Chapter 15
Her cut-off shorts pinched at the waist, and Dawn worried they might be out of style, but at least they made her butt look good. The strappy sandals weren’t comfortable, either, but they added an extra two inches to her legs. The only forgiving thing she wore was her loose-fitting white blouse with embroidered flowers on the lapel. She accented the Bohemian look with large dangling earrings and a chunky necklace. Dawn clutched the six-pack of Redhook in one hand and a bottle of sparkling cider in the other. She took a deep breath and prepared to knock on Warren’s front door.
“Don’t be nervous,” said Sierra. “It’s just Mikaela and her dad.”
“I know.” Dawn bit her lip.
“He wouldn’t have invited us over if he didn’t like you.” Sierra inspected her chipped fingernail polish. It was the color of green grapes today.
“Would you be okay with that? If Warren did like me?”
Sierra put her hand on her hip. “I guess. I’d be less okay with him not liking you, because you’re fabulous.”
“Aw... thanks.” Since Dawn’s hands were full, she bumped her hip against her daughter’s side. “I needed that.” She rapped on the front door with her knuckles.
Warren opened it a minute later, wearing shorts and a black T-shirt. He wiped his hands on a dishtowel and smiled. “You made it!”
“We did.” Dawn held up the beer. “And we come bearing gifts.”
“Was that the door?” Mikaela raced into the combo entryway-living room and slid across the floor in her socks. When she saw Dawn and Sierra, Mikaela stopped sliding and put her hands in her pockets. “Oh,” she said nonchalantly. “You’re here.”
“Yup.” Sierra waved.
“Come on in, ladies. I’m just finishing dinner.” Warren held the door open and made room for them to enter.
“Do you want to see my new phone?” Mikaela held up a shiny pink iPhone. “I just got it.”
“That’s why I’m running late with dinner,” Warren confessed. “We took longer at the store than I planned.”
“ And I got earrings.” Mikaela tilted her head to the side so they could see.
Dawn took a closer look and was glad to see her earlobes were healing well. “Beautiful.”
“That’s so cool you got a phone,” said Sierra. “Can I see it?”
“Sure.” Mikaela waved her hand. “I’ll show you my room too.”
As the girls walked away, Dawn glanced around to see what Warren’s home looked like. The plaid couch was hideously ugly but appeared comfortable. A mammoth recliner and oak coffee table completed the set. There wasn’t any artwork on the walls, but there were plenty of framed photos on the mantel. A dining nook sat off to the side, set for four. Everything was spotlessly clean.
“What’s for dinner?” Dawn asked.
“Loaded macaroni and cheese.” Warren led her to the kitchen. “The bacon’s about to come out of the oven, and then I’ll be almost done.”
“You had me at bacon.” Dawn set the drinks on the counter and her purse on a barstool. The tiny kitchen was galley shaped and not big enough for a table. Gooey-brown onions were cooling on the stove. “And I love caramelized onions.”
“What are those?”
Dawn pointed at the skillet. “Caramelized. Like those.”
“Oh.” Warren pushed the onions around with a spatula. “Is that what you call cooking the hell out of them? I thought you were referring to a special variety, like Walla Walla Sweets.”
“No, but Walla Wallas are the best.”
“Spoken like a true Eastern Washingtonian woman.” Warren ripped open a bag of frozen broccoli and dumped it into a casserole dish. He mixed the caramelized onions in next. “Buying a phone wasn’t on the agenda for today,” he admitted. “But this morning we rescued a senior citizen from a tree, where he would have been stuck forever if it weren’t for his cell phone. I decided it was time for Mikaela to have that safety feature, too, especially with her peanut allergy.”
“How’d he get stuck in a tree?” Dawn asked. When Warren told her about Luke and Sir Jellyfish, her eyes lit up. “That’s Madame Burke’s brother.”
“Madame who?”
“Lottie Burke. She owned the Red Slipper, my old dance studio. It’s the same building as the Forgotten Hug.”
“That’s it!” Warren palmed his forehead. “I knew the name Lottie sounded familiar.” The timer buzzed, and he took a sheet pan of bacon out of the oven. “Was she married? Luke’s last name is Holter.”
Dawn nodded. “Madame Burke married Sam Burke, the son of the original owner of Burke Woods. Sam’s father worked as an executive at Boeing in the 1930s. Harper Landing was barely a blip on the map back then. Land was cheap, and Lottie and Luke’s parents were berry farmers. At least that’s what she told me.”
