Page 19 of Echoes at Driftwood Cottage

“It sounds like the two of you were close. But I’m not going on the water,” she insisted. “I don’t doubt you love it, but I’m not a boat person.”

“Did you have a bad experience or something?”

She thought of all the nightmares she’d experienced since childhood and grimaced. “Other than screaming the house down when Gwynn tried to coax me into a swimming pool with her coked-out friends? Nope.”

Ready to change the topic, he let out a sigh and glanced at the wall clock above the table. “It’s not even eight o’clock yet. How about we table this discussion for now?”

“Fine. I’ll stay put and see how much unpacking I get done in four hours. Don’t you open up at noon, though?”

“Yeah. We get a lot of traffic from the after-church crowd around that time. But Kiki has agreed to take an extra shift today. She could use the dough. She and her boyfriend are planning a trip to Big Sur to visit an aunt or some distant relative. She needs the extra cash for gas.”

“How old is Kiki?”

“She’s seventeen but graduated high school last December after taking vocational classes. I’ve tried pushing her toward college, but she’s not the least bit interested. How’d you know you were a graphics designer?”

She glanced at the clock again. “I don’t think you have time to hear another chapter out of my life story. But I’ve always been good at drawing. You know, the old-fashioned doodling on paper kind before morphing to canvas. But for some strange reason, the pay is better when it’s done on a laptop using a software app. Go figure.”

“You do book covers, advertising, and marketing, right?” He stood up and started to clear the dishes.

“What are you doing? I’ve got this. Go. Get out of here. Get your ice cream blended. You don’t want to disappoint the kids if they can’t get their chocolate fix.”

“Who says it’s just kids? I get more adults that need a chocolate fix than I do children.” He went over to the kitchen counter and snapped the lid shut on his laptop. He tucked it under his arm and bent to give her a kiss. “I’ll text you when I’m all squared away. Maybe we’ll just take in a movie at The Driftwood.”

Rowan noted he didn’t sound overjoyed at spending his Sunday afternoon in a dark movie theater versus sunbathing on the deck of his boat. “Let’s just play it by ear, shall we?”

“Sure.”

“Thanks for breakfast,” she hollered right before he hurried out the back door. “And make more lavender ice cream!”

“I heard that,” he called out as he bounded down the steps.

Left alone, she sat there sipping her coffee. Why were all the guys she met married to their boats? “Or surfboards,” she said aloud, remembering a certain surfer who was the sweetest, nicest guy, except when it came to understanding her fear of water.

She got up to carry the dishes to the sink and began rinsing them off. Gran had never bothered to get a dishwasher, but thanks to the upgrade to the kitchen four months ago, Rowan had one now. She loaded the plates and the pans Daniel had used into the belly of the appliance and hit the start button. “Music to my ears.”

She whirled around to see Scott standing next to the table. “You really need to stop doing that! How many people have you given a heart attack by scaring them to death, appearing out of nowhere?”

“Touchy, aren’t we?”

“I’m not. Couldn’t you give a shoutout next time or maybe rattle a chain?”

“Like I haven’t heard that one before. Why are you so afraid of the water?”

“Not you, too. Isn’t it enough that I’ve had to put up with people making fun of my phobia. For as long as I can remember I’ve been afraid of the water. What’s the big deal?”

Scott stuck his hands in the pockets of his khaki shorts and pondered that. “Have you ever tried to get to the bottom of your nightmares?”

“No. Why should I? It doesn’t bother me like it seems to bother everyone else.”

“Did it bother your grandmother?”

Rowan lifted her shoulder. “Gran accepted it as a quirky part of who I am. Why the questions? I have more important things to think about than riding around in Daniel’s boat. But I have a few for you. You’ve been around town for a long time. Why the sudden interest in me? Why didn’t you show me that gravesite before I left for San Diego? Why show it to me now and then not do anything more to help me figure out why it’s there?”

“First, you were a kid back then. You wouldn’t have been able to handle knowing it existed with your name on it.”

“Says who? In case you haven’t noticed, I had to grow up pretty fast with a mother like Gwynn. If I’d known about it sooner, I could’ve asked Gran for an explanation. Did she know about that particular Rowan Eaton and how she died?”

Frustration had Scott scrubbing his hands over his face. “The short answer is yes. She’s known the truth since the beginning.”

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