Memories in Sea Glass: Driftwood Key Beach Reads #2

29. Jess

Jess wasn’t sure how long they spent together, talking about Mom and sharing memories of her.

She only knew that when they finally helped each other up off the ground, the sun was high in the sky and though her cheeks were tear-streaked, there was a sense of contentment in her heart.

“You’ll come and meet the girls as soon as possible,” she told Mr. Raymond—her father—firmly.

“I don’t want to disrupt your happy life here,” he said worriedly.

“It’s not a disruption,” she laughed. “At least, not in a bad way. And we’ve had a lot of drama this year. This is happy drama—the very best kind.”

That made him smile like his heart would crack open with joy and Jess realized with a twinge that there was a touch of Liberty in his smile.

Or a touch of his smile in hers…

“Now, they’re going to want to call you Grandpa,” she warned him. “Silas was much older than me and his dad had passed before they were born, so if you don’t?—”

“I’d love that,” he said. “And… if you wanted…”

Jess was surprised at the shuddering sob in her chest when her mouth tried to form the word. She had never felt any loss of love in her life, kind people had embraced her at every turn and taken her into their hearts. But somehow, she found it still meant the world to her.

“Dad,” she said softly.

Then they were both weeping and hugging again, sobs that turned to laughter at their own sentimentality.

“We really are two peas in a pod,” he chuckled at last. “I can’t wait to get to know you and your family.”

“I’m sorry it didn’t happen sooner,” she told him.

“This is the best gift a man could have at my time in life,” he told her earnestly. “A chance to expand the circle of people I love.”

They walked to their cars together and embraced one last time before he watched Jess get in. She pulled out and slowly drove the road back toward town, trying to get her head together and decide how to explain all this to the girls. They were old enough now to understand it, but maybe not old enough to move past the disservice their great-grandparents had done them all.

Even Jess was having a hard time thinking about how different her life would have been if she’d had two parents, if her dad had been there when her mom was sick, if he’d cared for her afterward.

Every single thing that happened to me led me here,she reminded herself. Being right here, with my daughters and my niece, it’s everything. And my time with the McKinnons and Uncle Brian… all of it was good. And now I get my dad, too.

But her heart still ached at the wasted time.

And it wasn’t just her time with her father, it was her parents losing all that time they could have had to be happy together.

It was the time Silas had stolen from her, time when she should have been caring for him and filling the last of his days with love and comfort.

And it was the time Liberty had lost with Chase while she ran and tried to hide her hurt from him. Much as everyone said she was a carbon copy of Jess, she was her father’s daughter too, especially when it came to that instinct to run instead of admitting vulnerability.

Jess’s heart constricted at the thought that she hadn’t taught her daughters well enough to protect them from the kind of mistakes that might cost them everything.

I have to set a better example, she told herself. I have to light the way for them.

The truth hit her and for a moment it was like she couldn’t think or breathe.

Clint…

Her heart ached as she thought of the boy she had admired as a teenager, a boy who protected his family and hid his heart’s longing under a fierce exterior.

Though he had learned restraint as a man, it was easy to see that he was still that boy underneath, fiercely protective, yet gentle with the people he loved. Clint didn’t waste words, and he didn’t talk about his feelings. Yet he had told Jess plainly that he cared for her.

And saying those words out loud meant so much more than just caring. It meant that he trusted her. And trust had never come easily to the brooding boy with the golden hair.

Just thinking of Clint now made her chest ache.

She had been through plenty herself. She wanted so badly not to rely on a man again. But if she managed to keep her family in Driftwood Key, was she really going to be able to resist him forever, when just the thought of him made her long to love him?

And if she was going to surrender eventually, then what was she doing right now?

I’m wasting time, she realized. It’s slipping through my fingers…

Sobs wracked her chest and she tried to breathe through them, keeping her eyes on the road and her hands on the wheel.

Visions bloomed in her mind, walks on the beach, cooking together and going over to Mary’s house for a potluck, listening to the girls describe their joys and their troubles, every great thing in her life was better when she shared it with Clint.

Too soon, she was pulling up in front of the house. She had so much to tell the girls. And something to ask them about, too, maybe.

Glory had already said she liked the idea of Jess seeing Clint. But it might not be the same for the others. They had all just lost Silas, Jess included. The idea was uncomfortable for so many reasons.

And yet it also felt strangely right.

She jogged up the porch steps and headed inside, wondering if the girls were up yet. There was no point sitting on any of these conversations. Jess was finally beginning to appreciate the finite nature of time.

“Jess,” Everett said from the loveseat as she walked in. “You were up and out early.”

“I visited my mother’s grave,” she said, feeling almost breathless with the need to talk to her girls. “Where is everyone?”

“Glory’s at work, and Justine and Anthem are still sleeping,” Everett chuckled. “Liberty’s out. Chase came by for her early. I’m not sure where they’re headed.”

Jess nodded, trying to hide her disappointment.

“But I’m glad I’ve got you alone,” Everett said, standing. “I’d love for us to chat.”