Warren used kitchen shears to cut up the bacon. “They had two more brothers, too, who died in service. Luke said they were buried at Arlington National Cemetery.”
“I never knew that. Madame Burke was already really old when I took dance lessons from her in high school. It’s a miracle she lived as long as she did. Her husband passed before I met her.”
Warren mixed the bacon slices into the casserole, along with frozen squash and macaroni. He peeled back the lid on a container of cottage cheese and added that too. “Luke has the most beautiful piece of property in all of Harper Landing. I wish you could have seen the gardens.”
“I have.” Dawn nodded. “We used to have a picnic there every summer. Madame Burke lived next door. Her yard was wooded, so they’d open the gate, and we’d spread our blankets out on the lawn next to the apple orchard.” Dawn smiled, recalling those happy memories of her friends sitting on old quilts and eating fried chicken and fruit salad and of Madame Burke reclining in a porch swing with her cane nearby, wearing a huge straw hat filled with flowers. It was good to have memories like that to look back on, especially since many parts of her teenage years had been rough.
“There.” Warren finished scattering the contents of a second bag of shredded cheddar on top of the casserole. “This puppy’s ready.” He unrolled a stretch of foil and tightly covered the top, before popping the dish in the oven.
“That looks delicious.” Dawn vowed to savor every bite, no matter how much her jean shorts pinched. She pointed at the refrigerator. “I love all the paintings and collages you put up there. Sierra won’t let me hang her artwork anymore.”
“Neither will Mikaela.” Warren sat down next to her, so close their knees touched. “Those belong to Trent and Ash. They bring so much home from preschool that Laurie and Alison can’t display it all. I’m the overflow location.”
“That’s sweet.” Dawn rested her elbow on the counter and leaned forward. She enjoyed being this close to Warren. She could see the green flecks in his blue eyes and the slight stubble growing along his square jawline. She marveled at the way his T-shirt strained against his biceps. She put her free hand on his knee. “You’re a good guy, Captain Berg.”
“I try, but it never seems to get me anywhere.” He slid his hand up her arm, making Dawn wish she’d worn a tank top instead of long sleeves.
“It looks to me like you’ve done well.” Dawn inched closer. “Great job. Nice house. Beautiful daughter.” His thigh felt warm beneath her palm. “You’ve got everything going for you.”
“Oh yeah?” Warren swallowed, his eyes lingering on Dawn’s lips. She desperately hoped he was about to kiss her. “Then how come I was lonely until I met you?”
Dawn was done waiting. She raised her elbow off the bar and reached for Warren’s shoulder right as he pulled her toward him. Their lips met, and shivers of current sparked all the way down to her toes. Warren smelled like bacon, soap, and freshly cut lawn. Dawn wrapped her arms around his ropy muscles and nestled closer, delighting in the feeling of his heart beating against hers. His hands held firm to the back of her waist, his arms a frame of support. All her stress melted away—saving the beach, campaigning for Cheryl, marketing sweaters—gone in a flash.
Dawn tilted her head and slid her palms down Warren’s chest. When their tongues touched, she felt like a giddy teenager. Her eyes opened for a second and fluttered closed again. She was completely lost in the moment until the phone rang, a piercing noise that sounded like sirens blaring.
“Uh oh.” Warren drew back. “That’s the chief. Sorry, but I need to take it.” He climbed off the bar stool and plucked his phone off the counter. “Hi, Chief. What’s up?”
Dawn took a steadying breath to calm the rollercoaster of hormones surging through her body and opened the sliding glass door to the backyard to give Warren some privacy. Unlike the tidy front yard with its green grass and boxy hedge, the back lawn was brown, and the flowerbeds held riots of color. Flowers bloomed everywhere Dawn looked, including an impressive display of dahlias as large as dinner plates. The air smelled sweet from lavender growing in pots on the back deck. Raised vegetable beds overflowed with produce. A gardener herself, Dawn appreciated the variety of foliage, including native plants like Oregon grape and canna lilies.
A red hammock beckoned from the shade, but Dawn worried lying down might mess up her hair. She’d taken extra pains to tame her blond curls with the straightening iron that afternoon, and the slightest friction might cause them to rebel. Instead, she sat on the cushioned porch swing and relaxed in the peaceful setting. A pileated woodpecker flew across the blueberry bushes and landed on a fir tree at the back of the property. Its pecking echoed noisily across the yard. Dawn squinted for a better look at the tree. The fir must have been infested with bugs for the woodpecker to attack it like that. She watched for several minutes as the bird pecked across the trunk.
