Safe With You, page 12
She didn’t answer, instead pretending to arrange her hand. It was such a simple question, but involved so many complicated answers. If she was honest, she liked Jack. A lot. He was a gentleman who really did seem genuine, like the kind of guy she’d be proud to bring home, especially to Finn. But she couldn’t tell him the truth.
“I stayed here as a kid and never forgot about it.” She looked into the candle flames, and thought about herself as a little girl, running on the beach. “It just seemed like the perfect place to go for a fresh start.”
“I’m glad you came.”
She could see his expression change. He examined her as though he was studying a map, trying to navigate where to go next, and that’s when she suddenly realized that she wasn’t worried he’d hurt her, she was worried that she’d hurt him.
JACK LAY ON THE COUCH looking up at the ceiling, listening as the wind and rain whipped against the windows. It sounded as though someone threw buckets of water at the glass. Luckily, the storm hadn’t been as bad as they predicted, but he couldn’t say the same about his feelings.
They were out of control.
He didn’t necessarily mean to push her into talking, but he knew he had stepped over a very delicate line by asking why she came to Camden Cove. Luckily, she didn’t clam up like the other times he’d tried asking any sort of personal questions. As he studied the crack running across the ceiling, he realized he knew absolutely nothing about her.
He tried to imagine what made Rachael need to come all the way to Camden Cove. He had so many questions, but he didn’t want to push it. He might know a few new things about her, but the fact remained that he didn’t really know who Rachael Hawkins was. He had searched her name. No social media, no white pages, nothing. It was as if Rachael Hawkins never existed.
Eleven
Rachael woke to sunlight peeking through the curtains and Captain sitting up in his crate, staring at her. The moment he noticed her moving, his whole body shook and he whined. His tail wagged against the metal as he tried to stand.
“Shush, Cap.” She got up and tip-toed toward his crate, opening the door. She rubbed the top of his head and his tail immediately pounded against the floor. He stretched out and licked her face.
“Good morning to you, too,” she said, rubbing her cheek against his.
His tail wagged harder and he popped up from the blankets, bouncing out onto the floor, nursing his hurt leg, but having no problem walking around.
“Looks like you’re feeling better.” She heard movement coming from downstairs. She peeked out the window to see if there was any damage from the storm. From the window’s vantage point, the backyard looked pretty good, and the fields beyond. Nothing much more than some tree branches on the ground. The power must’ve come back in the middle of the night, since the clock next to the bed flashed twelve, on and off.
Elizabeth had said she lived on a little farm, but as Rachael got a better look of things, it was quite a farm. It had acres of open fields, and even a pond. White fences ran down along the property’s edge and continued down the dirt road as far as she could see.
Captain started scratching on the door to get out.
“Hold on, Captain.” She grabbed her jeans and threw on a shirt. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, then quietly opened the door. Captain hobbled down the stairs before she could stop him.
From below, she heard Captain’s tail bang against something as she heard Jack say, “Hey, buddy, how are you?”
She stopped on the landing, where he couldn’t see her from below, but she could hear what was happening.
“You look like you feel good,” Jack continued to talk to the dog, and Captain’s tail pounded faster. “Want to go outside?”
The dog’s claws tapped across the floor and the door opened and shut. She hurried to the bottom floor, to watch as Jack stood outside on the back porch with Captain hobbling along in the dewy grass.
“He’s not trained,” Elizabeth said from behind her.
Rachael jumped, not realizing Elizabeth had come down the stairs. “Jack?”
“Yes, well, him too.” Elizabeth winked, then walked into the kitchen, holding up a coffee mug. “Want some?”
“Yes, please.”
“Did Captain have an accident?”
Rachael had slept heavily. Did he escape, and go somewhere in the house? She looked around Elizabeth’s home, suddenly noticing her expensive furniture.
“No, but he might, and that’s okay.” Elizabeth put the pot under the faucet. “What I mean is that I think he’s a stray. I don’t think he belonged to anyone. Which means he’s yours, if no one claims him.”
Rachael smiled at the thought. Captain was hers. She looked out the kitchen window as Captain sniffed the ground with the other dogs. How did he survive on his own for so long? The idea of him alone and hungry broke her heart. “He’s been on the streets?”
Elizabeth shrugged. “Maybe a farm dog? But if I had to guess he never had a home.”
Rachael heard barking and looked out the window to see Captain romping with Elizabeth’s other two dogs. Elizabeth’s voice faded into the background as Rachael focused on Jack playing with the dogs.
“I know he’s my brother.” Elizabeth paused for a moment. “But he’s also one of the greatest guys I know.”
Rachael smiled, looking out at the back yard. Jack had a stick that had fallen in the storm, and threw it a few feet in front of Captain. The dog didn’t move, just stood there watching Jack, then looking at the stick. Jack jumped at the stick. A laugh escaped her as his efforts to get Captain to fetch the stick failed miserably.
“I know,” Rachael admitted. “It’s not him, believe me.”
Elizabeth handed her a cup of coffee. “My grandmother always said not to let the past control your future.”
Rachael’s confession sat on the tip of her tongue, but Lucy shoved the door open from outside. She wore cowboy boots and held a basket of eggs. “They all layed again!”
