1 Lowcountry Boil (15 page)

For the next thirty minutes, the conversation never strayed from the scrumptious dinner, the exquisite azaleas, and The Most Fabulous Spring Bazaar Ever. Only after everyone finished dessert and coffee, the table was cleared, and the kitchen cleaned, and after we meandered one by one into the homey family room and settled into the overstuffed sofa and chairs, did Blake tell Mamma, Daddy, and Merry about the next day’s headlines. Everyone got quiet. It still felt surreal to be discussing Gram’s murder.

“Of course,” Blake said, “there won’t be any mention of Adam or Scott. We have no evidence against either of them. But I need to keep everyone safe while we sort this out.”

Mamma was appalled. “I never did care for Scott. He has far too high an opinion of himself. But Adam Devlin? Why, his family helped build this town. I just can’t believe it.”

“Doesn’t make any sense,” Daddy said. “If they thought they’d ever get their hands on your grandmamma’s land…that’s just foolish. Scott’s a jackass, but he’s a smart jackass. He had to’ve had a better plan.”

For a change of pace, Mamma brought up another not-during-dinner subject.

She crossed her wrists in her lap and raised her chin. “Esmerelda, suppose you fill us in on this youth camp that has the entire island in an uproar. Somehow I had the impression you were building a fellowship hall for local teenagers. But I’ve heard three different stories from three different people today, none of which sounded remotely like what you told me.”

“Fine,” Merry said. “I’ll be happy to tell you about it. You all act as if I’ve been trying to do something behind your backs. I’ve tried to talk to you about this, but none of you had time to listen. Now, suddenly, I have your attention. I don’t know why—”

“Merry, you know your father has a limited attention span, please get to the point,” Mamma said.

Merry flushed, swallowed hard, and started again. “It’s simple. The Devlin family has agreed to donate land at Devlin’s Point for a camp for at-risk youth. The facility’s purpose will be to get inner-city kids away from the gang and drug culture to show them a glimpse of a better life.”

Warming to her topic now, she continued. “We have an opportunity to share our world with kids that would otherwise never get to visit a place not covered in concrete and asphalt, a place without danger of being hit by a stray bullet every time you go outside.”

I crossed my arms. We’d be the ones hit by stray bullets.

Merry raised her palms, her face lit with passion. “If we can show them a life outside of the violent drug culture, we can make a real difference in their lives.”

My heart softened. I’m not against helping kids. I just don’t want our home to become a battleground.

Merry’s eyes held mine. “The New Life Foundation is a nonprofit organization that only accepts kids who have never been convicted of a violent crime.”

I processed her last few words. Blood surged to my head and my eyes felt as if they might pop out of their sockets.

Merry rolled right on past my shock. “They approached me to run one of their other facilities. I was so excited about the concept, I asked them to consider a new camp here instead. If the facility is built on Stella Maris, they’ve promised me the director’s position.”

I could not have been more stunned if Merry had sprouted snakes in her hair. She quickly averted her eyes.

“You said there would be convicted felons—”

“Well, it’s possible that—” Merry searched the corners of the room.

Daddy stood. “You don’t need to build
facilities
to go camping. You can go camping anytime you like—take anybody you want to.” He looked at Merry long and hard. “Although I’d like to see that.”

Merry was not known for her love of the great outdoors.

“The hound needs to go for a walk.” Daddy brushed past us, leash in hand and dog in tow.

I stood and planted myself in front of my sister. “You said rival gangs. I had visions of shoot-outs on the beach dancing in my head. You deliberately mislead me.
Why
?”

“Umm…let’s go for a walk on the beach. You must have misunderstood.” Merry jumped up and grabbed a quilt from the back of the chair. Shoving it into my arms, she pushed me towards the front door.

I shoved the quilt back at her. I grabbed my purse, fished out Sig, and stuck it in the back of my Capris. We made for the door.

“Elizabeth!” Mamma must have seen the gun.

“Hold it.” Blake sprang to his feet. “Walk on the beach? Did you miss the part about the hit man?”

