Heart Echoes (15 page)

“But maybe not.”

“Their track record says it all.”

Maiya wiped at her eyes. “It's so not right.”

“It's not.” Teal's heart thudded in her ears. She was shading the truth by lumping the two men together. Her father left when she was three. Maiya's father left the night he impregnated Teal.

She had never been able to bring herself to explain that, to say that out loud.

Maiya exhaled loudly. “Mom, do we have to go back there, to Randi and Owen's? It was awful. It was like being in a dark cave.” She shook her head.

Teal stared at her. The sun had been shining through the kitchen window. She remembered seeing it glint off Maiya's new bracelet.

The darkness Teal had always associated with Randi and Owen was not a figment of her imagination.

She smoothed Maiya's hair. “We won't go back there, not ever again in this lifetime.”

Chapter 27

Lacey felt Will's eyes on her and looked up from where she sat on a stool near the cash register by the front door. There he was, clear across the shop behind the other cash register at the coffee counter, grinning at her.

He winked.

She winked back and felt all tingly inside, awash in gratitude and delight. Teal and Maiya's visit had cheered both of them, a sensation long missing from their lives.

“Aunt Lacey.” Maiya stood beside her, intensely studying the cash register. “Where's the doohickey that scans the price? Like at the grocery store.”

“We don't need one of those. Happy Grounds is a small business.”

“You mean you have to punch in numbers?”

“Yes.”

“Cool.”

Lacey laughed.

“I never got to do this at the ice cream shop. I only served food and sang.”

“You sang?”

“Most of the waitstaff did. You know, for birthdays and anniversaries. Sometimes we'd do impromptu stuff.”

“Now that's cool. Maybe we can start singing for the customers here. You and Uncle Will. He's a good baritone.”

“How about Baker, the barista extraordinaire?”

They exchanged a smile.

Lacey said, “He doesn't say much, but he'll open up once he gets to know you.” She saw an elderly woman walking toward them, a gift book in her hand. “Ready to get to work?”

“No.” Maiya moved aside. “I'll watch you for a while.”

“I think not. You're like your mom. I bet you jump in with both feet like she does, no matter what.”

Maiya giggled. “Well, yeah, I guess I do.”

The woman reached the counter. “Lacey, who is this lovely young woman?”

Lacey made the introductions, confident that her regular customer would not mind waiting while she coached Maiya through the transaction. A few minutes later, Maiya walked her new friend to the door and hugged her good-bye.

The girl was a natural. How on earth had she gotten mixed up with a wild boy and suspended from school?

“Aunt Lacey, you have a weird look on your face. Did I do something wrong?”

“No.” She grinned. “I was just thinking how comfortable you are in your skin and wondering how you could get mixed up with someone who wasn't exactly the best influence on you.”

Maiya frowned.

“Hey, aunts are allowed to poke their noses into nieces' business. It's in the rule book.”

Maiya's frown deepened.

“My weird look was because I remembered feeling comfortable in my skin when I was your age. I was athletic and a surfer. I made good grades, I was class president, blah, blah, blah. Not a huge feat with only fifty-eight in a class. Anyway, guess who I had a crush on and invited to the winter Sadie Hawkins dance our senior year?”

Maiya's face smoothed out. “A loser?”

“The biggest. Actually, it was Will's brother, Cody, who I might add is now an upstanding citizen. So you never know how they'll turn out. Oops, don't tell your mom I said that. She'll think I'm rooting for—what's his name?”

“Jake.” Maiya grinned. “Thanks for not lecturing me.”

“Why would I? I suspect you know J-A-K-E spells trouble.”

Maiya shrugged and nodded.

“End of discussion. Speaking of your mom, is she okay? She's been on the phone since you two got here.” Lacey looked over at Teal, huddled at a table strewn with papers.

“That's just Mom on a new case. River says she's like a bulldog that won't let go of a bone.”

“I thought only retailers like us worked on Labor Day. She didn't have to come to the shop with you.”

“She said it was easier than sitting still in the twelve-inch square in the cottage that holds cell reception. And her Bluetooth doesn't work there at all.”

“Oh. That's going to be a problem for her.”

“It's going to be a problem for you if she gets ticked off at whoever she's talking to.” Her brows went up. “If you get my drift.”

Lacey got her drift, all right. Choosing to overlook Teal's abrasiveness came with the territory of hero worship, but she did not deny its existence. “She'll growl and disturb the customers.”

“Yep.”

“She's got to be an amazing lawyer. She always could argue the wallpaper off the wall.”

Maiya giggled. “River says the paint.”

Lacey laughed. “Do you want to go help those ladies over there?”

“What do I say?”

“They're looking at the myrtlewood kitchen products. Maybe they have questions. Since Uncle Will told you all about the wood, you'll have the answers.”

Maiya tilted her head and began reciting. “The myrtlewood tree is a broadleaf evergreen, native to the southwest Oregon coast. The leaf can be used as a substitute for bay leaves in cooking. The wood varies in color from blond to black with shades of reds and greens and grays. This is due to the different minerals in the soil where the trees grow. The myrtlewood tree is even mentioned in the Bible—for example, in Isaiah 55:13. And we have, like, a hundred million thousand number of products made from it.” She bowed.

Lacey clapped her hands. “You're hired. Go do your job.”

She scrunched her face and clenched her fist. “I think I can. I think I can.” She walked off toward the shoppers.

With no other customers in the gift shop area, Lacey took advantage of the opportunity to walk over to Teal's table and sit down. “Hey.”

