True Love

  Jilly flew in from Colorado a few days after Jared’s arrival. She was a widow, and her two grown children were in summer camps in their home state. It was their last summer before they left for college.

  Jared had been told that after Jilly’s husband died, she’d been hired by the family to become their genealogist. She’d spent years going through the mass of family documents and writing histories of everyone. Recently she’d posted a detailed family tree online, which was where Alix had found Valentina and Parthenia.

  Jilly brought with her from Colorado three big boxes of photocopied papers. “The originals are in a vault,” she said at dinner at the huge table that first night. In one of the boxes were the letters from Valentina and Parthenia to each other. She recapped them for Jared.

  As she told him what the letters said, of the two young women missing each other and planning to visit, he watched her. She was sweet and gentle while the other Taggerts were big and rough.

  “She looks like her maternal grandmother,” Cale, sitting on his other side, said. “Or else she’s an alien from another planet.”

  Jared laughed. Jilly, so fragile-looking, so soft-spoken, sitting amid her great, hulking brothers, did indeed look as though she were from another dimension.

  Seeing that she had an audience, Cale kept on. “What do you think her planet looks like? All pink and cream?”

  Jared didn’t miss a beat. “I think it must look like Nantucket, with mists and sunsets over the ocean, sun-warmed sand, and houses grayed by centuries of life.”

  Cale blinked at him for a moment, then looked across the table at her husband. “I need your checkbook.”

  “Yeah?” Kane said, his eyes alight. “What are you going to buy?”

  “A house on Nantucket.”

  Kane looked from Cale to Jared and back again. “Let me guess. It has a great story attached to it.”

  “Maybe,” she said and everyone laughed. They knew how much Cale loved stories.

  It was after dinner, the night before he was going to leave, and Jared was sitting outside in a swing with Jilly beside him. Since the first moment he met her, she’d reminded him of someone. At first he’d thought it was Toby. They both had a quiet elegance about them, but at dinner there was something about the way she held her fork—in that tines-down European way—that made him realize that she reminded him of Ken. A gesture here and there, a tone to her soft voice, made him want to call Ken and say he’d met the perfect woman for him.

  But Jared knew that would end it before it started, so he only told Alix about his idea of returning home with Jilly. On the last night, he sat with her and listened as she told more about the letters. “After the first visit to Nantucket, Parthenia returned to Maine and their letters started again. But this time they wrote about the men they cared for. Parthenia had fallen in love with the schoolmaster, and Valentina with—”

  “Caleb,” Jared said. “But what happened to her?”

  “We know no more than you. When Valentina disappeared, Parthenia was married to her schoolmaster and living on Nantucket, so there were no more letters between them. A Montgomery ancestor wrote home that after Valentina disappeared three men from her family went to the island to search for her. They discovered a couple of sailors who said they’d taken her to the Cape, but no trace of her was found there or anywhere else. She certainly never came home to Maine. After Parthenia’s death, all the letters between her and Valentina were sent back to Warbrooke. I’ve read everything and an explanation for Valentina’s disappearance is nowhere to be found.”

  Jared was frowning. “I was told … heard, anyway, that no one had seen Valentina leave the island.”

  “Perhaps it was kept quiet. A woman leaving her child behind wouldn’t have been looked on favorably, and I doubt if her relatives would have spread that information. It was all so long ago. Do you have many family documents at your house?”

  Jared could tell by her voice that she’d like to see them, so he took the opening. “I have acres of them. Nothing is ever thrown away in my family. We own several houses and all of them are packed to the top of the mast with yellowing old papers, letters, and books.”

  “It sounds fascinating.”

  “Not to hear Alix tell it.” He smiled in what he hoped was a persuasive way. “Why don’t you come back with me and spend the rest of the summer going through them?”

  “I couldn’t possibly,” she began, then sighed. “On the other hand, both my children will be leaving home soon and I’ve nearly finished with our family papers. I’m afraid I have a serious case of empty nest syndrome.” Her head came up. “Actually, I’d love to go to Nantucket with you. Should I make reservations to stay somewhere?”

