Chapter 35
“I’m sure going to miss this place,” Mona said as she, Hayley, and Liddy did one last look around her uncle’s cabin to make sure they hadn’t forgotten to pack anything.
“Mona, you can’t be serious,” Liddy scoffed.
“I don’t know, being here brings back a lot of childhood memories when it was such a simpler time and I had my whole life ahead me, and I didn’t have an inkling I would end up marrying my deadbeat husband, Dennis, and get stuck with a wild, uncontrollable bunch of brats . . .” she said, eyeing Hayley’s and Liddy’s judgmental faces, before quickly adding, “. . . all of whom I love unconditionally!”
“I think we’re good,” Hayley said. “We’ve certainly left the cabin cleaner than when we found it.”
As they headed out to the car, Mona stopped to lock the front door with a key. A white pickup truck rolled up, and Sadie jumped out of the back, tail wagging, and ran over to Mona, panting. She warmly petted the top of her head.
Corey slid out of the driver’s seat, looking impossibly sexy in a pair of tight jeans and a plaid work shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
“Thought I’d swing by and say good-bye one more time before you left,” he said with a sad smile.
It was obvious he didn’t want Mona to leave.
Mona kept her focus on Sadie, and was now down on her knees scratching underneath the dog’s chin, avoiding eye contact with Corey.
Undeterred, he ambled over to her. “It was sure nice seeing you again, Mona.”
“Yeah, it was,” Mona said as casually as she could, and then she rubbed noses with Sadie. “It was nice meeting you, too! You’re a good girl, yes you are, a good girl!”
“I’m hoping you’ll come see me again sometime,” he said.
“Well, you know I got my lobster business to run, and my kids are quite a handful as I’m sure I’ve told you, and—”
“Come here, Sadie,” Corey called, slapping the side of his leg.
Sadie licked Mona’s face and then obediently returned to her master, leaving Mona no choice but to finally look up at Corey.
Her eyes were brimming with tears, and her face, if not full of regret for what might have been, certainly betrayed a fondness and warmth for the man in front of her, and the strong, deep connection that had been reignited.
Mona hastily wiped away her tears and bit her quivering lip.
Corey stepped forward and gently hugged her.
She clasped her arms around him, holding him tightly, enjoying their last moments together.
When he pulled away, he took her by the shoulders, stared into her eyes, and then moved in for a kiss. She turned her head so his lips would land on her cheek, but he anticipated it, and lifted one hand, using his index finger to turn her head back to face him, in a perfect position for a lip lock.
Mona half struggled, certainly not forcefully, and then, she melted into it, and just let it happen.
Liddy audibly sighed, caught up in the romance of it all, even though it wasn’t happening to her.
And then, Corey Guildford brushed the side of Mona’s cheek with his hand one more time, and turned and strolled back to his truck with Sadie chasing after him.
“I’m married, you know!” Mona yelled.
“I know, you told me! That’s why I did it!” he called back, not turning around.
“What are you talking about?”
“I figured if I had one last chance to kiss you before you went home, I sure as hell was going to make it count!”
He opened the driver’s-side door of his truck, allowing Sadie to jump in first and settle into the passenger’s seat, and then he climbed in and rode away.
Hayley, Mona, and Liddy stood in front of the cabin, in silence, watching the truck speed down the road, kicking up dust as it disappeared in the distance.
“Well, I know one thing,” Hayley said. “I really need a vacation after this vacation!”
“Please, can we finally go home now?” Liddy begged, pressing a button on her remote to unlock her Mercedes.
Mona foraged through her luggage in the trunk, grabbed a paper bag, and pulled out a banana, which she began to peel before Liddy snatched it out of her hand.
“No eating in the car, Mona!”
Mona grumbled before slamming the trunk shut and crawling in the back.
Hayley relaxed into the plush leather passenger seat.
With Liddy behind the wheel, they backed up, allowing Mona to steal one last look at her childhood camp, and then they zipped down the dirt road to the main highway.
They were only five minutes into the ride home when Liddy glanced up at her rearview mirror.
“You have got to be kidding me!”
They all turned around to see a police car on their tail, blue lights flashing.
“It can’t be!” Mona barked.
“Yes, I think it is,” Hayley said, sighing.
Liddy pulled the Mercedes to the side of the road and the police car pulled up behind them, so close their bumpers nearly touched.
Sheriff Daphne Wilkes got out, those intimidating sunglasses covering her eyes, her whole face tight and serious.
“I swear I wasn’t speeding!” Liddy declared, before turning to Hayley. “Was I?”
Hayley shrugged. “I wasn’t looking at the speedometer.”
Daphne circled around to the driver’s-side window and leaned down to get a good look inside the car as Liddy pressed the button to lower the window.
“Good afternoon, Sheriff,” Liddy said, with as much respect as she could muster.
“Ladies,” Sheriff Daphne said, glancing around for any illegal substances that might be lying around. “You out for a joy ride?”
“No, we’re heading out of town,” Liddy said, her voice cracking just a little. “As much as we’ve enjoyed our stay in Salmon Cove, it is finally time to go home!”
“I see,” she said, nodding. “Tell you what, why don’t I give you a police escort to the edge of town?”
“You don’t have to do that,” Liddy said.
“I insist.”
Daphne stood up and walked back to her car, hopped in, and then pulled out in front of them, blue lights still flashing.
Left with no choice, Liddy followed her.
“A police escort, really?” Liddy laughed. “That’s a little over the top, but a nice gesture, I guess.”
“There’s nothing nice about it,” Hayley said. “She wants to make sure we cross the county line and don’t come back!”