The Cove Conundrum

by Agatha Ball

  "Johnny, the way your mind works is borderline genius," I assured him.

  "Now, if you'll excuse me," He snapped his eye patch back into place and pulled a plastic sword out from his belt. He called out loudly, "Time for the free tour to pirate's field! This way me hearties!" A group of people slowly began to gather. "Follow me!" he shouted, brandishing his hook. "Arrrrr... Home of the buried treasure everyone is tracking down. Bring your shovels and metal detectors. Follow me!"

  He headed out, his plastic sword held overhead like most tour guides hold an umbrella, and they all took off.

  "Well, at least our fields will be nice and soft," said Nate.

  I couldn't condemn Johnny too much. Granny and I stuck to the lie that the treasure was near the old cannery. Figured if we had repeat customers, we couldn't be caught making things up. But everyone on Main Street had a different story. I wondered how long it would be before folks figured out that we were each sending them different places. It did make me wonder where the real map went and, if it was pointing to a treasure of some kind, where it was located.

  My thoughts were interrupted, though, as my mom stepped out of Bitter Beans. "Paige! Can I talk to you for a minute, honey?"

  I sighed and then turned back to Nate. "Sorry. I'm afraid duty calls."

  He gave me a quick kiss. "I'll see you later. I'll do some digging up at the house and see if somewhere in my uncle's pile of paperwork I am able to find something."

  I went back inside Bitter Beans and Captain lifted his sleepy head to see who it was. I gave him a scratch behind his ears and he rolled onto his back, tempting me to rub his belly. I knew it was a trap.

  "Well, Captain, if you need sailors on H.M.S. Mousecatcher, it looks like Johnny has the outfit to take to the high seas," I informed the cat.

  He gave a sleepy little brrrow and then settled back into sleep.

  "What's up, Mom?" I asked, motioning to the now empty store. "Trouble keeping up with all the customers?"

  She gave me a sarcastic smile and then motioned for me to take a seat at one of the little checkerboard tables by the potbelly stove. "Now that the time capsule has been opened, I was thinking it was time to start figuring out the logistics of packing you up."

  My stomach dropped into my shoes. "Oh."

  She sat down across from me. "Paige. I know that this place means so much to you, but it is time to get back to the real world. Time to get back to your life."

  I chewed on my bottom lip. Everything she was saying was true. Everything was what we agreed to when I came here, only at the time, I was the one making her promise to drag me away as soon as humanly possible. "I just didn't expect to have this conversation today."

  "Listen, honey, I get it. This island has a way of getting under your skin. You live here and you start to think it is a little slice of heaven. The ONLY slice of heaven. It'll make you believe that there is nothing beyond its shores worth fighting for. But I'm here to tell you that this place is an illusion. Stockholm syndrome. You have so much waiting for you at home."

  "And what might that be?"

  "You wanted to go to a pastry school."

  "It's going to cost over $50,000 for just tuition at the one I want. That's not even housing or plane tickets..."

  "Yes... but your grandmother's friend, Richard, said someone is willing to put in a good word for you. That's not nothing."

  "I know... I know..." I said, torn by the call of a dream and harsh reality. And also the fact I really liked it here.

  "And let's face it, there isn't enough business here on the island to support you AND my mother."

  My heart sank. "Is that what Granny said? That she needs me gone?"

  "No! She keeps trying to convince me to let you stay. But I know the financial realities of this place, even if she won't acknowledge them." She leaned forward on her elbows. "And even if you won't acknowledge them."

  Suddenly, the bell over the door rang and Hal walked in. I wanted to let him know I had talked to Nate, but wasn't feeling up to it at a moment.

  But suddenly his eyes locked with my mom's eyes and it was like electricity was arcing across the space between them.

  "Hal?" she whispered.

  "Lisa?"

  "Um... do you two know each other?" I asked, suddenly very confused.

  "What are you doing here?" she asked, rising from her seat.

  Hal looked like he was trying to gather up his thoughts. "I was here... I'm filming a documentary on this island."

  "Oh."

  "Yeah."

  "So, you're a filmmaker now?" She began to piece things together. "Oh. You're the filmmaker my daughter has been working with on the time capsule. For the documentary."

  "Just... trying."

  There was a long, pregnant pause. Finally, she said, "I'm glad your dream is coming true."

  "You always believed in my dreams, Lisa." Then, like he suddenly remembered I was there, apologized. "I'll come back later. I need to... um... bye."

  And then he rushed out of the room like he was scared he was going to do or say something he didn't want to say or do.

  "Oh my..." said my mom, still thunderstruck.

  "How do you know him?" I pressed.

  I could see the wheels turning as she processed everything that had just happened. She didn't answer my question, though. Instead, she said, "You know what, Paige? You're right. I'm moving too fast. We should stay a little longer."

  "What? Why?"

  "Because that man is very, very bad news..."

  But at the way she was looking at him, I was thinking he was the kind of bad news that kept a person coming back for more.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I walked down Main Street, hoping I would run into Nate. Everything between Hal and my mom was so weird. And that now she wanted us to stay for a bit longer? It was good news, but it was strange, out-of-nowhere news.

  Holly was standing behind the counter reading something. The general store was empty, so I didn't feel bad about interrupting her.

  She looked up as the bing-bong of the electric bell announced my arrival.

  "Paige! So good to see you out from behind the counter at Bitter Beans," she said, waving me over. "I feel like every time I see you, us ladies are off on our morning walk or you're headed out the door at the end of your shift." She gave me a gentle smile. "I still remember when you were just a little toddler, so excited to see the rows and rows of candy bars, you couldn't wait and bit right through the wrappers of a whole box."

