The Summer Sand Pact: Five Island Cove, #2

Chapter One

Alice Kelton signed the paperwork on the clipboard and handed the keys to the sedan to the man who’d be driving it onto the ship. She tucked her arms into a fold as she watched, the wind coming off the harbor bringing the scent of summer with it. Sunshine, and ice cream, and an easier time was what Alice imagined summer to smell like, and she drew in a deep breath as she pressed her eyes closed.

In her mind, she saw Frank sitting behind his desk in his home office. She’d asked him for a meeting, but he hadn’t looked up when she’d entered. Until then, she’d second- and triple-guessed her decision to talk to him about a mutual split.

A divorce, she told herself as Charlie stepped to her side. Alice gave him a faint smile and put her arm around his shoulders. That’s almost everything, she said.

Her son said nothing, because the move from the Hamptons to Five Island Cove had been hard on all of them. Alice had spoken with the twins first, and they’d both agreed to move to the vacation home on Rocky Ridge.

Where’s Ginny?

Waiting in the office, Charlie said, his eyes focused out on the ship that would take everything they owned across the waters to the cove. She said she doesn’t feel well.

Alice didn’t either, and she watched the men on the ship too, thinking they looked remarkably like little dolls among all the huge shipping containers. Until recently, Alice had hosted one of those bright, vibrant shipping containers in her front driveway.

She’d dealt with half a dozen visitors asking questions before she’d texted the most gossipy woman in the community and told her to spread the word that Alice wasn’t entertaining visitors, nor did she need any help going through things or packing.

In that moment, Alice panicked, wondering what she was doing here, standing in front of a waist-high wall made of gray stone, watching her life get loaded onto a ship.

Another breath, and the scene in Frank’s office played through her mind again.

Frank, she’d said, settling into the wingback chair in front of his desk. She placed the agreement she’d put together herself over a two-week time period on his desk and inched it closer to him. I’d like to talk about splitting our assets.

That had got him to look up from the small tablet he used to do literally everything. What?

I’ve put together a proposal, she said, staring straight at him. She’d been attending law school when she’d met Frank, and she still knew plenty of people in the industry. She’d worked in a family law firm for two years before the twins had been born. She also knew how to use the Internet, and she had all her facts lined up.

Facts, not emotions. She wasn’t stupid, and neither was Frank.

Frank reached for the eleven-page proposal and began to read it. Alice’s heart tapped out an extra beat every third second, but she folded her legs like boredom might overtake her before Frank finished reading.

You’re going to move to Rocky Ridge? He lifted his eyebrows but didn’t look up at her.

That’s right, Alice said, knowing the next paragraph down laid out her request for him to either pay off the mortgage or provide the monthly payment to her.

She knew when he’d reached that part of the proposal, because the air hissed out of his lungs. He put the packet down and looked at her. You write very well, he’d said.

Thank you. Alice didn’t miss a beat, because the time for praising her legal writing skills had come and gone twenty years ago. Of course, Frank was used to charming his way back into her good graces with compliments and gifts, but Alice would not be swayed this time.

Mom, Ginny called, and Alice pulled herself back to the shipyard. She turned toward Ginny, who approached from the direction of the office. He said we can go.

We better do it, Charlie said. We don’t have much time.

All right, Alice said, turning completely away from the ship that would take a week to arrive at the industrial dock on Diamond Island. Then came the task of moving the cars and her belongings out of the storage container.

She’d paid for six months of storage at the dock, because the vacation home was fully furnished, and she didn’t really need anything she’d packed.

Did they call a cab? she asked.

Yes, Ginny said. He’s two minutes out.

Alice joined her, thinking of their tight itinerary. She’d booked their drop-off at the shipyard and their flight close together on purpose, because she didn’t want any opportunity for any of them to back out of their plan.

She walked with her children back to the office, through the back door, the office, and then the front door. By the time they arrived, a bright yellow cab waited at the curb. Alice waited for the driver to say her name, and then he loaded the few suitcases where she and the children had packed their immediate needs into the trunk.

He opened the back door, and Charlie slid in first. Alice rode in the middle, with Ginny the last to enter the car. Alice had tried to keep herself between the twins as the split had happened, because they needed her. She needed them.

