Chapter 18 – Violet
It was nearly eleven by the time the line for pastries at the Salty Pantry dwindled enough for me to check my phone.
Swimming in customers was never a bad thing, but I’d been on my feet for hours, dispensing tea and cruffins.
Every time my gaze landed on one of Lee’s bouquets, I couldn’t help but grin.
They were bright and cheery, bobbing as customers grazed the blooms. Perfectly mirroring my glee that Lee was rising so beautifully to my challenges.
Lee’s selfies in his old Friday Harbor High gear were cute. The online comments were even better.
“Reliving the glory days, huh? Careful, that jacket qualifies as a historical artifact now!”
“The jacket’s still holding up after all these years – unlike your ankle.”
“Does that thing come with a time machine?”
The “I see you peaked in high school and just camped out there,” made me wince on his behalf.
I felt a little guilty he was showering me with flowers, and I was embarrassing him in public.
My second WNFH dare was my last salvo in my covert revenge. I couldn’t keep Lee away from his laptop indefinitely. I had to make this challenge count.
With more time, I would have sent his laptop on a tour of the islands, posting snaps of it at all the local landmarks: Iceberg Point on Lopez, chilling at the Rosario Resort on Orcas, or communing at the monastery on Shaw Island.
Alas, I wasn’t mean enough to keep him from working for too long.
I could justify a day or two as healing. More than that was just mean.
We hear you used to be quite the performer. Grab a merry band and refresh our memories when the interisland ferry arrives for the evening sailing, and you’ll find me waiting for you. I added a photo of his laptop at the ferry dock.
To the uninitiated, it’d read like cryptic nonsense.
For the locals, it was a siren call, dripping with the promise of juicy drama.
Once a month, the interisland ferry hosted a floating jam session.
Local musicians hopped aboard with guitars and ukuleles to serenade the route between ports.
If Lee wanted his laptop back, he’d need to dig up his ukulele and find a way onto that deck before the boat sailed.
To my knowledge, Lee hadn’t picked up an instrument in years. But I’d spotted his ukulele in a corner of his closet. My brothers and Lee used to think they were so cool, hanging around a bonfire on Jackson Beach, singing for their adoring audience.
I’d snuck out once to join them. That night, my brother Cole drew the short straw and had to cart me home.
My brothers didn’t want their preteen sister spoiling their fun.
Or reporting back to Mom and Dad. Back then, I’d been the annoying tagalong.
Tonight, I’d be the audience of one – and he’d be singing for me.
I did steady business at the Salty Pantry, selling cinnamon rolls and coffee before things slowed down near noon.
Vi: Want to meet for lunch at the park?
Anya, Rae, and Lucy each texted a yes, and we made plans to meet up after Anya’s last morning yoga class. I flipped my sign to “closed” and walked the few short blocks to the waterfront park. Rae waved from a spot at one of the picnic tables, and I slid onto the bench across from her.
It was our favorite spot to gather when our work schedules allowed.
The covered picnic tables had a view of the marina and harbor.
It was close enough to each of our workplaces to make a good central meeting spot.
Winter wasn’t the best time of year to eat outdoors, but I’d bundled up enough to make it tolerable, and the gray skies didn’t deter us.
Rae smiled, the mischievous tilt to her lips betraying her excitement. “If Lee picks up your WNFH gauntlet, we’re getting a show tonight.”
If was the key. It’d be just like him to come up with a plot twist of his own instead of creating an impromptu interisland ferry jam band. But if he was sincere about making amends for the past, he’d offer his pound of flesh.
“That’s the plan. Are you going to join me?” I asked.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” she said.
Anya and Lucy approached together.
“Where are we watching tonight’s show from?” Anya unpacked her cold cuts and cucumber slices.
“There’s always the patio at Harbor Brews. It has a good line of sight for the ferry dock,” Rae suggested.
“Plus, beer.” Lucy’s head bobbed in approval.
