“You chose to work in ashopin a small, tight-knit rural community. Maybe you thought you wanted to be alone, but I’d argue your subconscious wanted different. Do you have family? Any abandoned loved ones back on the mainland?”
“I’ve not abandoned anybody. Anyone I left behind was quite happy to see me go.”
“I can’t imagine that,” Marly said.
I thought she was being sarcastic, but she wasn’t, apparently.
“You think you’re such a piece of shit, don’t you?” she said. “Well, you’re not. I don’t hang out with shitty men. And I like hanging out with you.”
“I don’t exactly think I’m a piece of shit”—anymore—“but I do think I have a tendency to drag people down.” I couldn’t look ather as I spoke. “I like hanging out with you, too, but…you might not like me so much when you get to know me better, that’s all. When I’m depressed, for instance, I’m pretty hard work.”
“Oh, so you’re trying to keep us all at a distance for our own good!” She pointed at me as we both stood, reaching for our bikes again. “Very thoughtful. Very silly. I’m a grown-up girl, Jones, I can look after my own emotions, thank you. So can Charlie, by the way, in case you’ve been wondering. And for what it’s worth, you’re absolutely terrible at shutting people out, so stop trying to be something you’re not.”
She had to raise her voice for that last part—I was riding again, and she was chasing me down. I thought of how hard I’d been on Charlie for being fake when she got here and winced, because Marly was probably right. I’ve been pretending to be something I’m not, too. Maybe it’s time to accept that I’m a really bad hermit.
I like people. I like connecting with people. And if they’re willing to hang out with me and let me into their lives, well, maybe I should let them decide that for themselves.
We headed for Windward Ridge. The sky was gray, and the bracken on the cliffs around us was turning rusty orange. I couldfeelthe season shifting. As I reached the ridge path, I spotted a group of figures walking slowly across the bay to our left and slowed to take a closer look. I could see Galoshes’s pink hair, and Kim the sheep farmer’s habitual cowboy hat.
Marly came up beside me, dropping one foot to the ground. “Huh,” she said. “That’s the whole shop committee down there.”
She was already leaning her bike against the railings and heading for the steps to the beach below. I followed her down the narrow steps cut in the side of the rock. We made it safely to the bottom and picked our way across the sand toward the committee members. Kim spotted us first, and nudged Galoshes.
“How are you going, you lot?” Marly called as we approached.
There was a definite response to our presence, but it was hard to say exactly what that was. Awkwardness? Alarm? Galoshes greeted us first, and then Karyn said, “Look, it’s not a coup, or anything.”
“Karyn!” Galoshes said.
“What! You know they were thinking it.”
“I wasn’t thinking it,” Marly said. “But I’m glad to hear it all the same.”
“Told you we should have met in the old pirate cave,” Kim muttered.
“I’m not hiding out in a cave,” Galoshes snapped. “We’ve nothing to be ashamed of. Just a group of locals getting together, doesn’t have to be official, we’re just ‘hanging out.’ ”
The heavy air quotes aroundhanging outdid not reduce my suspicions.
“If you guys have concerns,” I said, “Charlie and I would love to hear them.”
“That’s balderdash and you know it,” Galoshes said. “You don’t want to hear from us. You’d plow on with everything without committee sign-off if you were allowed. I’m just updating the committee, as is my right.”
“Nobody is trying to impinge on your rights, Galoshes,” Marly said, sounding slightly weary.
This all needed dialing down a notch. I did my best to project calm.
“Galoshes,” I said, “can I speak with you privately, please?”
She narrowed her eyes, and then, after a moment, turned on her fellow committee members.
“Well, off you go,” she said, swatting them away with both hands.
They scattered. Marly went with Jerry, murmuring something about needing to discuss a calf, so it was just me and Galoshes on the beach. We began pacing slowly across the sand, following the committee’s footsteps. It’s always easier to talk while walking.
“What do you need from us, Galoshes?” I asked.
Her expression was full of suspicion. “I don’t need anything from you,” she said.
