Which could mean only one thing. The judge had reached a verdict. And it didn’t sound like it had gone in Julia’s favor.
As soon as she got in the car, Ginny called Wendell. Each time it went to voicemail. Finally, she drove over to the farmhouse straight from work to look for him. But his truck was not in the driveway. When she drove through the village center, she didn’t see it parked in any of the places he might be. She even tried the Spigot, the old dive bar that he used to frequent when he came home from Afghanistan. She was relieved not to see his truck in the parking lot.
Just as she was pulling out, her phone rang. It was a local number, but she didn’t recognize it. “Ginny? It’s Gail Hawthorne calling from town hall. I wanted to reach you before I left work for the day, if now is a good time.”
There was something different about Gail’s tone. “Now is good,” Ginny said.
“I may have found something. After you brought up the Wetlands Commission, it triggered some memories. I knew something had gone on in town years ago, but I couldn’t recall the details. So I pulled the files of the properties abutting White Pines.”
“That was smart,” Ginny said, wishing she’d thought of that herself.
“Turns out there was an application back in the eighties to expand some farm buildings on one the of the lots neighboring White Pines. The application was denied because of a turtle species they discovered.”
“A turtle?” Ginny almost laughed.
“Apparently, a turtle that was on the state endangered species list was found up there. They were a protected species at the time, and the whole project was halted as a result.”
Ginny grabbed a pad of paper from her bag on the passenger seat. “Can you tell me what species is was?”
“The red spotted turtle. That rang another bell, and I looked it up online. As it turns out, by the eighties, their population had made enough of a comeback that they were taken off the list. When some meadows in town were bought for development, there was a big hoopla. Even the first selectman got involved.”
Ginny exhaled. “Alder Combs?” That was Wendell’s father.
“That’s him. He tried to make a case that the species was still too fragile, but the town pushed ahead and the DEP okayed it. The story goes on from there, since they ended up being back on the endangered list after that, but I can send you the links if you’d like.”
“Please do.” Ginny’s heart raced. “Gail, do you happen to know if those turtles are still on the endangered list for the state?”
“Sorry, honey. I’m a town clerk, not a wildlife biologist.”
Ginny laughed. “You’ve done more than enough. Thank you.”
“You bet. I’ll email you the rest.”
When she hung up, Ginny let the car idle a long time as she tried to piece together all Gail had shared. Just because the turtles had been an issue back in the eighties didn’t mean they would be now. And there was no indication that the turtles even lived on White Pines property. But given what she’d seen of Scooter Dunham during the commission walk, and what she’d heard between him and Candace, she thought it was enough to delve into. Now she had even more need to find Wendell.
She tried his phone once more, but there was no answer. By then she was tired, her clothes were rumpled, and she wanted nothing more than to go home to the cottage and grill something for dinner on the deck. Pour herself a much-needed glass of wine.
There was already a vehicle in her driveway when she pulled in. Wendell opened the truck door and got out just as she pulledup next to him. “There’s something I have to tell you,” she said. “I think something is going on…”
Wendell circled around to her door and reached for her hand. Instead of just helping her out, he pulled her. Right up against him. “There’s something I have to tell you, too. But first I have to do this.”
Then Wendell’s mouth was on hers. Ginny dropped her bag in the driveway and threw both arms around his neck. They kissed with an urgency she hadn’t thought possible. They paused only once, when Wendell kicked her car door closed with the toe of his boot. Then, still kissing the whole way, they stumbled to her front door. Once inside, they halted in the doorway, out of breath.
Over Wendell’s shoulder she spied her bag still lying in the driveway. Her unlocked car. She pushed the door closed, anyway.
Then, very slowly, Wendell pulled her up against him.
“Ginny,” he whispered, pressing his lips to the nape of her neck. Running his hands up the back of her shirt. She shuddered beneath the swirl of his fingertips.
“Wait.” She stepped back and very slowly unbuttoned his shirt, running her hands across the breadth of his chest and down the washboard of his abdomen. The man before her was not the same boy she’d loved in high school. There was a strength and solidity to him that was wholly new to her, and yet Wendell still felt so familiar. So safe.
Wendell cupped her chin and kissed her. “Ginny, please.”
“Yes,” she said.
The years between them melted away as they slipped beneath her sheets. Wendell moved artfully, savoring every inch of her skin. With his fingertips, his mouth. He moved over her like water, lapping the edge of the shore, flooding her senses until she cried out. Afterward, they lay in each other’s arms, holding on to one another.
“I don’t remember it ever feeling like that,” Ginny whispered.
