Gerri Hill: Pelican's Landing

“So…are you going to take over the store?” she asked.

“For the time being, yes,” Jordan said. “I used to work in here some when I was in high school.” Jordan looked at her pointedly. “Did we know each other then?”

At that, Annie laughed. “I guess not, if you don’t remember me.”

Jordan nodded. “I don’t get back much. I never really kept in touch with anyone.”

“I was in Matt’s grade,” she explained as she walked around the counter and put her purse on the shelf. “I think you were a senior when we were just lowly freshmen.”

“I see. Well, by the time I was a senior—” But Jordan didn’t finish her sentence. Instead she paused, looking around the store. “So, the sign says we open at nine. Most of the other stores open at ten.” She looked at her watch. “Yet you’re here at eight.”

Annie nodded. “The first hour is spent getting ready. Refolding T-shirts, mainly, and getting things back in order,” she said, going to one of the displays against the wall and holding up a shirt. “Customers pick them up, look at them, then toss them on top.” She automatically folded the shirt without thinking. It was a chore she’d been doing for the last two years. Then she, too, looked at her watch. She wasn’t surprised that Jessica was late again. She was always late. But ever since…well, ever since Matt’s been gone, Jessica had been coming in later than usual.

“I’ll help you do that if you’ll first give me a quick rundown on the place,” Jordan said.

“Actually, Jessica is supposed to be here,” she said as she placed the shirt in the proper bin. She headed toward the door marked Private. “First thing, coffee.”

Jordan followed her and Annie watched as Jordan did a quick inspection, her gaze traveling across the room, landing on another door.

“That’s…his office,” Annie said quietly. She felt a lump in her throat as memories of that last night with Matt surfaced. She shook them away, instead going to the coffeepot and filling it with water.

“My mother says she thought Matt stayed here quite a bit.”

“There’s a sofa in there,” she said. “He spent a lot of nights here. During the summer, we are so busy, it was easier for him to be here.” She glanced at Jordan quickly. “There are still three weeks—four in some places—until the public schools let out, but things were already picking up. Birders,” she said.

“Birders?”

“Spring migration.”

Jordan nodded. “Oh. Bird watchers. Do you cater to them?”

“Yes. We have a whole shelf of environmental T-shirts and some funny birding shirts. Then the ironwood carvings of birds. Those are a big hit.” She added coffee grounds to the basket, then turned the coffeemaker on.

“I noticed a…a popcorn thing out there.”

Annie smiled. “Matt said the smell of freshly popped corn would bring people in off the street. And it did. We keep a bin of cold bottled water too. We make the first batch of popcorn about eleven,” she explained. “All free.”

They both turned when the door opened and a yawning Jessica came in with a mumbled “Good morning.”

“You’re late,” Annie said. “Again.”

Jessica shrugged. “Does it matter? Matt never cared if I was late.”

Annie looked at Jordan and smiled. Jordan raised her eyebrows.

“Do we have…like, timecards or something?”

“No. Matt believed in the honor system,” she said.

“Who’s she?” Jessica asked as she waited patiently beside the coffeepot as it dripped. “Did you hire someone?”

“Not exactly,” Annie said.

Jordan stepped forward and held out her hand. “I’m Jordan. Your new boss.”

Jessica at least had the good sense to look embarrassed. “New boss?”

“Yes. I’m Matt’s sister. And unlike him, I don’t believe in the honor system.” Jordan turned to Annie. “Who else is supposed to work today?”

Annie pointed to the whiteboard. “We keep the schedule up here. Staci comes in at noon, leaves at six. Jessica is here until one. This is Brandon’s long day. He comes at one and works until closing,” she said.

“So only two of you here at one time? Is that enough?”

“Well, Matt was always here too. And in the summer, he would hire a couple of high school kids to work.” The coffee had finished brewing and as soon as Jessica poured a cup, Annie did the same. “Would you like some?” she offered Jordan.

“No, thanks. I was up at five and drank a whole pot already.”

“Five? Who gets up at five?” Jessica asked as she took a sip.

“People who have work to do,” Jordan said pointedly.

Jessica nodded. “I should probably…you know, start on the T-shirts.”

Annie smiled quickly. “Good idea.”

As soon as she was out the door, Annie turned to Jordan. “She’s a liability.”

“But she’s cute,” Jordan said. “I’m sure that was why Matt hired her.”

Annie laughed. “You knew him well, I see.”

“Is that why you got hired?”

Annie felt a blush light her face. “No. I had to beg for the job,” she said honestly. “Matt likes to hire, well, younger people.”

“You’re what? Thirty?”

Annie shook her head. “Don’t rush me. I’m still clinging to twenty-nine,” she said. “Jessica, for instance, is nineteen. Brandon is twenty-three, but he’s worked here since he was in high school. Staci is twenty-one.”

Jordan stared at the schedule on the whiteboard. “So if Staci comes at noon but Jessica doesn’t leave until one, then you’ll have an hour free?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve got a ton of questions. I’d like to sit down with you and go over everything. Noon?” Jordan turned to her. “What is your schedule?”

“Well, this is the week before finals. Dead week, they call it. I’ve been able to be here every day. I’m the only one who knows how to close. But next week—”

“Finals?”

“College,” she said.

“Oh. I assumed—”

“I’m a late bloomer,” she explained. She didn’t add that it was her divorce that prompted her to go back to college.

“Okay. So today you’re here, but not next week?”

“And this weekend, if you need me.”

“Let’s go over all of that at lunch then,” Jordan said.

“That’s fine.” She pointed to the door. “I should go help Jessica. We’ll be opening soon.”

Jordan nodded. “Thanks, Annie. For taking care of things since…well, since the accident. My family…we appreciate that.”

Annie topped off her coffee cup. “It’s no problem. Matt was a friend,” she said.

She left Jordan Sims then, going out into the store where Jessica had the music already playing. Matt had insisted on oldies. Anything from the sixties or seventies. She had to admit, the music had grown on her as she hummed along with an old Beach Boys tune.

She went about the routine of straightening the items on the display shelves—mostly knickknacks depicting life on the beach. They had the customary bins of seashells, but Matt had also added rocks. Quartz and crystals, agates and geodes, and even fossils now had a prominent display along one wall. She looked around. It wasn’t your typical souvenir shop. It had a nice variety of items, not only T-shirts and coffee mugs. Matt always said he wanted to keep it diverse with a good vibe. To him, summer beach music and fresh popcorn took care of the vibe.

As if on cue, a Jimmy Buffett song came on. One of Matt’s favorites, she noted. She suddenly missed him very much.

Chapter Three

Jordan didn’t know Annie’s preference but thought she couldn’t go wrong with a turkey sandwich from Subway. She picked up two and headed back to the store. She’d spent the morning going through Matt’s bedroom at the beach house. She’d thought it would be a hard, emotional task, but there were very few personal things there. Not a single picture was to be found and the walls were bare, except for a poster showing a surfer riding a wave. Yesterday, she’d gone about the task of stacking dirty clothes in one pile and clean in another. Mostly shorts, jeans, T-shirts. She’d dropped the clean clothes off at the local Goodwill store this morning. The dirty clothes were in a bag near the washer. She’d stripped the sheets and had washed them yesterday. At two this afternoon, Maria was going to meet her out there to start cleaning. She hoped she could sleep there tonight instead of at her parents’ house.