Heroes are My Weakness (24 page)

Judy backed off with a laugh, took Jaycie’s cake, and carried it to the dessert table while they got rid of their coats. Jaycie’s black slacks and royal blue sweater were well worn but still flattering. Her long blond hair swung from a side part, and her carefully applied makeup included mascara, eye shadow, and cherry lipstick.

The meeting room at the town hall was barely as big as the living room at Harp House and crowded with long tables covered in white paper. The scuffed gray walls displayed the community bulletin board, yellowed historical photographs, an amateurish oil painting of the harbor, first-aid posters, and a fire extinguisher. One doorway led to the closet-size library, the other to the combined clerk’s office, post office, and—judging from the savory smells—kitchen.

Lobster Boil, Jaycie explained, was a misnomer for the monthly event, since no lobster was involved. “We eat so much of it that about twenty years ago people decided to change the menu to a traditional New England boiled dinner. Beef brisket or ham during the winter, clams and corn on the cob in the summer. I don’t know why we still call it a Lobster Boil.”

“Let no one ever accuse the islanders of not hanging on to their traditions,” Annie said.

Jaycie tugged at her bottom lip with her teeth. “Sometimes I think I’m going to suffocate if I have to stay here another day.”

Lisa McKinley came through the doorway from the kitchen area. She wore jeans and a V-neck blouse that showcased a Victorian-style necklace, a present—she was quick to announce—from Cynthia Harp. Annie drifted off so she and Jaycie could catch up. As she moved among the tables, bits of conversation swirled around her.

“. . . five hundred pounds behind where my catch was this time last year.”

“. . . forgot to order Bisquick, so I have to make them from scratch.”

“That’s more than the price of a new helm pump.”

Annie studied a black-and-white print hanging crookedly on the wall. It showed figures in seventeenth-century garb standing by the sea. Naomi came up behind her and nodded toward the print. “Lobsters washed right up on the beach during colonial times. They had so many they fed them to their pigs and the prisoners in jail.”

“They’re still a treat for me,” Annie said.

“They are for most people, and that’s good news for us. But we have to keep the crop sustainable or we’re out of business.”

“How do you do that?”

“With a lot of regulation about when and where people can fish. And breeders are off limits. If we catch a breeding female, we cut a V in its tail fin to identify it and throw it back in. Eighty percent of the lobsters we catch have to be thrown back either because they’re undersize, oversize, V-notched, or they’re carrying eggs.”

“Hard life.”

“You have to love it, that’s for sure.” She tugged on one of the silver studs in her earlobes. “If you’re interested, you can come out on my boat. The weather looks like it’ll be fairly decent at the beginning of the week, and not many city people can say they’ve worked as a sternman on a Maine lobster boat.”

The invitation took Annie aback. “I’d love that.”

Naomi seemed genuinely pleased. “You’ll have to get up early. And don’t wear your good clothes.”

They’d just made arrangements for Annie to meet Naomi at the boathouse dock on Monday morning when the outside door swung open bringing a fresh blast of cold air. Theo walked in.

The noise level in the room dropped as people grew aware of his presence. Theo nodded, and the chatter picked up again, but most of the crowd continued to watch him surreptitiously. Jaycie paused in her conversation with Lisa to gaze at him. A group of men with weather-beaten faces gestured him over to join them.

Annie felt something tug on her skirt and looked down to see Livia trying to get her attention. The child had grown bored with the company of adults, and her attention was fixed on a group of children in the corner, three boys and two girls, the youngest of whom Annie recognized from her library visit as Lisa’s daughter. Annie had no trouble interpreting the entreaty in Livia’s expression. She wanted to play with the children but was too shy to approach them by herself.

Annie took her hand, and they approached the group together. The girls were putting stickers in a book while the boys argued over a handheld video game. She smiled at the girls, their round cheeks and red hair clearly identifying them as sisters. “I’m Annie. And you know Livia.”

The older one looked up. “We didn’t see you for a long time. I’m Kaitlin and this is my sister, Alyssa.”

Alyssa gazed at Livia. “How old are you now?”

Livia held up four fingers.

“I’m five. What’s your middle name? Mine is Rosalind.”

Livia dipped her head.

When it became obvious Livia wasn’t going to respond, Alyssa looked at Annie. “What’s wrong with her? Why won’t she talk?”