Honestly, life for the three of them had not changed all that much, and Alice wanted to keep it that way. The only real difference was that everyone now knew Frank wouldn’t be coming home from the city. Before, there’d been the hope, the tiny glimmer of hope, that they’d see him in the kitchen on Saturday morning.

Ginny leaned against the window and closed her eyes. Alice didn’t, but the memories ran through her head anyway as the cab started navigating the streets farther inland.

After she’d thanked Frank for the compliment on her legal drafting, she’d said, I’m being very fair. I don’t want this house. If you’d like to keep it, that’s fine. If you want to sell it, I’m requesting an even split on profit, as outlined on page four.

He hadn’t gotten to page four, but Alice didn’t care. He was a huge corporate lawyer, but Alice had never gotten below an A in college, and her proposal was more than fair—and iron clad for any divorce lawyer.

I want my car, she said. And you have the same choices with it as you do the house in the cove. I’d also like the Toyota for the twins. Two cars—one of which no one had driven in months. But the twins would be getting their licenses soon, and the white Camry just collected dust in the expansive garage in the Hamptons. Frank would have no need of it in the city.

All the other vehicles, you can do what you wish with, she said. She didn’t care if she got an even split of the sale of them. She’d also been very careful to leave many decisions like that up to Frank, because he loved making decisions for her and the children. He excelled at it, and he’d already be reeling from her requests for car payments and house payments, child support…and alimony.

Alice had given him several seconds to say something, but he didn’t. He didn’t move toward the paperwork either, and Alice uncrossed her legs, and put the right over her left. I’m asking for full custody. The children will move to Five Island Cove with me, and I’ve already discussed it with them, so you won’t have to.

She hated that she’d sounded like she was doing him a favor, but they both knew she was. Frank barely spoke to the twins when he was home, and she couldn’t remember the last time he’d called or texted them during the week.

You’ll be free to speak with them whenever you wish, she said. Texts, calls, video, chat. They have phones, and we’ll have the Internet. She wanted to shift, but she remained absolutely still.

The alimony is an average of payments judges across the state of New York have awarded in cases like ours, in the past twelve months, she said. I’m asking for twenty-one years, the same number of years we’ve been married, as I started supporting you as you finished law school, and then quit everything when the twins were born.

Alice hated the weakness in her stomach, but she did need the alimony. She could do anything, but she hadn’t been employed in over fifteen years.

I’m aware of what you’ve done, Frank said, his voice icy.

Alice nodded, schooled her face into complete passivity, and reminded herself not to make anything she said sound like an accusation. The child support is the same as the alimony. The twins are in high school, with the activities, opportunities, and expenses that requires.

Frank tapped the papers but made no effort to pick them up again. So the beach house, the Lincoln SUV, the Toyota, alimony, and child support.

Full custody, Alice said. You can, of course, see them whenever you wish. It’s a forty-five-minute flight, and we don’t need to be so strict with visitation. We don’t need to go through the courts. She stared at him, and he lifted his eyes to hers. Her message had gotten through. She didn’t want a nasty divorce, and she didn’t want to take him to court. Nothing about this needed to be made public.

We’ll be out of the house by June tenth, she’d said. If you want to take them to Disneyworld for a week, just text me the dates. I’m sure we can work out those kinds of things.

Frank would want to take them during Homecoming week, or when they had finals, Alice was sure. He didn’t pay attention to that kind of stuff, because he’d never had to before.

And then you’ll be free, she’d said. To move to the city. Sell the house. Keep it. Do what you want.

And she’d be free too, and she’d inhaled and held her breath.

She repeated the gesture in the cab too, pushing the hardest conversation she’d ever had out of her mind.

What’s the first thing you’re going to do when we get there? Charlie asked, looking at her.

Alice smiled at him, her sweet, strong son. He looked so much like Frank, but his square jaw had been softened by Alice’s genes. He did sport the same dark hair and eyes, and when he kept the scraggly facial hair that had started to grow in patches along his chin shaved, Charlie was downright handsome.

Go to the grocery store, Alice said, grinning now. There’s nothing to eat at the house.

