Change of Tides, page 12
“I found the perfect apartment. You would love the landlord, Heidi Butler. She owns Tasty Provisions, that gourmet shop on East Bay.”
Birdie gives a nod of approval. “I’ve heard of it!”
“Unfortunately, the rent is more than I want to spend. The apartment occupies the whole second floor of a single house. It has two bedrooms, an updated kitchen and bath, and a small yard for Gus to play in. I met the woman who lives on the first floor. Hope is a little older than me. She’s also a single mom of an adorable four-year-old girl named Sally.”
“If you don’t have to pay rent for office space, maybe you can afford the apartment?”
“I hadn’t thought about that.” Hannah takes the last bite of apple and chunks the core in the trash can. “We’ll see. I may look at some other apartments on my way to Pawley’s Island on Friday.”
The back door swings open, and Cary saunters into the kitchen. “Birdie, I owe you one. The new job is working out well.”
Hannah rolls her eyes. “About time. Who hired you?”
“Stan Morgan. I sold three kayaks and two wave runners today. A record for a Monday. Sheryl Mcgee, the woman who bought the wave runners, is new to town. She just moved into the old Hitchcock Estate. She’s also interested in paddle boards and a small Key West center console.”
Birdie notices the gleam in his eye. Cary is interested in Sheryl. Should Birdie warn the woman? She may be his next prey. Nah. Let Sheryl figure it out the hard way. Like Birdie did.
Gus leaves the table and rushes over to his grandfather. “Pops, will you take me down to the marina? I wanna see the fishing boats come in,” Gus says, staring up at Cary with unadulterated adoration.
Cary looks over at Hannah. “If your mom says it’s okay.”
Hannah sighs. She can’t compete with any of the men in her son’s life. “I guess. But hold tight to his hand. And only go to the marina. No i-c-e c-r-e-a-m,” she says, spelling out the words.
Watching them go, more to herself than to Hannah, Birdie says, “That boy needs a permanent male figure in his life. I hope Cary doesn’t break his heart the way—”
“He broke mine?” Hannah’s shoulders slump. “You heard Gus when he first came in. He misses his daddy. But he barely even knows Ryan. I hope I’m doing the right thing in going to Pawley’s this weekend. What if Ryan lets him down?”
“He’ll survive the way you did.” Birdie cups her daughter’s cheek.
“I take it you and Stan made up. I hope he knows what he’s getting into by hiring Dad.”
“He forgave me for lying, but we’ve agreed to slow things down between us. Our relationship was moving too fast. But I’m grateful to Stan for giving your dad a job. He wants to make certain Cary has the money to move out of my apartment. I told your father he has to be out by Friday.” (Does Hannah already know this?)
“Good!”Hannah rests her head on Birdie’s shoulder. “Mom, will you be okay here alone? Dad’s moving out. Which is a good thing. But when Gus and I leave, you’ll be all alone.”
“I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately, actually. I may buy a small house of my own on the water. Our apartment has been our refuge these past few years while we were recovering—me from alcoholism and you from having a baby. But the time has come for us to move on.”
Hannah pushes away from Birdie. “What will you do with the apartment?”
Birdie cross the kitchen to the coat room. “I was thinking of adding a door here, so my tenant would have access to the apartment stairs but not the kitchen. I would need to add a stove and a full-size refrigerator to the kitchenette. I imagine the waterfront location will bring a handsome rent.”
When Birdie turns back to face her daughter, Hannah is swiping away tears from her eyes. “What’s wrong sweetheart?”
“I’m afraid. I’m ready for the change, but everything is happening so fast. How will I live day to day without you in my life?”
“I have no doubt but what you’ll adjust beautifully. I’ve done you a disservice by allowing you to stay under my wing for so long. There’s a whole big world out there waiting for you to join it. Go! Make a name for yourself. You’ve worked so hard, you deserve success.”
“Thanks, Mom. That means a lot.”
