SOMEWHERE by the Sea

Painting

Baxter had reached the breaking point. For five days Faith had been reclusive and inordinately quiet. At first he'd thought she was coming down with something, but after three days he'd suspected that wasn't the case. For the next two days he'd given her space, thinking she was having second thoughts about their burgeoning romance. But now he needed clarity. He needed to know what her feelings for him were because he was crazy about her.

He knocked on her door once, twice, and when she cracked it open, they stared at each other. He was the first to speak. "May I come in?"

"I was just about to take a nap."

"This will only take a moment." When she didn't respond immediately he said, "Please, Faith. I have to talk to you."

She barely nodded and opened the door and then walked to the window, waiting for him to speak.

He closed the door and said, "Faith, honey, something's going on that I don't understand. Talk to me."

She turned around and made eye contact.

He said softly, "Are you having second thoughts about us?"

She nodded and his heart wrenched.

Unexpectedly, she said, "It has nothing to do with you though, and everything to do with me."

Inhaling, he replied, "What does that mean? Help me to understand."

She swallowed and said, "I have unresolved issues that you wouldn't understand."

When she didn't continue he prompted, "I want to understand because I care deeply for you. We've shared so much with each other that there's no reason to stop now. Talk to me, honey." He inhaled again and finally admitted, "I want our relationship to become more than a summer fling."

He watched an incredibly sad expression enter her eyes. "I can't go in that direction right now. I have to make sense of something first. Please don't pressure me because...because I care for you, too."

Baxter recognized the pleading in her eyes and acquiesced. "All right, Faith, if that's what you want." He swallowed the lump in his throat and turned to leave, but his gaze was drawn to something barely visible under the bed. He saw the artist's signature. "Is that one of Vicky's paintings?" He inclined his head toward the picture and heard Faith gasp.

When he walked over and reached to retrieve it, she exclaimed, "No! Don't!"

From his bent over position he glanced up at her stricken expression. Had he finally reached the crux of her "issue"? He ignored her request and pulled the partially wrapped picture from under the bed. His eyes widened when he saw Owen and Rex. Straightening and laying the painting on the quilt, he turned and said, "Why do you have this? Did you purchase it from the gallery?"

Faith's mouth opened but no words came out.

"Answer me, Faith."

She nodded.

"Of course my next question is why?" He waited, and when she didn't answer, he sat on the edge of the bed next to the painting. He was determined to stay for as long as it took.

In a soft response she said, "I did see Owen and talk to him, but I convinced myself it wasn't really him, just a boy like him. When it happened again I knew it was him and Rex." With eyes luminous with tears she stared at Baxter.

He processed her admission. "You talked to him a second time?"

"Yes, the day you met me at the beach and I told you I was getting sick."

Slowly, Baxter stood. "And that's what's kept you so upset?"

She nodded.

He clenched his hands. "This game has gone on long enough. My emotions have been in turmoil worrying about you, and now I find out you're still insisting that you talked to a dead boy." He started toward the door and when she said, "Baxter, I did talk to him," he shook his head in disbelief.

**********

For a long time after Baxter left, Faith gazed out the window at the beach and contemplated her life. Of one thing she was sure, she could not continue living at the B & B. She sighed and closed her eyes. What were her alternatives: return to St. Louis, find another town, become a vagabond? No. She couldn't do any of the above. After several minutes reflection she retrieved her cell phone and called Doris McGovern.

"Hello, Faith. How are things going? I haven't spoken to you for a while. Are you still thinking of making Somewhere your home?"

"I am. In fact, I want to purchase the cottage on Haven Drive if it's still available."

Doris sounded surprised when she responded, "Why yes, it's still on the market. Good for you. How would you like to proceed and when would you like to make a deposit?"

For several minutes the women discussed the purchasing process and when Faith disconnected the call, she said into the room, "Either I'm crazy, or something unfathomable has happened."

To avoid another encounter with Baxter, Faith ate dinner in her room and then telephoned Gabby, asking her to stop by. Within minutes Gabby knocked on her door and when both women were seated at the small oak table, Faith said, "Baxter came to see me today and it didn't turn out well."

Gabby leaned forward. "Was he terrible to you?"

"No, just honest. He expressed how much he cared for me and wanted to know what was wrong, but when he saw this..." She stood, walked to her bed, and reached under it for the painting. "It changed everything. I told him I'd had a second encounter with Owen and Rex and he didn't believe me."

"I'll talk to him," Gabby interjected.

"I don't want you to talk to him. That's not why I asked you here. I wanted to let you know that I'm leaving the B & B in three or four weeks."

"Oh, no. Are you returning to St. Louis?"

"No. I purchased the cottage on Haven Drive that I told you about."

Gabby's expression changed from one of concern to surprise, and then she smiled. "I'm so happy to hear that. Baxter will come around. I just know it."

"That's not the reason I'm staying in Somewhere. I had a moment of insight this afternoon that I can't explain. It brought clarity and I knew in my heart that I'm supposed to live here, but at the same time, I realized my decision to leave or stay couldn't be based on Baxter; it had to be based on me and something else." She hesitated before adding, "Discovering the reason for my bizarre encounters with Owen."