Page 30 of The Magic of Sea Glass
“I’ll send Jackson to get you when she arrives. You’ll want to greet her in the salon. Don’t make her wait; it wouldn’t be good manners.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he answered. Then he excused himself, heading upstairs.
When he reached his bedroom, he closed himself inside and stood there, staring into the darkness through the window. He knew what was expected of him tonight with Alicia. As he turned his gaze back inside the room, it was as if he were a stranger standing there, living a life he didn’t want, and wondering—forever—what could have been.
He went over to his dresser, opened the small drawer and retrieved Penelope’s bracelet. He held it up to view it and then shut his eyes, remembering her olive skin and the dainty wrist that the sea glass beads used to adorn. He gritted his teeth to keep the sadness from returning.
Over the weeks that he’d been at Stanford, Phillip had attempted to rationalize the situation, wondering if perhaps it had been fate stepping in, saving them both from some sort of a disaster. Or maybe Penelope was meant for someone else. And then in the wee hours of the morning, when he’d tossed and turned over it all night, he wondered if she’d even shown up to meet him that day. Could his parents’ actions actually have saved him from even bigger heartbreak? For whatever reason, he and Penelope were denied the chance to be together, and he had to force himself to move on, one painful step at a time.
He moved to his desk, took a seat, and peered out the window at the vast darkness that seemed to stretch on forever, the anger that he had toward his parents, toward the world, only brewing stronger, despite his attempts to justify the situation.
Lost in his thoughts, running the bracelet through his fingers, he wasn’t sure how long he’d been there when their butler, Jackson, knocked and his bedroom door opened.
“Hello, sir,” Jackson said from the other side.
“Come in,” Phillip called.
Jackson took a step in through the open doorway, his squared shoulders prominent in his suit. “Miss Morton and her family are here, sir.”
“All right, thank you. Please tell them I’ll be down in just a minute.” He slipped the bracelet back into his drawer, not yet ready to part with it.
With no other options, he was prepared to resume his duties as heir to his father’s acquisitions company. Maybe, in time, it would all somehow make sense to him. He left his room and paced down the hallway. When he ascended the grand staircase, he met the innocent Alicia Morton, waiting with her gloved hands clasped in front of her tailored beige dress, a string of pearls fastened at her neck.
“It’s so lovely to see you,” she said shyly, her blonde hair pinned into an updo that accentuated her bright blue, unassuming eyes. She was nothing short of stunning, and while she wasn’t the one he loved, he knew from their childhood together that she had a kind heart and a good soul.
He smiled to ease her nerves. “Shall we?” Phillip led her into the salon.
* * *
Rodanthe, North Carolina
“You’ve outdone yourself,” Mary said, as she, Brody, and Lauren went out to admire the finished deck. “It’s just gorgeous.”
“It really is,” Lauren agreed, noticing the craftmanship in the details of the woodworking. Against the bright pink sky at sunset, with the bulb lights strung along the covered roofline overhead, it looked like a postcard.
Brody pridefully folded his arms, peering out at his handiwork. “Thank you.”
“This boy can do anything he sets his mind to,” Mary said to Lauren as she put a hand on Brody’s broad shoulder and patted it. “Did you know that he built an entire cabinet in my closet for me, with shelves, little compartments, and boxes with latches?”
“Wow,” Lauren said.
“She couldn’t reach her shoes the way her closet was configured,” he said, with a chuckle. “Something had to be done about that.”
Mary squeezed his arm, fondly.
Just then an idea occurred to Lauren. “What other type of work are you good at?” she asked him.
Brody turned his attention to her, the late sunshine giving his stubbled face a warm glow. “Minor construction, painting, some electrical work… I’ve held almost every job on the island at some point when I was in my twenties. Why?”
She nodded, her wheels turning. “I’d like to run some ideas by you and get your thoughts. But right now, I suppose we should get inside to greet the dinner crowd.” Lauren consulted her watch for the time.
“No, no, no.” Mary shooed her off. “You’ve worked enough, and you must be starving. Grab a seat in the dining room with the guests and let me take over for the evening.”
Lauren still didn’t feel terribly comfortable eating dinner with everyone, and she was about to say so, when she noticed Brody regarding her.
“She doesn’t like to eat in crowds,” he said to Mary but his gaze was still on Lauren. “I can get you dinner.”
“Again?” she asked, wondering if they could fill another evening with idle chitchat. At some point, she’d have to tell him more, and she didn’t really know if she wanted to yet.
