Chapter Twenty-Nine
TWENTY-NINE
KIRBY jogged along the beach, hugging her solitude.
The sky to the east was wildly red, gloriously, violently vivid with sunrise.
She supposed that if the old adage were true, sailors better take warning, but she could only think how beautiful the morning was with its furious sky and high, wild winds.
Maybe they were in for a backslap from Carla after all, she thought, as her feet pounded the hard-packed sand. It might be exciting, and it would take Brian’s mind off his troubles for a little while.
She wished she knew what to say to him, how to help him.
All she’d been able to do when he’d roared into her cottage the night before was listen, as she had listened to Jo.
But when she’d tried to comfort him, as she had comforted Jo, it hadn’t been the soft, soothing words she’d offered that he wanted.
So she’d given him the heat instead and had held on for dear life as he pounded out his misery in sex.
She hadn’t been able to convince him to stay and sleep past dawn. He was up and gone before the sun peeked over the horizon. But at least he gathered her close, at least he pulled her to him. And she knew she’d steadied him for the return to Sanctuary.
Now she wanted to clear her head. If the man she loved was in trouble, if he was in distress, then so was she. She would gear herself up to stand by him, to see him through this, and she hoped, to guide him toward some peace.
Then she saw Nathan standing near where the booming breakers hammered the shoreline. Loyalty warred against reason as she slowed her pace. But in the end her need to help, to heal, overrode everything else. She simply couldn’t turn her back on pain.
“Some morning.” She had to lift her voice over the thunder of surf and wind. Puffing only a little, she stopped beside him. “So, is your vacation living up to your expectations?”
He laughed. He couldn’t help it. “Oh, yeah. It’s the trip of a lifetime.”
“You need coffee. As a doctor, I’m supposed to tell you that caffeine isn’t good for you, but I happen to know it often does the trick.”
“You offering?”
“I am.”
“I appreciate it, Kirby, but we both know I’m persona non grata. Brian wouldn’t appreciate you sharing a morning cup with me. I can’t blame him for it.”
“I do my own thinking, form my own impressions. That’s why he’s crazy about me.
” She laid a hand on his arm. No, she couldn’t turn her back on pain.
Even the air around Nathan was hurting. “Come on up to the house. Think of me as your kindly island doctor. Bare your soul.” She smiled at him.
“I’ll even bill you for an office visit if you want. ”
“Such a deal.” He took a long breath. “Christ, I could use a cup of coffee. I could use the ear too.”
“And I’ve got both. Come on.” She tucked her arm in his and walked away from the shore. “So, the Hathaways gave you a rough time.”
“Oh, I don’t know, they were fairly gracious all in all. That southern hospitality. My father raped and murdered your mother, I tell them. Hell, nobody even tried to lynch me.”
“Nathan.” She paused at the base of her steps. “It’s a hell of a mess, and a terrible tragedy all around. But none of them will blame you once they’re able to think it through.”
“Jo doesn’t. Of all of them, she’s the most vulnerable because of it, but she doesn’t.”
“She loves you.”
“She may yet get over that. Lexy didn’t,” he murmured. “She looked me straight in the eye, her cheeks still wet from crying, and told me none of it was my responsibility.”
“Lexy uses pretenses and masks and foolishness and uses them expertly. So she can see through them and cut to the bone faster than most.” She opened her door, turned back to him. “And Nathan, none of it is, or was, your responsibility.”
“I know that intellectually, and I’d almost convinced myself of it emotionally—I wanted to because I wanted Jo. But it’s not over, Kirby. It’s not finished. At least one other woman is dead now, so it’s not over.”
She nodded and held the door open for him. “We’ll talk about that too.”
* * *
CARLA teased the southeast coast of Florida, giving Key Biscayne a quick and violent kiss before shimmying north. In her capricious way, she did a tango with Fort Lauderdale, scattered trailers and tourists and took a few lives. But she didn’t seem inclined to stay.
Her eye was cold and wide, her breath fast and eager. She’d grown stronger, wilder since her birth in the warm waters of the West Indies.
Like a vengeful whore, she spun back out to sea, stomping her sharp heels over the narrow barrier islands in her path.
* * *
LEXY hurried into the guest room where Jo was just smoothing the spread on the walnut sleigh bed. The sun beamed hot and brilliant through the open balcony doors, highlighting the shadows under Jo’s eyes that spoke of a restless night.
