The Beach House

by Vicky Jones

  “I know you hate not being able to look after me, honey, but it’s the same for me, with you in here. I couldn’t manage the day to day on my own.” She patted her husband on the arm. “But, I see the gardener is taking your advice on how to trim those wisteria bushes.” She nodded over to the corner of the garden.

  “Yeah, well, I’m not completely useless,” Judge Barker said, taking a sip of his tea. His hand shook as he lifted his glass, leaving a thin trickle of tea running down his chin.

  “Oh, honey, let me get that for you.” Minnie clasped her handkerchief to his chin.

  “Thank you, my darling.”

  “Hey Bert,” Lula greeted as she walked into the bar and up to the counter. Receiving only a grunt back, Lula sat on a stool next to her. “Jeez, what’s got your goat?”

  “I went over to the garage this morning. Checked out my competition,” Bertie replied.

  Lula sat forward, her eyes bright at the mention of Shona. “Yeah?” She licked her lips. “What’s she like?” Bertie gave her a sharp look. Lula floundered then set herself right. “Did you find out how she managed to buy that place from underneath you?”

  “Apparently her sister bought it for her. I tell you one thing though, about that Chloe and our new blonde friend.” Bertie paused to sip her drink. Lula waited for the sentence to continue, then stomped her foot.

  “What?” she prompted.

  “I know for a fact they ain’t sisters.”

  Lula’s face darkened. “They’re together then? For sure?” Her voice was quiet.

  “Oh yeah, and I’m sure they wouldn’t want this town to find out what I saw Chloe doing to Shona up against that work bench,” Bertie sniggered as she sipped the shot.

  Chloe entered the doctor’s office for her first official check-up. Nurse Marion ushered her into the treatment room.

  “Well, Mrs. Clark, how are you today? Please. Sit.” Marion held out a chair for her, then seated herself at her small desk.

  “I’m doing OK, considering,” Chloe began.

  “I’m sure. So…” Marion fixed her with her laser stare. “Is there a nice strong husband at home helping you out with all the baby furniture and…everything?” Her eyes were unblinking.

  Chloe fidgeted. “Well, now, I was told Doctor Thomas would be overseeing all of my check-ups. Is he available?”

  Marion shifted uneasily in her seat. “Well, he is a very busy man.” She cleared her throat, “I can assure you I am more than qualified. I just want to know you’re receiving all the help and support you need for this very trying time.” Her voice remained pleasant but had a little more bite to it now.

  “I’m sure you do. However, I’d much prefer to speak to Doctor Thomas, if that would be OK with you?” Chloe added when she saw no flicker of compliance from Nurse Marion.

  “As you wish, ma’am. I’ll go see if he’s available. Won’t be a tick.”

  Marion rose out of her seat and left the room.

  “Vegetables have gone up in price again,” Chloe announced as she climbed into the truck after her doctor’s appointment. Shona had just finished locking up for the evening.

  “Yeah? About that. I was thinking of maybe planting a garden round the back of the house. It gets a lot of sun there. I’ll have to test the soil first, but I figured I could grow some carrots, ‘taters, maybe some fruit trees? Then we never have to worry about another recession happening. What do you think?” Shona smiled as she looked back over to Chloe, who seemed lost in her thoughts, gazing out of the window, her head resting on her palm as the truck rumbled along. “Honey? You alright?”

  Chloe snapped back into the here and now. “What? Oh yeah, sorry. Just baby brain, I guess. What were you saying?”

  Shona laughed off her concerns. “Oh, nothing. Say, I met a friendly local today.”

  “Who? Not Marion from the doctor’s office, was it? She’s sniffing round looking for gossip. Avoid that one.”

  “No. But that reminds me. I need to go in there sometime and sort out our health insurance. We’re gonna need it in a few months.” Shona nodded down to Chloe’s stomach. “It was Bertie. The woman who owns the bar? Says you bought the garage from underneath her nose. She’s pretty pissed,” Shona added with a wry smile.

