32. Margot
THIRTY-TWO
Margot
I shifted from one foot to the other. I looked up at Caleb. “Are you sure this is okay?” I saw how Carried looked at me. Glared at me was a better description. What was worse, I saw how she was looking at Caleb when Lucas brought me to the backyard. She bristled when I walked through the glass doors. It was clear she wanted time with Caleb, and I had interrupted her evening. Not to mention how beautiful the water view was and the lighting. It was like stepping into a movie scene.
She left me holding the bouquet of flowers I had picked up at the produce stand near the ferry docks.
“It’s fine. Lucas is happy, and I’m glad you’re here.” He looked puzzled. “But why didn’t you text me to tell me you were coming? I could have picked you up.”
The guilt felt like a stone sitting in the bottom of my stomach. I didn’t want him to know how many times I had gone back and forth about the decision to drive to dinner. I wanted to be with him and be near him. Somehow, I was still scared that today I had shown him too much. He saw me when I was vulnerable. He had a copy of the book. I should never have let him leave the Blue Heron with a copy of the book.
“I wasn’t sure until the last second. I’m sorry.” My apology seemed weak in comparison to what I had struggled with all day.
He took my hand in his. “It’s good. Don’t worry about it. What matters is that you’re here now. And Lucas is bouncing off the walls.” He laughed.
As soon as he said it, Lucas grabbed my hand, dragging me from Caleb and into the yard. “Want to see my shell collection?”
I smiled. “I’d love to.”
He pushed open the door to a small wooden playhouse with a shingle roof and a sign painted with the words Lucas’s Hangout over the door. I ducked low and entered.
“Wow. I’ve never seen this many shells in my life.” I sat on the floor surrounded by his collection on all four walls.
Lucas had made shelves using two-by-fours and cinderblocks. Stacked on the shelves were shoeboxes full of shells. They were sorted into categories by type and color.
“I’ve been doing this awhile.”
“I can see that.” I admired each of the boxes, asking Lucas about the types of shells and what he called them. I didn’t know anything about them. I could identify and conch and a sand dollar, but that was it.
“And this is a scotch bonnet and this one is an olive shell. I like this shark’s eye a lot.” He held it toward me.
“I like that one too.”
“You want to keep it?” he asked.
“Oh no, you found it. I can’t take one of your shells.”
Lucas looked at the shoebox full of shark’s eyes shells. “I’ve got enough. You take that one.”
I clasped it in my hand. “Thank you, Lucas.”
There was a knock on the flimsy door. “Lucas? Margot? It’s time for dinner.” I smiled at Caleb when he poked his head in the door. His eyes widened at the sight of all the shells scattered on the floor.
“Whoa.”
“Lucas collected all of these,” I explained. “He says he’s been working on it for a long time. He gave me this one.” I revealed the shark’s eye. It was such a beautiful shell with twists of lavender and peach, swirling together.
Caleb held it. It looked much smaller in his hand. “It’s a nice one.” He nodded toward the house. “We better get back in there. Dinner and all.”
I helped Lucas put the shells back in their boxes and the three of us walked into the house. I noticed the flowers I had brought were now in a vase on the kitchen island. Maybe some of the ice had thawed between Carrie and me while I was with Lucas.
The table was set. I noticed the taper candles flickering in the centerpiece. Carrie sashayed toward us, placing a casserole dish in the middle of the table. “You’ll have to excuse the mess, Margot. I threw together a place for you to sit at the last minute. I’m not even sure if I got the forks right. And, oh shoot. I need to find a water goblet for you. I’ll be right back.”
“It’s fine. Really. I don’t need a water goblet.” I wouldn’t have known anything was thrown together. I only knew that Carrie wanted to continue to make the point I wasn’t an invited guest tonight.
She returned with a crystal glass in her hand. “Here we go.” She placed it at my seat. “And I chilled another bottle of wine since I don’t know that the one Caleb and I opened will serve all of us.”
I bit my tongue. There were new pockets of jealousy starting to form under my skin. Was she trying to lay claim to him tonight? Was this a first-dibs situation? I glanced over at Caleb. If he noticed what was happening, he was good at hiding it. I pulled out my chair and took a seat.
“I want to sit next to Margot,” Lucas announced. He scooted his seat closer to mine. It was more comforting than any gesture I could have imagined.
Caleb sat across from me. He didn’t let the awkwardness of the evening get in the way. He lifted his plate when Carrie served a heaping of casserole on his plate. I had no idea what was in it. It was unlike anything I’d seen. I leaned over to Lucas.
“What is it?” I whispered.
“Oh, that’s my Aunt Iris’s famous casserole she makes. Mom doesn’t cook.”
“Lucas! That’s not true. I cook plenty for you.”
He shrugged and looked at me. I smiled at the little boy. It was amazing to see him like this. Alive. Vibrant. He was funny and sweet. I’d wondered since the night in the hospital if the connection to him was fabricated or if it was really there. I’d felt bonded to this child and that was before he ever opened his eyes.
He held his plate toward his mother. “Just a little bit. Please,” he added.
Carrie ignored him and gave him a huge serving anyway. It was hard not to laugh at the way he crinkled his nose. I was worried about what was headed my way. She sat and poured another glass of wine for herself and topped off Caleb’s.
He jumped in, trying to cut the tension. “Well, I had kind of crazy thing happen today when I was on patrol.”
Lucas’s face lit up. “What was it?”
