more than the carousel.”

  “One could hope.”

  “Two could hope. I’m pulling for you,” Maggie said. “He seems like a very nice man.”

  “He is. And he’s interesting, and he . . .” Emma laughed. “Never mind. Whatever I say, you’re going to pick up and run with it.”

  “Damn right.”

  “He’s just here for the weekend, and then he’s off to someplace I never even heard of.” Emma paused. “Just like my son. Here today, gone today.”

  It was on the tip of Maggie’s tongue to ask if Chris had said anything to Emma about Natalie, and it took all her willpower not to. She hadn’t been blind to the number of pictures Natalie had taken and how many times she appeared to be texting. She suspected all the texts and the photos were being sent to Chris, who might be onstage performing to a gigantic crowd even as Natalie was trying to get his attention. She’d previously thought Chris and Natalie would be good together, but she wasn’t so sure once the reality of who he was when he wasn’t in Wyndham Beach became clear. The last thing she wanted was for Nat to be involved with someone who would leave her like Jonathan had. Like Zach had left Grace.

  Too heavy to think about when the entire day lay before her.

  After Lulu and Alexis each had their turn on the carousel, Maggie herded the group together and they headed back to Cottage Street. Emma would join them later with Owen, and Liddy would be over after she ran home for her contributions to the feast.

  And it really did turn out to be a feast. Joe worked the grill, so the hot dogs, hamburgers, and barbecued chicken Maggie’d prepared the night before were expertly tended to. There were folding tables to be set up in the backyard after being wiped down to remove any spiders and cobwebs, the new chairs to be set up, and dishes of cold food to be carried out and placed on a long table that served as a buffet. There were a cooler filled with soft drinks and bottled water and a tub of beer on ice. Grace assisted Joe on the grill, and from what Maggie overheard they were engaged in a lively discussion about rap and whether or not it constituted poetry.

  Alexis wanted to teach Lulu and Daisy to play hopscotch—after having politely asked Maggie if it would be okay if she chalked up the front sidewalk—but Natalie was nowhere to be seen.

  “Gracie, where’s your sister?” Maggie asked.

  “She’s inside watching TV,” Grace told her.

  “Watching TV?” Maggie frowned. While they had guests? On the Fourth of July?

  “Yeah, DEAN is playing in that big concert, and it’s being televised.”

  Of course it would be. Maggie started toward the house.

  “I love DEAN,” Alexis said. “They’re my favorite band.”

  Maggie paused halfway across the patio. “You know Emma is Chris Dean’s mother, don’t you?”

  “She is not.” Alexis stared at her and repeated, “She’s not.”

  “She most certainly is.” Maggie pointed to Daisy. “Tell her, Daisy.”

  As she was about to go inside, Maggie realized Jamey was missing as well. Maybe he was watching the concert with Natalie.

  But when Maggie walked into the family room, she found only Natalie.

  “Mom, watch this. I sent Chris videos of the parade.” She backed up the image on the screen until she arrived at the place where Chris and his bandmates could be seen mounting the stage.

  “Are you recording this?” Maggie asked.

  “Of course. Here, watch. Watch his face.” Natalie giggled.

  Chris was at the microphone, singing for several minutes. Then his hand went to his pants pocket, and he pulled out his phone. He kept singing but turned his head and laughed before sticking the phone back into his pocket.

  “I sent him the kazoo band. He loved it.”

  “Obviously.”

  “No, he did. He texted me when he got off the stage.”

  The image on the screen continued to run, and Maggie stood in the doorway, watching as Natalie sat without moving when Chris began to sing a slow song, something about shooting stars that appeared to have an effect on her daughter.

  Oh dear. Maggie inwardly sighed. This might not end well.

  “Nat, we might have to have a talk later about Chris and you.”

  “Don’t go there, Mom. We’re good. So please don’t ask me to put a label on our relationship. I don’t want to call it anything. Just leave it be.”

  “All right.” Maggie still perceived danger ahead but let it go for now. “Have you seen Jamey?”

  “Not since he asked me where the beach was, but that was a while ago.” Natalie’s attention was still on the screen.

  “If anyone asks, I went to find him.”

  Maggie could tell Natalie had barely heard her even as she opened and closed the front door.

  Chris was a good kid. God, she sounded like Emma. A good guy. He’d never intentionally hurt Natalie. He wouldn’t take advantage of her or their friendship.

  Then again, he was a guy. A guy with an international reputation and about a million young women willing to throw themselves at his feet. She wondered what the chances were Chris was as infatuated with Natalie as she appeared to be with him.

  Maggie walked to the end of the street and removed her sandals before stepping onto the beach. She scanned the rocks, then saw him atop the lifeguard stand. She walked across the sand and took a deep breath before she began to climb. He might not want company, but he was going to have it.

