8. Shame On The Name

8

SHAME ON THE NAME

A ll Kelsey hoped for was that Frankie behaved today.

She'd run around looking for everything she'd thought she needed for this outing and sacrificed her own personal style in the process.

He'd seen her made up already. No reason he couldn't see the weekend version of her.

The last thing she wanted was any man saying she was someone she wasn't supposed to be. Or saying she was.

Not her and never would be.

Van drove them to the docks and pulled his truck onto the ferry. "We could have taken my car over," she said. "It's easier to get on and off."

"This is fine," he said. "Do you like motorcycles?"

She turned and looked at him, her eyes on his fitted athletic shirt. She'd bet he did that as a tease and she was completely fine with it.

"Don't know," she said. "Can't say I dislike them but have never ridden on one. Why? Do you have one?"

"Your voice rises when you get excited. Did you know that?"

"Yep," she said. "I've always been that way. Drives my brother insane. You know I've got a twin, right? I mean I assumed it when you asked who my father was that you knew."

"I didn't," he said. "Though you're not the only one that can do research when you get a full name."

"I'm sure you put my researching skills to shame in your past job."

"It's in the past," he said. "Yes, I've got a motorcycle. If you weren't bringing Frankie, we could have taken that."

"Next time," she said. "Oh my God, I can just see riding along the cliffs on it. I won't tell my mother. She'll have a heart attack. That would be right after she caught my father from having one."

He grinned. "No reason to upset anyone. My mother wasn't a fan either."

"Did she lecture you when you had it?" Kelsey asked.

"No. I got it after she passed."

"Because you wouldn't have wanted to upset her," she said. "That's sweet."

There was more to Van than he was letting on.

They sat in his truck with Frankie and just talked about things on the island during the ferry ride to Cape Cod.

When they docked, he pulled out efficiently and better than she could have done and she'd been doing it for years.

"Tell me where to go," he said.

"You mean you didn't research the lighthouses too?" she asked.

"I did," he said. "Race Point Lighthouse is the closest."

"And the nicest," she said. "You've got to walk a bit to get there. We'll wear Frankie out."

"Between the two of us, we can carry him," he said.

They parked his truck shortly after and started their trek toward the lighthouse. When they got closer, she saw it was just opening and there were people in line.

"They don't let dogs in there," someone said to Kelsey.

"What?" she asked.

One of the older women in line had turned and said that. "There are no pets allowed. You should read the guidelines before you just show up."

The woman had her nose in the air and Kelsey bit back a sarcastic comment.

"Mr. Franklin," she said. "Guess we don't get to see the lighthouse today."

"You could leave your dog in the car," the woman said.

"Would you leave your child in the car?" she asked, frowning.

"No," the woman said, lifting her chin. "But that is just a dog."

"Let's go, Kelsey. We can see it from here and come back another time. Maybe a walk down by the water."

She let out a huff and let Van drag her away.

"How dare that lady get in my business and judge me."

"I thought I was going to have to stand in front of you to keep you from taking a swing."

She burst out laughing. "Hardly that. But I do appreciate you pulling me away before I said something I would regret. It's not like she knew who I was, but I worry about that. No reason to bring any shame on the name."

"Why did you say that tongue in cheek?" he asked. They were walking along the beach and Frankie was trotting next to them.

"Family joke," she said. "We've always had eyes on us. Whether we lived on the island or in Boston."

"Did you grow up on the island?" he asked.

"Yes and no. Duke and I went to school there until middle school. I swam and wanted to in college. There was no swim team in our small school. They had a few sports, but as you can imagine it's not easy to get to games and most were on the Cape and against those small schools. Anyway, my parents bought a house in Boston. Before that they had a condo where my mother or father would stay for business."

"Apart from each other?" he asked.

"We went too. Depends. My mother has a firm in Boston and was going to sell it when she opened the other one on the island but decided not to. My father has business ventures all over Massachusetts. He's got four small hotels throughout Cape Cod, and two in Boston."

"No hotels on the island?"

"No," she said. "He wouldn't be able to compete there and didn't want to. There are a few chain ones and then the three big ones in our family. Want a tiny lesson while we walk?"

"Sure," he said.

"The Bond Retreat is the oldest resort and the most posh on the island."

"Run by Hunter Bond," he said.

"Ahh, you did do some research."

"I've got some downtime on the job and figured it only helps to get the lay of the land. I spend a lot of time reading about the island and businesses."

"I didn't think of that," she said. "Then you know the tallest hotel is Atlantic Rise. That is owned by my cousins Emily and Penelope. They are close cousins where some of the others aren't."

"How close?" he asked.

"My father's grandmother and Penelope's mother's grandmother were twins. So it's a few generations removed but still in the same branch."

"And the casino is owned by Eli Bond," he said.

"Yep," she said. "So yeah, my father wasn't going to compete with them. They actually don't compete with each other and work together, but my father owns more high-end motel-size places. Just two to four floors. Those kinds of hotels on the Cape. The ones in Boston are bigger but still not like chain ones."

"Nothing you wanted to do?" he asked. "Or your brother?"

"No," she said. "Duke always knew he wanted to cook. If you haven't been to his flagship restaurant, it's the place to eat. He bought another restaurant not far from the Juliet Port. Hadley's. That's his wife. He renamed it after her before they married. They met there. She was the daughter of the owners my brother bought it from."

"So nice and tidy," he said.

She laughed at his dry tone. "There isn't much in the Bond family that is nice and tidy, but it's funny you think that."

He just nodded and they walked in silence for a bit.

She didn't know what was going through his mind but figured he'd tell her when he was ready.