  “Yeah, well, that’s too bad. I bought that place fair and square, and if this Bertie don’t like it then I don’t give a rat’s ass. She’ll just have to get used to the idea.”

  Shona looked back over at Chloe and raised her eyebrows, smiling. “Somehow, I don’t think she will. She told me she’d seen us the other day. In the garage that day I locked up early. She looked through the side window and…”

  “What?” Chloe gasped, then reddened. “Will she tell anyone?”

  “No, I don’t think so. I think she wants to keep me in her pocket.” Shona shuddered at the thought.

  Chloe sighed, knowing that the damage had been done. “Well, no point worrying about that now. We just need to be more careful. And board that damn window up,” she added.

  “I’m sorry. I’ll do it first thing tomorrow. What should I do about Bertie?” Shona turned to look at Chloe.

  “You’ll just have to charm her like you charmed me.” Chloe paused, realizing what she’d said. “Well, not exactly like that, of course.”

  “I only got eyes for you, baby,” Shona chimed in, resting her hand on Chloe’s knee. “Anyway, hopefully I’ll be able to make the town see I only wanna do good there. I did a few jobs for free today. I remember how it felt when I fell on hard times. Harry taught me the right way to be and I wanna honor that. I used to thank the Lord above if anyone did me a favor. Now I finally got the chance to give back.”

  “I know, honey. That just makes me love you even more,” Chloe replied, her brown eyes shining in the late afternoon sun. “If that were even possible.”

  “You really think we can do this?” Shona began, her palm resting on Chloe’s stomach.

  “Yes. I do,” Chloe replied, without even a second to think. “No matter how it came about, this is the family I’ve always dreamed of.”

  Shona swallowed the lump in her throat, thinking of the moment she’d found out about Kyle’s attack on Chloe and the rage it had caused in her heart. She’d wanted to tear Kyle apart limb from limb that day, but seeing Chloe now safe with her, Shona knew that he could never ever hurt her again. Now they could be a real family.

  Chapter 12

  “Another letter to Elbie?” Chloe asked over the breakfast table.

  Shona looked up and smiled. “No. I thought I’d write to Dorothy, let her know how things are with everything. I thought of calling, but you know how much she likes receiving my letters.” She grinned at Chloe who nodded.

  “Yeah, she loves you like her own. Maybe we should invite her to stay sometime? Would you like that, honey?”

  “Of course, I’d love to see her again. But I doubt she’d be able to drive this far, not with her eyesight the way it’s been going lately. And it’s not as if we can go back there in in plain sight in a hurry, not after how I left,” Shona added.

  “You really think they’ll still remember?”

  Shona stared down at the table. “Folks always remember the bad stuff.”

  “Well, I think you should invite her. Maybe she’ll get the bus or something?”

  “Maybe,” Shona said. “You know what, I keep thinking how I always seem to end up in the wrong place. I got run out of Louisiana for who I was, or who people thought I was; then I got run out of Mississippi, through no fault of my own, then I end up in Alabama, a place that damn near almost killed me. Now here, I got Bertie already sniffing around, not happy with me muscling in on her territory.” She paused and let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t know, maybe we shoulda gone to a bigger city? We might have blended in a bit better.” Shona began to pick at the skin on her index finger.

  Chloe walked around the back of Shona and wrapped her arms around her. Nuzzling her mouth into her neck, she kissed her. “We just need to
try harder to get to know folks around here. That takes time. Honey, I can’t imagine one decent person not liking you when they get to know the real you.” She spun Shona around on her stool to face her then cupped her face in her hands. “You, Shona, are the kindest, most beautiful person I know.” She stroked away the strand of blonde hair that had fallen across Shona’s face, then kissed her on the nose. “And not all bad things came out of your visit to Alabama.”

  “You not at work today again?” Marion asked her husband who was still in his underpants eating a bowl of cereal while watching morning TV.

  “Suspended for two days, remember. Let him see how the department manages without their finest deputy,” Lawrence replied through a mouthful of Sugar Smacks.

