Forever Friends Read online

  “Yes. I dream about robots.”

  Sadie loved this about Lincoln. He seemed to dream every single time he went to sleep, just like Sadie did (just last night she’d dreamed about being on HGTV’s Design Star and having to fashion a coffee table out of licorice). As Lincoln found his words and started to talk more and more, Sadie was getting to enjoy how he flexed his imagination.

  “I love robots.” Sadie widened her eyes. “But guess what I love more? Swimming! After spring comes summer, and that’s when we get to play in the water.”

  “Beach?”

  “Yep, baby. All beach, all the time.”

  Summer was her favorite time in Cranberry Cove. She loved getting to the beach early, setting out a giant umbrella and striped towels, using their large canvas tote as an anchor. Then, they’d build elaborate sandcastles and hold hands as they jumped over waves, laughing hysterically each time they stumbled. They would eat strawberries and peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, washing it all down with lemonade. While Lincoln took an afternoon snooze, Sadie would read a romance novel, the only background noise the roll of the waves and the call of seagulls.

  Heaven.

  “We go now?” Lincoln asked her excitedly. “Now!”

  Sadie shrugged. “Well, okay! But no swimming, buddy. Too cold.”

  “Good idea,” Lincoln agreed so seriously, so rationally, it made Sadie giggle.

  She plopped a little baseball cap on Lincoln, and a far less adorable one on her own head, before packing the tote with sand toys. They stopped in the doorway of Ethan’s office.

  “Lincoln and I are going to walk on the beach. Come with?” she asked brightly.

  “Can’t,” Ethan replied absently. He had started to hunch forward as he worked, and she worried about his shoulders and back. “Lincoln, will you bring me back a seashell? A really special one?”

  “You come! Come!” Lincoln ordered. “Daddy come!”

  “Daddy has to work,” Ethan replied, turning back to his computer screens, his dual monitors looking like a command center. “Sorry, bud.”

  When had Ethan’s job become so demanding? Why was her husband suddenly more absent when he was home than when he was in Boston?

  Renee was outside gardening and waved to the pair. She looked put together in a beige pullover with her hair tied into a neat ponytail. Her pair of red Keds looked pristine, and her jeans were weathered in a chic way.

  Sadie looked down at her own outfit, which had become a uniform of sorts: sneakers, black yoga pants, and one of Ethan’s old Ohio State sweatshirts, which had a hole in the right elbow.

  “Lincoln and I are going to walk on the beach. Want to join in the fun?” She hadn’t gotten to see much of Renee this week and was surprised to realize how much she missed her neighbor’s company.

  Renee paused for only half a second before nodding. “I’d love to!”

  She tossed her gardening gloves on a small bench and strolled over to Sadie and Lincoln. The trio made the short walk down to the shore. Lincoln ran off in front of them, giddy with excitement. The two women were quiet at first, merely appreciating the warm spring sun and the rhythmic pulse of the waves.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Not as nauseous as the first go around, touch wood,” said Sadie, pausing to rap on a log. “It’s still there, but at least I can be out in the world without dive bombing every trash can in sight.”

  “That’s great. And how goes it with the mother-in-law?”

  “It had its moments.” She stayed at the stupid B&B the rest of the visit to make a point. “But Lincoln thinks she’s the best thing since hot fudge on ice cream.”

  Renee cocked her head, gaze probing. “And you not so much?”

  “No, she’s fine.” Sadie tucked a loose hair behind her ear and shrugged. “We’re just, well, different. Oil and water.”

  “What does she do back home?”

  “Babysit her local grandkids a lot and volunteer with the Junior League.”

  Renee nodded. “Well at least she was game to fly in for Lincoln’s party.”

  “She is a great grandma.” Sadie wished she could also add that Annette was a great mother-in-law, but the lie stuck in her throat. “Hey, how’s Tansy doing at USC?”

  “Busy, far too busy for me,” Renee said before clearing her throat. “Not to change the subject but Essie Park has hit me up with the most outrageous idea.”

  “Outrageous ideas are Essie Park’s bread and butter.” Sadie remembered the time Essie found a two-for-one deal at some float therapy spa and had tried to get Sadie to come along. “What’s she dreaming up this time?”

