Chapter 4 - THE LITTLE GIRL WITH THE BLUE RIBBON
Vivian's expression hardened.
"Mara, you're making this unnecessarily dramatic."
"Answer me."
Linda stood beside the ballroom doors, feeling as though she had become an unwanted witness to a family argument.
Vivian glanced at her.
"Since yesterday afternoon."
Mara folded the seating chart.
"And you decided I shouldn't know?"
"I was protecting your wedding."
"From Linda?"
"From an argument that could ruin everything we've worked for."
Mara shook her head.
"Linda has been helping me plan this wedding for six months."
"People can behave differently when money is involved."
Linda lifted her chin.
"I haven't asked you for a cent."
Vivian's eyes narrowed.
"No. You've asked me to abandon an agreement that could save this property."
The admission changed the air between them.
Mara took one slow step backward.
"Save it from what?"
Vivian looked away.
Eric spoke first.
"Your mother has been dealing with some financial problems."
"How serious?"
"We'll explain after the wedding."
"No."
Mara's voice remained calm.
But there was something new in it.
"We're not getting married in thirty minutes while everyone around me is hiding things."
Eric reached for her hand.
"Mara, please."
She let him take it.
Then she asked, "Did you know Linda was being turned away?"
Eric's grip loosened.
"Yes."
Mara stared at him.
"Did you agree to it?"
He looked toward his mother.
Linda waited.
This time, she would not rescue him from answering.
"Yes," he said.
Mara withdrew her hand.
For the first time that afternoon, Linda saw something close to fear in her son's face.
Not fear of Graham Pike.
Not fear of losing money.
Fear that Mara might see him differently.
"Why?" Mara whispered.
Eric swallowed.
"Because I thought it would be easier."
Mara looked toward Linda.
"Easier for whom?"
Before anyone could answer, a small voice called from the corridor.
"Mom?"
Elsie appeared in a pale-blue dress, holding a folded piece of ribbon.
She stopped when she saw the adults.
"Are we late?"
Mara immediately softened her expression.
"No, honey."
Elsie looked at Linda.
"Grandma Linda!"
The little girl hurried toward her.
Linda bent down, and Elsie wrapped both arms around her waist.
The simple hug nearly broke her.
"I couldn't find you," Elsie said.
"I was right here, sweetheart."
"Can you fix my ribbon?"
Elsie held it up.
"I tried, but it looks funny."
Linda carefully tied the ribbon around her wrist.
"There."
Elsie examined it.
"That's better."
Then she noticed Linda's handbag.
"Did you bring my surprise?"
Linda opened the gold clasp.
Inside, wrapped in a soft piece of tissue, lay the silver bracelet.
Elsie's eyes widened.
"It's the little boat!"
Linda fastened it around her wrist.
Mara looked closer.
"That's beautiful."
Elsie read the engraving slowly.
"Always your family."
She smiled.
"Even after the wedding?"
Linda's throat tightened.
"Especially after."
Eric turned away.
Vivian watched the exchange without speaking.
Then Elsie looked toward the ballroom.
"Is Grandpa Frank's bell here?"
Linda blinked.
"What bell, honey?"
"The big brass one from the blue dock."
Eric looked over his shoulder.
Mara frowned.
"Elsie, why would that bell be here?"
"Because Grandma Vivian said they were moving all the old things before the wedding."
Vivian spoke quickly.
"Just some maintenance equipment, darling."
Elsie shook her head.
"It wasn't equipment. It was the bell."
Linda felt something cold move through her stomach.
Frank's brass bell had hung beside Cedar Landing since 1998.
He had used it to signal when the volunteer rescue boat was heading out.
The bell had survived storms, floods, and a lightning strike that destroyed half the old boathouse.
Frank had polished it every spring.
Linda had promised herself she would never let anyone throw it away.
"Where did you see it?" she asked Elsie.
"By the loading doors. A man was wrapping it in a blanket."
"What man?"
Elsie thought carefully.
"The man with the shiny shoes."
Vivian's face changed.
Only slightly.
But Linda saw it.
Mara knelt beside her daughter.
"Sweetheart, would you go find Aunt Rachel? Tell her I'll be there soon."
Elsie nodded.
Then she stopped.
"Mom?"
"Yes?"
"Is Grandma Linda still coming to the wedding?"
Mara looked at Eric.
He lowered his eyes.
Mara returned her attention to Elsie.
"Yes, sweetheart. She is."
The little girl smiled and hurried away.
When she was gone, Vivian spoke sharply.
"Mara, you don't understand the situation."
"Then start explaining."
Vivian checked the time.
"We have guests waiting."
"They can wait."
Linda closed her handbag.
She looked toward the service corridor, where the workers had apparently carried Frank's bell.
Then she turned to Eric.
"If that bell has been removed, someone has already started taking apart Cedar Landing."
Eric didn't answer.
Mara looked at him.
"Is that true?"
He pressed his lips together.
Finally, he said, "The preliminary work was scheduled to start Monday."
"Monday?" Mara repeated.
"November ninth."
Mara stared at him.
Then she reached into the small pocket hidden in her wedding gown and unfolded the ceremony program.
Her name and Eric's were printed in beautiful gold letters.
She turned to the final page, where Vivian had added a private schedule for the wedding party.
At the bottom was a line Mara hadn't noticed earlier.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9 — 6:00 A.M. — CEDAR LANDING DEMOLITION.
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And directly beneath it were two words.
AUTHORIZED: ERIC DAWSON.
