Page 44 of SEAL'S Baby Surprise
Julia tastes, and her eyes light up. “Okay,” she says. “That will be fine.”
I look over at Lee to see how she is doing. She’s got her cup under her nose, inhaling, with a look of serene enjoyment on her face.
Yeah, the bookmobile has been a great idea. I watch Lee enjoying the jasmine tea.
“I’ve not had this in forever,” she says. “One of my college roommates loved going to the co-op, and we had it every Saturday. It’s just what we need to settle down after the roller coaster.”
I nod my agreement and sip my own tea. “It is wonderful stuff,” I say.
20
LEE
We all walk awayfrom the bookmobile licking ice cream cones. This is the wonderful kind of ice cream —made with salt and ice and a boiled custard recipe.
The flavor is fabulous! Even better, it comes as the prize at the end of a story about a boy who wants twenty flavors of ice cream on his cone and winds up losing all the scoops except the vanilla as he gives samples to people as he walks along.
Better yet, I have a “transient” library card in my pocket. It seems that this is a very special kind of bookmobile, one designed so it can be used by people who don’t have a permanent address. The transient card doesn’t give me access to all the library books, but there is a special rack of paperbacks.
Austin explains that the books in that rack are donated, so they don’t cost the library anything but storage. “Most people do bring the books back,” he says. “It’s amazing how honorable people can be when offered an honor system.”
In addition, Austin is carrying a cloth bag of books on all kinds of things. But each of us has picked out one book just for fun. I havea copy ofEight Cousins, which I’ve always wanted to read. Julia has an alphabet book, with silly verses for each letter.
Austin says it won’t be a problem because the bookmobile stops off at the Beach one day a week. We could return our books, and we could have some more of that marvelous tea. And maybe more ice cream.
It’s not quite as exciting walking back through the fair as it had been coming through it the first time. We don’t stop at the carnival part on the way home, but we do some shopping in the clothing part.
Austin buys this marvelous sunset quilt, just because I admire it. He also gets good new things for Julia because she is growing so fast and insists on getting a sundress for me. It is made of a fabric that looked like fish scales and that shimmers in the sun. I love it!
Julia picks out a shady hat and a rag doll that transforms from Little Red Riding Hood into a wolf wearing grandma clothes. It is a cute idea, and I think about how I could make similar dolls for her.
We do see a fashion show, although it was nothing like the ones I was used to. The local scout and camp troops had made clothing. The placard beside the show lists the various youth groups that had participated.
Each youngster had made the clothing they modeled for everyone. I think it is a fun idea, even if most of the designs aren’t that original.
We are feeling bubbly and happy until Pops meets us at the Freedom Beach sign. Ark is with him. It takes a few minutes for the big fellow to stop frisking around us, acting like a puppy, andsettle down long enough for Pops to make himself heard over the barking.
Pops says, “We had an intruder while you were gone. The fella had Bad News written all over him. Came in here wearing a suit an’ sunglasses. Wanted to know if we’d had any unusual visitors. He had this rolled up newspaper in his hand.”
“What did you tell him?” Austin asks.
“I told him that the only folks I’d seen was people living here. Ark didn’t like him, an’ I had a hard time gettin’ the big fella to heel. When he did, he hung next to me like he was glued, growling an’ mutterin’ under his breath.”
“That’s not good,” Austin said. “That’s Ark’s tell for when someone smells like drugs. I’ll let the village Chief of Police know. I’ll screen any new residents extra careful for the next few days.”
“You do that,” Pops said. “I got nothing against new people, but I don’t think that fella was our sort, if you get what I mean.”
I feel a cold chill down my spine. I’d known all along that this was all too good to be true. I love living with Austin and Julia way too much for it to last.
I try to keep on seeming happy while we put all our purchases away. I try to focus on the idea that we can go to the bookmobile once a week and have tea and scones, go to story times, make sandcastles, and play in the water at the beach.
Yeah, I’d known it was too good to be true. And when I pick up the folded newspaper beside the barbeque, I know it for sure. The paper is folded open to a picture of me in one of my designs.I had my signature long hair, although you couldn’t tell the color in the black-and-white newspaper photo.
Before Austin or Julia can see it, I stuff it into the trash can, burying it way, down deep under the banana peels and the wrappers from Ark’s food. The trash was really stinky and nasty down there, so I didn’t think anyone would look for it. Real quick I wash my hands in the outside basin, hoping I’d been fast enough for Austin not to notice.
Ark comes over and snuffles at me. I kneel down beside him and hide my face in his fur. “You are the best dog ever,” I tell him, breathing in his musky doggy aroma. “The very best.”
“Keep telling him that, and it’s going to go to his head,” Austin said, coming up behind me.
