Mellie had been unwilling to rent out the cottage, but eventually she’d relented. Mellie depended on him. He’d never asked for anything in return for supplying her with groceries, collecting her mail, and doing other errands. He was asking now, and he wasn’t taking no for an answer. He made sure she understood renting Annie the cottage was important to him. Naturally, being Mellie, she had a list of requirements. He didn’t have a problem with any of her demands, and he figured Annie wouldn’t, either.
Keaton didn’t know what had brought Annie to Oceanside. All he cared about was that she was back. He’d been given a second chance, and by all that was right, he intended to put this new opportunity to good use.
CHAPTER 6
Annie was thrilled when she learned that she would be able to rent the cottage. She didn’t know what had convinced Melody Johnson to agree but sensed that Keaton had somehow made it possible. Unwilling to question her good fortune, Annie quickly agreed to the woman’s demands.
As she drove to the cottage, a sense that this was all meant to be washed over her. A sense of rightness. After sixteen angst-filled months, she was convinced she was on the right path at last. The one she’d been traveling on had been filled with ruts, potholes, self-pity, grief, and loss so profound that she had often lost her way.
She felt like she was finally back on track now, ready to move forward, to start her life over again in a town filled with happy memories from her childhood. She would do it in that same cottage by the sea, the very one she’d once shared with her brother and parents. Annie was certain her parents had sent her to Oceanside, knowing that this was the one place where her wounded heart would heal.
Keaton had given her the key to the rental. Annie held it in her hand as she stood in front of the cottage with its sagging porch and uneven steps. Holding her breath, she opened the door and peeked inside. She’d been right in her assumption; no one had rented this place in years. The living room was filled with cobwebs and layer upon layer of dust. It came fully furnished, and thankfully someone had placed sheets over the furniture.
Taking a tentative step inside, she inspected the kitchen. The table was the same one where her family had sat and played board games and cards, where they’d eaten their meals. Closing her eyes, Annie heard the echo of their fun as a smile came to her lips.
The grime was thick on the windows, something she’d noticed earlier. One of her first tasks would be to wash them on the inside and outside to let in the light. After living in the dark for all these months, light was important to her.
When she tested the water, the faucet had creaked and burped from lack of use before rust-colored water gushed from the spout. Annie left it running for several minutes while she inspected the two bedrooms and the bath. She remembered that she always got the bedroom, while her brother, Mike, had to sleep on the sofa bed. He complained every year. Annie would give anything to hear him complain again. The bathroom had the same shower curtain as it had the last time they’d rented. Funny that she would recognize it. She flushed the toilet and was pleased to note that the plumbing was in working order.
All the cottage needed was a thorough cleaning and a bit of paint. With a week of hard work, two at the most, Annie would have it back as it had once been, the way she remembered it.
While compiling a list of cleaning supplies, Annie heard a dog barking. She immediately thought of Lennon, the friendly mutt she’d met on the beach. She’d left the front door open to air out the cottage, and when she glanced outside she saw the large canine standing outside the front door, his tail wagging so hard it slapped against the sides of his body. His big brown eyes looked up adoringly at her.
“Hello, Lennon,” she said, and, bending down, she ran her hands through his thick, slightly matted fur. Glancing up, she noticed Keaton was standing on the street still, watching her in that gruff way of his. He was large and intimidating, just as the real estate agent had mentioned, but in a beautiful sort of way. That sounded odd, she realized, but his size didn’t frighten her as it might others. She felt herself drawn to him, almost to the point of attraction. She straightened and smiled.
“I know I have you to thank for this,” she said, raising her voice so he could hear her. “I don’t know what you said to convince the owner to rent me the cottage, but whatever it was, I’m grateful.”
He shrugged, seemingly embarrassed by her appreciation.
“My family rented this very cottage for several summers when I was a teenager,” she explained, feeling self-conscious.
Walking across the unwieldy, overgrown grass to the front door of the cottage, Keaton handed her a slip of paper with a phone number scribbled in large numbers and Melody Johnson’s name written below it.
“Mellie wants you to sign a lease.”
“Mellie?” That was the name. The girl her brother had a crush on that last summer. “Is this the same…the Munsons’ granddaughter?”
Keaton nodded. “You’ll sign the lease?”
“Yes, of course. I remember her. She was older than me, and my brother, Mike, had a crush on her.”
Keaton grinned. “Most guys did.”
“As I recall, she tolerated his silly attempts to get her attention.” She smiled at the memory of her brother quoting Mellie poetry, and all the fun Annie had razzing him about how ridiculous he sounded. From that last summer at the beach, Annie remembered Mellie as outgoing and friendly. The years had apparently changed her. But then they’d changed Annie, too.
Keaton handed her a set of papers. Annie went inside and read over the standard lease form before she penned her name on the bottom line. She’d already written the check. Keaton waited outside for her. When Annie returned, she gave him the signed documents and the check, grateful that Mellie had given her the key before she had the money.
