Lillo was just going into the cottage when she saw Diana striding down the road. She looked tired, and dirty, and about as disheveled as Lillo had ever seen her. Make that the most disheveled she’d ever seen her.
“Don’t ask,” Diana said as she walked past her and down the path to the door.
It obviously wasn’t a good time to discuss her intentions toward Ian. Lillo bit back a smile. The whole idea sounded ridiculous.
Lillo caught up to her at the door. Diana looked even dirtier up close.
“Really. Don’t ask.”
They went inside.
“I’m out here,” Jess called from the deck. “I’ve started happy hour early. Bring a glass and come out. It’s glorious!”
Diana and Lillo exchanged looks.
“That was the quickest rebound in history,” Lillo said.
“Or else she’s at the happy stage of drunk.”
“Might as well join her,” Lillo said, and took two glasses from the dish drainer.
“I think I’ll shower first.”
“Oh no you don’t. I’ll bet you money that Jess has never seen you like this.”
Diana shook with rueful laughter. “No one has.” She rubbed her hand across her face.
“No, don’t get rid of the smudge. That makes the whole look.”
“What smudge? Do I have a smudge?” Diana followed her out to the deck.
Jess was stretched out on a chaise, an open notebook in her lap, a glass of wine on a table next to her chair.
She waved a pencil at them. “Wine is in the ice bucket. Didn’t think you had an ice bucket, so I used a real bucket I found under the sink. I washed it out.”
“Good move.” Actually, Lillo did have an ice bucket. She’d never used it. Had never taken it out of the box. She never would. Though . . .
“OMG, Di,” cried Jess. “What happened to you?”
Diana took a glass from Lillo and poured herself wine. “I just spent an hour tethered to a horse named Pete and riding kids around in a circle. It was so weird. Not to mention dirty. And sticky. And . . .” She shuddered.
“No way. You don’t even like kids.”
“I know. He trapped me. I told him that I didn’t know shit about children, and he just acted like I had said, ‘Oh, goody,’ and handed me one end of the rope.” She plopped down in a chair. “It was exhausting and—did I mention?—dirty.
“Then he sticks me with these kids all wanting a ride, until they found out I was going to be overseeing them, then they all balked and wouldn’t get on the horse unless he was there.” She took a sip of wine, then another.
“So he squats down to their level and talks to them. For a long time, and they keep looking over at me, then finally when I’m thinking I’ll just wander on down the road now, he stands up and says, ‘It’s okay,’ and takes two of them away.
“I swear, a man who hasn’t said twenty words to me in three days is suddenly Chatty Cathy with a bunch of munchkins.
“So while he’s spending the hour with two brothers, I’m walking in a circle while one kid rides Pete and the other four stare at me from the fence.” She leaned back and closed her eyes. “I may never be the same.”
“I wonder if they were the kids we saw this morning,” Jess said.
“Beats me,” Diana said, her eyes still closed. “All I know is that while I was hauling kids on and off Pete’s back while giving them a few pointers about riding, he spent the whole hour hugging Clara, this old gray, with Joey and Bobby, the two brothers. The little one is somewhere on the spectrum for something, I think.
“I was trying to watch to see what he was up to, but I was petrified one of the little buggers would fall off and I’d get sued for everything I’m worth.”
She settled into silence. Lillo poured herself a glass of wine. It wasn’t like she had to drive, or work, or do anything but sit and relax. She sat down.
“Then . . .” Diana continued, getting her second wind—she’d seemed to have forgotten about her shower. “When the kids get picked up, I start leading Pete out of the paddock. Ian comes up and says, ‘Never mind, I’ll do it.’”
“And I said, ‘I don’t mind’ and ‘Are you going to tell me who those kids were?’”
“He just looked at me, said ‘Just kids,’ moved me physically out of the way, and led Pete into the barn.
“So of course I follow him and ask him what the hell is wrong. He says, ‘Nothing.’ Before I could react, he says, ‘Just go away.’ Then he storms off and leaves me standing there. Do you think I just got fired?”
“Do you want to go back after that?” Lillo asked.
“Of course. I deal with ruder people than Ian Lachlan every day.”
Jess sat up. “Maybe you shouldn’t.”
Exactly what Ned had said, thought Lillo.
“What? You think I’ll go down without a fight? I’m just getting warmed up.”
“I don’t know. He sounds strange.”
“He is strange. I like him, I’m even attracted to him, but he has some serious quirks in his personality.”
Jess guffawed. “You’re attracted to all men.”
“I am not. Though I admit I do rather like them.” She sipped her wine. “And I have to admit, this one is different.”
“Oh Lord,” Jess said.
