The Empire Read online

  “Let’s go see if Stella has any doughnuts left. She makes these amazing molasses doughnuts. I think her secret is that she fries them in lard.”

  Darcy gave the place one last look around. From her vantage point by the front door, she could see an older woman sitting at a small table at the back of the archive room with a thick book opened in front of her. It was Ali’s aunt, Ruth Bishop. She hadn’t seen her in years, but Ruth had not changed much. Darcy smiled and waved. Ruth looked puzzled, she probably didn’t recognize her, Darcy thought, but she smiled and nodded before going back to work.

  “Now I’ll show you where the real magic happens,” Ali continued as they walked back to the admin building.

  They found Stella enjoying a cup of coffee and one of her doughnuts. They looked divine, Darcy thought, hoping that there were still a couple left even though she had just eaten most of her huge breakfast not long ago.

  “I was just bragging about your doughnuts, Stella.”

  “I put some on a plate in your office, and I just made a fresh pot of coffee.”

  “You are too good to me! Did I miss anything while I was gone?”

  “Nothing that can’t wait.” she said with a smile.

  “Perfect. Come on,” Ali motioned to Darcy. “I’ll show you the inner sanctum.” Ali grabbed the book she’d left earlier, and led Darcy behind Stella’s desk and through one side of the large doors. Darcy thought it seemed a bit dramatic, all this security and opulence for little Shoreton, but if they had the money, why not? Behind the double doors the scenery was completely different. It looked like a typical office setting except for another set of overly large, wood and iron doors, at the opposite end, that were very similar to those leading from the reception area.

  “Geez, more doors? Expecting enemy forces or angry townsfolk with pitchforks?”

  “That’s all Aunt Ruth. This place was her design.” Ali replied.

  They passed a couple of offices where people were working at computers, a conference room, copy and supplies room, and a small kitchen area. When they got to the large doors, Ali pulled them open revealing a large office, with a massive mahogany desk piled with paperwork and old books. To the right, was a leather couch, and matching stuffed leather armchairs set around a large coffee table. On the opposite side of the desk, the entire corner of the room was filled with ceiling to floor bookcases packed to capacity.

  “Wow! Very nice!” Darcy was truly impressed.

  “Thank you”

  “So, you’re the Grand Poohbah now, huh?”

  “Yep. The power that I possess!” Ali joked.

  “Planning on taking over the world?”

  “First Shoreton, and then the world!” Ali replied with a crazed laugh while maniacally rubbing her hands together.

  “You’re a nut, you know that, right?” Darcy laughed at her theatrics.

  Ali’s desk phone beeped, and Stella’s voice sounded over the intercom. “I apologize for the interruption, but Mr. Barrett is on the line again. Would you like to take his call?”

  “Ugh...No, I don’t want to deal with him right now.”

  “Alright.” Stella’s voice had a bit of a ‘guilting mother’ tone.

  “I know, I know...Please tell Eddie I’ll call him back this afternoon.”

  “Of course.”

  “Thanks Stella.” Ali clicked off the intercom.

  “Fast Eddie?”

  “Yes...ugh, he’s been hounding me for weeks!” Ali plopped down into one of the large leather chairs.

  “Why?”

  “Who knows? He’s slick, I don’t trust him as far as I could throw him.”

  Darcy chuckled.

  “What?”

  “I saw him, or should I say, he saw me this morning at the cafe.”

  “Lucky you! He’s quite the charmer, isn’t he?”

  “Oh yeah. So much so that I’m meeting him at Schooners tonight for drinks.”

  “What?!” Ali shrieked, practically jumping out of her seat before crumpling back in her chair and laughing. “How did you get roped into that?”

  “I don’t know….It’s not that funny!”

  “Oh, but it is! You and Fast Eddie?” She said through mocking laughter that only a best friend could get away with.

  “It’s not a he and I. I agreed to meet him so I could hear more about what he calls the “Great Debate.”

