by Norma Huss
“You don’t want to be here,” I muttered. Okay, so it wasn’t his fault he’d happened into my worst day. “Sorry. I’m still in the clearing-up phase,” I added. “I won’t be ready for any carpentry for a long time.”
“Miss, guess I’ll have to call you Miss since you didn’t give me your name. I swear, it’s probably as lovely as you are. I can just see you’re eager to get out on the bay. Can’t be waiting around in dry dock, so to speak. Summer will be over before you know it.”
I shook my head and stepped back.
“Chester Foltz, at your service,” he said, glancing both fore and aft. “You won’t find a better deal. My prices are reasonable. Or, maybe someone else owns this excellent boat?” His eyes flickered from over my head down to water level.
He definitely had those shifty eyes Lizzie mentioned. “Chester Foltz?” He’d made a big mistake, giving me his name. “So, you’re around here a lot? Fixing boats?”
“I sure am,” Chester said. “Maybe I could come in. Look around and give you a price. You know, if you change your mind.”
“No,” I said with a lot more force than I’d intended. The guy was spooky. “So, how come you didn’t fix Snapdragon when you owned the boat?” I asked.
He blinked a couple of times. Started to turn away, but didn’t. “You know, that was a while ago. That other woman, that Nicky or whatever. She did it. Damn boat was fine when she got it. Can’t blame me.”
“Yeah, those few days must have been a bear. Gelcoat wax dried out, stainless steel turned to rust. Forget it, mister.” I turned. He grabbed my shoulder. I pulled away. “Just leave.”
He moved his hand and stepped back, and tried a different tactic. “You don’t understand. That bitch, she knew she couldn’t take my boat. And you don’t have any right to it. I’m trying to be nice here. Just let me inside and look around.’
I stepped back and reached for my door. “No.”
“Lady, I’ll get the police back. You already got trouble with them, and when I tell them what I know, they’ll yank you outa here so fast it’ll make your god-damn head spin.”
“Nice try. This boat is officially registered in my name. The police have seen the title. And if anyone vandalizes the boat again, the cops will know who to come looking for.” I stepped inside, closed and locked the door. And leaned against it, breathing hard. When I finally looked outside, Chester Foltz was gone. When would he come back?
He had to be the ragged, shifty-eyed guy Lizzie saw twice. She must have been a bit off on the age and height.
~ ~
I plopped my study guide on the table, tore open a Nutri-Grain cereal bar, and reached for a pencil. I ate and checked off pointers. Not much that I didn’t remember from years ago. Rules of the road covered the first session. I scanned the next five lessons. Turned the page and read the chapter for tonight. My morning had ruined any chance of a job at Bayside. I’d spent the afternoon waxing and cleaning. At least I could prepare for my captain’s class.
A half hour later, as I stepped on the dock, I heard, “Ah, you are a timely lady. May I escort you to class?”
Damn. It was Brandon from class, carrying his aggressive act a little too far.
“I don’t need an escort.”
“Of course you don’t. But may I be excused if I want to accompany you to class?”
“Why?” was the first thought that came to me. Another was, “Just get out of my way.” However, I only shook my head, ignored the hand he offered to help me off the boat, and brushed past him on the narrow finger pier.
He caught up to me and carried on a one-sided conversation. Would I run Snapdragon commercially? How long had it been since I’d piloted commercial craft? Were the classes helpful? Had I always lived in Smith Harbor. Wasn’t the weather delightful?
I finally had to smile. “Oh, the weather is nearly perfect,” I said. “If only....”
“If only what?”
“If only it didn’t have that ‘closed-in’ feeling. You know—crowded.”
Brandon laughed, and smacked his leg, and laughed some more. Finally, he said, “Now I know how to get an answer. Give you an opening for a put-down.” He winked, then continued. “But am I hurt? Hey, I can take slams with the best of them. Shall we try another?”
“You are absolutely incorrigible.”
“That’s me,” he said.
He kept joking and I kept ignoring him. Finally we reached the classroom.