“Shut up, Alyssa,” her sister admonished. “You know you’re not supposed to ask about that.”

Annie had grown used to thinking of Jaycie and Livia as being somehow separate from the community, but they weren’t. They were as deeply entrenched as anyone here.

The video game tussle between the three boys was getting out of hand. “It’s my turn!” one of them shouted.

“Is not! It’s my game.” The largest boy landed a hard punch on the one who’d complained, and then all three of them were on their feet ready to swing at one another.

“
Avast,
ye ragged curs!”

The boys froze, then gazed around, trying to find the source of the Captain Jack Sparrow voice. Livia was way ahead of the game, and she smiled.

“Stop yer caterwaulin’ or I’ll throw ye all in the bilge.”

The boys slowly turned their attention to Annie, who’d formed a puppet from her right hand. She eased down and settled her weight back on her calves, moving her thumb to make the puppet talk. “A good thing I left me cutlass on the poop deck, ye sorry excuses for sea dogs.”

Boys were the same everywhere. One mention of “poop,” and she had them in the palm of her hand.

She directed her makeshift puppet toward the smallest boy, a cherubic little towhead with a black eye. “What about it, bucko? Ye look strong enough ta sail on the
Jolly Roger
. Searchin’ fer the treasure of the Lost City of Atlantis, I am. And ’oo wants to go wi’ me?”

Livia was the first to raise her hand, and Annie nearly abandoned Cap’n Jack to give her a hug. “Are ye sure, me beauty? There be fierce sea serpents. It’ll take a brave lass. Are ye a brave lass?”

Livia gleefully nodded her head.

“Me, too!” said Kaitlin. “I’m a brave lass.”

“You’re not as brave as me, stupid!” Cherub face said.

Cap’n Jack growled. “Keep a civil tongue in yer head, lad, or I be keelhaulin’ you.” And then, out of habit, “There be no bullyin’ on the
Jolly Roger
. When yer fightin’ sea dragons, it’s all fer one and one fer all. Anybody on my ship who’s actin’ like a bully gets tossed overboard ta feed the sharks.”

They looked suitably impressed.

She had nothing but an unadorned hand for a puppet—not even a set of eyes drawn in with a marker—but the kids were enthralled. The largest boy, however, was no fool. “You don’t look like a pirate. You look like a hand.”

“Aye. And ye’re a smart one to notice. Me enemies cast a spell o’er me, and the only way I can unlock it is ter find the lost treasure. What say ye, mateys? Are ye brave enough?”

“I’ll sail with you, Captain.”

Not a child’s voice. But one that was exceedingly familiar.

She turned. A group of adults had gathered behind her to watch the show. Theo stood with them, his arms crossed over his chest, amusement dancing in his eyes.

Cap’n Jack gave him the once-over. “I’m only takin’ on strappin’ lads. Yer a bit too long in the tooth.”

“Pity,” Theo said, looking every bit the Regency buck. “And I was so looking forward to those sea serpents.”

The dinner bell rang, and a voice called out, “Food’s ready. Line up!”

“Avast, me hearties. Time fer ye ta eat yer hardtack and fer me to get back to me ship.” She splayed her fingers dramatically, giving Cap’n Jack a royal send-off.

Applause rang out from both the kids and the adults. Livia snuggled up at her side. The older kids began pestering her with questions and comments.

“How d’you talk without moving your lips?”

“Can you do it again?”

“I go out on my dad’s lobster boat.”

“I want to talk like that.”

“I was a pirate for Halloween.”

The adults began claiming their offspring and steering them into the food line that had formed to the serving counter in the next room.

Theo came up to her. “So much is now clear to me that was heretofore murky.”

“Heretofore?”

“It slipped out. But there’s one thing I still don’t understand. How did you manage the clock?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He gave her a look announcing that her denial was demeaning and that, if she had any character at all, she’d come clean.

The jig was clearly up. She smiled, sidled closer to him, then emitted one of her best moans, so quietly eerie only he could hear.

“Cute,” he said.

“Call it ‘Revenge of the Dumbwaiter.’ ”

She expected him to ignore her. Instead, he looked genuinely remorseful. “I really am sorry about that.”

It occurred to her that neither one of her two long-term boyfriends had ever said “I’m sorry” about anything.

