Welcome to Moonlight Harbor

by Sheila Roberts

  Sabrina frowned. “I know who that is.”

  Jenna smiled and said nothing more.

  Pete had plenty to say at dinner. “You look like you’ve got cotton candy on your head,” he informed her.

  “Oh, Pete, you know nothing about fashion,” Aunt Edie said, coming to Sabrina’s rescue. “You look adorable, dear,” she assured Sabrina.

  “Yes, you do,” Jenna agreed.

  “It looks goofy if you ask me,” Pete said, reaching for another piece of pizza.

  “Pete, I don’t think anyone’s going recruit you to join the fashion police,” Jenna told him.

  That made him frown and Sabrina snicker.

  The night ended well, with a movie on TV, popcorn and root beer floats. Life was looking up on the home front at last. And the following day Sabrina would be meeting Nora’s granddaughter. Thank God her daughter would have one of her own kind to hang with. Jenna would soon have one less thing to worry about.

  * * *

  The next morning it looked like Aunt Edie was recovered from the trauma of the day before. She’d made a French toast casserole for breakfast and was dressed in her favorite jeans with the elastic waistband and a pink sweatshirt about the color of Sabrina’s hair.

  “Beach Babes is having a sale today,” she said as she and Jenna drank their morning coffee together. “I thought you might like to go.”

  Not particularly, but Jenna knew her aunt would, so she said, “That sounds like fun. Nora’s coming over with her granddaughter later so how about we go right after lunch?”

  “That will be lovely. I’d like to get a new sun hat.”

  And so, after lunch, Jenna and her aunt wandered into the shop in search of the perfect hat. In spite of the lure of an offer of twenty-five percent off on all merchandise, the shop wasn’t exactly packed. One window-shopper was just leaving, empty-handed, as they came in and a couple of older women stood in a corner by the window, checking out sweatshirts with cats on them. Aunt Edie wouldn’t be buying one of those.

  She forgot her quest for a hat and drifted over to a sale rack hung with pastel slacks, all with elastic waists. Jenna decided to go say hi to Courtney, who was at the cash register at the back of the store.

  She stopped halfway when she realized Courtney was having a discussion with her boss, Susan Frank.

  “I’ve asked you before and I don’t want to have to ask again,” Susan said sternly. “I need you to wear some of the things we sell here. I don’t understand why it’s so hard to comply with that request when I give you an employee discount.”

  “I’m sorry, Susan,” Courtney said.

  If Jenna hadn’t seen her she wouldn’t have believed it was Courtney talking. Courtney hadn’t struck her as a meek woman.

  “At least wear a scarf,” Susan continued. “Go pick one out. And try to talk up those beach bags. We need to move them.”

  “Yes, Susan.”

  Courtney started for the scarves and caught sight of Jenna gawking. A flood of red crept up her neck and onto her cheeks. “Hi, Jenna. Can I help you find something?”

  “Aunt Edie’s looking for a hat over in the slacks section,” Jenna said in an attempt to lighten the moment. “I’m thinking I need a scarf.” She needed to buy something.

  Courtney nodded and led her over to the scarves while Susan, who had seen Edie, was now busy selling her on a pair of slacks. “Does that happen a lot?” Jenna asked in a low voice.

  “Often enough.” Courtney frowned. “What circle of hell is it where you have to wear the ugly clothes your boss sells? I hate working here.”

  “Maybe you should quit,” Jenna suggested.

  “I can’t afford to. I’m stuck.”

  Ironic that Courtney was always after Annie to leave her husband yet she couldn’t leave her job.

  Jenna bought a scarf.

  * * *

  Nora came over late that afternoon with her granddaughter Caroline, and bearing ice cream and hot-fudge sauce and a can of whipped cream. “I can have ice cream anytime I want,” Caroline bragged to Sabrina as they settled around the kitchen table with their treats.

  “That has its drawbacks,” Nora said. “I’m walking proof. Remember when I was skinny?” she said to Aunt Edie.

  “You were too thin,” Aunt Edie informed her.

  “No danger of that now,” Nora joked.

