“Mr. Henshaw,” Claire said, her heart tripping up a notch and her grip on Jenny tightening.
Pete Henshaw ignored her and took Beth’s suitcase from her lap. “Come on home, Beth.”
Beth pressed her lips together, her glance flitting from her father-in-law to Claire, her face pale. Was she asking for Claire’s help? It almost seemed like it, with the look in her eyes.
If Beth didn’t want to go with Pete Henshaw, she shouldn’t have to do so. “Mr. Henshaw,” Claire spoke up, straightening in her chair. “Beth tells me she’s going home to her parents.”
Pete Henshaw’s jaw clenched but his voice remained reasonable. “Beth’s not well, Mrs. Wilder.” He put a hand under Beth’s elbow and helped her to her feet. “She needs to come home with me.”
Something wasn’t right about Pete Henshaw’s possessive grip on Beth or the defeated look on Beth’s face. Claire’s pulse pounded in her throat. She glanced around the dining room, but the waitresses were paying no attention and the patrons were busy with their meals. No one seemed to see anything amiss between Pete Henshaw and his daughter-in-law.
Jenny let out a stuttering cry and Claire adjusted her in her arms. It was past time for Jenny’s nap, but she had to try to help the young woman. “Beth,” she said as if Pete Henshaw wasn’t glaring at her. “Would you like me to call your parents for you? Let them know you’re on your way?”
“Mind your own business, Mrs. Wilder.” Pete Henshaw’s voice rose. “Iris and I are taking good care of Beth.”
Jenny’s cries escalated to a rhythmic bawl. An older couple at the nearest table looked up from their breakfast with irritated expressions. Claire patted Jenny’s back.
Beth’s shoulders drooped and she glanced at Jenny’s reddening face. “Don’t worry about me, Mrs. Wilder. You take care of your baby.”
Claire watched Pete Henshaw walk Beth through the crowded restaurant. Was she really unwell, like Pete said? Despite Beth’s assurance, Claire was worried about her—she just didn’t know what to do. Claire put a dime on the table for her coffee and stood with her crying baby.
As Beth and Pete reached the door, Beth looked over her shoulder and Claire could have sworn she saw tears in the young woman’s eyes.
chapter 18:FRANNIE
Frannie wanted to lay down and D-I-E, die.
She’d cleaned cabins for four hours. She swept the plank floors, took garbage to the bear-proof cans, and scrubbed out the ducks while holding her breath. It was beyond disgusting.
“Okay, let’s get cleaned up before we miss dinner.” Jerrylynn poked her in the ribs. “Race you to the rat trap!”
Frannie watched Jerrylynn dart up the trail. Her feet were killing her and she could barely move, how was Jerrylynn still as perky as a cheerleader?
When she got to the cabin, it was teeming with girls, most of them in their underwear and all of them talking. Jerrylynn saw her and shouted over the racket. “Girls, this is Frannie, she’s the new Sherry.” The girls around her said exuberant hellos. Somebody turned up the radio and everybody started singing along to “Teenager in Love.”
Frannie looked down at her own clothes, sweat-stained and spattered with who-knows-what. Then at the girls dressing and undressing, nobody taking notice of anybody. Okey dokey. If everybody else was doing it she would, too.
Ten minutes later, the pack of girls was trooping out of the rat trap and down the trail toward the lodge. That’s when a gang of boys joined them, all of them whooping it up. She’d hoped to see Sam, the cute one who looked like he was in college, but it was Paul—the one with glasses—who fell into step beside her. “How was your first day?”
“Cool,” she said. She wasn’t about to admit that she’d gagged a dozen times while emptying the ducks. “What’s your job?”
“I’m a pack rat.”
“A what-rat?”
“A porter.” He laughed. “I help the dudes carry luggage and gear to their cabins, get the camp stoves working, stuff like that. Last year, I was a pearl diver.” He answered her questioning glance, “A dishwasher. So this is a step up.”
“You were here last year?” Frannie wasn’t sure if she’d last another day.
“It’s my third season,” he answered. “I’ll come every summer until they don’t let me anymore.” He leaned closer and whispered, “Honestly, they wouldn’t even have to pay me.”
Maybe Paul was a couple cards short of a full deck but she was too tired to figure it out. She just wanted something to eat and to go to sleep for a year.
She followed the whole gang through the lobby, now busy with families coming in from sightseeing, past the souvenir shop on one side and the Haynes photo shop on the other. The cafeteria was like the one at her high school, and all the kids lined up with trays to get servings of hamburgers, green beans, and mashed potatoes.
She filled her tray, then looked at the tables with a sick lurch in her middle that had nothing to do with hunger. All the kids were sitting in groups and laughing together. What if she had to sit by herself, like when she first went to high school and didn’t have any friends? It had taken two years and plenty of pranks to get in with Jonny and his gang.
“Hey, Frannie!” Jerrylynn waved at her from a table by the windows. “I saved you a seat.”
