Water Town

by Laurel Veil

  “Sure,” Toni and I said as we nodded our heads and tried our best to seem agreeable. Not having a strict schedule would actually be perfect. I needed money, but now that I’d met Toni and Dane, I definitely wanted some downtime too.

  “Great,” said Charlie. “I’ll shoot you two texts on an as-needed basis.” He shook our hands once more and headed back to his office.

  Some customers walked in and Dane scurried to clear a table.

  A few minutes later, we were busy with the lunch crowd. My uncle and another officer—one I recognized from the other night—sat at a table in the corner.

  Uncle Bill congratulated me on finding a job so quickly. “You’re a hard worker, my dear. Just like your dad.”

  Though his words were comforting, they also made me miss my dad. He then introduced me to Rick Porter before glancing over the menu.

  “Why are you even bothering to look at that?” asked Rick. “You always get the same thing when we come here.”

  I scribbled down how they wanted their burgers and headed to the kitchen window to place their orders.

  * * *

  Once the lunch crowd was gone, Toni, Dane and I sat at a small table near the bar. I put my feet up and counted my tips.

  “So did you hear what your uncle and that cop—”

  “Rick,” I interjected.

  “Did you hear what they were talking about?” Dane continued.

  “I heard,” said Toni.

  I sat up and tucked my money in my pocket. “I didn’t. What?”

  Dane leaned close to me, making me nervous. In a low voice, he said, “They found another body at the orphanage.”

  8.

  Roomies

  On the way home, Toni and I couldn’t stop talking about the orphanage.

  “What do you think happened?” I asked.

  “I don’t know… Maybe there was a serial killer on the loose. Do you think they’ll find any more bodies?”

  “I hope not,” I said.

  Toni was so busy talking about a true crime cop show she watches, she didn’t realize we were on her street.

  “Stop!” she said suddenly.

  I hit the brake much harder than I’d meant to, but she’d startled me. “Are you okay?” I asked as she got thrown back into her seat.

  “I’m fine. Sorry about that. It’s just my m—”

  “I know. Your mom.”

  She quietly stepped out into the darkness and eased the door shut.

  I rolled down the window. “Since we’re going to be spending so much time together anyway, do you just wanna ask your mom if you can stay with me for a while?”

  Toni started bouncing on the balls of her feet, and raised a finger. “I’ll be back in a sec.” She darted towards her house and vanished in the darkness.

  Moments later, she dashed to my Jeep with a backpack slung over her shoulder, whipped open the door and slammed it shut.

  “So much for keeping it down,” I said.

  “Go, go, go,” she said excitedly.

  “OK, OK.” I pushed heavily on the accelerator.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I just wanted to get outta there before she changed her mind.”

  “So she’s good with you staying at my place?”

  “About that—I’ll have to come and go. I have chores and things I have to do.”

  “I have an open-door policy.” I smiled. “Stay when you want; leave when you need to.”

  “Thanks.” She combed her fingers through her hair and attempted to tame it.

  “Oh my gosh! What happened to your arm, Toni?” The lights from my dashboard illuminated several thin, dark streaks running down her arm. “Are you bleeding?”

  She looked at her arm and laughed. “Stupid cat. I hope that doesn’t leave a scar. I was in such a hurry, I startled him. Guess he got me worse than I thought.”

  “Come on,” I said as I got out of the Jeep. “I saw some Band-Aids in the medicine cabinet. Mm, I love the smell of new paint,” I said when we stepped inside the beach house.

  “Me too.” Toni inhaled a lungful of the fumes, and we spent the next minute admiring our hard work.

  I set my purse on the kitchen counter and looked at the empty den. “We definitely need to see about getting some furniture in this place. We should go tomorrow.”

  Toni agreed.

  “I’ll go get the Band-Aids,” I said.

  When I came back, Toni was drying her arm with a paper towel after having rinsed it off in the kitchen sink.

  I held up a bottle of peroxide and a box of bandages. “Look what I found.”

  “I don’t think I’m going to even need the Band-Aids.” Toni showed me her arm.

  “You’re right, that’s not bad at all. At least pour some peroxide on it, though.”

  She agreed and held her arm over the sink as I poured.

  “Are you OK?” I asked.

  She nodded, but when I looked at her, her eyes were tearing up just a little.

  “Toni?” I stopped pouring the peroxide.

  “It just stings a tad, that’s all. I’m fine.” She blotted the corners of her eye with the paper towel. “Sorry. I feel so stupid. I’m fine, really. Thanks, Ronnie.”

  * * *

  Toni and I took turns using the shower and then zipped ourselves into our sleeping bags. We reclined on our lounge chairs, listening to the ocean and looking at the starry sky.

