Page 14 of Halstead House

“Have you never taken a day off before?” she asked.

“Of course I have.”

“Without a list?” Her head tilted and raised her eyebrows.

“Maybe.” I allowed a small smile.

It worked. Ana laughed and I felt like the man who walked on the moon. “Well, buckle up, newbie. Today I introduce you to list-free living here on Lavender. We’re having a full-fledged beach day. Go change into a swimsuit. Fair warning, if I see anything with buttons or creases I’m sending you back upstairs. Meet me here in five minutes.”

My heart rate sped up at the realization that I was being invited along to a beach day. Well, pushed into going, but still... “I haven’t had breakfast yet.”

“It’s not a big deal. I’ll grab something from the kitchen while you change into your suit.”

I chewed my lower lip. An unplanned, totally spontaneous day on the beach with Ana sounded like exactly the kind of thing I’d always dreamed of doing. It was so tempting that I was practically paralyzed by worry.

“Grace, get moving. I’m not wasting my day off trying to convince you to take that rod out of your spine. It’s now or never. Your list is gone. Your dry cleaning will be handled. Move it!”

I jumped, finding some precious familiarity in her commanding tones. With my body obeying and my mind whirling, I headed back up the grand staircase quickly. The sound of Ana’s amusement filled the air. My heart rate sped up from the combination of speed stair climbing and nervous excitement. I was going to the beach. Someone had invited me to a day out. I couldn’t remember the last time that had happened.

I scrambled into my room, lungs pumping, and found my sensible, navy blue, one-piece bathing suit neatly folded in a drawer. I quickly stripped off my clothing. Tugging the suit on with shaking hands wasn’t working well. I forced myself to stop what I was doing and take a deep breath.

“Grace Natalie, get it together. If Mother could see you now she’d be horrified by your behavior,” I said aloud in a stern voice.

Then I began to laugh. Really laugh. My laughing fit calmed the shaking hands and allowed the suit to slide on. I laughed as I put my swim cover-up on and tied the strings into a neat bow at my side. I laughed because if Mothercouldsee me in that moment shewouldbe horrified, but she couldn’t see me. I was free to take Ana up on her offer, mistake or not.

I didn’t own flip flops, but I did have some slip-on canvas loafers, which I slid my feet into and wiggled my toes. I looked in the mirror when I was all dressed and did a little happy dance in a tight circle.

I left my room and walked briskly down the gleaming wooden staircase to where Ana was waiting with a large striped towel in her arms and a grocery bag full of something that smelled great.

“You own something with no buttons!” Ana said when she saw me. “I guess I owe myself five dollars, because I bet myself you didn’t.”

“Even people with rods in their spines know that visiting an island requires swimwear.” I gestured at my outfit. “Perhaps you owemethat five dollars.” I teased in a way I didn’t know I could.

Ana’s eyes crinkled. “You’ve made your point. I’ll pay you back with this breakfast I brought you. Where’s your flip flops?”

“I don’t have a pair. You’ll have to forgive this island novice,” I replied.

“Your feet, your problem.”

Ana handed me my towel and the plastic bag of food before she turned and marched out of the front hall, through the kitchen, and to the service stairs in the back. I followed, loving the slapping sounds that Ana’s flip flops made on the gleaming floors. I thought maybe I’d like to own a pair of shoes that slapped around in total disregard for subtlety.

After descending the last flight to the basement, we exited the side entrance and headed toward the waves that lapped lazily at the private beach three hundred feet away. We left the manicured back gardens through a gate, and came to stand on top of a large cement retaining wall that ran as far as I could see in either direction. It abruptly dropped several feet down, requiring use of a stone staircase that started at the top of the wall, where we were standing, and ended in marshy grass that quickly thinned out into beach sand.

“Back in 1900 there was a huge hurricane that came through here and tried to destroy everything. So a lot of the city has seawalls like this to protect in case of another big storm,” Ana related as we climbed carefully down the steps.

“Are these steps original from 1900?” I asked, noticing how worn they were.

She shrugged. “Probably.”

The marsh grass tickled at my ankles as we walked. The air felt somehow thicker here as we neared the water, and the smell was pleasantly salty. We left the marsh grass for the open sand, and I was surprised to find it was rock free and had tracks in it.

“What are these tracks?” I asked.

“They’re from a tractor. A bunch of the homes along here get the sand groomed.” Ana kicked off her flip flops and used her toes to pick them up and put them into her hand. “It’s not like it’s really bad on the ungroomed beaches, but who wouldn’t choose a groomed beach if they could? Perk of the job that I take full advantage of.”

I slid out of my loafers and paused to enjoy the first feel of Lavender Island sand under my feet. It wasn’t all that different from other sand I’d felt, but it made my heart smile.Mary, if you’re listening, I’m wiggling my toes in your sand right now. I tilted my face up to the sky and closed my eyes, my lips relaxing into a toothless smile.

“When you’re done smiling at the sun, I’ll be over at that beach umbrella,” Ana teased.

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