  “I’m never getting fat,” Caroline announced. She pulled out a cell phone and took a picture of her sundae. “Ice cream whenever I want. My friends are going to be so jealous.”

  Then, with that out of the way, she turned her attention to Sabrina. “I like your hair.” Oh, yes. These two were going to be good friends.

  “We just did it yesterday,” Sabrina said.

  “I want to dye my hair but my mom says dark hair doesn’t dye very well.” Caroline scowled at her ice cream. “I think I will, anyway.”

  “Not until you check with your mother,” said Nora.

  Caroline shrugged. “She won’t care.” She shoved aside her half-consumed sundae and said to Sabrina, “Come on. Let’s go up to your room.”

  “Okay,” Sabrina said, and they vanished.

  “What a waste of ice cream,” Nora said. She pulled her granddaughter’s bowl over and began to eat it. “I know,” she said between mouthfuls. “I’m an addict.”

  “I can think of worse things to be addicted to,” Aunt Edie told her.

  “Me, too,” Jenna said as Seth’s little sister came to mind. “Thanks for bringing it,” she added. “My hips thank you, too. Not.”

  “I know. I couldn’t resist. It looks like the girls have hit it off.”

  “Yes, it does. Thank heaven. Maybe now I won’t have to hear about how bored Sabrina is and how much she misses her father.”

  “Girls and their daddies,” Nora said.

  “This daddy doesn’t deserve her,” Jenna said. No way did he deserve to have anyone think he was a loving father. “He’s balked at the idea of me bringing her up to visit. And he sure hasn’t said anything about coming down here to see her.”

  “The man’s a disgrace,” put in Aunt Edie.

  “But her mom more than makes up for it,” Nora said, putting them back in positive conversational territory.

  “I’m trying,” Jenna said. “I really want her to be happy here.”

  “You have to have gotten major mommy points with the hair,” Nora said to her.

  “Oh, yes. And I have to admit, it is cute. And I’d rather her have that than gauges in her ears.”

  “That will be next,” Nora predicted. “Or at least a nose ring.”

  “I’ll probably let her do that down the road, but right now she’s too young.” She was too young for a lot of things, including taking a bus all the way to Seattle to see her dad, which was her latest plan. Barely fourteen, going on twenty.

  Was Jenna being too overprotective? She didn’t think so. Surely with kidnappers, perverts and terrorists everywhere there was no such thing.

  Nora checked her watch. “I should dash back and see how everything’s going at the parlor. Want me to leave Caroline here for a while?”

  “Great idea,” Jenna said.

  “I’m sure they’re both enjoying time together on their devices,” Nora said with a grin and a shake of her head.

  “Probably,” Jenna agreed.

  “We’re going to dinner at the Porthole at six. How about I pick her up a little before?”

  “Sounds good.”

  Nora left, Aunt Edie decided to relax with her latest gory mystery novel and Jenna, with some free time, headed for the beach.

  She found Seth at the water’s edge, a bucket by his side and a fishing pole in the water.

  “Catch anything?” she called as she walked up to him.

  “Crab in a pot.” He gestured to the p
lastic bucket next to him.

  Sure enough, there was a crab trying to make its way out. “I’ve never seen anyone fishing for crab,” she said.

  “You can buy a collapsible trap to put on the end of a pole,” he said. “Gonna build a fire and cook me some crab. Want to join me?”

  “I never turn down free crab. How about I start the fire?”

  “Deal.”

  An hour later he had two crabs killed and cleaned and they were dipping cooked crab in butter melted in an old iron pot at the edge of the fire. “I never get tired of being out in the open air,” he said, looking out to sea.

  She could only imagine what that felt like after having been deprived of his freedom for so many years. “You’re doing a good job of making up for lost time.”

  “I’m trying.” He pulled some more meat from a shell, leaned over and dredged it through the butter, then popped it in his mouth with a satisfied sigh. “When I was in high school a couple of buds and I would go north and camp at the beach. Dig clams, catch crab. Good times.” His smile faded.

  “Have you heard from them since...high school?” She already knew the answer.

