The House on Mermaid Point

Chapter Twenty-eight

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Nicole stepped gingerly into the Jon Boat that idled at the dock, holding on to Deirdre’s hand for balance.

“I think so.” Maddie squinted into the sun and drew a deep and, she hoped, calming breath. They’d assumed that Hudson would drop them at Lazy Days just north of Bud N’ Mary’s on the ocean side, where Deirdre had made a reservation for dinner. But he’d had plans with a client and Will was already off the island, presumably with the absent Troy and Anthony trailing behind him. Their only choice had been staying on Mermaid Point instead of going out to dinner. Or taking the boat out themselves.

Maddie might have wimped out except that everyone had already been dressed, made up, and eager to go. She’d managed to get the motor started. Now her hand was clamped tightly around the tiller. Butterflies sloshed around in her stomach. “Avery?” Her voice broke and she had to clear it. “Can you untie those lines?”

“Aye, aye, Captain!” Avery, who’d been seated in the bow, stood and unwrapped the rope from the cleat then saluted smartly.

“Deirdre?” Maddie turned to the woman seated beside her in the stern, on the other side of the motor. “Can you untie the other one and push us off?”

Kyra stood on the dock with Dustin’s hand in hers, both of them waving. “You go have a girls’ night out,” she’d said when they tried to get her and Dustin to come. “Just make sure you don’t party so much that you can’t find your way back. I don’t think bread crumbs hold up that well in seawater.”

They were ridiculously overdressed given their mode of transportation, but they’d all been desperate to get off the island. Nicole wore a sleeveless dress with a pair of heels; Deirdre wore a cream linen suit with a bright orange shell beneath it; her heels were more kitten height. Even Avery had put on dressy capris and strappy wedge sandals. Maddie’s white slacks and off-the-shoulder white peasant blouse were the dressiest things she’d brought; the seat of her pants already felt damp.

She drew another breath and bit her lip as she carefully turned the tiller to ease away from the dock and out into the channel. You can do this. More to the point, Hudson had told her she was ready to do this and she was going to have to trust that he hadn’t simply been being kind.

When she was squarely in the channel she twisted the throttle. The bow rose slightly as the skiff picked up speed. Nerves and excitement teased at her as she guided the boat south to stay in the channel and go under the bridge into the bay.

“Oh, it’s so gorgeous!” They were full on to the sun, which glowed low directly ahead of them, heavy with golden light and warmth. Maddie cut to idle speed so that they could float gently and watch it make its way toward the water. It looked as if it might splash down right in front of them. They watched it in awed silence as it appeared to melt, spreading a golden glow across the surface.

“It’s so different watching it on the water,” Avery said. “So up close and personal.”

Maddie drew the salt-tinged air into her lungs and felt the play of the warm breeze in her hair and across her cheek. A white heron winged through the sky. With her back turned to U.S. 1, the bay and its canals branching out toward mangrove-covered spits of land made civilization seemed far away.

She turned the boat and headed north, keeping carefully between the markers that bounded the relief channel, then ducked under the bridge to Bud N’ Mary’s just as Hudson had shown her. From here she headed east at a sedate pace through the no-wake zone, heading toward the open water.

“Isn’t the restaurant back that way?” Nicole pointed back toward the marina and U.S. 1, which was now behind them.

“Yes, but I have to go up to that last channel marker”—she pointed just ahead—“then I make a U-turn so that I can head straight in to the beach at Lazy Days.”

She did this more slowly than she might have liked, and way more cautiously than she wished she felt. This first outing without Hudson’s patient presence and calm instruction was equal parts liberating and terrifying.

They were coming up on the spotlit beach, with its tiki torches dotting the sand and tables that seemed to spill out of the open first floor of the building. The upper story was rimmed with people.

Nicole craned her neck to see as they drew closer. “Where do we park?”

