6
Ford was sitting at Bleu Mer, a sidewalk café that served some of the best seafood in the world, working on his laptop when
a hostess led Nelson and Patti Clark to a table nearby. Ford noticed them immediately. He’d been looking around while thinking
about how to compose the email he was writing. But they didn’t see him. They were too preoccupied, visibly upset.
Done with work for the day, he closed his laptop and put his credit card on the table so he could pay before the dinner rush
started. There wasn’t any need to continue taking up space. But then he heard Lucy’s name and motioned for the waiter, who’d
started toward him, to get him another glass of wine instead.
“That was what he said,” Patti insisted.
“But why would Lucy suddenly show up at his place out of nowhere?” Nelson responded.
“He said she doesn’t believe her father’s guilty of Aurora’s murder and she’s come back to prove it.”
“Seriously? She sat through the same trial we did. She knows her father’s a cold-blooded murderer.”
“Love for a parent is a strong bond to break. She must still be in denial. Otherwise, why would she ever come back here and... and upset us again? Haven’t we been through enough?”
Nelson didn’t respond right away. When he did, his speculative tone surprised Ford. “Except...”
“What?” Patti had obviously picked up on the change.
“You know what Reggie’s like, Patti. He’s hardly a pillar of the community.”
“What does that mean?” she demanded.
“It means I’ve often wondered how reliable he is. A person like that would probably say anything to save his own skin. And
the police were under so much pressure to solve the case... Maybe they were a little too eager to accept his story.”
“You can’t really mean that!”
“I’d be lying if I said his lack of credibility has never crossed my mind.”
Patti lowered her voice; Ford had to strain to hear her. “I don’t care if he was lying. And when he called me, I told him as much. So what if the police had to bend a few rules? At least they got the man
responsible for our child’s murder! Mick McBride’s in prison now, where he belongs. That’s what counts.”
“That’s why I’ve never openly questioned Reggie’s testimony. But think about it for a second. What if he was lying?”
Patti leaned closer to her husband. “Where are you going with this? You always have to play devil’s advocate, but I’m not
having it. Not when it comes to Aurora.”
“Honey, I loved her, too,” he said soothingly. “So bear with me for a second.”
Apparently, she wasn’t willing to even entertain the idea because she came back fighting. “Mick McBride has to have done it!”
Ford was tempted to turn so he could see them in more than his peripheral vision, but he was afraid that would draw their
attention. So he continued to sit quietly, with his back slightly to them, as Nelson lowered his voice.
“Calm down. We’re in public.”
“You think that matters to me? You think anything matters more than Aurora?”
“I’m not challenging you. I just wish there’d been more direct evidence.”
“Mick McBride killed the Matteos, too. It’s not like he’s rotting away on the testimony of only one unreliable witness!”
“I’m glad he got caught. It’s just... hard to think that... that maybe the person who took Aurora’s life might still
be out there.”
“Oh, my God!” Patti cried. “Are you listening to yourself? There is no one else! Are you forgetting how jealous his daughter
was of Aurora? Aurora was everything Lucy wasn’t.”
“Some would say Lucy was beautiful, too,” Nelson said, which Ford had to applaud, given the man’s obvious prejudice. Personally,
Ford had found Lucy to be more attractive.
“She was no good, just like him,” Patti spat. “The way he rambled around this town at night was creepy, especially in retrospect.
He had the opportunity, and his own daughter gave him the motive.”
“But I wouldn’t be able to trust what Reggie said if I didn’t want to believe it so badly. You don’t feel the same?”
She lowered her voice again. “Of course I do. But... why would he lie about this?”
When Nelson didn’t answer, Ford had to assume he was giving his wife a shocked look. Reggie definitely had something to gain;
Nelson had already pointed that out.
“Never mind,” she said, probably realizing that she could hardly be objective. “We’re just lucky he said what he did—whether
it was true or not.”
The waiter brought Ford’s drink, which must’ve caused the Clarks to look up and recognize him, because Nelson got up and walked
over. “Ford!”
Ford tried to act surprised, as if he hadn’t known they were there. He didn’t want them to know he’d been listening to them argue. “Hey, Nelson. How are you?”
“I’m fine. I didn’t realize you were back.”
“Just got into town a few days ago.”
“It’s been a long time since you were here last.”
“Years,” Ford agreed. “I’ve missed the place.”
“You might not be so happy to be here when you learn that Lucy McBride is also in town.”
Ford thought about all the work he’d put into making the yard at the cottage beautiful for Lucy but didn’t want anyone to
know about that. “I’m aware. Word’s been going around.”
Patti came over, too, causing Ford to shift uncomfortably. He preferred not to have a conversation with the Clarks, especially
about Lucy. “Do you know why she’s back?” Patti asked, following up on what Nelson had just said without so much as a greeting.