  “Yeah, well, at least you like your job. I hate working for somebody else,” she grumbled as she tied the straps of her white nursing shoes. She stood up and began straightening the collar of her crisp white nurse’s uniform in the mirror. “If I’d have got that garage I would have been working for myself and running my own business. But then those two lousy interlopers come into town flashing their dough around like it’s nuggets to them, buying up whatever they feel like it. I mean, where are their husbands, huh? You can’t always go around the place doing what you feel like. Women have responsibilities.” She stared at the back of her husband’s head, him not even bothering to turn around to listen to her ranting on. “Jake, I think something’s not right over at that garage. I mean, they just came in and undercut everyone. That ain’t fair now, is it? Something’s going on. Can you find out? Get it closed down, unpaid taxes or something? Anything you can pin on them. Can you do that? For me, honey?” Marion waited for a response from her husband but all she received was a grunt. “I’ll see you after work.” She turned and left Lawrence to gaze at the TV, lumps of cereal drying on his sweat-stained undershirt.

  “Well, good mornin’ there. You must be the new girl around town everybody’s talkin’ about.” The young light-brown haired girl behind the bakery counter smiled at Shona, her eyes wide.

  “Yeah. I guess. Say, could I have a slice of that pie over there and a coupla bakehouse rolls, please?” Shona dug her hands in her pockets and pulled out a dollar bill.

  “Oh yeah, sure thing. My name’s Alice, by the way. My family run this place.” She turned to the shelves behind her, picked up a small cardboard box and placed Shona’s overly generous sized slice of pie inside it, then bagged up her rolls. She looked back at Shona with earnest eyes.

  “Thanks. How much?” Shona asked with a hint of impatience.

  Alice’s eyes glazed over. “What? Oh, um…well, don’t you worry about payin’ today. Call it a ‘new member of the Sunnybrook community’ discount.” She blushed and swept away a lock of hair from her cheek. “But come in again soon, OK?”

  “You sure?” Shona asked. After a vigorous nod from Alice, Shona accepted the food and said her goodbyes.

  “Yep, she’s definitely gonna cause some waves around here,” Alice whispered to herself, feeling the flush of red in her cheeks.

  Shona found herself with not one but two police cars at her garage. One needed to have the brakes tightened up, and the other needed an oil change. Jobs that wouldn’t take too long but she’d spent most of the time sharing a joke with one of the cops as she collected used oil in a bucket under the car.

  “I can’t believe your wife puts up with you doing that, Officer Gibson.” Shona laughed at the joke, looking up at the rotund figure of the cop. He laughed back and removed his hat to wipe his brow with his sleeve.

  “I know, but she’s used to it by now,” he replied, stroking his thick fingers down over his handlebar moustache. “And anyways, I have to put up with her shoe collection. I swear she spends my pay before I’ve even earned it.” He replaced his hat and leaned down to help Shona to her feet from the creepers she’d been lying on.

  “Thanks,” Shona said, reaching up her hand after wiping it on her overalls. “All done. Just gotta top you up, then you’re good to go.”

  “Gee, thank you Shona. It’s awful nice of you to do all this for free for us guys. I just wanted you to know that the guys really appreciate what you’re doing over here.”

  “No problem,” Shona replied. “I know you get the big stuff done over at the fleet garage, but if I can help in any way then I will. I had a boss once who, well, he woulda done the same so…”

  “You’re a welcome addition to this town, young lady,” Dennis replied, before tipping his hat and letting Shona finish up the job.

  “I’ll second that,” a new voice piped up behind the two of them. Sheriff Everett walked up to them and tipped his cap to Shona. “Ma’am.”

  “Good morning, sir, I don’t believe we’ve met yet. I’m Shona Clark.”

  “Yeah, I heard all about you,” Everett began, his blue eyes warm and smiling. “Done quite a few good turns around here for my men. I thought it was high time I come over here m’self and say thank you.” He held out a strong, tanned hand to Shona who shook it firmly.

  “No problem, sir,” she replied. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I just gotta finish this job off.” She walked around to the front of the car and unscrewed the oil cap.

