Seascapes Read online

  This morning, however, there was definitely something at the store that shouldn’t be there. She hurried down the alley to the back entrance.

  A gasp escaped and she clapped a hand over her mouth. Someone had spray painted her store. Red marred her shop everywhere with words like “liar” and “get out!” covering the walls and the back door.

  She ran around to the front of the building to see if they had spray painted the front in a similar manner. There was no extra color, but she held back another gasp. They hadn’t spray painted the front, but they had tossed a large rock through one of the display windows.

  Looking closely, she could see they had painted a word she hadn’t heard since she had been walking home alone on the streets of Baltimore. She fumbled in her bag to call… She stopped. To call who? Fiona wouldn’t be of any help. She should probably call the police.

  She began to press the numbers, but before she could hit send, she heard a voice behind her. “Man, what happened here?”

  She whirled around to see Drew standing on the sidewalk, sides panting. He must have been jogging, she thought. She drank in the sight of him as well. His hair was tousled from the wind. He looked good. She realized just how much she had missed seeing him.

  “Someone spray painted the back of the building and tossed a rock through my front window for good measure. I was just getting ready to call the police to report it.”

  “Anything I can help with?” Drew heard himself asking. He did a quick look at Kate, up and down. She seemed to be holding up well considering the circumstances. Although, he supposed it could be worse.

  “Do you know how to remove spray paint?” She asked wryly as she completed her phone call and answered the 911 operator on the other end.

  Drew walked around to the back of the building to check out the damage while Kate trailed behind him still talking to the police dispatcher. He stopped and looked at the words left behind. Someone had been seriously irked at Kate. It was obvious this wasn’t a random act of vandalism. The words were specific and vicious.

  Kate ended the call and turned to Drew. “So, what do you think? Is there an easy way to get this off?”

  Kate waited for Drew to answer and realized she wasn’t as upset by what happened as she normally would be. As she tried to figure out why, she looked up and met Drew’s gaze. She felt comforted instantly. Could it be Drew’s presence? Was that what was helping her not to become anxious? She shook off her thoughts of Drew and moved her gaze back to the store.

  Drew willed his heart to slow as he also tried to remember to breathe. He wanted nothing more than to pull Kate into his arms and tell her he would not only help her today, but he’d always be there for her. Stop it, Grant, he told himself.

  He cleared his throat and replied, “I have a power washer. I’ll run home and get it. That should work to get most of it off.”

  Before Kate could even thank him or agree to the help, Drew spun on his heel and started running towards home. The extra jog should help clear his head, he thought.

  He heard Kate yell after him, “Maybe you should drive back!”

  He grinned as he tossed a hand up to acknowledge her comment. He began to pray again for God to intervene in Kate’s life and soon.

  Chapter 26

  Kate had enjoyed working with Drew cleaning up the store. He ended up being more help than she realized she had needed, especially with the front window. He’d had a replacement ordered and installed, with Peter’s help, within just a few days.

  She had called Fiona just after Drew had left to get the power washer and she had shown up in her characteristic whirlwind. She had been angry and demanded to know what the police were going to do about catching the “miscreant.”

  Kate had laughed at her. “Miscreant, huh?”

  “Well, what else are they! What was the point of this? I don’t get it. First, the necklace. Then the box of sea glass and now this! You are not having a good spring. You know that, right?”

  “Gee, thanks for the recap.”

  Kate had been glad Drew had returned in his truck with the power washer at that point. An officer had shown up around the same time to take a statement and get photos before anything was cleaned up.

  He had told Kate he would see about getting footage from any area security cameras to see if they could find the culprit. He hadn’t appeared very hopeful.

  Now it was as if nothing had happened. Fiona had helped redo the display in the broken window area. It had taken a day or two just to empty it all and vacuum up all the shattered glass. Thankfully, none of the merchandise in that window had been stolen or damaged beyond repair.

