Page 73 of An Island Summer
As Meghan parked the car, Toby got out.
“I’ll just go tend to Charlie,” Tess said, shutting the car door and jogging up the steps to the house, leaving Meghan to face Toby.
He took a step toward her. “Hi.”
She smiled up at him, all the saliva leaving her mouth. She hadn’t realized until that moment how hollow she’d felt without those blue eyes on her.
“The security cameras caught you sneaking around the premises of Rosewood Manor,” he said, although it seemed like there was much more he wanted to say.
“What are you talking about?” She played dumb, hoping he couldn’t tell that she was lying through her teeth.
The corners of his mouth twitched upward. “I saw you on the surveillance video.”
Meghan sucked in a tiny breath.Busted.“Well, I’m not a trained snooper,” she admitted.
“Clearly not,” he teased back. But then, he sobered. “Our legal team advised that you not speak to me or my grandfather until they can fully investigate the inheritance issue.” He took a step toward her. “I wouldn’t keep Gramps from you or you from him, but I’m caught in a very difficult situation.” His eyes found hers, a storm brewing in them, ripping her heart out.
“Please, tell me this has nothing to do with the rumors,” she said.
He shook his head as if in disbelief and took a step back from her. “I need to go. I’m not supposed to be here.” Without another word, he got into his car and drove away, leaving Meghan standing alone in the drive, wanting to run after him but not knowing how to make this all better, feeling utterly lost.
TWENTY-SIX
“We can route these vents to either wall,” the contractor said over the buzz of a saw, pointing to the floor in Pappy’s living room as Meghan attempted to focus on what he was saying. “Do you want them under the windows by the front of the house or on the wall by the kitchen, over here?” The man’s boots made large dusty prints across Pappy’s hardwoods, the house in complete disarray.
“Let’s do it by the front windows,” Meghan replied, shaking her head discreetly at Tess. Tess seemed to guess right away that Meghan was overwhelmed by the sight of Pappy’s house and offered an empathetic smile.
“All right, by the windows it is.” The man joined the others, who were all finishing up for the evening.
Meghan clicked a switch on the wall, and the lights to the kitchen came on. “Looks like the electrician’s almost finished,” she said to Tess, trying to look on the bright side, her pleasant expression hiding the stress that the bill would be due upon completion. She turned toward the front door, unable to look at it anymore. “We should check on Charlie.”
Leaving the construction behind, Meghan opened the door and led the two of them outside where Charlie was loping through the grass and onto the pier, kicking up sand.
“Look at him,” Meghan said. “He worries about nothing.”
“It would be nice to be a dog,” Tess said. “Apart from having to do my business in the rain and snow…”
“Small price to pay for the rest of your life being like that.” Meghan pointed to the dog as he sailed through the air after a butterfly, coming down with a thud.
Tess laughed, the two of them sitting on the front porch in silence for a while. The buzzing had stopped and the trucks were pulling away, the last of the contractors letting themselves out the back to go home for the night.
“I really don’t mind fronting the money for the repairs,” Tess said. “You can pay me back. I know you’re good for it.” She twisted around to face Meghan. “And if you don’t, I know where you live,” she teased.
Meghan rubbed the knot in her shoulder. “I hate to ask…” The truth was, she’d do everything in her power to pay her friend back, but it would take time, and she was nearly sure that the bill would drain Tess’s savings. What would Tess do ifsheneeded the money for something? Meghan would feel terrible.
“You’ve gotten nowhere with finding Hester’s will?”
Meghan shook her head and let out a loud breath. “No. All I have to go on is Rupert’s recollection that it’s in a desk, which doesn’t give me much.”
“It’s too bad that you can’t see Toby. As much of a headcase as I thought he was, something told me the two of you would somehow find your way to one another.”
“It’s the romantic in you,” Meghan said, although she couldn’t deny the loss that swarmed her when she considered that she wouldn’t be spending time with Toby anymore.
Charlie bounded up to them with a piece of driftwood in his mouth.
“What did you find?” Meghan asked, allowing a little grin of affection to surface through her tension. The dog wagged his tail furiously, pulling away when she tried to grab it. He dodged her once more and ran back off, all the way down to the beach where he dove into the waves.
“That looks like a great idea,” Tess said.