Birdie’s throat swells as her gaze follows Hannah up the stairs to their apartment. Her daughter is her pride and joy. How will she manage without Hannah and Gus? The same way she’s managed every other change in her life. By putting one foot in front of the other and taking each day as it comes.
Fifteen
Tuesday
The first rays of dawn are brightening the sky when Hannah takes her kayak out on Tuesday morning. The tide is high, the water covering much of the marsh grass. Instead of photographing wildlife, Hannah navigates her kayak down the inlet creek to their old house. The new owners have put an addition on the back of the house, and a large sport fishing boat is tied to the dock. Her mind travels back in time ten years, and she images a hot summer day with Cary and Hannah having a cannonball contest off the dock. How things have changed since then. She’s barely speaking to her dad with whom she was once so close, and her Mom has become her rock. Although, truth be told, her mother has always been her rock in every way that counts. Birdie bandaged her skinned knees and dried her tears when she had friend problems. She ran the household on a tight schedule, made sure Hannah’s homework was done every night, and attended every single one of her events at school.
Mother and daughter had drifted apart when Hannah went off to college. It was around that time when Birdie’s drinking became a problem. Squeezing her eyes tight, Hannah tilts her head heavenward and asks God to give Birdie the strength to stay sober after Hannah moves to Charleston.
Hannah reminisces about digging for clams, string crabbing, and fishing for flounder as she paddles to the end of the creek. She’d wanted this inlet life for her son. Will their weekend visits to see Birdie be enough?
Hannah is almost back to the marina when her cell phone rings in her waterproof camera bag. Who could be calling her so early? Worried her mom is calling about Gus, she unzips the bag and accepts the call without pausing to look at the screen. She’s surprised to hear Ethan’s voice on the other end of the line.
“Good morning, Hannah. Are you out on the water?”
“I’m just returning to the marina. What do you want, Ethan?”
“Ouch. Hostile. I guess, I deserve that. I want to explain why I haven’t been in touch, and I’d like to resume our talks about a partnership.”
“I’m no longer interested,” she says and hangs up on him.
Furious, she rams the kayak into the dock and hoists it out of the water. He has some nerve leaving her hanging for more than a week and then reaching out to her as though nothing happened. She waits for him to call her back, but she’s not surprised when he doesn’t. Ethan has proven to be unreliable. Thank goodness, she didn’t accept his offer.
After taking Gus to preschool, she spends over two hours on the phone with Chris. They discuss any reservations they have before agreeing to proceed with Chris Hannah Designs.
“My godfather is an attorney,” Hannah explains. “I’ll have him draw up the papers to form our LLC.”
“I’m eager to get to work,” Chris says. “I’ll come up with some options for our logo. You mentioned a waiting list of potential clients.”
“Yes! If you want to start reaching out to them.”
Hannah explains her steps for developing a website. Chris has suggestions on ways to improve it, and by the time they end the call, they have a process in place.
Thirty minutes later, Hannah is at her desk, eating a container of yogurt for lunch, when her mom calls up the stairs to her. “Hannah! You have a visitor.”
Hannah barrels down the stairs to the kitchen. “Who is it?” she asks her mom who is cutting out biscuits.
With a mischievous glint in her eyes, Birdie says, “He didn’t give me his name, but he’s tall with sandy hair and lovely brown eyes. ”
Ethan. Hannah finds him sipping coffee at a table by the window in the cafe. As she approaches the table, she sees the dark circles underlining his dull brown eyes. “What’re you doing here, Ethan? I thought—”
He stands to greet her. “I needed to see you in person. To explain.” He gestures at the chair opposite her. “Can you give me five minutes?”
Reluctantly, she drops down to the chair.
“I admit you threw me off when you told me about your son. But that’s because I didn’t expect it. Not because I disapprove. If anything, I think even more highly of you for being a single parent.”
“Then why—”
He raises a hand, silencing her. “I acted rude toward you, and I was planning to call you the next day to apologize. But during the night, my father had a massive heart attack.”
Hannah gasps and her hand flies to her lips. “Is he okay?”