Rachael let out a nervous laugh, looking back out at Jack. She tried to focus on the present moment. Right then was pretty great. Maybe Elizabeth was right. She’d been so busy trying to figure out how to survive the future, even though the only thing real was right in front of her. Not her fears or her worries. Not her imaginary thoughts of Nick hunting her down.
Jack was real. His kindness was real. His family’s kindness was real.
And her feelings for him were real.
If only it could be that simple. Rachael had wished all night that she could confide in Jack. Tell him everything, take some of the weight off her shoulders, but she couldn’t.
Not ever.
ELIZABETH FELT HER uncles’ judgement as she sat in the bakery.
“All those years of you guys giving us a hard time,” Frank said, shaking his head.
David tsked. “You called us meddlesome.”
“No one calls anyone meddlesome, unless you live at Pemberley.” Elizabeth rolled her eyes at her uncles’ dramatics. “Sometimes, you guys get a bit too involved in our lives, especially with the people we date.”
Frank shrugged as though he had no idea he had crossed the line with his intrusiveness. “That’s because you always choose so badly.”
“What? That’s not true.” Her mother and uncles never liked anyone she or her sister or brothers or cousins dated. “Adam’s perfect.”
“That’s because of us!” David now gave her the look. “Your mother needs to be involved.”
“No.” Elizabeth crossed her arms across her chest. “Absolutely not.”
“Then we take control of some of the events.” Frank sat down at the table. He was ready to get to business.
Elizabeth looked across the room at a couple she didn’t recognize. She needed to be sure no one else from Camden Cove heard her plan, because it would end up spreading across town by noon.
“Rachael needs to come to Sunday dinner, first.”
“She didn’t seem all that interested in him,” said David. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
Frank shot him a look. “Are you kidding? Didn’t you see them shoveling sand?”
“Yes..?” David looked at Elizabeth as if she’d understand what his husband meant. “I saw them shoveling sand.”
“They were practically all over each other.” Frank rolled his eyes.
Elizabeth pulled her croissant apart and took a bite. “I didn’t see the sand shoveling.” She pointed the remainder of her croissant at the two of them. “But I did see something last night, at my house.”
“Last night?” Frank sat at the edge of his seat. “What happened last night?”
Elizabeth looked out the window at Jack, who stood in the parking lot of the restaurant assessing the damage from the storm. Luckily, the property seemed mostly unscathed. “Let’s just say, I’ve never seen Jack like that before.”
“You know your mother’s going to kill you for not including her,” warned David.
Elizabeth eyed her uncles, thinking of all the different outcomes that could arise from not including Sarah. Her mom always meant well, but tended to have loose lips. Secrets were never her forte, and Jack liked to keep his whole life a secret, a typical male trait in the Williams family. Too many people involved meant more people slipping up and exposing their plan. With Rachael being so skittish, Elizabeth didn’t want to scare her off.
Elizabeth had liked her right away. Rachael felt like a long-lost friend. They talked easily and had a ton in common. She and Lucy hit it off, too. Even though Elizabeth could tell Rachael held back a lot, she still liked her dry sense of humor. There was no denying that Jack had a thing for the very pretty woman who had blown into town. Last night proved that. Even Adam saw it.
“We can only involve Sarah,” Elizabeth gave in, but only on one stipulation, “if I’m the one doing the planning.”
WHEN RACHAEL GOT JACK’S text saying she could return to the apartment, she left Captain at Elizabeth’s and took a ride into town with Adam and Lucy. They dropped her off in the restaurant parking lot and headed off to the tack store. Jack stood outside the restaurant with some men. The dock was still intact, but they examined some damage to the railings.
“Was there any water inside?” she heard the man ask, surveying the property as they all walked around to the entrance.
“No, everything looks good inside.” Jack waved when he saw her. She waved back, feeling strangely shy even though she’d had breakfast with him just a couple hours ago. She looked up the street toward the tavern, which appeared unscathed. People were out helping with the cleanup. Mostly only missing shingles and destroyed gardens, but she heard some commotion about a boat that had been overturned. She was glad to see Camden Cove had survived another storm.
“We can take the storm shutters down this afternoon.” The man with Jack pointed to the windows. “Then bring the sand to the dump. I’ll go and grab the trailer.”
Jack looked around with his hands on his hips. “We’re lucky there’s only a little clean up.”
Rachael spoke up. “I could help salvage most of the flowers and decorations in the containers.”
Most of the fall chrysanthemums and gourds and pumpkins had survived the storm, even after being blown into the streets. She’d have to reshape and prune most of the mums and toss a few pumpkins, but the purple cabbage and larger pumpkins still looked good.
“That would be great,” Jack said, his lips looking as luscious as the night before. She had to look away, feeling her cheeks warm.
“Remind me to call our landscapers,” the man said to Jack.
“Rachael, have you met my father?”
She recognized the man from the wedding. “You gave the speech.”
He beamed as he held out his hand. “John Williams. I heard you’re Finn’s granddaughter.”
Jack jaw dropped. “You’re Finn’s granddaughter?”