“Sure,” Jess said, realizing she was going to have to hold her horses on talking to the girls anyway. “Let me get some coffee started and we can chat away.”

“Sounds good to me,” Everett said.

She headed to the kitchen and he trailed after her. But she couldn’t help noticing that he didn’t start talking as she measured out the coffee and started the pot.

“Want to grab the fruit from the fridge?” she asked him.

“I’ll fix us each a plate,” he offered.

“Perfect,” she told him.

As she grabbed the mugs and the milk and sugar, she began to wonder what Everett wanted to discuss that he couldn’t talk about while they fixed breakfast. Did he have news about her financial situation?

She poured out their mugs, adding milk to her own.

“Milk and sugar?” she asked, turning around.

“Black, please,” he called back to her from the dining room.

Now that was odd. They used the dining room table for shared meals when everyone was home since there were so many people in the house these days. But she had figured the two of them would just have a cozy chat in the kitchen.

Maybe it really was news about the estate.

Her heart began to pound and she had to will herself to slow down as she headed into the dining room to join him with the mugs of hot coffee.

“Thanks, Jess,” Everett said as she placed his mug on a coaster.

She couldn’t help but notice that he wasn’t touching it. He just sat back with his legs crossed and his hands clasped in his lap, observing her with a faint smile. Feeling a little weird, Jess sat in the chair across from him.

“We’ve known each other a long time,” he said, his smile growing a little.

“Thirty years, give or take,” Jess said, nodding.

“You were so young when Silas brought you home with him,” Everett said, chuckling.

“It was a long time ago,” Jess ventured, uncertain what she was supposed to say to that.

“I couldn’t take my eyes off you at the wedding,” Everett said. “I couldn’t help thinking that it was unfair.”

Jess tried desperately to figure out where this was going. Was Everett trying to say she shouldn’t have married his brother, that she shouldn’t be getting his money, or whatever was left of it?

“After all,” Everett went on. “You and I were closer in age, and we had so much more in common. I hope you don’t mind me saying it out loud. I mean no disrespect to my brother’s memory. But I can see you’re coming out from under your anger and your grief, both totally understandable, by the way. I think we can talk about the elephant in the room now.”

Completely confused, and unable to understand how this possibly could have anything to do with the estate, Jess opened her mouth and closed it again.

“I know,” Everett said, his eyes going soft. “You’re a good person, and you don’t want anything to happen between us that might seem… unorthodox. But, actually, this kind of thing happens all the time.”

There was a sound in the kitchen, and she started to get up and see what it was.

“One minute we’re comforting each other,” Everett continued, “and the next, there are romantic feelings involved.”

Jess turned back to him, stunned.

“Everett—” she began.

“I know,” he said softly. “I was the one to say it, but we both know it’s there. You’re an incredible woman, Jess. I know you’re still hurting, but I want to be the one to comfort you, to be by your side.”

“Everett,” she said firmly, hoping to stop him before he could say anything else that would embarrass them both. “I absolutely don’t want to date. Not after everything that’s happened.”

It wasn’t entirely true, but she knew better than to tell him someone else already had her heart. It would make him feel ashamed, and as horrified as she was by his declarations, she still didn’t want to shame him.

“You don’t ever want to date again?” he asked, seemingly as thunderstruck by this information as she had been by his words.

“I’m happy on my own,” she said firmly. “I have my job and my girls and my friends. It’s more than enough.”

The back door slammed loudly enough that they both jumped a little.

“Was someone else here?” Everett asked, looking more concerned that someone had heard his rejection than that he had been rejected in the first place. “Who would be in your kitchen?”

But she knew the answer before the question was even out. Clint had been planning to stop by for coffee to check on her after she visited her mom.

The realization hit her hard and she ran to the back door, but he was already gone. An engine started out front, but by the time she got out to the front porch, his truck was already disappearing down the drive.

No, no, no, she thought to herself, trying to think of what Clint would have overheard, and what he might have thought of it all.

Everett had said they were attracted to each other, and she hadn’t bothered to correct him. And she’d all but agreed that she never wanted to date again. If Clint heard all that…

She jogged back toward the kitchen for her phone.

“What’s going on?” Everett demanded on her way past. “Who was that?”

He’d been watching her bounce from one end of the house to the other and back again, like a spectator at a tennis match. But Jess only cared about reaching Clint before he got fully away.

If it offended Everett that she had made a different choice, she didn’t really care. She hoped he’d still do a good job as her attorney, but her friendship with Clint meant more than that.

More than a friendship…

But when she grabbed her phone it was already buzzing.

Monroe County Emergency Alert System:

Message from the National Weather Service: A hurricane warning is in effect for all of Monroe county for the next twenty-four hours. People and property must be secured from dangerous and damaging winds. Be sure to have three days’ worth of food, water, and medications on hand.

The weatherman on the radio had been talking about a tropical storm, but mostly dismissing it. It must have taken that turn toward them after all. Her girls had never been through anything like this. Jess needed to get them all home and safe.

Everything else was going to have to wait.

***