  She had been surprised when Peter, Jill, and Ken had shown up shortly after Drew to help with the cleanup. “It’s what family does,” Jill had said as she had taken the shop vac out of Peter’s car.

  Drew had just smiled and said, “I called them. I thought you could use the help.”

  Kate had been overwhelmed standing there seeing everyone pitching in to help clean everything up. She’d always relied on herself. Now she had a family, if she wanted it she guessed, who would be willing to do anything to help her.

  She had been glad Ken and Jill hadn’t said more about the time she had been with them as a child. The past had been too prominent in her life lately. It was time to put it aside and look towards what the future might hold. She was ready to move forward.

  Kate threw off the thoughts of the last few days as Fiona moved back from the display they had been working on. Kate liked to change things up weekly so there was always something new to see in the windows.

  Kate stepped back to get a different view of the display. “What do you think?”

  Fiona dusted her hands to signify it was complete. “I think it’s perfect. I also think it’s time to take a break. Let’s go to the café for lunch. My treat.”

  “Sounds great. Let me just grab my purse from the back. I’ll let Nancy know we’re heading out. It sounds like she just got here.”

  “I’m coming. I need to grab my bag, too.”

  The two women chattered companionably as they headed into the back of the store. Kate was the first through the door and she stopped short causing Fee to bump into her from behind and push her further into the back room.

  The person standing just inside the back door wasn’t Nancy. It was her father. Why was he still in town? Didn’t he get that she didn’t want to see him? Now or ever!

  “How did you get in here?” Kate asked in a steely voice. “I told you to leave. I don’t want to see you. Get out. Now.”

  “The door was unlocked. Katie, honey, I just wanted…”

  “Do not ever call me honey. Ever. And my name is Kate in case you’ve forgotten. Now leave.”

  “I’m sorry. Kate. If I could change the past, I would. I just need to know you’ve forgiven me. I’m a changed man. Trust me.”

  “Trust you? Are you kidding me? Like I trusted you to protect me in that neighborhood we lived in. Like I trusted you to keep me safe. You mean like that?”

  “I know I can’t make up for what I did, Kate, but I’d like to move forward if we could. I’d like to get to know you.”

  “You had your chance. You blew it. Now leave before I call the police and have you arrested for trespassing.” Kate could feel herself getting more and more upset. She was not going to have a panic attack right now. She simply wasn’t going to allow her body to go there. She would stay in control. She would.

  “What can I do to make it up to you? I’ll do anything. Anything you say.”

  “There is nothing you can ever do to make up for what you did to me as a child. You can’t make up for the nights I was all alone in our apartment hoping no one broke in. You can’t make up for the days I had to walk home alone and pray no one attacked me. Did you ever once wonder where the black eyes and bruises came from? Did you even care?” Kate’s voice broke. She stood tall and faced him. He no longer had any power to hurt her. “Leave. Just leave. Now.”


  She watched as her father hung his head and began to walk away. At the door he turned back.

  “I know I can’t change the past, Kate. I know I can’t do that. But I can say again, I’m so sorry I failed you. I never meant to do that. I never meant to become the man I did.”

  With that he continued out the door, closing it gently behind him. Kate breathed deeply to steady herself. She counted to ten and then did it again. She was not going to let this moment destroy her or define her. She was stronger than this. She was.

  “Are you okay?” Fee asked as she reached out a hand to grasp Kate’s hand. “Can I get you anything?”

  Kate just shook her head. Her quiet, orderly life had been anything but over the last few weeks. Why was all of this happening now? She just couldn’t understand it all. The control she craved was unraveling around her.

  “It’s going to be okay, honey. I promise.”

  “Don’t make promises like that, Fee. It hasn’t been okay for a while now.”

  Before Fiona could respond, the door banged open.

  “I said get out!” Kate yelled by reflex, assuming it was her father coming back to try again.

  Except it wasn’t her father, it was Nancy finally showing up for her shift. “Fine! But that’s not very professional, is it now?”