Her sister looked up, no longer on the phone. “Hey, yourself. You look exhausted.”

“I've been ill. What's your excuse?”

She smiled. “You've gotten snarky.”

“Cancer will do that to a person. Are you all right?”

Her smile faded. “I have a young mom who needs to get a restraining order against her child's biological father.”

“How sad.”

Teal nodded and glanced across the room with its chairs full of patrons. “I forgot how tourists overrun the town on Labor Day.”

“It's great for business. Slow season starts promptly tomorrow at 8 a.m.”

“Maiya and I can skip dinner at your house tonight.”

“It's not a problem, really.”

“We'll do takeout, then.”

“You also forget there is no such thing as fast food within forty miles, and the local restaurants will close up early for the holiday. Will promised Maiya his famous hamburgers.”

“You're absolutely sure we are not a burden?”

“Are you kidding? We love having you two here.” She saw the hesitation on Teal's face and figured she might be searching for a way out. “Teal, don't worry. Mom and Dad are not coming.”

“It's only natural that you would invite them.”

“But I didn't. Your visit yesterday was hard enough.” Neither Teal nor Maiya had said much about it, which spoke volumes. “Besides that, it's a holiday. They'll be bombed out of their minds by four this afternoon.”

Teal grimaced. “I'm sorry you have to live with that.”

“Well, I don't so much anymore. I have enough of my own problems to deal with. Somehow they both still manage to work. Once in a while they stop in here, sober. I can fix food for them, but I can't fix them.”

“Whew, that's the most candid you've ever been on the subject.”

“Snarky and candid.” Lacey smiled. “Okay, I like it. Thank you for coming to Cedar Pointe.”

Teal's eyes filled.

Lacey felt her own sting. She looked over the low wall into the gift shop. Maiya was holding court with the ladies in kitchenware, showing them two small bowls as if comparing the beautiful colors for them. Another customer dawdled near the checkout counter. “I better go help Maiya.”

“Is she doing all right?”

“She's amazing. She's so much like you.”

“Yeah, right. She can't be both.”

Lacey hesitated. They had stumbled into new territory. Never in her life had she candidly told Teal how she felt. Now because of the joy her niece had awakened, words popped out.
She's amazing . . . so much like you?
But it was true. Why not speak it? “You are amazing.”

“Come on, Lace.
Candid
means just say what's on your mind and tell me to deal with it. We both know I made a mess of my life. Maiya is amazing in spite of me.”

“You don't see it, do you? Teal, you've been my role model for as long as I can remember. I swear I can still picture you peering over the crib at me, singing songs and making faces. You were there in ways Mom should have been. I practically worshiped the ground you walked on.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because you're my big sister. You used to make me cry, but I idolized you. You were always so full of life, so beautiful inside and out.”

Teal swallowed. “I treated you like dirt.”

“Yes, you did, but in the big picture, that didn't matter. I wanted to be like you when I grew up. Well, minus the grating personality that still puts my teeth on edge.”

They stared at each other for a long moment. Teal's eyes grew wide and the corners of her mouth went up and down.

At last Lacey grinned. “Do you think I'm there?”

“Snarky and candid?” Teal laughed. “Yes, you just might be.”

Lacey's eyelids grew heavy, but she refused to give up. So what if it was after ten o'clock? Her niece wanted to talk.

The two of them sat in her living room, Lacey in the recliner tilted back. Maiya sat cross-legged on the floor beside her. Teal had left soon after dinner. Will was in his man cave, formerly the back bedroom, watching the History Channel on his big-screen television until Maiya was ready for him to drive her to the cottage.

“Aunt Lacey, is this you in the hooded wet suit?” Maiya pulled a photograph from the pile on the floor and held it up.

“That's me. Do you surf?”

“No way. I like hiking with River when we camp, but that's it for being athletic.” She held up another picture. “This looks like Uncle Will. Who are the other guys? They all kind of look alike.”

“It's the Emerson blond hair and hazel-green eyes, on Will's mother's side. That's his younger brother, Cody, in the middle and their older cousin, Dylan, on the right. He died in a car accident when he was in his early twenties. It was so sad.”

“Is Cody the wild one you had a crush on?”

“
Briefly
had a crush on, before his brother decided to notice me. Actually, I liked Dylan, too, but that was before I noticed Will.” She pointed to a photo lying in the box. “Those are my in-laws, William and Nora. They'll be in town next week. You'll get to meet more family.”

“They're not my family.” A new despondent tone filled Maiya's voice. “I mean, Uncle Will is the bomb, but technically, he's not family. Only you and Mom are. Well, not counting Randi.”

Lacey found it curious that her niece seemed bothered by a lack of blood relatives. “Technically, that's right. But having River for a stepdad has worked pretty well for you, right?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “He can't even adopt me.”

“But he's been there for about five years now.” Lacey forged ahead. “He's your true dad in spirit. And if I know William and Nora, you'll have them for grandparents the instant they meet you, even if it's not all official.” She looked at Maiya's bent head and busy hands riffling through photos. “Honey, are you looking for something in particular?”

“Oh . . . I don't know.”

“I have more boxes.”

Maiya looked up at her. “You do?”

“They don't seem organized, but there is a method to my crazy filing system. If you tell me what you're interested in, maybe I can help.”

The girl's shoulders slumped. “I'm looking for my dad.”

Her dad? No wonder the sudden interest in old photos and talk about family being official or not. “I don't, um—”

“You don't know. Nobody does except Mom, and sometimes I wonder if she even knows.”