Beach Baby. Joan Kilby

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СКАЧАТЬ “I’m going to the community center with Libby after lunch to see what they’ve got for summer art courses. Can you drive us?”

      “I would but I have to look after Beebee and we haven’t got a car seat for her.”

      “Yesterday you couldn’t take me to the mall because you had to help Amy with her résumé,” Tara complained.

      “The mall isn’t far,” Reid pointed out. “Amy walked from there carrying Beebee and a duffel bag.”

      Tara blew out an explosive breath. “You think Amy’s so great! She’s got her stuff all over the bathroom, she won’t eat anything we eat and now she’s got you babysitting. Everything’s changed since she arrived.” Tara glared at him. “She’s taken over our house.”

      She’s taken over you. Tara couldn’t have said it more clearly if she’d spoken the words. Reid was seeing another side to his quiet sweet-natured daughter. He shouldn’t be surprised she was jealous of the time he spent with Amy and Beebee; she’d had him all to herself for three years since Carol had died.

      “Her parents are old friends and I’ve known Amy since she was a baby. Putting her up for a couple of weeks until she sorts herself out doesn’t seem too much to ask.”

      Tara rinsed off her hands and dried them. “She’d better be home in time for us to go to my violin recital tonight. You can’t bring that baby.”

      “I know,” Reid assured her. “I’m sure Amy’ll be home any minute.”

      After lunch Reid tucked Beebee into bed for a nap and went back to work. At first he kept an ear out for Amy but as time passed and she didn’t return, he got deeper and deeper into his story.

      “Where my mommy?” Beebee suddenly spoke at his elbow.

      Reid started. Still engrossed in his narrative, he answered distractedly, “She’ll be home soon.”

      Beebee tugged on his sleeve and Reid dragged his gaze away from the monitor to see her staring at him with bright blue unblinking eyes. “Want Mommy.”

      Out in the bay, water covered the sandbars and wind surfers skimmed the white-flecked waves. He glanced at his watch. Four o’clock. The tide was in but Amy wasn’t.

      By six o’clock Tara was in a flap. Her recital was at seven and they needed twenty minutes to drive to the hall. After tears and angry words, she called a friend for a ride and stomped out the door without Reid.

      After dinner, Reid sat on the couch with Beebee on his lap and switched on Nina’s current-affairs show. Tonight she was interviewing a man who’d narrowly missed being hit by a chunk of meteorite that had fallen through his roof while he’d been eating breakfast.

      “That’s your grandma,” he whispered into Beebee’s ear.

      Nina had done something different to her hair. The chin-length blond strands had been tweaked into a wayward whimsical style. The sparkle in her eye, her vivacious laughter had her guest hanging on her every word. And the way that red suit clung to her figure—she and Amy could have been sisters. Reid had to admit, Nina still had it.

      Sometimes he thought about calling her and getting together for a drink, for old times’ sake. Then he remembered how the old times had ended and realized that wouldn’t be such a good idea. Anyway, she was probably happily married, with a family.

      Amy would be thrilled to find out her biological mother was in the entertainment business. For Amy’s sake, he prayed that Nina would be as thrilled to hear from her daughter. Elaine had told him she’d given his address to Nina’s mother. He’d waited for Nina to call but so far nothing. Maybe she wasn’t interested in meeting their daughter. Or maybe his presence put her off. Regardless, he had to tell Amy the truth tonight. Surely he could find the words to make her realize how much he cared, how the lie had been forced upon him….

      He glanced at his watch. Seven o’clock and Amy still wasn’t home. He was starting to get seriously worried. Two or three hours, she’d said. Here it was ten hours and counting. Where was she? Why didn’t she call?

      Reid switched off the TV. What if Amy’d had an accident or been abducted? She could be injured or in trouble. His writer’s imagination combined with a father’s sensibilities had no trouble conjuring scenarios of death, dismemberment and disaster.

      Reid dragged a hand through his hair and racked his brain trying to remember if she’d written down the number or address of where she was going. If it was anywhere, he decided, it’d be in the spare bedroom she and Beebee were occupying.

      NINA PULLED INTO THE DRIVEWAY of the house where Amy was staying just before 8:00 p.m. The evening air was sultry with a whiff of salt and the two-story white house glowed in the twilight.

      Nina checked her reflection in the rearview mirror. She’d removed the heavy studio makeup after her show and now her skin looked pale and somehow fragile. There were faint shadows under her blue eyes and she’d chewed all the color off her lips. Whipping out her lipstick, she reapplied a pale pink gloss and quickly ran her fingers through her hair. She was as ready as she’d ever be.

      Her high heels sank into the white gravel driveway and she quickly moved to the concrete path leading to the front door. Who lived here? she wondered. Someone with a few bucks, if the late-model SUV in the carport was anything to go by. The beat-up wooden sailing dinghy with a broken mast and peeling paint next to the SUV seemed out of place.

      Her stomach gave a faint rumble, reminding her that after she’d finished work she’d driven straight here without changing her clothes or stopping for dinner. Too late now. She buzzed the doorbell and pressed her palms against her linen skirt. Through the frosted-glass strip beside the door, she could see a light on in a back room but the front of the house was dark. She should have called first instead of just turning up. Amy might be out. She might be busy. She might—

      The front door opened to reveal a man in a sleeveless T-shirt and shorts. His rumpled dark hair was cut close at the sides and laugh lines framed his mouth and eyes.

      “Reid?” She froze to the spot. Even after all these years, she would have known him anywhere.

      “Nina?” He went still. “What are you doing here?”

      “Me?” she croaked. “What are you doing here?”

      “I live here,” he said.

      Low blood sugar combined with shock caused Nina’s knees to buckle and black spots swam before her eyes. Reid sprang forward and gripped her elbow. “You’d better come inside and sit down.”

      He led her through the foyer and into a formal living room strewn with toys, unfolded laundry and movie magazines. Nina sank gratefully onto a soft couch. Reid placed the back of his warm hand against her clammy forehead. It could have been a gesture of tenderness and concern but his voice was brusque. “Are you all right?”

      “I’m fine,” she lied, feeling anything but. She’d come here to meet her daughter and found Reid instead. She could hardly believe it was him standing before her. She’d known he was back in Vancouver ever since he’d been interviewed in the local media. She knew he’d been married and had another daughter, that his wife had died a few years ago.

      He looked the same, though a little older, of course. His СКАЧАТЬ