CHAPTER 34
Next week’s order was placed. The chair rolled back as I stood in our tiny office and closed the laptop before untying my apron and tossing it over my shoulder while stretching. Working a double shift always did a number on my muscles. Everyone had gone home, except for me; the diner was silent. I walked around the counter. In a few hours, the janitorial team would come in and polish the black-and-white checkered tile floors, wipe down the peach vinyl booths, and scour the kitchens and grill line. And Monday, we’d start a whole new week. New beginnings. I smiled.
I locked up and took my time strolling to my car. Everything had calmed down and settled back into life as normal on Peach Cove island. For weeks, following the fiasco with Paul, who turned out to be David Parsons, and his lover, Winona Howell, it had been a circus. Winona was wanted for suspected embezzlement in three different states. They were still trying to figure out how she got past her employment background checks. News and magazines were running stories entitled “The Woman, The Monster, The Genius.” Winona was pictured behind bars in full makeup, smiling. Just thinking of the haunting image creeped me out.
David, who turned out to be the more normal of the two, confessed and copped a plea. He’d laid most of it at Winona’s feet, and she’d seemed quite pleased—no, happy—about it. At least from the interviews I’d seen. She touted how it took guts to allow someone to inject you with the drug tetrodotoxin, which slowed her heart rate, reduced her metabolism, pulse, and breathing. As long as she wasn’t examined closely, she’d pass for dead. And she had. David had the smallest of windows to move her body, and they timed it to perfection. He’d even changed shirts after relocating her body and no one even noticed. The explosion was supposed to take me out and create a diversion. David had spared us by not engaging the bomb until he managed to get Betsy and me to safety. She’d paused and made a pitiful face at her lover’s weakness. Our names weren’t mentioned, thank God. Still, people around here knew. Later, he’d admitted he wasn’t sure why he’d spared us exactly, just, in that moment, he’d been compelled to do so.
Thank you, Mama. Again.
Winona went on to explain why she’d chosen Lucy. She believed Lucy had been gifted to her by a cosmic force due to their doppelgänger status, with similar facial structures and the same eye color. Losing a few pounds and coloring her hair took the most effort and were nothing compared to the payoff of a hefty trust fund. If she didn’t allow close shots, she was golden. She all but applauded her own efforts before switching topics and laughing maniacally and boasting of all her fan mail and plethora of marriage proposals. The woman was deranged, and we were all glad to rid the island of her presence. I took solace in the fact she’d remain behind bars until she took her last breath.
The Carmichaels were grateful to finally have answers and be able to take their daughter home and bury her. Detective Thornton seemed happy to close the case and leave too. For good this time, he’d said. I’d heard rumors he would be facing his own legal troubles when he got home, although the detective showed no signs of concern. Even if he skated from whatever charge they thought they could make stick, my friend Calhoun would never rest until he proved the detective’s complicity in his brother’s death.
Eddie, like Alex said, had been furious with everyone: law enforcement, Alex, Javier, Betsy, and me. Bless his heart, he was cooling down now but swore he would never leave his department in the hands of nitwits.
Alex was sitting on my stoop when I got home. He held up a six-pack. This had become a semi-regular thing since the case had closed. We went out onto the deck, and he cracked open two not-so-cold ones. We sat shoulder to shoulder, staring out at the ocean. We didn’t talk this time. Just sat there drinking and listening to the waves. Alex was navigating the waters of trauma, a first for him. In his life, he’d never been played the fool. Never been used by anyone. It was a new experience for him, and I promised myself I wouldn’t let him flounder out there on his own. He was already getting enough razzing from his buddies when they’d had a few too many.
My job would be to support him as a nonjudgmental person who would allow him to lick his wounds without taunt. He needed this. What we all needed at one time or another in our lives. From the moment we came screaming into this world until the moment we left it, our lives were a series of blips. Blips of happiness, sadness, hard times, joyous times, and everything in between. When the good times came, hold on to them, and when the difficult times emerged, have faith another positive moment was on the horizon.
“Is this a private party?” an accented voice I’d grown mighty fond of called loudly, and it drifted over the sound of the wind and the waves, causing my heart rate to speed up. He was coming back from one of his runs.
“Nope. And I was just leaving.” Alex was on his feet before I could say anything, lifting a hand in his partner’s direction. I’m not even sure Javier heard him from the distance he was from the porch.
“You don’t have to go,” I told Alex, and he gave me one of his rare lopsided smiles.
“I do, though.” He kissed me on the head. “Love ya,” he whispered.
Mama materialized and we watched Javy stroll toward the deck in the bright moonlight.
I covered her hand with mine as she placed it on the banister. “You said he was on the island for a reason.”
“Yes.”
“And that reason would be?”
She smiled. “Let your hair down, my love. You have such beautiful blond locks. Jena Lynn’s father used to call you Goldilocks. Do you remember?”
“No.” I shook my hair out as I pulled the band out. I’d been so young when he passed away. I wondered if my sister recalled the nickname.
Mama ran her fingers through my shoulder-length hair. “You’re going to be so happy.” Her smile was watery before she faded away and Javy made it to the top of the steps and grinned.
“You okay?”
I nodded, not able to speak yet as I searched Javy’s face. For what, I wasn’t sure. The joy welling up within my chest regarding Mama’s revelation that I’d be happy threw me. In this moment, I suddenly realized that deep down, since the trauma from my ex, I never expected to be truly happy again. Just from the confirmation that happiness was possible, hope bloomed. Mama hadn’t confirmed if the man who stood before me would have anything to do with my happiness. For now, I decided, it didn’t matter, and I’d hold on to this moment in time for as long as it lasted. And either way, I’d be okay.
“I’m good.” I couldn’t help the smile that began to spread as I met his warm hazel gaze.
A smile began to play on Javy’s lips in time with mine, and his eyes lit up with what I read as mischief. “If you’re sure.” Javy held out his hand to me. “Want to go for a night swim?”
Much to my father’s chagrin, I had a reputation for enjoying the freedom and pleasure of swimming in the buff on my nearly private beach. I’d since curtailed the activity and, to be honest, I’d missed it. I didn’t think, didn’t worry, didn’t weigh the pros and cons. And come what might, I decided to live and love fiercely. “You bet.”