Ethan’s shoulders slump as though he’s bearing the weight of the world. “He will be. He’s recovering from quadruple bypass surgery. My mom was so freaked out. We were both terrified we would losing him. I dropped the ball on everything at work. The surgery was Friday. When I finally came up for air, I realized I’d totally left you hanging.”
“I’m so sorry, Ethan. I don’t know what to say.”
He holds his empty coffee mug out to her. “Say you’ll get me some more coffee.”
“Sure thing. I could use some too.” She leaves the table with his empty mug and returns with two full ones. “This has been a wakeup call for Mom and me. While his prognosis is good, they’re more eager than ever to travel. Mom keeps asking about you. She wants to know if you’re interested in living in the carriage house.”
“Did you tell her I have a child?”
He lifts a shoulder. “That doesn’t bother her. My parents love children. Dad will love having a young boy around. I’ve been staying with her since the heart attack. She was never afraid to be alone before. She needs to have someone nearby she can trust. Someone she can call in an emergency. You may have changed your mind about moving to Charleston. I don’t blame you if you no longer want to be my partner.”
“I’m still moving to Charleston, although I’m still looking for a house to rent. When I didn’t hear from you, I pursued other opportunities.”
Hannah tells him about meeting Chris Cain and their decision to become partners.
Ethan gives a nod of approval. “Chris is much younger than me, but I know the family. The Cains will be a good source for networking.”
“I gave it a lot of thought, and I don’t think my company is a good fit for yours. The websites you build are more mainstream while mine have more artistic flair.”
Ethan surprises her when he agrees. “I’m not gonna lie. I’m relieved. I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said on the boat that day. Given a choice between a business and romantic relationship with you, I pick romance. I don’t need a partner. I’ll hire professionals to excuse my expansion plan.” He leans across the table and takes her hand in his. “I have feelings for you, Hannah. We can be a power couple without being in business together.”
A tingling sensation travels through her body as she stares down at their clasped hands. She imagines them married and living in a charming house on the battery. They’ll hire a nanny to take care of their brood of children while they run their highly successful design firms. The thought of Ryan brings her daydream to an abrupt halt. When she looks up again, she realizes Ethan is waiting for her response.
“I have feelings for you too, Ethan.” But she has feelings for Ryan as well. And she’s suddenly overwhelmed by her feelings for both.
Ethan’s lips part in a warm smile. “I’d like to meet your son. Is he here?”
“He’s at school.” But Hannah needs to see how Gus interacts with Ethan. “If you have time, we can go pick him up—the school is just up the street— and take him for a ride in the boat. I’d like to show you my inlet.”
“I’ll make time. That’s an offer I can’t refuse.”
Gus is thrilled by Hannah’s untimely appearance at school, although somewhat skeptical about the tall man with her. But Ethan breaks the ice by offering Gus a piggyback ride. At the marina, Ethan helps her untie the boat, and with Gus perched on the leaning post between them, she navigates away from the dock.
Ethan nudges Gus. “Tell me, little man. Do you have a girl friend?”
“Girls are yucky. Robbie’s my best friend. He didn’t come to school today. He’s sick.” Gus tugs on Hannah’s shirt sleeve. “Mommy, do I have to go back to school?”
“I don’t think so, sweetheart. I have work to do.”
Ethan whispers in Gus’s ear loud enough for Hannah to hear. “Tell her you’ll take a long nap if she lets you stay home.”
“I’ll take a long nap if you’ll let me stay home.” Gus presses his palms together. “Please, Mommy, please.”
Hannah cuts her eyes at Ethan. “We’ll see.”
Ethan leans against the post and crosses his legs. “Do you like sports, buddy?”
“I watch baseball sometimes with Pops. But I want to be a professional football player when I grow up.”
“Oh, really?” Ethan winks at Hannah. What little boy doesn’t want to play NFL when he grows up?
For the rest of the way to the mouth of the inlet, Ethan and Gus talk about football. Her son’s knowledge of football surprises her. Hannah knows little and cares less about sports. Did he learn this stuff from Robbie?
