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Susan’s eyes seemed to be looking at the window but Jo could tell she was seeing something completely different. A different time, long ago.
Susan shook her head. “That rocking chair was never seen again. I am sure it ended up in the sound. And the porch railing was just dangling. I started crying uncontrollably, and I remember Chris just holding me and telling me everything was fixable, everything would be OK.”
Jo moved to be closer to her grandmother.
“We made it to the office and I realized as high as the water had come, it hadn’t flooded there, so at least that was a positive. And then I just took a deep breath and started to figure out the next steps.”
“With Chris?”
“Yes. With Chris,” Susan said wistfully. “He was amazing. From that day on, I saw him every day. When he wasn’t down at the harbor trying to sort through the mess there, he’d come by to see what I needed. He helped me get in touch with the guys who could help move the sand, and he worked with me to sweep what seemed like tons of sand off the porches.” Susan closed her eyes before she continued. “All our help had evacuated at the last minute except for our maintenance man, Scott. But his house was really damaged by flood, so I didn’t feel right asking him to spend time at the motel. And the road wasn’t open for days, so it was only Chris and me.”
“You said he was at the harbor too. What did he do there?”
“He was the mate on a boat. There was a captain named Terry Neal and he had a really nice boat and Chris worked his way up to become his mate. They had a great reputation for catching fish and having a good time and treating their customers right. But the boat was smashed to bits during the storm. Just about the whole fleet was gone.” Susan’s eyes were tearing a bit, maybe remembering the devastation at the time and all those people who had seen their lives turned upside down.
“You can’t imagine, Jo. Livelihoods gone just like that. Chris really worked hard to help out as much as he could. Just cleaning up was a massive chore. But he did that, and then he’d come and help me.”
Jo couldn’t help but think about Dare and the current fleet. Would things fare better this time around? She hope so.
“What was the name of the boat, Gran?” Jo asked.
Susan took the final swig of the wine and looked at her granddaughter. As evenly as she could, she said, “The SeaAnna.”
“Oh my God,” said Jo. “That’s crazy, Gran. Why would you do that? Name Mom after a boat? Does she know?”
A massive crack of thunder pierced the moment as if to add some divine punctuation to Jo’s outburst. The house shook not only with the reverberation of the thunder but from a big gust of wind. The storm was getting into full swing now.
“Well, Jo,” Susan seemed to be collecting her thoughts. “There’s more to the story. You said you wanted to hear it, but I can stop now. You know enough even if you don’t know it all.”
Susan waited for Jo to say something, but she remained silent, so Susan went on. “Like I said, your mom never asked me any of this. When she was old enough to start asking, she just… didn’t. She always acted like she didn’t care to know.” Susan’s eyes were downcast. “And then she, well, she never gave me a chance. And it’s been that way just about all her life.”
Jo sat in the darkness but the lightning flashing made it possible to see how strained her grandmother appeared. Should she learn the rest of the story? Would it make a difference? A million thoughts raced through her head about the past, the present, and the future. Maybe it would help if she knew. Maybe she could help mend fences. Maybe not, but it was worth a try.
“Yeah, Gran, I want to know as much as you want to tell me,” Jo whispered. “I always figured it had to be something like this, but at least now I have a name.”
“You have a face too even though you don’t know it,” Susan added. “Your mom and you both have a lot of Chris in you. Your smile especially and your mom’s too, when she chooses to smile.”
Jo instinctively touched her face. This man, this Chris, was a part of her, and a big part of her mom. It was hard to take in.
“So, where were we?” Susan seemed unsure of how to proceed. She took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. “OK. So, like I was saying, Chris and I spent all of our remaining time together in those weeks after the storm. And when we weren’t working, we were on the beach.”
Her voice had gone weaker, somehow with a faraway sort of tone. “Slowly, I got the motel back together. Your great-grandparents came down as soon as they could get onto the island but when they saw I had most everything under control, they went back to Richmond. Your grandfather’s mom, Grandma Kent, was in a bad way and she needed them more than I did.”
Jo was oblivious to everything except the sound of her grandmother’s voice. The wind and thunder outside fading a bit as her focus was solely on Susan’s story.
“It’s amazing how people rally around here when there’s a crisis. Debris got cleared up and piled up. Sand got moved. Roofs got fixed. And Chris and I fell in love. And it was on one of those nights that things came to their logical conclusion. You know what I mean.”
Jo groaned inwardly. Maybe she had heard enough without too many details. But Susan seemed to sense that, and there was no need to say more on that subject.
“It was coming to the end of the season. We managed to piece together a Labor Day that was not bad business wise. A lot of people just wanted to come down to see what had happened.” Susan had another glass of wine as if it would fortify her for what was coming. “Chris was mating on the few boats that could go out, and I was getting ready to go back to school. They had delayed the opening, as most of the coastal areas were hit, and that was enough of the student population to make a difference. Plus, some of the buildings on campus needed to be repaired. So, it was well into September before I needed to leave.”
Jo realized she’d been holding her breath waiting for her grandmother to tell her what had happened.
“On our last night, although I didn’t realize it, Chris and I were just counting shooting stars, when he mentioned how much he had loved the summer here, and how he was planning to try to stay a bit longer, maybe even permanently. He promised that he’d come by the next day and fix the last remaining bit of storm damage at the motel, the railing at the end of the porch.” Susan sighed deeply and Jo noticed her voice started to quiver ever so slightly. “I was at the motel bright and early that morning, staying busy with odds and ends and trying to be sure things were in order for Scott who would manage the motel until my parents came back. They were trying to find a nursing home for Grandma Kent. But by noon, when Chris still hadn’t come, I decided to head down to the harbor and see what was up. It was always possible he’d had a last-minute charter. It happened sometimes, and when it did he’d call me at the motel - but maybe he left too early for that.”
Jo nodded slightly knowing that had happened with Dare a few times. But she was guessing that wasn’t the case as she looked at her grandmother. Susan grimaced.
“When I got to the harbor, Chris was nowhere in sight. I asked around the docks but no one had seen him that day. Then I saw his roommate, Rob Wingate.”
