Both boys perked up at the prospect of seeing Annie.
“On second thought, I’ll get Annie to help me while the two of you clean yourselves up.”
Annie swung open the front door of the cottage before Jackie had a chance to knock. “Are Cooper and Sean okay? I saw them fighting.”
“Nothing a little ice and Neosporin won’t take care of. They were fighting about you. You know that, don’t you?”
A look of genuine sadness crossed the girl’s face. “I thought maybe they were, but I wasn’t sure.”
“I hope you’re not encouraging them.”
“No, ma’am. We’re just friends. I’ve told them both that separately.”
Which, in Jackie’s mind, meant both Cooper and Sean had made unsuccessful passes at Annie and she’d turned them both down. “Does this mean you’re interested in my nephew, Jamie?” The thought had occurred to Jackie before. A relationship between Annie and Jamie would undoubtedly cause a rift between the twins and their cousin. “It’s really none of my business, but since you’re living in my guest house and my sons are infatuated with you, I guess maybe I have a right to know.”
Annie’s shocked expression assured Jackie that the thought had never crossed her mind. “I’m not gay or anything like that, Miss Jackie. I’m too busy trying to get by to think about boys.”
Jackie softened her tone. “Of course you are. How insensitive of me to suggest such a thing when you already have so much on your plate.”
“Jamie has a girlfriend anyway,” Annie said. “Sophia is all he talks about.”
“Now that you mention it, I believe I have heard Jamie mention Sophia.” Relief washed over Jackie. Best for the Sweeney cousins to keep their relationship with Annie platonic until they learned more about her.
Jackie gestured at the open tailgate on her Escalade. “I picked up some things for you while I was in Charleston.”
Annie’s jaw dropped when she caught sight of the vast assortment of shopping bags. “All that’s for me?”
Jackie smiled. “Aside from two or three bags of groceries. I might have gotten a little carried away. I’ve always wanted a daughter to shop for.”
Annie walked over to the car and peeked inside one of the shopping bags. “I usually buy my clothes at yard sales and the Goodwill store. I’ve never owned anything that came with a tag on it.”
They loaded their arms with shopping bags and carried them inside the cottage. “I just hope everything fits.” She held out a small shopping bag from the Verizon store. “And one last surprise.”
Annie’s mouth fell open. “You bought me a cell phone?”
“A pretty girl like you needs a cell phone, for safety reasons if nothing else.”
“I’ve never owned a phone, Miss Jackie.” Removing the iPhone box from the bag, she cradled it in her hands as if it might break. “I have no idea how to use it.”
“I’m sure you can find someone to help you. Although it won’t be me. I’m somewhat challenged when it comes to electronics. The phone is already activated and ready for use.” Jackie handed Annie a slip of paper with the number written on it.
“I don’t know what to say.” Annie gave Jackie a quick hug. “Thank you so much!”
Jackie noticed a can of Vienna sausages and a piece of string cheese on the coffee table. “I hope that’s not your dinner.”
Annie’s face blushed pink. “I haven’t had a chance to go to the grocery store yet.”
Of course she hadn’t. The girl had no way of getting around, except on foot, unless someone drove her.
Jackie squeezed Annie’s arm. “I’ll be here through the weekend. I’m happy to take you anywhere you need to go.”
“Actually…” Annie stared down at her feet. “I noticed a couple of old bicycles in the garage. I was going to ask if maybe I could use one of them.”
Jackie couldn’t remember the last time anyone in her family had ridden a bike. She doubted any of the ones in the garage were fit to ride. “Can you carry groceries home on a bicycle?”
“I could if I had a backpack.”
“In that case, I’m sure we have plenty of old backpacks lying around that you can use.” Jackie took Annie by the arm. “Let’s go out to the garage and see what we can find.” They walked arm in arm across the driveway. Jackie punched the button and the garage door opened. “This place is a mess. I haven’t been in here in ages.”
“The bikes are over here.” Annie led Jackie to the far corner of the garage where several old bicycles were lined up against the wall.
