Cindy’s heart beat so fast, she was nearly breathless as she tried to get her head around everything he’d told her. “Would you… Would you like to see the room?”
“That’d be great, thanks.”
Cindy got up to show him the way to the bedroom that included a queen-sized bed and dresser that had been left by previous tenants. “You may want a new mattress. I don’t know the full history of that one.”
“It’s no different than a hotel, right? And better than what I’m sleeping on at the Beachcomber employee housing.”
“That’s probably true.”
“It’s definitely true. This would be perfect for what I need, but it’s completely up to you. I’d understand if it’s not a good fit.”
Cindy followed him back to the living room. “It means a lot that you were honest.”
He shrugged. “I can’t change the story of my past as much as I wish I could. I’m working hard to have a better future, though. If you want to read the whole ugly story online, my last name is Carson.”
“I want you to know…”
He tipped his head, his full attention focused on her.
It was a wonder she didn’t melt on the spot. “I know you’re just doing your job being nice to your customers at the bar, but your friendship has meant a lot to me this summer.”
“Likewise, and being nice to you, Cindy, has nothing to do with my job. It has everything to do with you.” On that startling note, he said, “I’ll wait to hear from you. Either way, we’re still friends. I promise.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“No worries. Come see me tomorrow night.”
“I will.”
After she closed the door behind him, Cindy went straight to her laptop to google him. It took about five seconds to find the full story about his brother being killed as the two of them were holding up a store and how Jace had been convicted of armed robbery and other charges. He served six years of a ten-year sentence and was paroled six months ago.
She fell down a deep rabbit hole, reading every word she could find, including the report from the parole board that had deemed him a model prisoner who’d taken full advantage of every resource offered to him in prison to better himself, along with a recommendation that he be paroled early for good behavior.
An hour had passed by the time she came up for air. She sat back in her chair, thinking about everything she’d learned about him and trying to decide how she felt about it. After the upbringing she’d had with an abusive, narcissist father, she viewed every choice she made through the lens of having survived that nightmare. Sometimes that lens colored things unfairly, and for that reason, she needed outside opinions.
She reached for her phone to text Julia and Katie.
I need a sister meeting. Can you guys come by? I’ll buy the pizza.
Coming!Katie replied right away.
Julia responded ten minutes later to say she’d be there after she finished her set at the Sand & Surf. She played the piano during standing-room-only happy hour at Stephanie’s Bistro, their stepsister’s restaurant. Order the pizza, and I’ll pick it up on the way over.
After she called in the order to Mario’s, Cindy got busy slicing some cheese and arranging it on a plate with crackers and grapes for her sisters. She got out wineglasses to go with the big bottle of chardonnay chilling in the fridge that she kept on hand for them. Cindy hadn’t had a drink in years due to the migraines.
New medication had helped to keep them to one or two a month, but that was still far too many, and she avoided things like caffeine, chocolate and other foods that tended to trigger them. She’d rather live without wine than suffer through any more migraines than she already did.
Katie arrived thirty minutes after receiving the text, hugging and kissing Cindy like they didn’t see each other all the time these days. Having all but one of her siblings around, as well as their mother and grandparents, was the best part of living on Gansett. The island had played a critical role in salvaging the Lawry siblings’ childhood, as their summers had been spent at the Sand & Surf with their beloved grandparents. That’d been the only reprieve they’d gotten, other than their father’s infrequent deployments, from their horrible home life.
The island would always have a special place in the hearts of all the Lawrys, and being close to most of her family again was wonderful, but the dilemma involving Jace weighed heavily on her.
She really wished she could have a big drink.
Since that wasn’t possible, she chatted with Katie about her work at the clinic, Shane’s night out with his cousins and how Katie was feeling after having suffered a miscarriage that summer.
“I’m fine physically.” Katie tucked her blonde hair behind her ear and sipped from her wineglass as they enjoyed late-day sun on the patio. “It’s the emotional element that’s not quite there yet. I lost the baby before I even knew I was pregnant. The whole thing was just devastating.”
“I’m sure it was horrible. It was for me, and I was just the aunt.”