Driftwood Point (13 page)

“For a while.” She wandered through the rest of the second floor, peeked into the cubbyholes that had been built into each of the eaves. They were all empty except one. “Hey, look. There's something in there.”

“What?”

“I don't know.”

He stood behind her, peering over her shoulder. “What are you looking at?”

“See back there? In the corner?”

Alec stepped around her, looked closer, then crawled into the cubby. “It's a box,” he told her. He handed it to Lis as he emerged.

The box was made of wood and had a scene painted on the lid. The colors had faded over the years but she could see one of the figures was a woman in a
very fancy dress in the style of the pre–Civil War era. She opened the lid and stared at its contents.

“What is it?” Alec asked. “What's inside?”

“It looks like . . . jacks and a ball.” She picked up the small silver play pieces.

“I played with those when I was a kid,” Alec told her. “Cliff had a set.”

“I wonder who these belonged to.” Lis folded her fingers over the pieces and felt the knobs dig into her palm.

Alec leaned over her shoulder and pointed to the bottom of the box. “There's a piece of paper, there in the bottom.”

Lis looked deeper into the box, then stuck her hand inside for the paper. It was yellowed and brittle, and she unfolded it carefully and started reading. “This was Sarah's. My grandmother. See, she was playing with someone named Ceely and they were keeping score.” She smiled. “Looks like Ceely was kicking her butt.”

“Sarah wasn't much of a jacks player, but I guess she liked the game well enough to hold on to it.”

“Wait till I show Gigi.” Lis was still smiling when she returned everything to the box and closed the lid.

She turned to Alec, the box in her hands, and was caught totally off guard when he leaned down and kissed her tentatively on the mouth. Her instincts took over, and she kissed him back without hesitation. She hadn't been expecting it, but somehow it seemed the most natural thing in the world.

His lips barely brushed hers at first, but she reached her arms around his neck to pull him closer.
His lips were warm and soft, and she pulled him even closer. She wasn't prepared for the heat that rose between them or the jolt she felt straight to her toes. That wasn't her usual reaction to a first kiss, and it had taken her by surprise. The simple fact was that it had taken her breath away, and as much as she wanted more, she was the first to pull away.

“Been wanting to do that since fifth grade,” he said.

“Fifth grade?” An eyebrow rose. “
Fifth grade
?”

“Yup. I noticed you the minute you walked into that classroom. I did everything but stand on my head to get you to notice me, but you never did.”

“I did. I noticed.”

“You had an odd way of showing it. I talked practically nonstop during class to John Beyer to get Mrs. Warner to move my desk away from his. But she only moved me two rows over. So I had to talk to Kate Drummond to get the teacher to move me again.”

“You sat behind me. I remember that.”

“That was my third move and I was afraid it was going to be to the principal's office, that maybe I'd overplayed my hand. But it turned out to be the last move, because I got what I wanted. It took me awhile—and I might add, several nights of extra homework—but it got me where I wanted to be.” He whispered in her ear. “Pretty slick, right?”

“You thought that up all by yourself?”

“I did,” he said solemnly. “But of course, that put me next to Cathy Shelburn, who thought I'd done all that to sit next to her, and she rigged the bottle at the
next party, so I had to kiss her.” He paused. “I pretended it was you.”

“You played spin the bottle in fifth grade?”

“Well, yeah. Didn't you?”

“We must have all been socially delayed. I don't remember playing kissing games until seventh grade, and the games were short-lived because we all knew each other too well. It wasn't fun for anyone.”

“Let me guess: You only went to parties on the island.”

She nodded.

“I imagine you had a lot of time to make up for when you hit college. I'm sorry I wasn't there.”

“Me, too.”

She disengaged her arms from around his neck. Her right hand still held the wooden box.

“I guess we should finish up here. Gigi's going to be wondering what's taking us so long.” She took a step back.

“Okay.” He exhaled a long breath. “So. Let's take a look at that foundation.”

Still rattled from the unexpected kiss, Lis nodded. “It's outside.”

Alec nodded and mumbled, “Good place for it.”

They went back down the steps, and once outside, Alec proceeded to walk around the house, stooping to poke here or to move a pile of leaves away there. When he'd gone all the way around the house, he said, “You might have some moisture problems and the brick needs to be repointed. The salt from the bay has weathered the wood, so a lot of that needs to be replaced. Once I've had a chance to look at the roof,
I can tell you what else we need to do. I'm sure it all needs to be replaced, but how much damage has been done to the plywood under the shingles, I have no way of knowing. I suspect termites.”

“That sounds really bad.”

“It is bad. Termites are no joke. Luckily the exterior is brick, so if they chewed up the windows and areas around the roof, the outside walls are still good.”

“Do you think you'll have some time to take a look at the roof?”

“I'm tied up tomorrow morning, but I can stop by later in the afternoon. Once I have a better idea of what it's going to take to bring this place back—­assuming the damage under the roof isn't too extensive and that termites haven't eaten away the floor beams—then you and Ruby are going to have to decide what you want to do, how much you want to invest. If it can be saved, that is.”

Alec brushed the dirt from his hands onto his shorts.

“All right. We'll wait until you're finished.” Lis folded her arms across her chest. She'd wanted to say,
Doesn't matter, we're going to restore even if that means totally rebuilding
, but she kept that to herself.

“Want to lock up and we'll head back to the store?” he asked.

“No. I want you to go inside and go into that front bedroom and remove that . . . that thing.”

“I forgot about that.” He went inside, then came back out a minute later. “I need something to put it on. I don't know that I want to drag it out with my
bare hands. And we need a shovel. I'm going to have to bury it somewhere.”

“I'll run back to the store and see if Ruby has a shovel and I'll get a plastic bag to put that thing in.”

