Second Chances in Lavender Bay (The Lavender Bay Chronicles #3)

36. Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Four

T he following evening, it poured rain, and Diana and her mother did not expect to see Mark. But he showed up carrying an umbrella in one hand and a wooden box in the other. He stood on the mat, wiping his feet, and when Diana opened the door, he handed her the wooden box, whose surface bore a pattern of alternating squares of light and dark woods in a checkerboard pattern. It was heavy enough that she had to use both hands to hold it. He set down his wet umbrella on the porch and followed her inside.

“Good evening to you both,” he said.

“What brings you out on a night like this, Mark?” Millie asked.

“Wanted some company,” was his answer. And looking at Diana, he said, “And I’d hoped you’d humor me with a game of chess.”

“I don’t know how to play,” she reminded him.

“That’s all right. I’ll teach you.”

“Okay.” But she was unconvinced. She wished it was checkers instead.

“You can use that table,” Millie suggested with a nod to a small table in the corner of the room.

Mark removed the potted plant from its surface and set it on the floor. then carried the table over to the armchair. “Let me get you a chair, Diana.” He looked around the parlor, but Diana jumped up and said, “I’ll bring one in from the kitchen.”

“I’ll get it,” Mark said.

They both set off for the kitchen, shoulders bumping into each other. Diana laughed, and Mark looked amused.

“Mark, I’m capable of carrying in the kitchen chair.”

“But I don’t mind getting it for you,” he said. They’d reached the kitchen by now.

“All right then,” Diana said with a slight nod of her head.

He carried in the ladderback chair and set it on the other side of the small table. He went to sit in it, but Diana put her hand on the back of it and said, “No. I’ll sit in this chair. You sit in the armchair.”

With a laugh, he asked, “Are you always so bossy?”

“Mark, she’s ghastly at times,” Millie piped in from her corner of the room.

“Thanks, Ma.”

Once they were seated, Mark opened the case to reveal a chessboard and pieces as beautiful as the box they came in. He laid the board out and set everything up. Like the box, they were made of two different types of wood: light and dark.

Diana was in awe of a possession such as this. If the house ever caught fire, she’d run out and leave everything behind, but she might go back for this.

“This is a beautiful set,” she said.

Mark smiled. “It was handmade for my father for his fiftieth birthday.” He laughed and said, “A long time ago. When he passed, it was given to me.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Diana said automatically.

Mark gave her a quick smile before it disappeared. “Don’t be. He lived a long and happy life. He was a good man.”

Sitting this close to him gave her the advantage of studying him more closely. Gray was just beginning to appear at his temples. His blue eyes were almost navy in color. The pipe hung from his mouth and when he took his two puffs, he clenched it between his teeth. His face was a study of concentration as he lined up the chess pieces: the lighter-colored set in front of her and the darker pieces for him. She couldn’t make any sense of it.

“Do you play a lot of chess?” she asked.

“I used to, with another professor at the university, but he’s since retired and moved on. We’d play every Wednesday night and sometimes the game would take weeks.” He was animated when he spoke about it, and Diana thought he was a strange bird getting all excited about a game of chess.

“Wow, you’re really wild and crazy,” she said flatly.

He stared at her for a moment, and she wondered if she’d gone too far, but then he smiled and shook his head.

“Let’s get started,” he said, and he clapped his hands, causing Diana to give a little start.

Mark laughed. “I’m sorry, I get lost in my enthusiasm over this game.”

“That’s all right, although I can’t guarantee I’ll ever get to that level myself.”

He nodded. “Fair enough,” he said, and took another puff of his pipe.

Propping her chin on her hand, she watched as he picked up a small wooden token.

“How come you still wear your wedding band?” she blurted.

“Diana!” By her mother’s tone, one she rarely used, Diana realized she’d crossed some invisible line.

Mark looked over at Millie. “It’s all right, Mrs. Quinn.” He held his hand out, the plain gold band sitting on his fourth finger. “I guess I’m not ready to be unmarried yet.”

It was the saddest thing Diana had ever heard.

To dispel the awkwardness, she nodded toward the chess piece in his hand. “What’s that?”

“Oh, this? This is a pawn.” He set it on the board and demonstrated. “He can move one step at a time in any direction, but never backward. He’s the weakest of them all.”

He picked up another piece and held it aloft. It reminded Diana of a castle tower.

“This is the rook. It can be moved any number of squares forward or sideways, but in a straight line.”

The next two pieces he held up were the knight and then the bishop, and it was here that Diana got lost. But she remained silent.

“What is the object of this game?” she asked.

“The object of the game is to capture the other player’s king,” he explained. He picked up the tallest chess piece. “This is the king.”

“So, the king is the most powerful piece?”

Mark shook his head. “No. He’s the most valuable piece. But it’s the queen,” he said as he picked up the second largest piece. “The queen is the most powerful piece on the board.”

“Why?”

“Because the queen always protects the king.”