Sunny laughed though it didn’t sound like it was meant for me. “Is that what you want to talk about?”
I shoved a hand through my hair, tugged at the roots. Sunny wasn’t even looking at me but it felt like she was peeling away everything that separated me from the world and staring straight at all my dried-out, undernourished pieces. It was ugly in there, a pile of sun-bleached oyster shells and insomnia, frequent flier miles and jarring adrenaline spikes. And I knew she saw it all.
“If I can’t solve your problems, I don’t know what else I have to give you,” I said, hating the desperate exasperation in my words. Hating thetruthin those words. “I don’t know who I am if I’m not the one who takes care of things.”
She shrugged like these answers were all very obvious. “Has it crossed your mind that you don’t have to take care of anything?” She glanced over, a little smile pinning the corners of her mouth. “That you should just…careaboutme?”
“How would that be enough?”
Sunny dragged her gaze over me, from the shirt I’d barely buttoned correctly to yesterday’s wrinkled trousers, and back up to the fucked-beyond-belief hair. She reached for me, grabbed my hand. “Of course it’s enough.” Before I could insist she was getting the raw end of this deal, she said, “We should get out there. We’re supposed to host a yoga thing tonight. Plus, we have to determine how big Muffy’s freak-out is going to be and how much of a skylight we have for ourselves now. Also, I’d really enjoy it if we could get Parker off that ladder. Love the kid but it’s hard enough keeping him upright when he’s on solid ground.”
I shifted in the seat to catch a glimpse of my brother ascending the ladder while Hale held it steady. It was like a slapstick comedy duo in action. An anvil was bound to fall on them at any moment. “We’re not having another emergency room visit,” I said, killing the power. “Let’s go.”
We found Agent Price inside the café with Mel, Beth, and several folks from Rainey’s crew. I did not scowl directly at Agent Price because he was shoveling debris in a suit and tie, but I did feel as though I deserved some form of recognition for that. The damage wasn’t too bad, mostly isolated to a dirty puddle of rainwater in the middle of the seating area and some water stains where the roof suffered the most damage. The walk-in fridge had stayedjustcold enough that nothing was lost and Muffy’s freak-out had been averted on that front, but there was no saving the dough she’d left proofing overnight on the sheet rack. Apparently that stuff didn’t handle changes in heat and humidity too well, and the post-storm conditions were like trying to breathe with your head in a bowl of clam chowder.
As soon as I sent Parker and Hale out into the cove to recover the buoys and lobster traps kicked up by the storm, and away from roofs and ladders of all sorts, Ranger Dickerson and Phil Collins rolled up in a three-wheel vehicle that looked like something out of a superhero-and-sidekick movie, complete with driving goggles and matching helmets.
“These fuckin’ guys,” I said to Sunny over the thunder of the generator. “I still think I’m living in a skit.”
“That’s Friendship for you.”
“How is that thing street legal?”
She laughed. “You’re asking me?”
I glanced down at her. She really was pint-sized, even more so in those shorts. The skirts always settled past her ankles and swirled around her in a way that tricked me into thinking there was more to her but the shorts shot that out of the sky. “If anyone would know, it would be you.”
“Quite the storm,” Ranger called as he climbed out of their version of the Batmobile. “How’s the damage?”
Sunny beat me to it, saying, “Not too bad. We’ve always known the roof was on its last legs and this storm showed us all the soft spots. But we’re lucky that this crew was able to get out here and help put things back together.” To me, she whispered, “Again.”
“Very good, very good,” Ranger said, nodding up at the crew tearing off long-useless shingles. Phil Collins nodded too. “Doesn’t seem like you need much assistance.”
“We’re lucky to have a lot of hands on deck this morning,” Sunny said.
I scratched Jem’s head while I waited for the next line of questioning. There was always another line of questioning when it came to Ranger. One of these days, I was going to find out which intelligence agency he worked for prior to leading the Friendship Walking Club.
“Did I hear correctly that the oyster company has a full-service generator?” Ranger asked.
I kept my attention on Jem. “You did.”
“Then you won’t have any trouble pouring me and Mr. Collins a cup of coffee,” he said. “With the power out all over town, we’re—”
“All over town?” I repeated. “I thought it was just the cove.”
“It might’ve started that way but the whole town went down when the last cell moved through overnight,” he said.
I glanced at Sunny. Had the power been out at her place? Had we missed that? She lifted a shoulder as if she had the same questions and none of the answers.
How did we sleep through that?her eyes seemed to ask.
We weren’t sleeping, I replied.
She pressed her fingers to her lips to hold back a smile.
“Now, about that coffee,” Ranger continued, at least somewhat oblivious to our silent conversation. “Mr. Collins turns into a real bear without his morning cuppa and we don’t want that.”
I glanced at Phil Collins, with his genial smile, his driving goggles nestled on his forehead, and his hands locked behind his back. I had to believe he was a bear in the way Paddington was a bear. “We can get some coffee going.” I ran a hand down Sunny’s back. “Sell me your muffins.”