Maddie didn’t want to tell them that she’d chosen not to dock at Bud N’ Mary’s and walk the short way to Lazy Days because her docking skills were so sadly undeveloped and untested. “You see those boats up to the right?” She pointed toward two boats that had been anchored to the beach, their sterns floating in the shallow water. “I’m going to cut the engine at just the right moment, then I’ll tilt the motor up and we’ll slowly skim the bow up onto the beach and secure it with the anchor.” Maddie said this as if it were no big deal, but her heart had started pounding. Her hand felt frozen on the tiller.

“Seriously?” Nicole looked skeptical.

“Have you ever done this before?” Avery had gone up on her knees on the seat and was clutching the rail as if already bracing for impact.

“Not exactly.” In truth Maddie had never had a chance to practice the maneuver; she’d only listened to Hudson explaining the steps and she wasn’t entirely sure whether the motor was supposed to get tilted up before or after she nosed the boat onto the beach, but she didn’t want to worry them. Surely this would be easier than docking—a skill at which she did not excel.

She chose the opposite end of the beach from the other boats, just in case she miscalculated. Then she did her best to tune out everything but the speed of the boat and the rapidly approaching sand.

“Here goes,” she muttered as she cut the engine and then held her breath as the boat continued under its own momentum. She may have briefly closed her eyes and offered up a brief silent prayer as she grasped the lever that enabled her to tilt up the motor. She was still praying silently, but fervently, as the bow of the boat encountered land. And then gently, mercifully, and quite miraculously it slid up onto the beach and stopped just as she’d hoped, er, planned.

“You did it!” Nicole crowed.

“Way to go, Madeline Singer!” Avery pumped her fist.

Maddie raised both arms into the air like an Olympic runner bursting past the finish line. Satisfaction and adrenaline coursed through her. From above on the upper railing of the restaurant there was a round of applause.

“What happens now?”

Maddie reined in her jubilation. “Grab the anchor next to your feet. We need to use it to secure the boat to the beach.”

Avery bent down to pick up the anchor while Nicole scrambled out of the boat. The short dress and high heels didn’t help. When she finally made it over the side and onto the beach, one heel sank deep into the sand. There was a chorus of appreciative whistles from the second-floor balcony as she bent over to pry it loose.

Avery made it off with slightly more dignity and plunged the anchor into the sand.

Maddie climbed off the bow and offered Deirdre a hand, all of them far too aware of their audience. But as she and Avery let out enough rope so that the boat would float just offshore, Maddie flushed with satisfaction. They settled at a table on the beach. Maddie chose a seat with a view of their boat and across the water to Mermaid Point. As they ordered a bottle of wine and selected appetizers, she let go of her anxiety about the return trip.

As the designated driver, Maddie didn’t partake of the first bottle of wine or the round of shooters that arrived with the conch fritters, crab cakes, and coconut shrimp.

“Here’s to Maddie, our fearless captain.” Nicole raised her shot glass. “You did good!”

“To Maddie!” they chorused as they clinked glasses.

Maddie smiled and bowed regally as the others downed the shots and slammed their empty glasses on the table.

Maddie read through the menu and slowly sipped the wine spritzer she’d allotted herself, analyzing the individual dishes. “I’m eating only conch tonight,” she declared when the waiter appeared to take their orders. “Conch chowder to start.” She waffled between main dishes of cracked conch and lazy conch and feigned disappointment that there was no conch pie for dessert.

“You’ll be ready for Key lime pie by then,” the waiter promised.

The restaurant hummed with good cheer. Music filtered down from upstairs. The crowd was diverse, with everything from sun-leathered locals to sunburned tourists. “Everybody looks so happy to be here,” she marveled.

A second round of shooters appeared in front of them.

“Courtesy of the gentlemen over at the bar.” Their waiter pointed to a group of men, who raised their glasses to them. An open bottle of wine stood on the table, their second of the evening.

“Well, I’m happy to be here!” Avery raised her shot glass.

“Ditto!” Deirdre clinked her glass to Avery’s.

“It feels so good to be off the island!” Nicole raised hers.