“I’d totally forgotten about this,” Jackie said, wheeling a baby-blue Schwinn bicycle out from behind a riding lawnmower. “My fellas gave me this several years ago for Mother’s Day. I would love to see it get some use.” She handed the Schwinn over to Annie.
“Are you serious?” Annie asked, excitement dancing across her face.
“Of course. You’ll need to put some air in the tires. There’s a pump around here somewhere. And here.” Jackie retrieved a bike lock from the workbench. “Use this so no one steals it. I’ll find the combination for you. It’s written down somewhere inside.”
“This is too much, Miss Jackie. No one has ever been this kind to me. I don’t know how to thank you.”
“You can start by helping me with dinner. Don’t tell Sam, but I bought three pounds of shrimp from the Harris Teeter.”
Annie helped Jackie carry the grocery bags to the kitchen and unload them.
“How do you want to cook the shrimp?” Annie asked.
“I thought we’d steam them,” Jackie said. “Do you know how to do that?”
“Of course,” she said, and ripped the plastic wrap off the package of shrimp.
Jackie kept an eye on Annie while she mixed together the ingredients for pan cornbread. She found it surprising when the girl knew where to locate the things she needed. She went straight for the steamer pot, which Jackie kept in an out-of-the-way cabinet above the refrigerator, and the utensil drawer for a pair of scissors.
Has Annie been snooping around my house while I was in Charleston?
“What’re you going to do with those?” Jackie asked, pointing a wooden spoon at the scissors.
Annie carried the shrimp over to the sink. “Cut the vein out. It makes them easier to peel.”
“Did your mother teach you how to cook?”
“My mother?” Annie questioned, furrowing her brow. “Oh yeah, my mother. No, she works most of the time. My dad and I do all the cooking.”
Jackie felt a shiver crawl up her spine. She thought back to the night of Faith’s wedding. Annie had mentioned a mother, hadn’t she? If memory served Jackie correctly, this mother worked as a maid in a seaside motel. Strange that Annie seemed to have forgotten all about her.
Jackie slid the pan of cornbread in the oven. “How are things going with your two jobs?”
“Things are going great. At least I think so. I don’t have to work tomorrow, though. Sam and Faith have decided that Thursdays and Sundays will be my days off.” The girl chattered on while she expertly cut the vein from the shrimp. “Lovie is like the grandma I never had. We came up with a new slaw recipe. Do you want me to make some for tonight?”
“I’m not sure I have the ingredients.” Jackie went to the refrigerator. “What do you put in it?”
“Cabbage mostly. As long as you have olive oil and vinegar, you can add whatever other vegetables you want. Cucumbers are good. And green onions, maybe some carrots.”
Jackie removed the items from the refrigerator and set them on the counter beside Annie. “Why don’t I finish deveining the shrimp while you mix up the slaw?” She butted Annie out of the way of the sink. “What’re you planning to do tomorrow on your day off? If you want, we could go out to lunch, maybe do a little shopping afterward.”
“Maybe. I’ll probably just sleep all day.” The less-than-eager tone in Annie’s voice left little doubt in Jackie’s mind. Shopping was the last thing this girl wanted to do on
her day off.
Jackie cut the vein from the last shrimp, then ran hot water in the pot and set it on the stove to boil. “What do you know about Eli and this hostage situation I keep hearing about? It’s all over the news.”
Annie shrugged. “Not much really. Everyone at Sweeney’s is afraid to mention Eli’s name since he and Sam broke up.”
Jackie peered at Annie over her readers. “Did you just say that Sam and Eli broke up?”
“You didn’t hear? They broke up Saturday night after the wedding.”
Four whole days and nobody bothered to share this bit of news. “Poor Sam. She must be devastated. I thought for sure they would get married.”
Sean entered the kitchen, and headed for the stove. “I’m starving. Are we going to eat soon?” He lifted the lid on the pot. “These shrimp do not look like creek shrimp. Please tell me you didn’t buy them.”
Annie placed her hand over her mouth to hide her smile.
“She did, didn’t she?” Sean waved the lid at Annie. “She bought these shrimp at the Harris Teeter.”