“It’s okay,” I called over my shoulder. “I’m armed.”

NINETEEN

Colleen joined us on the front porch. “Let her explain.” 

I shot her a warning look. “Scram.”

Merry stopped walking and turned toward me. “Liz, please—”

“Not you.” I waved my hands wildly in front of my face and kept walking. “Damn mosquitoes.”

“Oh.”

Colleen did a backflip and floated upward. She flew in a circle around us, then darted around, mimicking a mosquito. “I’ll leave, if you promise to hear her out.”

I shooed her away with both hands. She disappeared in a dramatic spray of fireworks.

“They’re not bothering me at all,” Merry said.

I inhaled a lungful of salt air and savored it a moment before exhaling. “There was one really big one. She’s gone now.”

It was a clear evening. A million diamonds glittered in the velvet sky over Stella Maris. We ambled the two blocks from Mamma and Daddy’s house to the beach. Per my agreement with a ghost, I waited for Merry to explain herself. She wasn’t in any hurry. Suddenly I wasn’t either. It had been a long day.

I tossed the quilt onto the sand at the foot of a nearby dune. “I’m going to leave this here while we walk.”

This after dinner ritual, stargazing on the beach, was one of our favorites from grade school until I left for college. It felt warm and familiar, and strange at the same time, as if we were watching two other sisters link arms and stroll up the beach. The music of the waves crashing on the sand soothed my nerves.

“So, what do you think?” Merry didn’t look at me.

Laughter bubbled up from my chest. “You mean about the youth camp? Or the halfway house for felons from rival gangs?”

“The youth camp.”

I sighed heavily, loath to disturb the peace of the evening with a heated debate. I chose my words carefully. “I think you are an incredibly giving person, who sincerely wants to make a difference in the lives of kids who otherwise might not have a chance. And, I cannot imagine why you would give me such a distorted version of your plan.”

When Merry didn’t answer immediately, I continued, searching for the words that would convey what I felt yet not alienate my sister. “But, I have to tell you, I have a huge problem with the idea of developing Devlin’s Point for
any
purpose. Opening that door is like opening Pandora’s Box. Before you know it, Stella Maris will look like Myrtle Beach. You know what they say about unintended consequences.” The resort that Adam and Scott were plotting was fresh in my brain.

“No.” She gave me her trademark sarcastic look. “What?”

“They’re unintended.”

“We can’t freeze this island in time, Liz.”

“Sure we can. Haven’t you heard? There’s this new tree-hugger bitch on the town council.”

Merry laughed and shook her head. “My sister, the crusader. I can’t believe I set myself up for this.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I’ve missed you,” Merry said, in her best baby-sister voice. “You’re home now, but there’s no way you’d have stayed. And Mamma and Daddy aren’t getting any younger, you know.”

“Exactly what have you done?”

She took three more steps and stopped. “Well…”

“
Merry
… ”

“Remember last night at the council meeting, when I volunteered for Gram’s seat?”

“Vividly.” I could feel my left eyebrow creeping towards my hairline.

“Well, I never intended to actually take it.”

“What?”

“Can you imagine how breathtakingly boring those meetings are? You couldn’t pay me enough. You have so much more patience than I do.”

I closed the distance between us by half. “You set me up.”

“Well… yeah.”

“All that concern about an outsider on the town council—I knew that didn’t sound like you.”

“Actually I’d love to see somebody from anywhere
but
here on the town council. But that wasn’t the most important issue last night.”

“You manipulated me into volunteering for that seat. You gave me some ridiculous version of your plan, knowing I’d do anything to stop you. Why did you think you had to trick me into staying here?”

“Call it insurance. It worked, too.”

I burst out laughing. She’d snookered me. It had been a while since I’d let that happen. I should have been mad. But to be mad at Merry for manipulating me was to be forever mad at Merry.

Merry laughed too. We laughed until tears rolled down our cheeks and we couldn’t catch our breath. We held our sides, and held each other up.

