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She took containers of cookies and homemade candies out of her bag. Maggie would not admit that she was trying to diet, so she accepted them graciously.
“Thank you. I’ll call my aunt later to thank her. What branch of the service are you in?”
“She’s at Camp Pendleton,” Katrina said. “The Marines.”
“Actually, I’m in the Navy Nurse Corps, but I’m at the hospital at Pendleton.”
“Oh, right. I’m not sure I know what Camp Pendleton is,” Maggie said. “I’ve never been west of the Mississippi.”
Bridget laughed out loud. “Me either, until I got stationed out there. Now I might have to move there, I love it so much. The weather is wonderful. It’s dry!”
“I’m starting to mold,” Katrina said, pulling the shirt she wore away from her body.
“I love the weather here,” Maggie said. “I don’t even mind when it floods. My house is up on pillars so we’re dry. Everything else is back far enough away from the water.”
“Well, not everything,” Katrina reminded her. “Like the road to get in to see you.”
“That’s why I have the skiff,” she said, laughing. “Who needs a road?”
“What’s the barn for?” Bridget asked. “My uncle was like a kid getting ready to see Papa Noel when he was preparing to come here today.”
“My boyfriend is a veterinarian,” Maggie explained. “We want to open a clinic here, but we needed the barn first.”
“Wait,” Bridget said. “It just hit me. Your boyfriend is my cousin.”
“Justin is your cousin?” Maggie asked.
“Yes. Justin’s mother, Emily, is my father’s sister. The family has been estranged. My parents don’t have much to say about it.”
It was evident by her demeanor, looking out at the water and fidgeting, that Bridget might have been sorry she brought the subject up.
“I don’t know much about Justin’s mother,” Maggie said, wondering what the story could be.
“It’s understandable,” Katrina said. “Because she’s dead. It might be too painful. I don’t talk about my mother, either.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Bridget replied. “I didn’t mean to start a sad conversation.”
‘It’s fine,” Maggie said. “We were talking about the barn.”
“Right. Can you take me to see it?”
“Sure,” Maggie said, and then not pulling any punches, she added, “You might keep that towel wrapped around your body when we go back. There are six single guys working and one of them belongs to me.”
“I have a cover-up,” Bridget said, not defensive at all as she slipped a demure sundress over her head. “I had it on before we left, but I’d gone into the water to grab a fender that had come untied.”
“I’m sure Val enjoyed the view,” Katrina replied, and they all laughed.
They walked down the dock and beyond the cottage to the construction site.
“Yikes,” Bridget said, flaring her nostrils. “Do you have to be hot to work on this thing?”
“Pretty much,” Maggie said. “The guy with the tatts is my boyfriend, your cousin Justin. The big guy with the curly hair is Dave, Justin’s brother and another cousin. Anyone else, go for it.”
“Who’s the blond?”
“Luke Esprit. Single and as far as I can tell, available. I’ll introduce you.”
Katrina said later that she saw the electricity between Luke and Bridget right away.