  “There’s an apartment upstairs in my house. You can stay there as long as you like.”

  “But you and Alix need your privacy.”

  “We’ll enjoy the company,” he said, thinking again of Ken.

  She looked at him in speculation. “I don’t know you very well, but you have a look in your eyes that my family, the Taggerts, says means a Montgomery is up to something and you’d better watch out.”

  Jared gave a laugh that could be heard all the way to the inside of the old house. “Does this mean you’re not open to a bit of adventure?”

  Jilly smiled. “I have raised two children on my own since they were three years old and my job has been to delve into eight-foot-tall stacks of old papers. The truth is that if a pirate asked me to go sailing with him I would probably say yes. What time should I be ready?”

  “Is daylight tomorrow too soon? It’ll take five hours to drive down to Hyannis. I found someone to deliver the stained-glass window I’ll be taking back, so we can catch the noon fast ferry to Nantucket.”

  “I will be ready by four A.M.”

  “You’re my kind of girl,” he said.

  “I’m hardly a girl but thank you for the compliment.”

  That had been last night and he’d spent the evening helping Jilly pack. Or rather, he saw the women scurrying about getting her ready. Jared had stayed with the men and watched sports on TV. One by one the women came in to make a comment.

  Mike’s wife told Jared how pleased they all were that he was adding to Jilly’s life. “She’s the sweetest of all the Taggerts.”

  “That doesn’t take much,” a Montgomery said and the Taggerts threw popcorn at him.

  “You men are cleaning that up,” she said as she left the room.

  Cale came in with a laptop, squeezed beside Jared on the couch, and showed him the real estate listing she’d found for a house on Kingsley Lane. “Is this the house you told me about? The one with the time-traveling ghost?”

  “It is,” he said.

  “This house costs rather a lot.”

  “It’s Nantucket,” Jared said.

  Cale didn’t ask what that meant, just glanced at her husband. “This is going to take some persuading.”

  “Do a time-share,” Jared said. “Three or four months per family. Share the cost.” He leaned toward her. “Writers love winter on the island the best. That’s when it’s quiet and the ghosts show themselves.”

  “You really are a Montgomery, aren’t you? A true snake oil salesman.” She was smiling. “I like this idea and I’ll propose it to them.” She put her hand on his arm. “I’m glad you joined the family, and I look forward to meeting Alix.”

  “What’s going on with you two?” Kane asked from across the room.

  “I’m planning to run off with your new cousin,” Cale said. “Where’s Kane?”

  Jared looked up in surprise. “He’s Mike?”

  “Yes,” Cale said. “He’s fat; my husband isn’t.”

  Mike grunted at that and looked back at the TV.

  Jared smiled at the absurdity of her words. He knew that both Kane and Mike used their basement gym to keep in shape with workouts that would be tough for an Olympic athlete. Their muscular bodies showed the results. Neither was the slightest bit overweight. br />
  As she’d said, Jilly was ready to leave as soon as it was daylight—and every family member over the age of two was there to see her off. Jared had never seen so much hugging and kissing in his life! One of the biggest Taggerts pulled him into a death grip and said, “You let her get hurt and you answer to us.” Jared nodded in reply. It was a concept he understood and approved of.

  Hours later, when they reached the dock at Hyannis, one of Jared’s cousins was waiting for them. He was going to take the truck with the stained-glass window in the back on the slow boat—the ferry that carried vehicles—the next day, then he’d stay on the island to help with the chapel.

  Jared and Jilly got out their overnight cases and went to the fast ferry. On the hour-long ride over, they sat at a table. Jilly looked at a copy of the newspaper, Yesterday’s Island, while asking him about who she’d be meeting.