Maddie smiled and raised the remains of her spritzer, but as much as she was enjoying herself, she was looking forward to getting back to Mermaid Point. She’d been stealing glances at the island. Palm trees stirred lightly on the northeastern edge. Through them she saw a light flicker on, on the upper floor of the main house. She peered at her watch and wondered if that meant that Will was home from wherever he’d gone. He’d refused to commit to cooking on camera in the new outdoor kitchen the next morning, but Maddie refused to believe he’d leave them in the lurch.

Their dinners arrived and the others were already digging in when she tuned back in.

“Is Chase going to come down for the Fourth?” Deirdre had asked Avery.

Avery shook her head. “He doesn’t feel like he can leave his dad. Apparently Jeff’s gotten kind of ornery at not being able to work or deal with things anymore. And the boys are playing baseball in a local tournament.”

“Then you should go up there. Absence doesn’t always make the heart grow fonder, you know,” Deirdre said. “Sometimes it just lets people forget about you. Or want to, anyway.” She sighed. “You know, of course, that I speak from experience.”

“I get it.” Avery took a sip of wine. “But we’ve got too many subs coming in right after the holiday and far more work to cram into way too short a time frame. I don’t want to be gone that long.” She hesitated. “I might run down to Key West—Chase has a friend with a B and B that he converted in Old Town who offered a room and a tour. You’re welcome to join me if you want.”

“Thanks.” Deirdre flushed with pleasure. “That would be great.” She shot a thoughtful look at her daughter. Maddie, who was far more sober than the rest of them, imagined she could see the wheels turning in the woman’s head.

“Don’t you just love the name ‘cracked conch’?” Maddie set down her fork and munched on a French fry. “I still can’t believe how many ways they can prepare it.”

“Maybe we should get Will to cook a little conch in the video tomorrow morning.” Avery dabbed at the side of her mouth with a napkin. “Assuming he shows up.”

“He’ll show up,” Maddie said with more certainty than she felt.

“He has to show up,” Deirdre said. “The sponsor is counting on it.”

“Well, if he doesn’t you could put your lessons to use and cook something fancy,” Avery said to her mother. “Maddie could assist.”

“I’m not cooking in the video.” Maddie’s eyes strayed once again to Mermaid Point and the light that flickered through the palms. “I’m just going to stand there and encourage William. You know, kind of hold his hand if he needs it.”

“Well, you’ve held his underwear. I’m sure his hand will feel pretty tame in comparison.” Nicole raised her wineglass in Maddie’s direction.

All of them grinned at her.

“Very funny.”

“Drinks definitely taste better out of a glass than they do out of a Coke can,” Avery observed.

Maddie watched them raise their glasses, grateful to Avery for changing the subject but not as happy being the only sober person in the group.

The sky was velvet black with stars twinkling like diamonds spread across it. The moon was almost full and on the rise, its glimmering reflection on the water an arrowed path that led to Mermaid Point.

Once again, Maddie had to pull her thoughts back to the conversation going on around her.

“When are you driving up to Giraldi’s?” Deirdre had posed the question to Nicole.

“I’m going on the third. His family arrives that morning.”

“Is that a problem?” Avery asked.

“No, not exactly.” Nicole laced her fingers around the wineglass stem and sloshed the little bit that remained in her glass. “But it’s . . . awkward. They don’t seem to understand that it’s possible for two people to enjoy each other’s company without needing to get married.”

A brief, shocked silence fell. All eyes fixed on Nicole.

“Which one of you doesn’t need to get married?” Avery asked.

For a moment it looked as if Nicole wouldn’t answer. Then she sighed and said, “That would be me.”

“Seriously?” Deirdre asked.

“You’ve turned down an offer of marriage from Joe Giraldi? Special Agent Joe Giraldi?” Avery asked. “The one with the gun and the badge and the rock-hard abs?”

Maddie watched Nicole’s face.

“I’ve been married twice and I wouldn’t call either experience worth repeating. And Joe and I . . . well, we’re having a great time together and I don’t see any reason to spoil it.” Nicole drank the last of her wine. Her breezy tone didn’t quite hide the discomfort beneath it.