“Thank you, again,” she said, and she was thankful, more than he would ever guess.
He nodded and whistled. Immediately Lennon scampered off to join Keaton, who left.
With her landlord’s contact information in hand, Annie programmed the number in her phone and hoped that they could be on good terms. She doubted Mellie would remember her or Mike. The cottage had a lot of guests over the summer and her family was one of many. Annie understood that Mellie was a private person, but she hoped that in time they could be friends. It would be a small connection to the brother she’d lost, and that was what Annie needed.
Connection.
Almost against her better judgment, Annie pushed the button on her phone that would ring to Mellie’s phone line. It rang five times before her landlord answered.
“What?” Mellie demanded gruffly.
Annie blinked twice as the greeting assaulted her as sharp as a slap.
Annie recovered quickly. “Mellie, hi. I thought I should introduce myself,” she said in her softest, most cordial voice. “I’m your new renter.”
“You call me again and I’m canceling your lease.”
“But why…?”
“What part of leaving me alone don’t you understand?” her landlord demanded coldly.
“I promise I won’t be a pest,” Annie assured her, ignoring the question. “I’m calling to let you know that I remember you from when my family…”
“You think I care if you remember me? Because I don’t. What I want,” Mellie said pointedly, “is to be left alone.”
Wow, this was hardly the girl Annie remembered. She sucked in a breath. “Sure. I can do that. I won’t bother you again…well, unless it’s something important.”
“Good. Remember that, seeing that you’re already making a nuisance of yourself.”
“Okay. Got it. I called to thank you for allowing me to rent—”
“Don’t thank me,” she interrupted. “Keaton bullied me into agreeing to this madness.”
Just as Annie thought. “But you did agree, and I??
?m grateful.”
“Then show your appreciation by sticking to your own business and staying out of mine. I don’t expect to hear from you again unless it’s something dire, in which case you can contact Keaton.”
“I understand.”
“I hope you do.”
The phone was slammed down, and the sound was so loud that Annie had to quickly pull her phone away from her ear. Exhaling a long sigh, she couldn’t help wondering what had happened to change Mellie from the happy-go-lucky teenager she remembered.
Annie fondly remembered Mellie’s grandparents. Each year when Annie’s family returned to the beach, the Munsons had greeted them with warmth and enthusiasm. A vivid image came to mind of her father sitting with Mr. Munson on the wraparound porch, the two men smoking cigars. Mrs. Munson had often invited the family to the big house for lemonade. They’d come in August when Mrs. Munson was busy canning produce. The property had an abundance of blueberry and raspberry plants, plus several apple trees.
Annie and Mike had enjoyed picking the berries, stuffing their mouths with the sweetness while the colorful juice coated their lips and stained their hands. If the bushes had survived, they were buried in the twisted invasive blackberry vines that choked nearly half of the property.
It shocked Annie to hear how troubled and unfriendly the Munsons’ granddaughter seemed to be. Annie remembered her as fun and outgoing. And gauging by the condition of the house and yard, Mellie revealed no love or appreciation for the house or for the acreage. The home had once been a showcase in town. Now it sat sad and neglected, beaten down by the weather and years. Gone were the man and woman who had lovingly cared for it, only to be replaced by a disturbed and seemingly ungrateful granddaughter.
* * *
—
Annie worked, scrubbing and cleaning the cottage until eight, quitting only when she grew too exhausted to continue. She returned to the hotel room, which was across from the city park. A notice was up about Concert in the Park on Thursday evenings, being held at a small outdoor community stage. Tired as she was, Annie decided to attend. She found a seat on the makeshift bleachers facing the band under the gazebo and listened to the jazz band. The music soothed her spirit. After the concert finished, Annie returned to the hotel and fell into bed, sleeping straight through until eight the following morning.
Straight through.
It felt incredibly good to sleep. Marvelously good. Annie hadn’t realized how sleep-deprived she’d become until she managed eight hours of uninterrupted sleep in a single night.
First thing the next morning, she drove back to Seattle to make the arrangements to move to Oceanside. With so much to do, she put her phone on speaker and started packing boxes at her apartment while chatting with Gabby.
“You’re doing what?” her cousin demanded. “You’re not seriously moving to Oceanside? This is a joke, right?”
“It’s not a joke. I have a job and a place to live. Do you remember Melody Johnson?”
“Who?” Gabby asked, frowning.
Annie shook her head. There wasn’t any reason her cousin would remember Mike’s heartthrob from all those years ago. “Never mind, it isn’t important. What is wonderful is how everything fell into place like it’d all been planned in advance.”
“Annie. Surely you realize Oceanside is a ghost town most of the year. What kind of shopping do they have? Is there even a mall? Is this town even big enough for a Walmart or a theater?”
“It has a theater.” She didn’t mention that the town’s lone theater had only one screen, unlike the multiplexes they were accustomed to in Seattle.
