Page 11 of Spotted at Lighthouse Bay (Spotted Cottage #4)

“I’m only going to see her once a day,” Adelaide explained. “There have to be rules. I have to be firm, like with a toddler, or she’ll walk all over me.”

Rick nodded. He knew what it was like to love someone who was exhausting. “That’s smart.”

Adelaide laughed. “There’s nothing smart about it, but it’s the best I can do.”

They whiled away their afternoons in the tea shop.

Adelaide sat at a table, her laptop perched in front of her, a pot of tea within reach.

She worked on her translations and Rick sat a few seats away, watching her along with the comings and goings to the little shop.

He allowed himself to read as long as it was quiet, never losing sight of the doors.

Though he normally declined tea, Eliza still brought him treats – cakes, cupcakes, cookies. Things she was perfecting. “Free of charge,” she’d say, “except the cost of your feedback.”

He never had any feedback. Everything was delicious. He wasn’t terribly interested in cakes, but her recipes were interesting enough.

Sometimes they sat outside, the seagulls calling above them. He still read, but made sure he was aware of their surroundings. In this case, that meant staring out at the water, watching the birds swoop in, tracking Joey as he took off and landed, took off and landed.

The rhythm and routine should have made it easy for him to sleep. Every night, he thought he might have a chance at some peace.

It was a nice thought. He lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling fan spinning in the shadows.

It could get chilly at night, but he didn’t close the window.

The air was unbelievably clean and fresh.

The little sleep he got was often after taking deep breath after deep breath.

One night, he swore he heard the blows of a passing pod of orcas.

The only change to their pattern was Friday, when Adelaide had to get ready for her blind date.

“I don’t think you need to come to this,” she said, standing in front of the mirror and dabbing on mascara.

“This is exactly the sort of thing I need to come to. What if he’s a plant?”

Adelaide snorted a laugh. “You think the people who threatened my ex-husband sent a man here to trick Patty and take me on a blind date?”

He shrugged. “You never know.”

“As if anyone could trick Patty,” she mumbled.

He was inclined to agree with her, but said nothing.

“What’s the worst he can do?” She turned to him. “Break my heart?”

Rick laughed. “Regardless, I’m coming.”

“I don’t know how to explain having a bodyguard.” Adelaide said. “‘Say hello to my bodyguard, Mr. Bond. No sudden movements.’” She snorted and shook her head.

“I know you want to impress the guy so maybe…” Rick said.

Her jaw dropped. “Are you mocking me?”

He couldn’t keep the smile off his face. “No, I’m not mocking you. I can tell you’re excited.”

“I’m not excited, ” she hissed. “I’m trying to make a sincere effort.” She stopped and let out a sigh. “This is all new to me, Rick. I have no idea what I’m doing, but I’m trying to be open to new experiences.”

“I’m not criticizing you.”

“ I’m criticizing me,” Adelaide said. “In my defense, it’s really strange to go from thinking you’re happily married to being thrust back out in the cold.”

“It is.”

“Have you ever been married?” she asked. “Er…are you married?”

Rick cleared his throat. “No.”

“Sorry,” she said quickly. “I know you don’t like to talk about yourself.”

“It’s not that I don’t like to talk about myself,” he said. “It’s not relevant.”

She paused, her hand hanging in the air, clutching a puffy makeup brush. “Of course you’re relevant, Rick. You’re our fourth roommate.”

He laughed. “That’s what you can tell your date, then. You brought your roommate along in case things get out of hand.”

She turned back to the mirror. “I’m sure that will go over great. I’ll seem like a totally sane person.”

“You don’t have to worry about it,” he continued. “I’ll go in and grab a table by myself. No one will even know I’m there.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” She nudged him with her elbow. “Maybe Patty’s got someone lined up for you, too.”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re getting loony.”

She exploded into laughter, hunching over the bathroom sink. When she straightened, streaks of black makeup clumped under her eyelashes. She wiped them away. “I know!”

Rick stepped back. She needed space. She was clearly excited about this date, whether she wanted to admit it or not, and he didn’t want to ruin the fun. This date was the first thing Adelaide had done for herself. She was forever at other people’s service.

Rick could relate.

He drove them both to the restaurant in Friday Harbor and parked on the street.

“Maybe I should cancel,” she said, peering through the window.

The restaurant’s sign glowed red in the night, lighting up her face. She looked nice, with the fixed makeup and her hair curled in a new way. It was a waste to run away now.

“I’ll walk in behind you and act like I’ve never seen you before,” he said. “It’ll be fine.”

“You don’t have to do that.” She shook her head. “I can explain what’s going on.”

He held up a hand. “Believe me, this will be fine. I prefer hiding in the shadows. You can tell him about me later – if you deem him worthy of knowing about your life.”

“Deem him worthy.” She repeated slowly. “How do I decide that?”

“That’s all of life, isn’t it? Deciding who can be trusted, who should be trusted with details of your inner life.”

“Is that why you don’t tell me anything about yourself?” she asked. “Am I unworthy?”

