The Summer Sand Pact, Chapter 3
*Women's fiction *Five Island Cove novel *Heartwarming friendship fiction *Beach reads
Eloise kept her hand on Kelli’s lower back, who likewise followed Parker into the kitchen. “Mom,” the boy said, “What’s happening?”
“It’s going to be okay,” Eloise said. She pressed on Kelli’s back to keep her moving past the long table in the dining room, and past the peninsula that jutted out from the wall. “Let’s go into the bedroom, Kelli.”
Kelli turned down the hall that led to Alice’s master suite, and Eloise tried to calm her rapidly beating heart by taking a deep breath. She taught biology for a living, and that didn’t include strangers following anyone and ringing the doorbell three times.
With Kelli and Parker safely in the bedroom, she turned back to the kitchen as the last chime of the bell faded into silence.
“What’s going on?” Alice asked as she stepped through the back door. She wore a bikini top and a flimsy piece of fabric that she’d called a skirt but that Eloise suspected was a scarf about her waist. “The doorbell has rung several times.”
“Aaron’s handling it,” Eloise said, gesturing for Alice to come toward her. She needed to explain quickly, but she also wanted to listen to what was happening on the porch. “Get in, get in.” She spoke in an urgent enough voice that Alice did what she said without asking why.
Robin and her two daughters followed, and Robin demanded to know what was going on. Eloise stepped over to the mouth of the hallway and said, “Shh. If you go in the bedroom, Kelli will explain.”
She waited for the women and girls to file past her, and then she hurried to the edge of the wall, pressing her palm flat against the smooth texture and straining to hear. She couldn’t, and she employed all the bravery she possessed to make herself step around the corner.
“What’s happening, honey?” she asked as if she and Aaron owned this home. In reality, at least five of her brownstones would fit inside this mansion on the edge of the world. As if the views of the ocean and beaches and islands wasn’t magnificent enough, Alice had a pool only steps out the back door.
“This man says he knows Kelli,” Aaron said, lifting his arm and draping it around Eloise’s shoulders. A warmth moved through her, and she looked up at him. He wasn’t smiling, and he didn’t seem impressed.
She looked back at the man standing on the porch. He sported short, sandy-blond hair, along with a pair of dark blue eyes that reminded her of the depths of the ocean. They sparked the way sunlight might glint off undulating water with an unyielding intensity—just like the sun.
Eloise shivered, and Aaron’s hand on her shoulder tightened. “What’s your name?” she asked. “I mean, I grew up with Kelli. Did you grow up here?”
“No,” the man said.
“He won’t give his name.” Aaron shifted his feet, and that sent another round of nerves through Eloise. “I’ve advised him that I’m a police officer, and he’s not coming inside this house.”
“I just want to talk to her,” the man said. “For a minute.”
“I don’t think that’s happening,” Aaron said, squaring his shoulders and glaring at the guy on the front porch. “She’s scared, as she has a right to be. You’ve followed her all the way from New Jersey.”
Eloise looked back at the man, trying to see more in his face. She considered herself a good judge of character, because she worked with a lot of young people who would just as easily lie to save themselves from getting a bad grade as they would breathe. She could tell this man didn’t like Aaron’s alpha attitude, and he emanated strength from his expression too.
“I can wait.”
“I’ve already called for backup,” Aaron said. “You can’t wait on the property.”
The man stood there, his jaw muscle working. “Fine,” he bit out through clenched teeth. He backed up one step, then another, and Eloise thought he’d fall backward down the steps. But he spun on a dime and went down the steps, muttering something under his breath that Eloise couldn’t hear.
He marched down the sidewalk to the road, where his suitcase still waited.
“Come on, Eloise,” Aaron said quietly, drawing Eloise back into the house. She hadn’t even realized she’d inched out onto the porch.
“Get her bag, Aaron,” she said.
Aaron reached for Kelli’s suitcase and brought it into the house, setting in in the foyer before closing the door. He twisted the deadbolt and looked at her. Eloise knew she was streaming her nerves from her eyes, but she didn’t know how to turn it off.
“He can’t come in,” he assured her. But he didn’t smile, and he glanced toward the cavernous back of the house. “Where are my girls?”
“They were out at the pool,” Eloise said, her pulse leaping over itself. She started that way, because Robin had come in with her two girls, but Aaron’s kids hadn’t. “I’m sorry, Aaron.” She still wasn’t used to thinking about Billie and Grace, though she enjoyed it when Aaron brought his girls with him.
“I’m sure they’re fine,” Aaron said, following her. Eloise couldn’t get to the back door fast enough, because Alice’s house was so dang big. She finally made it, peering through the glass before she opened the door.
“They’re out here.” She got the door open and the squeals of one of the girls lifted into the air. Charlie, Alice’s son, laughed with his sister, and everyone seemed to be having a great time. AJ lounged on a chaise a few feet away, a pair of sunglasses covering her eyes so Eloise couldn’t tell if she was awake or asleep.
Probably asleep. AJ had arrived a day early, as had Eloise, and she’d shown up with one suitcase filled with only swimming suits and skimpy tank tops, and another with fruity wine coolers.
She claimed they just gave her a buzz, but Eloise wanted to know why AJ needed the buzz in the first place. She hadn’t drunk much when she was here for Joel’s funeral, so something had definitely changed in the past two months.
Kelli was the closest one to AJ, but she had her own set of problems right now. Eloise sat on the end of the chaise, hoping she wouldn’t topple it, while Aaron called to his girls that it was time to come in.
“You too, guys,” he said to the twins.