We should get one of those island burgers, he said, returning the smile. Then we can go to the beach when we get there.

You and Ginny can go, Alice said, patting his knee.

We’re going to have a great summer, he said, and it sounded like he was trying to convince himself. His phone chimed, and Alice caught the name of the girl who’d texted him. Mandie. No last name, but Alice knew Mandie Grover. Her best friend, Robin, was Mandie’s mother.

Alice had sat Charlie down and talked to him about the girl he’d started a little relationship with the last time they’d been in the cove. Charlie had rolled his eyes through most of it, then he’d said he wouldn’t mess with Mandie, and he’d gone to Jessica’s.

Alice had been distracted enough by Ginny, who’d needed an extraordinary amount of help getting ready for the prom. Her first. She’d been beautiful in a bright blue dress that had layers and layers of fabric for the skirt. She’d gotten more of Alice’s fair features, with skin that would rather turn pink than tan.

When Alice had suggested that Charlie take Jessica to the prom, he’d once again rolled his eyes, and said, No. We’re just friends. He hadn’t gone at all, but he had hung out with her that night.

Friends can go to the prom together, Alice said.

No, they can’t, Mom, Charlie informed her, which hadn’t settled her stomach at all about sending Ginny with her date. Not with her shoulders bare and her makeup adding at least five years to her age.

But Matheson Turner had been very gentlemanly when he’d come to pick up Ginny. Afterward, Ginny said she’d had to dodge his attempts to hold her hand and kiss her for the whole night, and Alice had half a mind to march over to Sandra Turner’s house and tell her to keep her son in line.

But the shipping container had arrived the next day—a week early—and Matheson stopped texting. Apparently, he was not interested in a long-distance relationship with someone who was moving.

Mom, Ginny said, and Alice turned her head to see her daughter had gotten out of the car. Everyone had, except for Alice, and she quickly scooted to the end of the seat and stood up. She paid the cab driver, took her suitcase by the handle, and faced the airport entrance.

She’d given up her position on the library board, the HOA presidency, and a prominent fundraising position on the PTA, all with simple texts. Just like that, positions she’d campaigned for aggressively were gone.

With a couple strokes of a pen, Frank had agreed to her proposal. The divorce wasn’t final yet, but neither of them would contest it, and she wasn’t planning to come to the hearing at all.

Okay, she said, gripping the handle on her suitcase until her knuckles ached. Tell me our summer sand pact.

Not a word about the divorce, Ginny said, facing the doors with the same tenacity Alice felt rising through her. She looked at her son, her eyebrows going up.

Be good with Mandie, Charlie said, rolling his eyes.

She nodded and squared her shoulders. Mine is to do something new every day. And today, that thing was leaving behind the life she’d worked so hard to get. The life she’d thought she wanted. The life that had been suffocating her for years.

She took the first step, and the second was easier. The third landed smoothly, and the doors opened automatically, and Alice Kelton moved into a future without a housekeeper, the biggest house on the block, or a husband.

Chapter Two

Kelli Thompson saw the man with the light brown hair and freckles across his face sitting in the area for the gate next to hers. She’d seen him at the market yesterday too, and this morning, on her block as she and Parker had left the house to come to the airport.

Her skin prickled, but Kelli told herself not to over-react. She watched a lot of crime dramas, that was all. This man wasn’t following her.

She stared at him for several minutes, and he never once looked up from his tablet. Someone bumped into her leg, and Kelli’s attention diverted from the man to her son, who had taken off his headphones and opened his backpack to put them away.

Done? she asked, reaching over to smooth Parker’s loose hair off his forehead. He’d gotten kissed by some of her strawberry blonde hair, but his eyes were much darker than hers, a trait that had come from Julian.

Yeah, Parker said. Can we get a cinnamon roll?

Yes, Kelli said, some relief moving through her. Let’s go get a cinnamon roll. They shouldered their packs and walked away from the man sitting a few rows over. A slip of unease moved through Kelli to turn her back on the man, but no one grabbed her from behind.

Calm down, she told herself, and she glanced over her shoulder. The man still studied his screen as if his life depended on memorizing whatever sat there.