  “So I guess the Old Red Mill sold and is open for leases?” Renee’s voice tinged with nervous excitement. “Well, Essie wants me to open a pie shop, one that can serve as the anchor store and lure other small shops to follow.”

  “Shut up! That’s the most amazing idea! Clearly you need to share your blueberry pies with the world.”

  “I don’t know.” Renee deflected even as her eyes shone. “It feels so risky.”

  Sadie’s heartbeat quickened as she thought of her morning’s discovery.

  “Look at me.” She held her neighbor at arm’s length. “I really, truly think it’s an awesome idea. And you won’t believe what I found this morning in the attic—Grandma Hester’s recipes. All of them. Including the whoopie pies.”

  Renee let out a sharp exhale and laughed. “Stop. You’re kidding me.”

  “It’s kismet. I’ll bring them over. Maybe we could even try one out tonight. Your pie shop could include your own masterpieces as well as Grandma Hester’s. It would be a perfect mix of new and nostalgia.”

  “I love it. Yes, let’s bake some whoopie pies tonight and see if we can even come close to Grandma Hester’s greatness,” Renee said with a nod before growing quiet. “It’s just…about the pie shop. I don’t know the first thing about running a business. And apparently the space needs a ton of work. Have you seen my house? I haven’t changed a damn thing since I moved in. All I do is add more finds from my antique adventures.”

  “I love your house. It’s perfect,” Sadie said with a smile, meaning it.

  And yet, there was an excitement bubbling away in the pit of her stomach because she knew quite a lot about renovating spaces. She studied Renee’s face, trying to read what she was feeling. Would Renee even want Sadie’s help with this venture? Or would Sadie be stepping on her toes? What would Ethan say? They were already underwater as they tried to prepare for a second baby… Would he totally flip over the idea of Sadie working again?

  Sadie pushed all of these thoughts aside and threw her hat into the ring.

  “What if, well, what if I helped?” she volunteered shyly. “I’d be thrilled to design the space for you, Renee. I would think of every last detail, I can promise you that. I’ll make the place perfect.”

  “Really? You would do that?”

  “Absolutely.” Sadie was on a roll now. “And, well, I’m also really great with numbers. I could even help you with the books and manage the business end of things.”

  Renee stopped walking on the beach. Sadie beamed back at her.

  “You and I would be kick-butt partners,” Renee declared without hesitation.

  Sadie let out a squeal and hugged her friend tight, more optimistic than she’d been in months. Time to dig out the old sketchbooks and start working up concepts. Hopefully Essie would be available to show them the space tomorrow. It should feel snug and warm, yet fresh and bright. There had to be gingham fabric involved, that was for sure, and maybe they could frame some of the old photographs she’d found today of Grandma Hester.

  She started, suddenly back in the present, looking at the quiet beach ahead, and then immediately out to the rolling sea.

  Lincoln.

  Where was he?

  “Oh my God,” Sadie breathed, turning left than right. “Where’s Lincoln? He was just here, wasn’t he?”

  Renee looked wildly around
the empty beach, as Sadie broke into a panicked run. “Lincoln? Lincoln! Where are you, baby?”

  Chapter Ten

  How in the hell did Lincoln just up and vanish?

  Stupid question. Two-year-old boys were like lightning bugs…popping up here, there, and everywhere—then poof gone in a flash.

  Renee could have sworn the little boy had been skipping just ahead, throwing driftwood and chasing gulls. But then, she’d gotten so stupidly carried away about the pie shop that a 747 could have landed on the dunes and she wouldn’t have noticed.

  A wave gnawed at the empty beach, hungry and heavy. An invisible band squeezed her chest. Most of the time she found the ocean’s vast emptiness calming, a welcome counterpoint to all the hustle and bustle back on land. Yet the North Atlantic wasn’t just fodder for oil paintings and tourist brochures. It was also cold, dark, full of hidden secrets, sharks, and drowned sailors. Unspeakable fear mounted in her throat, holding her tongue hostage.

  Lincoln hadn’t wandered near the shore break, right?

