My stomach gurgled as I glanced up at the teapot clock. It was almost seven P.M. I hoped Kevin would be nice enough to ignore that abdominal rumble, but when I turned to face him again, I noticed he was laughing. “What?” I demanded. “I skipped lunch. Coffee only goes so far.”
“Cranky and noisy. I guess you’d better buy me dinner.”
“How do you figure that?”
“I came and rescued you by reminding you it was time to eat. I think that warrants dinner. Any suggestions where we should go?”
His enthusiasm was contagious. I’d had a good business day, and it wasn’t unusual for Missing Pieces to be closed by now. The rush had kept me from worrying about Miss Mildred. “I’ll tell you the truth, I don’t eat out much. I probably couldn’t recommend a good restaurant. I’m sure they’re all fine, but I prefer my own cooking. You’re welcome to come to supper.”
“I’d like that. It must be nice to enjoy your own cooking. I don’t know if Chef Boyardee in the microwave qualifies as cooking, but I’m not too crazy about it. I’ve spent most of my life eating in restaurants.”
“I’ll bet you’ve eaten in some exciting places while you were working for the FBI.”
“Like every greasy spoon and two-bit diner across the country,” he said. “Working for the FBI sounds a lot more glamorous than it really is.”
We came to an arrangement for selling the Blue Whale T-shirts, and Kevin put his pamphlets on the corkboard near the door. I did a quick walk through the shop, checking to make sure nothing was missing, left behind, or about to be covered in Coke from a misplaced paper cup. “Still,” I said, picking up the conversation when I was done with my inspection, “it must seem really tame to live in Duck after travelling so much.”
“It’s quiet,” he agreed. “But that’s what I was looking for.”
I turned off the lights and locked the door behind us. Shadows were beginning to lengthen on the boardwalk, and the shops around Missing Pieces were closing too. The nightlife was beginning for our summer visitors, but for many of the people who lived here, the day was done and it was time to go home.
We walked down to the house, making small talk about the town and the difference there between summer and winter. “Actually, we call it off-season,” I explained. “We don’t like winter.”
Kevin stepped away from the road as a car blew its horn, almost grazing his pant leg. “Whatever you call it, I’m looking forward to it. I didn’t realize so many people would be here over the summer. Or in-season. Why don’t you guys put in sidewalks?”
“Do you know how much they cost? It may look like we’re rich, but we’re not. We are working on sidewalks, though, and some other things.”
When we got to the house, Mary Lou opened the front door as I reached for the handle. “Dae! Kevin! It’s good to see you. Come in. We’re getting supper ready.”
This is different. Mary Lou was acting like Gramps’s hostess. “Good to see you too. Where’s my grandfather?”
“In the back. He’s grilling. I’m in charge of salad. I hope you brought some dessert with you. We ran out of the apple pie I brought before we could eat supper.” Mary Lou laughed and closed the door after us.
“I could go out and get something,” Kevin offered.
“That’s okay,” I said. “I’m sure we can find something here.”
“Dae, I want to talk to you about creating an ordinance to protect the sea turtles.” Mary Lou put her arm around my shoulders as we walked into the kitchen. “People don’t realize how fragile they are as a species. They go down there all times of the day and night, build sand castles. Really, we need an ordinance.”
“Why is building sand castles bad for the turtles?” Kevin asked.
I knew what was going to happen, but I wanted to see Gramps without Mary Lou. As soon as Kevin asked, she switched to his side, explaining as she went. “Well, you see, the castles fall in on the baby turtles as they’re trying to reach the sea. Sometimes it smothers them. Sometimes they get trapped there and a predator finds them.”
I gave Kevin an apologetic look as I left the two of them in the kitchen. A few of Gramps’s friends from his pinochle game were in the living room laughing at something on TV. I closed the back door as I went out and enjoyed the blessed silence for a minute. It had been a long, difficult day. I still felt that terrible guilt about not being able to help Miss Mildred. I knew I had to let it go, but it was hard.
“Are you going to stand up there on the porch all night,” Gramps asked, “or are you going to come down and hand me those potatoes?”
I went down to help him. We had a few lights in the back, but they were mostly for show, party lights. They illuminated the swing and the pier going down to the sound but weren’t there for practical considerations. “Lots of supper guests.”
He laughed. “Nice, isn’t it? Your grandmother loved to cook for big crowds. We were both sorry we couldn’t have a large family. But we loved your mother. Lucky for us, we always had plenty of friends. Hand me that corn now.”
The big grill, converted by Gramps from the old tank they’d used for heating oil when I was a child, was full of food. The smell was delicious, probably drifting out to neighbors, inviting them over. I expected to find several more people waiting for supper when I went back inside.
“What’s with Mary Lou acting like she lives here?” I hoped that hadn’t come out as bad as it sounded to me.
He glanced up from his basting. “Why? Have you got something against Mary Lou?”
“No. Not unless she’s looking for somewhere else to live—like here. I don’t think I could live with Mary Lou.”
“In other words, I’m supposed to be alone the rest of my life?”
“Not alone.” I scuffed my foot on the sandy grass. “You have me.”
He stood up straight and hugged me (still holding the basting brush). “And someday, you’ll meet someone and leave me. What will I do then?”
I hugged him back fiercely. “I’ll never leave you. You know that. Me and you, right?”
“That’s right, Dae. I’ll never leave you either. But we could both do with some companionship from the opposite sex. This house was built for a big family. Don’t forget, I came from six brothers and two sisters. I think we could both meet special people, and we could all live here. Unless, of course, you’d rather live at the Blue Whale.”
I was totally amazed that he would even tease me about something like that. “You may think Kevin likes me that way, but believe me, he wants to be with Shayla.”
“Maybe for now. But I’m a good judge of people after being sheriff for so long. Kevin Brickman is looking for stability in his life. He’s not going to find that from Shayla.”
“Lucky there are plenty of other women in town.”
“Because you can do so much better?” He laughed. “Oh. That’s right. I forgot about Tim.”
I nudged him hard. “Despite what anyone thinks, Tim and I aren’t going to end up together.”
We heard the back door squeak open and both looked up at the porch. I was surprised to see Kevin’s tall, broad-shouldered form silhouetted against the lights from the house. “Dae? Chief Michaels is here with Agent Walker. They need to speak with you about Miss Mildred.”
Chapter 10
Kevin sounded so formal. I knew it wasn’t good news. I could imagine him, back in his FBI days, using the same tone to tell someone their child had been kidnapped or something of equal horror. I glanced at Gramps. He nodded as I headed inside.