On the way back in, Gus falls asleep against Ethan’s shoulder. “He’s a great kid, Hannah. You’ve done a good job with him.”
“Thank you for saying that. But you can see he needs a male figure in his life.” Hannah angles her body toward him. “My life is a lot more complicated than it was a week ago. Gus’s father made a sudden appearance in his life. I never told Ryan I was pregnant. He didn’t know he has a son. Ryan wants to be a part of Gus’s life. He wants to be a part of both our lives, actually.”
“Oh. I see. So, I have competition. Talk about bad timing.” He stares off across the water. “If you don’t mind me asking, why didn’t you tell Ryan you were pregnant?”
“We were still in college, but we’d broken up, because he cheated on me.”
“One strike against him.”
Hannah nods. “A big one. I was angry and hurt, and I didn’t want to share my child with him. I thought I could get away with it. And I did for three years. Anyway, for Gus’s sake, I’ve decided to give him another chance. He’s invited us to Pawley’s Island to spend the weekend with his family.”
“Selfishly, I hope it doesn’t work out,” he says in a low voice.
They ride the rest of the way to the marina in silence. Ethan carries a sleeping Gus up to the cafe before placing him in Hannah’s arms. “Thanks for hearing me out. I felt I owed you an apology.”
“Thanks for coming down here. I’m sorry about your father, Ethan. I hope he’ll continue to get better.”
He kisses her cheek. “The ball is in your court, Hannah. I hope to hear from you soon.”
Her heart shrinks to the size of a pea as she watches him disappear around the building toward The Avenue.
Her inner voices argue with each other.
“Go after him!”
“No! You owe it to Gus to give Ryan a second chance.”
“Ethan is your guy. You’ve known it since you first met.”
“But you barely know Ethan. You were once in love with Ryan.”
“Were you, though? You were in college. Did Ryan ever make your heart do somersaults like Ethan does?”
“Oh, shut up!” she tells the voices.
Entering the cafe, she avoids her mother’s curious gaze as she carries Gus through the kitchen. Upstairs, she tucks him into his toddler bed. How will Gus adapt to having his own room? Etan didn’t mention his parents’ carriage house again. After she told him about Ryan. Is that because the lease has a strings-attached clause? Will his parents refuse to rent to her unless she’s involved with Ethan? The location, the rent, the yard are ideal. But what if she starts dating Ethan, moves into the carriage house, and then they break up. That would make for an awkward situation whenever he visits his parents.
Hannah stretches out on her own bed. While she’s sorry about Ethan’s father’s heart attack, she’s relieved to know he had a legitimate reason for not calling her. She thinks back on their conversation. I have feelings for you, Hannah. We can be a power couple without being in business together.
The voices return, but this time they agree. “Put Ethan out of your mind, and keep your heart open for Ryan.”
“Your weekend with Ryan will be very telling.”
Sixteen
Wednesday
On Wednesday afternoon, Birdie is manning the coffee bar while Amanda is at the dentist when Max comes barging through the door.
“Thank goodness you’re here,” Max says, throwing herself across the counter. “Give me a large coffee with an extra shot of caffeine.”
“If only I could add extra caffeine, I’d make a fortune.” Birdie studies her friend’s disheveled appearance as she pours the coffee. Max’s cropped hair is sticking up straight and mascara is smudged under her eyes. Birdie slides the cup across the counter. “You look awful. Did something happen?”
“I had a pipe burst. I was up half the night dealing with the flood. I’m so angry with Daniel for leaving me to deal with his dilapidated building.” Max gestures at the row of empty tables along the banquette. “Can you take a break? You need to talk me off the ledge.”
Birdie surveys the cafe. Customers occupy three tables, but no one is waiting in line for service. “I’m covering for Amanda, who’s at the dentist.” She comes out from behind the counter. “I’ll sit with you until someone comes in.”
Birdie sits down next to Max on the banquette so she can monitor the coffee bar. “How bad is it?”