  Sadie sprinted ahead, head swiveling from side to side. “Lincoln, honey!” Her frightened voice cracked. “Are you hiding? Are you playing a silly game? Come out, come out, wherever you are!”

  Renee had lost Tansy once during a trip to Washington, D.C., in the National Air and Space Museum. Those five minutes had felt like fifty. It only took a second for something terrible to happen to a child. A single second to rearrange the world. A second between there and…not there.

  Her vision dimmed at the edge as she spun around. Maybe he’d somehow got behind them. Something caught her eye out in the water, floating just behind the breakers. Her pulse pounded in her ears as she lurched forward, her limbs struggling to function. The dizzy relief was almost crippling when she realized it was just a log.

  She cupped her cold hands around her dry lips and was finally able to shout. “Lincoln! Come back!” Deep breaths. He’d be scared if he heard the hysteria in their voices. “Lincoln!”

  And then, quick as their terror had started, it ended. Dr. Dan rounded the headland, Lincoln perched on his broad flannel-clad shoulders, waving in delight.

  “Oh my God!” Sadie stumbled, crashing to one knee before bouncing back on her feet. Twin tears slipped down her flushed cheeks. “Thank you, Dr. Hanlon. Thank you so much. I’m sorry. I don’t know how he got out of my sight. I was about five seconds from completely losing my mind.”

  Dan lifted the boy over his head and handed him to Sadie.

  “It’s okay, Sadie. Everyone is safe. Lincoln is all right.” He smiled kindly, somehow knowing exactly what a mother would want to hear. His blue eyes were gentle with empathy. “This big boy is quite the birder. He was chasing a pack of sandpipers right around the corner.”

  “I wanna catch dat little birdie!” Lincoln announced, all business. “Member book, Mommy? Birds! I like those funny guys.”

  Sadie nodded, before turning to Renee and wiping her eyes. “We read a book about birds at the beach last night.”

  Renee rubbed her back, not quite sure what to say except, “I’m so sorry, Sadie. That was all my fault.”

  “What? No,” she said, shaking her head. “Of course it wasn’t. I’m his mother. I’m the one who is supposed to watch him, to…to…keep him safe no matter what.”

  Sadie burst into fresh sobs and Renee felt her own eyes itch with tears.

  Dr. Dan made a soothing sort of “shhh” sound before tousling Lincoln’s hair. “Sadie, this could have happened to anybody. I’m not a parent myself but as a pediatrician I can pretty much guarantee every parent has experienced this sort of scare. Right, Renee?”

  Renee nodded earnestly, also taking note that this confirmed her suspicions that Dan did not have children. A small part of her had always worried he had kids and was simply an absent father who never spoke of them.

  “Absolutely. Do you remember that scar Tansy has on her forearm?” she asked, to which Sadie nodded mutely. “Tansy got that when I stupidly had a pot of soup cooking on the front burner. She reached for it, and it spilled all over her little arm. I had to rush her to urgent care to be treated for a second-degree burn. I felt horrible.”

  Sadie’s eyes widened slightly before she sniffed. “I’d better get on home. Thanks again, Dr. Hanlon. Talk to you later, Renee.”

  As they walked away, Sadie could be heard muttering, “God. As if I could design a shop right now. What was I thinking?”

  Renee turned toward the steely sea and offered a silent prayer of thanks that Lincoln was okay.

  “Are you all right?” Dr. Dan asked, turning to face her fully. He didn’t look away. She wasn’t used to holding such intense eye contact and it hit her like a slug of whiskey, spreading low through her belly like a slow, deep burn.

  She held up a still trembling hand and fought for a rueful smile. “Still rattled, to be honest. Guess I feel responsible for that scare.”

  “Hey now,” his voice was calm and reasonable, “don’t beat yourself up. Nothing bad happened.”

  “I was filling in Sadie about Essie’s pie shop idea.” Renee brushed the hair from her face as the wind picked up. “I guess we both got pretty excited.”

  “That’s because it is exciting.” Dr. Dan crooked his mouth in the half smile she couldn’t get enough of, the one that revealed the secret dimple that hid in his left cheek.

