by Nat Burns
“No, thanks anyway. I’d better get back to Channel Haven before they decide I’ve wandered back to the mainland. It was a long drive in today so I think I’ll turn in early.” Nina didn’t bother telling Mander that she knew the restaurant well and had eaten there often.
Mander retrieved a battered red bicycle from the side of the house and swung one tan, shorts-clad leg across it. “Okay, I’ll take a rain check. Come out early tomorrow if you can. I need you to tell me how you want the shelves in the pantry laid out.” She moved down the drive, bike tires crunching in the shells. “I’ll see you then.” She waved as she pushed off.
Suddenly it struck Nina that she would be living full-time in this house in just a short while. It finally began to sink in: her Grandpapa Tom had left her his house and this house was on Chincoteague Island, a place she and her family adored. Would she learn to love living here as Grandpapa had? She took a deep breath of the warm, salt-laden air. Maybe she already did.
Chapter 5
A cacophony of sound woke Nina early the next morning, just after dawn. Gull cries swelled in volume, died down, and then swelled again as shouting rang out through the cool morning air.
Nina leapt from her bed and ran to a nearby window willing her sticky eyelids to open.
The large bedroom window faced out over the channel and boat rental docks, and she was amazed to see Hazy running along the lower dock shouting and gesturing frantically toward the water. Her loud, accented voice drifted in to Nina.
“Don’t be such a bloody tourist, ye damn fool. If you don’t know where the devil you are, come back to the office an’ I’ll give you a map to take with you.”
She paused, arms wide, rounded chest heaving, and then began anew.
“Get AWAY from there, you bloody idiot! Oh my gawd, ye’re runnin’ up on the…that’s my boat you’re tryin’ to destroy!”
Muttering to herself, she stalked, steps echoing, across the boards of the dock and disappeared from view. Several moments later, the sound of an outboard motor reached Nina and Hazy raced by, her small craft spewing up geysers of foam.
Nina realized she was smiling. Alone in her room and she was smiling. Hazy was certainly an entity unto herself. She didn’t care a fig how she appeared or what she said.
Nina giggled as she pictured Hazy striding across the boards, shouting at the inexperienced tourist captain. She sobered then, thinking how she’d sure hate to be the recipient of that anger and scorn. She peered out the window again and could barely make out Hazy in the distance. She was standing in her boat gesticulating wildly to a group of people on one of the rental boats. Obviously they’d found a sandbar and had gotten too close, maybe even were hung up.
Nina sighed, trying to wake up. What in the world were they doing out this early in a rental boat anyway?
Knowing she had to get the novel evaluation in the mail as early as possible, she mentally kicked herself for not mailing it the day before.
Nina showered and dressed quickly. She rushed to the small, charming post office on Main Street. It was not yet open at this early hour but fortunately Martha always supplied the correct return postage, priority at that, and Nina was able to drop the package into the outgoing mail slot.
She strolled through the slowly awakening town, enjoying the dawn. She stopped at Bren’s Fine Dining which, of course, was already open. Brenda Samm’s husband had been a fisherman and after his death, Brenda had discovered old habits die hard, such as cooking a substantial breakfast for her husband and their brood of now fully grown children. So she’d opened a restaurant on the outskirts of the town proper and even at this early hour, especially at this early hour, the small, run-down diner was packed with fishermen and a few of their wives. The locals knew Nina and greeted her with friendly cries of welcome as soon as she stepped inside the door. She called back, and waved, pausing several times on her way through the dining area to answer questions and accept condolences and hugs from several of the regulars. She adroitly hurried through, knowing from experience that if she lingered too long, she’d lose the entire day to reminiscences about Captain Tom and every sea voyage he’d ever taken. As she gained the counter, she could hear the renewed buzz of intense chatter behind her, all of it about her grandfather and his life on the island.
