The Cliff House. RaeAnne Thayne

be okay,” Bea said. If Stella wasn’t mistaken, her niece still seemed troubled, despite her words.

      “I’m so glad. Did he tell you or Mari how long he plans to stay?”

      Bea’s mouth tightened, confirming Stella’s suspicions that she wasn’t particularly happy with her ex-husband right now. “A month. That’s what he said, anyway.”

      “That means he’ll be here for the Arts and Hearts on the Cape Festival.”

      “Probably.”

      The huge festival in September had become the signature fund-raiser for Open Hearts. “Maybe he would agree to attend one of the events. Imagine how the attendance might soar if people knew Cruz Romero was attending!”

      “Cruz Romero? You know Cruz Romero?” Rowan’s eyes were huge.

      “You could say that,” Bea muttered.

      “Cruz and my niece here were married once. He is Mari’s father.”

      “Really?”

      “He has a house here in Cape Sanctuary. You might have seen it, a really big, sprawling Spanish Colonial just on the edge of town, overlooking the water.”

      “Remember that big house we saw the other night? The one you said looked like a hotel?” Ed said.

      “That’s the one,” Bea said grimly. “Go ahead and ask him about the festival. You know he can never say no to you. Meanwhile, I’ll talk to Mari about the pool party and let you know.”

      “Thanks, honey.” Stella kissed her niece on the cheek and Bea waved and headed on the way, but not until she gave Ed another searching look as if still trying to place him.

      “Thank you again for having lunch with us,” Ed said as they neared the clinic.

      “I enjoyed it,” she answered, and was surprised to find it was true. “What are your plans for the rest of the day?”

      “I thought we would walk around downtown a little more, just to get the feel of things.”

      She was reluctant to leave them, suddenly. Her fatigue seemed to have disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

      “Have you been to the library yet? In my opinion, you don’t truly belong to a community until you have a library card. We have an excellent library here in Cape Sanctuary.”

      “We have not made that stop yet.”

      “It’s right across the street on the corner. And across the next street from that is the local historical museum, where I am a docent a few times a month. I can show you that, too. It will give you a nice overview of Cape Sanctuary.”

      “That would be great,” Rowan said, obviously still dazed at discovering Cruz Romero lived close by.

      As Stella led the way, she told herself she was only being friendly to two people moving to the town she loved. Her offer to show them around had nothing to do with any desire on her part to spend more time with the man whose memory she had cherished for nearly two decades.