74 Seaside Avenue Part 30

"Good afternoon," he greeted her formally.

"James." She inclined her head in a regal nod.

This was progress, Teri mused. Christie didn't even sound sarcastic. It seemed to take her an inordinate amount of time to slip into the seat and when she did, she held a long-stemmed rose. The color of the flower matched the flush in her cheeks.

"I'm glad you're coming with me," Teri told her. She made a point of not remarking on the flower.

"I am, too."

Teri noticed that Christie met James's gaze in the rearview mirror.

"James," Teri said, sliding closer to her sister. "Christie asked me an interesting question a little while ago. What do you do with your time when Bobby doesn't require a driver?"

He didn't answer immediately.

"You don't have to say if you'd rather not," Teri a.s.sured him. She didn't want to embarra.s.s James.

"He should account for his time," Christie said. "He's being paid for all those hours, isn't he?"

James headed into traffic and, after another short pause, said, "I read."

This was news to Teri, but she supposed it made sense.

"What do you read?" Christie asked.

"Everything. Contemporary novels, cla.s.sics, all kinds of non-fiction."

Teri was impressed by this and suspected her sister was, too.

When they got to the house, Christie helped Teri make dinner, amid much laughter and the occasional small confidence. Bobby came into the kitchen a few times to see what all the merriment was about; he even joined in once or twice.

Dinner was delicious-and fun-and although Teri had invited James, he'd declined. When she and Christie had put away the leftovers and finished with the dishes, the phone rang. Call display indicated that it was Rachel. As she picked up the receiver, Teri saw her sister slip outside, probably for a cigarette.

Now that she was only working part-time, Teri missed seeing her best friend as often as she had before.

"How's everything?" Teri asked, concerned because Rachel hadn't seemed herself lately.

"Oh, fine. Everything's great."

The bravado sounded false to Teri. She knew Rachel felt tense about the upcoming rally Nate had asked her to attend.

"And Bruce?" Teri pressed. She suspected that whatever was really bothering Rachel could be traced to her friends.h.i.+p with Bruce Peyton.

The question was met with silence. Then Rachel muttered, "Why are you asking me about Bruce?"

"Why are you so defensive?"

"I'm not defensive!"

Teri smiled to herself. "Yes, you are. In fact, anytime I mention his name, you clam right up. So what gives?"

"Nothing, absolutely nothing," Rachel insisted. Then, in a sudden reversal, she added, "I love Nate, you know. We'll be together this weekend."

Teri rolled her eyes. She'd heard enough about that stupid fund-raising rally to have memorized every detail. "I thought you and Bruce and Jolene were going to the Taco Shack tonight." Teri knew this because she'd called to ask Rachel to join them all for dinner. Rachel had to turn her down; Bruce, it seemed, was treating her and his daughter to reward Jolene for being elected cla.s.s secretary.

"We were at the Taco Shack."

Either Teri was reading too much into it or something had happened. She hadn't expected to hear from Rachel so soon. Normally, Rachel couldn't shut up about Jolene; she bragged about every achievement as if the twelve-year-old was her own daughter. Rachel's silence was highly unusual.

"And?" Teri prompted, convinced now that Rachel's odd behavior was somehow connected to Bruce.

"And...we had a very nice dinner," Rachel murmured. "And then something...happened after dinner."

Just as Teri had guessed. "You'd better tell me," she said matter-of-factly.

"It was a fluke. Neither of us intended this and now...now I'm afraid it's ruined everything." She gulped in a deep breath. "I don't know what to do and I think Bruce feels the same way and it's so dumb and-"

"Whoa," Teri said, stopping Rachel. "Start at the beginning."

Rachel took another deep breath. "Jolene was asked to spend the night with a friend and decided she'd rather do that. Bruce said okay, so the two of us went out to dinner by ourselves." There was a momentary silence. "That's no big deal, right?" she asked imploringly.

"Right."

"We drove there in separate cars," Rachel continued. "I had a few errands to run first."

"You had a good time? At dinner, I mean?"

Rachel paused. "We always do. Bruce and I get along fine." She laughed, but Teri thought it sounded more like a sob. "The staff at the Taco Shack knows us because we've been there so often and they have the impression we're married. It's kind of a joke, and Bruce and I play along."

"That's...sweet," Teri said, although she didn't think sweet was the best word.

Rachel ignored the comment. "I don't think I should have dinner with Bruce anymore."

"Why not? You have fun together. Nothing wrong with that."

"Nothing until tonight," Rachel said darkly.

Teri waited for Rachel to explain and a few seconds later, she did. "After dinner, we walked into the parking lot. You know how it gets dark early in the evenings now. Well, I was heading toward my car and obviously didn't watch where I was going because I stumbled."

"Did you fall?"

"No, Bruce caught me by the elbow and then...then-" she lowered her voice "-he kissed me."

"Okay, so he kissed you," Teri said. "Did you kiss him back?"