Bren waited behind the counter, smiling at her, dark eyes shining in welcome. Nina settled herself on one of the high leather and chrome barstools and cupped her chin in one hand, elbow on the counter. She regarded Bren, noting that she had gained a little more weight and that it added to her motherly charm. She’d had a recent haircut and her riotous salt-and-pepper curls hugged her round head closely.
“Lor’ an’ if you ain’ a sight for sore eyes,” Bren said, her island accent strong. “I see where Tom lef’ you ta house?”
Nina nodded. “He did and I’m moving here. Here for good.”
Bren set a steaming cup of Earl Grey tea in front of her. “Ta. Neighbors are a goodness.” She handed Nina a menu. “Got fresh bread in from Ella. ’Sgot little nutmeats in it this time. You know she’s always tryin’ the new, don’t you.”
Nina smiled. “Some of her recipes do get pretty wild but they’re always delicious.”
Bren nodded, then lifted the coffeepot and moved along the counter offering refills to the half-awake old salts sitting there.
After eating a filling breakfast of nut and cinnamon filled toast, jam and scrambled eggs, Nina walked slowly back to her car and headed to Grandpapa Tom’s.
Mander was already at the house working when she got there.
“Boy, you’re the early bird, aren’t you,” Nina said, smiling as she entered the living room, a to-go cup of hot tea warming her hand.
Mander grinned at Nina from her perch atop a sawhorse. She was sawing a thin strip of framing. “Yeah, just trying to get the job done. Early bird gets the worm, they say.”
Voices sounded from other rooms and Nina realized, from the strong smell of fresh paint, that Mander’s employees weren’t slug-a-beds either.
Nina rubbed her nose as she walked toward the pantry. She saw immediately what Mander meant about the configuration. The odd-shaped space could be laid out in two different ways, two sets of deep shelves or three sets of narrow ones.
“What do you think would work best in here, Mander? The wide or the narrow?” she called out.
Suddenly Mander’s form filled the space behind her and she smelled the strong woodsy scent of her. The close proximity made Nina’s skin prickle uncomfortably and she was reluctant to turn about and face her in the small confined area.
“It all depends on what you want. Do you buy a lot of large, bulky groceries or a lot of cans?”
She twisted around and stared disbelievingly at the carpenter. “What? How do I know what I’m going to buy?”
Mander looked calm, reasonable, but clearly amused. “What do you usually buy? Most people buy pretty much the same from week to week. If you buy a great amount of canned goods, they’d get lost in deep shelves and you’d have to dig around all the time to see what you have. If you buy a lot of bulky items, potatoes, pasta, fresh produce, breads, stuff like that, you’ll be needing larger shelves so things won’t fall on the floor and you can stack bins in here on the shelves.” She paused for a breath, eyes twinkling in an errant shaft of sunlight. “So, which is it?”
Nina stared at the back wall, lost in thought. Who would think of a thing like that? She never would have, not on her own, anyway.
“Bins, I guess. You’re good at what you do,” she sighed finally. “I never would have considered it.”
Mander seemed to glow under Nina’s praise but looked downward shyly. “Well, these things are important when you’re remodeling or building a house. You need to think ahead so you won’t regret it later. Sometimes things can’t be changed.”
After almost an hour of discussion about various changes in the house, Nina noticed Mander was getting restless.
Thinking she was keeping her from
her unsupervised crew members, Nina wrapped up the discussion and quickly bade her goodbye, dropping her empty cup into the waste bin beside the kitchen sink. As she got to the kitchen door, Mander’s low voice arrested her.
“Er, Miss Christie...Nina...would you have dinner with me this evening? If you’re not too busy?”
She watched Mander’s intriguing, dark face, noting the anxious sweetness in her eyes and thought of Rhonda. Then she remembered she no longer had to worry about Rhonda. But she did have to worry about accidentally encouraging Mander when Nina felt no real attraction to her. It had happened to her before with women and, besides, she was just unable to move quickly toward a new relationship. It was too soon. Oh well, she told herself with a mental shrug. An evening out might be fun and she would just make sure Mander knew how she felt as soon, and as gently, as possible.
