Suddenly, he had outpaced her and was walking backwards up the hill. “You forgot your shoes,” he informed her, holding them out.
Still clutching her nylons in one hand, Zoey took the shoes with other. “Thank you,” she said. Brusquely sidestepping him to conceal her humiliation—he must have thought she was ridiculous—she continued her trek and to her relief, he didn’t follow.
Zoey felt like a sponge that had reached saturation and tears began to seep from her eyes.No, no, no, she told herself.Not now. Not yet.This time, it didn’t matter; she was going to cry. In public. On Main Street, no less. She plodded onward another ten yards before giving in. Hugging one of the island’s ubiquitous, colonial-style post lanterns for balance, she wept openly. The tears came hard and fast, like an April shower. Then, just as abruptly, her crying jag passed.
She was wiping her eyes when a red convertible came flying down the hill, its stereo blaring, the top down. From behind the wheel, Mark flashed his perfect white teeth and waved at her, as if today was just another day at the beach.
Chapter Two
“I’m so sorry I couldn’t make it to Hope Haven yesterday,” Lauren apologized when she called early the next morning.
Zoey understood; her closest friend and colleague had also been laid off in December when their branch closed and she’d just begun working at a library in Cranston three weeks ago. As the newest member on staff, she had been relegated to the Saturday shift and she hadn’t accrued any time off yet. “That’s okay. I’d rather have you visit on a happier occasion, anyway.”
“Yeah, but I wanted to be there to support you. How did things go?”
Zoey told her about the lovely memorial service and reception before confiding how ticked off she was at Mark for insinuating their aunt wasn’t fit to live alone and for apparently trying to squeeze her out of her house.
“She doesn’t want to move?”
“No way. That’s one of the reasons she was so grateful I came to help when my aunt Sylvia got pneumonia. She was afraid the doctor was going to suggest that she go to a skilled nursing center off-island to recover. Neither of them has left Hope Haven for longer than a night or two for the past fifty or sixty years,” Zoey answered. “I don’t get it. Mark has never shown this level of interest in the house before. He’s going to inherit it eventually, so what’s the big rush to get his hands on it now?”
“Maybe he’s hard up for money? Oh, that reminds me—I have a lead for you!” Lauren told her about a librarian in one of Providence’s universities who was pregnant with twins and would be going on maternity leave in August. Supposedly, the woman had indicated she didn’t plan to return to her post after the babies were born, so the position had a high likelihood of becoming permanent. “I get it that you need to start earning an income again, but if this job is a good fit, you could spend a few more months on Dune Island before it starts.”
“You’re right. It might be ideal, as long as my tenant wants to lease my townhome through the summer and I can keep on top of my mortgage payments,” Zoey said. “I’d love to be able to stay with my aunt until she’s a little stronger. Emotionally, I mean.”
“It might be good for you, too, Zo. You’ve gone through a lot in the past few months,” Lauren sympathized. “I know you’re grieving, but Hope Haven has always seemed like, well, like a haven for you. And who knows, if you stay there for a while, you might end up meeting someone. It would be great if you could have a summer romance. Preferably with a swashbuckling type of guy who’d take your mind off your troubles.”
“Swashbuckling type?” Zoey cracked up. “This is a contemporary island, you know, not the high seas in the seventeen-hundreds. Besides, I just got out of a relationship with a pirate—Erik. It’s not an experience I can afford to repeat.”
“You know what I mean. Someone who’s very dashing. And chivalrous. An adventurer, like a fisherman or a lifeguard. Or someone in the Coast Guard.”
Zoey recognized this wish list. “And it wouldn’t hurt if he had a friend or a brother I could introduce you to, right?”
“Right.”
While she was considering whether she should tell Lauren about her interaction with Nick, just for kicks, her phone beeped, signaling she was getting another call. Zoey looked at the screen: it was Kathleen, who she supposed was her sister-in-law, in a way. In the six years since Jessica died, her husband Scott had remarried twice. Zoey rarely spoke directly with Kathleen, his current wife, so it was alarming to see her number. Had something happened to him or to Zoey’s fourteen-year-old niece, Gabi? She quickly said goodbye to Lauren so she could pick up the call.
“Zoey!” Kathleen exclaimed breathlessly. “I’m so glad I reached you.”
“Is something wrong? Is Gabi okay?”
“Well, yes and no…”
Zoey’s pulse thudded in her ears as Kathleen explained that Gabi had attempted to drive her father’s car, supposedly on a dare from a boy. Fortunately, she didn’t get very far; she backed into the brick retaining wall while attempting a three-point-turn in the driveway. Although she smashed a tail light and put a big dent in the fender, she didn’t suffer any injuries herself.
Zoey’s initial relief that no physical harm had befallen her niece was followed by a wave of concern for Gabi’s emotional well-being. “That doesn’t sound like Gabi at all.”
Gabi was genuinely a kind, good-humored, smart girl who seemed to be more interested in getting good grades and playing the flute with the city’s youth symphony than impressing boys or rebelling against her parents. But then, Zoey hadn’t seen her in almost ten months.
In the first year following Jessica’s death, Zoey spent virtually every weekend with her sister’s child. But shortly after Scott remarried the first time, his employer transferred him from Rhode Island to California. Although Zoey kept in touch with Gabi by phone and text, she usually only got to visit her twice a year. And actually, she hadn’t made the trip out west this past Christmas, the way she usually did. Because she’d just been laid off, money was tight. Since Gabi had planned to spend most of her school vacation performing with the symphony, Zoey decided to postpone the trip until her February break, when they’d have more time together. By then, Sylvia had gotten sick and was in and out of the hospital, so Zoey’s presence was needed on Dune Island. Afterward, she’d regretted that she hadn’t gone to California in December and she especially regretted it now.
“A lot has changed since you saw her last June.”
Zoey didn’t like the sound of that. Was her niece in trouble with drugs? Boys? School? “What do you mean?”
“It’s Scott. He’s been drinking. A lot. It’s really taken a toll on Gabi. And on me—”
Zoey waited quietly as Kathleen wept. Geography and differences in their personalities, as well as a sense of loyalty toward Jessica, had kept Zoey from becoming close to her, but she appreciated what an excellent stepmother Kathleen had been to Gabi. Kathleen was also very supportive of Scott, who had been absolutely devastated by Jessica’s death. He’d gone through a drinking phase right after she died—Zoey long suspected he was drunk when he married his second wife, Sheila—but that’s all Zoey thought it was. A grief-induced phase that had ended over four years ago, along with his second marriage.