  “Jamey.” She stood on the top rung of the ladder and motioned for him to scoot over to make a place for her to sit. “We missed you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I—”

  “Don’t say because you’re my grandma. You’re not.” He stared straight ahead, not blinking.

  “Well, in one sense, you’re right. But in another . . .”

  “You’re not my dad’s mother.”

  “I didn’t raise him, that’s true. But I did give birth to him.”

  “And you gave him away because you didn’t want him. You abandoned him, and my grandparents had to find him and bring him home because you didn’t want him. You didn’t love him then, so why are you wanting to hang a
round with him now?”

  “Well, that’s a very deep question, Jamey. I can see you’ve been thinking about this, and you deserve an honest answer. So I will tell you the absolute truth.”

  “Right.”

  “You asked a question. I want to answer. You want to hear it or not?”

  After a long moment, he nodded, but he still hadn’t looked at her.

  “I did not abandon your father.” She paused. “You’re old enough to understand what adoption means, right?”

  “Yeah. It’s when you don’t want your kid, so you give it away.”

  “Jamey, I was very young when he was born, and I knew I could not take care of him. I wanted to, but I knew I could not. My parents were not accepting of the situation I was in. Your grandparents wanted him desperately. They were very special people, and I knew they would give him a wonderful home and the happy life he deserved. Things I couldn’t give him when I’d just turned eighteen.”

  “You were eighteen?” He frowned.

  “Yes. Not much older than you. You think you’d be ready to raise a baby in six more years?”

  “That’s not the point.”

  “Then tell me what is.”

  “You didn’t love him. They were the ones who loved him.”

  “I always loved him, even when I didn’t know him.” She touched his arm.

  “That doesn’t even make sense.” He pulled away. “My gram was the best.” He began to cry, and Maggie understood this was not about her.

  “I know she was,” she said softly. “Your father told me all about her. How wonderful she was. That she was kind and good hearted and how much she loved you and your sister.”

  “I loved her and my grandpa. Why did they have to be taken away?”

  She put a hand on his back, and this time he made no move to pull away.

  “I wish I had an answer for that. There are so many times in your life when you will wonder why this or why that, questions you may never find the answer to.” She felt like crying along with him. “Jamey, Brett and I don’t want to take the place of your grandparents. We never could, and we would never try to. I know how much you loved them and how much you hurt. We are honored they chose to raise our . . .” She had to say it. He had to know how she felt. “That they chose to raise our son. We just want to have a place of our own in your life and in your sister’s life. We don’t want you to ever forget your grandparents. They loved you. But we want to love you, too. We both hope in time you might grow to like us. But whatever happens, I promise you, I will never try to take your grandmother’s place. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  He wiped his face on his bare arm, his nod barely perceptible. They sat in silence and watched the sandpipers run along the waterline and two gulls argue over something one of them had plucked from the sand.

  “I’m never going to call you Grandma.”

  “I’m never going to ask you to. You can call me whatever you want.”

  “Can’t I just call you Maggie?”

  “Of course.”

  “Are you and Brett married?”

  The question caught her off guard. This kid had a lot on his mind.

  “No. We thought we would be, long ago, but it didn’t work out that way. I married someone else—Natalie and Grace’s father—and Brett married someone else, too. Alexis’s mother.” Among others, but no need to get into that now. “My husband died a few years ago, and Brett is divorced.”

  “So you could be married, if you wanted to be.”

  She glanced in his direction. She’d raised two kids. She knew sly when she saw it.

  “I think it’s time to get back to the house.” She patted him on the knee. “Your dad is grilling burgers. Are you hungry?”

  He nodded. “Yeah.”

  They climbed down from the stand and walked back to the house.

  “What’s everyone been doing?” he asked.

  “Making food. Your sister and Daisy are playing hopscotch with Alexis. And Natalie is watching the concert on TV.”

  “Oh, yeah. I heard about that. I wanted to see it. Guess I missed it.”

  “Talk to Nat. She recorded it. I’m sure she’ll play it for you later.”

  “Why’d she record it? She’s like, old, right?”

  Maggie suppressed a grin. Natalie—her baby—old? “You know who DEAN is?”

  “Sure. Everyone knows DEAN.”

  “Well, did you know Chris Dean is from Wyndham Beach? My friend Emma is his mother. He and Natalie have been friends since they were kids. They’re like this.” She crossed her fingers and held them up.

  Jamey stopped dead in his tracks. Maggie smiled and continued up the steps and into the house.