“Sure, what time do you want me to be ready?”
Mander’s face relaxed and she grinned. “Would seven be too early? I thought we could go to Duffy’s. It’s nothing fancy, just a seafood bar, but the food is fantastic and the company real friendly.”
“Good,” Nina said with a nod, remembering the rowdy bar. “Sounds fine to me. I’ll see you then. I’m in cottage eight.” She waved farewell as she walked to her car.
Chapter 6
She arrived back at Channel Haven around five thirty, sunburned and feeling parched after an afternoon wandering the beach at Assateague. After gulping two glasses of cool water, she showered, rubbed lotion on her pink arms and face and carefully dressed. Glancing at her watch, she sighed. It was only a little after six. She still had almost an hour to kill. She stared out the front window.
Chincoteague was such a lovely place, especially this time of day, when the sun was preparing to kiss the earth goodnight. The late afternoon sun slanted across the channel waters, creating sparkle as they moved.
She wished suddenly that she were watching the vision from her own home, with her own possessions surrounding her. She missed her books the most. It was the spare moments of free time, such as this, when she enjoyed browsing through them, seeking the familiar and not so familiar, the words and phrases seeming to always to give her comfort and stability.
She rose from the kitchen chair and fetched her handbag from the bedroom. Opening the change section of her battered leather wallet, she plucked out a carved gold commitment ring that winked at her from the depths. She laid it on the table.
Idly, she twirled the ring around the tip of her index finger, hearing the harsh music it made as it rubbed the Formica tabletop.
How could Rhonda have done that to her? Bad enough she hadn’t shown up at the commitment ceremony, humiliating her in front of her family and friends, but then to disappear from the face of the earth without telling Nina anything, well. She had worried about her well-being for days, until a mutual friend had spotted her across town.
Tears rushed to her eyes. Straightening her spine, she let anger fill her. Why had Rhonda even bothered to give her the ring? Surely it was a waste of her family’s considerable money. She smiled meanly. Perhaps she should sell the thing.
No, she sighed heavily, she couldn’t. Not yet. Rhonda might come back.
Hazy appeared on the dock, interrupting her thoughts. She was closing up the boat rental business for the day, checking the boat lines and tidying up the equipment scattered about the decking. Her movements were precise and efficient. Nina could tell she’d been doing this for many years.
Nina, cupping her hand around her chin, wondered about Hazy’s age. Yesterday Nina had thought her in her forties but today, with the wind mussing her pale hair, she seemed much younger. She was unusually fit too, her solid body strong and supple, and this added to her youthful appearance.
But she was certainly a strange one, Nina thought, hard to fathom. She wondered where the woman hailed from, with that strong but precise accent. Old-time islanders often bore such an accent but theirs was harder to understand and it took an experienced ear. Nina thought she could be British. Maybe Australian. What was her history? And why was she so curt with people—almost rude? Was she angry at the whole world?
Mander pulled up outside her cottage.
Over dinner, after the preliminary awkwardness of two strangers coming together, Mander turned out to be a charming conversationalist, amusing Nina with island gossip and history. Nina quickly learned that Mander had not grown up on the island but had been a frequent visitor, much like herself. They wondered aloud that they hadn’t met previously, especially as they knew many of the same people.
They had driven in Mander’s small blue Toyota truck to a tall weathered building nestled between two souvenir shops along North Main Street. The restaurant and bar combination, called Duffy’s, proved still to be a popular venue as it was filled with a good number of the island’s youth. Mander must have been a regular customer because she was greeted with rowdy cries and whistles as soon as she and Nina entered. In a very short time, they were surrounded by Mander’s comrades.
One brawny young fellow, his dark hair cropped very close, moved next to Nina and began asking her questions about her life. She politely answered him and he finally wandered off only to be replaced by another; a thin, gangling girl who tried to impress her with tales of her school exploits.
