Then she said she wanted to make one more stop, which she did not. What Maddie wanted was more time to process what she had done before facing the woman who she’d taken into her charge. Which perhaps should have been vice versa.
It wasn’t until Maddie was halfway back to the cabin that she remembered she hadn’t told Rex about Arnie’s Bait & Tackle. So at least that was a good thing. It would be better for her to investigate the possibilities for a business on her own rather than risk following the advice of a man she barely knew.
Driving the long way, she finally came to State Road, where she went left, drove a bit farther, then steered into the overlook that offered a commanding view of the still waters of Tashmoo Pond. She sat for half an hour, struggling to figure out how to open a bookshop, but her thoughts kept getting entangled with images of Rex, the warmth of his smile, the sense of his touch. After a while, she realized her absurd state-of-the-moment was perfectly normal and boiled down to something she’d always hated admitting: “Madelyn Clarke,” she said aloud, “you are human after all.”
With that, she pulled out of the overlook and headed up-island, amused by herself, which felt rather good.
But when Maddie arrived at the cabin, Grandma Nancy wasn’t amused.
“I almost called our local constable,” she said when she greeted her granddaughter at the front door.
Ken Lawrence was Chilmark’s police chief, who Grandmaliked calling the local constable for some quirky reason, probably because since he’d grown up on the island, she still viewed him as a kid. Maddie supposed that Ken could have put out an all-points bulletin for the missing granddaughter. At least Maddie had dodged that wave of humiliation.
“Where were you?” Grandma persisted. “Were you in Menemsha at the cottage? At my house that you won’t let me see yet?”
“No, Grandma,” Maddie said, brushing past her and walking into Rex’s cabin on tenterhooks, as if he might have gone there ahead of her and would be standing, leaning against the kitchen counter, arms folded, a smug look on his face warning her he was seeking reprisal since she’d dismissed his company as well as his prowess.
Grandma was definitely not amused. Her face was pinched, her eyes suspicious. “You obviously weren’t doing errands,” she said, both hands planted on her hips. “You don’t have any packages.”
Maybe Rex had phoned and spilled the bag of embarrassing beans.
Maddie sighed. She set her purse on the end of the sofa and took off her jacket. “I didn’t say I was buying things. I was looking for things like new dishes and linens for when we move back to the cottage.” It was another lie, but seemed harmless compared to confessing what she’d really been doing.
“What’s wrong with my old dishes?” Grandma barked. She’d obviously forgotten they’d been ruined in the fire. Melted. Because they’d been plastic.
“They were destroyed in the fire.”
Grandma scowled. “The firemen should have been more careful.”
Maddie hung her jacket.
“So where are they?” Grandma barked. “The new ones?”
“I waswindowshopping, Grandma,” she repeated. “I had hoped I’d be able to surprise you. But I couldn’t find anything you’d like.” She went into the kitchen, wishing she’d grabbed one of Rex’s scones on her way out, then berating herself for thinking about him again. She’d have to stop that.
Staring into the refrigerator that looked almost as empty as her heart suddenly felt, she wasn’t in the mood for the Three Sisters Stew that she’d saved for dinner tonight. She wondered why she was ashamed of her behavior—not only of what she had done, but also of how she’d left, as if whatthey’ddone hadn’t mattered. As ifhehadn’t mattered.
Stop it!her smart self screeched at her not-so-smart one.
On top of everything else, she now felt guilty that she might have been surly to Grandma. She softened her tone. “Someone told me that beyond what they show, LeRoux has other samples, but the dishes would have to be ordered. Maybe we can go to the store together?” LeRoux was a nice home goods store up the hill from the ferry terminal, where Maddie had not window-shopped that day or any other as yet. She shut the refrigerator door and turned back to Grandma, who was gnawing on her lower lip. Which made Maddie feel even more guilty, especially since Grandma had been so upset the night before.
“Right now, however,” Maddie continued, “I need to shower and get into clean clothes. Then I’m going to take you to lunch because I love you, and I’m sorry if I worried you. And I’m sorry if I seemed angry with you. I’m not. And I promise that from now on, I’ll be sure my phone is always turned on.”
They went to the casual family restaurant—Plane View—at the airport because Grandma said she liked to watch the planes take off and land and because she loved the burgers. Shealso wanted to visit her nearby storage unit. At least she seemed in better spirits.
All through lunch Maddie tried not to think about Rex; twice Grandma asked why she wasn’t listening. Then she wanted to know what she thought of her idea about Orson.
“Whatever you want, Grandma,” Maddie replied. The name “Orson” sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place him. It wasn’t until they were done eating and heading toward the storage unit that she remembered Orson was the name of Grandma’s 1950 F-1 Ford pickup truck that had been sitting idle in the storage unit for God only knew how long.
“Ta-da!” Grandma called out when the garage-like door rolled up, revealing the truck and the nests of cartons stacked in its bed. Grandma must have wanted to rescue her stash of baskets to help her teach Rafe how to make them.
But Grandma neither mentioned the baskets nor walked to the cartons in the back of the pickup. Instead, she squeezed around the side and climbed in on the driver’s side. Maddie opened the passenger door.
“Are you planning to drive us somewhere?” she asked.
Grandma laughed. At least she was laughing and no longer scowling.
“I turned my license in when I turned eighty, and I’m too old to be interested in breaking the law.” Then she added that Joe sometimes brought her there so she could sit behind Orson’s wheel and remember the good times they’d had. Which might have been her real reason for wanting to be there now.
