Summer by the Sea Page 16

  “That used to be my policy. What’s changed is that Lucy adores you, and I think you’re pretty great, too.”

  “Maybe we should meditate over that,” she cracked.

  “Why is the idea of going to a party with me so bad?” he asked, his head tilted.

  Did he really want to know why? Maybe she should just say it. She was always so brash and blunt. So what was her problem in getting the words out?

  “I’m older than you, Sam,” she said, flustered.

  “No.” He shook his head. “That’s not it. Something bigger than that is bothering you. Tell me.”

  Yes. Sarah needed Sam’s daughter in order to get her old life back. And to do so, neither Sarah nor Lucy could be completely straight with Sam.

  The lure of forming a small, albeit temporary “family” with them was just too tempting for Sarah. In the end, she would be a fool for making this mentoring transaction messy and hurting them all by getting too closely involved with Sam.

  Despite the way he and Lucy had touched her heart—the lovely birthday party, the longing she had for the romantic connection with Sam, the way her body so obviously wanted him and her heart tugged at her to be with him—it just wasn’t a good idea.

  She crossed her arms. When in doubt, it was best to keep her eye on the prize. “It’s just not something I’m into,” she said in her old brash voice. “That’s all.”

  Sam frowned. But he nodded. How could Mr. Laidback argue with her?

  And then Lucy entered the cottage. She’d changed into jean shorts and a red-and-white striped sleeveless blouse—her most patriotic colors—and if Sarah wasn’t mistaken, she’d also put on some of the mascara they’d used for the videotape.

  Lucy must have sneaked it out in her pocket. “Sarah,” she said timidly. “Are you coming to the party?”

  “No, Lucy.”

  Lucy looked stricken. “If you don’t go to the party, then I’m not going, either.”

  Sam seemed to freeze. Then he took a deep breath and headed out the door.

  Sarah and Lucy stared at each other. “What’s he doing?” Sarah asked. She needed Lucy as her ally. Right now, Lucy was the glue that kept this whole fragile alliance together.

  Sarah followed Lucy to the window and watched Sam. He stood on his deck with Duke. Though he was wearing his laid-back face to greet his friends, she could see the tension in his shoulders. She knew full well that she’d just shoved a wedge between them.

  “Wait, Sam!” Sarah rushed out the door and across the sand, Lucy following close behind her. Sarah still wore her birthday cap; she felt it tilt in the wind, and she wasn’t really fit to be seen in public. But she had to let Sam know she was with him. If it made him happy, she would get through this party. She needed him on her side in order to get back to her job. And how often had she used her schmoozing skills to make it through professional obligations? If she treated his party that way, she could handle it, no matter how personally uncomfortable it might be.

  She bumped into Sam and tugged his arm. The fact that she was afraid—of him, of his lifeguard friends, of feeling self-conscious because she was old and a brainy indoor girl, and they were young, athletic, outdoorsy people—none of that mattered. She just had to get over that junk right now.

  Breathe, she told herself. Stay calm. Just like Sam tells you in his meditation sessions.

  Drawing in a deep breath and letting it all out in whoosh, she gave Sam and his friends a brilliant smile. “Sam! Hello! Introduce me to your friends, please.”

  They all stared at her. Maybe she’d made an idiot of herself. But she smiled gamely at the first person she saw, who just so happened to be that older lifeguard—Duke, that was his name—older than her, even, and when that fact penetrated her brain, she was able to breathe a genuine sigh of relief.

  * * *

  SAM COULDN’T HAVE been more shocked. But he turned to Duke, who was looking at both of them as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Sam didn’t much care if Duke thought he was acting out of character, but Sarah—he cared about protecting her. He cared a whole lot. And not just for Lucy’s sake. He cared about her.

  Putting his hand on Duke’s arm, Sam smiled easily at him. “Remember I was telling you about Sarah Buckley?” Sam turned to Sarah. “Sarah, meet Duke Daniels. He’s vice principal of Wallis Point High School and, during summers, the chief lifeguard of Wallis Point beach.” Duke was also Sam’s mentor and best friend, but he wasn’t going to launch into that now. Besides, it was pretty obvious.