  “Oh.” Her countenance changed to serious. “Well, I would take whatever he says with a grain of salt. Whatever his great plan is to save the town, you can bet it’s gonna benefit him and the Barrett’s the most. If it helps the town, that’ll be a lucky byproduct.”

  “That’s rather cynical.”

  “Doesn’t make it untrue.”

  “I assume this ‘Great Debate’ is about the possible bypass?”

  “Among other things...How do you know about the bypass?”

  “Dad. He called me a few weeks ago, all up in arms. That’s when I decided to come home.”

  “Well, it’s all just speculation at this point, but that doesn’t change the facts.”

  “Which are?”

  “This town is struggling. As you know a large part of our economy is built around tourism, especially the downtown area—the art galleries, museums, antique shops, boutiques, restaurants, to name a few, depend heavily on profits made during the tourist season to help support them in the off season months. Tourism has been in a decline for awhile. We now need every tourist dollar we can get. If the state does build a bypass, we’re done for.”

  “What’s the solution?”

  “We need to make this town relevant again. A jewel of the coast, like it once was.”

  “A jewel? When was that? Is that in some brochure somewhere? Dad used that same term.” Darcy was skeptical. It was a nice town, but a jewel?

  “Seriously? We studied local history in eighth grade. Remember the tour?”

  “Vaguely.”

  “Okay.” Ali sighed, preparing to impart some knowledge. “Cliff’s Notes version of Shoreton history. Here we go. You know this area was initially settled by the Levasque family in 1675 as a trading post.”

  “Yep.”

  “By 1715 more families had arrived including the rest of the six founding families—”

  “I do know the founding families—it was my family, the Adams, yours—the Bishops, Fast Eddie Barrett’s…um…”

  “The Martins, the Levasques and Lowes”

  “Right.”

  “And in 1720 the town of Shore Town was established.”

  “Alright, now it’s starting to come back,” Darcy said nodding her head in agreement.

  “So these key families helped build this town from local resources—boat building, timber, fishing, salt, granite and lime. Sheltered by islands and with a large deep harbor, it was a great shipping port.”

  Now that her memory had been nudged a bit, some of Shoreton’s history was coming back to Darcy now. She remembered that for almost two centuries, Shoreton was a shining beacon of industry along the New England coast. “That’s right...a lot of industry started here and prior to white settlement, Shoreton was a location for annual Native American fishing and trade, which continued for many years after the town was started.”

  “See? I knew it wasn’t just a hat rack,” Ali said pointing to Darcy’s head. “Are you available to give some museum tours?”

  “Ha ha. Okay, so some of it is coming back to me. The Barrett’s dynasty” said in a muckety-muck drawl, “started with fishing and canning, and now of course they own half the town, your Bishop family empire includes quarries, both lime and granite and history.”

  Ali raised her eyebrows at the mention of ‘empire’ but continued. “Your family dabbled in a bunch of stuff including timber. The Levasques started the first trading post and very quickly Shoreton became a major stop on the North East trade route bringing more money, more people, building up the ‘jewel of the coast’. She said using air quotes to emphasize the phrase.


  “Alright then. Knowing your family’s major contribution to building this town, you should should join us tonight.”

  “Oh hell no! Nice segue though.”

  “Yes! I need you. It’ll be awesome! A new generation of dynastic—”

  “Is that even a word?” Ali asked

  “Of course it is! As I was saying, Shoreton’s royals duking it out for ultimate supremacy!”

  “Really? As in world domination?”

  “Well, Shoreton domination.”

  “Hmm...I like that…” she said tapping her lip with her finger, “but no. I don’t want to be a third wheel on your date.”

  “It’s not a date!” Darcy protested. Ali cackled at her indignation.

  Just like that, Darcy thought, it was as if no time had passed. They were back to being the best of friends, laughing, joking, and knowing just what to say to push the other’s buttons.