  Dennis and Everett raised their eyebrows at each other and smiled. “She’s a good one, that girl. So anyway, you figured out what to buy Shirley for your anniversary yet?” Dennis asked. “You can’t go home tonight without anything.”

  “I know. Especially after last time.” Everett shook his head and hung his hands on his hips. “We said we wouldn’t spend too much this year, with the house renovations and everything, but I just can’t seem to think of something that’ll make her realize how much I love her.”

  “Um…pardon me for overhearing sir but, well, if you want something real personal like, then you can’t go too far wrong with some hand-picked wildflowers. There’s some out back, you’re more than welcome to go see if you like?” Shona piped up from underneath the hood.

  Everett’s face softened into a relieved grin. “You know what, that’s an excellent idea. She loves poppies. I’ll go take a look.”

  “She’s making quite the impression over there with our friend, the sheriff,” Edie said as she prized open the blinds in the bar and stared over towards the garage.

  “I know. I can’t work out if that makes her a threat or an ally to us,” Bertie replied from behind the bar.

  “I guess only time will tell,” Edie mused.

  Sheriff Everett reappeared from his exploration behind the garage, his hands full of a mixture of wild poppies and clematis. “These are perfect. Thank you, Shona, Shirley’ll love ‘em.”

  “I hope so, sir,” Shona replied, smiling.

  Over her shoulder, Everett caught sight of something that made his brow wrinkle all of a sudden. “Say, you been over there yet?” He flicked his head towards Bertie’s bar. Shona turned around to look.

  “Yeah. I’ve met a few of the locals,” she replied with a wry smile.

  “What are your thoughts?” Everett asked, his eyes keen.

  “Well, they ain’t too happy with me having this place. Bertie said she was after buying it too. But the others seem OK, I guess.”

  “I’ve been trying to set up a meeting with the women in there. They seem to think we’re always trying to catch them out or something. I mean,” he leaned into Shona, “we all know what goes on inside those four walls, what kinda place that is, and the last sheriff here would have closed it down, but I don’t see the need for all that.” Everett watched Shona’s reactions carefully. “I wanna talk to them, understand how to make everyone’s life around here a little more peaceful.”

  Shona nodded. “Well, I think they probably feel a bit worried. Especially because of your deputy—Lawrence, is it?” Everett nodded. “Well, he’s been throwing his weight about the place, rattling cages, and I guess Bertie and the others just feel a little…” she searched for the right word. “Unwanted.”

  “Well, that�
�s my next aim. To sort him out, believe me,” Everett affirmed. “But thank you Shona, I appreciate your insight on this. And your secret stash back there,” he added, looking down at the flowers he was holding.

  “You’re welcome,” Shona said, waving him off.

  “Yeah, she’s definitely cooking something up with ol’ Everett. They look mighty pally over there,” Edie noticed, still with her thumb and index finger prized between the slats of the blind.

  “Come away from that window. I know that girl’s hot but you’re turning into some kinda Peepin’ Tom,” Bertie chastised. “We need to go through our attack strategy. It’s about time this town had itself a little rumble. Shake up the feelings a bit. We’ve been taking Lawrence’s shit for far too long. Those cops need to know we won’t be pushed around.”

  “Look, I told you before I don’t do anything that involves tearing up the place. I read, I plan, I advise. That’s it. I don’t get involved in no violence,” Edie said after removing her finger from the blind and pointing it at Bertie.

  “Who said anything about violence? We’ll only retaliate if they start anything,” Bertie replied.

  “Yeah, well, you’ll have to go without me.”

  “Honey, what are you doing here?” Everett asked, his hands clasping the bunch of flowers he’d hoped to surprise his wife with later.

  “You forgot your lunch bag, sweetie,” Shirley Everett replied, standing outside his office. She was in her late forties with dark brown wavy hair loosely tied in a gingham ribbon. Her flowing summer dress hugged her where it needed to, yet was loose enough to look casual. She walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek, then passed him a small brown paper bag containing his sandwiches. “And Eric wanted to talk over a few things for his last assignment.”