  “Pleased to meet you, Duke,” Sarah said. Despite her fiery, mostly unpredictable nature, Sam was counting on Sarah to be polite. As a businesswoman, she knew how to do this if she was so inclined. He wasn’t going to fool himself that she could ever really fall for a guy like him, but obviously, there was some reason she’d changed her mind about coming as his date. He wasn’t going to think about what that could be now.

  “Duke, this is Sarah Buckley. She’s my neighbor and a guest from California this summer.”

  Sarah’s smile didn’t falter. She took Duke’s hand and shook it firmly. That she was wearing the birthday hat his daughter had chosen for her only made Sam feel that much more for her.

  She really was magnificent. I know how much you’re trying, he thought. And I appreciate it.

  “Sam has spoken highly of you, Duke.” Sarah straightened the pointy birthday cone cap on her head as if it absolutely belonged there and she was proud of it. “Sorry I wasn’t here to greet you, but we were having a small birthday celebration back in my cottage.”

  “Happy Birthday,” Duke said.

  “Thank you.” Sarah cupped her hands together and nodded slightly. “Lucy’s is in a few days. Make certain you tell her Happy Birthday. She’ll be thrilled to hear it.”

  “Ah. That explains the cap she’s wearing, too.” Duke smiled.

  “Yes. You should see my aunt’s two cats. Lucy found birthday caps for them, as well.”

  Duke chuckled. Obviously, he was charmed by Sarah. Sam stared at her in amazement. There was no trace of the rude executive he’d first met. In any event, he felt grateful and relieved.

  “Let me introduce you to my family,” Duke was saying as he led Sarah off into Sam’s house. Sarah smiled back and gave Sam a little wave. He should probably follow.

  But Lucy skidded by, carrying the trays of cut vegetables, munchies and cheeses she’d prepared for the party, which had been taking up most of his refrigerator and kitchen table, stacked in neat, plastic-wrapped piles.

  “How is it that you knew how to do all this?” Sam asked, catching his daughter’s attention on one of her trips past him.

  “Mom entertains a lot.” Lucy rushed off to help Melanie, Duke’s wife, crank up the umbrella on the back deck. Somebody—he wasn’t sure which young lifeguard—had brought a baby with him, and the baby needed shade.

  Sam stood off to the side, watching everything swirl around him in his own home. Just another Fourth of July party, but not really. Everything had changed.

  Lucy was in his life. It struck him again how little he’d known her, how much of her life so far had been a complete void as far as he was concerned. He’d been oblivious to that before this summer.

  And Sarah—he just didn’t know what to think. She was a whirlwind of energy and action, as usual. Compared to her, he was the calm wave, going over everything, and she was the hurricane, the fierce storm that came in and shook everything up. Including him.

  The way she’d first reacted to the party, Sam had been tempted to cancel the whole event, send all the guests home, just because he hadn’t wanted to make her or Lucy have to tell him to stop. Hadn’t wanted to make them feel guilty, like they had to choose sides.

  That was super important to Sam.

  He stared at Lucy. He doubted guilt was something she felt very often in her daily life. It
just wasn’t in her nature.

  But when he’d been a kid, guilt had wracked him perpetually. He’d been so sensitive about it. It still affected him—that was part of why he’d closed himself off, to dodge that feeling. The great, gaping pain of his life had been the fallout from his parents’ divorce, and until recently, he hadn’t really thought about that much, either, preferring to stay detached and avoid caring too much about people.

  Lucy had changed that. He was caring now.

  And it felt amazing.

  He didn’t want to think about the danger, of how he would feel at the end of the summer when Sarah finally left them. He had to believe she would continue to keep in touch with Lucy. Why not him, too?

