Page 74 of Paradise West
Charli chuckled and looped her arm through his mother’s and turned toward the center of the farmer’s market. Jack fell in behind them, his eyes narrowed as he watched Charli charm his mother. “I’d be more than happy to give you a tour of the compound, although there are still plenty of areas we can’t go yet. Jack and Gus let me help out with some of the smallertasks, like sanding or painting. But they’re pretty adamant that I stay away from any of the major jobs.”
“And away from the Widow’s Walk, but she doesn’t listen very well,” Jack added lightly, but with an edge of steel to his voice.
Charli glanced over her shoulder and batted her eyelashes at him. “Well, since you’ve boarded up the staircase to the Widow’s Walk, I guess I won’t be going up any time soon, right?” She turned back to his mother, whose mouth was hanging open at their exchange. “Now, that’s a spot you’ll want to see once everything has been renovated. Did Jack tell you what I found up there?”
His mother’s eyes widened, and she squeezed Charli’s arm. “Yes! The diaries and a box, right?”
Charli grinned. “That’s right. The box is locked and we haven’t found the key yet. Once you see the box, you’ll understand why we don’t want to damage it. I started the fourth diary yesterday and found the first reference to Amelia’s sailor—at least I think it’s her sailor. He worked on one of her father’s ships. But she talks a lot about her family, especially her sister, Elizabeth and her brother, Gordon.”
“Oh, how exciting!” Faye clapped her hands.
Jack rolled his eyes. His mother was literally bouncing with excitement. “You know, I found some things in the house, too.”
His mother pursed her lips at him. “You have had plenty of opportunity to share that information with me, and I’m just now hearing about it?” She patted Charli’s hand. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to hear what Charli’s found right now, thank you.”
She pointed toward a booth at the far end of the market. “Ohhhh! Let’s go over there. You’ll want to see what the Artist Guild has put together. You’re one of their benefactors now, right?”
“Mom!” Jack growled.
His mother turned and blinked at him. “What? It’s not a secret.”
Charli snickered.
He gave his mom a firm look, knowing full well it wouldn’t work. “Don’t be rude.”
His mother tossed her head. “It’s not rude if everyone on the island knows about it, dear.” She tugged on Charli’s arm. “Come on. Marsha will want to see you again.”
Jack shook his head, hands on his hips, watching them walk away.
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all...
* * * *
Charli chuckled to herself as Faye escorted her across the farmer’s market. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure Jack was still with them. Hewas...slowly and with a slightly pained look on his face.
“Oh! Look!” Faye piped, pointing at a booth across the courtyard shaded beneath a red and white striped tent with a logo containing a loaf of bread on each side. “That’s the Howard Bakery over on Eaton. They have the best chocolate chip cookies and sourdough bread. And over there is Annie and her husband Michael. They run a cute bed and breakfast up on Big Pine Key that even the locals like to go to.”
Faye giggled and squeezed Charli’s arm again, practically skipping in excitement. “I’m so happy to finally meet you.” She stepped to the side, giving Charli a wide-eyed look. “Do you know that you’re the first girlfriend of Jack’s that we’ve ever gotten to meet? Why, for the longest time, Dennis and I wondered if he might be gay.”
“Mom!” Jack exclaimed in shock.
“Which would be fine with me of course, but we never met any boyfriends either,” Faye continued, “I just don’t want my baby boy to be alone for the rest of his life.”
Charli sputtered and began to howl, guffawing hysterically and holding her belly.
“It’s not funny,” Jack ground out, teeth clenched. “Mom, would you stop with the anecdotes?”
Charli was laughing so hard, she was gasping for air and holding on to Faye for support.
Faye’s brows dropped. “Are you okay, dear?”
Charli gasped, pointing at Jack. “I thought he was gay, too!” Another wave of laughter had her bending over.
“Christ.” Jack groaned as heads swiveled in their direction. “Can we not do this here?”
Faye stared at Charli wide-eyed. “You did?”
Charli nodded, her laughter dribbling down to giggles. “Yes! He was just too handsome and well-mannered, and there were never any women around.”
