After a while, they went up to sit under some palm trees for a break from the sun.
“So, you know my mother, Heather, huh?”
“Of course. She’s my mom’s best friend, along with being her cousin. They were born on the same day. Cool, huh?”
“What’s she like?”His voice was nonchalant, but he wasn’t fooling her. He was eager for details about her, and she couldn’t blame him. It must be so strange to just meet your birth parents at sixteen.
She pursed her lips, thinking of how to describe Heather.“She’s great. So talented. Have you seen her art? I just love it. And she’s fun. She doesn’t come to town very often. Except this last trip. She’s been here awhile. Her father divorced her mom and Heather stayed to help out.”
“So Evelyn just got divorced from…I guess my grandfather?”
“Darren, your grandfather, is a jerk. He left Evelyn for this young girl about our mothers’age. But then, he always was—I don’t know—mean? He’s very demanding, and he never thought Heather did anything right. She actually moved out when she was really young. Finished high school living with Grams. Then she moved away.”
“I didn’t know all that.”
“And she wasn’t close to her mom, either. Well, not until this last year. Evelyn was like a trophy wife to her husband.”
“My grandfather.”
“Right. And then he divorced her, took the house and all the money.”
“Sounds like a creep.”
“He is. But Evelyn has worked hard since they split. She ran this big grand opening event at Cabot Hotel.”
“Oh, I saw that place. The big hotel on the harbor.”Blake shifted, digging his heels into the sand.
“Right. And I put together the history alcove for the hotel. Delbert Hamilton—he owns the hotel—he hired me to do it after he heard that I worked at the history museum. He’s a great guy. Anyway, she ran the event, and it was spectacular. Now she’s the cook at Parker’s Cafe. Only don’t let my mom hear you call it that. It’s really Sea Glass cafe, but the town usually just calls it Parker’s Cafe.”
Blake looked a bit dazed as he took in all the information she was throwing at him.“And Heather and Jesse? They dated?”Blake tossed a shell from hand to hand, still trying his best to look nonchalant, and still not fooling her.
She frowned, unsure how to answer.“I really don’t think they did. I mean, they obviously slept together because—”She paused and pointed to him.“You know, you exist.”She grinned.“But I think they were always just really good friends. Until a few years back, and then they weren’t. I’m not sure of the whole story.”
“That’s more than anyone else has told me.”
“Have you asked Jesse?”
“He doesn’t really like to talk about Heather. He’s really mad at her. I mean, I don’t blame him since she kept me a secret from him all those years ago. I wonder why she did that?”
“I don’t know. She was young when she had you. Only a couple of years older than I am now. And like I said, her father was a creep and she and her mother weren’t close. Evelyn just let Darren roll right over her and did what he said. Never stood up to him. And from what I hear, it was just constant criticism of Heather while she was growing up.”She glanced up as a pair of pelicans swooped by, then turned back to Blake.“I can’t imagine. Because Mom and I are so close. And my grandmother helped my mom raise me. They are like my biggest supporters.”
“My mom was great, too. We were close.”His eyes clouded.
“I bet you miss her a lot.”
“I do. It seems strange to live in this world without her. And living with my aunt has just been so different. She doesn’t really like having me around, so I try to stay out of the house as much as possible. I haven’t really made any friends there yet. Most of the kids have grown up there their whole lives and have their own little groups of friends. I tried out for the baseball team thinking I might make some friends, but I got cut. I wasn’t surprised though. I hadn’t played for two years. I quit my team when my mom got sick. I needed to be home more for her.”
She couldn’t imagine the life he’d had. So different from hers. At least it sounded like he’d had a great mom adopt him.“But, so Jesse’s cool, right?”
“Yeah, he’s great. I hope I’m not causing him too much trouble. And I need to find a job if I’m staying here a bit. I need to get some money to pay him back for legal bills.”
“I bet he’s not expecting you to do that.”
“But I want to.”
“I’m sure we could use help at Parker’s. Either in the general store or the cafe.”
“Really?”His eyes lit up with relief and gratitude.