She bought a cinnamon roll and a bottle of milk for her son, skipping everything except a bottle of water for herself. They walked slowly back to the gate, and it had grown even more crowded as their flight’s departure time grew closer.

After scanning the waiting area and the one for the next gate over, Kelli didn’t see the man. Further relief seeped into her muscles, and soon after that, she and Parker boarded the plane, found their seats, and settled in.

The flight from Jersey to Five Island Cove only took eighty minutes, and the plane was full this time where Kelli had enjoyed her choice of seat the last time she’d gone. Seven weeks made a big difference on the island, and the summer vacationers had obviously already started to flood the cove.

She disembarked behind Parker, taking his hand in hers once they could walk side-by-side so they wouldn’t get separated among the masses of people making their way to the baggage claim area. So, she said, smiling down at him. What did you think? Your first flight.

It was great, he said, smiling. I wasn’t even scared.

A rush of love for the eight-year-old moved through Kelli, and she led him to the baggage claim only to find other people four deep, waiting for their bags.

Kelli never was one to push her way to the front, so she hung back, waiting for others to get their bags and go. She’d told Robin she could get herself to Rocky Ridge, because she was coming in a day after everyone else.

Delaying her trip by one day had allowed her to finish the week at the gym without having to get someone to cover for her for too long. And Julian had been able to get a huge order out yesterday while Kelli laundered everything she and Parker owned, packed, and scrubbed the townhome from top to bottom so Julian would have a clean house while she was gone.

When Kelli had proposed the idea of a two-week vacation in a luxury home in Five Island Cove for the three of them, Julian had frowned. Actually frowned. Kelli could still see the drawn-down eyebrows, the way small lines appeared on the outer edges of his mouth as his chin drooped.

She pushed the image of her unhappy husband out of her mind. She’d been unhappy when they hadn’t taken the vacation he’d promised they would. His mother hadn’t known about taking Parker so Julian and Kelli could reconnect.

Parker didn’t have school, and other than her few aerobics classes each week, Kelli wasn’t tied to New Jersey during the summer. So she’d boldly told Julian she’d take Parker herself, and they’d see him on the twenty-fifth.

Done. Simple as that.

Her phone dinged, and Kelli rummaged in her purse to find it as it continued to chime over and over. Embarrassment heated her face, and she quickly silenced her phone as if the people around her cared that it had made a few noises.

Julian had texted several times, saying he missed her already and he couldn’t wait until she got home. A sigh gathered in the back of her throat. She wasn’t sure how to interpret the messages. He could simply miss her and wish she’d hurry home. That would be the sweet assumption, the one that made her smile softly at how romantic her husband was.

But Kelli suspected he’d sent them to make her feel guilty for leaving at all. The back of her throat burned, and familiar bitterness gathered there.

Miss you too, she sent back, adding a smiley face emoji to the text before shoving her phone back in her purse. The crowd inched forward, and Kelli looked up to see if she could get closer to the rotating baggage belt.

Her eyes met those of the man who’d been sitting in the airport in Jersey. They were a darker blue than hers, but just as bright and just as…electric. He lifted his hand in a wave, and Kelli turned to look at the people around her. He couldn’t be waving at her; she didn’t know him.

When she looked back at him, he’d moved, and Kelli frantically searched to find where he’d gone. Who was he? Why was⁠—?

She found him heading out the door, towing a single, black piece of luggage behind him. She glanced around at the others beside her, sure they could protect her. He wouldn’t dare try to hurt her or Parker with so many people around.

That’s mine, Parker said, and Kelli blinked her way back to the present.

She said, Stay here, and went to get his bag. It too was black, with a bright green duct tape turtle on the front of it. She hefted it off the moving belt and took it to him. She turned back and got her own bag, pulling out the handle so she could walk with the bag beside her.

All right, she said, refusing to scan for the stranger. Let’s go get in line for a car.

Five Island Cove had an amazing summer transportation system, as no one could drive to the cove. At the airport and every ferry station, a station for RideShare could be found, and all she had to do was get in line and say how many people she had and where she was going. They’d drive her there, and if she bought a monthly pass, she could ride as much as she wanted.

