BABY SHOWERS, EVIE DECIDED, were not her thing. Because her college friends were too young and her siblings were just entering the wonderful world of reproduction, this was the first baby shower Evie had attended since one for her older cousin when she was eight. The magic of babies was a world she was not yet initiated into. Unpredictable, irrational, ungoverned by the laws of logic. In short, a world that was not for her. At least, not right now.
“You want to get the baby on a schedule,” a woman was advising Jack’s wife, Augusta, as Evie escaped for the kitchen. “Eating schedule, feeding schedule, pooping schedule.”
Poor Gus, Evie thought, wondering if her sister-in-law welcomed all the advice.
Aunt Augusta, the namesake for Augusta’s bakeries downtown and at the Point, was in the kitchen squeezing dollops of cream-cheese icing onto mini pastries. The shower was being held on a weekday morning to accommodate as many Starlight Point employees as possible, so the foods were breakfast-party style. A tray of scrambled eggs, artful doughnuts, fresh fruit, pitchers of milk and juice, plenty of coffee.
Aunt Augusta glanced up and looked relieved when she saw it was Evie.
“Is that woman still talking about baby poop out there?” she whispered.
Evie nodded. “It’s Dorothea. She was my father’s secretary and now she tries to keep track of my brother, Jack. She’s been at Starlight Point longer than I’ve been alive.”
“She isn’t your secretary, too? I thought you shared an office with Jack.”
Evie shook her head and grinned. “We share an office, but not Dorothea. I prefer to make up my own schedule.” She sat at the counter in her former home, which Jack now inhabited with his wife. It still felt like home to Evie, and her sisterly relationship with Jack’s wife, Augusta, meant she felt welcome almost any time.
“If I help out,” Evie asked Aunt Augusta, “can I hide in here with you?”
“You can hide in here even if you don’t do a thing. I think you’re the only other woman here who hasn’t had a baby or isn’t pregnant right now. It’s like some cult that shares way too many personal details to scare off outsiders.”
“We’ll stick together,” Evie said. She took a pastry from the tray and ate it in one bite. “Delicious. No wonder you’ve made a living as a baker.”
Aunt Augusta delivered the final dollop of icing and shoved the tray of confections to the end of the counter. She poured a cup of coffee and sat across from Evie. “So tell me why a beautiful young woman like you isn’t out there gushing over baby booties.”
“I’m only twenty-three,” Evie said. “Too soon for me to think about baby anything.”
“Makes sense.”
Evie sipped her coffee. Aunt Augusta was one of her mother’s friends, but considerably more grounded. She ran Augusta’s downtown bakery all summer long while her niece Augusta ran three bakeries at Starlight Point. These days, Evie’s mother ran around looking for something to do, with her old dog Betty rolling behind her in a wagon. Aunt Augusta was, perhaps, more likely to understand the heavy weight on Evie’s shoulders than her own mother was. Especially since Virginia Hamilton was worked up over the role of grandmother coming at her twice in the next six months.
“I have plenty of things other than babies to worry about,” Evie said.
“What could the owner of a giant business employing thousands of workers have to worry about?” Aunt Augusta asked.
Evie blew out a breath. “Thank goodness the thousands are only here for the summer. It certainly is quieter in the off-season. Or at least it would be if I weren’t trying to build marinas and hotels.”
“Ambitious.”
“I guess,” Evie said.
“My niece told me what a lifesaver you were when it came to managing her bakeries two summers ago. Numbers and accounting are your superpower, she says.”
“That’s what everyone thinks.”
“And you don’t?”
Evie shrugged. “I love being a CPA and managing the company ledgers, but I have to contribute more than that.”
“Who says?”
“I say. Unless I want to be the bean-counting baby sister all my life.”
Aunt Augusta laughed. “I’ve been the cake-baking spinster aunt all my life. It’s not a bad gig, and it’s the life I wanted. What do you want, Evie?”
The kitchen door swung silently open and Gloria, the costume mistress at the Point as long as Evie could remember, stepped in and closed the door. She leaned against it and shut her eyes.
“I hate baby showers. If one more person talks about her labor, nursing problems or stretch marks, I’m going to say something that’ll get me kicked out of the party.”
“I think there’s some wine in the fridge,” Evie suggested. “We could add it to the coffee and make up some fancy French name for it.”
Gloria narrowed her eyes at the other two refugees. “Why are you two hiding in here?”
“Same reason you are,” Aunt Augusta said. She poured a cup of coffee and shoved it across the counter toward Gloria. “We’re not in the motherhood club.”
“I have three sons,” Gloria said. “But back in my day, you had the baby and you didn’t talk about it. Heck, I tried to forget about all the things they’re yapping up out there. Especially the parts about labor that are supposed to be between you and the delivery room wallpaper. Better kept that way, if you ask me.”
Evie scooted over and made room on her seat for the new arrival. “Gloria is like a second mom to me and June. She made our ballet costumes, prom dresses, you name it.”
“Made June’s wedding dress for the Christmas wedding last year, too,” Gloria said.
“Stunning, of course,” Evie added. “Gloria’s a genius.”
