Mermaid Moon

by Colleen Coble

  Mallory stepped closer to his daughter and pulled something from the pocket of her jacket. “Hi, Sadie, I’ve heard a lot about you. I make sea-glass jewelry, and I brought you something. It’s a mermaid-moon necklace.” She held up a necklace, then pressed her lips together as if realizing what she’d just done. Reaching out, she took Sadie’s hand and put the necklace into her palm. “It’s really pretty, just like you.”

  “I love sea glass.” Sadie ran her fingers around the edges of the necklace. “Thank you. Daddy said we could look for sea glass. I just like to hold it, but it must be fun to make jewelry.” Her voice was wistful. “What’s a mermaid moon? What does it look like?”

  “My mother used to tell me a pink moon gave a mermaid power to overcome her troubles and make a new start. So the round piece you feel is watermelon tourmaline. It’s a very soft pink and green like watermelon. The raised pieces of glass on it make up a mermaid. This one has two tiny pieces of ruby-red sea glass for her eyes.”

  Sadie ran her fingers over it. “It feels so pretty. Did you know sea glass comes from mermaid tears? Daddy said you lived at Mermaid Point. Have you ever seen a mermaid?”

  “Mermaids aren’t real,” Haylie said in a lofty voice.

  Sadie’s face fell. “I know, but it’s fun to think about them.”

  Mallory shot Haylie a look and mouthed, Be nice, then motioned to Fiona. “And who’s this fine golden? Is she your dog?”

  Sadie nodded. “This is my guide dog, Fiona.”

  Mallory’s attention swung to Kevin, and he saw the amusement there. Their favorite movie had been Shrek, and he’d never admitted to anyone that whenever he spoke Fiona’s name, he remembered snuggling on the sofa with Mallory.

  Haylie’s brown eyes widened. “I’ve never seen a real guide dog. She’s beautiful. Is it okay to pet her?”

  “Yes, she’s not working at the moment. Once I put her vest on, she knows not to go to anyone’s side but Sadie’s.”

  Haylie petted the dog and crooned to her. “Can you see anything at all, Sadie?”

  Kevin tried to mask his wince, then realized the question didn’t bother Sadie at all. She’d probably heard it a thousand times at school. Instead of answering for his daughter, he shut his mouth and went to set his coffee cup in the stainless steel sink.

  “I can see light and dark a little. I was born early and it just happened. But it’s okay because I have Fiona.” Sadie reached out, and her dog quickly bumped her hand with her head. “How old are you? I’m eight.”

  “I’m much older than you, nearly fifteen. I like little kids though. I babysit for the neighbor sometimes when she has to run to the store for a minute.” Haylie leaned against the counter. “Can we go now? I want to do something fun.”

  “We could take the boat around to Jonesport instead of driving. It would be faster,” Kevin said.

  Mallory tucked a curl behind her ear. “I was hoping you’d ask. I have something I want to talk to you about.”

  He eyed her determined expression. “Let me get my boat keys.”

  THIRTEEN

  Mallory took off her shoes and let her feet soak up the chill from the sand. The water was as blue as the Caribbean, but still cold this early in the spring. She’d missed this so much.

  Jonesport was a charming village made up of saltbox homes weathering in the salt air. The town boasted a Coast Guard station, and a bridge crossed the beautiful blue water over to Beals Island. From their vantage point, she could see boats dotting the harbor of the offshore island. The bay was a beautiful curve of sand, and even now, she caught glints of sea glass in the rocks and sand.

  She watched Kevin watch his daughter as Sadie moved confidently along the uneven terrain with the help of the dog. Haylie ran along with them, and the laughter of the children mingled with the squawk of the seagulls and the distant rumble of boat engines. They had the beach to themselves too.

  Kevin cupped his hands to his mouth. “Don’t go too far, kids. Stay where we can see you.”

  “She’s amazing, Kevin. You’ve done such a great job with her. Her disability doesn’t seem to faze her at all. What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  He shoved his hands in his pockets, and a line formed on his smooth brow. “She was born blind. She was born so early that we didn’t think she’d live. She had stage-three retinopathy. They tried laser surgery, but it didn’t work. She’s got a great attitude though.”