“No, I mean it. What’s his story, Lillo? I thought he was a vet.”
“He is.”
“And what else?”
“Please don’t say ‘psychopath,’” Jess said.
Lillo shook her head. Though she wasn’t sure, actually. Everyone kind of knew his story. No one talked about it. They trusted him with their livestock and their pets . . . and their children.
“He’s great with the kids,” she said. “As you saw today.”
“A man of many talents?”
“Well, yes, but . . . there are times when he—” When he what, Lillo? Can’t stand being around people, can’t bear to look at them, be with them? Can’t even stand to be inside his own skin? Is that what he felt? She couldn’t even begin to imagine.
“When he what? What were you going to say, Lillo?”
“I don’t know. He’s great with kids, not always so great with adults. Something you might want to remember.”
“Are you warning me off? You and he don’t . . . aren’t . . .”
“Aren’t what?”
“Lovers?”
“What? Good God, no.” The two most screwed-up people in town? It was laughable.
“That’s not much of an endorsement.”
“Nothing to do with him. We’re friends. He’s a nice guy. He just, like you said, has a few quirks.”
“But he’s not dangerous or anything?” Jess asked.
“Only for my peace of mind,” Diana said.
And Lillo let it go at that.
“And speaking of quirks, what was he doing with those kids, Joey and Bobby? I think they’re brothers.”
Lillo said, “Joey and Bobby are special cases. He works with them a couple of times a week.”
Diana frowned. “Is he trained as a therapist as well as a vet?”
“I know he’s studied a lot of stuff; they have to post their credentials where they can be seen.”
“I didn’t notice.”
“Well, one of them is in EAL.”
“Which is?”
“I’m embarrassed to say I’m not really sure.” Lillo had been so consumed with her own issues she’d not paid much attention to Ian’s. Mac had told her a little, but the people of Lighthouse Beach didn’t share everything. A little gossip. A story told once and locked away. If you had something to hide, Lighthouse Beach was the safest place you could be.
“You mean he’s like a horse whisperer?” Jess asked, her pencil poised over her notebook.
“I’m not sure about that either. Not even sure what a horse whisperer does.”
“Oh, come on,” Jess said. “Don’t tell me you don’t remember the movie?”
Lillo shook her head. She didn’t even know there was a movie.
“Really?” Jess said, dropping her pencil into the crease of her notebook. “We watched it about a dozen times. What happened to all your tapes? You had shelves of them. You transfer them to DVD?”
Lillo shrugged. “When my parents sold the house, they got rid of a lot of stuff.”
“I don’t believe you’d let them throw those out. Some of those were classics.”
“Yeah, I know.” And they—along with the rest of her life—were buried beneath piles of stuff in the extra bedroom.
“Hey, where’s Allie?” Diana asked.
“Well,” Jess said, sitting all the way up and putting her feet on the floor. “We went over to Mac’s. I didn’t know, but Allie’s worried that her in-laws would be glad if she left little Gino with them for good.”
“No,” Lillo said. “Maybe we should encourage her to go back instead of staying to the end of the week.”
Jess smiled slowly and shook her head. “Guess where she is now? Talking to the sexy Nando.”
Diana opened her eyes at that.
“Mac gave us a tour of the lighthouse. Wow, I had forgotten how cool it was. It’s in bad shape now, but with a little TLC—”
“What about Nando and Allie?” Diana asked.
“Oh, well, we were coming out of the lighthouse. Nando had come over to tune up the van. We said hi, Allie and Nando kept talking, and Mac hustled me away. That Mac. I think she has a plan for those two.”
Lillo thought Mac should mind her own business. If Allie was worried about her future, she didn’t need distractions of that kind.
“Well, good for her,” Diana said.
“That’s what I say.” Jess picked up her pencil.
“Jess, what are you doing? Have you suddenly taken up sketching?”
“I wish, but I can barely draw using a graphics program. But . . .” She turned the notebook for the others to see. Odd shapes and lists and arrows pointing everywhere. “I do have some ideas on how to turn the lighthouse into a profitable venture.”
They heard the front door open and close. Footsteps running through the house.
Allie catapulted through the doorway and collapsed onto the nearest deck chair. “I’m in big trouble.”
“Would this have anything to do with Nando of the luscious lips?” Diana asked.
“What do you know about his lips?” Jess asked.
“I pay attention,” Diana said, and poured Allie a glass of wine.
Allie’s eyes widened. “What happened to you?”
“Children, horses, and a stableful of hay.” Diana handed her a glass. “But enough about me. Why are you in trouble?”
Allie pulled her chair closer to the other three. They all leaned forward as if they were about to hear a deep secret.