“Ruby's shovels are in the shed near the side of the house.”

“It's a miracle that old thing is still standing.” She started toward the road. “Even more of a miracle that you haven't rebuilt it.”

His lips curved in a slow smile. “It's on the list.”

Lis broke into a jog and ran back to the store, replaying the walk through the cottage. She knew exactly how it would look when she—they—were finished with it. There was no doubt in her mind that Alec would be working with her. Which was fine, she thought. Better than fine.

She decided she wasn't going to read too much into that kiss. Not right now, anyway, when she was going to go back to the cottage where he waited. She'd think about it later.

“Of course you will, Scarlett,” she murmured as she jogged the last fifty feet to Ruby's.

She reached the general store and poked her head inside to tell Ruby what they were doing, then went out to the shed and opened the door. The exterior may be shabby, but inside, everything was neat as a pin. That would be Ruby, she thought. She's always been a stickler for putting everything in its place. She found the shovel and tossed it into the backseat of her car, then went inside for a plastic trash bag for the remains of the critter. She drove back to the cottage and was surprised to find an unfamiliar car parked
off road on the grass. She pulled up next to the white Cadillac and got out of her car with the trash bag in one hand and grabbed the shovel from the backseat with the other.

“Alec?” she called, but there was no answer.

The front door was open, and she walked in. “Alec?”

Silence.

Lis walked back outside and looked around, then saw Alec and another man—the owner of the white Caddy, maybe?—out on the pier. They were too far away for her to hear them, but she could see that Alec was standing with his hands on his hips, and the other man was gesturing with both hands, first toward the bay, then toward Lis. What in the world could that be about? she wondered.

She stood the shovel up next to the front door and placed the bag on the ground next to it, debating whether to walk out to the pier to see what was going on. After all, it was her property. Not hers, exactly, but her family's. She heard the man's voice, loud and angry, and could tell by Alec's stance that he was trying to calm him down.

Lis decided it was time to join the party.

She was no more than halfway to the pier when the man turned and headed toward her. As he approached, she smiled and started to say hello, but he went right past her in a huff. Clearly annoyed, Alec followed, his hands in his pockets.

“Who was that guy?” Lis asked.

“Just a client,” he replied.

“What's his problem?”

“He doesn't take disappointment well.” Alec stopped when he reached her. “So did you find a shovel?”

“How could I not? That shed is more neatly organized than my apartment. It has Gigi's fingerprints all over it.”

“Uh-uh,” he told her. “Mine.”

“You did that? Lined up all those tools in alphabetical order, stacked the pots by color . . . ?”

“Wouldn't you?”

“No.” Lis shook her head. “I can't believe there are two of you. What are the chances you'd find each other?”

The white Cadillac reversed off the grass, barely missing Lis's car, the engine revving as it pulled away.

“He should slow down,” Lis said. “There aren't a whole lot of little ones on the island, but there are a lot of old folks.”

“I'll remind him next time I speak with him.” Alec watched the car disappear down the road, then clapped his hands. “So. The shovel. The plastic bag.”

“Right by the door.”

He set off for the cottage, bent down for the bag, then disappeared through the front door. Moments later he returned, the bag in hand.

“It's definitely an opossum,” he told her.

“Good to know. Could you just bury it now?”

He found a spot a hundred feet from the cottage and began to dig. The earth was soft and sandy, and within minutes he had a hole deep enough for the bag. He placed it at the bottom of the hole and filled the shovel with soil.

“Want to say any words over the deceased?”

She walked closer and peered into the hole.

“I'm sorry you got stuck in the closet and couldn't get out. I could say that's what you get for breaking and entering, but I realize you were unable to foresee the consequences of your actions. So I'll just say if there's a rainbow bridge for wild animals, I hope you crossed in peace and have joined your family and friends on the other side.” She looked up at Alec. “How was that?”

“Impressive.” He nodded. “Really impressive.”

He filled the hole and handed her the shovel.

“Now you have something to cross off your list of things to do to make this place habitable.”

“And I'm grateful. Thanks, Alec.”

“My pleasure. Any time you find critters in the old place, you know who to call.”

“There are more,” she told him.

“More?” He frowned. “More what?”

“Mice. I heard them when I was inside earlier.”

“That's a given. We can get rid of them.”

“I don't like traps.”

“We can get someone in to clean the place out.”

“How?”

“You really want to know?”

“I guess not.”

They reached the house. “I'll lock up and then give you a ride back to the store.” Lis fished in the pocket of her shorts for the key.

“Thanks anyway, but I think I want to walk around a bit.”

“Walk around the island?”

Alec nodded.

“Oh. Okay. Well, thanks for coming out here and disposing of the body and for doing a walk-through with me.”

“You're welcome. I'll be in touch after I've gone over the roof.” He opened the back door of the car and put in the shovel. “Make sure you put it back where you found it.”

Lis rolled her eyes.

“Maybe you should take the key in case you need to get back inside.” She handed it to him.

“Good idea. I'll lock up and I'll drop it off at the store after I finish tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Lis nodded. “Well, thanks again. See you.”

“I'll be in touch.”

She got into the car and turned it on, put it in reverse, and backed out onto the street. Alec was still standing on the grass, his hand raised in a wave as she pulled away.

“That was too damned odd,” she said aloud.

Something strange had happened, but she had no idea what. It was as if the arrival of the man in the white car had provoked a change in Alec, but she couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was.

“And things had been going so well, too,” she muttered as she parked behind the store. One minute he was kissing her and it felt all cozy, the next minute he was distracted.

She found Ruby inside, sitting at the table in the front of the store, reading her book. She looked up when Lis entered.

“Alec do you right?” she asked without looking up.

“Yes. He's going to go back tomorrow with a ladder to look at the roof. I let him keep the key.”