“Well, that was disappointing.” Warren came out through the sliding glass door and sat next to Dawn. He threw his arm across the back of the cushions.
Dawn scooted close to snuggle. “What?”
“The chief met with Mayor Jordan today, and she told him the safety bridge is a done deal.”
“How can that be?” Dawn asked. “The city council doesn’t vote until a week from Wednesday.”
“But the grant money from the federal government is already approved. And get this.” Warren frowned. “Not only has Will Gladstone funded Brittany’s campaign, he’s also offered to take Mayor Jordan and the city council out on his yacht for a cruise to Elliot Bay.”
Dawn’s jaw dropped. “No!”
“They all said no, thankfully.” Warren rubbed his chin. “I know most of the council members, and they’re an honest bunch, even if I don’t agree with every decision they make.”
“Yes. I think that’s true as well.”
“The city council president explained to Will that too many council members present at the same time would create a quorum and violate the Open Public Meetings Act. Apparently, Will followed up with an offer to take the council members out one by one instead, and the city council president pushed back hard on that. It smelled fishy to him, according to what he later told Mayor Jordan.”
“Who told your boss, who told you, who’s now telling me.” Dawn shook her head. “I feel like we’re playing a game of telephone, and that’s sad because so much is at stake.”
“Exactly.” Warren nodded. “So the city government is definitely aware of Will’s interference and actively resisting it, but that doesn’t matter as much as the money.”
“Money?”
“The grant money from the federal government. Mayor Jordan applied for it a year and a half ago, not assuming Harper Landing would get it, but we did. It will pay for infrastructure only, meaning a fireboat or extra engines would be impossible.”
“A tunnel under the train tracks would count as infrastructure,” Dawn pointed out.
“Yeah, but the grant would only cover half the cost.”
“Can’t Mayor Jordan go back and request more?” Dawn asked. “Surely the federal government wouldn’t choose to waste taxpayer money on a project that would destroy an environmental landmark.”
“Well...” Warren held out his hand, palm up. “It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve seen tax money wasted in Harper Landing.”
“Like how they keep repaving the streets in Burke Woods, even though the rest of town suffers from potholes.” Dawn kicked the ground, making the swing sway backward. “Mayor Jordan should fight for all the money we need for the tunnel. Or she could demand that the railroad help pay for it.”
“The chief seemed to think that the chances of her doing that are slim.”
“But what happens if they use this as an excuse to close the beach to everyone but the rich?” Dawn asked. “What if they build condos right by the marina?”
“The chief asked the mayor about that, too, and she was unconcerned.”
“How could she be unconcerned?”
“The state of Washington has directed all local governments to create an urban-development housing plan for the expected population growth that will occur in the next fifty years. That plan is due in January. Harper Landing will need to build new homes, one way or another.”
“But condos on the beach wouldn’t be affordable.”
Warren shook his head. “No, they wouldn’t be. According to the chief, Mayor Jordan is fine with that. She thinks that an older, wealthier demographic will be good for local businesses and schools.”
Dawn fumed so hot she was surprised steam didn’t spew out of her ears. “Rich kids don’t make schools better.” She thought of all the girls who’d bullied her back in Kennewick because their parents were scientists or engineers at the power plant, while her father worked hazmat duty.
“I’m with you on that.” Warren took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “We can’t let them turn Harper Landing into a place where only rich people live. That would destroy this town.”
“Absolutely.” Dawn heard her phone ring inside the house but ignored it, assuming it was spam. “It also needs to be a place where people can afford to live as they grow older. Not every retiree can go out to dinner three times a week at the Western Cedar.”
“I know what it’s like to rely on food banks to fill the gaps.” Warren looked off in the distance. “If it weren’t for my uncle, I might even have been homeless. I don’t want to live in a place that makes people who’ve fallen on hard times feel unwelcome.”
“No.” Dawn discreetly tugged at her waistband. “Neither do I.”
The faint sound of her phone ringing in the kitchen caught her attention again, but instead of answering it, she rested her head on Warren’s chest and squeezed him tight. “I’ve got a plan to shake things up with the city council,” she said. “This Saturday, I’m hosting a fundraiser for Cheryl Lowrey’s campaign. I spoke with her yesterday, and she’s excited.”
“Please tell me calendars aren’t involved,” Warren said with a wry grin.
“Not this time. Not even with muffins.” Dawn winked. “No, we’re holding it during the grand opening of Hip To Knit, the new store where the Sugar Factory used to be. We’re charging people thirty dollars a ticket to come to a wine-cheese-and-cookie-tasting party.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“Yes. And Liz, who owns the shop, is giving away a free scarf pattern to everyone who comes.”
