Driftwood Lane (Nantucket #4)(68)

His ghost seemed to haunt the place, from the sculptures on the tables to the furniture he’d selected. The father she didn’t remember, hadn’t known, was revealed to her daily, and it didn’t fit with the villain she’d made him into. The discrepancy left her unsettled. Left her longing to return to a familiar place, where routine was a way of life, where reminders of her father were few. Having the children would bring new routines, but together they’d find a groove and settle in.

During the final weeks of school, Max slacked off, and she spurred him on toward the finish line. Ben began to talk more and only clung when he wanted a hug, then he was off to play in the yard like every other seven-year-old boy.

Guests came more frequently now that the days were buttery yellow, and the house often bustled with five or six visitors on weekends. Meridith frequently entered a room and found Jake chatting up the guests, giving them information about attractions or tips on finding the kind of beach they sought. He was good for business.

But bad for her sanity. She caught him staring at her so intently sometimes that a shiver ran down her spine. Though he was composed on the outside, she sensed a restrained passion. He made her feel things. Things that unsettled her. Things that felt out of control and left her longing for peace. But there would be no peace until Jake was out of her life, until she left the island.

At night she dreamed of serenity and counted down the final days of school even as she dreaded having to tell the children they were leaving.

When Mother’s Day came, Meridith tried not to think of her own mother. They bought bouquets of daisies at the Flower and Garden Shop and took them to the cemetery, where the children laid them on the mound of dirt.

That afternoon, when Meridith heard Noelle crying in her room, she knocked, but Noelle claimed she was all right. While the girl hadn’t allowed Meridith to comfort her, she hadn’t screamed at her to go away either. A step in the right direction.

Later that night Meridith was in her room working on Ben’s scrapbook when she heard a burst of laughter. Ben’s belly laughs drew her from her room, toward the steps. What she saw brought a bittersweet smile.

Meridith lowered herself on an upper stair and peered through the oak spindles. Ben had Jake pinned to the rug and was tickling him. Jake moaned like he was in torture, which only made Ben laugh harder.

She’d never seen the child so happy. He was small next to Jake’s mass, his wiry arms moving furiously, digging his fingers into Jake’s side.

He twisted, straddling Jake.

Jake groaned. “Help! Someone help!”

Ben laughed. “You’re doomed! If I had my ropes, I’d tie you up and toss you off a cliff!”

“No! Not that!”

Meridith smiled around the tears that gathered in her eyes. She wondered if her father had tussled with Ben. He surely missed the interaction. And while she was grateful for Jake’s willingness to play with the boy . . .

What would happen when the repairs were finished and Jake left? She saw how attached Ben had become to him. Her mind flashed back over the previous weeks to other occasions. Jake helping Noelle fix her bike chain, Jake and Max working on Max’s new boat model.

Jake, Jake, Jake. He’d become a fixture around the house right under her nose. Worse, he’d become a friend. A friend the children would lose.

The thought bottomed out her stomach. Another loss.

Meridith stood quietly and walked through the guest wing toward her room. Noelle was on her computer, and Max was painting a model in his room. Meridith descended the back staircase. Killing time, she unloaded the dishwasher, considering what she’d say to Jake. When the last of the silverware was put away, Meridith entered the living room. Ben was snuggled next to Jake on the sofa, watching a cartoon.

“Jake, can I talk to you a minute?”

“Sure.” Easing away from Ben, he followed her out the back door and onto the porch. Meridith perched on the railing, too nervous to sit. It was nearly dark, and the string of lanterns cast a colorful glow on the porch.

Jake let the screen door fall into place and pocketed his hands.

His gaze trapped her for whole seconds. He really was a good guy. The image of him tussling on the floor with Ben was not one she’d soon forget.

“What’s wrong?” Jake’s voice, deep as thunder, unsettled her.

Why did he have to be so handsome? She wanted to fall right inside those brown eyes. “I saw you in the living room with Ben . . . earlier.”

His lips pulled upward, no doubt remembering Ben’s belly laughs.

“He’s a fun kid.”

She hated to wipe the smile from his face. “I know you mean well, Jake, but I think it’s best if you avoid spending time with the children.”

The smile slid south. “We were just playing around.”

“The children are getting attached to you. I don’t think it’s healthy.”

His jaw flexed, his shoulders squared. “They need relationships now more than ever.”

“Not from someone who’ll soon exit their lives.”

He flinched.

She hated to hurt his feelings, had a physical ache from wounding him.

“It doesn’t have to be that way,” he said finally. “I don’t want to exit their lives. I don’t want to exit your life.”

Maybe he thought they could be some happy family or something. It was time to tell him everything. “I’m selling Summer Place. We’ll be leaving the island soon. The Goldmans—our guests over the daffodil weekend—made an offer, and I accepted. I haven’t told the children yet, so I’d appreciate if you wouldn’t mention it. We’ll stay through closing in late June.”