She didn’t know what to say, surprised that his father knew about their relationship. As far as she knew, no one knew Finn was her grandfather, besides her and Finn. Had Finn told John?
“Yes, well, we just sort of reconnected.” She looked back at Jack, who seemed confused. She had been vague, but was that sort of lying, too? She waved again and said, “I’m going to grab some stuff before I head to work.”
As she ran up the stairs, she wondered if she should’ve opened up about Finn. Maybe she should have told him everything, even about Nick. Then she thought about how they sat on the couch playing cards into the middle of the night. How he scooped Captain up in his arms and took him out.
It wasn’t until she reached for a light switch that she noticed how dark the whole place was, with the storm shutters over all the windows, and instant panic set in. Her heart pounded with it. She shook her head at herself. What was getting into her?
The silence encompassed her, even the waves’ gentle hum couldn’t be heard. She couldn’t shake the strange feeling. It was just her imagination, she thought, as a cool draft swept by her. She swung around, trying to figure out where it came from, noticing she had left the door ajar. A slant of light came in. That’s what was different. Barely any natural light came inside, except in long slits along the floor.
Hadn’t she left all the lights on?
“Hello?” Rachael called out. She grabbed the baseball bat she had found in the closet and held it up, ready to swing. She knew she had left all the lights on. She always left the lights on. The storm may have taken the power out, but some of the lights should have turned back on when the power returned. The switches had been physically shut off. Her hand shook nervously as she flipped the light switch in the bathroom. Nothing. No one.
“Hey.”
“Ahh!” She swung the bat, just missing Jack’s stomach.
Jack held out his hands. “I’m sorry I startled you. You okay?”
“Someone went into my apartment.” She dropped the bat to her side.
“Oh, yeah, I did. I hope that’s alright, I needed to see if there was any damage.”
“No, it’s not alright.” Her words were sharp and harsher than she intended. Anger brewed inside. “You don’t just go into someone’s apartment without asking them.”
“I’m sorry.” Jack walked toward her.
“You didn’t ask my permission to go into my apartment.” She stepped back away from him.
“You’re right.” He shook his head. “I’m really sorry. I should’ve asked first.”
“You didn’t need to go around and shut off all my lights, either.”
“I didn’t touch any of your lights.”
“What?” Her heart dropped. “You didn’t turn off the lights?”
“It was probably just the storm.”
“No, it wasn’t the storm.” Rachael’s throat dried up. Her eyes darted around, checking her surroundings. How long ago had Nick been there? Was he around, right now? Watching from afar? She bit her bottom lip.
Jack’s face became concerned. “Do you think someone went inside the apartment besides me?”
“You’re sure you didn’t turn off the lights?”
Jack thought about it. “I don’t think I did, but now I don’t know.”
She looked back at the apartment.
“Did you notice anything missing?” he asked
“I don’t have anything.”
“People know the houses on the beach will be empty with the storm. I’ll just call my buddy who’s an officer in town, I could—”
She grabbed his phone.
“What are you doing?”
“I don’t want you to call the police.”
“You probably just turned them off when you left the night of the storm, and forgot. I can check to see if anything’s missing.”
He tried to step further into the apartment, but she blocked him. She could barely look at him. He didn’t see the problem at all. Her privacy, her space, meant nothing to him.
“Are you okay?”
“You should leave.”
“Come on, Rachael, I meant no harm. I honestly was just checking for damage.” He rubbed his forehead waiting for her to respond, but she didn’t. He reached for the door, and stopped. “Rachael, what’s going on? What are you running away from?”
“It’s just better if you go.” She stood there and waited for him to leave, then locked the door behind him.
Twelve
Elizabeth stood at the counter as Mrs. Corbet, with Mr. Wheezy in her arms, rambled on about how the town selectmen had their heads up their “you know whats”.
“And if Bill Milner doesn’t stop with the ‘years of service’,” Margie jumped in. “He just does it so he can have a night away from Susan.”
“Don’t I know it?” Mrs. Corbet clicked her tongue. “They just like all the special events because they get free drinks.”
Margie nodded in agreement.
Elizabeth wanted to say the same thing to Mrs. Corbet, who also sat on the board of selectmen, enjoying the same free meals, but she stayed quiet. Even if they made some of the strangest decisions, like the ban on roller skates at the beach, as if someone would roller skate in the sand. But in the end, even Bill Milner put his heart and soul into the voluntary position.
Through the window, Elizabeth noticed Rachael walking up the street. Her plan for Jack and Rachael could begin early, she thought, as she watched her walk toward the clinic. She’d invite Rachael to the annual Harvest Festival downtown, and “get an emergency call”, having to leave her all alone with Jack. He would’ve worked the restaurant, but he always closed by the time of the dance.
Elizabeth met Rachael at the door as she walked in. “How did the apartment fare in the storm?”
“Fine.” Rachael smiled, but it faded quickly.
Something was wrong. “You okay?”
“Can we talk?” Rachael looked over to the two older women staring at them. “Maybe somewhere private?”
“Yes, let’s go into the examination room.” Elizabeth ushered Rachael into the small room across the lobby.