“Exactly, yes. You’re unworthy.”

He popped his door open. Adelaide erupted into another bout of manic laughter, doubling over as she tried to open her door.

Rick jogged to her side of the car and opened it. “Mrs. Ashbourne? This way. They’re expecting you.”

She stepped out of the car. “I don’t think I can do this, Rick.”

“Of course you can. You’re already doing it.” He nodded toward the restaurant. “You’re halfway there.”

She sighed and walked to the door.

Rick trailed behind, walking in a few moments later. The restaurant was poorly lit, the small tables scattered like marbles. Warm candles glowed on each one.

Straight ahead was a bar. The bottles were illuminated by a purple glow. A man spotted Adelaide and stood up.

She walked over to him as Rick took a seat at the bar.

“Adelaide?” The man said.

“Hi, Corey?”

She went in for a hug, he went in for the handshake. They danced for a moment before landing on a side hug.

Painful.

Rick sat at the end of the bar. He picked up a menu and pretended to study it.

“It’s so nice to meet you,” he said. “Patty told me you’re her… granddaughter?”

“No, not her granddaughter,” Adelaide said with a laugh. “I’m her ex-daughter-in-law’s sister…” She paused. “Which is more confusing than it needs to be.”

“Ha, yeah.”

She took a seat, and he sat next to her.

“I’m starting to wonder if Patty misrepresented me.”

He took a sip of water. “Misrepresented?”

Rick looked up. The guy’s mouth was open, his eyes wide. Deer in the headlights.

“I’m sure she was coming from a good place,” Adelaide said. “But I am in no way young enough to be her granddaughter.”

The guy laughed. “Oh, right.”

“I don’t mean to be rude,” Adelaide continued, “but how old are you?”

“Twenty-nine.”

Rick couldn’t stop himself from staring now. Yeah, the guy looked young. He hadn’t been sure before, but he was young. Not that Adelaide was old, but she wasn’t twenty-nine.

She laughed and shook her head. “Good old Patty.”

“Was that the wrong answer?” the guy laughed.

She shook her head. “No, no. It’s just – well, I’m forty-eight. I’m old enough to be…”

“My mother!” he said with a laugh.

Adelaide pulled back. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

Oh man . Regardless of age, this guy wasn’t mature enough to be talking to Adelaide. Rick took off his coat. It was getting hot in here with all the secondhand embarrassment.

Maybe he’d order a root beer float. Anything to distract himself from this.

Adelaide went on. “The truth is, it would be more appropriate for you to take my daughter out to dinner than to take me out to dinner. It was nice meeting you, but we don’t have to do this.”

Corey placed one foot on the ground, as though he was ready to stand. Ready to flee. “I’d hate to put you out.”

That was enough. Adelaide didn’t need to deal with this kid. Rick stood from his barstool and closed the distance between them. “Adelaide, hi.”

“Hi.” A slow smile spread across her face, her eyes darting between them. “How are you?”

“So funny running into you here,” Rick said. “Are you headed to dinner?”

She looked at her date. “I…”

“I don’t mean to barge in,” Rick said. He offered a handshake. “Nice to meet you.”

Corey stuck out his hand. “Likewise.” The guy had a firm handshake. He wasn’t handling this super gracefully, but it could’ve been worse.

Correction – it could still get worse. Best to get the kid out of here.

Adelaide turned to Corey. “Listen, you’re very polite, but don’t worry about me. You should go off and do young people things. It was nice meeting you.”

He shot to his feet. “It was nice meeting you too! Tell Patty I say hi!”

He disappeared and Rick turned to Adelaide. She’d collapsed on the shiny tabletop, her face in her arms.

“There were a lot of ways I thought this could’ve gone wrong,” she said, her voice muffled, “but that wasn’t one I’d expected.”

“Worry is rarely an effective means by which to mold the future,” Rick said.

Her head popped up, hair flipped over her one eye. “Did you come up with that yourself?”

He shrugged. “I’m not sure. Maybe I read it in a book.”

She dragged herself to her feet. “Well, my embarrassment is complete. Let’s go back to the house and pretend this never happened.”

“Aren’t we going to eat?” Rick asked. “I’m hungry.”

“It’s bad enough you had to witness that,” Adelaide said, smoothing her hair. “I’m not going to hold you hostage for dinner, blathering on about myself.”

“You know,” he said slowly, “I could stand to chat, too. Your status changed.”

“My status?”

“You’ve been deemed –”

“Don’t say worthy,” she said, shaking her head. “I can’t bear it, Rick. I just can’t.”

“Trustworthy,” he said.

“Why? Because you’ve seen me at my lowest? Called old by a blind date? Being accused of being said date’s mother?”

He laughed. “I think he was bad at math.”

She rolled her eyes. “Not technically, no. If I were eighteen and I –”

Rick cut her off. “I’m trying to tell you my secrets, Adelaide, and all you can do is talk about technicalities.”

A smile spread across her face. “We’d better hurry up and get a table before you change your mind.”