She flinched as if she’d been slapped. “But I tried to discourage you!”

“You did. I didn’t realize I might be moving too fast. My feelings haven’t changed. Give me a little time.”

She tapped the pot. “This isn’t going to cure what you’ve got.”

“I know.”

“Here’s what I’m going to do,” she said. “I’m going home. Don’t call me unless you think you know what you want. Because I’m doing this exactly one time.” Then she stood, ran down the stairs and across the beach.

He watched her go and asked himself if he was just some kind of fool or a man being smart. It was reasonable, wasn’t it? They’d met in June. It was September. A few months. When she was out of sight, he sighed and turned his head.

Cooper stood in the doorway from the bar. His arms were crossed over his chest and his heavy eyebrows were furrowed. “What the fuck was that?” he asked.

“If you’re going to eavesdrop, at least pay attention,” Spencer said.

“I was paying attention! You brought your grumpy self out here, claiming to have the start of the flu, but what you were having was idiocy. You’ve been sniffing after that pretty little thing for months! Did you really just cut her loose and tell her you needed space?”

“Cooper, I’m warning you—stay out of this. We’ll sort it out in a couple of days....”

“When men say they need to think, that they need space, women know what they mean. When I was a teenager or idiot guy in my twenties, I thought I was getting one over on them, but they always knew—it was an excuse because I couldn’t make a commitment. You’re such a jackass.”

“Fuck you! I’m committed all over the place! I was with Bridget every day while she was dying! I’ll be Austin’s father till he’s old and gray even though he’s got your DNA! I took care of my parents the best I could! I’m a teacher, a coach, a friend! I don’t take this shit lightly!”

“Was one more commitment, the one that actually feels the best, just too much for little you?” Cooper asked. “Because she’s already got a heap of worries and struggles and I think you probably just broke the hell out of her heart.”

“I’ll fix that up,” he said sulkily. “But right now I think I’m getting the flu!”

“Flu of the brain, that’s what. If you don’t run after her right now and beg for another chance, you’re not getting any sympathy from me when you’re too late.”

“I don’t need your sympathy. I also don’t need your advice. It’s not like you’re that slick with women!”

“Listen, Spencer,” he said, pulling out a chair and sitting at the table with him. “I understand you might be a little gun-shy—what you went through with Bridget, that would be rough. But Devon’s a good kid and she’s been through a lot, too. Maybe you’d be better off working on holding each other up than taking a break to think things over.”

“Cut it,” he said, drawing a finger across his throat.

“All right, then, if that’s the way you want it, do it your way. Just trying to share the wealth of my experience. You could be alone a long time. Just trying to be useful, bud.”

“You wanna be useful? How about a beer? And some silence.”

“Whatever,” Cooper said, going into the bar. But he didn’t bring back a beer.

* * *

When Devon got home, Mercy was still napping. Mrs. Bledsoe was sitting on Devon’s couch, reading one of her novels. She slowly stood as Devon came in the house. “How is he feeling?”

“He’s feeling like the ass he is,” Devon said.

“Oh, dear,” Mrs. Bledsoe said. “You’ve been crying.”

“Wasted tears,” she said. “It’s probably my fault. I probably pushed him into a serious relationship. I didn’t mean to, but I think I did. Because he asked me to give him some time to think about this. About us.”

“Oh,” she said, smiling. “Don’t worry too much about that, lovey. Men have an enduring reputation for things like that.”

“Asking for think time?”

“No. For being stupid.” She shook her head sadly. “I don’t know what it is. Men do things like that regularly. Take these silly time-outs. Like it erases all the important things on their minds. Haven’t you noticed?”

Well, no, she hadn’t. Because when had she had a man? There had been a couple of boyfriends when she was young and then there was Jacob, who didn’t count at all because he was not a steady guy: he was a benevolent despot. Spencer was nearly her first. The first guy to love and want her exclusively.

“I had a husband, a son, a grandson and I eat up these romance novels. Everyone knows men can’t stand to be confronted with their feelings. They’d rather wrestle alligators.”

“Maybe I should read more of those,” Devon said.

“I have a few recommendations and a ton of books if you ever want to borrow a few.”

“Maybe I will,” Devon said. “I think I’m going to have a little free time all of a sudden.”

Seventeen

Ashley cornered her mother in the kitchen. “Can I talk to you and Mac tonight? For a couple of minutes? Just you two?”

“Of course. Is anything wrong?”

“Not at all. I have something to run by you. It’s not really for the whole family.”

“You’ve got me on pins now,” Gina said.

“Is Mac here tonight? He’s not working?” When Gina shook her head, Ashley said, “See you here right after dinner? When the kids have scattered?”

“Perfect.”

Before the dishes were even done, Mac and Gina sat expectantly at the kitchen table. Eve had gone to their room to talk to Landon on the phone while the younger kids were in the basement with the piano, computer and TV. Ashley looked at her mom and new stepdad and laughed. “I really didn’t mean to alarm you. I wanted to talk to you about Eric.”

