“No need for you to put yourself out. I can handle it.”
Ida raised one eyebrow in response. “You sure about that? It’s kind of...complicated.”
BJ chuckled. “I have a college degree. I’m sure I’ll be able to manage.”
“Well,” Ida said slowly. Her expression said that she had her doubts. “Would you like me to walk you through it the first time?”
“No, thanks, though. Tanti wrote out some pretty detailed instructions.”
“Okay, but if you find it’s too much, you just give me a shout. All right?”
“Sure thing,” BJ said, wondering why the woman was making such a big deal out of watering a few plants.
“Here you go then.” Ida pulled a massive ring of keys from her canvas book bag.
“What the hell are these?” BJ accepted the hefty set of keys. “There must be fifty of them.”
“Fifty-two, to be exact. They’re marked at the top of each key. The greenhouses, shed, and all the rest are to the watering system. You sure you don’t want me to run through all of this just one time?”
“No, no, not necessary at all.” BJ felt as though she was in over her head, but being the wise woman she was, she wasn’t about to admit that fact.
“Okay.” Ida wasn’t convinced, but Evelyn had said that if Baylor wanted to handle things, Ida should let her.
BJ closed the door after thanking Ida, and once again tested the weight of the key ring in the palm of her hand. She looked down at Arturo before speaking. “Looks like we’re the keeper of the keys, pal.”Arturo wagged his tail and danced around her feet.
“Hey, it’s about dinner time,” BJ said when the grandfather clock in the living room chimed six. “Are you hungry?”
Arturo obviously knew that word. He spun around in a tight circle a few times, his feet barely touching the ground, then sped toward the kitchen.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” BJ said with an amused laugh. Owning a pet had never held any appeal for BJ, but Arturo seemed different. “I haven’t even been on this island for two days and already I’m talking to animals. Okay, she said your food was in this cabinet.”
BJ pulled out a large can, opened it up, and looked at it in confusion. “How much of this do you get?” BJ asked her canine companion. Arturo barked once and danced around a stainless steel food bowl on the kitchen floor.
“Hmm...okay, here ya go.” BJ emptied the entire can into the dog’s bowl. “Now how about me?”
BJ looked through the cabinets. She was only hungry for a snack and found an unopened box of Cheez-Its in the pantry. She loved nothing better than Cheez-Its and a nice cold beer. She was thankful that she had talked Hobie into making a brief stop at the grocer’s before coming back home earlier.
Briefly stopping at the refrigerator, BJ armed herself with an ice-cold bottle of Corona. She set her treasures on top of the coffee table and found the envelope containing her grandmother’s instructions for running the household. BJ took a long swallow from the bottle and opened the massive manual. She looked over at Arturo, who lay curled up beside her.
“Ha, we can do this, huh?” She took another drink. “Don’t tell me it’s too complicated. What do I look like—someone who flips burgers for a living?”
She started to read and became thoroughly engrossed in the many small tasks necessary to keep the greenhouses functioning. BJ stared in awe at the detailed drawings Evelyn had provided. “She must have been writing this thing for a year.”
“Oops. ‘Feed Arturo at breakfast and dinner. One-quarter of a can for each meal.’ No wonder you acted so happy, you little squirt,” BJ said to Arturo. The small dog, upon hearing the name that was quickly becoming familiar to him, stood up and shook the sleep from his body. He looked up at BJ, burped, and nestled back against the couch cushions.
BJ spent the rest of the evening reading her grandmother’s missive and talking to Juliana on the phone. She explained the whole story to her agent, who nearly laughed herself senseless.
“You know,” Juliana said, “if that doctor hadn’t called me, I’d swear you were making this whole thing up.”
“Trust me, this is no joke. I feel like I’m living in a surreal mix of Mayberry meets Twin Peaks. I promised Tanti, but I am not going to last out here, I just know it.”
“You hang in there, mate. I’m sure you’ll find a few ladies who can keep you occupied for the summer.”
“Are you kidding? Jules, you do not know what this place is like.”
“Yeah, well, that doc’s voice sounded plenty sexy. She rabbits on a bit, but she had the cutest laugh.”
“She laughed? When?” BJ arched an eyebrow at her unseen friend.
“I don’t remember what I said. She was probably affected by my wicked charisma and charm.”
“Bite me.”
Juliana laughed heartily. “Hey, do you have your laptop with you?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Good. You can get some work done while you’re there.” “You expect me to be creative and write a best-seller here?
Impossible, I can’t do it.”
“Yes, you can. You just need to chill out, mate. Get that doctor to give you some Prozac if you have to, but relax, take it easy, and work on that damn manuscript.”
“Do any of your other clients know what a ruthless, drug-promoting slave driver you are?”
“Yes, and they love me for it.”
“That’s what you think,” BJ muttered as she hung up.
Chapter 8
BJ’s third day on the island started out uneventfully. She and her shadow, a Bichon puppy, started out the day with breakfast. Arturo looked longingly at his bowl after BJ put the prescribed amount of food in it.
“Get used to it, Squirt. I’m surprised you didn’t explode after last night.”
Hot coffee and the local newspaper sufficed as breakfast for BJ. She took pride in her above-average culinary skills but found that she had little to work with at the moment. The ringing of the telephone broke the silence.
“Baylor?”
BJ recognized Hobie’s voice immediately. She grimaced at the imaginary pain the name caused her. “Why do you insist on calling me that?”
“Oh, sorry, I keep forgetting.”
“Obviously.” There was silence from the other end. “Did you call for a reason or are you just testing the line?”
“Oh, yeah. Um, I’m off to the Cove for breakfast before I go to the office, oh, in about an hour. I wondered, well, I guess I’d like to make up for flying off the handle like that yesterday. I can give you a ride down there if you haven’t eaten yet. We don’t have to sit together, but...well...I thought I’d offer. My treat, what do you say?”
BJ looked down at Arturo, who sat at her feet. He appeared to be listening intently. BJ put one hand over the receiver.
“She’s trying to suck up. What do you think? She’s offering breakfast.”
Arturo stood and wagged his tail happily.
“What do you know? You’re just hoping for a doggie bag.”
“Um, Bay…BJ? Are you there?” “Sure, sounds like a plan.”
“Great. I’ll be by in about an hour. Bye.”
BJ hung up and looked down at Arturo. “Yep, she definitely knew she was in the wrong.” She grinned at the pup. “I thought I’d give the poor girl a break and say yes. I threw her a bone. Ha! Get it? I threw her a bone. You know, a little dog humor?”
Arturo just cocked his head to one side.
“I gotta get a dog with a better sense of humor,” BJ muttered as she went off in search of Evelyn’s instruction manual. It was time to water the plants.
She had never ventured inside her grandmother’s greenhouses. Evelyn Warren had five acres of land. When BJ was a girl, the land had consisted of scrub grass and palm trees. Later, when she grew older and her visits became less frequent, Evelyn had created her dream.
Some of the buildings were like big garages, and BJ assumed they had their own independent light sources. From the outside, it appeared that only the ceiling of the long main greenhouse was made of glass. The rest of the building looked like all the others: clean, untarnished corrugated metal.