“Carla just hit St. Simons,” Lexy said, a little breathless from her rush up two flights of stairs.
“St. Simons? I thought she was tracking west.”
“She changed her mind. She’s heading north, Jo. The last report said if she keeps to course and velocity, her leading edge will hit here before nightfall.”
“How bad is she?”
“She’s clawed her way up to category three.”
“Winds of over a hundred miles an hour. We’ll need to batten down.”
“We’re going to evacuate the tourists before the seas get too rough for ferry crossings. Kate wants you to help down at checkout. I’m going out with Giff. We’ll start boarding up.”
“All right, I’ll be down. Let’s hope she heads out to sea and gives us a pass.”
“Daddy’s on the radio getting updates. Brian went down to see that the boat’s fueled and supplied in case we have to leave.”
“Daddy won’t leave. He’ll ride it out if he has to tie himself to a tree.”
“But you will.” Lexy stepped closer. “I went by your room earlier, saw your suitcases open and nearly packed.”
“There’s more reason for me to go than to stay.”
“You’re wrong, Jo. There’s more for staying, at least until we find the way to settle this for everyone. And we need to bury Mama.”
“Oh, God, Lexy.” Jo covered her face, then stood there with her fingers pressed to her eyes.
“Not her body. But we need to put a marker up in the cemetery, and we need to say good-bye. She loved us. All my life I thought she didn’t, and that maybe it was because of me.”
When Lexy’s voice broke, Jo dropped her hands. “Why would you think something like that?”
“I was the youngest. I thought she hadn’t wanted another child, hadn’t wanted me.
So I spent most of my life trying so hard to make people love me, people want me.
I’d be whatever I thought they’d like best. I’d be stupid or I’d be smart.
I’d be helpless or I’d be clever. And I’d always make sure I left first.”
She walked over, carefully shut the balcony doors. “I’ve done a lot of hateful things,” she continued. “And it’s likely I’ll do plenty more. But knowing the truth’s changed something inside me. I have to say good-bye to her. We all do.”
“I’m ashamed I didn’t think of it,” Jo murmured. “If I go before it can all be arranged, I’ll come back. I promise.” She bent down to gather up the linens she’d stripped from the bed. “Despite everything, I’m glad I came back this time. I’m glad things have changed between us.”
“So am I.” Lexy aimed a sidelong smile. “So, now maybe you’ll fancy up some of the pictures you took that I’m in, and take a few more. I could use them for my portfolio. Casting directors ought to be pretty impressed with glossies taken by one of the top photographers in the country.”
“If we shake loose of Carla, you and I will have a photo shoot that’ll knock every casting director in New York on his ass.”
“Really? Great.” She scowled out at the sky. “Goddamn hurricane. Something’s always coming along to postpone the good stuff. Maybe we can do it in Savannah. You know, rent a real studio for a couple of days, and—”
“Lexy.”
“Oh, all right.” Lexy waved her hands. “But thinking about that’s a lot more fun than thinking about nailing up sheets of plywood.
Of course, maybe Giff’ll think I’m plain useless at it, and I can whisk back inside and check through my wardrobe for the right outfits.
I want sexy shots, sexy and moody. We could get us a little wind machine for—”
“Lexy,” Jo said again on an exasperated laugh.
“I’m going, I’m going. I’ve got this terrific evening gown I got wholesale in the garment district.” She started toward the door. “Now, if I can just talk Kate into letting me borrow Grandma Pendleton’s pearls.”
Jo laughed again as Lexy’s voice carried down the hallway.
Things shouldn’t change too quickly, she decided, or too much.
Bundling the linens more securely, she carted them out to the laundry chute.
Through an open door she could see the couple who had come in for the week from Toronto packing, and making quick work of it.
She imagined most of the other guests were doing the same.
Checkout, usually a breezy and relaxed process, was going to be frantic.
The minute she came downstairs, she saw she hadn’t exaggerated. Luggage was already piled by the front door. In the parlor, half a dozen guests were milling around or standing by the windows staring at the sky as if they expected it to crack open at any moment.
Kate was at the desk, surrounded by a sea of paperwork and urgent demands. Her hospitable smile was frayed around the edges when she looked up and spotted Jo.
“Now don’t you worry. We’ll get everyone safely to the ferry. We have two running all day, and one leaves for the mainland every hour.” At the flood of voices, questions, demands, she lifted her hand. “I’m going to take the first group down right now. My niece will take over checkout.”