“What is it, honey?” Gina asked.

“I went shopping with him, you know. And we had lunch. And he was telling me that someone has been after him to sell his body shop. At first he just said it wasn’t for sale, but then he started thinking about it and wondered if just maybe he shouldn’t do it. I guess the offer is pretty good, but I don’t have any idea what that means. But...he said he’s been looking around at other things, other opportunities, if he did decide to sell. He said it’s almost an offer he can’t refuse. I told him I hoped it didn’t mean he was moving even farther away and he said there was a potential thing in Thunder Point, but he was worried about it—he asked me if Thunder Point was big enough for the two of us. Everyone would take one look at us and know—he’s my father.”

“Oh, jeez,” Gina said. “How do you feel about that?”

“I’m okay with it,” she said with a shrug. “I’ve introduced him as my biological father to people we’ve met. It doesn’t bother me a bit. In fact, I’m kind of proud that he wanted to meet me once he found out about me. But then the conversation went to you guys. He doesn’t want to put it to you directly—he doesn’t want to blindside you. He said it might make you two uncomfortable. You know, dredging up the past, which was kind of a scandalous past for you. Mom, I know you didn’t have it easy when you were this teenage mother with the missing boyfriend. Then, he reminded me, add to that the fact he went to prison. Holy crap, huh? I mean, that isn’t a big deal for me—I didn’t go to prison! And he’s pretty embarrassed about it, but he said he’s never tried to hide it. He said it wouldn’t work to try to hide it—it would always be found out eventually, so he admits it and that’s all there is to it.” She shrugged. “He turned his life around. It’s a good thing.”

All Gina said was, “Thunder Point?”

“Yeah. Well, here’s what he said. He said if he approached you with the possibility—and it’s still just a possibility, he hasn’t accepted the offer on his body shop or anything—but he said you’re the kind of person that would tell him to just do the thing that worked best for him. You’d just be nice about it. That’s why he asked me to tell you and Mac about this, give you time to talk about it, give him an answer that really fits what you feel and not just the nice answer. Because he promises no matter what he does next, he’ll see me now and then, just like he does now. He doesn’t want you to feel uncomfortable if he lives nearby. So, could you guys talk it over? Really talk it over? Decide how you really feel about the idea? And then I’ll tell him. Okay?”

“You mean to say he’d turn down a good move to this town if it made me uncomfortable?”

“Mom, I know he’s sorry about the past, about the loser he used to be. He said you’re in a new marriage now and wants to make sure you don’t feel, you know, embarrassed by him.”

Gina looked at Mac. “That’s kind of sweet.”

Mac frowned. “It’s kind of sweet as long as he doesn’t have feelings for you.”

Ashley laughed. “Do you think he’d dare? Actually I think he has feelings for me. And while we were driving home, he admitted he’s scared to death of Grandma.”

“He probably should be,” Gina said.

“So, don’t answer the question. Talk about it. Be sure. Because you could be stuck with the answer.”

“And, Ash? This would make you happy?”

“I’d be okay. But, Mom, I’m almost out of here. Another year or two, I’m on my way to college and then—whatever comes next. I don’t know if I’ll live in Thunder Point the rest of my life. I know I’ll visit a lot if you’re here, but where Eric lives isn’t that big a deal. We’ll stay in touch. This has a lot more to do with you and Mac.”

* * *

Devon was on the quiet side at the clinic. And to make matters worse, it wasn’t very busy—just young mothers with small children who weren’t in school and one woman who stayed home from work with a terrible sore throat and fever. Scott fixed her right up with a strong antibiotic and did a throat culture for possible strep.

And of course he noticed Devon’s mood, though she tried to act bright and happy. “I sense trouble in paradise,” he said.

“Maybe I’m coming down with the flu,” she said, borrowing Spencer’s excuse.

“That’s okay, Devon. You don’t have to talk about what it really is.”

And she said, “Thanks. I can’t at the moment.”

She was being completely honest. She couldn’t talk about it without tears threatening. She was trying so hard not to hope and pray he’d call to say he’d been a fool who overreacted. She wanted to be as over him as he apparently was over her. She was failing in her mission, but suspected Spencer was succeeding in his—she didn’t see him. At all.

She finally dragged herself over to the diner for a coffee break and found Gina in her usual place behind the counter. There was a trio of elderly ladies in a booth, gossiping and laughing up a storm. A lone man sat down at the end of the counter, finishing up either a late breakfast or early lunch.

“Well, hey,” Gina said. “Where have you been?”

“Just working,” she said.

Gina automatically poured her a cup of coffee. “What did you and Spencer do over the weekend?”

Well, she thought. Word usually travels much faster. She wondered if Spencer was keeping this little issue they had to himself. “Well, let’s see,” she said, sipping her coffee. “We had a raucous game of Candy Land with the kids on Saturday night...then a bowl of ice cream...”