Annie lifted her shoulders in an I’ll-never-tell shrug.
Jackie held her finger to her lips. “Don’t tell Sam.” She took the lid out of his hand and placed it back on the pot. She saw that his lip had swollen and the cut was still oozing. When she tried to clean it with a piece of paper towel, he smacked her hand away. “At least put some ice on it.”
“Ice, hell. I know what will make it feel better.” He went to the refrigerator and removed one of his father’s craft beers. He unscrewed the cap and guzzled a third of it before Jackie could snatch it away.
“Are you crazy? You can’t drink that. You’re underage.” Jackie poured the rest of the beer down the drain.
“Being underage doesn’t prevent me from drinking, Mom. Duh.”
“That may be so, but underage drinking is forbidden while you’re living in my house.” She dropped the empty bottle in the recycling bin. “Here.” She opened the silverware drawer. “Make yourself useful by setting the table.”
Sean went to the drawer and began counting out forks, spoons, and knives.
Jackie opened the drawer beside him and removed a stack of placemats. “Annie and I were just talking about Sam and Eli. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me they’d broken up?”
“Since when am I the gossip net?” He set the silverware on the counter and reached for the cabinet where Jackie kept the plates. “You have sisters. I figured you and Faith would be all over that noise like stink on shit.”
Jackie stiffened. “Watch the language, son. I don’t know what’s gotten into you today, but whatever it is, you need to adjust your attitude unless you want to spend the rest of the evening in your room.”
So far, compared to some of the other boys in their grade, the twins had been angels. Jackie and Bill thought they’d somehow managed to escape teenage rebellion, but maybe Sean was a late bloomer. Or maybe a certain young lady in the room was bringing out the worst in him.
Fifteen
Sam
Cooper and Sean showed up at the back door of the market late in the day on Thursday, their Yeti cooler parked on the ground between them. “What on earth happened to y’all?” Sam asked when she saw their battered and bruised faces.
“Cooper ran into my fist,” Sean said, and Cooper added, “And vice versa.”
“I hope she was worth it.” As soon as the words departed her lips, Sam realized who the girl was they’d been fighting over. “I’d be careful if I were you. The jury is still out on Annie.”
The twins exchanged a bewildered shrug. “I don’t know why everyone keeps telling us that,” Cooper said. “We think she’s awesome.”
Each of the twins lifted one end of the cooler and carried it inside, setting it down on the floor in the kitchen.
“Speaking of Annie, have you seen her today?” Sean asked. “Her bicycle is over at the marina, but she’s not answering her cell phone. We’ve been trying to reach her all day?”
Jamie was standing at the stainless steel counter slicing a sushi roll. He looked up from his work, his knife poised to make another slice. “Wait, what? Since when did Annie get a bicycle?”
“Forget about the bicycle,” Sam said. “Since when did Annie get a cell phone?”
“Mom is letting Annie use her Schwinn,” Cooper said. “The one we gave her for Mother’s Day two years ago that she never bothers to ride.”
“And she brought her home a brand-new iPhone 6 from Charleston.” Sean flashed his iPhone 5. “Meanwhile Cooper and I are still using these old things.”
“And I’m still using the model before that, if it makes you feel any better.” Sam lifted the lid on the cooler. “Good grief. I’m gonna have to give you boys a raise. Did you stay out in the creek all day?”
“Pretty much, yeah,” Cooper said.
Sean scooped up a handful of medium-sized gray shrimp. “These are real shrimp, fresh from the inlet, not those farm-raised fakes Mom brought home from the Harris Teeter last night.”
Sam dropped the lid on the cooler and stood to face the twins. “You mean to tell me your mother actually paid for shrimp, when she has strong, healthy sons who will go out and catch them for her?”
Sean nodded. “And a sister who will sell them to her for wholesale.”
Cooper’s expression grew serious. “But don’t tell her we told you, Aunt Sam. She doesn’t want you to know.”