“How many people do you think will attend?”
“I’m not sure. I posted on Harper Landing Moms last night, and so far, twenty-two people have bought tickets.”
“Huh. Maybe I can post on Harper Landing Dads.”
“Harper Landing Dads?”
“Yeah. My friend Dennis made me join. That guy from Sweet Bliss just started it, the one who was with Julia Harper and the grandpa with Alzheimer’s.”
“You mean Aaron Baxter, Julia’s husband, and Frank Reynolds, their baby’s grandfather?”
“That’s right. The only thing happening in Harper Landing Dads so far is that Matt Guevara, the other founder, keeps spamming us with plant pictures from the Gnome’s Backyard. Dennis wants me to say something to him because he’s my neighbor, but I haven’t.”
Dawn laughed. “That’s hilarious.”
“It’s annoying.” Warren chuckled. “This is exactly why I don’t like social media. It causes too many problems.”
Dawn’s phone rang again, only this time it was a ringtone Dawn recognized, the trilling bells that belonged to her sister, Wendy. “Uh oh.” Dawn stood. “I better get that. It’s the third time my phone has rung.”
“No problem.”
Dawn hurried into the kitchen and answered her phone right before it went to voice mail. “Hey, Wendy, what’s up? Now really isn’t a good time.”
“Too bad,” Wendy snapped. “I mean, sorry. I’m just... Have you heard from the hospital?”
“The hospital?” Dawn had been in such a rush to pick up her phone that she hadn’t bothered reading her notifications. “What’s going on?”
“Mom’s had an accident. She was T-boned at an intersection and is in surgery.”
“Oh no!” Dawn felt her stomach drop. “Where is she?”
“Skagit Valley Hospital. I’m on the road, but I won’t be there for four and a half hours.”
“I’m only an hour away from Mom.” Dawn picked up her purse. “I can be there before she wakes up from surgery.”
“Okay. Call me when you get there, will you?”
“I will.”
“And answer your phone from now on, got it?”
“Yes. Sorry.” Hearing Wendy scold her made her feel better somehow, like her big sister was in control and knew what to do. “I love you, Wendy.”
“Love you too, Dawny-Bear.”
Dawn hung up the phone and flew outside. “My mom was in a car accident,” she blurted. “She’s in surgery up at Skagit Valley Hospital, and I need to go.”
Warren leaped to his feet. “What can I do? Do you want me to come with you?”
Dawn shook her head. “No, thanks for offering, though.” She ran back into the house, calling Sierra’s name.
“Wait.” Warren was two steps behind her. “Why not leave Sierra here? That way you can focus on your mom.”
“Really?” Dawn spun around. “You’d watch her for me? But I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. It might be all night.”
“All the more reason not to take Sierra with you,” said Warren. “Hospitals aren’t good places for eleven-year-olds.” He put his hands on Dawn’s shoulders and held her steady. “Breathe,” he commanded. “You’ll be no help to your mom if you stress yourself out.”
Dawn nodded and swallowed the lump in her throat. “Okay. Thanks.”
“Did you call my name?” Sierra said from somewhere down the hallway.
Dawn found Sierra sitting on the carpet of Mikaela’s room. Both girls were sorting through a massive pile of stickers.
“Sweetheart,” Dawn said as she knelt on the floor, “Grandma Beth was hurt in a car accident and is having surgery.”
“What?” The stickers in Sierra’s hands fluttered to the ground. “Will she be okay?”
“Yes,” Dawn answered, willing it to be true. “Would you like to come with me or stay here with Mikaela?”
“You could sleep over,” Mikaela said quickly. “I mean... if you want.”
“What do you want me to do?” Sierra asked Dawn. “Do you need my help with Grandma?”
“I think Grandma would be happier knowing you were here, having fun, instead of hanging out in a hospital waiting room.” Dawn looked back at Warren. “Besides, that macaroni and cheese in the oven smells really good.”
“I’ll put some in a thermos, and you can take it with you. Hang on.” Warren darted away.
“I’m sorry your grandma’s sick, but we’ll have a lot of fun.” Mikaela reached under her bed and pulled out a mattress. “Look. I’ve got a trundle.”
“Cool. I’ve always wanted to sleep on one of those.” Sierra hugged Dawn. “Tell Grandma I love her. And if you need me, you can call me on Mikaela’s phone, you know, since you haven’t bought me my own yet.”