“I have no idea,” Ford replied. Except what he’d just overheard, of course. That was the first clue he’d been given as to
why Lucy would return to North Hampton Beach, and he was as surprised by it as they were. What made her think her father hadn’t
killed Aurora?
Patti’s eyebrows slid up as if she didn’t quite believe him. “It’s just a coincidence that you’re both here together?”
Reminding himself that the pain of losing a child never went away, Ford tempered the irritation that threatened to enter his
voice. “That’s exactly what it is,” he said. “I haven’t spoken to her since she left here fifteen years ago. To be honest,
I can’t believe she’d ever want to return. This place has to harbor some terrible memories.”
The waitress approached, probably wondering if the Clarks were planning to move tables. Ford wished they’d go back and order
their dinner, but they didn’t. Patti said they weren’t ready quite yet, and the girl retreated with a promise to return in
a few minutes.
“You seem pretty sympathetic when it comes to Lucy,” Patti said when the waitress was gone.
“I guess I am,” he admitted. “After all, she was hurt by what her father did, too.”
“Are you sure she didn’t ask for it?” Nelson challenged. “She might be the one who got Aurora killed.”
It would’ve been easy to let them think whatever they wanted to. He had enough fires burning in his life; he’d be a fool to
start another one, especially here, where he was hoping to heal.
But he’d let Lucy down fifteen years ago. Now that he was no longer so easily influenced by the thoughts and feelings of those
around him—including his parents, who’d figured prominently in his decision-making back then—he was going to handle things
differently, act according to his own conscience, regardless of the consequences. “I don’t think she had anything to do with
Aurora’s death,” he stated firmly.
Patti gaped at him. “Because you don’t want to feel partially responsible?”
He felt his muscles tighten. These people were suffering, but they were trying to place blame where it didn’t belong. At what
point did Lucy’s feelings and well-being matter? Why wasn’t she as important as everyone else—including their precious Aurora? “I’m sorry
about your daughter. But you should know that I wasn’t seeing her. I was seeing Lucy.”
“What does that mean? You were stringing them both along?” Patti said. “I certainly hope not, because that would make Aurora’s
death as much your fault as it was hers!”
“Patti...” Nelson’s tone served as a rebuke, but Patti didn’t apologize.
Ford stood so that they could all be at eye level. “Look, I don’t want to be a callous jerk. But I also don’t want to see Lucy treated the way she was treated last time—as if she was as responsible for what happened here as her father. So it’s important that you understand the way things really were. I wasn’t conflicted about who I wanted. Lucy and I were excited about each other. We were having fun, oblivious to everything and everyone else. She would’ve had no reason to complain to her father about Aurora, because I gave her no reason to believe I was going to break up with her.”
Patti’s eyes flared wide. “You’re talking as though you and Lucy were exclusive, as if... as if you weren’t seeing my daughter,
too. But she talked about you all the time. Told me... lots of things. So I know better.”
He shook his head. “I can’t imagine what she told you. She came over several times, but it wasn’t at my invitation and...
and nothing happened. I didn’t even kiss her.”
“What are you trying to say?” Patti asked.
Ford winced. “I’m saying she would call me and text me and show up at the house unexpectedly, but...”
“You didn’t want her to,” Nelson filled in.
Considering the situation, Ford hated being so brutally honest, but he also felt it was about time. Although he’d said basically
the same things before, he hadn’t been nearly vocal enough, and because he’d been so young at the time, his parents and others
had cast his assertions and opinions aside. Nodding to affirm Nelson’s statement, he said, “It put me in an awkward position
because I already had a girlfriend.”
Patti lifted her chin. “Trailer trash! You wanted trailer trash over our beautiful daughter?”
He’d had a lot of time to think about the kind of person Lucy had been, how classy she was when he cut off their relationship—without
even calling her—and how stoically she’d carried on in spite of everything. “Lucy was one of the kindest, most decent people
I’ve ever known. I sincerely regret that I didn’t make a bigger point of telling everyone that fifteen years ago.” He picked
up his credit card along with his laptop and tossed a hundred-dollar bill on the table. “And now, if you’ll excuse me.”
“So... what is it you’re doing in North Hampton Beach?” Missy asked.
Lucy was still a little rattled by her encounter with Reggie Burton, which was why, after spending the rest of the afternoon
trying to talk herself into some sort of calm and failing miserably, she’d called her best friend in Vegas. She’d needed to
hear a familiar voice, be reminded that she was no longer the vulnerable person she’d been when she lived here. “I just...
wanted to get away.”
“But why North Hampton Beach? I’ve never even heard you mention that place.”
