Chapter 35
Thirty-Five
Didi
Present Day
Things were looking up. Ali had announced with little fanfare but with a firm commitment that she was going to stay and make a go of it at the Sea Turtle. Didi was overjoyed. It was an answer to a prayer.
She wanted this place to stay, to endure. She and Jorge had made so many memories for so many families, and now Ali would do the same.
Ali had every right to sell. And most would. But that soon-to-be ex-husband and the visit from Faye had helped Ali see what Didi had seen from the beginning.
Ali Harris was meant to be in this place at this time. Didi was so happy about it that she could barely stand it.
It had been nearly forty years since they’d made the offer to Bruce Kelly.
Didi thought back to the desperation she’d felt when her baby sister was thrown out of the girls’ lives. They’d hatched a plan to sign this place over to the girls in hopes that it would entice Bruce. It didn’t. Later she hoped they were building some sort of nest egg for the girls, or a college fund.
But Bruce had never let it be. Not once. And life had moved on.
Belinda Bennett had married Jorge Rivera, and he’d called her Didi from the start. A shortened from of Lindy, which guests at the country club had taken to calling her when she met Jorge.
Now, everyone called her Didi.
Seeing Ali made her heart ache and also leap with joy. This was that sweet little girl, all grown up, strong, beautiful, and the spitting image of Joetta.
When Faye showed up, Didi almost spilled the beans. It was all she could do, not to say it. Not to tell them everything.
But she’d stopped herself. How did you tell someone something that big? And would being honest mean she’d have to say goodbye to her nieces again? She’d barely gotten over it the last time; no chance she could do it twice.
Ali’s arrival had come at the perfect time. Jorge and Didi could still do the work, but not as fast and not as well. Ali had shown them how she could bring the Sea Turtle roaring back to life. Her niece was supposed to be there, now and forever. It was more than she could ever dream of, but also more than she could reveal.
Didi was getting the linens from the washer to the dryer when Ali burst into the office.
“Did you know about this?”
“About?”
“I found out that the original owner of this place was Joetta Bennett. Joetta Bennet was my mother.”
Didi looked at the papers that Ali had printed out. She knew full well what she was looking at. She knew full well when those papers were filed. And just who filed them.
All Didi had ever wanted was in front of her. The little girls she knew but left behind were here. Well, two of them had been. Bruce was no longer in their way. But how could Ali ever forgive her? How could Faye understand what they’d done? Didi blamed Bruce’s cold stubbornness and Joetta’s alcoholism, but she shared blame, too, in this secret.
Didi looked at the paper that transferred this property to the Kelly Sisters. From the Gulfside Girls to the Kelly Sisters. She knew exactly who owned this place then and now. She was the management company. Her delay tactics were exactly that.
When faced with the truth from Ali, Didi had lied. It was a lie she’d been telling for forty years, so it was easy to tell once more.
“No, never heard of that. But you know we’ve always just dealt with that P.O. Box, email, and management company, GG Properties.”
She also knew exactly what GG Properties stood for. Gulfside Girl Properties. Over the years, she’d so hoped the Kelly Sisters would become the new Gulfside Girls. But it hadn’t happened. She’d almost stopped hoping it would.
And then Ali had walked in. Bruce was no longer in their way.
Didi held her breath, and Ali looked back at the paper, walked around the desk, and sat down in the metal chair.
“My mom wanted us to have this. Did I tell you we found jewelry and vintage clothes? Didi, I always thought my mom was poor, you know? Or working class? But it looks like she was from here and had money.”
Jorge walked into the middle of the conversation. Didi could see her husband was giving her a look. She decided she’d use him as a life preserver to get out of the ocean of history she was currently drowning in. She decided to run from this conversation as fast as her arthritic legs could take her.
“Oh, that’s right, Jorge. Sorry Ali, we’ve got to get moving. Jorge is about to get sprung from his physical therapy appointment, and we don’t want to miss this last one!”
She pretended she had no clue about Ali’s history. About Joetta’s. About her own. She was in very deep with her niece.
I can’t lose her again!
“Oh, sure, yes, sorry.” Ali was preoccupied with the revelation that her mother had left this property to her and her sisters. Rightly so. It was a bombshell for Ali, who’d been dealing with so many explosions in her life lately.
Didi wanted to tell her everything. And she would. But she needed time. Didi wanted Ali to stay. She didn’t want the truth to send her running for the real estate agent. This was her only chance to make things right. And it was her only chance to save the Sea Turtle from the wrecking ball. Ali needed to stay. If she found out about the lie, Didi’s lie, there’d be no way to keep her here.
Didi walked over to Ali and put a hand on her shoulder.
“Well, however it happened, this place is a magical gift. I’m so glad you’re staying to help it flourish.”
Ali looked up and covered Didi’s hand with her own. “Me too.”
Didi could have done it right then, spilled it all. But she didn’t. Let it be this way for a little while longer.
“Okay, well. I better get this one to PT!” Didi turned and walked toward Jorge, who was glaring. She hoped Ali did not catch the fact that Jorge was clenching his jaw and willing Didi to confess.
“Happy graduation, Jorge!”
He nodded, and then Didi hustled him out of the office.
When they got out of earshot, Jorge grumbled at her. “I heard you lie. A bald-faced lie.”
“Yes, shh.”
“Why? She needs to know.”
“Because I want her here, at least for now.”
“Belinda Bennett Rivera, you’re going to pay for this.”
“I already have. I’ll figure it out. Let’s focus on you, okay?”
Didi ushered Jorge to their car and hoped her lie could hold just a little while longer while her niece made the Sea Turtle her home.
Ali had discovered who had owned the Sea Turtle before her. She’d discovered it was signed by her mother to the Kelly Sisters. But she didn’t know the full story. She didn’t know the half of it. Ali didn’t know Didi’s part in it. Or that secret was only the beginning.
Jorge got in the car, and Didi followed. She said a prayer for more time and some way out of the mess she’d helped manage.