She screamed at me. She’d cry and mope. But that was about it for Shelly’s rebellion. “
Headlights turned into the cul-de-sac, and they watched a car approach the Sea Shanty.
“It’s Chloe,” Daria said.
“She must have stayed late at St. Esther’s.”
Chloe pulled into the driveway and got out of the car. Daria and Rory watched her approach the porch steps, and she stopped in surprise at finding them there.
“Oh, hi,” she said. Her face was unsmiling, and Daria knew that was due to Rory’s presence. Chloe wished Rory had stayed in California.
But she took a seat on the steps next to Daria, anyway, and worked at a smile.
“How was dinner?” she asked.
“Great,” said Rory.
“Some terrific restaurants have opened up here in the last twenty years.”
“Yup,” Chloe agreed.
“You won’t go hungry.”
Chloe’s voice was flat, and Daria could almost feel her sister’s discomfort. It was more than Rory that was upsetting her. Daria put her hand on Chloe’s arm.
“What’s wrong?” she asked quietly, but Chloe simply squeezed her hand in reassurance.
Rory didn’t seem to notice Chloe’s distress.
“I know you’re not thrilled with me pursuing this,” he said to her, “but you’re an important part of Shelly’s life, and I’d really like to get your opinion of how she ended up on the beach way back when.”
Daria cringed at Rory’s timing. He didn’t realize how much Chloe resented his intrusion on their lives.
Chloe leaned across Daria to rest her hand on Rory’s knee. She looked at him intently, her long lashes casting shadows on her cheeks.
“Rory, it just doesn’t matter how
Shelly turned up on the beach,” she said.
“I know you don’t understand. I know it doesn’t fit in with your plans for your show. I know you want the answer to be something dramatic, something you can uncover and expose. But it just isn’t important. Shelly was our gift from the sea. There’s nothing more we need to know.”
Chloe stood up. She squeezed Daria’s shoulder.
“Good night, you two,” she said. She stepped onto the screened porch and disappeared inside the cottage.
“Ouch,” Rory said once she had gone.
“I don’t think Chloe is very fond of me.”
“It’s not just you,” Daria said.
“It’s true she’s upset that you’re probing into Shelly’s life, but she seems withdrawn lately. I’m not certain what’s going on with her.”
“I’m sure I’m not helping,” Rory said.
“Well, she thinks you’re exploiting Shelly.”
“Is that what you think, too?” Rory asked.
“I think your intentions are honorable,” Daria said, “but I’m afraid your prying might do more harm than good.”
Rory was quiet a moment, and when he finally spoke there was exasperation in his voice.
“But Shelly, herself, wants me to” — “Shelly has lousy judgment, Rory,” Daria said. How many times did he have to hear that? She hesitated a moment, then the words slipped out of her mouth as though they had a will of their own. “Do you want to know why I’m not doing EMT work these days?” she asked.
“Do you want to know the truth?”
He said nothing, just looked at her, puzzled and waiting, and Daria shivered. The thought of telling him was both frightening and seductive.
Drawing in a breath, she pressed her clammy palms together and began to speak.
“A few months ago, I was working on a construction job at an old cottage near the beach, about half a mile from here,” she said.
“Pete was working with me, along with Andy Kramer, and this other guy, George. Andy and I were in the house, and Pete and George were outside. Pete suddenly came running into the house, yelling that there was a plane down in the water.”
She remembered running to the front door of the house to look out toward the beach. From where she’d stood, she had not been able to see the downed plane, only a few people running across the sand. She’d taken off her tool belt and dropped it on the floor as she headed out the door” Andy close on her heels.
“I’ll find a phone!” George had shouted as he ran toward the main highway. The cottage in which they’d been working was a summer rental, and since it was only April, the phone had not yet been hooked up.
