Page 29 of The Shell Collector
Maeve filled a bowl with kibble for Methuselah and took it outside. She sat down, watching him crunch through his breakfast. Her thoughts turned to Kimmy again and her babies. Funny how she still saw Kimmy as a child even after all these years.
Maeve and Jarvis had tried—they had—but when it didn’t happen, they’d decided that was God’s will and that was okay too. They focused on their relationship, and it was a good one. But then she’d never thought she’d be alone for so long, and now—now there was no one to pick up where she’d leave off. Not that it was all that important, but it was something. Her something.
She loved this beach.
All this change bothered her. She wanted this place to live on the way it was now for many years to come. Who would tend this stretch of shoreline when she couldn’t anymore?
From here she could see that the tide was almost all the way out. There were probably starfish sunning there right now. At that moment, she thought she saw a dolphin fin. She lifted the binoculars she kept on the deck and scanned the water.
Tug had given her the high-powered binoculars the Christmas after Jarvis died. He’d said that Jarvis had been researching what kind to buy for her. She didn’t know if that was true or if Tug had just been trying to be nice, but she’d really enjoyed them all these years.
She turned the adjustment on the binoculars, bringing things into focus.
Beautiful, miraculous, awe inspiring. Even though she couldn’t see every detail, she marveled at what she knew was happening beneath the surface.
The waves lapped out a little farther. Like her, the tide kept showing up.
Movement down the beach caught her attention.
Light sparkled from the shiny aluminum pole of a colorful umbrella. Her new neighbors were back on the beach.
She watched for a good long while, taking joy in their activity. The children raced to the water’s edge, then back up to show Amanda what they’d found. Shells. Had to be shells. Or maybe that was wishful thinking. Delight danced in her heart at the possibility of them taking up her special hobby.
She adjusted the focus on the binoculars and watched again.
A pang of guilt for spying like a common Peeping Tom crept upon her. She lowered the binoculars and set them aside.
“Now isn’t this rude? What has come over me?”
Methuselah looked up at her and gave her a half bark.
“That all you have to say?”
He cocked his head.
“You’ll never be The Wife.”
Methuselah seemed to take exception to the accusation, turning and walking down the ramp to the lower level.
She pushed herself up from the comfortable chair and smeared sunscreen on her arms and face. She went into her sunroom, where she kept all the best finds, and pulled a few special items from her desk drawer. Before going over to the beach, she tossed a ball for Methuselah and he carried it back to her a couple of times, then finally lay on top of it.
“Already? Really?”
She rarely talked to Methuselah like this, and he didn’t seem to quite know what to make of it. His ears pulled up high on his head. Poor thing was a mismatch of styles and texture. Part beagle. Part schnauzer. Part who knew what else. Those ears looked like they could spin and lift him off the ground.
But Methuselah didn’t even bark. Rarely did. “Why am I talking to you?”
Eager for conversation?Is that what has nipped at me all day?She looked back toward Amanda and the kids. Her heart giddyupped as she anticipated the discussion that might happen between her and the two shell seekers.
She picked up one of her shell bags to take with her in case she ran across any more treasures while she was out, then grabbed a smaller one she’d made a long time ago. Too small for what she was looking for, but perfect for someone else. She walked along the dune line, then down to the water.
She watched Hailey and Jesse lift shells in the air, squealing all the way back up to where Amanda had settled. Sand kicked from the back of Hailey’s feet. Jesse was more like a bulldozer trudging through, instead of on top of, the sand.
Maeve stopped at the tide line, where a moment ago those two had made their discoveries. A small pile of shells lay there like a pyramid.The discards.She ran her big toe across the pile, then leaned over and picked one out of the rubble, a special one they’d missed. She rescued the giant tun. It wasn’t perfect, but even so, it was pretty rare. She couldn’t wait to give it to them.
Maeve looked up from the shell.
Amanda was waving her arm high in the air. “Hello!” she called out as she got to her feet. She started toward her with Hailey and Jesse at her side.