  Kate shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. I thought you were someone else.”

  “So, you’re not firing me?”

  “No, I’m not firing you, Nancy. Someone was just here, and I had told him to leave. I thought he had come back.”

  “Who was it?”

  “It doesn’t matter. Fiona and I are going out to lunch. You’re in charge of the store. We’ll be back in an hour or so.”

  With that, Fee and Kate grabbed their bags and headed out the door.

  Chapter 27

  Drew whistled as he headed towards the café. He was meeting his parents and Peter there for lunch. He thought back to how much he had enjoyed helping Kate fix up her store.

  He was puzzled by who would have defaced it like that. From what he knew of Kate so far, she was quiet and shy and didn’t have any enemies. But from some of the words plastered on the sides of the store, someone did not care for her very much at all.

  He turned the corner and stopped. What was she doing there? Lucy was sitting on the sea wall just outside the pharmacy which was next door to the café.

  Sighing, he continued forward. He didn’t have time to duck down the alley and go around. He was already running late and one thing his mother disliked was tardiness. She had drilled into their heads when they were younger, “It’s just rude. Be a good steward of other people’s time. Be prompt.”

  “Drew! Well, what a surprise. I was just sitting here enjoying the view.”

  Drew suspected she had seen Peter going into the café and she was waiting to see if he would show up. “Hi, Lucy. Got to run.”

  “Where to? Off to see your girlfriend?” Lucy’s usually pretty face now had a sneer of disgust on it.

  Drew stopped and looked at the woman he had once dated. “I don’t have a girlfriend, Lucy. I’m not seeing anyone.”

  “Right. Like I believe that. I’ve seen you two walking together, having coffee together. I’m not stupid. Is that why you broke up with me?”

  Drew quickly thought back over the last few weeks. Kate. She must mean Kate. Was she stalking him? How else would she have known they had been spending time together otherwise?

  “I’ll repeat it one more time, Lucy. I am not dating anyone. Stop stalking me and leave me alone.”

  “Fine. If you aren’t dating her, then why is she walking up the sidewalk right now. Tell me that!”

  He turned to look and sure enough, Kate and Fiona were headed their way. Fiona lifted a hand and waved to him as she leaned over to say something to Kate.

  His eyes darted toward Kate and he caught the slight flush that stained her cheeks. Before he realized what was happening, he felt a shove as Lucy ran past him.

  “I’ll teach you a lesson! Keep your hands off my boyfriend!”

  He whirled to see Lucy running headfirst at Kate. Kate dropped her purse and used her hands to push Lucy, using the woman’s own momentum to deflect her.

  Lucy stumbled to her knees. She jumped back to her feet and, with a shriek of rage, came at Kate again. Once more Kate simply pushed Lucy aside.

  Lucy gained her feet again. She seemed to be taking a moment to figure out her next plan of attack.

  “What is your problem?” Kate yelled at her.

  “You! You’re my problem. You can’t have him! He’s mine!” Lucy again came at her for a third time.

  A small crowd had gathered to watch the two women. Drew couldn’t decide if he should wade in to help or not. Kate had been doing well holding her own up to this point.

  This time, as Lucy lurched forward to attack her, Kate stepped forward and popped a closed fist into the other woman’s face. Lucy dropped to the ground with her hands to her nose as blood began to drip.

  “Look. I don’t know who you are or what you’re talking about but leave me alone. Got it?”

  “You broke my nose! You broke it! I’m pressing charges! You’ll pay for this!”

  Drew felt it was time to come forward. He stepped close to Lucy and stooped down, so he was at eye level with her. “Lucy, every person here is going to say how you attacked Kate first. She was only defending herself. Now, let it go. Leave me alone or I’ll be the one pressing charges.”

  Drew walked towards where Kate and Fee were standing. He had a grin on his face. “So, where did you learn how to do that?”

  She looked less than amused, “On the streets of Baltimore. Who is she?”