“The boat?” I asked. It might have been petty and territorial, but I wanted Carrie to know that Caleb and I shared things. I was privy to information she wasn’t. I didn’t know how smart it was to draw that distinction now, but I did.
“Yes. It was the boat,” he answered, grinning. “The one I was called in for this morning.”
I smiled. Caleb was willing to build the alliance with me in front of her too. I wanted to kiss him right then in that moment, but I kept the emotions tamped down and listened.
“Whose boat was it? What kind of boat?” Lucas had twenty questions.
Caleb cleared his throat. “Well, I was the first cutter at the site. She was floating just under the water. Enough for the sonar to pick her up but I had to really look to see her. If I had been riding past, not knowing there was a boat out there I never would have her.”
Carrie piped in. “That’s awful. Will the owners be able to recover it?”
Caleb glanced at me across the table. “It was Dean Waters’s boat.”
My mouth dropped. “You found Dean’s boat?” I was stunned. I was also surprised it was the first time I was hearing about it.
“Yeah, she’s drying out now at the marina. Total loss. But Dean’s doing well over at the law practice, right? He can buy another boat.”
Carried dotted a little casserole on her plate. Not even a full spoonful, then looked at me. “I’m sure you want to serve yourself, Margot. I won’t get it right.”
“Oh. Of course.” I leaned over to reach for the silver spoon, when my elbow knocked the corner of Lucas’s cup, sending milk all over the tablecloth.
“Oh no! Oh no!”
I jumped up, trying to sop up the mess with my cloth napkins. Carrie’s eyes bulged. Caleb raced around to my side of the table with a napkin and then returned with some paper towels. I looked at Carrie.
“I am so sorry.”
“It’s just milk,” Caleb tried to calm me. “I’m sure we can throw it in the wash.”
Carrie exhaled. “It’s a vintage linen. I can’t. But I’ll take care of it.”
“No. I’ll take it to a cleaners. Just tell me who you use in Harbor Pointe.” I watched feeling completely useless as Caleb removed the items from the table and sopped up the rest of the milk with the vintage linen tablecloth before sliding it off the table.
Lucas nibbled on rounds of French bread and watched the action unfold as if he had front row seats to a movie. I wanted to hide under the table or get back in the car and head to the ferry. I shouldn’t have come. The night was a disaster, made worse by everything that came out of my mouth or by something I did. She hated the flowers. I’d made her do extra work. There wasn’t enough wine. Now, I’d ruined an expensive piece of linen.
I didn’t know how to make anything right between Carrie and me. It felt as if the more I tried, the more I was bound to fail.
By the time the table was dry, and Caleb had returned everything to the table, Lucas was giggling.
“Lucas, stop that,” Carrie scolded. “Eat your dinner. It’s probably already cold.” Her voice was clipped.
Lucas kept laughing, doubling over.
“What’s so funny, buddy?” Caleb asked.
I was still holding my breath, afraid any movement I made would annoy Carrie. It was better to remain quiet and still.
“You put everything on backwards.” He pointed at the table. I hadn’t noticed, but Lucas was right, nothing was in the same place it had been.
“It’s fine, Caleb. You did so much tonight to help me.” I watched in horror as Carrie slid her fingertips over Caleb’s wrist. He jerked it away as if he had been touched by an open flame.
I swallowed hard, feeling the stone in my stomach turn over. My eyes landed on his. I shook my head. I couldn’t stay and take anymore. I pushed back from the table.
“Where are you going?” Caleb asked startled.
“I should go.” I braced myself for the exchange with Carrie. “Thank you so much for dinner. I’m really sorry about the tablecloth.” I gave Lucas’s head a gentle tap. “I’m going to head home. I’m really tired after the storm and all the cleanup at the marina.” The only person who knew I was lying through my teeth was Caleb.
I turned to leave. I reached for the milk-soaked cloth on the counter, and folded it in my arms.
I made it all the way to the foyer before Lucas ran after me. “You forgot your shark’s eye!” He barreled into my waist and hugged me.
“Thank you, Lucas. For showing me your very special collection. I promise I’ll take care of the shell. You can come see it anytime you want. There’s lots of cool stuff at the marina you’d probably like.”
“Really?”
I nodded. “Really. We’ll figure it out another night though. You better get back to the table and finish your dinner.”
“Bye, Margot.”
He turned the corner just as Caleb rounded it. “You’re not really going to leave like this are you?”
I didn’t want to have this conversation in Carrie’s foyer. I stepped out onto the porch, crooking my finger at Caleb to follow me. We stood outside, listening to the cicadas and the bullfrogs.
He grazed the side of my face. “I’m sorry tonight was…tonight.”
“I shouldn’t have come. Everything about it wasn’t right. I had that square peg, round hole feeling the whole time. I barged in and Carrie didn’t like it.”
His thumb brushed over my cheek as he moved in closer. “I don’t really care what Carrie likes. I’m leaving too.”
“But, the casserole? It’s famous. You can’t leave an uneaten famous casserole on your plate.”
He shook his head. “You’re lucky you didn’t try it yet.” He winked.
I couldn’t stop the giggle.
“I’ll head back in and tell her I’m getting you home. I’ll tell Lucas goodbye. Wait for me and we’ll catch the ferry together, okay?”
“You sure I’m not pulling you away? She really wants you to stay.”
Caleb eyed me. “Do not leave me here with her.”
I smiled. “Okay. I will keep you safe. Which in this case means I’m going to stand right here by my car until you’re out of the house.”
He leaned over, dragging his lips against mine. “My hero,” he teased before jogging back into the lion’s den.