“I don’t know. I just— Mac sent me over to ask Nando if he wanted some lemonade and we started talking and he—Nando—offered to take me for a ride on his bike tomorrow because I told him I’d never ridden on one.”
“Well, absolutely you should go,” said Diana. “Is that the trouble? You don’t have anything to wear for a cycle excursion. Now, that’s trouble, but I’m sure the consignment shop can fit you out.”
“Stop it,” Jess said. “She’s upset.”
Lillo had noticed it, too. Allie looked extremely pale except for two fiery marks across her cheeks.
“Okay, girl, spill it.”
Allie took a healthy sip of wine. Shivered.
“Uh-oh, we may need more wine.” Diana reached for the bottle.
“It’s just that while we were talking . . . I mean I hardly know him . . . but it was just . . .” She ran a tongue over her bottom lip. “Well, kinda hot.”
“That’s great,” Diana said. “You’re back in the land of the living.”
“I mean really hot.”
“How far did you go?” Diana asked in her deepest voice.
“We didn’t go anywhere, except I think he was . . . you know . . . and I certainly was.” She leaned back in the chair so hard it wobbled. “Thank God there are only a few more days before I leave.”
“Ha. Time enough to do a quick exploratory affair.”
“I—no. I can’t. I won’t.”
“Come on, Allie. You deserve a little fun. And that’s all it has to be. A little fun. Gino wouldn’t begrudge you that.”
Allie shook her head and her eyes filled.
Diana put down her glass and took Allie’s hand. “Allie, it’s been almost four years since Gino died. He wouldn’t want you to curl up and never find love again.”
Allie pulled her hand away. And covered her face with both hands. “We were supposed to be together forever.”
Lillo bit her lip and looked out to the waves to calm herself. Forever could sometimes be much shorter than you thought.
“Okay. If you feel like you have to leave, I’ll rent a car and drive you to the airport.” Diana looked at Lillo.
“There’s a rental place on the mainland,” Lillo said. “We can borrow Mac’s van to pick it up.”
Diana reached for her glass. “So, it’s all good. Whatever you want to do.”
“I want my husband back.”
Jess, Diana, and Lillo exchanged looks and said nothing.
After a few moments Allie shook herself and looked up. “Are those crackers on that plate?”
Jess passed her the plate.
“Did Jess tell you about visiting the lighthouse? It was so interesting, wasn’t it, Jess?”
Jess nodded.
“That’s it?” Diana asked. “Soooo?”
“Mac said to come over at seven and bring our appetites.”
“Talk about changing the subject.”
“I . . .” Allie swallowed convulsively. “Just this once. I want to stay.”
Diana let out a slow breath. “It’s this town. It’s like one of those places that just shows up when needed—like a latter-day Brigadoon appears out of the mist when someone needs help. Is that what the sign means, Lillo? Life will never be the same after you visit Lighthouse Beach?”
“It’s just a sign,” Lillo said. “You know, marketing.”
“I wonder.”
Jess sat up. “Di, this is so not you. Are you going all woo-woo on us?”
“No. But I know a tightly run corporation when I see it. You protect each other. You protect strangers. Look how they stood up for you the other night. How no one seems to pay anything to the clinic. How Doc Clancy drops everything and spends days at a hospital with his patient’s mother just to be supportive. Is everyone in town like that?”
They looked at Lillo. She shrugged. “I can’t answer for everybody.”
“It’s like we were drawn here.”
“Ridiculous.”
“Jess needed help. She wanted to come here. Because . . . I’m not sure why, but she knew where to go.”
“Oh, come on, Diana, it’s because she remembered good days here as a kid. Plus, I had the car.”
“What about me and Allie? Are we here because we need help, too?”
“Allie came because she’s Jess’s friend. You’re here because you invited yourself.”
Jess crowed. “Well, she’s got you there.”
Diana looked over to Lillo. Lillo held up her glass to Diana.
Diana returned the air toast, drained her glass, and stood. “And why are you here, Lillo?” She put her empty glass on the table. “I think I’ll just go wash off my ‘trail dirt’ before dinner.”
Allie and Jess were left looking at Lillo.
“Why did you come back, Lillo?” Jess asked.
“Because it’s my home.” And because she felt safe here. At least until this week.
What was happening here? Until this week, she would have said she was happy staking tomatoes, and tying up peonies, pulling weeds, and deadheading spent blooms. Now it just didn’t seem like enough.
Even Ian, as damaged as he was, helped others, accepted the kids, though it must be nearly impossible for him. And here she was, staking tomatoes and feeling like her life was over, when she should have been giving, too.
Maybe Diana was right about the sign. She’d lived here for most of her nearly thirty years and had never given it a second thought; until now.