"Want to turn back around and go sightseeing somewhere else that is more pet friendly?"

"That'd be nice," she said. "Sorry about this. I should have read the guidelines. I'm normally better than that, but it's the first pet I've owned. The first in my family. There wasn't a vet on the island until the last few years and not easy to be a pet owner."

"Don't worry about it," he said. "I've gone thirty-six years without seeing the inside of a lighthouse. I could wait some more."

"Boy, you're old," she said.

He turned and squinted one eye at her. "Do you want me to comment back on your age?"

"Nope. If I don't find a man soon I'm going to be an old hag in some people's minds. Not mine."

"But you want to find someone," he said. "Right?"

"Sure. But not so that I'm not called a hag. I'll find someone when the time is right. I'm in no rush, but I'm not going to sit around waiting. I'm at a point in my life where I know in the first few dates where it's going. No reason to waste my time."

"Waste your time on what?" he asked.

"Someone that doesn't want the same thing I do. Even if I like being with the person, you can't make them be someone they aren't."

"No," he said.

"So... what is your future plan?" she asked

She was grinning but figured she might as well put it out there.

"Meaning am I looking to get married and have a bunch of...puppies...running around?"

"Puppies and kids. Maybe one or two. But yep, do you want that or not in the picture?"

"If I can find the right person, then yes, not opposed to it."

"Good," she said. "Let's go back to the truck and explore some more. I'm positive we can find some outdoor eating somewhere."

"You mean you can't bring Frankie into one of your father's restaurants?"

"I wouldn't do that," she said. "Just like Duke gets mad when I carry Frankie inside of his. I only do it when no one is around and run in to get his bank bag or return it. Nothing more."

"No reason to give your brother an excuse to have an inspection," he said.

"Nope," she said.

They got back to his truck and she pulled out a little container she'd packed and poured water in it and let Frankie have his fill before they climbed in. When he was done she dumped the rest.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yep. If you go back down the road and take a right, there is some public parking and we can walk around if you want."

Four hours later they were sitting on a bench with Frankie sleeping in the bag in front of her. Her puppy was zonked out and they were in the shade relaxing before they made their next move.

"He's out cold," he said.

"He is," she said.

"So are you going to tell me about his name?" he asked.

"Oh, I forgot," she said. "So...I've got a bit of a potty mouth."

"You don't say," he said.

She giggled. "Bad habit. Something I developed in college. I'm really competitive."

"Doesn't surprise me," he said.

"I was a good swimmer and couldn't stand to be beat. Being smaller than the rest of them, I was underestimated. It made me work harder. Swearing pumped me up."

He laughed and she was shocked to hear the sound. She realized he only cracked a few grins or smiled. He was more about snorting, grunting and an occasional smirk.

"Did you swear at your competitors?" he asked.

"Not always. It's more like I was hard on myself. But I'm getting off track. In the past few years I'd be sitting in my office and if something was giving me a hard time, I'd mumble to myself or swear."

"Not uncommon," he said.

"My swear word of choice was motherfucker."

He turned and smirked at her. "I can see where that might offend someone. Possibly your mother."

She waved her hand. "My mother wasn't offended. But she didn't like hearing it all the time. Who do you think I learned it from?"

"That's funny," he said.

"My mother taught me my first swear word. I've heard the story. I was two years old and she was trying to buckle me in the car seat. I was squirming around and she was in a hurry. She started to mumble for me to cut the shit. I guess I thought it was funny and when she got behind the wheel I shouted cut the shit, cut the shit! She was mortified and told me to stop. I just kept doing it and giggling."

Her mother loved to tell that story to everyone. She blamed her bad habit right there in her mother's lap as a child.

"I could see that being a good memory," he said.

"One of many in my life. But I'm getting off track. My mother lectured me more than once not to say that particular swear word so much. I had to find an alternative. I was trying to think of something with the same letters."

She was staring at him with a massive grin on her face. "Mr. Franklin?" he asked. "You named your dog after your altered swear word?"

It was the appalled look on his face. "It's funny," she said. "But you have to understand. It's not always a curse word in a bad light."

"How is that?"

"Well, when I went to pick out Frankie from the breeder, there were five pups and he came running over to me almost knocking over two other ones. I had one of those awwww, motherfucker, I'm in love moments. Your inflection makes the word. Shout it, you're ticked. Say it softly and it's an endearment."

He shook his head at her. "You're one of a kind, aren't you?"

"Nothing wrong with that, is there?" she asked. As she'd thought with her wardrobe for the day, might as well put it all out there.

"No," he said. "Not in my eyes."

"Good," she said.

She looked down to see Frankie stirring and cuddling more in the bag in front of her. In a few months she wouldn't be able to do this, but he was small yet.

"I can carry him if you want," he said. "Or we can go back to the docks to get the next ferry."

"You want to wear my floral bag and carry my puppy for me?" she said all sappy.

Another one of those snorts. "I said carry it, not wear it."

"Mr. Franklin," she said softly. "You're a keeper, Van."

He laughed and rewarded her with a smile that actually reached his eyes. There was a touch of sadness there and it made her want to swear again, but she wouldn't.

"No one ever said that before," he said.

"Good thing for me they didn't want to keep you," she said. She stood up and put her hand out for his, then yanked him up.

No way she could pull him, but he let her. Even sweeter in her mind.

"We'll see if you feel that way soon," he said quietly.

She didn't know what he meant by that and wouldn't ask.

He probably wouldn't tell her right now anyway.

But she'd get it out of him at some point.

She knew because, son of a bitch...Amore Island might have just hit her.

She'd keep it to herself for now.