Ike, the instructor, took roll-call, then started writing lesson notes on the white board in front of the room. My classmates chatted noisily to each other. Brandon sat next to me while I wondered if I was ready for the banter of single life. Not, I decided and reread the first page of tonight’s chapter. Somehow, it didn’t make sense. “Concentrate,” I told myself.
“Cyd Denlinger,” I heard. No, that wasn’t what I heard. With my head down, I twisted my pencil between my fingers. Stared at my book.
But I heard it again. “Cyd, are you with us?” I looked up. By then, the entire class stared at me, including Ike.
“Sorry,” I muttered.
“Since you had a commercial captain’s license in the past, perhaps you can enlighten the other students, if it isn’t too much of a bother. How have the rules changed since then. You have been listening to the discussion, have you not?”
A titter ran around the class. Mentally, I whacked my head. “Of course,” I said. “So far, it would seem that the regulations have continued the strict practices instituted after nine-eleven.” I hesitated, then continued. “But, since I’ve been away from the field, I didn’t wish to trust my memory. And, I wanted to be up on everything before I took the test for certification. One can’t be too careful.” Good save, I figured.
“I’ll see you for a moment after class.” Ike attacked his next victim. “Brandon Bates, I see you have a boat lined up to captain. Tell me, with the many captains already licensed, why were you chosen for the position?”
I could almost feel Brandon’s anger. His shoulders stiffened as he snarled, “Personal.”
“Personal?” the inquisitor asked. “In what way, exactly?”
“A friend with a new boat, if you must know.”
He had a friend with a new boat? So why was he.... Could he possibly mean Nicole? She was alive when the classes started. Was my boat the real attraction? I glanced over at Brandon, who’d leaned back. The instructor was through with him and had turned to someone else. “Walter Armond, as a water skier do you see any....”
Had Ike searched every application for his quiz? Some weird way to teach. Or, maybe he just had a bad day.
While he turned to yet another student, I assigned half my brain to the class and the other half to my life. I would complete this course. I would pass the test and become a licensed captain again. Maybe I’d work for Gregory, maybe not. I would save for a boat of my own. If I could handle all the taxes, fees, and repairs, I had one now. Impossible to keep her. Even though she wasn’t a sailboat, Snapdragon was beginning to feel like home. I’d miss her.
After class, I went up to Ike. “Sorry, I was thinking of something else,” I said in preparation for his scolding.
“Oh, I knew that. So was almost everyone else. Had to get some attention to the class. I must say you think well on your feet. Quite a nice answer-any-question reply.”
“Have there been any new rules lately?”
“Guess you’ll have to complete the course to find out, won’t you,” he said.
“Oh, I will.” I left, wondering what the answer would be. One more session and I’d be done with the refresher course and take the test. Then I’d have to decide. Would I take the job Gregory offered? Would it still be there?
“Penny for your thoughts.” It was Brandon, waiting in the hall when I left the class room.
Did anyone say that any more? I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”
“Nothing better than walking a lovely lady back to her boa
t.”
I shrugged as I reached to push the outside door open. Brandon’s arm zoomed past my ear and pushed it out of my reach. “Want to stop for a drink? Coffee or something stronger?”
“No. Thank you.”
“Ah, I sense some hesitation. I’m growing on you, right?”
“Hesitation? You mean noticing I’m somewhere between ‘no’ and ‘get lost?’ ”
“It’s an improvement. I’ll take anything I can get.”
Just like I’d told him, Brandon was incorrigible. I smirked to myself and shook my head. One would think I was seventeen, a ravishing beauty, and totally devoid of intellect. “I’m curious. Why?”
“Why, what?”
“Why so attentive, pushy about it, and keeping it up after all reason should tell you I’m not interested in developing any kind of relationship with you?”
“I’m really getting to you. Is that a smile I see?” He leaned down, then added, “Yes, it is,” as I held my knuckles over my grinning mouth.
Trying to look stern, I said, “Okay, you are funny. But, clueless, right?”
