Minus Tide (4 page)

Ann took a booth near the front where she could keep an eye on people coming in. She rarely went out to places where a lot of people gathered. It was hard to keep track of them all, and sooner or later she’d make a fool of herself. People she was supposed to know would think she was ignoring them. Or worse, she might not recognize some guy she once went out with and begin a conversation with him. Things could get awkward very fast.

When a doctor told Ann she had face-blindness it had made perfect sense. She’d gone through a period of chronic headaches and undergone all kinds of tests. Physically they couldn’t find anything wrong with her, no signs of trauma. She simply couldn’t recognize faces. They all looked the same to her in memory, smudges of skin and tooth and shadow, as differentiated as a beach of gray stones. What Ann did recall were the clothes they wore, how they styled their hair, their hands, whether they carried a certain scent or if they had bucked teeth. Voices were important too. She’d learned to tell people apart this way, and most of the time her system worked.

The waitress poured her another coffee. “Thank you Janet,” Ann said, glancing at the woman’s hands. They’d always seemed aged for someone with such a young voice. Aged by working in restaurants, from scrubbing with chemicals. A silver wedding band sunk as deep as bone, threatening to disappear. Janet took out her green book and tore away a check. She slid it facedown next to the salt and pepper.

“You bet hon. Just let me know if there’s anything else you want. I could swear Tammy was around when you came in.”

Ann looked up and tried to smile. She didn’t recognize Janet at all, had never seen her before. She must have cut her hair, Ann thought. Didn’t she wear it just to her shoulders? It didn’t matter now. Janet was close enough for her to see her hands. That’s all she needed to be sure.

“She must be home by now. I think I’ll stop by her house on the way home. Did Mitch come by?”

“Haven’t seen him. But the sheriff came in for breakfast this morning with some unpleasant company.”

“Oh?”

“Looked like Russians to me. Beefy types in leather jackets and wool turtlenecks. You’ve seen the type around some times. They hated everything I brought them to eat, spat up on their plates like cats. Couldn’t kick them out but I sure wanted to.”

“What was the sheriff doing with them anyway?”

“I’ve got no idea. Other than the complaints about the food, they hushed whenever I came by with coffee. But the sheriff was dressed like he’d been fishing, and later on somebody said they’d seen his truck down at the landing dock really early in the morning.”

A bell rang behind the counter. “Got to run. Charlie’s in a bad mood tonight. Me, I like a good storm.”

“Me too.”

“Take care tonight.” Janet hurried behind the counter to the food lamps. She had on a plain pink dress with matching shoes that looked like they pinched her toes. Ann noticed a man in a dirty apron staring at her and looked away.

Ann took one last warm up of coffee. Business at the 101 was picking up. She guessed the storm was forcing people to take shelter. Rain seeped down the window next to her, distorting the slumped figures of customers headed across the far end of the parking lot. They were soaked through by the time they made it inside, smelling of musty wool jackets, leather, stale tobacco and the sweet inky smell of denim that reminded her of brand new Levis. Ann hadn’t recognized anyone that had come in. Of course faces were of no help, and the extra clothing made things more complicated unless the person wore the same thing often.

“Ann?” said a man’s voice next to her. Ann jumped in her seat, stared at the black tee-shirt with a grinning skull floating in the middle.

“It’s only me,” said the voice.

Has to be Chad Lewis, she thought. Traitor Bay’s death metal freak, worked the crabbing business every winter and took summers off to follow bands. Rumor had it that he still dealt a little pot on the side. Ann had known him since the third grade. Yes she thought, those were Chad’s hands. His nails were so bad from working the traps that he’d started painting them with black polish.

“What are you doing here?” Ann asked.

Chad waved toward the empty seat across from her. “Are you going to ask me to sit first?”

“Sorry. Help yourself.”

She watched Chad slide in, his shoulder-length blond hair flashing, the envy of most school girls. He took out a comb and began to work it down from the top of his head. Chad liked to make people think he surfed but he’d never ridden a wave in his life.

“I should have worn a hairnet,” Chad said. “This wind tonight is a real bitch.”

“I saw boats out.”

“We’d still be there too, but dad got hurt last night and we had to take him to the hospital for emergency surgery. He was mad as hell at us for coming into shore. Even took a couple of swings at us until the meds kicked in and he went to sleep.”

“Is he going to be alright?”

“Hell yeah. He’ll be ready in the morning, with or without the doctor’s permission. I bet as soon as he’s awake they’ll wish they’d never kept him overnight. But since I’ve got some friends working there, I’m going to go back and try to head off any trouble. Last thing we need to happen now is having the cops haul old dad to the police station.”

“That’s nice of you to care.”

“I don’t know about that. I’m just glad dad will be alright. There’s a lot of money to be made this season, and we’re all thinking that we should be out there right now so we can grab our share. So what brings you out to Buoy City on a night like this?”

“I was coming by to see Tammy. I guess I just missed her.”

“I hear she’s expecting.”

“That’s the story.”

“How’s your aunt’s store? We used to live outside that place in the summer, remember?”

“I’ll never forget it. I was popular back then, wasn’t I?”