  Mallory’s heart squeezed at the thought of not just watching a tiny infant struggle to live but then finding out she’d be blind. “I’m sorry, Kevin.”

  “We don’t need your pity. She’s bright and healthy otherwise.”

  His cold answer stung and she straightened. “That was compassion you heard, not pity. It’s clear she’s strong and can overcome just about anything. But it’s not easy for her or for you.”

  His gaze finally met hers. “I didn’t mean to bite your head off. I have to guard her against people who make her doubt her abilities, and it’s gotten to be second nature.”

  “And you’re not happy I’m staying.” She stared him down and dared him to contradict her. His meddling with her aunt had proven how far he’d go to get her out of town.

  His eyes softened, but he shook his head. “You’re in over your head, and I’m afraid you’re going to leave Haylie an orphan if you keep poking around. Let the sheriff and me do our jobs. You’re better off picking up your life again and trying to put this behind you.”

  “Are you sure that’s all it is? Ever since I got here, I’ve had the feeling you’ll be glad to see the back of me.”

  His mouth flattened, and he put his hands in his pockets. “I don’t want to talk about our history. Just go home and let me handle this.”

  “And how do you propose I do that when my house was broken into back in Bangor? The guy was looking for me, Kevin. He didn’t steal anything, but if I’d been there, I have no idea what he might have done. Killed me, too, maybe. I can’t run from this. I’m surprised you think I could.”

  What was his problem? Did he think she would cause him trouble of some kind? Did he still resent her so much that he begrudged her a life back in her hometown?

  She lifted her chin and glared at him. “I don’t need your help. I’m going to fulfill Dad’s contract delivering the mail, and if I hear anything important, I’ll pass it along to the sheriff. I’ll try to stay out of your life.” To her mortification, she felt the hot sting of tears, but she blinked furiously and refused to give in to her emotion.

  What had she expected? That he would realize the moment he saw her that he hadn’t put her behind him? Their relationship had been over fifteen years ago. Maybe she’d been naive to think they could at least be on friendly terms. Especially after the way she’d left him to face the gossip by himself.

  He pulled his hands from his pockets and held out his hand. “Let’s have a fresh start. I didn’t intend to make you feel unwelcome. We can at least be civil.” A muscle hardened in his jaw. “And maybe you do need to stay here and face whatever it is. Flush the guy out. Catching him might be the only way.”

  His words sapped the anger from her and she inhaled, then nodded. “Apology accepted.”

  “You said you wanted to talk to me about something. Was catching this guy what you wanted to discuss?”

  A glint of royal blue caught her eye, and she stooped to pick up a piece of sea glass. “Not exactly.” She rolled it in her fingers and watched two men plucking periwinkles from the rocks. She hadn’t tasted the small snails in years. Her mom used to pickle them, and seeing the harvest brought a wave of nostalgia. Her mom used to call them wrinkles.

  “Mallory?”

  She looked up into Kevin’s warm brown eyes. “I need a favor.”

  His eyes went wary. “Okay.”

  “I want to find my birth mother.”

  He blinked. “Whoa, where did that come from? Why now, of all times?”

  “Dad said for me to find my mother. What if
he was talking about my birth mother? Maybe she’s connected in some way to this. I found my adoption papers hidden in his desk. Why would Dad hide them in a secret drawer? It seems strange.”

  “I’m hardly an expert on tracking down adoption records, but I might know someone who is.”

  “You don’t think I’m crazy? This could be a rabbit trail.”

  He shrugged. “We have to examine every path right now. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” His gaze followed hers. “Want some wrinkles? They’d probably sell them.”

  “I wouldn’t have the vaguest idea how to pickle them.” But her mouth watered at the thought.

  “It’s time Haylie experienced real Downeast cuisine.” He hailed the two men and walked toward them.

  Mallory watched his broad back. His take-charge attitude was going to be an asset in her quest. As long as she protected her heart.