  She cleared her throat and forced herself to focus on something, anything, else. She settled for a jet high up in the sky, flitting between the clouds. “Sadie offered to design the space and then possibly manage the shop. We got carried away.” Renee peered up at Dr. Dan, towering over her. What would it feel like to reach up and wrap her arms around his neck? He had a delicious neck. One that begged to be licked.

  Oh my God, what am I doing?

  “You must think I’m ridiculous, the way I keep going on and on and on about this idea.”

  He shook his head. “Actually, I’ve been plotting how to get another taste for days.” A splotch of red appeared on his neck. “Of your pie I mean.”

  Another frisson of heat. This one wasn’t in her belly. It was lower down and more like the sharp crack of kindling. His words were nothing, just polite small talk, right? But why did they sound so dirty?

  And why did she love it?

  “Ahem.” She squared her shoulders and summoned all her courage. “Well actually, I…um…happen to have a fresh strawberry pie cooling in my kitchen if you’d like to stop in for a bite.” Her eyes widened as she realized her own moxie. Quickly, she tried to backtrack. “I mean, you probably have plans for today. I just meant—”

  “I’d love to.” His reply had a quiet intensity that made her heart rate accelerate for the second time that morning, this time for a much better reason.

  As they strolled back to her little cottage, she tried to recall the state of her house. It was clean, of course—her home was always clean, with only one tidy person currently living there—but had she left out anything embarrassing? She often draped bras to dry over the backs of the kitchen chairs, and she was reading that one very steamy cowboy romance. Shoot, she’d left that on the nightstand, yes? Or was it tossed on the sofa after she indulged in a few chapters along with a glass of merlot last night?

  But as the sun broke free of the clouds and the warm rays kissed the back of her neck, she made a conscious choice. Time to cut loose worry, let go of insecurity and simply allow herself to bask in her proximity to Dr. Dan. The way their hands almost brushed against one another’s. The faint smell of citrus that clung to him—either shampoo or soap. The tiny shaving nick on his otherwise perfect jaw.

  Were neighbors watching them from behind their curtains?

  Hopefully.

  Even though she hadn’t had the heart to get another cat after Smudge died last year, she often wondered if Cranberry Cove considered her a fuddy-duddy cat lady, one who was forty-three going on eighty. Sure, Myles was relentless in his blind-date setups, which Renee humored a few times each year
, but nothing ever panned out. The last one had been with a man named Thad Maxwell. An insurance salesman from Freeport, Thad chewed with his mouth open in an unsexy way and tried to sell her a whole term life insurance policy over dessert.

  There had been a few charming guys over the years, but no one special enough for Renee to risk getting her heart shattered all over again. She wondered if anyone was worth the sheer devastation of being abandoned the way Russell had left her. That sort of pain was huge and crushing, and she would do anything to avoid experiencing it all over again.

  Besides, she had her daughter, her garden, her baking, and wine and romance novels for when the nights grew cold and lonely. She didn’t need a man or his affections to make her life complete.

  But there was a big difference between need and want.

  And what did she want?

  Good question.

  “This is me.” Renee held her hand out toward her cute little house as she and Dr. Dan came up Seashell Lane. She was proud of her home and gestured toward an empty space beside her bottom step. “I’m going to create a little succulent garden here this year. Maybe a jade, a few sempervivum. It will have to be something I move inside during the winter, but that shouldn’t be a problem because with central heating my living room gets as dry as a desert.”

  “Ah,” he said with his usual brand of grave politeness.

  Wait, no. What was she talking about? She resisted the urge to face-palm—less succulents, more sizzle.

  Renee fumbled with the lock she only used every, single day, before pushing open her front door.

  “Great place.” Dr. Dan entered the foyer, which was packed with antique shop finds. The chandelier was a special one she and Bree had found in Vermont.

  Renee couldn’t help but beam. “Thanks. One of the benefits of being on my own all these years—I never had to consult a husband regarding my, um, eclectic choices.”

  “I’m still adjusting to the single life myself,” he murmured. Again with the eye contact. His jaw flexed like he wanted to say more but was biting it back.