Finally, I wiped my eyes. “Just to be clear, I’m glad I’m home, but I was planning to stay.”

“You say that now, but—”

“My loft is on the market.”

“Really?”

“Really,” I said. “And I owe you for all the Tuesday nights I’ll be discussing wild hogs and water towers.”

“What?”

“Never mind.” I kept forgetting which things Colleen had told me. I started walking back the way we’d come. “Couldn’t you have just called me and said, ‘Hey Liz, since you’re home and all, why don’t you take Gram’s seat on town council?’”

“Oh yeah, that would have worked.”

We walked in silence for a few minutes before I stated the obvious. “But you had to know I’d have serious reservations about development…even for a good cause.”

“I was betting I could talk you into it.”

“That was a bad bet.”

“We’ll see.” 

I was relieved she seemed content not to pursue the topic. Normally, Merry was like a dog with a bone when she wanted something, especially something related to her work. I changed the subject before Merry could change her mind. “Are you still seeing Troy Causby?”

“Oh hell no,” Merry said. “I broke that off a month ago. I’m through my bad-boy stage.”

Troy Causby had lived on the periphery of our childhood. He had cousins on Stella Maris, and he’d occasionally shown up at the beach or at a church potluck.  Troy had always seemed to envision himself as James Dean. I’d bet he practiced his surly look in the mirror. He’d been in trouble a few times—underage drinking, pot—nothing serious. Lots of kids go through rough patches and grow up to be pillars of the community. Something about Troy, though, had always screamed bad seed to me. I thought Merry deserved better.

“What made you see the light about Troy?”

“I never thought he was Mr. Right, but you’ve got to admit, he sure is
fine
to look at. He was Mr. Right Now. Now he’s Mr. Can’t Shake Him Loose.”

“Send Blake to convince him.”

“I don’t need my big brother to solve my problems for me. I can handle it.” Merry stared down the beach into the darkness.

“Why do I sense you’re not so sure that you can?”

“Because you always think I can’t handle things myself. It’s your nature, you’re my big sister.”

“It’s more than that. You sound worried.”

Merry wrapped her arms around herself.  “He’s just… a little scary sometimes.”

“What do you mean?”

“He went a little nuts when I broke it off.”

“Like how?”

“He got really mad, shouting and throwing things. The next day, he brought flowers, ready to play kiss and make-up. When I wouldn’t let him in, he threw the flowers at me and told me I’d be sorry.” Merry shuddered. “That was a month ago, and he’s still following me.”

Merry stopped, turned, and looked out across the water. “The thing that really scared me, though, is he came to the door a couple of weeks ago. Two in the morning. I think he knew I was just inside, watching him through the peephole and listening. He said, ‘Nobody treats me like shit and gets away with it. You’d better watch yourself, Merry. I know how to hide bodies so they’re never found.’”

“And you didn’t call Blake right then because
why
?”

“I told you, I can handle it.”

“I don’t think we’ll find that very comforting when we’re looking for your body.”

“He was just trying to intimidate me.”

“How do you know? It sounds to me like he’s unbalanced.”

“I think he is, a little, but not enough to kill me and hide my body.”

“I’m telling Blake.”

She spun on me. “No, you’re not. This is my problem and I’ll handle it. I shouldn’t have told you.”

“You should have told me and everyone else you know, and then told Troy you told everybody.”

Merry sighed. “Maybe. But the good news is, the thing Troy wants most in this world is to leave South Carolina and never look back. He might already be gone.”

“Isn’t all of his family here?”

Merry snorted. “Troy’s not big on family. He hates the shrimping business. His dad made him work on the boats summers growing up. Troy isn’t cut out for manual labor. He wants to go to Hollywood and be in commercials.”

“That’s his big dream? Commercials? Not a TV show, or movies, but commercials?”

“Yep. He thinks he can make a pile of money doing beer commercials. Beer and trucks. He says for commercials all you have to do is look good.”

We both laughed. “What about your roommate, Kristen? Why do Dad and Blake dislike her so much? Have I ever met her?”