As Bright As The Stars (Vaquita Beach Book 2)

  As Bright As The Stars

  Cindy Caldwell

  Copyright © 2019 by Cindy Caldwell

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Epilogue

  1

  Megan Lewis pulled her coat around her and tightened her scarf as the cold wind sliced through her. Head down, she followed the teenager with the baseball bat toward the stables. “Emily, I can’t let you do this. You know I can’t,” she said, her voice edged with fatigue.

  “Screw you. I’m sick of this place, and I’m leaving,” the girl said, her black hair billowing around her face. The bat had been at her side when she stormed from the kitchen of the group home. Now, she gripped it with both hands and raised it over her head. “Emily, we’ve been talking about this for months. You do these things, then you change your mind and want to stay. What about Tigger? That horse loves you.” Megan inched toward the furious girl, hoping this would be the time Emily came around, choose not to be violent. She could always hope. As director of the group home, hope was essential.

  Turning to look at Megan, Emily’s arms trembled as the bat crashed down on the door of the barn, splinters flying in the evening sun. The bat sailed through the air, thudding into the wall of the stable that housed Tigger, the horse Emily had been caring for during for the past few months of her stay at the ranch. Horse therapy hadn’t been helpful for this one.

  “Seriously? I thought you loved Tigger,” Megan said to Emily’s back as the teenager ran into the stable, pulling the door behind her.

  “What was that about?” Megan heard her sister and business partner Annie ask as she rushed up behind her. “What set her off this time?”

  “Heck if I know. We were in class, and one of the girls called her on something she didn’t like. She just went off. Grabbed the bat and ran out here.”

  “I called 911. Megan, we can’t do this with her anymore. We’re both losing sleep over her, and the other girls are scared. She’s got to go.”

  Megan stared at the closed stable door. “It’s so hard to give up on her. But I’ve completely gone through my bag of tricks, and she just can’t keep it together. I know you have, too.”

  Megan drew her jacket around her and tightened her scarf. Even in Arizona, the high desert got snow, the wind biting through her clothes. “I’ll call her case worker and make arrangements for her to leave. It’s just so sad. I hate to give up on her.”

  “I know, but we’ve done good work here. We can’t save all of them, and she needs more help than we can give. We’ll make sure she finds it.”

  Dust plumed from the desert road, the red lights of the sheriff’s car flashing. “Well, we definitely can’t save this one,” Annie said. “She’s still better than when she came, so I’ll take that for comfort.”

  “I guess it’s all relative, but yes, she actually is better. I’d forgotten she was much worse when she arrived. We really have helped her.”

  Annie nodded slowly. “I’ll stay here with Emily. You can take the sheriff this time.” She smiled, motioning toward the flashing lights. “I’m sure you’ve had enough of this by now.”

  Megan wearily explained to the sheriff what was going on, and he nodded in understanding. He’d made several trips out to the ranch for girls that needed more than they could provide at the ranch, and he’d become a sympathetic and supportive ally over the years.

  “I got this, Megan. And don’t feel bad. It happens sometimes. She’ll find the help she needs, but we can’t have her scaring the other girls.”

  Megan leaned against the sheriff’s car and rested as she watched the sheriff and Annie deftly convince the angry teenager that calming down a bit and going with the sheriff was in her—and everyone else’s—best interest. It was usually a job Megan did herself as she had lots of experience at calming people down, but she was grateful that this time it hadn’t fallen to her. She was weary and she knew it.

  Emily hadn’t quite given up the fight. The sheriff guided Emily to the car in handcuffs as she hurled expletives at the wide-eyed girls watching from the second-story porch. “What are you looking at?” she yelled, spitting in the dirt.

  As the girls were shepherded back into the house by the staff she and her sister had carefully selected and trained, Annie threw her arm around Megan’s shoulder. “Look, Megan, it’s been a rough couple of months. Why don’t you take some time off and head to Playa Luna? Swim in the ocean. Walk on the beach. See your daughter. Plan a wedding. Daniel and I can handle this for a while,” she said, her eyes filled with concern.

  “I can’t leave you here alone with this,” Megan said, shaking her head. “We started this together. I can’t leave now.”

  “Look, with Emily gone, the other girls will be a piece of cake. No worries. Just take a couple of weeks off. See if Felicia can meet you there. And you know Cassie’s been dying to have you come. She even called me to ask when that might be.”

  Megan’s thought of her daughter, Cassie. Whenever she did, she almost burst with pride—Cassie had not only pulled off creating the sanctuary for the endangered vaquita, but was engaged to the love of her life and living on the Sea of Cortez, fulfilling her dreams.

  “I’ll see if Felicia can meet me. Are you sure? I feel like this is a lot to leave you with.”

  “Like I said, now’s a good time. Leave tomorrow.”

  Megan smiled at her sister. “I do think I could use a break.”

