Lighthouse Beach by Shelley Noble

Author:Shelley Noble
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-05-29T04:00:00+00:00

Lillo tossed the roll of gardening twine back into her carryall and surveyed her handiwork. Two perfect rows of staked tomato plants. A job well done. Very neat work. Mrs. Oreton had been so grateful. Gave her a bag of freshly baked cookies. Oatmeal chocolate chip, Lillo’s favorite.

So why didn’t she feel more satisfied?

She picked up her carryall and headed for home.

It was a warm sunny day, Mrs. Oreton’s door thermometer had read eighty-four, practically a heat wave. Lillo wondered what Jess and Allie were doing. If Ian had welcomed Diana’s second visit or had sent her packing.

She cut diagonally across the street, nodding and waving to people who were out enjoying the weather. Several blocks later she turned onto Main Street, which looked bustling by comparison to most days. The sidewalks were actually semicrowded.

Which was probably the reason she didn’t see Doc Hartley until he was practically in front of her. She skittered to the side to miss a collision, but he’d had the same idea and they did a little dance step before finally giving up and standing still.

Lillo laughed; nervously, she thought. Took a breath. “Don’t tell me you escaped the clinic for a minute.”

He held up a brown paper bag. “Lunch.” He blew out air. “Had to take a break.”

“Clancy still not back?”

“Nope. Which is bad enough, but—” He shook his head.

“But what?”

“What’s in the bag?” He nodded to the carryall that hung over her shoulder.

“Gardening tools. I was restaking Mrs. Oreton’s tomatoes.”

“Ah,” he said.

“But what?” she prodded.

He looked around, leaned toward her. “Barb came in to help this morning and she’s driving me nuts.”

Lillo laughed outright at that. He did rather have the look of a trapped animal.

“So you escaped and left Agnes to cope?”

“Left Agnes to tell her thank you very much, but we wouldn’t be needing her this afternoon.”

“Oh, Ned. She’ll be so hurt.”

“That’s why I left Agnes to deal with it. Barb will think it’s jealousy on Agnes’s part, and I won’t get the blame and Barb won’t feel rejected.”

“Sneaky.”

“I took a whole hour off, I’ve got about forty-five minutes left. You want to share my egg-salad sandwich?”

“Thanks, but . . .”

“No buts. Just say thank you, you’re starving, and couldn’t think of anyone you’d rather have lunch with.”

What was the harm? And she used to enjoy his company.

“A cloud just passed over your head. Is it me?” Ned asked.

“No, of course not, I’d love to share your lunch. And I am starving.”

Without speaking, they crossed the street and walked down the hill toward the boat landing, continued on until they came to a little sandy beach tucked in between a rock embankment and a grassy verge.

Lillo wondered if she was making a mistake, if Ned would start badgering her about coming back to the clinic—or to medicine. But something had been happening to her in the last few days. In the days since Jess, Allie, and Diana had come to stay.

She’d forgotten what it was like to have friends near her own age.

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