Livia ran off to join her mother. Jaycie was still with Lisa, but her attention was on Theo. As Annie went over to join them, she overheard Lisa. “You need to take her back to the doctor. She should be talking by now.”

Annie couldn’t hear Jaycie’s response.

They all lined up to fill their plates. Marie and Tildy from the Bunco group pulled Theo in with them and began peppering him with questions about his writing, but after he’d filled his plate, he left them to join Annie at the table where she was sitting with Jaycie and Livia. He took the chair next to Annie and across from Lisa and her husband, Darren, who was both a lobsterman and the island’s electrician. Livia eyed Theo warily, and Jaycie lost track of the conversation she was having with Lisa.

Theo and Darren knew each other from past summers and began talking about fishing. Annie noticed how easily Theo conversed with everyone, which she found interesting, considering how fiercely he guarded his privacy.

She was sick of thinking about Theo’s contradictions, and she turned her attention to her meal. In addition to a well-seasoned beef brisket, the boiled dinner included potatoes, cabbage wedges, onions, and a variety of root vegetables. With the exception of the rutabagas, which both she and Livia avoided like the plague, the rest was delicious.

For all Jaycie’s infatuation with Theo, she did nothing to catch his attention beyond bestowing occasional longing gazes. Eventually Theo turned to Annie. “You slipped in the turret while I was asleep and changed the clock battery. I should have figured that out a long time ago.”

“It’s not your fault that you’re slow. I’m sure it’s hard to recover from being hit on the head with a silver spoon.”

He raised an eyebrow.

Livia poked Annie, lifted her arm, and made a miniature hand puppet, awkwardly moving her small fingers to indicate she wanted another puppet show. “Later, sweetheart,” Annie said, depositing a kiss on her head just behind the cat ears.

“You seem to have a friend there,” Theo said.

“It’s more Scamp. She and Liv are best friends. Isn’t that right, bucko?”

Livia nodded and took a delicate sip of milk.

The islanders had begun lining up at the dessert table, and Jaycie rose. “I’ll get you some of my chocolate pecan cake, Theo.”

Theo was undoubtedly looking for an escape from Jaycie’s cooking, but he nodded.

“I’m surprised to see you here,” Annie said. “You’re not exactly Mr. Social.”

“Somebody has to keep an eye on you.”

“I was with Jaycie in the car, and I’m in the middle of a crowd here.”

“Still . . .”

A piercing whistle cut through the room, bringing the crowd to silence. A barrel-chested man in a parka stood by the front door, lowering his fingers from his mouth. “Listen up, everybody. The Coast Guard got a distress call about twenty minutes ago from a trawler a couple miles off Jackspar Point. They’re heading out, but we can get there faster.”

He nodded toward a burly, flannel-shirted lobsterman at the next table and to Lisa’s husband, Darren. Both men rose. To Annie’s surprise, Theo got up, too. He clasped the back of her chair and leaned down. “Don’t go back to the cottage tonight,” he said. “Spend the night at Harp House with Jaycie. Promise me.”

He didn’t wait for her answer but joined the three men at the door. He said something to them. One gave him a quick slap on the back, and all four headed outside.

Annie was startled. Jaycie looked like she wanted to cry. “I don’t understand. Why is Theo going with them?”

Annie didn’t understand either. Theo was a recreational sailor. Why would he be going out on a rescue mission?

Lisa bit her bottom lip. “I hate this,” she said. “It has to be gusting forty knots out there.”

Naomi overheard and sat next to her. “Darren’s going to be fine, Lisa. Ed’s one of the best seamen on the island, and his boat’s as sound as they come.”

“But what about Theo?” Jaycie said. “He’s not used to these conditions.”

“I’ll find out.” Naomi got back up.

Barbara came over to comfort her daughter. Lisa grabbed her hand. “Darren’s just getting over the stomach flu. It’s bad out there tonight. If the
Val Jane
ices up . . .”

“It’s a solid boat,” Barbara said, although she looked as worried as her daughter.

Naomi came back and addressed Jaycie. “Theo’s an EMT. That’s why he’s going with them.”

An EMT? Annie couldn’t believe it. Theo’s work involved the decapitation of bodies, not patching them together. “Did you know about this?” she asked Jaycie, who shook her head.

“We haven’t had anybody on the island trained in medical care for almost two years,” Naomi said. “Not since Jenny Schaeffer left with her kids. This is the best news we’ve had here all winter.”