Page 59 of The Shell Collector
“He’ll be with us until his owner gets out of the hospital.”
“He looks like he has some age on him. I should give him the name of my hairdresser. She does wonders,” Amanda teased.
“Yeah, he’s a good old boy.”
“Well, this is quite a place. We’ve had a lot of fun just visiting.”
“You should stop at the front desk and get a week pass. Next time bring your dog with you. We offer a free trial for Whelk’s Island residents, and honestly, the price of the day passes are ridiculously cheap. I bet you and your dog would enjoy a day here. The outside areas are a lot of fun too.”
“Thanks. We’ll check that out.” They waved to the handler, then followed the walking path back to the main entrance.
Amanda stopped at the front desk to get a pass. It would give her and the kids another thing to break up their routine, and it would be good for Denali.
With the pass in her hand, she and the kids walked back out to the car.
“Climb on in.” She helped Jesse into his seat and then went to the other side to double-check Hailey’s seat.
“Can we come back?” Jesse asked.
“And bring Maeve?” Hailey added.
“We sure can.” Amanda wished her children held the same kind of regard for her parents. They’d taken so quickly to Maeve. Amanda’s parents had been around so seldom since she married Jack that they didn’t play a big role as grandparents. They sent the obligatory gifts at the holidays, but she was pretty sure that if Mom and Dad showed up right now, neither of her children would recognize them.
16
Monday morning rolled around andMaeve dreaded going to the doctor, but the appointment had been set a month ago, and it was too late to cancel. Same-day cancellations were downright rude. The only excuse was death, and she wasn’t there yet.
It was a dreary Monday on top of it. The rain spit and spattered against the deck, and of course here she was, dressed and ready to go an hour early.
She pulled on her red rain jacket and stepped outside. The rhythm of the waves soothed her as she leaned against the railing. The wood had long ago weathered to a silvery gray, smooth from decades of nature’s sandblasting from the beach below. She tied her hood around her face to keep her hair, almost as silvered as the deck now, from getting tangled in the weather. A gust of wind slapped her skirt against her matching red rain boots.
She gathered the skirt’s fabric in her hand, holding it tight to keep it from blowing as she watched the ocean’s dance, delighted the waves were at work pushing new treasures from its depths during these storms. Shells from the creatures who’d outgrown them, and sea glass that had tumbled so long that every sharp edge was polished smooth. Occasionally, remnants of shipwrecks off the coast of North Carolina would wash ashore—at least she liked to believe the shipwreck part. She’d been known to make up a splendid story or two about the things she found along the shore, even if she kept most of those stories to herself.
Rainy days left her eager to get out on the beach.
Hopefully, she’d make it back from her doctor’s appointment in time to collect shells before the tide stole them away. But sometimes her doctor visits took nearly all day.
She glanced at her watch.If you’re early, you’re on time, but if you’re on time, you’re late.She went back inside, fed Methuselah, gathered her wallet, and locked up.
Outside she carefully navigated the stairs to the ground level. Her baby sister, Judy, complained about her living alone in their childhood home, but she and Judy never lived here at the same time. There were so many years between them that Maeve had already married and moved out of the house when Judy was born. Maeve had always felt more like a mother to Judy. Now Judy thought she wanted to take care of Maeve. Funny how things came full circle.
Maeve gripped the handrail. With the added weight of her rain boots, the descent was tricky. Judy wasn’t wrong about their old family home being too big for one person or that the stairs were dangerous. Maeve herself had tried to get Mom and Daddy to close in the bottom level of the house years ago for the same reason.
She was older now than her parents had been then.They were so hardheaded.
A big raindrop plopped against her hood. Her face twisted as she glared toward the heavens.Okay, so I’m a little hardheaded too.
She walked down the path from her house toward the beach road. Used to be from here she could see across the way to the houses on the sound side. Whelk’s Island wasn’t that wide. Just a narrow strip of land, the ocean on one side and the sound on the other. Who’d have thought someday they’d have a four-lane highway that ran for miles connecting all these small barrier islands together?
When Maeve reached the doctor’s office, she removed her coat and shook it out before going inside.
“Please tell me you didn’t walk down here in this rain.” Courtney, the nurse at the front desk, tapped her pen on the counter.
“A little water never killed anyone.” Maeve hung her wet coat on the rack and then walked over and wrote her name on the check-in sheet.
“You know we could have arranged for someone to come get you.”
“I know, I know, but it’s not that far. Walking is good. Keeps me young.”