Gabby did nothing to disguise her feelings. “This isn’t like you, Annie. It’s crazy; I don’t understand what’s happening. One minute you’re deeply depressed, and then a day later you’re over-the-moon excited. It’s like you’re on drugs or something.”
Annie hadn’t anticipated her cousin’s negative reaction. She’d assumed Gabby would be happy for her, excited that Annie was showing interest in something for the first time in a long time. She’d hoped her best friend in all the world would cheer her on.
“Remember, you’re the one who gave me the idea.”
“Yes, but I didn’t think you’d pack up and move.”
Annie realized her cousin was worried about her. Gabby was afraid Annie was looking for a geographical cure. That wasn’t it at all. “You don’t understand,” Annie explained patiently, “I slept eight hours through the night, twice now.” Of anyone, Gabby was aware of how poorly Annie had slept since the mudslide.
“I get that, Annie, but you moving away on the spur of the moment like this concerns me.”
“I’m fine, Gabby. I feel better than I have in a long time. This feels right. The way everything fell into place makes me think Mom and Dad somehow arranged this.”
Her cousin sighed in exasperation. “You’ll be hours away. Mom and I will worry.” Gabby and her aunt had treated Annie with kid gloves and she had let them. She needed to break away, otherwise she might never get over the loss. It was time to stand up and take care of herself. Move forward instead of getting trapped in the thick tightness of loss that consumed her night and day.
“I could always move back to L.A.,” Annie teased, wanting to lighten the mood. Returning to her life in southern California had been her original intention: Once she’d settled her family’s affairs, Annie had assumed she’d return to her life there. Dealing with the legal issues, not to mention the emotional toll, hadn’t turned out to be as simple as she’d thought it would be.
The class-action lawsuit had yet to be settled. Annie had wanted no part of it, yearning to escape all the drama and angst of reliving that horrible Thanksgiving morning. Unfortunately, the legal ramifications were unavoidable; she was part of the lawsuit. Aunt Sherry had insisted that Annie owed that much to her parents, and she was right. As hesitant as she was to deal with the legal aspects of the tragedy, it was necessary. And it hadn’t been easy to go on as before. Her life was different now. She’d been emotionally cast adrift, alone in an ocean of personal pain. Nothing felt the same. Nor would it. It’d taken her months to fully understand and accept the ramifications of having lost her family. That feeling of being empty and alone never seemed to end. Just when she assumed all was settled and she could breathe again she’d get hit with something more, some issue, some forgotten detail that required attention. Soon her California life became a distant memory and she had to accept that there was no going back.
“I hate that you’re moving away,” Gabby admitted. “I guess I’m being selfish. Having you close has been great. I’m going to miss you something awful. You’re good for me.”
“It goes both ways.” Annie had relied heavily on Gabby and her aunt, probably more than she should. “I need this, Gab. Oceanside soothes my spirit; I don’t know how to explain it. From the moment I arrived, I’ve felt more at peace than I have since I lost my family.”
“You sound different, Annie,” Gabby reluctantly acknowledged. “If living in Oceanside is what you need, then go for it. Get your head on straight, and then move back to Seattle. I’ve been telling you all along to take care of yourself, but I didn’t expect you to move away.”
Annie exhaled, relieved. She needed Gabby’s support. “You can always visit, and you know I’ll be coming back to Seattle someday.”
* * *
—
After packing up her apartment, Annie returned to Oceanside and to the cottage. Once she arrived, she was surprised to find that the lawn had been mowed and the front door had been freshly painted. It wasn’t until she started unpacking her car that she realized the steps were new wood and that the porch had been leveled, with several of the planks replaced and painted. Other improvements had been made as well, but those were the first that Annie noticed. The difference was night and day. It went without saying that only one person would
have done this.
Keaton.
With so much to accomplish before she started her new job, Annie decided she would seek him out later to thank him. But first things first, and that included unpacking her SUV. She’d stuffed as much as she could into her vehicle, taking only what she would need right away.
Without bothering to unpack her clothes, Annie headed to the grocery store for the basics, and then went about setting up her kitchen. It didn’t take her long to realize she would need new pots and pans. She started making a list that grew to two full pages as the afternoon progressed. After multiple trips to the closest Walmart in Aberdeen, Annie felt like the cottage had become her home.
* * *
—
On Monday, Annie was ready to start work at the Oceanside Walk-in Medical Clinic and hit the ground running.
Her first patient was a fifty-year-old who complained of a sharp, constant pain in her shoulder and back. She was traveling with her husband in their motorhome and had been on the road for two weeks. She’d recently received word that her father had suffered a heart attack. It became clear that the woman was under a lot of stress, worrying about her parents and their health issues.
Annie swallowed hard as she listened to the woman talk. This was an issue that she would never need to face, as her parents didn’t have the luxury of growing old. After taking her vitals and examining her, Annie realized her patient had developed a case of shingles. She prescribed an antiviral medication and pain pills and advised the woman to check with her family physician once she was home.
The next patient was a local woman named Rebecca Calder. Her eyes lit up when Annie entered the exam room.