  I was just thinking how glad I was we didn’t have a TV when my phone suddenly played “Fly Me to the Moon” and startled me.

  “It’s my dad!”

  Toni smiled back at me and quietly clapped her hands in celebration.

  “Dad!”

  “Ronnie, you’re awake! I was afraid you might be asleep.”

  “How’s Europe?”

  “I’m having a blast—we all are! Aw, Ronnie, it’s so beautiful here. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but they just don’t say it all. I’ve got to bring you here someday so you can see it for yourself.”

  I didn’t think I’d ever heard this much joy in my dad’s voice before. I was truly happy for him. I listened for a while as he told me about visiting the Louvre.

  “Enough about me. How are you, sweetie?”

  I told him about the beach house—my beach house—and about Toni. I looked at Toni when I mentioned her name and she smiled.

  I told him about our job at Fins and about helping Miss Betty, too.

  “Don’t work all the time, Ronnie. I want you to enjoy your summer.”

  “I will, Dad.” I almost told him I missed him, but I didn’t want to make him sad.

  “I’d better go,” he said. “I love you.”

  “Love you too, Dad,” I said before hanging up.

  I was quiet for a moment as I held on to the sound of my dad’s voice.

  “You’re really lucky,” said Toni. “Your dad seems great—and I know a great dad when I see one, because mine is the best.”

  “You’re right, he is great.”

  “My dad drives a truck, so he’s gone a lot. It really makes me appreciate him when he’s around, though. I miss him when he’s gone. But my mom and I, we’re like best friends. So I guess that makes me pretty lucky too.”

  “I can’t wait to meet your mom,” I said.

  “It might be a while. She’s so busy doing charity work and that kind of thing. What about you? Where’s your mom?”

  “I’m not as lucky as you in that department.” Toni suddenly looked like she regretted what she had just said. “It’s OK,” I told her. I didn’t want her to feel bad. It wasn’t her fault she’d hit the mom jackpot.

  “My mom left when I was six. I was devastated. She came around for holidays and my birthday, and there were phone calls. That was enough for her. She got what she needed, but I was a child—it was never enough for me, and it was just enough to keep my dad hooked and hoping. It took years of therapy and numerous spelling bees to get me through it. But I’m fine now.”

  “Spelling
bees?”

  I laughed and explained, even confiding in her how I still sometimes spelled out my feelings in my head. And again, she didn’t think I was weird.

  “Thanks, Toni.”

  “For what?”

  “For not judging me.” I laughed. “Or running away when I told you I saw ghosts.”

  “That’s what friends do,” she said matter-of-factly.

  “I don’t have any friends back home—not any real ones, like you. It’s hard for me to trust people.” I sighed. “I guess I have issues.”

  “Nah,” said Toni. “I think you’re pretty c-o-o-l.”

  9.

  Off to Market

  We woke to gorgeous weather. It was a perfect day to hit some flea markets.

  “What do you think about me asking my little cousin Danielle to come?”

  “Fine with me,” Toni said happily. “She seemed pretty shy the other day, though. Do you think she’ll want to come?”

  “We’ll see.”

  While Toni finished getting ready, I ran next door and told Aunt Pam what I had in mind.

  “That’s a great idea,” she said. “Danielle honey, Ronnie has something she wants to ask you,” she called down the hallway.

  The door was open, so I stepped in. Danielle was lying on her bed playing a game on her iPad.

  “Hey.” I waved. “Toni and I were wondering if you wanted to ride around with us today. We’re going to go look for things to decorate the house next door.”

  Her eyes gave away that she was interested, and she sat up. “I have some money saved. Maybe I can buy something too.”

  “That sounds like fun!” I smiled, relieved she wanted to come. She returned my smile and ran to her bookshelf, where she took down a princess piggy bank that looked like Cinderella.

  While she struggled to remove the money she had stuffed inside it, I looked around her room to try and get to know her a little better. I noticed she had two cat posters and tons of books. It looked like she was a fan of The Magic Tree House and The Baby-Sitters Club, like I had been when I was her age.

  I picked up a picture frame that was lying face down on one of her many shelves. It was a photo of Danielle sitting beside a girl her age on the beach. They both wore ponytails and big grins, and ice cream cones were melting in their hands.

  I could feel Danielle’s stare. Her smile was gone when I looked up. It suddenly occurred to me that maybe the picture hadn’t gotten knocked over by accident. She had turned it down to avoid looking at it and now she probably thought I was going to ask her about it. I suddenly feeling nosy—it made me cringe.

  “So, I see you like cats.” I pointed at one of the posters, completely ignoring the photo as I laid it back down.