“Already forgotten.” Sam waved her hand above her head, signaling that the knowledge about the store-bought shrimp had left her brain and disappeared into thin air. “Let’s get these on ice. We should probably divide them.” She removed three smaller coolers from the storage closet. “Any chance the two of you can hang around for a while to help peel and devein a few dozen? We can charge more for them without the shell.”
“Sure,” Cooper said, and Sean added, “We’re waiting around anyway to see if Annie shows up.”
Sam returned to the front to help her mother begin the process of closing shop for the day. Business had dropped off after lunch. With eighty-degree temperatures and cloudless skies, most vacationers had spent the day on the beach. But they needed to stock up for Friday and Saturday, which were always their busiest days.
“I’m curious, Mom. What do you think of Annie?” Sam asked Lovie as she circled the showroom, making a mental list of tasks that needed completing.
Her mother looked up from the cash register where she was running a summary of the day’s activities. “For the most part, I find her delightful. She’s easy to be around, willing to help in any way, and creative when it comes to cooking.”
“Do I detect a but in there somewhere?”
Lovie closed the cash register drawer. “I haven’t been able to put my finger on it yet, but something about the girl troubles me. Not necessarily in a bad way. I feel like I’ve known her for a long time, yet we only just met. The way she looks at me with those dark eyes is unsettling somehow. Makes the little hairs on my neck stand up straight, if you know what I mean.”
“Speak of the devil,” Sam said when she noticed Annie and Mack crossing the street together, struggling under the weight of a large Igloo cooler.
Sam held the door open for them. “If you have shrimp in there, I’ll have to turn you away. Thanks to Cooper and Sean, I have enough to last the summer.”
“Lord no!” Mack said. “Been a long time since I cast a shrimp net.”
They dropped the cooler on the floor and Annie lifted the lid. “Check this out, Miss Sam. Captain Mack took me out to the Gulf Stream today. We found a piece of carpet floating in the ocean, and guess what?”
“Under the carpet, you found a school of fish,” Sam said, peering down at the filets of mahimahi.
“How’d you know?” Annie asked, letting go of the lid.
“I’ve been fishing a time or two myself,” Sam said. “My father was a boat captain like Mack. In fact, they were best friends.”
“Oh, really? I di
dn’t know that.”
Mack removed his cap from his head and wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his arm. “We had a good day, but I’m awfully tired. We reeled ’em in for more than three hours. Could’ve kept going if we’d had another set of hands.”
The twins emerged from the kitchen. “You should’ve taken us with you,” Cooper said.
“Yeah! Why don’t you ever take us fishing?” His voice carried a joking tone, but Sam could tell from his tight smile that Sean’s feelings were hurt.
“I never knew you wanted to go,” Mack said.
“To the Gulf Stream fishing?” Sean stared at Mack, incredulous. “Are you kidding me?”
Mack squeezed Sean’s shoulder. “Be at the dock at six tomorrow morning.”
“Yes!” Sean pumped the air with his fist.
Mack snickered. “But you’re in charge of bringing the sandwiches.”
Cooper turned to Annie. “We’ve been worried about you. You should’ve told somebody where you were,” he said, like a father to his teenage daughter who’d missed her curfew.
Annie stiffened. “I didn’t realize I had to check in with anybody.”
“That’s why my mom gave you a cell phone,” Sean said.
Annie patted her pockets in search of her phone. “I must have left it at the cottage. I’ve never owned a cell phone before.” She flashed a smile that reached her eyes. “I’m sorry if you guys are mad at me.”
“Nobody’s mad. We were just worried.” Sean elbowed his brother. “Come on. Help me with this cooler.”
The two boys hefted the cooler and hauled it to the back.
Mack leaned against the wall. “Boy, am I beat.” He folded his arms across his ample gut and bowed his head.
Sam and Lovie conducted a final check of the showroom, before turning out the lights. Sam was eager to go home and shower the smell of seafood from her body before meeting her new sponsor at seven for an AA meeting. She shooed everyone out of the back, locking the door behind them. She was backing out of the parking space when Eli’s cruiser turned into the lot.
Lowcountry Stranger Page 9
