Reunion By The Sea. Jo Leigh

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

       CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

       CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

       Extract

       About the Publisher

       CHAPTER ONE

      “COME ON, TILDA, get moving. You’re going to be late.” Ginny Landry checked the wall clock while listening to her daughter bang around in her room. “Hey, do you need any help packing?”

      “No. I’ve got it.” Another thud. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

      “Of course not.” Ginny could tell by her voice Tilda was grinning. “Okay, maybe a little.” Wanting a weekend for herself—well, with three of her best friends from high school—didn’t make Ginny a bad mother. After all, a fifteen-year class reunion happened only once in a lifetime.

      “I know you,” Tilda called out, moving to the edge of the stairs. “You just don’t want Kaley’s mom to come in and start gushing.”

      “You’re right. That’s part of it.” Ginny walked out of the kitchen and looked up at Tilda leaning over the railing. “Where’s your bag?”

      Tilda lost the grin. “I’m working on it,” she said, slipping back into her room. “Dang. You’re giving me a complex.”

      “I’ll send you to therapy,” Ginny called as she walked into the living room, stopping at her piano. When she brushed the keys, her glossy fingernails caught her attention. They looked so pretty.

      Yesterday she’d splurged on a mani-pedi. Because she gave piano lessons, she was always careful to keep her nails trimmed and neat, but she’d gone all out, letting the woman apply a light beigy-pink color. Ginny looked down and wiggled her matching toenails peeking out from the strappy gold sandals she’d bought for the weekend festivities. She felt so glamorous. So chic. So...not like herself. But that was the point.

      It wasn’t at all that she was unhappy being a single mom, or to be living in the same house where she’d grown up. In fact, Ginny considered herself lucky. Temptation Bay had once been a small, quaint town tucked away on the Rhode Island coast and populated by generations of fishing families. But in the last couple of decades, the area had exploded with tourists, and summer people who’d bought up beachfront property and coveted lots along the bluffs that overlooked the water.

      Ginny’s family home sat on nearly an acre on the northernmost bluff, thanks to the foresight of her great-grandfather. All the windows on the east side of the house faced the Atlantic Ocean and the bay. It was a privilege to have such a gorgeous view, and not one to be taken for granted.

      She stood at the living room window, watching the sailboats glide across the sparkling blue water, wondering if her father ever missed it. If he ever regretted moving out all those years ago. Sure, his upscale Providence town house was close to his law office and he had a very nice view of the river, but really, there was no comparison.

      Maybe she’d ask him now that they were on better terms. Well, they were speaking again, anyway.

      “Hey, Mom, where are you?” Tilda’s voice came from the top of the stairs.

      “In the living room.”

      “Don’t you think it’s going to be kind of weird?”

      Ginny turned away from the window. “What’s going to be weird?”

      “Seeing all those people you went to school with.” Tilda, now wearing an oversize Roger Williams Academy T-shirt and cutoffs, stopped halfway down the stairs. “They’re all going to look old, and the guys could be balding and the—”

      “Oh, for... We’re all in our early thirties. That’s hardly ancient.” She saw another grin lurking at the corners of her daughter’s mouth. “Good. You’re finished packing.” Tilda’s expression fell, and back up the stairs she went.

      “You’re going camping for three days, Tilda. How much stuff do you need to take?”

      “I don’t know. You’re stressing me out.”

      “I’ll give you five minutes,” Ginny said, looking at the clock. “Then I’m taking over.”

      “All right already. I’m almost done.”

      For being extremely bright—gifted in fact—the simple act of packing had always eluded Tilda. She was just like Meg in that respect.

      Ginny had been thinking of her old friend a lot lately. The reunion had brought it on, even though Meg wouldn’t be coming to Temptation Bay with the rest of their classmates. And that made Ginny incredibly sad. Ten months ago was the last time her friend had contacted her. Things hadn’t been going well for Meg. Not for a very long time. And after that last scary phone call, Ginny had the sick feeling Meg had finally used up all her luck.

      Not a good time for her thoughts to be spiraling. She was determined to enjoy the weekend. This would be the first time the Fearless Four—something she, Cricket, Harlow and Jade had called themselves—would be all together since graduating from Roger Williams Academy. They’d all gone their separate ways, using Facebook to keep in touch—though not nearly as often as they’d promised.

      Ginny thought she heard a car. “Ready or not, here I come,” she called up to Tilda as she hurried to peek out the long narrow window to the left of the front door.

      “Wait! That wasn’t five minutes!”

      “They’re here.” Ginny watched Kaley get out of the Suburban, and actually crossed her fingers, hoping and praying Sharon would stay put behind the wheel.

      Nope. Kaley’s mom climbed out right behind her daughter.

      Sighing, Ginny stepped back from the window so they couldn’t see her. “Did you hear me, Tilda?”

      “Coming.”

      “Not fast enough,” Ginny muttered. Resigned, she pasted on her hostess face. She was pretty good at it considering she’d been raised without the benefit of a mother’s guiding hand.

      After the first doorbell chime, she counted to five, then opened the front door. “Kaley, Sharon, how nice to see you. Please,” she said, stepping back and holding the door open wide, “come in.”

      “Hi, Ms. Landry.” Kaley twirled around as she walked past Ginny, while eyeing her up and down. “Wow, you look hot. Big plans tonight?”

      Ginny laughed. “Hot?”

      “Oh, Kaley, mind your manners,” Sharon said, doing her share of sizing up Ginny’s lime-green sundress.

      “It’s not like I dissed her.” Kaley rolled her eyes. “Mom, you’re so out of touch.”

      Well, at least she hadn’t called her mom old.

      Sharon ignored her daughter and, as expected, walked straight to the living room window. “I can’t get over this view. It’s simply breathtaking.”

      “You say that every time,” Kaley muttered, shaking her head and looking at Ginny. “Okay if I go up to Tilda’s room?”

      The words had barely left her mouth when Tilda shouted out. “Come here, Kaley! I need help deciding on a pair of jeans.”

      Frowning, Ginny stopped her. “You guys are only going camping, right?”

      Kaley nodded, walking backward to the staircase. “She’s just being lame.”

      Ginny had rarely