“AJ,” Eloise said, reaching out and touching the woman’s slim leg. She had an athlete’s body, all these years later.
AJ moaned, but she shifted and raised her head. “Eloise.” The word barely left her mouth, so Eloise wasn’t sure if it was slurred or not. “Time for dinner?”
“Almost,” Eloise said, though she hadn’t completed the order for pizza. She’d been right in the middle of tapping and adding extra cheese when Kelli had arrived. “But it’s definitely time to come in. You’re going to get fried out here.”
AJ grinned and sat up. “Okay. Did you get the mushroom and spinach Alfredo?”
“Almost,” Eloise said again, watching Aaron herd the children into the house. “Listen, are you okay?” She felt AJ’s irritation, but as she tried to push herself up, her hand slipped and she fell back against the chaise.
“I’m fine,” she said.
“I didn’t know you were a drinker,” Eloise said, trying to be as kind as possible. “Kelli just got here, and someone followed her, and she’s pretty freaked out.” They all were, and she couldn’t imagine what Robin was doing in that bedroom. A natural worrier, Robin had probably run through a dozen scenarios by now. She’d have taken pictures of the man through the blinds, and she’d sit Kelli down and show them to her, asking her if she recognized him.
To Eloise, it was obvious that Kelli didn’t recognize the man.
“Someone followed her?” AJ succeeded in getting herself all the way upright, and she reached up to run her hands through her hair.
“Yes,” Eloise said. “You two are close, and I think we should go see what’s going on with her.”
AJ nodded, but she didn’t move again. Eloise stood so she could put her legs over the side of the chaise.
“AJ,” Eloise said again. “I’m invoking the summer sand pact.”
“Already?”
“Well, you’re not talking.” Eloise cocked her head at the other woman. “So, according to the pact, you have to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”
“What if I deny?” AJ said. “And pull out the safety card?”
Eloise started nodding. “Sure, you could do that.” Part of the pact afforded everyone the gift of safety from the storms of their lives. They could shelter in the cove for two weeks and keep their secrets, avoid questions, and just absorb the support and sisterhood from their best friends.
“I’m going to,” AJ said. “For right now.” She pushed herself to her feet. “Let’s go see what’s happening with Kelli. I know she was having trouble even getting out the door to be here.”
Eloise hadn’t known that, but she pushed against the feeling that she’d been left out of something important among the friends. There were five of them, and while they all got along really well, it was natural to have closer relationships with certain people.
The problem was, Eloise felt like she was the fifth wheel. Alice and Robin had a unique relationship, and so did Kelli and AJ. Eloise had always had a much harder time bonding with other women, even as a teenager. In all honesty, if she hadn’t been in the Seafaring Girls with the other four women, she wouldn’t have been friends with them.
Sometimes, she’d found herself spending time with Kristen and Joel, which was why she’d grown so close to them.
Foolishness raced through her, because Joel had betrayed something deep inside her that was still fractured. She’d returned to Boston, expecting to find her place there like she always had in the past.
But she’d been just as uncomfortable there as she had in the cove for the funeral. The only place she didn’t feel like she didn’t belong was with Aaron Sherman. At the same time, she knew their relationship was moving at a snail’s pace. Familiar frustration moved through her as she followed AJ into the house, sticking a little too close to her to make sure she didn’t stumble backward.
Kelli and the others had left the bedroom, and everyone now sat at the dining room table.
“Did you order the pizza?” Robin asked, and Eloise shook her head.
“I got interrupted. I’ll do it now.” She pulled out her phone and continued her order, glad she wouldn’t have to be in charge of a meal for another few days. They’d made a schedule last night, involving Kelli via a video chat. Breakfast and lunch wouldn’t be huge affairs, unless Robin wanted to make her chocolate chip pancakes. Everyone had brought their own groceries for those meals, and a lot of their days would be spent at the beach, where food trucks tended to gather during the busy summer months.
But dinner would be provided by one of the women staying at the house. They’d feed everyone, and they could order in or cook. Eloise had decided to do pizza and salad, but all she had to do for that was open a few bags, set out dressing bottles, and chop up a couple of cucumbers.
“I don’t know,” Kelli said. “I’d never seen him before.”
The doorbell rang, and immediately following the initial chime, a heavy fist banged on the door. Kelli sucked in a breath, and everyone in the room looked toward the opening that led to the front door.
“It’s my guy,” Aaron said, striding toward the door. Eloise was one of the closest to the door, and she stepped back so she could see the front door as her boyfriend opened it. Sure enough, a tall man stood there in a police officer uniform, and he spoke to Aaron in a low voice. They both looked back toward the kitchen, and Aaron motioned for Eloise to join him.
“Eloise,” Kelli said.
“It’s okay,” she said. “I’ll be right back.” She walked toward Aaron, her curiosity warring with her insecurity.
“Eloise,” he said. “Dave says he talked to that guy out there.” He swallowed, and Eloise didn’t like that. “Tell her, Dave.”
“His name is Zach Watkins, and he says he’s Kelli’s brother.”
Eloise’s brain misfired, and her eyebrows drew down. “Kelli doesn’t have any brothers.” She was the middle child, with a sister older than her and one younger.
“He just wants to come in and explain,” Dave said. “And if Aaron and I stay, maybe he can deliver his piece and then leave you alone.”
Eloise was still trying to process what he’d said the first time. It took her a few seconds to realize both cops were looking at her, clearly waiting for her to give her permission.
“Okay,” she said, numbness spreading through her. She turned and walked away on wooden legs, wondering how Kelli was going to weather this news.