  Dinner had been loud in a good way, loud in a way Maggie was not accustomed to. Male voices predominated, even though there were only three guys in the group. Owen had arrived with Emma and had taken his turn at the grill while telling the story of how his great-great-grandfather, Jasper Harrison, had brought the carousel to Wyndham Beach for his terminally ill daughter. He’d wanted to do something that would make her happy every day of what was to be a short life, so he’d had the carousel built, and when she died at the age of thirteen, he shared it with the other children in town to keep her memory alive.

  “I never heard that story before,” Liddy remarked. “Huh. That’s very cool.”

  After everyone finished eating and all hands volunteered in the cleanup, they walked as a group back to the park for the fireworks. They carried blankets on which they sat clustered together, watching the lights in the sky, oohing and aahing at every display, laughing and covering their ears at the loudest booms.

  The show ended, and they gathered their things and walked back to Cottage Street, still in a group, still clustered together.

  Like a family, Maggie thought as she trailed behind, watching their interactions, listening to their teasing and their laughter. She saw Joe look around, then look behind until he saw her. Then he dropped back and fell in step with her.

  “This was the best, Maggie. I don’t know how to thank you . . .” He draped an arm over her shoulders.

  “Please.” She shook her head. “I want to thank you for . . .” Her words caught in her throat. “You’ve no idea what you’ve given me. I will never forget this day.”

  “This is just the beginning, Maggie. We’re not going away. We’re here as long as you want us.”

  “Of course I want you. You and Jamey and Lulu. Always.” She started to tear up. “So you and Grace seemed to hit it off.”

  “I can’t believe I have a sister who collects the same books I do. And I’m sure you’re thrilled she’s staying in Wyndham Beach for a while and starting up her web company.”

  Maggie was just about to ask She is? when a car parked in front of her house. Brett got out and stopped on the sidewalk when he saw them.

  “Hey,” he called to them. “Enjoy the fireworks?”

  “Never saw better,” Joe said.

  “Come inside and grab something to eat.” Maggie took Brett’s arm, happy to walk between him and their son. Miracle. She heard the word as clearly as if it had been spoken but had no idea where it had come from. Great-Aunt Ida, maybe, she mused.

  “What’s the joke?” Brett asked as the threesome climbed the steps.

  “Just thinking about my great-aunt Ida,” she told him.

  “Who was she?” Joe asked.

  “A story for another day.” They went inside, Joe heading straight for the backyard, where everyone was waiting for Emma to serve her trifle.

  In the kitchen, Maggie fixed Brett a plate of cold chicken and the rest of the potato salad.

  “I’m sorry there’s not much else left,” she said. “This group was like a bunch of locusts. And there weren’t that many people here.”

  “This is perfect. Thank you.” He ate a few bites. “So how was it, having everyone together? Any fights? Bloodshed?”

  She shook her head. “As it turns out, we have a very
well-mannered family.” She realized what she’d said, then tried to amend it. “You know what I mean. Group.”

  “I liked family better. It is our family. Like the saying goes: yours, mine, and ours.”

  “Jamey had a few rough moments.” She told him how the boy had disappeared and how she’d found him on the lifeguard stand. “He was afraid we were going to try to take the place of his grandparents. He was very close to them.”

  “What did you tell him?” A few more bites and he’d finished his late dinner. He took the plate to the sink and rinsed it, then set it on the counter.

  “I told him we would never do that. That we want our own place in his life.”

  Brett reached for her and pulled her into his arms. “I do want a place in his life, and in Lulu’s.” He nuzzled the side of her neck. “And in yours, Maggie. I want to be a part of your life again.”

  “You always have been,” she assured him. “Always will be.”

  He kissed her, a long, deep kiss, the kind of kiss they used to share in the back seat of his car, and she smiled.

  “What?” he asked. “Is there something funny about kissing me?”

  “No one kisses like you, Brett. You’d think I’d have forgotten, after all these years, but I haven’t.” She leaned back and grinned. “For a minute there, I felt like we were back in that old Jeep you used to have.”

  “I’ll get an old Jeep if it would make you happy. Who says you can’t relive your youth?” He’d started to kiss her again when the back door opened.

  “Oh God. Stop. Get a room.” Grace started to laugh, then hastened to say, “No. No room. Forget I said that.”

  Maggie laughed, especially when she realized Brett looked mildly embarrassed.

  “Come on out and get dessert,” Grace told them as she went back outside. “Emma’s made the most amazing trifle. White chocolate, dark chocolate, and pureed raspberries. To. Die. For.”

  “How could anyone resist?” Brett took Maggie’s hand, and they followed Grace as far as the back door, where he paused, looking out at the gathering.

  “Did you ever dream a day like this would come?” Brett asked her.

  Maggie shook her head. “I prayed I’d meet Joe someday, but I never dared pray you and I would find each other again. And this? No. Never. It’s beyond a dream.”