Part 28 (1/2)
He glanced over his shoulder, then his feet stopped moving and his gaze softened. ”What do you need, sweetheart?”
More memories for her snow globe. ”You,” she said. Since it was just for a little while more, she could say it aloud.
”Then let me get those d.a.m.n kids out of No. 9.”
When he didn't return right away, though, she got curious. Pulling on her bathing suit and a beach cover-up, she headed in the direction of the kitchen, from which came the smell of coffee and the sound of male voices. Inside she found Tess's husband at the table with Griffin, who sent her an apologetic look. ”David and the boys came over to borrow some milk and...”
And it looked as if the two men were having a serious talk. She could see Duncan and Oliver on the deck outside, still dressed in their pj's and tossing the plastic jug of milk back and forth. ”Why don't I see that the beverage gets safely next door,” she said. ”I'll take the boys with me.”
On her way past him, Griffin caught her hand. Slanting her a brief smile, he pressed her fingers, then let her go. Sorry...and thank you. That brief and silent communication between them was as intimate as any kiss.
She was smiling as she followed Duncan and Oliver into No. 8, where she found Tess standing over a bowl of pancake mix and cracked eggs. ”Looking for this?” she asked, handing over the milk.
”Yes, thanks.” She scattered some Cheerios on the tray of Russ's high chair at the same time that she instructed the bigger boys to turn down the volume on the TV.
”You guys got over your flu?”
Tess smiled. There was no doubt she'd always been a striking beauty, but now there was a serene glow about her. She'd lost the brittleness that she'd shown the past couple of weeks. ”We got over a lot of things.”
”David's next door,” Jane said.
”He was here last night. Was the real deal when we needed him.”
Jane nodded. ”I wanted to come, but Griffin insisted on calling him. According to your brother, your husband made a land-speed record from your house to here.”
A little smile crossed the other woman's face. ”He's a by-the-book sort of man, but if his family's threatened...” She poured milk into the mixing bowl and began stirring the contents with a wooden spoon.
”I'm happy for you, Tess. It sounds as if you two worked things out.”
”The cove has a way of making good things happen.” Duncan and Oliver came clomping into the kitchen, swim fins on their feet. They were out of their pajamas and into swim trunks, mask-and-snorkel combinations perched on the tops of their heads. Tess easily dodged them as one chased the other, Frankenstein-style, arms reaching. ”Despite David's and my troubles, the kids have had a great time here.”
Jane had to grin at the small boys. She ruffled Duncan's hair as he staggered past her. The touch stopped him. ”Hey,” he said, as if a lightbulb had gone off.
”Hey back,” she said, still smiling. Griffin claimed they were destined for a life of crime due to their unceasing energy and incessant curiosity, but she figured they were more likely headed for careers of adventure and excitement like their uncles. With their dark hair and blue eyes, Tess's boys were prototypes of the children that Griffin might have someday.
”Don't be sad,” Duncan said.
She realized she'd dropped her smile. With effort, she pinned another back on. ”Okay.”
”'Cuz I'm going to make you happy today.” He hitched up his board shorts in a move that looked just like his uncle's. ”You said you'd love to.”
”Hmm.” She mentally walked back through her memory. ”I said I'd love to...what?”
”Get buried in the sand.” His voice lowered. ”Me 'n' Oliver are going to bury you alive from your crumpy bitty toes to your scrawny chicken neck.”
The words sounded like something from a story, but his tone was so bloodthirsty that Jane wondered if Griffin might be right about their criminal tendencies. ”I remember that now. It's going to be today?”
”Has to be today,” Duncan said. ”'Cuz we go home this afternoon.”
”Oh.” She glanced over at Tess for confirmation.
”Yep. I have flower beds that have been neglected, and it's easier for the kids to do all their activities from our regular home base. Rebecca's ecstatic at the idea of closer proximity to her friends.”
”I'll...I'll miss you,” Jane said, realizing how true it was. The other woman had become a friend in the days they'd been neighbors.
”Me too,” Tess said. ”But we can get together beyond the cove too, you know.”
Could they? Because once Jane left here and ended her working relations.h.i.+p with Griffin, she didn't know how it would be to see his sister on a regular basis. Would it be weird or even...painful?
From the onset, she'd settled in her mind that the period to all this was the day she left Beach House No. 9. Without speaking, she watched Tess pour circles of batter into a heated frying pan and then retreated toward a corner to keep out of the way when she called Rebecca to set the table. ”I should be going.”
”Stay for breakfast,” Tess offered. ”We're going to make it a leisurely one, and then we'll get serious about packing for home. Which reminds me...I found a few of your things when I started doing some organizing this morning. Will you want to bring them next door or should I leave them here?”
Jane froze. That's right. When Tess and company headed home, that would free up this cottage. Her original purpose for moving in with Griffin had been to give his sister and family the s.p.a.ce they needed. After today, there wouldn't be any good reason for her to remain in No. 9.
Tess frowned. ”Jane, are you-” She broke off as David entered the house.
”Honey,” he called. ”Gage is on Griffin's cell. Why don't you go over and get your chance to talk with him.”
”Oh!” She reached around her waist to untie her ap.r.o.n. ”Can you flip the pancakes?”
”Sure.” He kissed her cheek as she handed over the spatula.
As if struck by a sudden thought, Tess touched her husband's arm. ”Is Gage all right? Everything's okay?”
”Seems so. He's got some new a.s.signment he's stoked about. Wants Griffin to meet up with him so they can work together in faraway Somewhere-istan.”
Tess slid a look at Jane. ”When?”
”Sounds like he wants him on the first plane out.”
Jane put a hand to her suddenly still heart. Was the idyll over just like that? Her snow globe filled with all the memories it would ever have? An emptiness opened in her belly, and cold loneliness swamped her like a Pacific wave. She hadn't seen it coming so soon, but if Griffin headed to his brother, there wasn't any reason for her to stay in Crescent Cove-or at Beach House No. 9.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
JANE HAD DISAPPEARED on him. Griffin tried tamping down his annoyance but h.e.l.l! That mouth of hers was always flapping about deadlines and work to be done and then she was nowhere to be seen when he was ready to get to it. He'd ended his call with Gage twenty minutes ago, and she'd done a complete Houdini.
Of course he didn't need her to be nearby for him to continue with the memoir. But her presence made it easier to confront those photos she'd taped around the office. His gaze would catch on a face, and something odd would pop into his head. He'd remember that person's blood type, for example, because it was posted on them from head to toe: A POS, on helmet, vest, boots. Griffin could have taken the images down, but Jane was right, they helped him taste the flavor of the dirt, smell the stench of the men's sweat after combat, remember the incongruously blissed-out look of a bleeding soldier sucking on a fentanyl lollipop to block the pain.
Good times.
So he didn't want to do any of that without Jane in the room. When it got to be too much, he'd look over at her wacky shoes or her pouty mouth, and find himself centered in the present. He'd think about her center, and instead of wallowing in the past he'd be dreaming up ways to get her into bed and the ways he'd take her once he did.
After wandering around No. 9 for a few minutes, he ventured next door. His sister was the calm in the middle of chaos, as there were piles of kid c.r.a.p on each bed and pretty much everywhere else. He leaned on a doorjamb, watching her pack up clothes while discussing with Russ the merits of cutting his beloved blankie in half. ”Think of it, my sweetness-then if we did the unthinkable and lost it somewhere, we'd have an extra at home.”
”Why don't you just buy the baby another one?”