“And it was the off-season,” Gloria added. “I had time.”
“Are you making baby clothes for Gus and Jack’s daughter?” Aunt Augusta asked.
Gloria shook her head. “After running wardrobe for years, sewing everything from traffic vests to glitzy show costumes, the one thing I’ve never made is clothing for the newborn crowd. Don’t think I could work on something that tiny.”
Evie smiled. “I think you could do anything. But there’s no need to exert yourself on baby clothes. Did you see the piles of presents out there? There are easily twenty pink baby dresses and fifteen pink sleepers.”
“Dorothea’s probably drawing up a schedule right now for wearing them all before the baby grows out of them,” Gloria said.
The three of them sipped coffee and ate pastries while the noise level in the other room continued to escalate with each adorable baby gift Augusta opened. Evie felt a twinge of guilt because she was hiding in the kitchen instead of helping out, but she wasn’t needed. June was writing down all the presents and names so Augusta could send out frilly pink thank-you notes later. And Augusta’s mother was out there, also. Her parents had finally moved back to the area after Augusta’s father retired from his managerial job in the auto industry. They’d bought a house in Bayside and settled down to stay close to their new grandchild.
No wonder Augusta looked so happy. Two years ago she had found a place where she belonged, fallen in love with Jack, made a successful business out of cakes and cookies, and now she would have a daughter of her own. It was a fairy tale.
Was it a fairy tale Evie wanted for herself? Right now, the happy ending she wanted had to do with construction diagrams and occupancy permits.
Virginia Hamilton came through the kitchen door and closed it behind her. “That’s a lot of pink,” she said.
Aunt Augusta slid over and made room for her friend next to her at the counter.
“I’ll join your party for a few minutes if you don’t mind,” Virginia said. “I’m guessing we’re not talking about strollers and diapers in here.”
Evie laughed. “We’re talking about getting out the wine.”
“Baby talk isn’t so bad, but it’s just too big a group out there. You’ll see someday, honey.” Virginia reached across and squeezed her youngest daughter’s hand.
“Right now, the marina project is my baby. And then it’ll be the hotel.”
“I think a real human baby might be easier,” Gloria commented. She winked. “If you get the baby on a schedule.”
The kitchen door opened and June popped her head in. Already beautiful with a flair for drama, she positively glowed with her pregnancy.
“There’s our next new mom,” Evie said. “Should I be taking notes for your shower in a few months?”
“I suggest serving plenty of food.” June eyed the tray of pastries. “Are those ready? Can I take them out?”
“Did you eat through all the food I already set out?” Aunt Augusta asked.
“I had help,” June said. “And now that I’m not squeezing into tiny dance costumes and I have a good excuse for gaining a little weight, I’m enjoying it.”
Aunt Augusta and Gloria stood and picked up trays. “Back to the party,” Gloria said. The two of them followed June through the door, and Virginia and Evie were alone in the kitchen.
“Nice to have the kitchen to ourselves again,” Virginia said. “We’ve had a lot of talks over this counter.”
“Do you like living down the street in Jack’s former bungalow?” Evie asked.
Virginia shrugged. “It’s just the right size for me and Betty. She has a nice run in the backyard and a sunny place in the living room where she can watch the birds.”
“Maybe I should get a dog. Or a cat,” Evie said. “My new apartment is a bit lonely. Lucky for me, I’m hardly there except to sleep and shower.”
Virginia gave Evie a searching look. “You should make time for yourself, maybe go on a date. Otherwise, that apartment will stay lonely.”
Evie laughed. “If you happen to see an eligible bachelor who doesn’t mind that I’m married to Starlight Point, you just let me know.”
Virginia smiled. “There’s probably one right under your nose.”
“I doubt it. I’d like to think I would have noticed.” Evie sipped her coffee. “They’re taking down the big cottonwood tree in the marina this morning,” she said. “The one where we had picnics in the summer.”
“Probably a good thing,” Virginia said. “We’re lucky that old tree hasn’t come down in a storm and killed someone by now.”
“Aren’t you sad to see it go?” Evie asked. “I tried to keep it, even had the restaurant built so it wouldn’t be harmed, but it ended up a casualty, anyway. Too close to the fire lane, according to the new fire inspector.”
Virginia shrugged. “Can’t be too sentimental. I love the old hotel, too, with its rolling floors and outdated everything, but I’m excited about your plans to renovate it.”
Evie smiled. “You’re like Dad. Always looking forward to the next big thing.”
“Of course. That’s why we were such a pair. If he could see you now, he’d be so proud.”
“Do you think so? I thought he expected me to be an accountant.”
“Honey, parents expect their kids to be whatever they want. And right now, you’re thinking about the future of this place. All our futures.” Virginia leaned closer and lowered her voice. “To tell the truth, I’m starting to think you’re the one who’s most like your father. Taking a big risk like this surprises me, coming from you, but Ford would have loved it.”
Evie knew her mother meant it kindly. But why did she feel like she’d swallowed a brick when she compared her big capital improvement risk to the risks and loans her father had taken?
Her mother meant it as a compliment, but Evie wasn’t sure it was.