Nina was flattered by all the attention directed her way but soon found the closeness cloying. Also the mounds of raw and steamed seafood Mander had ordered were pretty only to the true gourmand. By ten that evening, the food became definitely nauseating and Nina decided she’d had enough.
“Mander,” she called over the loud music as she motioned her closer. “I’d like to go home now.”
“What’s that?” Mander asked as she leaned toward her.
“Too much sun today, I’d like to go now,” she stated firmly.
Mander nodded her understanding and stood.
Nina was perplexed to notice, out of the corner of her eye, that she leered obscenely to her friends, causing a great shout of laughter and speculative glances directed her way. She felt blood flood her face as she shrugged into her sweater.
Once out in the moist night air, Nina decided not to mention Mander’s immature display. After all, no real harm had been done and it would only cause friction that she would rather avoid. She did veto, however, Mander’s suggestion of a ride along Beach Road.
“You had fun, didn’t you?” Mander asked as they pulled into the Channel Haven drive.
“Sure.” Nina smiled. “It’s been a long time since I’ve devoted a whole evening to having fun.”
“Well, not a whole evening,” Mander teased in a complaining manner.
Nina glanced up and saw desire glinting in the dark eyes. Mander leaned forward and kissed her gently, lips exploring hers in a nervous embrace.
Nina, disconcerted, turned her face away. “I’m sorry,” she said gently. “Bad breakup.”
Mander nodded and sighed.
Nina opened the door. “Well, goodnight, and thank you.”
Mander leaned across the passenger seat and smiled up at her as she stood beside the truck. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
Nina nodded and watched as Mander backed the truck around and rolled away.
Feeling restless and guilty that she hadn’t just told Mander there was absolutely no chance of a relationship instead of leading her on, Nina shoved her keys back into the pocket of her jeans and walked toward the boat dock. She realized she needed to be very careful because Mander was working on her house.
Wind, fresh and damp, brushed across her face and swept her hair back to slap against her shoulders. She took a deep breath and pressed her eyes tightly shut for a moment to better experience the salty, clean smells and tastes of the sea.
Rhonda could have been here with her now, she thought sadly. They could have honeymooned here on Chincoteague instead of the ocean cruise they’d planned.
She had found out about Grandpapa Tom’s death just two days after Rhonda disappea
red. The death would have delayed the honeymoon but the house would have been ready by the time they arrived on the island. If Rhonda had shown up for the ceremony, that is.
Nina nudged the toe of her sneaker against a clump of marsh grass that grew alongside the wooden planks of the dock. Well, Rhonda’s leaving had delayed the ceremony indefinitely anyway and here she was, alone again. And planning to stay that way.
Forcing the dismal thoughts away, she strolled along the dock until she reached the wide landing outside the main office. Relaxing into one of the wooden chairs, choosing one sheltered from the force of the ocean wind, she watched the Assateague lighthouse as it hiccupped a muted greeting across the channel.
She was almost asleep when the chink of ice against glass alerted her to someone’s presence. Hazy moved slowly across the planks and stood leaning against the railing. She was staring wistfully out across the channel.
As Nina watched, Hazy finished her drink in one big gulp, scruffy hair blowing about her cheeks, then hung her head in a gesture that touched Nina with its apparent sadness.
Nina realized she was seeing this woman in a very vulnerable state and she understood enough about Hazy to know that if she saw Nina observing, she would be very angry. So Nina sat as still as she could, hardly daring to breathe lest Hazy notice her.
After a moment or two, Hazy placed her glass carefully on the wide railing and stripped her T-shirt over her head in one smooth gesture, then, to Nina’s astonishment, she also pushed her shorts down and stepped out of them.
Naked, her slim body shadowed, she descended the wooden steps that led to the lower dock and dove head first into the water.
Nina, craning her neck slightly, was able to watch Hazy move with powerful thrusts through the dancing water. She found herself admiring the subtle muscle play in her strong arms and shoulders as her wet skin, lit by moonlight, glistened with each movement.