  He shrugged. “Nope. Haven’t heard from any of my old friends. Guys aren’t like women. They don’t keep in touch.”

  Especially when one of them was alleged to have shot someone.

  “New town, new friends,” he said.

  “New start,” she added, thinking of her own life. “Do you ever think about making up for lost time by finding someone and settling down?”

  “I was ‘settled down’ for a lot of years. Anyway, how’d that marriage thing work for you?” She made a face at him and he chuckled. “I rest my case.” He sobered. “There’s more than one kind of prison, Jenna.”

  She made a mental note later as she walked back to the house not to fall for Seth Waters. He was not in the market.

  Brody probably was. And she had to admit she was drawn to him, as well.

  Don’t fall for any man, she lectured herself. There was a reason she wasn’t in the market, either. These days the man market was full of cheats and liars. It was no place for a nice (not to mention dumb and trusting) girl like her.

  Chapter Fifteen

  To Do:

  Install new carpet

  Get pictures made into canvas prints for rooms

  Stop by Sunken Treasures

  See Tyrella for massage at four (wish somebody

  could give me one)

  Pick up Caroline

  Life at the beach was getting busy. The rooms at the Driftwood Inn were finally all painted and carpet installation happened on Monday. While the carpet man worked on installing, Jenna dropped off a thumb drive with some of her favorite pictures that Sabrina had taken at Beach Memories Pictures and Framing. Then she made a run to Sunken Treasures Consignments, where she did, indeed, find a lot of treasures—a couple of glass lamps stuffed with seashells, a lamp shaped like a lighthouse, another with a base shaped like a blue crab that was so pretty she hated to not keep it for herself. She snapped up a few framed posters from past Sand and Surf festivals and she also found a couple of nautical-themed queen-size bedspreads as well as a couple of sets of sheets, which would save her a little money on linens. (Surely every little drop in the proverbial bucket added up.) The rooms were going to be funky and cute by the time she was done decorating them. She left the shop feeling downright excited.

  Until she drove into the parking lot and the blue tarp roof greeted her. Sigh.

  “I have got to find a way to get that gone,” she said to Tyrella when she came in later for a massage.

  “You will,” Tyrella assured her. “Something’s going to break for you, I just know it. I’ve been praying. And, girlfriend, when I pray things happen.”

  As if in cue, right after Tyrella left, Celeste called. “Stock up on the chocolate. Vanita and I are coming down for the weekend and we’re going to get you the money you need for your new roof.”

  “Oh? How are you going to do that?”

  “You’ll see.”

  Oh, boy. What crazy scheme had her sister cooked up?

  “Anyway, this is the Sand and Surf Festival, right? I haven’t been to that in years. We can build a sand castle and find a pirate for Vanita.”

  “No pirate for you?” Jenna teased.

  “No. You can’t top a sexy cop who likes to dance.”

  “I’m surprised you’re not busy with him this weekend.”

  “He had to work. Anyway, even if he didn’t, I was coming down. I need a sister fix.”

  So did Jenna. It would be great to see her sister and one of her girlfriends and introduce them to the new friends she was making at the beach. “Make sure you get down here by seven so you can come hang out with the gang. We’re painting tiles.”

  “Ooh, fun.”

  Yes, it would be. “Speaking of fun, I have to go pick up Sabrina’s new beach buddy.”

  “She found a friend? Yay.”

  Yay was right. Jenna said goodbye to her sister and went to Nora’s house to pick up Caroline, who was coming for dinner.

  It was quarter after five when she got to Nora’s house, a few minutes later than she’d intended.

  Caroline met her at the door. “You’re late.”

  Getting scolded by a fourteen-year-old was a little off-putting, but the kid was right. “Yes, I am,” Jenna admitted.

  “Oh, well. My mom’s always late, too. I’m used to it,” Caroline said, and breezed past her.

  “How are you enjoying Moonlight Harbor?” Jenna asked as they drove to the house.

  “It’s okay. My grandma made me help dish up ice cream at the parlor today.”