“Thirteen years old and every boy around here’s dream. Don’t forget that you also had access to the back freezer. God Ann, I wanted to be your boyfriend so bad. We used to watch you take James in there to smooch. Then you’d come back outside all smiling and eating ice cream.”

“Did he tell you that we made out back there?”

“Didn’t have to, Ann. James’ face was always bright pink, and we knew the freezer didn’t do it although he said it had. What about James? Have you heard from him since he left?”

“Only a few letters. He didn’t sound very happy in the last one. I guess he’d hurt his shoulder in an accident, but they weren’t ready to give up on him and send him home right away. There were still more surgeries and painful rehab to look forward to. I didn’t know you guys were close?”

“We weren’t really. As soon as we turned fifteen we kind of split into different directions. His dad kept him busy too, just like mine still does. I was only wondering if he’d been back in town lately.”

“Not that I know of. What have you heard?”

“My brother thought he saw him in a store in Cape Rock the other night. Said if it hadn’t been James then it must have been his twin.”

“He didn’t talk to him?”

“No, by the time he remembered his name, James was leaving. My brother isn’t too quick with faces, but he can do numbers in his head without hardly trying.”

“Sounds like he’s got talent for something then.”

“That’s true - dad put him in charge of the bookkeeping. Hey, after the season’s over, how about we go catch a concert in Portland?”

“Are you asking me out?”

“I guess I might be.”

Two men walked into the restaurant and stopped to talk to Janet. Both had deep blue eyes and freckled noses, shoulder spans that were nearly as wide as the doorway. Janet turned and disappeared into the back kitchen. Ann didn’t know who the strangers were at all but she’d recognized Janet by her dress.

“What are they doing here?” Chad moaned.

“Who?” said Ann.

“You don’t remember them?” Chad lowered his head and looked away.
Why did I just say that? I’m going to make her feel stupid. Too late now ...

“Sorry Chad. I can’t say I do.”

“They’re my brothers and they can’t stay still for two seconds. They were supposed to wait with dad until I came back with takeout.”

Ann looked at Chad’s face. It was handsome, she thought. More lines than should go with the voice, but that was the price you paid for being a crabber. He’d always been nice to her, even though she hadn’t invited him into the freezer. And now he acts like he’s waited all this time.

“We’ll have to see what’s going on then. But most likely I can” Ann said. “And I hope you’re not embarrassed if I wear earplugs.”

They watched Janet return with several bags of food. The two men took them and the biggest nodded at Chad to follow.

“Wear whatever you like, Ann. I’ll let you know when I score some tickets. It’s going to be fun. Anyway, I should get going.” Chad slid out of the booth and stretched.

“Thanks for stopping by,” Ann said.

Chad leaned over and brushed the top of her hand with his. It was coarse like sandpaper and reddened her skin. He turned and hurried to catch up with his brothers.

Chapter 6

Mitch and Tammy lived in a rustic log cabin that his grandmother had given to Mitch in her will. Mitch’s grandfather had been a well-known lumberman back in the fifties, and he’d built many cabins along the coast. Theirs sat back behind a wall of tall cedars and seemed to be in perpetual shade, yet the house was always cozy with its large fireplace made of smoothed beach cobble and flickering candles set next to the windows. Ann had been inside many times when her mother had stopped to pay the old woman a visit and bring her some blackberry jam. She remembered going inside on hot August afternoons and feeling instantly cooled by the sweet smelling cedar. She often thought about the old woman when she drove by the house, sometimes forgetting that she was now buried next to her husband, thinking for a moment that she needed to stop in and say hello.

When she pulled off the road, she noticed that someone had left the wooden gate open beneath the dripping cedars. She grabbed the sack of cinnamon rolls and got out. The grass was slick underfoot, and she was careful to avoid trampling the crimson toadstools that had sprung up after recent rains. The gate squealed as she swung it aside and headed up the path toward the porch where she heard a steady knocking. She was surprised not to smell smoke coming from the chimney, thinking to herself that a night like this would be perfect for reading a good book next to a blazing fire. Then she saw that the front door was open and swinging back and forth in the wind.

“Tammy?”

As she walked up the porch her pulse began to hum in her throat. This doesn’t feel right, she thought. Mitch and Tammy wouldn’t have been this careless. Some lights were on inside the cabin, but she saw no signs of Tammy. Ann stuck her head through the doorway and called again.

“Tammy?”

She waited to see if she might hear a shower running or someone coming down the stairs. Nothing happened, and after a few minutes she tried to decide what she should do. If she’d had a cell phone, she might have called Mitch and waited until he showed up. Then again, Tammy could be somewhere inside the house. She could be hurt and in need help.

Ann took a couple of steps inside. She set the bag of cinnamon rolls on a table next to the door and bunched up her keys in a fist. Scanning the room on overdrive, she had no idea what signs to be looking for—until she saw the overturned chair lying against the cold hearth of the fireplace, far from its vacant spot next to the redwood dining table Mitch’s grandfather had once carved as a wedding gift. She imagined the chair had been thrown or kicked across the room—unless somebody had carried it over to use as firewood, which made no sense at all.