  “Good. So, now that you’ve agreed to go, I need to let you know something. You can use the time to think about some things.”

  “Uh-oh. I usually get bad news first.” She rubbed her eyes as she waited for the next bomb to drop.

  “I just got an email that the state’s cut funding again for teen rehab. At this level of funding, we’ll be lucky if we can just pare down to a mac and cheese program,” Annie said, exhaustion seeping into her voice, too. “We’ve given up everything for this ranch. We won’t even be making enough money to feed the girls well, let alone the horses. And when we quit our jobs to do this, we agreed to make this the best program in the state. We said we would never do a mac and cheese level program.”

  The last two years had taken a toll on her, too, and she looked defeated, her shoulders sagging.

  “And, when you’re in Mexico, think about the bigger question. Are we really happy?”

  Megan hugged her sister and they both turned toward the house as the sheriff’s car disappeared out of sight.

  Her head spinning from the day’s events and the new information, Megan took her time on the short walk back to the little house she had called home since she moved from California. For three years, the group home they’d dreamed of creating had struggled financially, no matter what they tried.

  The hors
es were quiet as the cold wind whipped through the stables, and her riding boots kept her warm as she padded through the mud. The garden she had planted when she’d arrived had completed its harvest, its zucchini and tomatoes dormant as the leaves turned golden. Passing through the garden she had grown, she looked toward the fountain in the middle, and the tree that had doubled in size since she had planted it last summer. Its leaves were dropping as fall set in, the bitter wind a daily occurrence now. A hummingbird buzzed at one of the lavender plants, darting off toward the wilting flowers. The dream of a new life and new business was fading along with the garden.

  With a sigh, she dialed the number of her oldest friend, Felicia. As the phone rang, she thought of the last time she’d seen her—when Alex had flown them out to surprise Cassie at the groundbreaking ceremonies for the vaquita sanctuary and the new resort they’d be building near the south campos. Everyone had been concerned the resort in its original design would cause much damage to the small fishing community, and Megan and Felicia had been thrilled that the resort plans had changed into more of an eco-friendly destination with kayaking rather than golf. Well, everybody but her golf-crazy friend, Felicia.

  “Hey, Flee, want to take a trip to Playa Luna?” she said into the phone as her friend answered. “I’ve got some time off and I’m heading down. Come with me.”

  “What? You can get away? Gosh, you know I’d love to, even though I’d been hoping to golf down there with the new resort.”

  Megan rolled her eyes, checking that comment off the list of phrases she knew she’d be hearing.

  “I’ve been working too much myself. Kyle has a break from his residency and wants to head down to talk to the doctor in town about volunteering and do some fishing, anyway, so great timing. I’m in.”

  “Can you leave as early as tomorrow?” Hope swelled her heart as it seemed it might be possible to be at the beach this time tomorrow.

  “It works for me. Just got off a long run of vet shows, so I’m good. See you at the usual place. Does noon work?”

  Megan’s heart lifted a bit and she felt a smile spread across her face. “I’ll just pack a few things and we can shop there. See you then.” She hung up and did a little twirl in her tiny kitchen. Tomorrow might just be a better day after all.

  2

  After a quick goodbye to Annie, Megan hopped in her car and started the drive to the town on the border of California and Arizona where she and Felicia had agreed to meet. She’d spent some time thinking, enjoying the solitude, and when it wasn’t too early—she’d left at dawn—she called Cassie. Her daughter didn’t normally like surprises, but Megan figured that since Cassie had been calling and asking her to come, this surprise would be welcome. She wasn’t disappointed.

  “Mom, that’s fantastic,” Cassie cried when Megan told her the news. “I even called Aunt Annie and asked when you could get away. Alex and I are ready to set a date and I need some help.”

  “Oh, Cassie, that’s fantastic. I’m so excited for you,” Megan said, and she was. They caught up as the miles flew by, and Cassie insisted that she and Alex come by the house later in the evening for a hug and hello. Megan ended the call with her heart full, not believing her good fortune that in several hours she’d not only be in her beautiful brick house by the sea, listening to the sound of the waves, but she’d be with Cassie. It was almost too good to be true.

  She called Felicia, who was coming from the opposite direction, and they talked through a grocery list. Right at noon, they met in the Walmart parking lot, the last store they’d see before the crossed the border. It was their usual spot—they’d been meeting there for years. Megan gave her friend a hug and was happy to do the same with Felicia’s son, Kyle, and she got some extra kisses from Russell, Felicia’s Jack Russell Terrier who came everywhere with her. She still marveled at the six-foot tall, handsome man Kyle had become and she loved seeing his wide, warm smile. She hadn’t seen him often lately as he’d had his head down in medical school and his residency, so seeing him in shorts and flip-flops, his baseball cap askew, made her happy.