* * *
IT WAS A shame to see the tree come down, but there was no choice. Blocking the fire lane was a safety risk, and the sheer age and size of the tree made it a hazard with the strong winds that came off the lake during storms. Scott wondered why the Hamiltons had delayed cutting down the tree this long.
He parked the ambulance at the entrance to the marina, closing off vehicle access. While that massive tree was being taken down with a bucket truck and a crane, no one was going into or out of the marina, no matter what.
“Those guys are crazier than we are,” the fire chief commented. He sat in the passenger seat of the ambulance and stretched his legs. “I wouldn’t want to be clear up there cutting down branches. That’s higher than the ladder truck from the Bayside station.”
Scott and Link Harlan watched through the windshield as the massive tree came down piece by piece. Workers in orange hard hats sawed limbs and lowered them on ropes to crew members waiting below. The tree service hired from Bayside had started at first light so they would have at least four hours until the park opened. Half that time had passed, but they were making progress. There would be plenty of clean-up work once the limbs were all on the ground, but that wouldn’t pose a threat to any Starlight Point guests, aside from the noise of chainsaws, which couldn’t be heard over the roller coasters anyway.
Scott rolled down both windows and turned off the diesel engine. It was a beautiful morning, the last week of June. As soon as this tree was done and the fire lane was complete, he would sign the paperwork to officially open the marina restaurant and shower house. And then Evie could check that off her list of things to worry about.
What had caused the distress in her eyes a few nights ago when they’d met on the bench in front of the train station? Was it just the sadness and chaos of the heart attack she had witnessed, or was there something else?
“I’m sure they know what they’re doing,” Scott said. His eyes cut to the outriggers locked in place on the crane truck. The orange cones set out. The ropes tied to the workers. Hard hats on each man. Safety procedures firmly in place.
“I hope they won’t need us, but Evie insisted we bring an ambulance and sit over here, at least until the park opens.”
“I’m surprised she’s not here,” Scott commented. She was usually right around the corner, he’d discovered in the six weeks the park had been open.
“Some big family breakfast thing this morning. I think it’s a baby shower for Jack’s wife,” the chief said. “I remember when Jack was a baby himself.”
Scott swiveled to look at Chief Harlan. “You’ve been here that long?”
Harlan nodded. “Lots of us year-rounders have been here that long. It’s a nice place to work. Plenty of excitement in the summer, you can take it easier in the winter. We’re like a family.”
Scott pictured himself working at Starlight Point for the next thirty years. At twenty-seven, he still hadn’t put down roots anywhere. But the fire inspector job at Bayside was a huge incentive to stay in the area. Especially if his sister decided to stick around when she finished college next year.
“Don’t know if you’ve heard the rumors,” Harlan said, “but they’re true. I’m planning to retire at the end of the season.”
“You are?”
Harlan nodded. “When the snow flies this winter, I’ll be in Florida. My wife is a retired teacher, and we’re finally going to get our schedules coordinated. For the last thirty years, she’s had the summer off and that’s been my busy season. When I’ve had time to have fun during the winter, she’s been grading papers.”
“Congratulations,” Scott said. He tried to imagine giving up firefighting and taking up golf or playing cards. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to give up the fire service.
“No idea what they’ll do for a replacement,” Chief Harlan continued. “It’ll have to be someone with experience and a degree. Maybe young enough he’ll stick around a long time.”
Scott blew out a long breath but said nothing.
“I let Evie know about my plans recently, so she’ll have plenty of time to start hunting the next chief.” Harlan chuckled. “I’ll sure miss her and June and Jack. They used to climb on the running boards of our old fire truck—we replaced that one a long time ago—and swing their legs. I let them blow the siren in the off-season when there was no one in the hotel to annoy.”
“Must be strange being here in the winter,” Scott commented. “Snow instead of tourists.”
“It is, but you’d be surprised how much work goes on. There’s maintenance, of course, but a few winters ago we got to watch the Sea Devil being built. There were huge cranes lifting pieces of track into place and workers climbing all over it. Lots of onlookers wanting to see what was going on kept the security staff busy. There’s only a few cops who winter over, the same ones who’ve been around as long as I have.”
“Did you see the plans for the marina project over the last winter?” Scott asked. If the chief was here on-site, why had he let deficiencies slide?
“I saw them, but it wasn’t my job to inspect and approve them. We’re under the jurisdiction of Bayside. That means you now. I’m hearing lots of talk of the massive hotel renovation Evie’s got planned for this winter, so I imagine it won’t be long before you hear about that straight from her.”
Interesting. Maybe that was the reason Evie was playing nice, especially now that her marina project was getting the green light. Almost.
“I met with her a few days ago to review our safety plans, after the heart attack run at the Space Race,” the chief continued.
“And?”
“And we didn’t change much. You can’t predict everything. But that’s when I told her I planned to retire at the end of the year and she ought to let the new guy have a say in modernizing the department, procedures and all.”
Scott wondered how far Evie’s interest in modernizing the department went. He had plenty of suggestions if she ever asked. Or even if she didn’t.