  He leaned back in the long bench seat, coffee cup in hand, and talked about the people on Kingsley Lane. “Ken is staying in the guesthouse for now. He’s Alix’s father.” Jared didn’t want to ruin anything by saying he thought Jilly would really like the man, but he did run on a bit about how Ken had helped him get started, and how if it weren’t for Ken he’d probably be in prison now, and how Ken and he had built Jared’s final project at school, and how Ken was unmarried and looking. Just a few facts.

  Jilly listened politely, never making a comment, and said, “What about Alix’s mother? I know she’s a writer like Cale, but what’s she like personally?”

  Jared smiled. Physically there couldn’t be two more different people. Cale was small and trim while Victoria was tall and hourglass curvy. “Victoria isn’t like anyone else,” he said, “but she isn’t there right now. Ken is building the chapel for Alix’s friend’s wedding.” Jared told about Alix’s design and the approaching nuptials and all that was being done for the wedding.

  “I guess you know your whole face lights up when you talk of Alix,” Jilly said.

  Jared looked away for a moment to restore his New England reticence. “We seem suited to each other.”

  “Then I hope you don’t lose her,” Jilly said. “So tell me about your other neighbors on the lane.”

  A minute later Jared had her laughing about Lexie and her mega-rich boss, and how Alix and Toby teased Lex about him. “The girls say he’s not bad to look at, but personally, I don’t see it. The pictures I saw of him look kind of girly to me.”

  Jilly laughed.

  When the ferry docked, Jared carried their luggage and they walked up Main Street. He’d always liked being around first-timers. Seeing Nantucket through their eyes renewed his vision of the island’s beauty.

  “Oh, yes,” Jilly said. “My family will love this place.” There were beautiful buildings, perfectly proportioned, with tall windows with elegant panes. Brick crosswalks ran through the cobblestones to make walking easier. She was turning one way then the other as she looked at the old houses. When they came to the Three Bricks, she paused a moment to take in their majestic beauty before starting down Kingsley Lane.

  At the first house on the right, she stopped. “BEYOND TIME,” she read on the quarterboard above the door. “Is that the house Cale was talking about? The one that’s for sale?”

  “You have it right. Is she already campaigning to get your family to buy it?”

  “She is, and after I report back to them, she’ll win. Besides, Kane is so mad about his wife that he’ll do anything for her.”

  “Good,” Jared said, then quickened his pace. He was eager to see Alix.

  Just three buildings down was his old house and he didn’t think it had ever looked so good to him. They went through the side gate toward the back and by one of those cosmic coincidences, Ken was just coming out of the guesthouse, a rolled-up drawing in one hand, a steaming mug in the other.

  But Jared knew the meeting was no coincidence. Turning, he looked up at an attic window and there stood his grandfather. He was staring down at Jilly as though he were studying her.

  Frowning and not liking the idea that his grandfather could have made this happen, Jared looked back at Ken. He was looking at Jilly with wide eyes, as though he were seeing a divine vision, an angel come to earth—and she was looking right back at him with the same expression.

  Jared felt like congratulating himself but he only indulged in the smallest of smiles. “Ken, Jilly; Jilly, Ken,” he said and stepped toward the house. “Mind if I go see Alix?”

  No one answered. They just stood there looking at each other.

  “Okay,” he said. “I’m going.” When he turned away, he smiled broader.

  As soon as he was inside, he thought of calling out to Alix, but didn’t. His grandfather was in the doorway.

  “Where is she?”

  “Front parlor,” Caleb said. “But first, we need to discuss a certain matter.”

  “Later,” Jared said, walking through his grandfather and to the front room. He thought Alix would be curled up with a sketchbook, working on a plan for a guesthouse, but she wasn’t. She was sitting on the floor, cross-legged, and was surrounded by boxes of dusty old documents. Papers and tied-up bundles of letters covered the couch, tables, and chairs. There was a foot-tall stack of yellowed sheets on Alix’s lap.

  “Hi,” he said softly.

