Мэри Эндрюс - The Newcomer

“Crap,” Sierra said. “We can’t try another password, or we’ll get locked out of her account. We’ll give it forty-eight hours and try again. In the meantime, think about other possibilities like her husband’s birthday? Or their anniversary?”

“I’m not sure of either one, but they weren’t married, and they were definitely not on friendly terms,” Letty said. “So it probably doesn’t matter.”

“Street where you grew up? Your high school mascot?” Sierra asked. “Any pets?”

“No. Tanya was allergic to cats. We had a beagle when we were kids, named Snoopy, but Evan thought dogs were dirty. He didn’t allow pets in any of his properties.”

“Wow, what a creep,” Sierra said. “Hey, what about an old boyfriend?”

Isabelle overheard the suggestion and sniggered. “Would you use Farber’s name as your password?”

“Shut it,” Sierra said. “Farbs is dead to me.”

“Tomorrow let’s try Declan, or Rooney, or both,” Letty said.

“Sorry,” Sierra said, closing her laptop. She picked up the nanny cam and examined it again. “Would it be okay if I took this and showed it to one of my friends from school?”

Letty hesitated.

“Never mind,” Sierra said. She took her phone from a pocket of the backpack and began photographing the camera. “He might not even know anything about nanny cams, but I’ll show him these pictures anyway.”

“Thanks,” Letty said. “In the meantime, I’ll keep trying to think of other possibilities for the password.”

“Cool.” Sierra hitched her backpack over her shoulder and looked around the motel room. “Do you guys actually live here? I mean, like Isabelle and her mom do?”

“For now.”

“That’s so awesome. We live in a boring old house that looks exactly like everybody else’s in the world,” Sierra said. “I always wanted to be like those Boxcar Children, you know? Live in an old caboose or something, out in the woods, with just a dog and a bunch of junk you find at the dump.”

“Yeah, just as long as the caboose had Wi-Fi and a microwave and cable,” Isabelle retorted. “You’re so crazy, Sierra.” She stood up and ruffled Maya’s hair. “Okay, Maya Papaya, gotta go now. See you later, alligator.”

Maya rolled over and flashed the babysitter a conspiratorial grin. “After a while, you big fat crocodile!”

24

AVA LOOKED OUT THE PLATE-GLASS window of the motel office and sighed. Letty followed her gaze. It was Monday morning and Sheila Bronson and her daughter were loading luggage into the cargo hold of a silver minivan.

“I sure hate to see them go like this,” Ava said. “Sheila is worried sick about making that long drive home so soon after Harry got out of the hospital.”

“You’d think their daughter could help her talk sense into him,” Letty said.

“No. Once a man that age has his mind made up, you can’t talk him out of nothin’.”

Sheila Bronson leaned up against the registration desk. Her face was pink and slick with perspiration. “I guess that’s it then,” she said, placing the key with the plastic tag on the glass-topped counter. “I’m sorry to leave you in the lurch like this, Ava. Harry wanted me to ask you to refund us for the six weeks’ rent left for our unit, but I told him no. It’s his own damn fault we’re leaving early.”

Ava grasped Sheila’s hand in hers. “I appreciate that. You all take care driving home, and let us know how things are going after Harry sees his regular doctor up there. We’ll all be thinking about you.”

A horn beeped from outside. Sheila swiped at a tear rolling down her cheek. “I better get going before he gives himself another heart attack.”

“Bye, Sheila,” Letty said, going around the counter to hug the older woman, who squeezed her tightly.

Five minutes later, Merwin Maples was standing at the registration desk. “Ava, since the Bronsons have moved out, Trudi and I want their old unit. Trudi’s already started packing up our stuff, so as soon as you get Anita in there to clean it, we can be ready to move over there.”

“Sorry, Merwin, but the Bronsons’ unit is already spoken for,” Ava said pleasantly.

“What’s that? Spoken for by who? That’s outrageous. Trudi and I have been coming here longer than anyone else here at the Surf. We should have first priority.”

“That’s actually not how it works around here. I’ll let you know if anything else comes available, but in the meantime, maybe you better tell Trudi she can stop packing.”

Letty waited until he’d stomped angrily out of the office. “Wow. He didn’t even wait an hour before coming in here to demand the Bronsons’ unit. And Harry is his best buddy. That’s what I call cold.”

“He’s used to getting his way,” Ava said. “But unfortunately for Merwin, I’m not so easy to bulldoze anymore.”

Letty craned her neck to see the Murmuring Surf sign out by the road. “Who did you rent the Bronsons’ unit to? I didn’t even see the vacancy sign lit up until just now.”

“I thought I’d move you and Maya over there,” Ava said. “After all, it’s paid for until after Easter, and that little efficiency you’re in is way too small a space for you to be trying to raise a child. The good news is, since you cleared out the old storage room and it’s a viable room again, I can easily rent it at market rate.”

A slow smile spread over Letty’s face. “For real? You’d let us move into the Bronsons’ unit? That place is twice the size of ours.”

“You’ve earned it,” Ava said. “I honestly don’t know how I’ve been running this place all this time without you. I called Anita, and she’s going to come in early today to turn their unit. You should be able to move over there this afternoon.”

“But what about Merwin? Won’t he be pissed you’re letting me have the Bronsons’ room?”

“You let me worry about that old goat,” Ava said. “In the meantime, why don’t you run back over to your place and take some photos of it all neatened up and cute? The sooner we get it listed on our website, the sooner I can get it rented for the rest of the season. I’m always getting inquiries from singles who want a smaller, cheaper efficiency.”

Letty rolled her suitcase across the threshold of unit 11, stopped, and exhaled. The tile floor sparkled and smelled of Pine-Sol. She was standing in the combined living and dining room, which held a sofa, armchair, and coffee table, as well as a table with four wooden chairs. A counter-height bar separated the dining area from the compact kitchen alcove, with a full-size refrigerator, stove, and dishwasher. On the other side of the room, an open pocket door revealed the bedroom, with a queen-size bed, a double dresser, and a closet. She poked her head in the bathroom, which had obviously been updated. The white tile floor gleamed, as did the combined tub and shower.

“Look, Letty,” Maya said, pointing to the far side of the bedroom, where a small rollaway bed was made up with fresh linens and a pink flowered bedspread. “That’s where I sleep!” She ran to the bed and placed Ellie on the pillow. “Ellie sleeps here too!”

The very best aspect of their new home was a set of sliding glass doors that let out on a tiny courtyard garden.

Letty opened the sliders and stepped out onto the courtyard. The space held a pair of wrought-iron patio chairs with a small table between them, but every other inch of free space was a lush green garden.

Harry Bronson’s hobby was in full flower. A pair of tall potted palms were planted on either side of the low garden gate, and other pots held blooming hibiscus plants, a fragrant gardenia shrub, and feathery ferns. Huge staghorn ferns grew from boards that had been hung on the fence, which was nearly covered with sweet-smelling jasmine. Pots of blooming white and pink orchids hung from the low branches of a shade tree. There was a dwarf citrus tree whose limbs drooped with almost ripe lemons, and there were terra-cotta pots growing parsley and chives, and cherry tomatoes in various stages of ripening.