  She smiled, I think with relief I hadn’t bombarded her with questions.

  “Yeah. Cats are my favorite.”

  “I like cats too. Well, are you ready?”

  She held up her money. “I have eleven dollars!”

  I gave her a thumbs-up. “Let’s go.”

  “Bye, Mom!” she shouted and headed towards the door.

  “Hold up. I need some love,” Aunt Pam teased. She gave Danielle a huge bear hug and lifted her off her feet. Danielle giggled. It was so sweet and sincere, I felt a twinge in the tiniest part of my heart that still existed for my mother.

  “I’ll beat ya downstairs,” said Danielle.

  “Be careful,” I said.

  Aunt Pam was smiling as she watched Danielle go. In a soft voice, she said, “I haven’t seen her happy like this in a while.”

  I couldn’t help but wonder why, but I didn’t want to pry.

  “I’m sorry we haven’t really had a chance to talk,” Pam apologized. “I wanted to let you know something about Danielle.” She peeked out the window and only continued speaking once she saw Danielle was down below. She took a deep breath. “Her best friend, Sophie, drowned a few months ago.”

  I covered my mouth as I gasped, and my eyes teared up. “That’s terrible,” I whispered, thinking about the photo in Danielle’s room.

  Aunt Pam wiped her eyes and nodded. “It was terrible. Sophie sneaked out early one morning. There were problems at home.” Pam choked up. “I think she just wanted to get away from it, ya know? Be a kid and have a little fun.” Pam paused. “All they found were her shoes, washed up on shore. I know Danielle’s depressed, and understandably so. I’m just worried about her. I’m her mom. She’s so young. I—I’m scared.”

  I’m very empathetic, but not usually affectionate, so it surprised me when I stepped forward and hugged my aunt. I couldn’t help it. She looked so pitiful—my heart ached. I just wanted to comfort her.

  “Something just told me you were going to be good for her.”

  I stepped back. “I’ll do my best to take her mind off of things. Toni and I will show her a good time.” I smiled.

  “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  * * *

  Danielle was excited about riding in my Jeep.

  “Go ahead and get in,” I said. “Buckle up. I’ll just be a second; I’m going to run and get Toni.”

  I ran upstairs quickly, hoping to reach Toni before she came down. I wanted to talk to her in private. Luckily, she was just finishing up in the bathroom.

  I told her what my aunt had said about Danielle’s friend drowning.

  Honks from my jeep interrupted our conversation. “Come on,” I said. “We’ll talk later.”

  As we were buckling up, Aunt Pam met me at my window. “Here.” She handed me a fistful of money. “It looks like more than it is.” She laughed. “Use some of it to buy you girls lunch and a little fun. If you happen to find something that’s too large to fit in your Jeep, just have them hold it and we’ll pick it up later.”

  Toni guided us and eventually we pulled in front of the Thorton County Flea Market. Even though it was early, it was already buzzing with people scrounging for treasure at great prices.

  “Those are pretty,” Danielle said, leading us to a tent filled with lamps. The sales clerk had turned them all on to prove they still worked.

  “I like these.” Toni stood by two floor lamps.

  The clerk approached and turned the knob on one of them. “And look,” she said, “you can change the mood of a room just by adjusting the intensity.” She dimmed the light and then turned it as bright as it would go.

  “The house is small. One of them could light the entire place. How much?” I asked.

  “Twenty-five each—forty for the set.”

  “Deal,” I said. “I’ll take both.”

  I took one and Toni took the other and Danielle held the cords so we wouldn’t trip. We carefully wedged them into the Jeep. I felt more confident now that we had made our first purchase.

  “Where to next?” I asked them.

  “This way.” Toni motioned with a nod of her head and we followed.

  We walked for what felt like miles as we looked at all kinds of furniture.

  “I like this,” Toni said, taking a seat on a futon.

  Danielle and I joined her, and I sighed. It felt good to sit down and rest my feet.

  “Pretty nice, huh?” said Toni.

  I looked at Danielle. “What do you think?”

  She looked it over and nodded. “I like it.”

  “A futon would be perfect,” I agreed. “It can go in the den and be used for sitting, and the fact that it folds out into a bed will allow more guests to be able to stay when your parents rent out the house.” I rubbed my hand across it. “A solid color will never do, though. I need a print that will help camouflage wear. The fabric needs to be tough, too.”

  “Can I help you ladies?” asked a man in his fifties. He wasn’t overly friendly, probably thinking we were just using his furniture to lounge on and had no intention of making a purchase.

  “Yes. How much is a futon like this?” I inquired.

  His expression grew a little softer. “One seventy-five.”

  “Do you have any f
abric with a beach theme—say, palm trees or something like that?”