Brandon said no more, just continued walking beside me. After a block, I sneaked a peek. He turned to look at me and winked. I didn’t look again, but I was acutely aware that he walked beside me, measuring his pace to match mine. I was even more aware of him beside me when I turned down my dock and saw Gregory sitting on my deck box, for all the world like he belonged there.
That’s when Brandon put his arm around my shoulders. “Company,” he said. “Do I have a rival?”
I stepped aboard, shaking Brandon’s arm off. “Hi. What’s up?” I asked.
Gregory sat, leaning back against the bulkhead with his right ankle resting on his left knee. “Just wondering how the class is going. I see you picked something up on the way back.” He stood and nodded. “Brandon. What’s keeping you legal these days?”
“Still the same old charmer,” Brandon said. “Cyd, I’ll see you Thursday.”
As Brandon left, I turned on Gregory. “Not friends, I’d say at a guess.”
“What’s this, ‘see you Thursday’ stuff?”
“What difference does it make to you? He’s in the class, if you must know.”
“He’s putting the moves on you, and you don’t like it. Glad to know you’re smart enough to recognize a phony.”
“Are you the arbiter of good taste? My personal avenging angel looking after my every thought, maybe? I’ll walk home with whomever I please, thank you very much!”
Gregory sat back on the deck box. Leaned back and resumed his earlier position. Smiled that irritating smirk. “Are you forgetting I know you, Cyd? I saw your expression when you felt that rat put his arm around you. I saw you shrug it off with a determination that I didn’t always admire.”
My face flamed as I dialed my combination and yanked the door open. I felt the heat that radiated from Gregory as he stepped behind me. He whispered, “Invite me in, CeeCee?”
“No!” I turned, pushed against his chest as he stepped back, laughing. I slammed the door with that unsatisfactory, dull thud, and clicked the inside latch. I leaned against the door. No. I was a widow. A grieving widow. I. Didn’t. Trust. Any. Man.
Damn him.
Chapter 11
Tuesday, July 25
The sweat had completely saturated the bandana I’d tied around my forehead. I sat back on my heels and looked over at Slim, seemingly unaffected by the sun beating down on us. Although we were twelve feet in the air atop the cutter balanced on jack stands, the hot breeze drifting by was absolutely no help. I poured a puddle of teak oil on the wood, started to rub, and heard Teddy’s voice.
“Hey, Cyd, are you up there working with Slim?” she called. When I stuck my face over the safety lines, she added, “You’re hard to find. Can we talk?”
“Sure. Come on up.” When she finally appeared, I asked, “What’s up?”
“Hi, Slim,” she said, then turned to me. “When somebody tells me not to bother, that’s the first thing I go after.”
“Um-hum.”
“This time it’s ghosts.”
“Something tells me you talked to Kaye. Right?” At her nod, I glanced at Slim who’d started rubbing with a lot more vigor. “Sure. Later, okay?”
“How much later. I’ve got a job, you know.”
“How much longer do you want to work today, Slim?”
“I’m about done here,” he said. “If you wanna quit now and talk, go ahead. You talking, ain’t doing me no good here. So get yourself going.”
“I’ll finish wiping this down first. Five minutes, Teddy?”
She nodded at me and said, “Slim, what’s new at Bayside Marina?”
“Well, a couple boats run aground trying to get in the channel. Like I see it, they’s gonna be moving dirt. Or maybe just the markers.”
“Which side of the channel? How far out were they?” Teddy asked.
I listened long enough to hear that the two sailboats had racing keels of five plus feet, finished rubbing down my area, and stashed my supplies.
With a, “See you tomorrow,” Teddy left the boat and waited for me at the bottom of the ladder. As soon as my feet touched the gravel, I headed for the closest water faucet. I turned it on, bent down, and poured water all over my head. Then I splashed my face. “Want a drink?”
“I’ll pass. Now, why did Kaye tell me not to pay any attention to the ghost you told me about when you never told me about a ghost in the first place? Anybody we know?”
“Nicole Joline. You understand, I don’t believe in ghosts. Except, she keeps turning up.”
“Have you ever had a ghost before?”
“Nope. First ghost.” I splashed more water on my face. So Teddy still remembered my childhood stories of talking animals. You never live anything down with long-time friends.