“Joe’s mother thinks that everybody should be married for at least fifty years like she and Joe’s father have. His father told me that the first forty years are the most difficult.” Nicole smiled somewhat grimly. “But he was laughing and holding her hand while he said it. And Joe . . . Joe would like to have children. Honestly, he deserves them. You should see him with his nieces and nephews. And I’m . . .” Nicole looked briefly into her empty wineglass before looking back up at them. “Well, I do believe that ship has sailed.”

Maddie heard the regret in Nicole’s voice. Her eyes were clouded with what looked like uncertainty.

“You know, now that I’m learning a little bit about boats I can tell you that even big ships can and do change course. They’re allowed to head back to port or even plot an entirely different course if they want to.”

“Thanks, Maddie.” Nicole’s smile was bittersweet. “But I’m not sure Joe and I actually want the same things. And honestly, if you couldn’t hack it after twenty-seven years”—Nicole shrugged—“I don’t think our odds are all that good. I’m not interested in becoming a three-time loser.”

Maddie shook her head gently. “I wouldn’t trade the years I had with Steve. Or the family we created. Sometimes it’s just time for a new start or phase. Ultimately we have to make the choices that feel right for us, but I wouldn’t walk away from a great guy like Joe without serious thought.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.” Nicole saluted but not quite as smartly as before.

This time a round of pink-colored drinks with small umbrellas arrived along with their slices of Key lime pie. “Pomegranate martinis. From the bartender, Dave.”

They raised them toward the bartender. Everyone but Maddie began to drink.

“Oh, my God! I can practically feel the hair growing on my chest!” Avery said, setting her empty glass down on the table.

“I’ve never understood that saying.” Nicole finished her martini and licked her lips.

Deirdre sipped slowly at hers.

Maddie took a tiny taste. She could see “home” from here and with the moon so bright there was little chance of getting lost. She took another sip; it was deliciously light and fruity. All of them ate their desserts with quiet enthusiasm.

“I like this place. It’s friendly.” Avery’s voice slurred happily.

“Me, too.” Maddie smiled.

“What are you and Kyra doing over the holiday?” Deirdre asked Maddie.

“Kyra’s taking Dustin up to Bella Flora to spend the holiday with Daniel.”

Eyebrows went up at that.

“I know. He and Dustin are staying at Bella Flora. Kyra’s staying next door at the Cottage Inn.” Maddie presented this as a fact, which she hoped it was.

“Maybe she can get him to lobby Tonja Kay to leave Bella Flora alone.” Avery scraped her fork across her now empty plate.

“Maybe.” Maddie knew she wasn’t the only one who doubted Tonja Kay could be dissuaded. In the past nothing short of threatening to expose Tonja’s true potty-mouthed self to her adoring public had stopped the movie star from getting what she wanted.

“And you?” Nicole asked.

“I don’t have any plans.” Maddie wasn’t at all unhappy about this.

They looked at her suspiciously. “So it’ll be just you and William Hightower on Mermaid Point?” Nicole asked archly.

“No,” Maddie replied, taking a long sip of her drink. “It’ll be just me. William and Hudson and Tommy are going on a fishing trip.” She smiled. “Isn’t that great?”

“Did he come up with that idea himself?” Deirdre’s tone said she doubted it.

“No, not exactly. But the point is it’s happening.” Maddie was shocked to discover that her martini glass was empty. She hiccuped lightly.

“Whatever you say.” Avery watched her face. “But what about you, what’ll you do?”

“I think it will be cool to have Mermaid Point to myself,” Maddie said. “I can kick back and take it easy. And maybe visit some of the sights I’ve been reading about. You know, now that I’ve made this maiden voyage and have a bit of confidence that I can come and go from the island without assistance.”

It was eleven forty-five by the time they finished their meal and paid the bill. With their arms linked they headed down the beach to the boat, belting out the theme song from Gilligan’s Island amid laughter and a smattering of applause from the remaining diners and all of the waitstaff.

The moon was just striking midnight when Maddie discovered that her confidence in her boating skills might have been just a wee bit misplaced.