Two Weeks in August (5 page)

“Er, Miss Christie...Nina...would you have dinner with me this evening? If you’re not too busy?”

She watched Mander’s intriguing, dark face, noting the anxious sweetness in her eyes and thought of Rhonda. Then she remembered she no longer had to worry about Rhonda. But she did have to worry about accidentally encouraging Mander when Nina felt no real attraction to her. It had happened to her before with women and, besides, she was just unable to move quickly toward a new relationship. It was too soon. Oh well, she told herself with a mental shrug. An evening out might be fun and she would just make sure Mander knew how she felt as soon, and as gently, as possible.

“Sure, what time do you want me to be ready?”

Mander’s face relaxed and she grinned. “Would seven be too early? I thought we could go to Duffy’s. It’s nothing fancy, just a seafood bar, but the food is fantastic and the company real friendly.”

“Good,” Nina said with a nod, remembering the rowdy bar. “Sounds fine to me. I’ll see you then. I’m in cottage eight.” She waved farewell as she walked to her car.

Chapter 6

She arrived back at Channel Haven around five thirty, sunburned and feeling parched after an afternoon wandering the beach at Assateague. After gulping two glasses of cool water, she showered, rubbed lotion on her pink arms and face and carefully dressed. Glancing at her watch, she sighed. It was only a little after six. She still had almost an hour to kill. She stared out the front window.

Chincoteague was such a lovely place, especially this time of day, when the sun was preparing to kiss the earth goodnight. The late afternoon sun slanted across the channel waters, creating sparkle as they moved.

She wished suddenly that she were watching the vision from her own home, with her own possessions surrounding her. She missed her books the most. It was the spare moments of free time, such as this, when she enjoyed browsing through them, seeking the familiar and not so familiar, the words and phrases seeming to always to give her comfort and stability.

She rose from the kitchen chair and fetched her handbag from the bedroom. Opening the change section of her battered leather wallet, she plucked out a carved gold commitment ring that winked at her from the depths. She laid it on the table.

Idly, she twirled the ring around the tip of her index finger, hearing the harsh music it made as it rubbed the Formica tabletop.

How could Rhonda have done that to her? Bad enough she hadn’t shown up at the commitment ceremony, humiliating her in front of her family and friends, but then to disappear from the face of the earth without telling Nina anything, well. She had worried about her well-being for days, until a mutual friend had spotted her across town.

Tears rushed to her eyes. Straightening her spine, she let anger fill her. Why had Rhonda even bothered to give her the ring? Surely it was a waste of her family’s considerable money. She smiled meanly. Perhaps she should sell the thing.

No, she sighed heavily, she couldn’t. Not yet. Rhonda might come back.

Hazy appeared on the dock, interrupting her thoughts. She was closing up the boat rental business for the day, checking the boat lines and tidying up the equipment scattered about the decking. Her movements were precise and efficient. Nina could tell she’d been doing this for many years.

Nina, cupping her hand around her chin, wondered about Hazy’s age. Yesterday Nina had thought her in her forties but today, with the wind mussing her pale hair, she seemed much younger. She was unusually fit too, her solid body strong and supple, and this added to her youthful appearance.

But she was certainly a strange one, Nina thought, hard to fathom. She wondered where the woman hailed from, with that strong but precise accent. Old-time islanders often bore such an accent but theirs was harder to understand and it took an experienced ear. Nina thought she could be British. Maybe Australian. What was her history? And why was she so curt with people—almost rude? Was she angry at the whole world?

Mander pulled up outside her cottage.

Over dinner, after the preliminary awkwardness of two strangers coming together, Mander turned out to be a charming conversationalist, amusing Nina with island gossip and history. Nina quickly learned that Mander had
not
grown up on the island but had been a frequent visitor, much like herself. They wondered aloud that they hadn’t met previously, especially as they knew many of the same people.

They had driven in Mander’s small blue Toyota truck to a tall weathered building nestled between two souvenir shops along North Main Street. The restaurant and bar combination, called Duffy’s, proved still to be a popular venue as it was filled with a good number of the island’s youth. Mander must have been a regular customer because she was greeted with rowdy cries and whistles as soon as she and Nina entered. In a very short time, they were surrounded by Mander’s comrades.

One brawny young fellow, his dark hair cropped very close, moved next to Nina and began asking her questions about her life. She politely answered him and he finally wandered off only to be replaced by another; a thin, gangling girl who tried to impress her with tales of her school exploits.

Nina was flattered by all the attention directed her way but soon found the closeness cloying. Also the mounds of raw and steamed seafood Mander had ordered were pretty only to the true gourmand. By ten that evening, the food became definitely nauseating and Nina decided she’d had enough.