  When she looked up, the way her face lit up, as though she’d just seen the most wonderful vision on earth, showed her happiness at seeing him again. She jumped up, papers falling to the floor, leaped across two boxes, and threw her arms around him as her mouth landed on his. Their kiss was deep—and joyful. They’d missed each other a great deal and their lips and tongues told how much.

  “Did you think about me?” he asked as he moved to kiss her neck.

  “Yes and double yes!” she said, leaning her head back. “I have so much to tell you. Dr. Huntley found John Kendricks and brought me some papers about him, but I haven’t read them yet. Toby and Lexie and I did tons for the wedding. And Caleb told me about the Captain and Valentina and about her cousin Parthenia and—”

  Jared put his hands on Alix’s shoulders and held her away from him so he could look into her eyes. “Caleb? When did you see him?”

  “Yesterday, on Sunday. He and I …” Alix wasn’t sure how to tell about what she and Caleb had done.

  “What did you do?”

  “I’m sorry, but we danced together. You won’t be angry, will you? It really meant nothing.”

  Jared worked to calm himself. “It’s all right. I know that Caleb can be supernaturally charming.”

  Alix sighed in relief. “And he’s an excellent historian. His storytelling was so overwhelming that it was almost as though I saw the inside of this house on the night John Kendricks and Parthenia Taggert got married. I saw beeswax candles and smelled delicious food. I heard music too, but then I was playing a CD on my laptop, and—Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “I want us to leave this house. Now.”

  “I can’t.” She stepped away from him. “Caleb told me about how the Captain and Valentina met. It was really rather funny, but what happened later was so tragic. I must find out the truth of what happened to her.” Alix motioned to the boxes and papers surrounding them. “I need to go through everything and find out— Hey! What are you doing?”

  Jared had bent, lifted Alix, and put her over his shoulder. He turned toward the door. His grandfather was there and wearing an apologetic look for taking things so far with Alix.

  With a glare that ignored the man, Jared walked through Caleb and headed toward the back door.

  Alix, with her head down and fanny up, said, “I don’t mean to interrupt your Shrek moment here, but the bedroom is upstairs.”

  “We’re not going to bed. At least not now. We’re going to stay at Dilys’s house for a few days.”

  “Then I need to pack some clothes.”

  “You won’t need any,” he said as he carried her out of the house.

  “Oooooooh,” she said. “I wa
s looking forward to your coming home but this gets better by the second.”

  After Jared left Ken and Jilly together, she was the one who spoke first. “So you’re the man who fathered the most beautiful, intelligent, talented young woman on earth.”

  “I did,” Ken said, pleased by her words—and her voice. He didn’t think he’d ever seen a more beautiful woman. She was quite slim, with an oval face, and she was wearing a pink and white dress that looked so fragile it could have been made of rose petals. A big sun hat was in her hand. “Is it Jared who agrees with me?”

  “He does. He told my entire family about Alix, even showed us designs she’d drawn.”

  For a moment Ken just stood there smiling, but then he seemed to come to his senses. “Where are my manners? Would you like to come inside and I’ll make us some tea? I have some doughnuts.”

  “From Downyflake?”

  Ken laughed. “Did Jared tell you everything about Nantucket?”

  “He said nothing but good things. In fact, he wants our family to buy a house here. The one on the end.”

  “BEYOND TIME?” Ken asked.

  “Yes, that’s the one.”

  “Then we must discuss it.” Stepping back, he opened the front door to the guesthouse.

  A few minutes later, Ken and Jilly were sitting outside at the beautifully aged cedar table, munching on doughnuts and waiting for the tea to steep. Their heads were bent toward each other so closely that they were almost touching.

  It was Ken who first saw Jared walking toward them with Alix tossed across his shoulder.

  Jared stopped by the table, with an expression on his face that implied that nothing was out of the ordinary. “We’re going to Dilys’s for a few days,” he said. “She’s off-island so we’ll have the place to ourselves.” He looked from one to the other. “You two don’t look like you’ll miss us.”