  The blue sky overhead deepened the brilliant color of the ocean as Mallory headed out on her first mail run now that she had possession of her dad’s boat. The sea spray left a salty taste on Mallory’s lips that reminded her of the wrinkles Kevin had fixed for all of them. Her father’s boat responded to the throttle with a surge of speed and a purr from the engine. Everything she’d learned about navigating a boat had come back to her in a flash once she was aboard. It was like riding a bike—impossible to forget. Where had he gotten the money for such an expensive craft? The question swirled in her head as she steered the boat toward the dock.

  The bow hit the dock bumpers, and she quickly tied off, then grabbed the bag of mail and stepped onto the pier’s weathered gray boards. Rocks embedded into the hillside served as steps up the steep slope to the blue building, its paint peeling from the sun and salt. There wasn’t much mail to deliver to this island, about ten envelopes and a newspaper. The door stuck a bit as she tried to open it, but she jiggled the knob and succeeded in pushing it open. A woman standing by the coffeepot stared at her with a curious expression.

  “I’m Mallory Davis, Edmond Blanchard’s daughter.” She held up the bag of mail. “It took a few days to get permission to take over Dad’s mail route.”

  The woman’s gray hair was atop her head in a messy bun with a pencil stuck through it. She wore small, round glasses halfway down her nose, à la John Lennon, and her plump figure strained the seams of the men’s overalls. A discreet name badge on her ample chest read Dixie.

  “Bless your heart, honey.” Her accent was as thick as Georgia mud. “I’m so sorry about your daddy. He was a good man.”

  A lump formed in her throat as she pulled out the mail and handed it to Dixie. “Thank you.” She followed Dixie to the battered wooden counter at the back of the twenty-by-twenty room.

  Dixie went behind the counter. “Folks will be glad to get their mail. It’s been a week since our last delivery.” There was no condemnation in her tone, just sympathy.

  Mallory leaned on the counter. “Did you know my father well?”

  The light in Dixie’s eyes dimmed. “Not as well as I would have liked. I dangled the bait, but your daddy wasn’t biting. Might have been because I was a flatlander. Even after twenty years here, the locals think I’ll go back to Georgia any day. Plus, I think he never got over your mama’s death.”

  Mallory barely suppressed a wince. “No, I don’t think he did.” Dixie’s left hand was bare of rings. “Did Dad ever mention having an enemy? Was he afraid at all?”

  Dixie’s penciled-in brows rose. “Scared? Your daddy? Not hardly. He had a gimlet stare that would put the fear of God in anyone.” She adjusted the pencil in her hair.

  “Any idea where he got the money for that new boat?”

  Dixie inhaled. “We’ve all yawed about it here on Walker’s Roost. He went from that rickety old boat that used bumpers to keep it afloat to that shiny new toy he was so proud of. I asked him about it once, and he grinned and said his ship had come in. Investments, I reckoned.”

  Mallory pressed her lips together. Her dad didn’t believe in the stock market, and he was as tight with his money as bark on a birch tree. She couldn’t see him risking even a dollar on the market. “When did he get it?”

  “You don’t seem to know much about your daddy. The two of you have a falling out?”

  “Not really. Just busy lives.”

  Dixie began to sort the envelopes into piles. “He launched that pretty new boat the Friday before Labor Day. I remember because I tried to get him to take me on a picnic on Labor Day, but my request fell as flat as a cake with no baking powder. That man was as cagey as Al Capone. But it worked out for the best. I got me a beau anyway. Walker Rocco.”

  “Luke’s dad?”

  “You know Luke?”

  “Most of my life.”

  The more time she was with Dixie, the more Mallory liked her. She would have made a great stepmother. Had Dad ever dated? She’d never heard him talk about another woman.

  She slid a business card across the counter to Dixie. “If you think of anything else, could you call my cell?”

  The other woman picked it up and glanced at it. “Sea-glass jewelry, eh? You should comb the beach on the other side of Walker’s Roost. It glitters so much with sea glass you’d think there was buried treasure there.”

  “I’ll do that.” Mallory turned to go.