Since she and Parker would only be there for a couple of weeks, Alice had said she had two cars, Eloise had volunteered to rent one so she could go see Aaron whenever she wanted, and Robin said she’d have her SUV, Kelli hadn’t bothered with a pass. But she still needed to get to the house on Rocky Ridge.

The line stretched down the sidewalk, and Kelli joined it, noting that it was moving quickly, as cars were lined up to get people already. It was just a matter of loading as quickly as possible, and only a few minutes later, she and Parker had a car headed for the north ferry station.

Parker’s eyes stayed round as dinner plates as he took in the island, the ferry, the water that seemed to stretch in every direction. Kelli kept a smile in her heart at the way he wondered and experienced everything, confident in her decision to bring him to the cove this summer. They rarely went anywhere, and she’d taken him to every park and museum in their Jersey suburb. They’d gone into the city several times, and Kelli did her best to make sure Parker had plenty of opportunities for play dates. He had no siblings, and Kelli wasn’t the best playmate for him, she knew that.

This is Sanctuary Island, she told him as the ferry approached the dock. We’re not getting off here. This ferry will continue around the west end of the island and go on to Rocky Ridge.

That’s the last island on this side of the cove, Parker said. Right? He looked up at her.

That’s right, she said. We flew into the middle island. On the south side is Bell Island, and then Pearl Island.

I heard they were going to build a highway to connect Bell and Pearl, someone said, and Kelli’s anxiety spiked as she turned toward the woman standing there. She seemed familiar, but Kelli couldn’t place her light green eyes and washed out brown hair.

Really? she asked, wishing talking to new people didn’t freak her out so much. She was far too old to have a fight or flight response over making small talk on the ferry. I didn’t know that.

Been some rumors among the locals, she said with a smile.

Are you a local? Kelli asked.

Born and raised. The woman smiled, her eyes filling with pride. She was probably five years younger than Kelli, but the locals on Five Island Cove all knew each other.

Do you know Robin Grover? Kelli asked. Her younger sister, Rosalee, still lives here too.

The woman’s face lit up. Sure, she said. Rosalee and I were in the same class.

Surprise hit Kelli right between the eyes. Really? What’s your name?

Leslie Norman, she said. Well, I was Otto, back in those days.

Leslie Otto? Kelli said, putting the name together with the girl she’d gone to high school with. I’m Kelli Watkins. She touched her chest, wondering if anyone from her younger days would remember her.

Kelli had the kind of face that was forgettable. She didn’t speak up the way Alice did, and she hadn’t been perky and popular like Robin. She didn’t play sports and have boys fawning over her like AJ, and she didn’t stick out academically like Eloise. Yes, Kelli was entirely able to disappear from memories as if she’d never existed.

Kelli Watkins, the woman said, clearly trying to find the right memory with Kelli in it.

I’m older than you, Kelli said. I’m sure you don’t remember me. She glanced back out over the railing of the ferry, the sunshine so bright today. No wonder so many people came to the cove in the summer. Everything about it soothed her soul, and again, Kelli was glad she’d decided to come.

Did you have siblings? Leslie asked, and Kelli nodded.

Two sisters, she said, cutting a look at Leslie. One older and one younger.

Watkins… Leslie made the connection, Kelli could tell, and she wanted to move away from the other woman.

Heather?

Yes, Kelli said.

I didn’t know her very well, Leslie said, and at least her voice was kind.

Kelli nodded again, and thankfully, Leslie didn’t try to strike up more conversation. Heather had not finished high school, so it wasn’t surprising that someone like Leslie didn’t know her. She’d left the cove when she was fifteen, and to Kelli’s knowledge she’d never come back.

Everyone handled the demise of their family differently, and Kelli thought Heather had hung on for as long as she could.

Thankfully, the smudge of island on the horizon came into view, growing larger with every passing minute. Here we are, Kelli said as the ferry pulled up to the dock. One more car ride, and we’re there.

She tugged her luggage along beside her, ready to be done with the travel already. Parker went in front of her, and Kelli edged her way off the boat and over to the line for a ride. She tapped on her phone and pulled up the address