Page 2 of A Future in the Bay

It will have to do,she thought, sighing again.At least the inside is better than the outside—and I can doctor up the inside pretty easily.

She smiled wryly at her unintentional pun, taking one more look around the examination room. She stepped out of it and began to explore the rest of the clinic—looking into closets and bathrooms and taking mental notes on what they needed to stock up on.

Once she’d finished exploring, she stood again in the lobby, watching the sunlight flicker across the floorboards. Unexpectedly, she felt a moment of peace and relief, and a surge of gratitude that she had the chance to start a new life.

Things were going to get better, she told herself firmly. She might have started out her time in Blueberry Bay with a disappointment, but that meant that things could only go up from there.

She picked up her suitcase and began to roll it toward a doorway that was marked “Private, Do Not Enter.” She smiled to herself as she opened it—there was something fun about owning the secret space behind a “forbidden” door.

In front of her was a narrow staircase, and she grimaced, realizing how difficult it was going to be to lug her giant suitcase up it. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, and then started up the steps, tugging her suitcase along behind her.

By the time she reached the upper apartment, she was out of breath and sweating along her hairline. She pushed open the upper door with her shoulder and stepped inside her new apartment.

It was very cute, she couldn’t deny it. It was also definitely old—she could tell from the windows and the arched doorways—but it had been excellently maintained, and she found it charming. Leaving her suitcase by the front door, she started to explore it with interest, scampering from room to room almost girlishly.

As she explored, she pictured where all of her things were going to go. The rest of her belongings were arriving the next day, and she felt excited about beginning to nestle into her new home. It was just the right size—large enough to feel roomy, and small enough to be cozy. She pictured where she wanted to put her couch, and where she wanted to hang various framed prints she still had.

If I squint hard enough, I can picture this place filled with my own things,she thought, feeling impatient to make it feel less empty.

She realized that she should go back downstairs and lock the front door—she was used to never leaving anything unlocked back at her former place. Her stomach grumbled, and she reminded herself that she would need to get dinner for herself at some point. She would probably order takeout. She felt too tiredto try to cook something—and then she realized she was silly to even consider it, since her pots and pans were still in boxes inside the moving van.

Suddenly feeling exhausted, she went back down the narrow staircase. It was almost surprising how quick of a trip it was, in comparison to how long it had taken her to bring the suitcase upstairs.

She crossed the small lobby in a few short strides and locked the front door. Outside the windows of her practice, she could see that dusk was beginning to fall. She realized that her apartment was going to be mostly dark before her lamps arrived.

She sat down on one of the chairs in the lobby. It was as if all of the feelings that she’d been rushing around trying to avoid feeling caught up with her in that moment.

She looked around at the little lobby and sighed, thinking about the blur that had been her last few weeks. Suddenly she missed her old life terribly—she didn’t feel ready for everything to change like this, all at once. She’d wanted to escape New Hampshire and get a fresh start.

But was this really the right answer?

Isaiah Dunlap grinned to himself as he parked his motorcycle on the street outside Blueberry Bay’s Little Clams Elementary School. He was there to surprise his sister Olivia Dunlap, who was a teacher at the school. She didn’t expect him to arrive until the next day, and he was gleefully making his way inside the school unbeknownst to her.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and double-checked his last text from Olivia, stating that she was getting work done atthe school that afternoon. He glanced at the time, making sure she was still inside the building, and grinned.

He’d always been one for surprises. And pranks. He’d pulled some truly impressive pranks on Olivia when they were growing up—but today’s surprise was sure to make her happy. The plastic frogs in her cereal when she was eight hadn’t made her too happy.

He got off his motorcycle, already feeling stealthy, even though he’d been sneaky enough to ask her to send him a picture of her classroom, so he knew that the windows faced the opposite street. He walked toward the back entrance of the school, trying to look casual, with his hands tucked into the pockets of his leather jacket.

He knew from Olivia that classes were over for the day, but there were still a fair amount of cars parked in the parking lot of Little Clams. He figured that other teachers were doing what Olivia was doing—choosing to get work done there at the school instead of at home. Maybe there was even a meeting or something going on.

He began to whistle as he strolled up to the back door, and then he stopped himself. He shouldn’t be whistling—that might draw attention to himself. Olivia might be anywhere around the school instead of in her classroom—he didn’t want her to glance out a window and see him.

He rang the buzzer of the back door and was let inside. He stopped by the office to check in, and the receptionist gave him a conspiratorial grin when he said he was there to surprise his sister Olivia.

“Do you know where her classroom is?” the receptionist asked.

“Not exactly—could you point me in the right direction?” He flashed a charismatic grin, and she grinned back.

“Down the hall, to the left, and then four doors down. Her name will be on the door so you can’t miss it.”

“Perfect. Thanks for your help!”

He stepped back out into the hallway, repressing an urge to whistle again. He felt excited to see his sister—it had been way too long since he’d been able to spend time with her. He was eager to have some quality time with her in Blueberry Bay.

As he passed one of the playrooms, his eyes lighted on a Jack-in-the-Box that was resting on one of the little tables.

“Oh, that will be perfect,” he muttered, and stepped inside the room to borrow the toy.

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