  A regular teenage workaholic. “So, you didn’t get to ride the go-carts or play in the arcade?”

  “Oh, yeah. That was okay.”

  Damning with faint praise. “You’ll have to visit Something Fishy.”

  “We do that every time we come here,” said Caroline, and might as well have added, “Ho-hum.”

  Jenna tried again. “Well, you can’t go wrong going to the beach.”

  “I guess.” They pulled into the parking lot and Caroline pointed to the blue tarp on the roof. “That looks like the part of town where all the mobile homes are. My dad calls it Blue Tarp City.”

  Blue Tarp City. Charming. “It’s temporary, until we can get the roof repaired.”

  “Yeah, it’s kind of an old place. I bet it’s got lots of leaks,” Caroline said, and hopped out of the car.

  Honesty was a good thing, Jenna reminded herself. But a girl could get too much of a good thing.

  As soon as they were in the house, Caroline disappeared upstairs to hang out with Sabrina, and Jenna went to the kitchen to see if she could help Aunt Edie.

  “Is our guest here?” Aunt Edie asked.

  “Yes, she’s upstairs with Sabrina.”

  “I’m so glad Sabrina has someone to keep her company,” Aunt Edie said.

  “Me, too,” said Jenna. I think.

  Pete had grilled burgers on Aunt Edie’s ancient barbecue out on the back porch, and Aunt Edie had made potato salad, deviled eggs, and cooked up some corn on the cob. Caroline wrinkled her nose at the sight of the platter of burgers. “I’m a vegetarian.”

  “Oh, brother,” Pete said, shaking his head.

  Caroline frowned at him. “Eating dead animals is gross. I mean, you wouldn’t want to eat your bird,” she informed Aunt Edie.

  “Eew,” said Sabrina, and Roger, who was on his kitchen perch, supervising the meal as usual, began his request for whiskey. Jenna didn’t blame him.

  “Do you have any veggie burgers?” Caroline asked Aunt Edie.

  “Sorry,” Pete said before Aunt Edie could offer to make up a special order. “We’re into dead animals here. Have some potato salad.
”

  Caroline shrugged and helped herself to a large serving, along with several deviled eggs.

  “Can you eat those?” Jenna asked.

  “I don’t want to be rude.”

  “Too late,” Pete said, frowning at her. Ah, yes, the old pot calling the kettle black.

  “How about a PBJ?” Jenna offered.

  Caroline wrinkled her nose. “No, thanks. I haven’t eaten those since I was a kid.”

  Jenna gave up and decided their guest would have to be happy with potato salad.

  Caroline directed the conversation at dinner, telling everyone about her parents’ cool house on Lake Tapps and regaling them with her family’s vacation plans. “Mom and Dad are coming down here for the Fourth of July. They always do. Mom says my grandma expects it, so we have to.”

  “Being here for the Fourth of July is a treat,” said Aunt Edie. “Picnics, beach fires, fireworks. Uncle Ralph loved his fireworks,” she said to Jenna.

  “Yes, he did,” Jenna agreed, thinking fondly of those childhood holiday celebrations.

  Caroline didn’t appear that impressed. “After that we’re going to Disneyland.”

  “I’ve never been to Disneyland,” Sabrina said wistfully, and Jenna vowed to find a way to get her there before she graduated. Maybe a high school graduation present? Could she save enough money by then?

  “You’ve never been to Disneyland? Seriously?” Caroline was shocked.

  “Big deal,” Pete sneered. “It’s all fake. Fake castles, fake jungle. A big, expensive rip-off.”

  Caroline started at him as if he’d just uttered blasphemy.

  Aunt Edie, always the diplomat, said, “Well, I think it’s time for some dessert. Who’d like chocolate chip cookies?”

  Cookies were consumed and then Aunt Edie suggested a game of cards. “Good idea,” Jenna said. “Let’s get the table cleared.”

  Sabrina got up and began to collect plates. Caroline stayed put and sipped on her lemonade.

  “Aren’t you going to help?” Sabrina asked her.

  “I’m company. I don’t have to,” Caroline replied, further endearing herself to Jenna.