Page 97 of Drawing Home
Their main courses arrived on brightly colored plates, the food artfully arranged.
They ate in companionable silence. There was something to be said for being with someone your own age at your own stage in life. Certain things were just unspoken. Even though the two of them had no shared history, there was the illusion of it. Spending eight or so decades on earth was a bit of a club. So was loss. And, though she wouldn’t admit it, so was loneliness.
“So how is your treasure hunt going?” Angus asked. “Are you finding what you’re looking for?”
“I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for,” she said. “I have a bit of a mystery on my hands.”
“Have you considered the possibility that you are on a wild-goose chase? That Henry Wyatt left his house to Penny and that’s the end of the story?”
“I know that would be quite convenient for you. But no. Henry did everything by design. He would not casually drop his work all around town; at the end of his career, he didn’t even want to share his work with me. And I refuse to believe he’d make this decision about his estate. I’m missing something. But I’m going to find it.”
He sighed, reaching for his glass of wine. “I wish this whole thing had never happened. I don’t see the inheritance as a positive turn of events. I guarantee Emma’s ex-husband would not be fighting for custody if it weren’t for that house. Now she might lose the most important thing in the world to her. It’s terrible.”
Bea suddenly found it difficult to swallow. She placed her fork down on her plate, thankful for the distraction of the fireworks—an excuse to look away from Angus.
The sky erupted in a sequence of red, white, and blue hearts for the grand finale, and Kyle reached for Emma’s hand. Surprised, Emma looked at him, and he smiled.
“That was amazing!” Penny said. Alexis and Sean decided that was the best fireworks show yet, then admitted they said that every year.
Emma folded up the blanket and Kyle offered to carry it for her.
They all made their way slowly through the bottleneck of people heading for Main Street. Emma put an arm around Penny so she didn’t get jostled and knocked over by the crowd.
“Can we go to BuddhaBerry?” Penny said.
“I don’t know,” Emma said. “It’s late and the line is going to be out the door.” With the way Penny hobbled along, especially with so many people around, it would take a half an hour just to get there.
“You and I could walk up ahead to get in line,” Kyle suggested to Emma.
“Yes, you two go ahead. We’ll catch up,” Alexis said with a wink.
Kyle didn’t give Emma a chance to say no. He took her by the hand and guided her through the throng streaming toward the shops and restaurants. She didn’t know exactly what to do about the hand-holding situation, so she decided to just let it be. For half a minute, all was right with her universe. Then they got to the hotel.
The American Hotel’s outdoor tables were full, the lobby crowd spilling out onto the patio. She could only imagine what a mob scene it was inside at the bar. The Fourth was one of their biggest nights of the year. Oh, how she missed everyone!
“Do you want to go in for a minute?” Kyle asked.
“I have such mixed feelings,” she said. “I’d like to see everyone, but—”
Jack Blake appeared on the patio and spotted her at the same instant she saw him. There was no slinking away.
“Happy Fourth!” he called out jovially.
She introduced him to Kyle and they made small talk. With each breath she was tempted to blurt out,I want my job back.But she couldn’t guarantee that she’d have the focus and calm he needed from her, not when Penny couldn’t get around by herself, not with the legal battle ahead of her. It was bad enough that she’d let him down once. She didn’t want to make promises she couldn’t keep. She hoped there was a day when her life would be back to normal. Whenshewould be back to normal. She couldn’t imagine it.
“Come inside, have a drink,” Jack said.
“Oh, thanks, but we have to—”
Kyle touched her arm. “I’ll text Sean. It’s fine,” he said with a wink.
The energy in the lobby was heightened in the way it was only three times a year, the other two being Christmas and New Year’s. From behind the front desk—her desk!—the assistant manager gave a friendly wave. Fighting a sharp pang of regret, she let Kyle take her hand again as they threaded their way through the crowd toward the bar. They didn’t get very far and ended up standing under the moose head. Someone had stuck a mini–American flag in its mouth.
“What’re you having?” Kyle asked.
“Um, dirty martini. With Tito’s. Thanks.” She checked her phone.Penny’s fine. Relax.
She probably should have been the one to order the drinks. It would have been easier for her to get Chris’s attention on a night like this. She looked around for Kyle but couldn’t see him.
