Мэри Эндрюс - The Newcomer

Now was not the time to run, she decided. Maya needed to feel safe. She needed time to forget the trauma of whatever she had witnessed. And Letty needed time. To think, and plan. To figure out what their future would look like and yes, to find out what Tanya’s attachment was to the Murmuring Surf.

This morning, Maya was bright-eyed and cheerful, as though nothing had happened at the beach on Sunday, but Letty was what Mimi would have called “a hot mess.”

She donned the pink polo shirt with the Murmuring Surf embroidered logo, dabbed some concealer onto the dark circles under her eyes, and pulled her hair into a ponytail. “Okay, let’s go to work,” she told her niece.

“You’re early,” Ava exclaimed, as Letty and Maya entered the Murmuring Surf office.

“Gotta make a good impression on my first day,” Letty said.

“How are you this morning, Miss Maya?” Ava asked, kneeling down so that she was at eye level with the little girl.

“I got all my stuff in here,” Maya said proudly, holding out her Frozen pocketbook for inspection.

Ava dutifully looked inside the purse, holding up each item for examination. “Mmm-hmm. Lipstick, comb, granola bar, jewelry box…”

“What?” Letty grabbed the black velvet box, her heart pounding. “Maya, you’re not supposed to have this.”

The little girl’s upper lip began to quiver. “Mommy said it was for me. I want it.”

Letty didn’t dare open the box in front of Ava, but as she tucked it in her pocket she could feel something rattling inside the box. Maya had always loved playing with the contents of Tanya’s jewelry box, draping her neck and wrists with ropes of fake pearls, gaudy colored beads and gold chains. Before Tanya split with Evan, when she still wore the push present diamond ring, she’d sometimes allow Maya to slip the ring onto her thumb to admire it.

“It is for you, sweetie, but not until you’re more grown-up,” Letty said gently, hoping to forestall another temper tantrum. She had no idea how or when Maya had managed to find Tanya’s tote bag when she’d gone to such pains to hide it in their room, but the first chance she got she would check to make sure Maya hadn’t appropriated anything else—like cash. And she would find a new hiding place for the go-bag.

“Here,” Ava said impulsively, removing the jeweled pink flamingo brooch she wore pinned to her blouse. “Why don’t you wear this today, since it’s your first day on staff.”

“Oh no,” Letty protested. “That’s not necessary.”

“I want her to have it,” Ava said. “It’s just junk jewelry. I went through a flamingo phase a few years ago and I’ve got more flamingo coffee mugs and napkin holders and pins and earrings than I know what to do with. I probably have three or four more of those pins the kids gave me for Mother’s Day or my birthday.”

Maya looked down at the flamingo’s glittering pink stones and grinned. “Mine.”

“Now that we’ve got that settled, you two, come around back here,” Ava said, beckoning to the reception desk.

A red plastic child-size table and chair stood behind the counter, with a small box of crayons and a pad of paper. “That was my Isabelle’s when she was your age,” Ava told Maya, who promptly seated herself at the table and began sorting the crayons. “Good thing I decided to hang on to it for those grandchildren Joe still hasn’t given me.”

“He doesn’t have kids?” Letty asked.

“No wife, no kids. I think that last girlfriend of his did a number on him. Too bad, because I really thought maybe she was the one.”

Ava shook her head. “Oh well. Let me show you my command center.”

She powered up the computer monitor and clicked on an icon, and the screen lit up. “This shows all our bookings by the day, week, and month. If you arrow over to the right, you can see next month’s bookings. We’re full up right now, which we almost always are this time of year, with all our regulars.”

Letty nodded.

“The Polaceks went back home to Pittsburgh yesterday,” Ava said, pointing to a square on the screen. “Earlier than usual, because their daughter is having a baby, and Dorothy wants to be there. So this afternoon, if you’re up to it, you can help Anita turn unit twelve. That’s the aqua one with the hot-pink door.”

“I’m up for whatever you need me to do,” Letty said.

“Good. Because Bill and Alice Sheehan are supposed to get in tonight from Boston. They usually stay in unit nine, but when I let them know the Polaceks were going home early, Alice jumped at the chance to get their unit, because it’s got that nice screened porch on the back.”

“All the units aren’t the same?” Letty asked.

“Oh no. The Surf only had ten units when it was built right after the war,” Ava said. “The Doughertys, the couple we bought it from, added onto it over the years. The original units in the north wing are pretty simple, a bedroom, kitchenette, sitting area, and bathroom.” She gestured to the office. “If you can believe it, this was where the Doughertys lived. This front room was the office, and the back, which I use for storage and supplies, was their living area. They raised two daughters in that little bitty space! But when the oldest was a teenager, Elsie finally got Dick to add the second story where we now live.”

“And the additional units?” Letty asked.

“Dick and his brother built those back in the sixties,” Ava said. “My understanding is, there was an old wood-frame house on the south side of the property. It got hit pretty bad in a hurricane, and the owners sold it for eight thousand dollars to the Doughertys, who then tore it down and built those other six units.”

“Eight thousand for a Gulf-front lot?” Letty asked.

Ava shrugged. “That was a lot of money back then. Anyway, all those units on the south side of the property have either a small screened porch or a little patio on the back. They have a proper dining area and the living room is big enough for a pull-out sleeper sofa, which our regulars love, because it means they can have their kids or grandkids come down for a few days, without paying for a motel.”

“I’ll bet those units are pretty popular,” Letty said.

“Well, the Gulf-view units on the west are the ones everybody wants. You better believe it. If I had ten more of the bigger units, I could keep ’em full year-round. As it is, I have a waiting list.”

“So, no check-ins until tonight?” Letty asked.

“That’s right. No checkouts, either. It should be a pretty boring morning for you. Just answer the phone, take messages, deal with the guests. I’ve got a dentist’s appointment at nine, and then I’m meeting an old friend for coffee after that. I should be back before lunchtime.”

“Got it,” Letty said.

Ava pointed to a stack of glossy colored flyers. “Our new brochures and rate cards. Just picked them up from the printer. The mailing labels are there too. If you would, insert the rate cards in the flyers, staple ’em closed, and stick the mailing labels on the front.”

She held out her hand. “Give me your phone. I’ll put my number in it, and if you have any questions or run into trouble you can give me a call.”

“Okay,” Letty said, and took a deep breath. “I guess Maya and I are on the job.”

“MOD,” Ava said.

“Huh?”

“Managers on duty. Good luck.”

10

THE CHIMES ON THE OFFICE door sounded. Her guest was an elderly man with a fringe of silver hair and an aggrieved expression on his suntanned face. He was dressed in one of those violently patterned terry-cloth beach jackets and matching trunks.

“You’re not Ava,” he said, looking over her shoulder.