  “My ex-girlfriend. She’s been having a hard time coming to terms with the ‘ex-’ part of that word.”

  “Fine. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re heading in for lunch.”

  Kate brushed past Drew as she grabbed Fee’s arm to haul her along with her. He might think it funny she had just hit his ex-girlfriend, but Kate thought it anything but.

  Fee looked at Kate but kept her mouth shut. She also tried to hide the smile on her face. She remembered Kate saying she had been in fights when she was growing up, but she hadn’t really considered that Kate would have learned to be a fighter.

  “Nice punching, Rocky.”

  “Shut up, Fee.” But there was a grin curling at the sides of Kate’s mouth as she said it.

  Drew watched the two women walk away and enter the café. He wondered if Kate knew his parents were inside waiting for him. He wasn’t sure how he was going to explain this to mom. Well, he might as well face the music now. It certainly wasn’t going to get any easier the longer he stayed outside making himself even later.

  Turning to follow Kate and Fiona he heard Lucy call his name. “Drew! Wait! Don’t go. Please.”

  He glanced over his shoulder at her. “It’s over, Lucy. Get it through your head. I’m done. We’re done. There is no us.”

  He hadn’t wanted to be so harsh on the heels of her fight with Kate, but it had gotten out of hand. She somehow believed he was dating Kate. While he wanted to, he wasn’t. And Lucy’s actions had brought Kate into their issues. No more.

  He kept walking as she continued to call after him. He pulled the door open and let it shut behind him, blocking out Lucy’s voice. Scanning the restaurant, he spotted his parents and Peter and it looked like they had invited Kate and Fiona to join them. Well, this would be an interesting lunch. He chuckled a little to himself as he moved towards the table.

  Kate hadn’t wanted to sit with the Grants today. She didn’t want to hear any more about how they had wanted to keep her. She especially didn’t want to hear it so close on the heels of dealing with her father and the fight with Drew’s ex-girlfriend just now.

  “We’d love to have you both join us,” Peter had offered. Even though she had enjoyed getting to know everyone better as they had helped clean up the store, she wasn’t ready for more
today. She just wanted a quiet lunch with her friend.

  Feeling like she couldn’t refuse, Kate had nodded and slid into the booth beside Peter. That left Fee to slide in beside Jill. She wasn’t sure if sitting beside her former foster mother would have been better than sitting across from her, but it was too late now to move.

  “Hey everyone. Sorry, I’m late. There was a slight incident outside that kept me.” Drew glanced at Kate as he arrived at the table. He slid in beside her.

  Of course, he was joining them, Kate thought as she reached for her water glass. This day couldn’t get any worse.

  “What did you do to your hand, dear?” Jill asked, reaching for Kate’s right hand.

  “Oh, well, um…” Kate stammered. She didn’t exactly want to tell her she had just been in a fight outside the restaurant. What would they think of that?

  “Our Kate here just saved me from my ex-girlfriend.” Drew smiled at her. He was going to enjoy watching her squirm a bit over this.

  “How do you mean?” Jill had taken her napkin and dipped it in her water glass and began sponging blood off Kate’s knuckles. “Were you in a fight?”

  “It wasn’t my fault!” Kate blurted out.

  “Well, I should hope not.” Jill continued dabbing her knuckles, but a smile was starting to form.

  “So, who did you punch anyway?” Ken was trying to stifle a smile behind his hands. “We raised a lot of boys, Kate. We know what knuckles like that mean. Did you break their nose?”

  “I think so,” Kate replied in a quiet voice. “but I was just protecting myself.”

  “And Drew, too, from the sound of it,” Peter interjected.

  Ken sniggered as laughter took over. Kate’s head jerked up to see everyone laughing, even Fiona. Before she could stop herself, she snorted out her own laughter.

  “She just kept coming at me. I just wanted to stop her, so I popped her in the nose. It was sort of just automatic. I didn’t mean to break it.”