For good reason. She’d been trying to escape the terrible legacy her father had left behind. She wished that would’ve been
possible, that whatever was driving her to seek justice for Aurora hadn’t reared its ugly head and interrupted the life she’d
built so carefully in the west. “You’ve probably heard that quote by e. e. cummings— it’s always ourselves we find in the sea.”
“California’s on the coast, too,” Missy reminded her. “And it’s a hell of a lot closer.”
“California beach towns are different.” She’d missed the East Coast but coming back probably wasn’t going to be worth what
it cost her, especially now that she’d alerted Reggie to the reason she’d returned. She’d kicked a hornet’s nest, which would
very likely get the whole town buzzing.
Lucy didn’t like to think about what Reggie might’ve done had Anna not been there. It was entirely possible he wouldn’t have
done anything more than he did—shout at her. But he was so damn menacing. He reminded her of a growling junkyard dog, teeth
bared, as he strained at his tether, probably because his own dog had been barking so threateningly from inside the duplex.
“So what’s it like there?” Missy asked.
Lucy pulled her mind back to the conversation. “The town or the coast?”
“The town, I guess.”
“It’s located on Virginia’s Northern Neck Peninsula, about an hour’s drive from Washington DC and Richmond, and it’s a river
town as much as a beach town.”
“What river are we talking about?”
“The Potomac.”
“Isn’t that the one George Washington crossed?”
Lucy chuckled. “That was the Delaware.”
“Oh, well, I was never very good at history. How many people live in North Hampton Beach?”
“Only about four thousand. It’s a sleepy little town most of the time with a handful of mom-and-pop restaurants, some gift
shops, that sort of thing.”
“You seem to know a lot about it...”
“I lived here once,” she admitted.
“On the East Coast? When? ”
Propping her legs on the coffee table where she was sitting on the screen porch, she looked out at the darkness. She couldn’t
see the ocean from the cottage, but she could hear the surf. “When I was a kid.”
“Before your father died?”
Her mind conjured up the image of Mick as she’d seen him in prison. He’d looked like a stranger. In some ways, he’d felt like
one, too. She’d gained enough distance from his crimes that she felt she could be more honest about her past—with Missy if
no one else. But if she remained silent, she’d be able to return to Vegas when she was done with North Hampton Beach and never
have to be reminded of the past, never have to talk about it or account for it. So as hard as it was to continue to hide that
part of her personal history now that she was dealing with it again, she decided to stay the course. “Yeah, before my father
died.”
Everything else she’d told Missy about her childhood was basically true. She told everyone who asked about her past that after her mother ran off, she’d been raised by a single father, that they’d moved around a lot and that he’d died when she was only seventeen, at which point she’d set out on her own. Death instead of prison. That was the only change—and yet it left out what had defined her life more than anything else.
“If that’s where you lost him, it must be a trigger for you.”
“I was happy here, so the memories are definitely bittersweet.”
“I’m sorry he died so early, especially considering how much you must’ve needed him. Do you want me to see if I can get some
time off so I can come out there? I hate that you’re facing those kinds of memories alone.”
“I’m fine. Really. I’d never expect you to do that. I know you need to work.”
“I’ll take the time off if you need me.”
“Thank you. Just the thought makes me feel better.” She shoved one of the throw pillows behind her lower back. “How are my
plants doing?”
“Much better than when you were taking care of them, that’s for sure,” she said with a laugh. “Did you ever remember to water
them?”
“Occasionally.” It was getting late. Completely relaxed, Lucy covered a yawn. But a second later, she tensed and sat up straight.
Someone was outside! She could’ve sworn she saw movement—the dark shadow of a man at the corner of the property.
Her mind immediately returned to Reggie. Surely he wouldn’t bother her...
A chill ran down her spine as she got up and crossed to the screen that enclosed the porch, straining to see through the trees
and deep into the shadows.
“Lucy?” Missy’s voice came through the phone.
“What?” she said, absently.
“I said my mom’s trying to reach me.”
“Oh, sorry. I’ll let you go.”
“I’ll call you tomorrow when I get off work.”
“Okay.” She was still staring outside when her friend disconnected. But she couldn’t make out the same shadow, didn’t see or hear anything move, either. Had she imagined it?
She wanted to take a flashlight and reassure herself that there was nothing out there. But she knew that would be foolish.
Instead, she went inside and after making sure the doors were locked, she went around and closed and locked all the windows,
too. She’d been enjoying the breeze as the temperature cooled, but she knew she wouldn’t feel safe if she left a window open.
The house grew stifling within an hour. To cool off and help battle the terrible humidity, she took a cold shower and wore
only a tank top and a pair of panties to bed. But still she lay awake for hours, listening to the creaks and groans and other
settling noises of the house before finally drifting into a fitful sleep.