  Sarah went from person to person, chatting, filling drinks, talking about who knew what. He could only hear snippets of her conversation. Maybe they trained people in business to do this, and maybe she was simply playing a role, but even if she was, that didn’t matter. What mattered to him was that she was doing it because of him and Lucy. She couldn’t have any other motivation. He and Lucy couldn’t help her with business. His meditation lessons didn’t seem to be helping her just yet, so it wasn’t like she needed him for that. But she appreciated their company.

  And somehow, he and Sarah worked together. He was letting himself connect with her, and that felt good.

  * * *

  LATER THAT EVENING, shortly before it was time for the fireworks to start on the beach, he looked for Sarah. He’d been distracted by the growing number of guests and the fact that the party was getting boisterous.

  One of the younger lifeguards—Big-D was what they called him, maybe because he was a huge kid—staggered across the room like he’d had too much to drink. Sam glanced over. He noticed that Big-D, being inebriated, was talking Sarah’s ear off. Sam didn’t think he’d ever heard Big-D say much of anything unless he absolutely had to. He was “conservative in his words,” as Duke put it.

  Sam edged over and caught Sarah by the elbow. She jumped a little, but when she saw him she smiled. And she didn’t shift away from his touch. In fact, she nestled closer into the crook of his arm.

  He took that as a very good sign indeed.

  “I need to speak with my date,” he said to Big-D, shocking both himself and the young lifeguard, who blinked at him.

  “Why don’t you find something to eat?” Sam counseled the young man. “You’re over twenty-one, right?”

  “Yes, sir.” Big-D tried to straighten like he was standing at attention or something. “Yes, sir, I am.”

  “Good.” Sam had thought so, but it was good to check again anyway. He made a mental note to be sure his car keys were taken away, if he had any. Sam took the beer from the young lifeguard’s hand and gave him a little poke in Duke’s general direction. Duke was always the unofficial guy in charge of such things. Certain people were uninvited from future parties if they behaved badly.

  Over the crowd, Duke nodded to Sam. Duke was a vice principal at heart. He dealt with disciplinary cases on a daily basis, and relished being the “dad” in charge.

  “You didn’t need to rescue me,” Sarah whispered in Sam’s ear. “I was doing fine on my own.”

  “I know. You’re the most competent person I know,” he murmured back.

  “Boy, you know how to sweet-talk a girl.” Sarah smiled at him.

  “Is it working?”

  “Of course. How is Lucy doing, by the way?”

  “She’s fine. She’s cuddling a baby outside, fascinated by it. I wonder if I should be worried.”

  “No, that’s natural in girls her age.”

  He tried to imagine Sarah interested in babies.

  Reading his expression, Sarah laughed. “Yes, I was once that way, too,” she teased. “I was actually the best young babysitter in my Connecticut neighborhood.” She seemed amazed by that fact.

  “Are you really having a fun time?” He peered at her. “Honestly?”

  “No,” she said smiling. “But I’m faking it pretty well, aren’t I?”

  “Do you want to take a walk with me?” he asked. “The fireworks will be starting soon.”

  “Then who will be in charge of the house?”

  “Duke,” he admitted. “He’s the real reason these parties exist. His house is inland, and my house is the perfect spot for when Wallis Point has beach fireworks. His family loves it. Plus, if anyone gets out of hand, then Duke takes over. He’s a natural father.”

  “Where is your father?” Sarah asked. “You’ve never mentioned him.”

  No. He hadn’t.

  Sarah stared at Sam, waiting for him to explain.

  But he swallowed the sour feeling in his stomach. Why ruin her birthday with an unpleasant conversation?

  Sarah’s gaze bored into him, though, and he slid his glance aside, seeking a distraction.

  From the corner of his eye, Sam saw Lucy headed up the stairs. He backed away, studying her expression. “She looks unhappy,” he said to Sarah.

  Sarah turned to watch her. “She does.” Sarah didn’t sound happy about that. “I noticed her staring at Duke’s son earlier, but he’s, what? Two years older than her? And he seemed to be looking at another girl.” Sarah sighed. “I’ll go talk to her. That’s probably all it is.”

  “Thank you,” he said. “Boy troubles are out of my league.”

  “Mine, too.”

  “Maybe not.”