"Yes..."

"Okay, but you've kissed him before."

"I mean we really kissed," Rachel elaborated. "This wasn't any peck on the lips or friendly little kiss. This was kissing like I've never been kissed in my life. These were kisses I felt all the way down to my toenails."

"Kisses plural?"

"Yes."

"Oh-h."

"I think Bruce was as shocked as I was. He kept looking at me and I looked back at him and then he apologized and I apologized and told him I missed Nate and that's why I responded to him the way I did."

"Because you missed Nate?" Surely Rachel didn't actually believe that?

"Yes," she returned heatedly. "I need to move to San Diego like Nate wants...."

Teri resisted the urge to scream that leaving Cedar Cove would be a mistake. For some time now, Teri had sensed that Rachel's feelings for Bruce were more complex than either of them realized. The last person to discover this seemed to be Rachel.

"Those stupid kisses are an embarra.s.sment to us both. He's sorry it happened, and so am I. Now I'm afraid everything's changed." She sounded miserable. "That's why I'm calling, Teri. I'm afraid it might never go back to the way it was between us and I don't know if I can stand that."

"Give it time," Teri said gently. "Bruce needs to think this over and so do you. You've both had a shock. You'll be seeing Nate soon, and then you'll figure out how you feel."

Rachel clearly wanted to believe it would be that easy. And for her friend's sake, Teri hoped it would.

When she hung up the phone, Teri went searching for her sister. She wasn't surprised to find Christie in the patio chair. James sat with her, and although the evening was cool, neither seemed to mind. The moon was full and the stars looked bright and cold in the cloudless sky. As soon as they saw Teri, James leaped to his feet.

"Is it okay if I join you?" she asked.

"Of course," Christie told her.

James pulled out her chair and Teri sat beside her sister. "James was just telling me about the book he's reading," Christie said.

He seemed ill-at-ease with her there and stood once again. "If you'll excuse me, ladies, I'll retire to my quarters."

"Yes, of course," Teri said.

"Goodbye, James."

He bowed his head. "Christie. Miss Teri."

As soon as James was out of earshot, Teri blurted out, "Christie?"

"I told him to drop the Miss nonsense."

Teri had asked him to do the same thing a dozen times, but he'd never paid any attention. He seemed willing to listen to her sister, though.

Thirty-One.

Jack waited until Olivia had left the kitchen before he reached for the phone. Bob Beldon was his AA sponsor and if ever Jack had needed to talk, it was now. Good thing Bob was on speed dial, because the way his hand shook, Jack wasn't sure he could've punched in the right numbers.

Peggy answered, announcing the name of their bed-and-breakfast, Thyme and Tide.

"It's Jack."

Peggy instantly knew something was wrong. "Bob's in the other room," she said without asking for details. "I'll get him for you."

"Thanks."

Half a minute later, Bob was on the phone. "Hey, Jack. It's Bob."

Jack felt as if his tongue had swelled to twice its size.

"Jack, are you there?"

"Yeah," he finally managed.

"You weren't at the meeting tonight."

Jack leaned against the kitchen door. "I should've been. I need a meeting."

"Is there alcohol anywhere near you?"

Leave it to Bob to get straight to the point. "Not that I know of." Olivia might have a bottle of cooking sherry somewhere in the kitchen, but if she did, he wasn't aware of it.

"Good."

"Can you meet me?" Jack asked.

"Tell me when and where."

Jack closed his eyes. He was terrified to leave the house-it wasn't safe to go where there might be booze. Where he might pa.s.s a bar or a liquor store or even a grocery. Although he'd been dry for over fifteen years, he felt weak. Desperate. He needed a drink. He didn't think he could get through this ordeal with Olivia if he couldn't have one. The craving was like a knife twisting in his gut. One drink. The aching need refused to go away. One drink would make everything better. Ignoring the voices in his head was becoming more difficult. Too difficult. The whispers urged him toward oblivion with a promise he knew was a lie. A drink wouldn't make anything better.

Still, it was how he'd once smothered his pain, and he hungered for the oblivion, the escape. Fear of what might happen if he gave in was the only thing that held him back.

"Do you want me to come to you?" Bob must've read his thoughts.

"Please." Even getting out that one word was an effort.

"I'm on my way."

Jack knew then and there that he couldn't have found a better sponsor-and friend. He'd linked up with Bob years earlier while living in Spokane and working for the big regional paper, the Review. When Bob and Peggy moved back to their hometown and opened Thyme and Tide, Jack had visited. He'd fallen in love with the town, the landscape and the slower pace.

Up to that point, Jack had pretty much screwed up his life with alcohol, a bad marriage and a mangled relations.h.i.+p with his only son. Eric had moved to Seattle, and it seemed that if Jack was ever going to reconcile with him, his chances would improve if he lived in the area. So he'd come to Cedar Cove, taken a job with the local paper and got himself a place to live.