“After college, you mean?” Eleanor asked pointedly.
Sophie shrugged. “Or before. Who knows?”
“Your dad won’t be very happy with that idea,” Eleanor said with a laugh.
“By then I’ll be eighteen and he won’t get any say in what I do,” the girl retorted.
The defiance in her voice reminded Jess so painfully of her own stilted relationship with her father at this age. Jess’s father had earned her antagonism. Had Sophie’s?
She didn’t know the man well enough to make a guess about that.
“Are you really Rachel McBride’s sister?” Sophie asked as they were heading back to the house. “You don’t seem very much alike.”
Yes, she had been hearing that for most of her life. Rachel had been sweet and kind, traits Jess could never claim.
“Yes. Since the day she was born. I’m two years older.”
“I follow her on Insta. Someday I want to have as many followers as she does.”
She blinked at this information. It still took her by surprise to be reminded that Rachel had become a social media influencer, mixing images of her kids and her home with charming pictures of the landscape around Cape Sanctuary. Jess didn’t spend a lot of time on social media but she had found that following her sister was the best way to keep up with her nieces and nephew.
“Rachel is quite a celebrity around here,” Eleanor added.
“Not just around here,” Sophie said. “My friend Jaycee lives in Florida and her mom follows Rachel. She was excited that I live in the same town as her.”
“I’m glad she found her niche,” Jess said.
“She should feature your Airstream. Seriously, it’s so cute.”
Jess wasn’t sure she liked the idea of all those prying eyes looking into her space.
“Maybe,” she said in a noncommittal way.
“Can I help you guys clean stuff out?” Sophie asked when they returned to the kitchen.
“We’re mostly done for today. I’m only taking a few pictures of some clothes we found in one of the rooms to send to my partner. She’s better than I am at guessing value.”
“You can help us, if you’d like. But don’t you have homework to do first?” Eleanor asked.
Was the older woman looking pale again or was it only the difference in light after moving from the sunshine to the indoor lighting?
“Not much. Half a math worksheet that I didn’t have enough time in class to finish. I’m caught up with everything else.”
“You can certainly join us, then.”
As they started toward the wing they had been working in, Eleanor stopped, resting her hand on the edge of a table in the hallway. “On second thought, I’m not feeling the best. Would you mind terribly if I stop for the day and take a nap?”
Jess frowned, worried all over again about Eleanor’s health. “Am I wearing you out?”
“It’s not your fault. I was ill a few weeks ago and I don’t quite have my strength back yet, I’m afraid.”
“Want me to stay with you, Gram?” Sophie asked.
“No. I’m fine. I’ll just take a snooze in my favorite chair with Charlie on my lap and be good as new in a half hour or so.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. Don’t you worry about me. Go take your pictures.” She kissed her granddaughter’s head and shooed them down the hall.
“Is that unusual, for your grandmother to tire so easily?” she asked Sophie.
The girl shrugged. “Yeah, she gets tired a little more often lately, maybe. Like she said, she was pretty sick a few weeks ago. She didn’t get out of bed for about three days. She hasn’t been herself since then.”
Jess found it odd that Eleanor had been so energetic first thing that morning and then had tired as the day wore on. She seemed frail, somehow.
Not her business, Jess reminded herself. She was supposed to be keeping a safe emotional distance from Eleanor, Sophie and everyone else here in Cape Sanctuary.
Too bad she was having such a hard time remembering that.
7
Nate
When Nate let himself into Whitaker House in the early evening, he expected to find his mother dozing in her easy chair in the TV room, a talk show on and her dog, Charlie, stretched out next to her, wedged into the smallest of spots, while Sophie did her homework or messaged friends nearby.
Instead, the room was empty. So was the kitchen.
He was about to call out when he heard female voices coming from the end of the hallway, in a seldom-used wing of the house.
After a quick stop in the kitchen, he followed the sound. He couldn’t hear what they said, he could only pick up the low murmur of voices and a sound he hadn’t heard in a while, at least not shared with him. His daughter’s laughter.
The sound hit him hard, as did the laugh he assumed must be coming from Jess Clayton. It was low and genuine and infinitely appealing.
What had she said to make Sophie laugh? His daughter didn’t even know Jess. Why would she be so open and happy with a strange woman while treating her own father like some kind of pariah?
He was half-tempted to go back the way he had come and leave them to their fun but then he heard his mother’s laughter join in and couldn’t resist seeing what had amused them all so much.
The door to the room was open and he peeked in to find a startling sight. Jess sat on the bed while his mother was in a rocking chair in the room. Both of them were focused on Sophie, who was dressed in a fancy blue dress he didn’t recognize.
“Well? How do I look?” she asked.
“Smashing, darling,” his mother answered. “Like you stepped right off the cover of a 1920s copy of Vogue.”
“It looks like it was made for you,” Jess Clayton added with a smile that made him catch his breath. She looked bright and vibrant and beautiful.
Sophie giggled. “I should have one of those long cigarette holders to complete the look.”
Eleanor laughed. “You won’t find that here amid these things. Your great-great-grandmother might have been a flapper once upon a time but she hated smoking with a passion. I only met her a few times before she died but I knew she thought it was a nasty habit fit for only floozies.”
“Ouch,” Jess said.
“I know. I had to hide my own cigarettes when I first met her after Jack brought me here to meet his parents.”
That was news to Nate. He couldn’t resist chiming in. “I never knew you used to smoke.”