“One question at a time. I think she had some special classes. I guess I’ll have to find out more about that. And she works as a housekeeper at a Catholic church, but Daria—her sister—told me she needs a lot of supervision.
Shelly is pretty dependent on her. “
“The brain damage… what do they attribute that to?”
“Something to do with her birth, I guess, or with the time she spent abandoned on the beach. I don’t know. I don’t know if anyone really knows.”
“I don’t see how you can possibly find out who left her on the beach after all this time,” Grace said.
“I mean, I’m a little worried about you being disappointed. It seems like an impossible task.”
He was not worried. All he had done so far was sift through the police records, but he was making a list of people to talk to, including the detective involved in the case and everyone on the cul-de-sac. He didn’t feel rushed. He had the whole summer.
“You’d be amazed the things we’ve found out through researching incidents for True Life Stories,” he said.
“Sometimes the mysteries are solved during the research itself, like the time we figured out who had murdered a little boy, even though the police and FBI had been on the case for years and had turned up nothing. Our researchers brought a different perspective to the case and were able to uncover the real murderer.” He guessed that Grace was not a regular viewer of True Life Stories or she would have known the incredible success the program had had in solving the unsolvable.
“That’s amazing,” Grace said.
“But how exactly will you try to find out who the baby’s mother is?” “By questioning people. Sometimes people remember things now that didn’t seem important enough to report to the police at the time. And they’ll disclose those things to me. Another way we’ve solved mysteries is by presenting all the details of the story on the show, and then people come forward with the truth. You’d be surprised at how often that happens.”
“How sure are you that you’ll be able to solve this one?” Grace asked.
:
“I have a feeling about it,” Rory said.
“Probably whoever abandoned Shelly confided in someone over the years. Or maybe she’s suffering from having made that decision. Maybe she would want to be reunited with her daughter after all this time.”
To his delight, the door to the Sea Shanty opened and
Shelly walked out into the yard. She was wearing her white bikini, her gauzy skirt. She turned in the direction of the beach.
“Speaking of Shelly,” Rory said, nodding in the direction of the Sea Shanty.
“Is that her?” Grace leaned forward in her chair. She lifted the sunglasses off her nose for a better look.
“It sure is,” he said.
“Would you like to meet her?” He was anxious for another opportunity to talk with Shelly himself, but she had already disappeared over the dune.
“We can catch up to her,” he said, and glanced at Grace’s fair skin.
“I have some sunscreen in the cottage you can use.”
Grace stood up.
“I already have some on,” she said.
They began walking toward the beach.
“I used to be a sun worshiper,” Grace said. She held her arm out in front of her as they walked, and studied the pale skin.
“I guess that’s hard to believe right now.”
“Well,” Rory said, “at least you won’t get skin cancer.” He winced.
That had been an insensitive thing to say. Maybe she’d had skin cancer, or some other form of cancer, and that was her problem. He wanted to ask her about her illness, but it felt too much like prying.
“Hey, Shelly!” he called as they crossed over the dune.
Shelly turned at the sound of her name and waved to him as she started walking toward them. The breeze tossed her blond hair into the air and blew her skirt against her long legs, and he wondered if Grace was as captured by the sight of her as he was.
“Hi, Rory,” she said.
“I just wanted to introduce you to a friend of mine,” Rory said.
“This is Grace.”
Shelly smiled and held her hand out to Grace.
“I’m Shelly,” she said.
She wore small, rose-colored sunglasses,
and Rory had to smile. They certainly suited her view of the world.
Grace shook Shelly’s hand, but said nothing.
“Can we walk with you awhile?” Rory asked.
