Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

Elle found West seated at one of the breakfast tables at the inn the following morning. He was playing a rousing game of Fish with Emily, Whitney and Henry.

“Please tell me you’re not teaching these children how to gamble,” she said.

Henry laughed. “I play poker with Ryan all the time.”

“Got any twos?” Whitney asked no one in particular.

West dropped the two of hearts on the table. “You are becoming a card shark, Whit.”

The little girl giggled.

“That right there is my favorite sound in the whole world,” Tanner Gillette said as he and Ryan entered the room.

“Who’s ready for a round of putt-putt golf?” Ryan asked.

“Me!” the three kids shouted as they tossed their cards into the center of the table and scrambled out of their chairs.

“Do you two want to join us for school vacation daycare?” Ryan looked at Elle, his expression hopeful.

She was about to say “Why not,” when West interjected.

“Elinor and I have an appointment this morning,” he said. “Perhaps another day.”

“We do?” Elle asked.

West got to his feet and adjusted the cuffs of his white dress shirt. How had she not noticed he was wearing a tie? And a suit?

“Yes. We do.”

“Have a good one,” Tanner said as he and Ryan herded the kids out the door.

West went in the opposite direction, headed for the study.

She hurried after him. “Is this about your newspaper?”

“I was wondering when you were going to ask me about that.” He slipped into his suit jacket.

“You were very cryptic the other day when Livi asked.”

“Nothing was finalized yet.” He used the mirrored glass behind the bar to check his reflection.

Elle looked down at the leather leggings she wore. She’d paired them with the Stella McCartney dupes she’d gifted herself for Christmas and an oversized cashmere sweater with little Christmas trees stitched into the neckline. “Should I go change? This meeting is obviously formal.”

“It’s an appointment, not a meeting. And you are driving me because I’m not familiar with the roads in this area.” He dropped his gaze from her head to her toes. “You look fine the way you are. Very festive in fact.”

The man was sparing with his compliments. She could work with festive.

“We have a few minutes before we need to leave.” He bent down behind the desk and came back up with an awkwardly wrapped package. “This is for you. Merry Christmas.”

Elle eyed the gift warily. “But I don’t have a gift for you.” Guilt clogged her throat. Why hadn’t she thought to get him something? “I can’t accept it.”

He tilted his chin toward the ceiling and mumbled something. “Elinor. The most rewarding gift you can give me is to accept this gift with humility. The only thing I need in return is for you to enjoy it.”

She would get him something anyway. Hayden was taking her to the fly-fishing store later to pick out a new rod for Lamar for Christmas. West could be a fly fisherman, couldn’t he? He dressed like one half the time.

“Thank you,” she said as she took the package from him. “Did you wrap this with your eyes closed?”

He grinned. “I had a little help. Put it up in your suite. You can open it later. I don’t want to take a chance you’ll get all mushy on me. The note inside explains the gift. I’ll meet you out by the garage. Your mother said we could take her car.”

Ten minutes later they were turning out of the inn’s driveway onto the main road. The GPS instructed her to turn toward the highway.

“You already programmed the GPS?” she asked. “Control freak much?”

“After a month in each other’s company, you’re surprised by that?”

Elle couldn’t help it. She laughed. “Not at all. You’re a gamer, West. You’ll keep me guessing until we pull up to wherever this place is.”

“Nonsense,” he said. “We are going to Tifton.”

“What’s in Tifton?”

“The county courthouse.”

Her pulse began to race. “West, why exactly are we going to the county courthouse?”

“To get married.”

He reached for the dash when she swerved.

“Dammit, not to you, Gidget. To Kitty.”

“Oh my gosh! No way!” she croaked through the emotions unexpectedly clogging her throat.

West and Kitty are getting married!

“You’d better get your emotions under control. Or else you’ll be waiting in the car,” he warned.

She swallowed the excited chirp that threatened. No way was she missing this. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him nervously drumming his fingers on his knees. He wasn’t as composed as he appeared. Smirking like a lunatic, she relaxed in the driver’s seat and steered the car toward Tifton, where West’s future awaited.

Everett toyed with the ring on his finger. It had been two years since he’d worn one. The simple platinum band felt heavy against his skin. It also felt right.

He looked across the inn’s grand salon at Kitty. His wife. She was radiant talking with the judge who had married them earlier in the day. The fifteen-foot Christmas tree behind her paled in comparison. The platinum band she wore on her ring finger was studded with diamonds, causing it to shimmer in the lamplight every time she moved her wrist.

“Oh, Mr. West is my most famous groom, by far,” the judge told Kitty and Patricia. “Although I once officiated a marriage that included the guy from those fried chicken commercials you see ten times a day on football Saturdays.”

“You hear that, West,” Lamar murmured when he walked into the room carrying a tray of champagne glasses. “You’re more famous than a fried chicken pitchman.”

“I’ll be sure to have my agent include that in my bio,” Everett joked.

Just then, Claire Lovell charged into the room, her husband in tow. “You got married? Without me?” The woman looked dejected.

Kitty took her sister’s hands in hers. “It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. We didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. Especially around the holidays.” She smiled in Everett’s direction. “And we didn’t want to wait.”

Lamar popped the cork on a bottle of champagne. “A toast doesn’t count as a big deal, does it?”

“A toast works for me,” Everett said.

“Hear, hear,” Tim Lovell chimed in.

When Lamar had filled the glasses, Patricia passed them around.