“Oh, you’re smooth.” Dawn laughed, even as tears formed her eyes. “Chip at me when I’m down. I see how it is.”
“I’ll give you my number.” Mikaela grabbed a sparkly gel pen from her desk and scribbled on a piece of paper.
Five minutes later, Dawn sat behind the wheel of her SUV, driving away from Harper Landing toward Mount Vernon. She turned off the radio so she could listen to her voicemail over her phone’s speaker. One was from her sister, and the other was from the hospital. The message from the hospital said Beth was in emergency surgery for damage to her internal organs. She also had a dislocated shoulder and a fractured elbow, but fixing those would come later. Right now, the surgeons were focused on stabilizing her.
Dawn tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, begging the red light to change. As soon as she merged onto I-5, she would fly. Mark used to brag about her X5’s V8 engine and massive horsepower. Now was the time to put it to the test—speeding tickets be damned.
But safely though. Safely. I need to stay safe.
Dawn whispered the word safe over and over again. If Sierra ever felt this kind of terror, knowing that her mother was in the hospital, Dawn would be crushed. And what would happen afterward? Who would take care of Dawn if she were in a car accident? Beth had Dawn and Wendy to tend to her, but Sierra was an only child. Someday, years from now, the burden of eldercare would fall squarely on Sierra’s shoulders, but what choice did Dawn have?
She shook her head. There was no use worrying about the future. Her present circumstances were tense enough. She turned on the radio to stop herself from thinking and scanned through the stations until she found one playing a Pearl Jam song. Normally, listening to Yellow Ledbetter relaxed her. Today, it made her cry. The tears didn’t stop until an hour later, when she pulled into the parking lot of Skagit Valley Hospital and turned off the car. She grabbed some take-out napkins from the glove compartment and wiped her face. Then she marched inside.
Beth’s surgery took two more hours. She had internal bleeding, and the doctors ended up removing her spleen. By the time they wheeled her into the ICU, she was stable. Visiting hours were over, and Dawn was stuck in the waiting room, unable to see her mother. When Wendy arrived later that night, Dawn felt grateful for her sister’s presence.
“How is she?” Wendy asked as she enveloped Dawn in a hug. Wendy had ruby-red hair and smelled like cigarettes.
Dawn rattled off what the doctor had told her, trying to remember all the details. “Mom will need surgery on her left elbow next week,” she explained. “I have the number for the surgeon and will call tomorrow.”
“And how will she pay for all of this?” Wendy sat in a vinyl chair next to where Dawn had camped out. “With that crappy insurance of hers?”
“I’m not sure,” Dawn admitted. “I’ll find a way to pay the deductible.”
Wendy’s shoulders slumped. “I wish I could help financially, but I can’t.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got it.” Dawn didn’t know where she would come up with the money, but she’d sell the furniture out of her living room if she needed to.
“I have vacation days saved from the salon,” said Wendy. “I can stay with Mom until she’s better.”
Dawn sighed with relief. “That would be a huge help, especially with everything I have going on.” She filled Wendy in on Cheryl’s campaign fundraiser and her fight to save the beach but left out the part about her budding relationship with Warren. It was tender enough that she wasn’t ready to open herself up to her big sister’s scrutiny yet.
“How did you get involved with wackadoodle tree huggers?” Wendy asked.
Dawn rolled her eyes. “They’re not wackadoodles. The beach?—”
“Relax.” Wendy bumped shoulders with her. “I’m kidding.”
“Oh.”
“It’s like our childhood all over again.” Wendy unzipped her purse and took out a stick of gum.
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t you remember what Mom and Dad fought about when we were in high school?”
“Mom’s credit card debt?”
“That, and what else?”
Dawn tried to think. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I usually put on headphones and turned up my music when they argued.”
“Dad’s job, dummy. Mom thought it was too dangerous.”
“But Mom’s not an environmentalist. She doesn’t even recycle.”
“Dad didn’t either. But he gave his life to clean up Hanford.”
Dawn got chills. “ I’m not a wackadoodle environmentalist, ” she remembered her father saying, “ but someone needs to clean up this toxic mess. ”
“I saw your petition. I’m proud of you, sis.” Wendy held out the pack of gum. “Want a piece? It’s cinnamon.”
Dawn nodded and unwrapped a stick. When she popped it into her mouth, its fiery taste matched her resolve. I’m not an environmentalist, she repeated to herself. But maybe that wasn’t true anymore. Dawn couldn’t just stand by and let Harper Landing Beach become a mess for another generation to clean up. No way in hell.