Maddie glanced at the couch, where the pillow rested atop the comforter, which was folded neatly. Her first thought was that her father’s reason might have been a white lie. Maybe he and Grandma sniped at each other this morning over something meaningless. Or maybe he simply was tired of the gnawing loss of Maddie’s mother and her ghostly presence everywhere.
Then she remembered the bookshop. And his reaction.
She’d been annoyed that Rex spread the news as a done deal before her father had been told it was a possibility. OnceRex was back from California, she’d mention that she wished he hadn’t done that. But there was no reason to argue; he’d been excited and wanted to share the joy with people he cared about and who cared about Maddie.
She sighed, then raised a hand and pressed her fingers to her forehead.
“As long as you two have the tree under control,” she said, “I think I’ll go for a run.” She lifted her chin and offered a weak smile. “Save me a muffin?” She retreated to her bedroom without waiting for an answer.
After changing into her running clothes and sneakers, she headed out, jogging up the slope to the parking place behind the cottage. She raced down Chowder Kettle Lane toward North Road, where she took a right, moving faster with each step, trying to escape the questions bouncing in her mind.
Should she really open the bookshop?
Or should she go back to Green Hills, where her father clearly thought that she belonged?
And … had she been fooling herself into thinking he’d want to be part of her adventure? Had it made her feel less guilty for abandoning him?
She reached Arnie’s Bait & Tackle. She stopped. The wooden sign that once flapped back and forth in the breeze off the harbor had been removed; sheets of cardboard were duct-taped to the windows. Like summer traffic, Arnie had left, but the structure still stood, waiting for her to make up her mind, now that the town fathers and mothers had made up theirs. All she had to do was sign on the dotted line.
“Arrrrgh!” she bellowed, stirring the still air.
Finally giving up, she pivoted toward the hill off Basin Road that led up to the front of the cottage. Then she walked, because running did not resolve a single thing; that day, it only made her calf muscles sore.
When the cottage came into view, she spotted Rafethrough the big, new windows, standing where the tree had been. Like Arnie—and her father, and their guests—the tree was gone now, too.
With a resigned sigh, she stepped onto the first granite slab at the front door. As always, she glanced down as she ascended, being careful not to trip. Which was when she saw an envelope sticking out from under the top step.
Her hand started to tremble as she reached to grab the envelope. Like before, bold printing on the outside read:MADDIE. She ripped the seal open. Again, a single sheet of paper was inside. It had large black felt-tip letters that read:
WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?
Chapter 12
Her breath stopped.
Her first thought was she had to tell someone.
Her thoughts whirred, with names careening through her mind.
Rex?
Grandma?
Joe?
Definitely not Rafe. She refused to upset her son for what could be no good reason.
But would the others patronize her, try to calm her down by saying it must be a prank, the way Maddie had first thought?
Maybe they’d be right, because who would do this to her? The first note had arrived when she was staying at Rex’s cabin across the harbor. Whoever sent the new one knew Maddie was back in Menemsha now, which felt more than creepy.
She wondered if someone might be trying to block her from taking over the bait and tackle, someone who might think that books and tea and scones were only for summer people, not for islanders trying to make a living. As if fishing itself wasn’t hard enough without another wrinkle, now they’d have to travel down-island for bait and supplies. It wouldn’tmatter to them that no one had stepped forward claiming they wanted to run another bait shop. They could blame Maddie, because that would be easier.
But who had known about her bookshop plans?
Only Rex and Kevin knew before the first note arrived. And Grandma, but at the time, she hadn’t taken Maddie’s idea seriously. Besides, Grandma wouldn’t try to stop her from staying on the Vineyard … would she?
As for Rex and Kevin, neither of them would have written either note. Maddie was sure of that.
