“The first thing I’m going to do is eat an apple,” Annie replied as she settled the last crate into the Range Rover.
She went back to get her own meager order from the dozen or so crates waiting to be claimed. She inspected the names on each one but couldn’t find hers. She checked again. NORTON . . . CARMINE . . . GIBSON . . . ALVAREZ . . . NO HEWITT. NO MOONRAKER COTTAGE.
As she searched for the third time, she caught the scent of Barbara’s floral cologne behind her. “Something wrong?”
“My groceries aren’t here,” Annie said. “Only the ones for Harp House. Somebody must have taken mine by mistake.”
“More likely the new girl at the grocery messed up again,” Barbara said. “Last month she forgot half of my order.”
Annie’s good mood vanished. First the break-in at the cottage and now this. She’d been here two weeks. She had no bread, no milk, nothing but a few canned goods left and some rice. How was she going to wait another week for the next ferry, providing the boat could even make the crossing?
“It’s cold enough for your things to hold in the car for half an hour,” Barbara said. “Come to the house with me, and I’ll give you a cup of coffee. You can call the store from there.”
“Could you give me one of your apples, too?” Annie asked glumly.
The older woman smiled. “Sure.”
The kitchen smelled of bacon and Barbara’s perfume. She handed Annie an apple and began putting away her own groceries. Annie called the clerk on the mainland who was in charge of the islanders’ orders and explained what had happened, but the clerk sounded more annoyed than apologetic. “I got a message saying you’d canceled your order.”
“But I didn’t.”
“Then I guess somebody doesn’t like you.”
Barbara put a pair of floral coffee mugs on the table as Annie hung up. “Somebody canceled my order.”
“Are you sure? That girl screws up all the time.” Barbara retrieved a cookie tin from the cupboard. “Still . . . Things like that do happen around here. If somebody has a grudge, they make a phone call.” She opened the lid revealing a waxed paper nest filled with frosted sugar cookies.
Annie sat down, but she’d lost her appetite, even for the apple. Barbara took a cookie for herself. She’d penciled in one eyebrow a little crookedly, which made her look slightly barmy, but there wasn’t anything crazy about her straightforward gaze. “I’d like to say that things will get better for you, but who knows?”
Not what Annie wanted to hear. “There’s no reason for anyone to hold a grudge against me.” Except maybe Theo.
“And no reason why feuds spring up. I love Peregrine, but it isn’t for everyone.” She held the cookie tin out to Annie, shaking it to encourage her, but Annie shook her head. Barbara snapped the lid back on. “I’m probably nosing in where I don’t belong, but you’re about the same age as Lisa, and it’s obvious you’re not happy here. I’d hate to see you leave, but you don’t have family on the island, and you shouldn’t be miserable, either.”
Barbara’s concern meant everything to her, and Annie fought the urge to confide about the forty-six days she still had to spend here and the debts she couldn’t pay off, about her distrust of Theo and her fears for her future, but she wouldn’t do any of that.
“Thanks, Barbara. I’ll be fine.”
As she drove back to Harp House, she thought about how much smarter age and debt were making her. No more trying to patch a living together with puppets and odd jobs. No more worries about a nine-to-five job conflicting with auditions. She’d find something with a regular paycheck and a nice, cushy 401(k).
You’ll hate it, Scamp said.
“Not as much as I hate being poor,” Annie retorted.
Even Scamp couldn’t argue with that.
ANNIE SPENT THE REST OF the day at Harp House. On a trip to dump the trash, she spotted something odd in front of the tree stump near Livia’s hideout. Two rows of short sticks had been stuck in the ground in front of the gnarled hollow at the base of the stump. Half a dozen strips of bark lay across the top like a roof. She hadn’t seen this yesterday, so Livia must have sneaked out today. Annie wished Jaycie would talk about her daughter’s muteness. The child was such a mystery.
The Range Rover disappeared later that afternoon, so Annie left in plenty of time to get back to the cottage on foot before dark. But since she’d filled both a plastic bag and her backpack with groceries from Harp House, she had to keep stopping to rest. Even from a distance, she could see the Range Rover parked in front of the cottage. That wasn’t fair. He was supposed to be gone by the time she returned home. The last thing she wanted was a battle with Theo, but if she didn’t stand up to him now, he’d plow her down.