  She gave him a questioning look.

  “Take our walk in a few minutes?” he asked her.

  “Lucy is more important right now.”

  True. He couldn’t argue with that. “We’ll meet up later,” he said. “I still haven’t given you your present.”

  But Sarah never did come back, not even for the fireworks.

  After everyone had left for the night and Sam caught up with his daughter, Lucy told him that Sarah had gone home after she’d talked briefly with her in her bedroom “about nothing important.”

  Somewhere along the line, Sarah had gotten cold feet where he was concerned.

  And he was kicking himself for botching everything. He really should have cancelled the damn party instead of putting it off to chance.

  He wouldn’t make that mistake again.

  CHAPTER TEN

  SARAH BUCKLEY’S HEART was a barren place, she knew. Before she arrived at Wallis Point, she’d thought she’d hardened all the old soft spots.

  But, as it turned out, she wasn’t as tough as she thought. Last night at the party she’d realized she was caring too much for Sam Logan. It had scared her, and she’d decided it was best to leave before she said or did anything she would come to regret.

  Sarah sat at her aunt’s kitchen table, staring at the birthday gift that Lucy had made for her yesterday. It was quite good—the artwork showed skill and love. The fact that Lucy had personalized it made it something that Sarah would never forget.

  She wiped her hand across her eyes. The unfortunate thing about her growing closeness with Sam and Lucy was that the loving gift from the young, talented girl was also proof positive for Richard that Sarah did have some human, redeeming qualities. No, more than that. It showed she could work closely with a person from the younger generation, and that she could mentor her and help her achieve something even better than she would have on her own.

  Sarah touched the rock with reverence. She treasured this gift, and she always would.

  But she was also pragmatic. Yes, the video Sarah had sent spoke to Lucy’s innate talent and the merit of her beach app project. But the gift showed that Lucy appreciated her. That she hadn’t run away screaming as a result of interacting with Sarah Buckley. On the contrary, Lucy Logan liked working with her.

  Before she could think about it much longer, Sarah used her phone to take a photo of Lucy’s gift and then opened her messaging app. Tell Rich
ard I am mentoring the younger generation just fine, she wrote to Gregory after attaching the photo.

  No, scratch that. Sarah erased the text—it was too obvious. Instead, she typed, A birthday gift from the lovely young woman I’ve been mentoring. Please be sure Richard watches her video today.

  It wasn’t quite so blatant, but the underlying message was clear. See? it said. I’ve changed. I can do this—I can work closely with people and even inspire them to achieve great things. And I can do so without them hating me for it.

  Sarah pressed Send.

  Then she went out to Cassandra’s deck with a cup of coffee. It was another beautiful, clear July day. The thing about the summer holiday falling in the middle of the week was that working people tended to vacation on either side of the day off. Today, the beach was jam-packed with vacationers and their sand chairs, colorful beach towels, coolers and shade-throwing umbrellas.

  Somewhere in the midst of this teeming humanity, Sam maneuvered a Wallis Point mini emergency vehicle the size of a golf cart, while Lucy was off at the amusement arcade with her cousins, who’d arrived earlier from Boston to visit her for the day.

  There was just no work for Sarah to do. Nothing to focus on but avoiding Sam as much as possible while she waited for the go-ahead from Richard Lee to move herself back to California.

  Hopefully, he would email her this morning so she could make her escape tonight. He’d had the video for two days now, time enough to make his decision. And today was July fifth.

  Sarah felt jittery about waiting. Back home in California, today would have been a work day. A big part of her still longed for her comfortable and familiar office space.

  Sarah went inside and opened her laptop. Using Sam’s Wi-Fi signal, she downloaded a whole bunch of meditation videos to study. Sam had tried to be helpful, but ever since that twinge of out-of-body bliss on the first day, she hadn’t come close to feeling what meditation should surely feel like. She had an idea that she needed to double down on her research before she went home. She visualized herself as being able to sit with Richard Lee in his office and show him the effects of her meditation practice, or at least being able to fake it so he thought she was doing it right.