“And?”
While I pulled my hair up and sprinkled water on my neck, I asked, “Did I tell you about the title to the boat?”
“Does that have anything to do with ghosts?”
“Nicole told me to take the title out of her pocket before I even knew she was dead. I mean, we’d already signed it, you know. I sort of....”
“What are we missing here? Nicole said what, and—before she was dead? Which doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
“Okay, Nicole’s ghost. She started talking to me before I even knew she was dead.”
Teddy tipped her head, raised one eyebrow, then shrugged. “Yep, I think I’ve got it. Continue.”
“Which is when she told me to take the title.”
“You took it out of her pocket while she was dead?”
“I mean, what are the chances? I hear her voice, then I find her body, and she’s telling me to take it. I saw which pocket she’d put it into. It’s not like I was stealing the title. I mean, even if she was a ghost, she wanted me to have it. And Wes went back to his painted before she put it in her pocket.”
“Wes? Who? Maybe I should have listened to Kaye.”
I picked up my bucket of supplies and headed out with Teddy on my heels. She kept asking questions which I ignored. I had to think it through. Finally, I said, “Nicole wants to find out who killed her.”
“Really? “
”You’d think a ghost would know those things, wouldn’t you?”
“Hey, I have no idea what a ghost might know. Although Zander might like a ghost story. Never can tell with him.”
“Okay, Wes is the marina manager who witnessed us signing the title. Who is Zander?”
“My editor. Maybe he will go for a ghost story. Worth a shot.”
“Teddy, do you really think The Orbit readers want ghost stories? You’re just curious, right?”
“Hey, I can be curious and also after a story. Besides, I need to talk to someone. I’m finally realizing....”
“Teddy, I’ve outgrown being the weird kid. I’m an adult who does not see imaginary stuff. It’s not the least bit amusing to be laughed at and pointed
at and stared at.”
“Okay, forget your darn ghost. Just listen to me. I’m finally realizing my new column was basically a ploy to get me working nights. They’re cutting costs. Firing the expensive employees and keeping the cheap ones, like me, and giving us more to do. I see what’s coming next. In fact, I know what’s coming. Zander told me.”
This was not a walking-type chat. It was a full-attention conversation. I stopped and turned toward Teddy. “He told you—what?”
Teddy kept walking, which meant she didn’t want to look me in the eye. I followed. She said, “Laid on the accolades. Mentioned me being Miss Smith Harbor in high school, and said I had a lot of fans who remembered me when. I mean, it wasn’t that long ago. He’s expecting me to pull in ten percent more subscribers. Like that’s going to happen. Everyone under forty gets their news from the Internet. Even if anyone wanted to read me.”
“You could go back on television, like you did after college.”
“Not an option. Pushing thirty is too old in a college town. Somebody younger, and cheaper always comes along.”
“Oh.” Which meant, she didn’t come home because she missed Smith Harbor.
“Yeah, so I didn’t tell anybody, but that’s the way it goes. If you do find out who killed Nicole, tell me? That would be one big story. Do you have any idea who might have killed her? Family. Love interest. Enemies. Rivals. Do you know Nicole’s boyfriend?”
“Never met any boyfriends. She never mentioned one either.”
Teddy stopped walking. “I was looking for you and I talked to that old lady who hovers around your boat.” She pulled out her digital recorder, and pushed a few buttons. “Listen.”
I heard Teddy say, “Do you know when she’ll be back?”
Lizzie answered. “When the job’s done, I suspect.”
Teddy snapped a button and said, “No, that’s too soon,” and pushed another button. “Let’s try this.”
Lizzie’s voice said, “...guy’s live-in girlfriend. That’s what I think. They’d come down here once in a while, all lovey dovey. Except, it wasn’t all lovey dovey if you know what I mean. I think maybe, instead of him using her, she was using him. You get ideas. You hear things. Girls shouldn’t live with guys unless they’re willing to marry them. They lose out, big time. But, that gal Nicole, she was getting more than she was giving if you know what I mean.”