Well, at least they’d all hear the same story.
And now it was Saturday, and he was thinking that maybe he should have asked his mother to cancel the party. He’d taken the kayak out early hoping to start the day in a serene state of mind after an hour or so paddling on the Bay. But he’d been out for almost most of the morning and he still wasn’t feeling much better. At Sunset Beach he turned the kayak and paddled in toward the shore.
This had been his go-to place when he was a kid. This was where he’d come to lick the wounds of having lost a school-yard fight or the affection of a girl who decided that he wasn’t so interesting after all. Later that year, his opponent in the fight—which had mostly consisted of rolling around in the dirt—had become his best friend, but the girl, well, he could no longer remember her name. He’d come to this narrow stretch of sand to replay the ball he’d failed to catch in that day’s baseball game or the touchdown pass he’d caught the day before. The beach had witnessed his tears of grief when his beloved retriever, Barney, died, and his heartbreak sophomore year in college when the girl he’d been sure was “the one” had dumped him for a senior.
This was where he’d fled, too overcome with shock and pain to even cry, when he’d learned that his father had died.
What had happened, he wondered, to that boy who’d wanted nothing more than to play sports, to ace a test, to fish with his dad and crab with his friends, to kiss a pretty girl in the backseat of his buddy’s car after a high school dance?
He sat in the kayak, ten feet from shore, and watched the waves break so gently onto the beach that they hardly made a sound. If any part of that boy still existed, Ford was pretty sure he’d find him here—but not today. Some other day, he’d come back and he’d sit on the sand and think about all the things that had mattered to the boy he used to be, and all the things that had brought him to this place in his life, and maybe—just maybe—he’d be able to figure out where to go from here.
“Are you sure you think I should go?” Carly joined Cam and Ellie in the kitchen of their home at the end of Bay View Road. “I mean, I hardly know Grace, and I wouldn’t know her son if he fell over me.”
“You’ll know lots of other people,” Ellie assured her. “If I know Grace, half the town will be there. Besides, she specifically invited you, so I think you should go.”
“Ellie’s right. You’ve already met a lot of people here in town. You’re bound to know some of the other guests,” Cam added.
“And what better opportunity to talk up our hopes for the art exhibit.” Ellie put her arm through Carly’s and led her to the front door. “It’s a perfect setup for us to try to garner support for the project.”
“I guess as the owner of the bulk of Carolina’s work, you’re the right person to drum up interest.” Carly waited on the front steps while Cameron locked the door behind them. “But I think you should do most of the talking. I don’t want anyone to think I’m trying to push my own agenda. I think the push needs to come from St. Dennis residents.”
“You have a point.” Ellie paused. “Are we walking? Driving?”
“Driving. It’s too hot to walk.” Cam tossed his keys up and down in his hand. “My pickup or Carly’s Benz?”
“Since the truck is behind my car, I say we take the pickup,” Carly replied.
“Fine with me.” Ellie opened the passenger door and she and Carly got in.
“Cam, do you think you’ll have some time in the morning to go over the carriage-house renovations Ellie and I talked about?” Carly asked as they turned onto Charles Street.
“Ellie’s already filled me in on what you two have in mind and I have a few ideas for the project. It isn’t going to take much, since we’re not going to have to take anything down and we’ve already installed new electric. I will have to talk to my HVAC guy, but it’s a pretty straightforward project. Curtis already paid for the big-ticket items when he had us renovate the place from the ground up, so all the heavy lifting’s been done and paid for.” Cam headed up the lane toward the inn. “But to answer your question, sure, we’ll work on it first thing tomorrow and see if we can put together something Ed and the others on the council can live with.”
Every space in the inn’s guest parking lot was filled, so Cam drove around to the back of the building and parked in the employees’ lot.
“Wow, they really have a full house tonight,” Carly noted as they walked to the well-lit inn. “I don’t suppose all these people are here for Grace’s party.”
“The inn is always full this time of the year,” Cam told her. “But I did recognize a few cars while I was looking for a spot to park. Let’s go on in and see who’s here …”
Carly trailed a few steps behind Ellie and Cam, feeling just a little out of place. She reminded herself that she’d been wanting to visit the inn. Hadn’t Grace said that one of Carolina’s works hung in the lobby? Carly was itching to take a look.
The party for Grace’s son was in what Grace had referred to as the drawing room near the front of the building, and was already in full swing when Carly, Ellie, and Cam arrived.
“You weren’t kidding, Ellie,” Carly said from the corner of her mouth. “I’ll bet half the town is here.”
“Ford grew up in St. Dennis,” Cam reminded her. “Everyone in town knows him. I guess a lot of people wanted to stop by and say hi.”
“Which one is the welcome-home guy?” Carly asked.
“I don’t know,” Ellie said. “I’ve never met him either. Cam?”
Cameron looked around the room. “I don’t see him, but he’s got to be here somewhere. There’s Grace … and I see Lucy and Clay … and Dan and his kids.” He nodded. “Yeah, Ford must be around since his entire family is here.”
Carly did recognize some of Ellie’s friends she’d met before. Dallas MacGregor and her husband, Grant Wyler, gestured for the newly arrived threesome to join them. Carly had been secretly pleased that the movie star had remembered her and greeted her by name.
“Dallas, I heard about your new venture,” Carly said. Everyone had heard about the new studio and film production company Dallas had started in St. Dennis. It had been the talk of Hollywood—and therefore the magazines—for months. “I wish you much success with your film. Pretty Maids, right? From the book?”
Dallas nodded. “We plan to start shooting in two weeks. I can hardly wait.”
“You’re filming locally?” Carly asked, though she knew the answer. That, too, had been in the news. Everyone in town knew that Dallas was more at home in St. Dennis than she was in Hollywood.
“Yes. We’re looking for extras, if you’d like to make your film debut. We need people on the street, that sort of thing.” Dallas put a hand on Carly’s arm. “Though I’m sure you have better things to do. I heard about the plan you have for the carriage house at the Enright place, and I think it’s a brilliant idea to put it to good use. There are very few stone buildings in St. Dennis and that one is a beauty.”
“How’d you hear about it so fast?” Carly laughed. “We only met and discussed it this morning.”
“Ed brought his cat in for shots this afternoon,” Dallas explained. “Besides being the only veterinarian in town, Grant’s also on the town council this year.”
“So does your husband think the idea is brilliant, too?” Carly couldn’t help but ask.