“Mander,” she called over the loud music as she motioned her closer. “I’d like to go home now.”

“What’s that?” Mander asked as she leaned toward her.

“Too much sun today, I’d like to go now,” she stated firmly.

Mander nodded her understanding and stood.

Nina was perplexed to notice, out of the corner of her eye, that she leered obscenely to her friends, causing a great shout of laughter and speculative glances directed her way. She felt blood flood her face as she shrugged into her sweater.

Once out in the moist night air, Nina decided not to mention Mander’s immature display. After all, no real harm had been done and it would only cause friction that she would rather avoid. She did veto, however, Mander’s suggestion of a ride along Beach Road.

“You had fun, didn’t you?” Mander asked as they pulled into the Channel Haven drive.

 
“Sure.” Nina smiled. “It’s been a long time since I’ve devoted a whole evening to having fun.”

“Well, not a whole evening,” Mander teased in a complaining manner.

Nina glanced up and saw desire glinting in the dark eyes. Mander leaned forward and kissed her gently, lips exploring hers in a nervous embrace.

Nina, disconcerted, turned her face away. “I’m sorry,” she said gently. “Bad breakup.”

Mander nodded and sighed.

Nina opened the door. “Well, goodnight, and thank you.”

Mander leaned across the passenger seat and smiled up at her as she stood beside the truck. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

Nina nodded and watched as Mander backed the truck around and rolled away.

Feeling restless and guilty that she hadn’t just told Mander there was absolutely no chance of a relationship instead of leading her on, Nina shoved her keys back into the pocket of her jeans and walked toward the boat dock. She realized she needed to be very careful because Mander was working on her house.

Wind, fresh and damp, brushed across her face and swept her hair back to slap against her shoulders. She took a deep breath and pressed her eyes tightly shut for a moment to better experience the salty, clean smells and tastes of the sea.

Rhonda could have been here with her now, she thought sadly. They could have honeymooned here on Chincoteague instead of the ocean cruise they’d planned.

She had found out about Grandpapa Tom’s death just two days after Rhonda disappeared. The death would have delayed the honeymoon but the house would have been ready by the time they arrived on the island. If Rhonda had shown up for the ceremony, that is.

Nina nudged the toe of her sneaker against a clump of marsh grass that grew alongside the wooden planks of the dock. Well, Rhonda’s leaving had delayed the ceremony indefinitely anyway and here she was, alone again. And planning to stay that way.

Forcing the dismal thoughts away, she strolled along the dock until she reached the wide landing outside the main office. Relaxing into one of the wooden chairs, choosing one sheltered from the force of the ocean wind, she watched the Assateague lighthouse as it hiccupped a muted greeting across the channel.

She was almost asleep when the chink of ice against glass alerted her to someone’s presence. Hazy moved slowly across the planks and stood leaning against the railing. She was staring wistfully out across the channel.

As Nina watched, Hazy finished her drink in one big gulp, scruffy hair blowing about her cheeks, then hung her head in a gesture that touched Nina with its apparent sadness.

Nina realized she was seeing this woman in a very vulnerable state and she understood enough about Hazy to know that if she saw Nina observing, she would be very angry. So Nina sat as still as she could, hardly daring to breathe lest Hazy notice her.

After a moment or two, Hazy placed her glass carefully on the wide railing and stripped her T-shirt over her head in one smooth gesture, then, to Nina’s astonishment, she also pushed her shorts down and stepped out of them.

Naked, her slim body shadowed, she descended the wooden steps that led to the lower dock and dove head first into the water.

Nina, craning her neck slightly, was able to watch Hazy move with powerful thrusts through the dancing water. She found herself admiring the subtle muscle play in her strong arms and shoulders as her wet skin, lit by moonlight, glistened with each movement.

Hazy went out a long way, farther than Nina would have dared, then turned porpoise-like and began making her way back to the landing.

Nina, feeling very sad again, knew she had to leave, had to make her escape before the other woman arrived, naked and dripping, onto the landing.

But she was reluctant to leave the magic moment; she wanted to stay and explore Hazy. What was it that made her so sad at night alone but so belligerent during the day?

Nina made her way quickly and quietly back to her cottage.

Chapter 7

The next morning Nina woke to a very different sound than the day before. Raising up in bed and pushing her tousled hair back from her forehead, she squinted through the window and saw Hazy outside wading through a seething mass of brown and black.

Peering more closely, she saw that the mass consisted of hundreds of very noisy ducks and geese. Patches of black and white turned out to be clumps of gulls also vying for her attention. The birds carpeted every square inch of Channel Haven drive and even some of the concrete embankment which kept the sea at bay. Hazy carried a bucket in one hand and every now and again she dipped the other into it and scattered feed for the noisy crew.