  Breezing through the grocery section, they bought the same things they’d been getting for years in anticipation of their trips. They’d been doing this for twenty-five years, and had it down. Wine, chips and cheese for nachos, jalapenos, steaks. “Don’t forget the margarita mix and tequila,” Felicia called from the tortilla aisle.

  “Got it,” Megan said, wheeling the cart back to the alcohol aisle. If she was to forget her troubles at the ranch, this was a good aisle to be in.

  They threw the groceries quickly in the car, packing the ice chest with things that needed to stay cold and high-fived each other as Kyle secured everything as they got ready to cross the border. It felt good to be taking a road trip.

  “If Taylor and Cassie were here, we’d need to be getting Slim Jim’s,” Megan said with a laugh.

  “Do you think they still eat those things?” Felicia said. Their daughters had started a tradition of really bad road trip food that they discouraged them from eating any other time. Road trips, yes. Real life, no.

  “I sure hope not, but I bet they would on a road trip. They’ve been taught well.” She smiled at the memory of bringing the girls down, and the fun they’d had with the exception of a few minor scrapes involving quads and mud.

  Felicia hopped in the car with Megan, Kyle following in their Excursion.

  “The truck’s full of new patio furniture and new rugs and tons of cool stuff for the house. I can’t wait to get down and see how things look.” Her beach neighbor always brought something new. “So what’s happening at the ranch?” Felicia asked as they settled in for the rest of the drive.

  “I don’t even know where to start,” Megan said. “It’s so awful, it’s almost funny.” Gripping the steering wheel tighter, she shared the events of the day before.

  “I don’t know how you do it. I’d have to smack those girls. You’re a saint.”

  Megan laughed, knowing Felicia wouldn’t smack anybody even if she had the chance. “I’m not a saint. Just trying to hold onto the business at this point, and do as much good as we can.”

  “You said your funding got cut. How bad is it?”

  “Worse than bad. Something’s got to change.”

  “Well, I always thought you were crazy for taking that chance,” Felicia said with a smile. “Especially at our age. This close to retirement is no time to be taking a risk like that.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “You know what I mean. Taking out all of your retirement and moving to another state? What were you thinking?”

  Megan paused for a moment, running the whole decision-making process through her head for the thousandth time. “I believed that it would be a rewarding job and financially stable, or I wouldn’t have done it. I’m not that much of an idiot,” she said, rolling her eyes at her friend.

  “I know. Who could have predicted the budget cuts? Not an ideal time to start a new business.

  “That’s an understatement,” she said, trying to find some humor in the situation.

  “I guess the timing was just awful,” she said, as they pulled into the Mexican fishing village of San Felipe, the Sea of Cortez shining. “You know, my whole life, I got every job I ever applied for. It never really occurred to me that this might fail. Guess that is actually the definition of an idiot,” she said, laughing.

  She had sincerely believed, in the beginning, that things would go easily and the new business would be a booming success. Who wouldn’t want to send their troubled girls to a beautiful horse ranch, allowing them to heal from their trauma? Enter the state-wide cuts, wiping out public funds like a tsunami. And her personal funds, as well. Daniel and Annie had done the same, and the business was on its last financial legs, no nest eggs left to infuse cash into the ranch. Sheer determination to help the girls had kept them in business longer than they should have been. Now things were dire, and the worry lines creeping onto her face were permanent.

&n
bsp; Determined not to think about it for a while, she slowed down to pass through the last fishing village before the south campos. She couldn’t believe she was heading down to her favorite spot on earth, Playa Luna. She’d bought the beach house there when she had had some money, never thinking it might become all she had left.

  Her sour mood lifted as they drove through the town, the streets lined with vendors hawking their colorful wares. Mexican fishing boats, pandas, dotted the beach, their owners hawking rides for the day and promising a great catch. The famous blue San Felipe shrimp were available everywhere, in iced bins along the malecon and eager tourists lined up to buy them by the kilo, anxious to sample some local treats.

  “Want to do any shopping?” Felicia asked with a grin.

  Megan shook her head and laughed. “You know as well as I do we’ve bought one of everything around here over the years. I don’t need another blanket or sombrero. Let’s just get there.”

  The graceful rhythm of the sea calmed her even more as they headed further south, falling into a comfortable silence. The road wound close to the shore and then back toward the desert again for the remaining twenty-mile stretch to their little community, Playa Luna. Here, in the south campos, the houses dotted the shoreline with their solar panels flashing. The all-solar community consisted of all types of houses, from grand adobe houses to trailers with a cover, and all kinds in between.

  “I can’t wait to see how the house is holding up. So glad we finished it last year, and glad to be out of the trailer,” Felicia said, gazing down the long dirt road toward camp. “And you—you’ve got all new solar panels and electricity. I know where I’ll be heading if mine goes out. That sure was great of the girls and Alex to get that fixed for you.”