Claire’s eyes were shiny as she accepted hers. “But you’re my sister. I should have been there. At least as a witness.”

“They had two fine witnesses present,” the judge announced.

Everett moved over to stand beside Kitty. He wrapped his arm around her waist, anchoring her to him, knowing that what came next wouldn’t sit well with her sister.

“You did? Who?” Claire asked, sounding even more hurt.

“Hayden stood up for me. It was only fair since he wasn’t around for my first marriage.” Kitty tried to make a joke of it.

Her sister wasn’t buying it. “Hayden? And who else?” The lack of color in her face told them all she already had a good idea who the other witness was.

“My assistant, Elinor, stood up for me,” Everett said.

Claire’s hand began to shake so hard her champagne nearly sloshed over the rim of her glass. Her husband quickly removed it from her grasp.

“Well. Then I guess it was a good thing I wasn’t invited if she was there.”

“Don’t be silly, Claire. No one was ‘invited,’” Kitty insisted. “And don’t you think this grudge you’ve been holding against Elle has gone on long enough?”

“Grudge?” The woman bristled. Tim lifted his hand to her shoulder to calm her, but Claire shook it off. “Is that what you think this is?”

“Yes,” Patricia added tersely. “And you’ve taken it too far, Claire. It’s time you stop persecuting my daughter for something she wasn’t responsible for. She didn’t coerce Hayden to that party. In fact, she left well before he arrived.”

“That doesn’t matter. She was always doing something to get him in trouble. It wasn’t enough that she already had a boyfriend. She wanted to keep my son on a string, too.”

Patricia opened her mouth to protest, but Tim beat her to it.

“That’s enough, Claire,” he told his wife.

“That girl ruined our son’s life!” she cried.

“If it wasn’t for ‘that girl,’ your son would have done time in prison,” the judge interjected.

The air in the room seemed to still. The judge sighed heavily. He pulled a folded piece of paper from his suit jacket.

“Since Hayden was a minor at the time, the court documents are sealed. I know because I was the one who signed off on his plea deal. Meeting him today, and seeing the man he’s become made me feel justified in my decision not to sentence him to prison. And it’s thanks to this letter from his best friend that I changed my mind.”

He handed the letter to Tim. He scanned the page. “Elle wrote this.”

Her first persuasive piece, Everett thought proudly. He was glad he and Kitty were able to convince the judge to help them help Hayden. Hopefully, it would do the trick. He wanted Elle and Hayden to have what he’d had with Keeley. What he had now with Kitty.

Tim cleared his throat and began to read.

Your honor,

I am writing to you today to tell you about my best friend, Hayden Lovell. It’s not a lie to say I have loved him since kindergarten. As you weigh his fate, I would like you to know more about what an incredible human being he is.

I am deeply saddened that a family lost their home and the irreplaceable treasures within it. I know they want justice. But the fire was a result of an accident, not malice. Hayden Lovell wouldn’t know how to commit malice if he tried. This is a boy who routinely gives his lunch to a classmate whose family is struggling. The boy who took on a bully in the second grade because he was tormenting another boy who stuttered. A boy who tells his parents his running shoes are worn out long before they are so he can give them to another kid on the team who can’t afford decent sneakers. Malice isn’t in his DNA.

Hayden went to that party because he thought people he cared about might be in trouble. Namely me. It’s a guilt I will live with for the rest of my life. But he didn’t go there to start a fight, much less a fire. Hayden made a mistake. My father has a favorite James Joyce quote that he’s always reciting to us kids: A man's mistakes are his portals of discovery.

Hayden has so much more to discover in this world. So much more good to do. I humbly ask you to consider that as you weigh his sentence. Hayden Lovell is an irreplaceable treasure to his mother, his father, his sister, his friends, and the people of Chances Inlet. And most of all to me. Please don’t bury that treasure away.

Sincerely,

Elinor McAlister

Kitty dabbed at her eyes when Tim finished reading. Claire slumped down into the nearest chair. Lamar cleared his throat. Patricia kneeled in front of Claire.

“I have five children.” She placed her hand on Claire’s knee. “I know exactly what it feels like to be helpless when all you want to do is protect your child from the world around them. You know in your heart Elle isn’t responsible for what happened to your son. And Hayden’s life is far from ruined. But you are hurting your relationship with your son by blaming Elle.” Patricia sighed. “Those two are still writing their story. And whichever way it ends, they need our support.”

Kitty placed her arm around her sister’s shoulders. “Let it go,” she said. “It isn’t like you to carry around so much hate toward someone. Much less a girl you once thought of as a second daughter.”

Claire gulped a sob. “I don’t know if I can,” she whispered. “It’s easier to bear if I have someone to blame.”

“I felt the same way when I lost my husband. Always looking for someone to blame for him being taken away from me,” Patricia said. “But it gets easier if you accept the fact that life happens. And Hayden is still here. You need to embrace that fact and be happy instead of holding onto the pain of the past.”

“I’m so sorry for my behavior, Patricia. I’ll—I’ll try with Elle. I really will,” Claire said between sniffles. “I’m grateful to you for understanding. And to Donald for everything he did for Hayden back then.”

“He loved your son like one of his own. Because Elle loves him.”

Patricia’s words brought on another strangled sob.

“Maybe we could get to that toast,” Lamar said when his wife stood. “I think we all need a drink about now.”

Tim handed his wife her glass then took her hand in his. He raised his glass in the air. “To second chances. We are the town for it, after all.”

His meaning wasn’t lost on anyone as they toasted.