  CHAPTER five

  Darcy knew that showing up at Schooners would be like a mini high school reunion. A lot of her classmates had stayed in the area, and Schooner Bay was one of the most popular restaurant bars in town. When she arrived, the place was packed. The weather was still nice and the locals were taking full advantage of it. Schooners was located at the end of a pier. Over the years the restaurant had a variety of names. It had even burned down. Twice. But it kept being resurrected. When she was a kid, it had been Neptune’s Seafood House. The pier and restaurant itself had looked like something from Davy Jones’ locker. The railings were strewn with old rotting fishing nets and buoys. Inside felt closed in, kind of what Darcy imagined being below deck on an old sailing ship would feel like. It was dark, lit only by electrified ship lanterns and net covered, red glass candles. Dark paneled walls were covered in fishing nets, plastic lobsters, crabs and other assorted sea creatures, with an occasional electric sconce to give them a murky glow. Throw in a bit of pirate decor—chests of “pirate booty”, fake swords, wooden handled pistols, miscellaneous wooden barrels, coils of rope strewn about and you get the idea. Add some heavy wooden high backed booths a pirate “wait-crew” with a cantankerous attitude and you have one of the biggest tourist traps in Shoreton.

  Fifteen years ago, when it burned down for the second time, it was sold and resurrected as the Schooner Bay Bar and Restaurant. Schooner Bay had a lighter, sleeker, more elegant setting with sparse but tastefully done decor. The outside was cedar shingle, with a wrap around deck which, when the weather was good, had an outdoor bar and seating. The inside had light stained wide plank hardwood floors, clean periwinkle blue walls, and large white trimmed windows that provided lots of light and unobstructed views of the harbor.

  It was almost dark when she arrived, but it was mild enough that she could see that the deck, swathed in twinkle lights, was full of diners. The faint sound of a jazz piano lilted through the air, under bubbles of laughter and animated conversation. She spotted Eddie the moment she walked in the door. The large square bar was centered in the main portion of the room. He was leaning against it on the opposite side, surrounded by his cronies. High backed stools lined all four sides of the bar and scattered throughout the rest of the room were small two top and four top tables. French doors which led out to the deck were open and a soft ocean breeze circulated around the room. To the left and right of the main room were glassed-in paneled side rooms, which provided a quieter atmosphere for dining, connected to the center room by French doors. Darcy took a deep breath, put on a smile, and walked around the bar. He saw her as she rounded the corner and instantly waved her over. His group turned to look at who he was motioning to. It was entertaining to see the looks on their faces as they realized who she was. Some of them had no reaction except recognition, while others, like Heather and Katie, could barely contain their horror. Some people never move past high school, she thought.

  “There she is!” Eddie walked over to meet her as she approached and put his arm around her to steer her into the center of the group. “Everyone, you remember Darcy Adams, right?” Darcy couldn’t tell if this impromptu reunion felt as awkward to everyone else as it did to her. She recognized just about everyone, and those she didn’t, she guessed were spouses. None of these people were her friends in high school. She noted that the spouses were much more friendly than her actual classmates.

  “Hello,” she nodded with a little wave to the group as they re-absorbed her and Eddie. She felt like she was surrounded by hungry sharks, just waiting to strike. She was amazed at how just seeing these people brought out the high school girl in her.

  “What would you like?” Eddie asked, keeping his arm around her.

  “Cape Cod would be great, thanks.” She felt uncomfortable being held so close by Fast Eddie, but tried not show it as she discreetly adjusted herself in his embrace.

  The bartender headed straight towards Eddie as soon as he saw him lean in. “Could I get another one of these,” he said rattling his empty rocks glass, “and a Cape Cod for the lady. A big one,” he said winking to the bartender, “and Scott, use the Goose, please.” Eddie turned back to the group and let go his hold on Darcy.

  Luckily the drinks arrived almost instantaneously. Eddie said quick goodbyes to his friends, grabbed the drinks and whisked her away to a table by the windows that had just opened up.

  “Much better,” he said after seating Darcy. He sat down across from her and raised his glass. “Cheers!”

  “Cheers,” she replied, clinking his glass before practically guzzling down her entire drink. She set down her half empty glass. That should take the edge off.

  “Hit the spot, did it?” Eddie asked watching Darcy visibly unwind a little.