  “Oh, one more thing, honey. I just remembered something. I was cruising past Folly Shoals on my boat and saw your daddy standing out on Mermaid Point with a slick sort in a suit. They were both gesturing like they were arguing. I’d never seen the man before, and there was a fifty-foot yacht anchored in the cove.”

  “Did you see the name of the yacht?”

  Dixie’s forehead wrinkled. “It was Wind something. Part of the name was hard to read because there was a whale painted through it. The last letter was an R.”

  The possibilities were endless. “Could you tell if it was one word or two?”

  Dixie shook her head. “I think it was two words, but I wouldn’t swear to it. I’ll admit I got as close as I dared, but I couldn’t make it out.”

  “If you see it again, can you call me?” If the boat owner had anything to do with Dad’s death, he was long gone, but Mallory tried to hold on to hope.

  “Of course.” Dixie scooped up a pile of envelopes and disappeared through the door to the back.

  If Mallory only knew what state registration the boat held. She could search a database of names and find out something. Right now it was like looking for plankton in the ocean.

  The giggling shrieks of the two little girls set Julia on edge as she lay on her belly in the tall weeds with their budding flowers of pink and purple. Mosquitoes swarmed her, and the annoying buzz in her ears made her want to scream. The scent of mud and weeds filled her nose. The countryside was beautiful when viewed from the climate-controlled interior of a Lexus, but this up-close-and-personal view was more than she wanted.

  She brought the binoculars to her eyes and focused on the children. Mallory’s girl was fourteen but looked older with her curvy figure. Kids matured so early these days. When Julia was fourteen, she was still playing board games and riding a bicycle. Haylie looked like bicycles were beneath her. But she seemed nice enough to the game warden’s kid. A golden retriever barked and ran after a Frisbee that Sadie tossed across the grass, greening nicely in the sunshine they’d had the last few days. The dog fetched it and carried it back with her tail held high and her ears lifted.

  “Good girl!” Sadie’s voice carried on the wind.

  Julia studied a row of shrubs closer to the girls. If she crawled she could get close enough to hear a little better. The trick was to do it without being detected. She swore under her breath as her right knee sank into cold, wet mud. The jeans cost the earth, and if the stain didn’t come out, Ian was going to buy her new ones.

  Creeping along on her hands and knees, she got to the line of shrubbery and peered through the space between two branches. It let her see all the way to Mallory’s front door. Julia was closer
to the sea here, too, and the breeze helped disperse the mosquitoes.

  A woman exited the house with a yard chair. She was older than Mallory, and Julia tried to figure out who she might be. Nanny maybe? Though she couldn’t see how Mallory could afford a nanny, and Haylie didn’t strike her as a kid who would take kindly to being looked after when she thought she was so grown up.

  Haylie glanced toward the woman. “Carol, did you ask Mom about taking us to the mainland? If I have to go to this podunk school, I want to join the swim team, and there’s an organizational meeting for the summer team.”

  The woman, Carol, glanced toward the house, then back at Haylie. “I’m not sure it’s wise to do anything extra right now when we’re all trying to stay safe.”

  “You can’t be serious. I can’t give up my swimming. You have to convince her. If I stop swimming now, I’ll never catch up. I want to make the Olympic team someday.”

  “You think your mom can really afford fancy swimming lessons? Even in Bangor she was barely making ends meet. I think you need to grow up, honey. You don’t seem to notice how hard she works to make sure you have what you need. Give her a little credit. She’s doing the best she can.”

  Haylie’s hands balled into fists. “I have to swim!”

  Spoiled brat, that’s what she was. Julia was beginning to rethink her objection to taking the kid. Maybe it would teach her a thing or two.

  A twig snapped beside her and she jerked around to look, then relaxed when she saw her stepson’s right-hand man. “What are you doing here?”

  Frank Richards crawled up beside her. “Helping out.”

  “I’ve got this under control.” She never should have hired him. He was too much of a risk taker, too eager to show Ian how well he could do. Someone more impartial would have been better.

  He squinted toward the house. “I think we need to get rid of the evidence.”

  “What?” She turned back and looked at the children playing in the yard. “Not with kids there.”