Irene Hannon - Tides of Hope

“I gave her breakfast already, Edith. You didn’t have to do that.” Kate entered her neighbor’s back door at a more sedate pace, stopping two steps into the room.

“I wanted to. I like doing things for people I care about. Have some coffee.”

“I can’t. I’m already running late.”

“You can be at the high school in five minutes. I’ll pour you a cup to go.” Edith retrieved an insulated mug with a lid from the cabinet and lifted the pot from the coffeemaker. “Besides, I wanted to tell you about an interesting experience I had last night.”

The woman’s studied casualness put Kate on alert. “What happened?”

“I met your lieutenant at the market.” She added cream to Kate’s coffee with a quick tip of the pitcher. “I must admit, his manner wasn’t at all what I anticipated based on your description. He was charming.”

Kate’s neck grew warm. “I’ve revised my opinion a bit.”

“Since when?”

“Since he erased the citation from my record yesterday.”

“Did he, now? How interesting.” The older woman secured the lid on the mug and grinned at Kate. “Must have been your charm.”

Kate made a face at her. “Very funny.” Checking her watch, she hoisted her purse higher on her shoulder and changed the subject. “I’ve got to run, Edith. It sets a very bad example when the teachers are tardy. Call me if you have any problems with Maddie.”

“I’ve got the nebulizer routine down if we need it. Don’t worry.”

A shadow of distress tightened Kate’s features. “It’s hard not to.”

“You know what Mac would have said.”

“Yes.” The whisper of a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “‘Don’t look for trouble.’” She leaned over and hugged the gray-haired woman, who was more like family than mere neighbor or friend. “I’m sorry I’ve had to call on you so often this school year. I can’t remember ever being asked to sub this much. But the extra money’s been a godsend.”

Edith waved the comment aside. “I don’t mind in the least. Maddie’s a charmer. And speaking of charmers—the lieutenant fits that definition in my book.”

Once Edith sank her teeth into a topic, she was as hard to shake loose as the island’s notorious deer ticks, Kate reflected. “Like I said, he’s not as bad as I first thought.” She reached for the doorknob.

“He doesn’t think you’re too bad, either, despite your show of temper.”

Kate swung back. “He talked about me?”

“Only after I happened to mention we were neighbors.”

Edith’s innocent expression didn’t fool Kate. There was no happen to about it. When the Lighthouse Lane matron was on a mission, she could be as single-minded as a Nantucket whaler of old in hot pursuit of his quarry. Kate clutched her purse strap as her pulse accelerated. “You didn’t tell him what I said about him, did you?”

“Of course not.” Edith sniffed and gave her an indignant look. “That was between the two of us. I merely mentioned I’d known you for years and that you were a wonderful person—and a hard worker. He said he’d been impressed by your determination and complimented the Lucy Sue. Called her a fine boat, and said you’d taken great care of her.”

“What else did you two talk about?”

“Nothing.” The corners of Edith’s mouth turned down in disgust. “His cell phone rang just as the conversation was getting interesting. Some emergency at the station.”

Expelling a relieved breath, Kate once more hitched her purse into position. “I’ll be back around three-thirty.”

“Bye, Mommy.” Maddie waved and took another huge bite of cinnamon toast.

Smiling, Kate moved beside her daughter to place a quick peck on her cheek. “Be good for Mrs. Shaw, okay?”

“Okay.”

“See you later, Edith.” With a wave, Kate let herself out.

For the next five minutes, as she navigated the maze of narrow streets that led to the school, Kate considered Edith’s chance encounter with the lieutenant. Thank goodness his cell phone had interrupted their conversation, or Edith would have told the commander her neighbor’s life story. The embellished version, Kate suspected.

As it was, Edith had only managed to get in a brief complimentary remark. To which the lieutenant has responded that he’d admired Kate’s determination.

Determination. That was a generous way to describe her approach in their first two altercations, she supposed, considering hostility and rudeness might be more accurate. She should be grateful for his diplomacy.

Yet she found herself wishing he’d been able to find some other quality to admire. Intelligence, strength, vivaciousness, competence…it would have been nice if he’d noticed one of those attributes.

Shaking her head, Kate chided herself for her silly waste of brain power. The lieutenant had wiped her record clean. That was the important thing. It shouldn’t matter what he thought about her.

Yet, much to her annoyance, it did.

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