  “Oh yes! It’s been quite the day.”

  “Who knew that reunion would be so awkward?” Eddie laughed. “It looked like Heather and Katie suddenly had a bad taste in their mouth when they saw you.” He imitated the two women smacking their duck lips as they gave her the once over.

  Darcy couldn’t help but laugh. It was hard not to like this version of Eddie. He seemed so easy going and friendly. She could feel the alcohol moving through her system, helping to relax her a bit. “Heather, Katie and I were never BFF’s...Sadly, they don’t seem to have moved on much from high school.”

  “Yeah, well, some peak early. Here’s to late bloomers!” He raised his glass again.

  She raised her glass towards him and took another healthy sized drink. “What are you talking about, late bloomers? I was a late bloomer. YOU certainly weren’t.”

  “I had my awkward moments.” He argued.

  “Really? When was that? As I recall, you were covered in girls the minute you stepped into high school. You were in tons of clubs...Captain of the tennis team.”

  “You were paying attention!” He grinned as if she’d just paid him a huge compliment.

  “Wasn’t everyone? Wasn’t that the point?” Darcy fired back a little too bitingly. Wow, that was a bit harsh, she cringed inwardly. Let’s reel in the inner teenager a bit, you’re a grownup now. She chided herself. “Sorry, that came out way too harsh.”

  “But true…” he agreed, his expression sobering a bit.

  “Well, yes, but that was then. I on the other hand…” she paused to take an extended drink to soften the sting she was still feeling from her snarky remark, and as a means of not finishing the sentence she started. Eddie picked up on her cue.

  “I might’ve had a mild peak in high school, but I’d like to think I had a new and improved peak later when I wasn’t such a dink.”

  Darcy nearly choked as she tried to swallow the big swig she took. “Well...look at you,” Darcy laughed at her own sputtering. “Look who’s become all self-evolved. What happened to cause such a change?”

  Eddie laughed at her sputtering, happy that the mood was lightened again. He continued to cajole her. “Oh, so you do agree that I was a dink?”

  “Well, yeah!” Darcy laughed like he was stating the obvious as she finished off the last of her drink. “Wow, that went d
own easy,” she admitted with a bit of a giggle.

  Eddie looked over at the bar to make eye contact with Scott, lifting his glass as he motioned for drinks for the both. Scott nodded.

  “I know...Some days I think back and cringe. I was such a jackass, and I didn’t care because I was having fun and doing my thing.”

  Darcy was starting to feel bad about her sudden manifestation of bitterness toward Eddie. Clearly he had changed. “We all have some not so shining moments in our past.”

  A waitress brought the drinks over. “Could we get some menus as well, please.” Eddie asked the waitress. “I thought we could grab a bite too?” He said hopefully, turning on his most charming smile. This was not what Darcy had planned, but surprisingly enough she was having a good time.

  “That would be nice,” she replied.

  “Excellent.” Eddie smiled. “As I was saying, I was was selfish.” His playful grin daring her to agree.

  She accepted the challenge and the sparring began. “Yep.” She took a more modest sip of her drink this time than previously.

  “And arrogant.”

  “Yep.” she agreed.

  “Wow!” He feigned shock. “You don’t have to agree so quickly. That kinda stings….geez.” He added a pained look on his face as he rubbed the place over his heart to really sell it.

  Darcy shot him a mischievous grin. “You said it, not me. I’m just agreeing,” Eddie loved to see her laugh, so he continued.

  “And, I might have been a little self-centered.”

  Darcy giggled and stood up. “A little?!” She gasped dramatically, continuing to play the imp. “Excuse me for a moment. I’ll be right back,” She got up and backed away from the table. “Really? Just a little arrogant?” She shot back one last jab as she moved away. As she turned to make her way to the ladies room, she ran right into him. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” What is it with running into people today? She reached out to grab the man’s arm to steady them both. She looked up into the stunning green eyes of a dark haired man. “Will?” She stood there shocked. She thought he’d moved to New York.