Sunset

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Brynn

On the way to Jasper’s mom’s house, I start to wonder, if I can get out of this meeting. Lin doesn’t need me, because Kade hasn’t been as much of a diva, as we were expecting, but Mrs. Adams doesn’t know that. Or I can say a pipe burst in a guest room. No, she’d send someone over to help fix it.

Each time I have an idea to get out of lunch, I know she has a way to take care of it. So, as I pull into her driveway, I’ve resigned myself to the lunch.

The town is a bit busier today, as everyone is still talking about the bridge that was washed out in the storm the other day. The bridge is our one way on and off the island. The town is split, as some are happy we are isolated from the mainland for a bit, and the other half are pissed they can’t get off the island.

Supply wise we are fine, and we have a medical clinic if needed. Anything else major, the coast guard will airlift the person out. The county is working to get the bridge mess cleaned up and assess what can be reused.

This means Kade is trapped here awhile longer, too. Oh, joy. Poor Lin. I sigh and glance up at the house in front of me.

I have so many memories at this house. Dinners with his family, spending time together, when his parents were working, study groups meeting here, and make out sessions in this driveway. They all assault me, as I stare at the classic white Cape Cod house with its black gabled roof, dormers, and shingle siding.

I step out of my car at the same time Mrs. Adams comes out of the front door.

“Come on, child. Lunch is waiting. We don’t have all day for you to sit and stare at the old place.” She says from her porch with a huge smile on her face.

Just like that, I’m eighteen again, as I run up the walkway to hug her. She’s the closest thing I have to a mom right now, but with Jasper back in town, everything is changing.

“Let me get a look at you.” She says, as she steps back and holds onto my upper arms.

“Too skinny as always, and still wearing those cut-off shorts that show off your legs. Men like a nice set of legs. Your boobs are a bit bigger too, or you’ve got a great push up bra.”

“Mrs. Adams!” I gasp in fake shock.

“Oh no, dear. You call me Lisa.”

“Okay, Lisa. It’s my turn to take a look at you.” I smile, as she stands up straight ready for inspection.

“Mmm, I think you have gotten an inch taller, or I shrunk! Still have those same curls in your hair, and you don’t look a day over thirty-five. I don’t know how you do it!”

“Oh, posh. Inside with you!” She laughs.

She does look good for her age. Her dark, blonde hair has gray in it now, and she has a few more laugh lines, but she has always been a few inches shorter than me with a stocky build. She says it’s from all the southern cooking her husband made her eat. Without her morning walks, she’d be the size of a whale. Her words, not mine.

As I walk into the house, I can tell not much has changed. I take my shoes off in the foyer. Since we’re a beach town, when you enter anyone’s house, it’s shoes off to keep the sand in the house to a minimum. It’s just good manners.

The glass French doors open into the living room. There are more family pictures on the wall, and it has new furniture, but all in the same spots. She has redecorated, but all in all, it looks much the same.

I follow her into the kitchen that has been completely redone.

“Wow.” I gasp, as I take it all in.

“Oh, yes. You haven’t been here, since Samuel renovated it. It was right after Jasper left. The stove broke, and he demanded we have a chef’s kitchen, since we had two chefs in the family, then. I agreed, and we ate at the restaurant for a month, while it was being done.” She shakes her head.

I run my hands over the white granite tops, taking in the white cabinets.

“It has to be hard to keep clean.” I think out loud.

“Not as bad as you think. Samuel insisted on some cabinets with dirt resistant something. You know he went on for an hour on how easy it would be to clean them. I finally agreed just to get him to change the subject!” She laughs, but there’s a bit of sadness there, too.

“I’m so sorry,” I say, and she just waves her hand at me and turns to pull the pitcher of sweet tea from the large stainless-steel fridge.

“It’s God’s plan, and it’s brought my Jasper home to me, so I’m thankful for that. But today, is not about bringing up old memories.” She says, handing me a platter with her famous sandwiches and cookies on it, as I follow her to the already set dining area.

They have a formal dining room, but they always eat in this dining nook. It has a u-shaped bench seat surrounded by windows on three sides, and a few chairs on the fourth side. It’s both comfy and welcoming.

“Now, dear, you know there are no secrets in this town.” She gives me her mom look.

I sigh, “I will apologize to Jasper about the kiwis.” I say, as I take a sandwich and some cookies onto my plate.

She pours me some sweet tea, and then sets the pitcher down.

“You will do no such thing. That boy deserved it!” She says to my shock.

I can’t help it, as I burst out laughing.

“Now, tell me what’s new with you and Lin?” She says.