Zach’s coffee shop-slash bookstore-slash beer and wine establishment sat just off the marina docks with a beautiful view of the boats floating in the harbor. It also made an excellent vantage point to watch the ferry docks.
“You’ll all join me?” I glanced around the table. Our lives had changed since my brothers and Clay had become linked with my friends.
“Wouldn’t miss it.” Lucy’s eyes sparkled. “I love to see a big man crawl.”
“He’s not crawling; he’s playing.”
She snorted. “Same difference. He’s crawling for you, and I approve.”
“You’re so bloodthirsty,” Anya scolded.
“You’re all so confident he’ll show.” I shook my head. “It’d be just like him to find a loophole and slip free.”
Rae snorted. “Lee’s not looking for loopholes with you, Vi.”
“He might be looking for knots.” Lucy added a wink.
“You should think about a safe word,” Anya said.
“I don’t need a safe word for Lee. We don’t have that kind of relationship.”
“But you want to,” Lucy pointed out. “Don’t deny it.”
I almost rejected her claim, but the words caught in my throat. What remained of my honesty kept me quiet. I wanted Lee. But wanting him meant risking everything: our friendship, my brothers’ judgment, the carefully balanced life I’d built.
Still… it was time.
Time to stop pretending I didn’t know what we were building toward. Time to stop hiding behind old wounds and what-ifs. I wasn’t playing anymore. I was ready.
He just needed to suffer a bit first.
“Have you thought about what you’re going to wear tonight?” Anya asked.
I glanced down at my jeans and sweater. “This isn’t good enough?”
“I think tonight calls for something special,” Rae said.
Hitting up one of the clothing boutiques in town would take time I didn’t have. He’d already seen the one dress I’d packed. I’d have to make do with something else from my closet at home.
A familiar figure strode by on the walkway, only made more recognizable by their attempts at camouflage. She wore dark slacks under a long navy puffy coat with a beautiful scarf, sunglasses, and a beanie pulled low over her grayish-blonde hair. Dr. Underwood.
She trotted down the boat dock. At a more leisurely pace, I’d assume she was just taking a walk at lunch. But her intent expression indicated a different purpose.
“What’s Dr. Underwood doing at the marina?”
Rae turned to the dock, eyes narrowed. “Is Chaz out on bail? Do you think he’s talked someone into flying him to Victoria?”
“I don’t know, escaping from one island to another doesn’t seem like the best way to run from the law.”
“There’s no way he was using their dog to create art for the gallery and she didn’t know about it,” Lucy said.
“Maybe not, but it was the money laundering the authorities cared about,” Anya said.
“I’d be getting the hell out of town and disappearing if I had his clients. Wouldn’t want them thinking I’d turn and getting nervous,” Rae said.
“You think there’s a hit out on Chaz Underwood?” I asked. Megan Underwood turned onto one of the commercial docks.
“I think there could be. Especially if he talks to save his own skin. There’s no telling what tidbits he squirreled away to protect himself,” Anya said.
Dr. Underwood walked past the floatplane dock.
My next guess for her destination was Tide Chaser, but it sat quietly in the harbor while its remaining captain, Brandon Chen, stewed in jail for breaking and entering.
Jordan’s widow was still trying to figure out how to untangle her husband’s estate and the whale sightseeing business.
Brandon Chen had terrorized Rae over the summer. But he’d gotten what was coming to him, leaving the Tide Chaser without a captain.
I pulled my phone out, zooming in on Dr. Underwood.
Maybe the older woman sensed our interest. She paused at a sleek mini-yacht, examining it from the dock. I snapped a few photos, trying to get the boat registration. A minute later, she continued to walk, this time at a much slower pace, as if she truly were just out for an afternoon stroll.
“Do you recognize that boat?” I asked.
Rae rolled her lips together, eyes drifting to the side like she was searching her memory. “I want to say it’s been berthed there for a week or two. That’s one of the rental slips.”
