Bella was on a booster seat next to Annie, her little brow scrunched as she quietly shaped a ball of clay, its bright striations of red, bronze, and gold reminiscent of the clay once harvested from the Gay Head Cliffs. The toddler had, however, learned it was not a good idea to eat the clay—she’d attempted to do that last summer.
“What about Rex?” Winnie asked. “Has the rascal returned?”
Rascalwas an interesting word.
“Indeed he has.” Annie sat back and relaxed while Winnie mused, sipped her tea, then let out a sardonic laugh.
“Rex was one of the ‘bad boys’ that every mother warned her daughters to stay clear of. As I recall, my sister-in-law got caught in his net for a short while.”
“Barbara?” That was a surprise. Barbara was a nurse, a strong family woman. Then again, Annie supposed most people might be surprised to learn that she, too, had had a bout with a bad boy. The guy she’d married after Brian had been killed.
“Yes, dear Barbara,” Winnie continued. “But she recovered quickly once she met Orrin, which, needless to say, I’m glad she did.”
“What was Rex like?”
“Full of himself. A bit of a scrapper. He thought he could get away with anything, which I guess, for the most part, he did. Nothing major, but annoying. His parents pretty much ignored his evil ways, but his father wouldn’t fund his crazy idea to open a restaurant. Rex was just a kid. And his father was tight with a dollar. He had to be—he was a fisherman.”
“You do know that Rex opened a nice restaurant in Boston?”
Winnie nodded. “So rumor had it.” Then she paused. “Why is he back?”
Annie told her the story and filled her in on Kevin’s distress.
“Maybe Rex was successful,” Winnie said, “but you know what they say about leopards and their spots. Chances are, he wants something.”
In all the time Annie had known Winnie, she hadn’t heard her so cautious about anyone.
Just then Winnie’s nephew, Lucas—Orrin and Barbara’s son—came into the kitchen with two of Winnie’s young grandkids in tow.
“Look who’s here!” he exclaimed to the kids.
“Bella!” the little boy shouted. Annie thought his name was Harry, but she could not remember his position on the family tree.
“Hi, Annie,” Lucas said. “I saw your Jeep outside. Does Bella want to come into the big room and play with the kids? I’m on babysitting duty this morning.”
Lucas was a nice young man, about twenty-one now, Annie calculated. In the summer, when he either was fishing with his dad to earn a living (the way Rex apparently had not done with his), or working at the shops up at the cliffs and running programs for kids at the tribal center, Lucas also helped organize the annual Wampanoag Powwow in September and Cranberry Day on the second Tuesday in October. Off-season, he was enrolled at a state university and was studying remotely to become a teacher. Lucas was not a bad boy as Taylor’s brother had been.
Once he’d steered the kids—and Bella—out of the kitchen, Annie turned back to Winnie.
“Do you think Rex is dangerous?” she asked.
Winnie shrugged. “I don’t think he ever physically harmed anyone, not that he couldn’t have. He was a big kid. Built like a giant, you know? Good looking, though, and he turned more than his share of girls’ heads. Beyond that, I think he was mostly irritating. Of course, it’s anybody’s guess what he did in Boston. Or how he managed to raise the money to open his restaurant in the first place.”
“What about Rose? Do you know anything about her?”
“Who?”
“Rose Atkins. One of our winter tenants.”
“I don’t know anyone named Rose. Is she from the island?”
Annie shook her head. “I don’t think so. She doesn’t seem to know anyone here.”
“Is she connected to Rex?”
Annie laughed. “Doubtful. She’s quite a bit older. And extremely timid.” She then told Winnie how Rose had fled back to her room when she’d seen him.
Winnie smiled. “Maybe his size scared her half to death.”
