Page 6 of An Island Summer
Meghan nodded, trying to keep her emotions in check. Maybe after a good night’s sleep she’d be stronger.
As if consoling his master, Charlie nudged Meghan’s hand with his snout. She reached down and wrapped her arms around her faithful companion, breathing in the serenity that he gave her. Pappy’s words came to mind:If I do one thing right, it’s to teach you that whatever’s going on in your life, calm is within you. Sometimes, you just have to wade through the deep waters to find it. She was lucky to have Charlie while she made her way through those deep waters.
“Where should we start, Charlie?” she asked him with a sniffle. In answer, he pulled away and walked into Pappy’s bedroom, sniffing as if on the hunt.
“Your mama might need to start somewhere a little less stressful,” Tess called to the dog, making Meghan smile despite the tightness in her chest.
“It’s okay,” she said. “Let me see what he’s doing.”
While Tess grabbed the leather cleaner and a rag, heading over to tackle the sofa, Meghan followed Charlie into Pappy’s bedroom and clicked on the light. She hadn’t allowed herself to go in until now. The covers were still pulled up haphazardly from when he’d made it last, and his plaid slippers were half under the bed where he’d always put them.
“Whatcha want for breakfast, sport?” he’d ask, shuffling into the kitchen in those slippers with the local newspaper under his arm and the patches of hair that had remained from his youth, on either side of his head, wildly out of place. “Pancakes or French toast? Or cookies?” he’d say, wiggling his fingers until they reached her side, making her laugh.
“Cookies!”she’d say, as her bare feet swung above the floor, her little nightgown draped over her legs, not a care in the world about the age she saw on his face or the slight limp in his walk from arthritis. She’d never considered back then that one day she’d be without him.
Charlie, who had been sniffing around the room, sneezed.
“I know. It’s mighty dusty in here,” she said, trying not to completely fall apart at the thought of stripping Pappy’s bed. She took a moment and walked around the room, stopping at the small alcove with shelving by the closet and smiling at a photo of Pappy and Gram. Gram’s head was tilted back in laughter while Pappy nuzzled her cheek, his arms around her tiny waist. Meghan looked away, tears surfacing. Her gaze roamed the mustard walls, the old plaid curtains in shades of brown, the braided rug that lay under the bed, covering the warm hardwood floor. Gingerly, she leaned across the bed and took one of the pillows, turning it over and pressing it to her face, Pappy’s scent lingering only slightly. How she wished she could feel his warm hug.
“I cleaned the sofa off first since it’s getting late, and in case this is too difficult for you,” Tess said, taking a step into the room and putting a protective hand on Meghan’s shoulder. “If you want, you can sleep in my room instead of your grandfather’s and I can take the sofa. I’m stripping the bed and putting sheets on next.”
“It’s okay. I have to face this sometime,” Meghan said, waving a hand around the room. “But thanks. I’m so glad you came.”
“Well, when my best friend runs off to be a chef, I wouldn’t miss her debut.”
Meghan smiled for the first time since she’d been back at the cottage. “Baby steps,” she said, unboxing a set of sheets for his bed. “I’m just hoping to find an opening at a bar right now.”
“I’ve had your beef stew in red wine sauce,” Tess said. “It won’t be long.”
FOUR
The morning waves crashed in rough, bubbling spray, splashing up and depositing water spots on Meghan’s purple top as she walked along the shore in the surf. Charlie dropped his ball at her bare feet, the toy sliding toward the water in the undertow until she grabbed hold of it. She tossed the ball, barely able to keep sight of it, her eyes stinging from salt and exhaustion.
After staying up late to clean, she hadn’t slept well in Pappy’s room, memories of him flooding her all night, making her restless. At one point, she would’ve sworn he’d sat down on the edge of her bed. “I gave this place toyou, Meghan,” she’d heard him say. The dream had been so vivid that she’d sat up in bed with a gasp, causing Charlie to wake and snuggle in by her side. She hadn’t really gone back to sleep after that.
“You’re up early,” Tess called from behind her now, hobbling down the sand dune. She stepped up next to Meghan. “How long have you been out here?”
“Oh, I don’t know. About an hour?” When Charlie returned, Meghan picked up the ball again and chucked it down the beach, the Labrador taking off after it like a bolt of lightning. “I couldn’t sleep very well.”
Tess held her hair out of her eyes in the coastal wind. “Are you sure this was a good idea, coming back here?”
“I’ve been wondering that myself,” Meghan replied, turning back to get a view of the shingled cottage with its wide front porch and working shutters that Pappy used to slam closed before the hurricanes came through. “I don’t want to move a thing. I feel like, if I do, it’ll dislodge a memory and somehow make it evaporate into thin air.”
Tess smiled at her. “Your memories are yours forever. Even though you don’t want to disturb anything, maybe the change could be a good thing. I wonder if you’d be able to handle this better if you just went ahead and made the house your own—ripped off the Band-Aid.”
Meghan knew she’d have to sometime. Maybe Tess was right. Even though it was so incredibly difficult. “It would force me to move forward…”
Charlie dropped the ball again, the bright red toy spinning in the movement of the water. Meghan tossed it out toward the waves, the dog diving into them and emerging with a wild shake, the ball in his mouth. He trotted down the shore in front of them.
“Why don’t we get our mind off it and go into town, have a look around at some of the shops, and get a coffee or something? Maybe we can find a few beachy knickknacks to bring back to make it feel more like you.”
Meghan gave her friend an amused grin. Tess never seemed to worry about anything. “We need to find a job.”
“Yes, we do. But once we’re working, we’ll have less time to shop.” Tess grabbed Meghan by the arm and hooked hers through it before giving her a lighthearted grin. Then she sobered. “And I think you need to take a minute to come to terms with all this. Let’s not jump from the frying pan into the fire, you know? I can cover the utilities for a few months if we don’t get jobs right away. After all, I’m living rent-free for the summer.”
Meghan sucked in a deep breath of salty air and looked out at the pink and orange sky that was quickly burning off to a vibrant blue, the sun on her face. “Coffee sounds delicious, doesn’t it?”
“We deserve a day off, you know?” Tess said, dropping Meghan’s arm and squatting down to lift a perfect white ark clam shell out of the sand. “Just one day. Then we’ll start looking for jobs. One day won’t make or break us.”