While it was possible the Underwoods could sneak away at night, I wasn’t sure why they would. Unless there truly was a contract out on Chaz. He was a sitting duck here on the island if his old business partners wanted to get rid of him.
We packed up our lunch containers, and Rae walked toward the marine repair business her family owned. The rest of us headed into town. Lucy waved, turning toward her studio, leaving Anya and me to continue up First Street.
“See you tonight,” I called.
I unlocked the shop and flipped my open sign. The joy of the island in winter was that I could operate the store on my own terms. Visitor traffic was at a trickle. I did most of my business in the morning, leaving the afternoons blessedly quiet.
I’d just settled onto my stool behind the counter when the door tinkled, drawing my gaze.
Gran struck a pose in the doorway, hands on her hips, smile faintly demonic. “Never fear, your fairy grandmother is here!”
I wasn’t afraid before. But now? Little bit scared. Gran was larger than life. And I loved her for it. Except when I didn’t.
“Hi, Gran. What brings you in today?”
“I come bearing gifts.”
Just like the Greek soldiers. At least I knew enough to be suspicious.
“It’s not my birthday.”
She flipped a wrinkled hand in the air. “No, but when you call a man out in public and create a stir, it might as well be my birthday.” She grinned. “I raised you right.”
My parents might take issue with that claim, but I knew better than to argue. Especially when she was complimenting me. And to be fair, I got my devious talents from her.
She clapped her hands together, rubbing her palms. “I’ll be right back.”
She returned a minute later, a hanger in each hand. “Nice, huh?” A black gown draped from the hanger in her right hand, a deep, velvety purple dress on her left. They were both beautiful, but not anything I’d usually wear.
“You need something special for tonight.” She looped each hook over the edge of one of my display cases, until it looked like I sold dresses in addition to spices and flowers. “Give me two more seconds. I have more.”
She traipsed in with a glittery blue dress that looked like living ice and a strapless, thigh-length red number. A few moments later, she was back with a puffy pink number.
“Where did all of this come from?” I asked.
“I’ve been running around all day. I did a pickup from every boutique in town and the consignment place. He wanted you to have plenty to choose from.” Her smile turned crafty. “But now I understand you need two dresses.”
Any lingering suspicion that her generosity had something to do with my birthday faded. He. She could mean only one man.
“I’m not sure I need one dress, let alone two.”
“Trust me. You need two.”
There was a plethora of things I could trust Gran with. I wasn’t sure my wardrobe choice was one of them. Today she was dressed conservatively for her, in jeans and a hot pink sweater. Her pink hair was styled almost meekly in a bob instead of spiked up in its usual mohawk.
She clapped her hands together. “C’mon. Go change. I want to see you in each one, then we can whittle it down to something for tonight.”
“What’s the other dress for?”
“You’ll see,” she said smugly.
The entire scheme could only be Lee’s work.
I couldn’t decide whether to be moved by the effort he put into making me feel like a princess for the day, or worried.
Anytime Gran was involved, concern was a solid choice.
It benefited me when she was my co-conspirator.
I didn’t know how to feel about Lee co-opting her as his.
I slipped into dress after dress, finally settling on the black gown for tonight and holding the purple dress in reserve.
There was no way I was standing on the ferry dock in forty-degree weather, exposing my knees in the short red dress.
Wearing anything other than pants was asking to freeze, but I was willing to suffer for the full fantasy.
I’d wanted a romantic serenade. Lee was doing his part to give me one.
Gran nodded her approval as I twirled in the black dress one last time.
“Let that dragon breathe, baby girl. You look stunning.”
“Thanks, Gran.”
I hid a smile at the idea of me as a dragon.
Gran fit the bill perfectly. Me? Not so much.
I smoothed my new dress over my hips. Then again, I’d faced my male dragon in his lair and convinced him to give up some of his loot in the form of high school treasure.
So maybe I had more dragon tendencies than I gave myself credit for.