We spend a few minutes going on about changes at The Inn. I’m careful not to mention Kade staying there, or anything outlined in the non-disclosure I had to sign.

“Now, I heard that Lin gave a bunch of her employees two weeks paid vacation spur of the moment. Is everything okay?” She asks.

Shoot, I don’t want to lie to her, but I’m under a non-disclosure and don’t have a choice.

“Oh, yes. She decided to do some last-minute renovations, before the season starts, and since her employees hadn’t taken time off this year, she thought it was good timing.” I recite the spiel Lin and I worked on for when people in town started asking questions.

Lisa seems to buy it, as we finish up our first sandwich and each take a second one.

“You know, Jasper is trying to come to terms with his dad’s death. He hates he wasn’t here.” Lisa says.

“He couldn’t have known he’d have a heart attack like that,” I tell her.

“That’s what I’ve been telling him. He dropped everything to come home as soon as he heard, but by the time he got here, his dad was gone.” Lisa’s eyes get a bit misty.

“You know, a few weeks after he moved home, he got drunk one night after dinner, and we were talking, and he went on and on about how he now understands how you felt, and how much he hates himself for the way he treated you. He said he should have moved home right away and all sorts of other stuff.”

I don’t know what to say, so I just shake my head and play with the cookies on my plate.

“He never told me the details behind you two breaking up, you know. I can guess, but he never talked about it.” She says, looking at me. I know this is her gentle nudge to get the details, and I guess, she does deserve them.

“Ahhh, there isn’t some big mystery. You know my dad got sick with the flu and ended up in the hospital right when Jasper and I had plans to move away. I said I didn’t want to leave, while my dad was sick and asked him to put off moving for a week or two. He said he couldn’t, because of the job he had lined up. I told him to go, and I’d meet him there as soon as my dad was better, and he agreed. We talked every night, and sometimes even during the day.” I pause, thinking of those times.

“Then, I remember my dad got home, but he still wasn’t able to run The Inn, and I was helping my mom out, so I decided to stay a bit longer. Lin agreed that I should stay and help out. That night I told Jasper, and we fought. He blamed Lin for getting it in my head that I needed to be here, when I didn’t. I was so mad that he wanted me to leave my dad, while he still wasn’t back on his feet, and Jasper said I should think about what was more important. So, I hung up on him, because there was no question that my dad was more important.”

“I raised him better than that,” she shakes her head.

“It was hard handling the long distance. I didn’t want to be away from him any more than he wanted to be away from me, and I think he just pinned the anger on Lin, so he didn’t pin it on me. Anyway, he called a week later, asking when I was moving out. I said I wasn’t, because the answer to his last question was that my family will always be more important. Then, we hung up. I guess, I expected the big romantic gesture you see in the movies, but one week turned to two, and then it turned into a month. Then, my parents died, and I still held out that he’d come home, after the funeral, but I never heard from him.”

“I think he was waiting on you to show up on his doorstep. He never stopped asking about you. Especially, after your parents died, and we were helping you girls get everything organized. You know, he was at the funeral, too.”

“Yeah, we talked for a moment. I told him there was no way I could move now, and that I was going to run The Inn. That was when I knew it was the end, because he said he wasn’t ready to move home. I still hoped, though.” I admit.

“You haven’t dated since then though, have you?” She asks.

“I have been out on dates, but they all sucked, or we didn’t have any sparks. So, no, nothing more than one or two dates.” I tell her.

“Jasper hasn’t dated either. Nothing he’s told me about, or anything on his social media. A mother always stalks her child’s social media.” She winks at me, letting me know she stalks mine, too. Though, mine is The Inn’s and not a personal one.

We finish eating, and she sits back in her chair.

“There’s something else you aren’t telling me. I can see it in your eyes.” She narrows her eyes at me.

“Fine! My chef at The Inn quit. He got selected to go on some reality TV show out in Hollywood and just left. I begged him to stay on, until the bridge reopened, so I could get someone else out here, but he refused, saying he plans to watch all the old episodes, so he can strategize. Lin says we should watch the show, because she thinks he will fail epically. I also told him don’t come to me for a reference. He’s so sure he’s going to win. If he doesn’t, there will be four years he will have to leave off his resume with me, because I’ll tell them exactly how he left.”

“Serves him right!” She says.

“You don’t happen to know any unemployed chefs on the island right now, do you?” I sigh. “Between Lin, me, and my kitchen staff, we can do a limited menu, but it won’t be great.”

“I actually do know someone. I will call as soon as we are done and see if they are willing to help. In fact, I know I can twist their arm!”

I should have known by the gleam in her eyes that this would be trouble.

When will I ever learn?