“This is quite a feast,” he remarked as he dug into the stew.
“I hope you enjoy it.”
“Every bite. Seriously, this is even more delicious than I’d fantasized.”
“I’m glad you like it, and I’m glad you suggested it. I don’t usually have company for dinner, and it’s nice after a long week to have someone to talk to over a meal.”
“Did you work before? I don’t remember.”
“I worked for Jim for years. I did some light bookkeeping, followed up with his customers for payments, chatted with the insurance companies he dealt with, that sort of thing. That’s how I reconnected with Jim after high school. He was working for his father—you know his dad owned the agency before Jim took over—and I got a job working for them after I graduated from college. I hadn’t intended on staying in Wyndham Beach, but I needed to do something while I figured out where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do.”
“And the rest is history.”
“Ancient history.” She dug into her salad.
“Well, while we’re talking about ancient history, I remember you from school.”
“You do?”
He nodded. “Oh, yeah. You hung out with Maggie and Emma Harper. You were the one who always stood out with your dark hair all the way down your back and your hippie clothes and your beads and your sassy mouth. I thought you were the coolest girl in your class.”
Liddy laughed. “There are days when that description still fits. Except this”—she touched her braid—“is a lot more silver now. But I appreciate you thinking I was cool.”
“You make silver look cool. You were the cool sophomore girl then, and you’re the cool businesswoman now.”
“Well, thank you. Flattery will get you anywhere.”
He smiled in response. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Liddy finished her salad and started on her stew. Noticing Tuck had finished his stew, she offered seconds. “My head says yes, but my stomach says better not. But thank you. It was delicious. Everything was delicious. Best meal I’ve had in . . . damn, I can’t remember when I’ve had better.”
“Surely someone is cooking out at your place. You all have to eat.”
“Linc does his best to keep up now the kids are with us, and I try to get out on the water to do some fishing, catch something to put on the table once a week. But it’s been a hard adjustment, having little ones in the house again. Linc and I used to be on our jobs by seven, work till we felt like quitting, but now we have kids to get breakfast for in the morning and get them to school on time. In the summer, it was camp. Now it’s school, but it’s over by three, and someone has to be there to pick them up, bring them home, oversee the homework, make dinner. Let them play and be kids. We’re doing the best we can, but that girl of mine sure set a burden on the two of us.” He hastened to add, “Not that we haven’t come to love them, don’t misunderstand. But we were a house of men for years. Then boom. Out of the blue we get this call.” His eyes clouded over, and he fell silent.
Go on, Liddy silently urged him, but he just tapped on the side of his wineglass.
Finally, she couldn’t help herself. “What happened, Tuck?”
“You know, I blame myself for the way Brenda is. I babied her and spoiled her and made excuses for her when I should have been making her take responsibility for her actions right from the start, so I feel a lot of this is on me. You know, you let a kid think she can get away with anything, and pretty soon she believes it. If I could do it over . . .”
“Hindsight’s a bitch, Tuck. Everyone has something they’d do over if they could. And you’re not responsible for the choices your kids make.” Liddy had gone down that rabbit hole, blaming herself for whatever had made her daughter take her life. It had taken eighteen months of counseling for her to accept that while she might never know why Jessie had made that decision, it had been Jess’s to make. And keep in mind, Liddy, everything isn’t always about you, the therapist had said, but it had been months before Liddy had understood what that meant.
“Brenda was always hard to handle, but after her mother died . . .” Tuck shook his head from side to side. “I couldn’t do a thing with her.” He forced a weak smile. “It’s tough raising a family on an island. And yet here we are, doing it all over again. Honestly, it’s a miracle she graduated from high school. College? Out of the question. She took off for Boston right after graduation and I wouldn’t hear from her for months. Then she’d call when she’d gotten into a scrape and needed help. And, of course, I always did what I could for her.”
“Of course you did. She’s your daughter. But what about the kids’ father?”
“Brenda told Linc he’s in prison for drug trafficking. Linc was going to try to find out more, but he’s had his hands full between the kids and work.”
“Did she tell the kids where she was going?”
“She didn’t even tell the kids goodbye. Just put the kids in Linc’s truck and drove off. I’m ashamed to admit she’s my flesh and blood.”
“I can’t even imagine how difficult this has been for all of you.”
“Linc’s borne the brunt of it. He just pitched in, like, ‘Okay, kids, it’s just us now. We’re going to do this thing.’ And he has. I told him he was entitled to say, ‘I told you so,’ but he said that wouldn’t solve anything, wouldn’t bring his sister back or make things better for the kids. So he got them registered for school, helps them with their homework, got them into activities. Duffy and Bliss are in sports. JoJo wanted to take ballet lessons, but Linc was too late signing her up.”
“How’d he register them for school? Didn’t they need their birth certificates?”
“Thoughtful Brenda handed Linc an envelope,” he said dryly. “Along with their medical records, sketchy though they were. Linc got them over to Dr. Clemmons, and she called the pediatrician listed on the vaccination list and filled in the blanks.” He looked her in the eyes and said, “How can one kid turn out to be irresponsible and selfish and heartless, and the other turn out to be so responsible and kind and good-hearted?”
There was no answer, of course. She put both her hands over his on the table. “I’m so sorry, Tuck. I’m sorry for you and the kids and Linc—and I’m sorry for Brenda.”
“Thanks, Liddy. Like I said before, we’re all trying to adjust. Duffy’s doing the best. I don’t know how well the kids knew their father—I never met the guy myself so I don’t know anything about him. But Duff seems like he’s always been with us. It’s like he looks to Linc as his dad. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but for now, he seems okay.”
“And the girls?”
“Bliss is definitely her mother’s child. She’s tough. Not as tough as Brenda, but that girl has some issues. Ironic name, huh?” He held on to Liddy’s hands. “And JoJo—she never mentions her father, but she’s the one who misses her mom the most. She’s only five, so that’s not a surprise, but she’s not adjusting well at all. Sometimes she just curls up on my dad’s lap in his wheelchair and she cries. Of course my dad doesn’t know who she is. He calls her Brenda, which only confuses the kid.”