The High Tide Club
“And then?”
Brooke twisted a strand of hair around her finger, avoiding her mother’s probing eyes.
“Pete had applied for this research grant to study elk migration patterns in the tundra. It meant living in this remote base camp in Alaska. That’s where he is, by the way. Alaska. It’s a three-year project. Out of nowhere, he told me he loved me and wanted to be with me. I guess that’s when it hit me that things had changed between us. We’d gotten serious when neither of us expected to. So … one thing led to another. Spontaneous combustion, you might say. And by spontaneous, I mean, I wasn’t on birth control.”
“Oh, Brooke.” Marie sighed.
“The next morning, Pete asked me to go with him.”
“And you said?”
Brooke shrugged. “I wasn’t very diplomatic. I mean, what was I going to do in the middle of the Alaskan tundra? Sue a moose? I drove him to the airport, and we talked about my flying out to see him at Christmas. Six weeks later, I figured out I was pregnant.”
“And you never told him? Never let him know he was going to be a father?”
“I wanted to. We were Skyping every other day, and he was so excited about being in Alaska. Everything was new and fascinating, and his work was really intense. He’d be out in the field, four or five days at a time, camping and tracking these radio-collared elk. I thought, if I tell Pete I’m pregnant, he’ll think he has to come back here to take care of me and the baby. It would mean giving up his grant.”
“Shouldn’t that have been his choice to make?”
“Maybe. But I was having doubts of my own. I loved Pete, but I didn’t want to be trapped into having a relationship just because of a baby. What if he did come back? And it turned out we weren’t actually good together?”
“That’s just a risk you have to take in a relationship,” Marie said. “In life. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
“I’m not sure I agree with you,” Brooke said, suppressing a yawn. “Henry and I, we’re doing okay. It’s not easy. In fact, most of the time, being a single mom is terrifying. But I don’t regret it.” She met her mother’s steady gaze. “What about you, Mom? Any regrets?”
Marie stood slowly, then pulled Brooke to a standing position. “No. I don’t regret giving up my career to have time to raise my brilliant, gorgeous daughter. I don’t even regret marrying your dad. We had lots of good years, you know. I’d never give Patricia the power to take that away from me. The way I see it now, I got the better part of the deal. The man I married was young and fun, the adventurous and romantic Gordon. Look at him now. Yes, now he has more time and lots more money to spare, but Patricia’s got the cranky, high blood pressure, potbellied Gordon. I saw them across the room at a wedding at the Oglethorpe Club a couple of weeks ago, and he looked miserable. Patricia couldn’t even get him to go out on the dance floor.”
“The two of you used to dance all the time, especially at weddings and Christmas parties,” Brooke said. “When I was a teenager I thought it was sooooo gross. Parents dancing together!” She covered her eyes in mock horror.
Marie went into Henry’s nursery, fetched a stack of bed linens, and proceeded to make up a bed on the sofa.
“See you in the morning,” Brooke said, yawning and giving her mother a peck on the cheek. “I almost forgot. Were you planning on staying over Sunday night?”
“Yes. Why?”
“If you really don’t mind staying and watching Henry, I’m supposed to go up to Sea Island Sunday afternoon to meet with Gabe Wynant.”
“Really?” Marie arched an eyebrow.
“It’s about Josephine Warrick. I’m going to take her case on, after all. But I don’t know the first thing about condemnation law. So I called Gabe, and he’s agreed to meet with me and try to walk me through it.”
“That’s awfully nice of him,” Marie said. “It’s just a shame about poor Sunny. You’d think it might be a kind of relief, after all he went through with her, but I hear he’s really quite bereft.”
“Bereft? Did something happen to Sunny Wynant?”
“You didn’t know? She died.”
“No! I had no idea. What happened?”
“Liver cancer. She drank herself to death. I guess it’s been over a year ago now. Maybe two? I used to know her from altar guild, before she started drinking. She used to be so much fun. She had a really wicked sense of humor.” Marie shook her head. “Such a waste.”
“That’s terrible,” Brooke said. “But I’m glad you told me before I see him.”
“You say you decided to work for Josephine, after all?” Marie asked. “What changed your mind?”
“Josephine did. She just wouldn’t take no for an answer. And maybe, just maybe, I’m ready for a challenge.”
Brooke remembered the last conversation she’d had with the old lady.
“Mom? Did you know Granny was engaged to somebody else? Before Grandpop?”
“Hmm? Who told you that?”
“Josephine did. Her family threw an engagement party at Shellhaven for Granny and this man, but something awful happened, and the wedding got canceled.”
“Really? This is the first I’ve heard of such a thing. It’s hard for me to picture my mother with another man. She was so devoted to Pops. Did Josephine give you any more details than that?”
“No. She said the man, whoever he was, wasn’t a good person.”
“I’d definitely be interested in hearing more about this mystery man,” Marie said.
“You can ask Josephine all about it when you and the other two women meet with her over on Talisa.”
“You think she’s really serious? About leaving the island to the three of us?”
“She’s dead serious,” Brooke assured her.
18
October 1941
Josephine tapped loudly on the guest room door. “Millie? Are you all right?”
The muffled reply came a minute later. “I’m all right.” In another moment, the door opened slightly to reveal Millie, looking pale and exhausted, still wrapped in a bathrobe.
“It’s nearly noon!” Josephine exclaimed. “Your mother and grandmother just left on the boat for St. Ann’s.” She peered at Millie’s face. “You look terrible. Are you sick?”
“Maybe a little hungover. I don’t think champagne agrees with me.”
“Come down to lunch,” Josephine said. “Mrs. Dorris will fix you something nice and light. Some soup or something.”
“Ugh. Food. I’ll come down, but I think I’ll just stick to coffee. What about the others? Has everybody gone already?”
“A lot of people needed to get to Jacksonville to catch the train at two,” Josephine said. “Ruth’s still here, of course, and I think some of the men were planning an early-morning fishing trip.”
“Have you seen Russell this morning?” Millie whispered.
“Not yet, but if I do see him, I might have to slap his face for the rude way he acted at the party last night. What a scene he made!”
“I’m so sorry,” Millie said, tears pooling in her eyes.
“Don’t you apologize for him,” Josephine scolded. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”