  "That's not too far from how I feel about chocolate still," I laughed.

  "Well, it is a treat. What can I get for you?" she asked. "Sunscreen? Aspirin for all the headaches these treasure hunters are causing?"

  I suddenly noticed the catalog that she had been flipping through. "Oh! Are you getting ideas for your remodel?"

  She nodded, motioning to the patched, but totally glaring hole in the wall. "I can't very well leave it like that. No time like the present."

  "Which way are you leaning?" I asked.

  She flipped through and stopped on a stylish shop with white subway tile walls and black fixtures. "This one is awfully pretty with a bit of historic flair, but still feels fresh and modern." She then flipped to another picture with bright turquoise and yellow cabinets, and flowered tile floors. "And then this is so much fun. Every day would be like stepping into a Mediterranean paradise." She sighed. "It is just so hard."

  "I wonder what the shop looked like originally," I mused.

  A twinkle crept into the corner of her eye. "You know... I had been wondering about that, too. I mean, it would be great fun to spruce it up like a designer showcase, but it also might be fun to return it to its former glory."

  "Do you have any pictures?" I asked.

  She shook her head. "Sadly, no. Everything is just pictures from the previous owner. I honestly don't even know what it was before it became the general store."

  "Huh," I said, eyeing the walls and wondering. "You know, Nate has a
ll those historic records. Maybe he has an old picture or something."

  Holly clucked her tongue. "We really need to put together a historical society. I'm sure he is overwhelmed with the paperwork, and would be just as happy to get rid of it as we would be to get to use it for research."

  "I think you're right on the money with that one. I'll swing by and see if I can find anything."

  "Him moving here and then finding himself buried beneath the lives of others..." she said with a sigh, and then looked at me like she couldn't believe she hadn't asked me already. "Paige! I forgot! Your mom is here and there is talk you might be leaving the island!"

  "That's actually the reason I came in to talk to you..."

  "Oh, do you need cardboard boxes? I'd be happy to start saving them for you."

  "I didn't really bring much," I assured her. Even the mention of moving boxes made me feel sick to my stomach, and I didn't want to think about it. "Thank you. No, the reason I came in was... well, I had the strangest conversation. Mom was talking about the move, and then Hal walked in. Immediately, she just clammed up and said she wanted to stay longer."

  "Oh!" said Holly. She leaned on the counter and asked in a conspiratorial tone. "Did it seem like they had history? Or history?"

  I shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know. I mean... I think... maybe?"

  "Maybe he was an ex-boyfriend?" she guessed. "I've never seen him before, so it must have been after she left for college. Maybe at work? Those companies are always hiring camera people to make ads and corporate videos and stuff."

  "You're sure he's never lived here?" I pressed.

  "No. I know everyone who ever lived here and never forget a face."

  "It's just so strange," I said. "He knows an awful lot about Seaside."

  "Really?"

  "Yeah, he'll just be casually asking questions or something and then he'll say something that seems like he knows a lot more than what he's letting on." I chewed my lip. "Like, he knew there might be a hidden treasure here. It didn't seem like something you could find on the internet."

  "Hmmm..." mused Holly.

  "And then, when mom saw him, she said she wanted to stick around the island for a bit longer because he was 'bad news'."

  "Well, this is just getting curiouser and curiouser." She had a distant look in her eye, but then reached over and patted the back of my hand. "Don't you worry, Paige. It was right for you to tell me this. You know that our posse will leave no stone unturned. If he thinks he has done research on this place, just wait until we start investigating."

  I gave her a smile. "Go easy on him. He's innocent until proven guilty."

  "Innocent until we find out what happened between him and your mom."

  "Fair enough."

  "Well, get along with you!" Holly said, jokingly pointing to a sign behind her. "No loitering! Go find that boyfriend of yours and see if he has some pictures!"

  "Will do!" I replied, and headed out.

  But as the doorbell made its little electronic bing-bong goodbye, I glanced over my shoulder. Holly's brow was furrowed and she seemed much more disturbed by what I had revealed than she had let me see.

  Chapter Seventeen

  I rode my bike up to Nate's house. It sat on one of the hills with probably the best view of the entire island. You could see the entire place from coast to coast from his front door.

  I paused halfway there just to take in the beauty of the view.

  He had inherited all of this from his family, had stepped away from his life in order to accept all this responsibility. What had been a simple case of coming to clean out his uncle's house had turned into a completely new path. He had done it unflinchingly. I mean, for the most part. It made me wonder what he would have been up to if he had never come here. And for a moment, it made me wonder, too, what my life would have been like if I hadn't come here.

  I mean, what if my dream had been fulfilled and I had taken straight off for Le Cordon Bleu? I would have missed meeting Nate. He might still be sitting in a jail, charged with the murder of his uncle. Nate and Johnny never would have figured out that they were related, and discovered they were not just best friends, they were cousins.

  It's funny how unfulfilled wishes sometimes give you something you weren't even expecting. Sometimes something much better than you could have ever imagined.

  I got back onto my bike and continued up the hill until I got to Nate's house. It was a Victorian mansion. When I had first seen it, it reminded me of a haunted house. But he had really done a great job taking care of some of the deferred maintenance. The yard was all cleaned up. Water was running in the fountain. The weeds had been pulled from in between the cobblestones of the front path.

  I could see he was starting to prepare the house for a new coat of paint. The layers of peeling color were shaved off and bare. I wondered what color it was going to be as I rang the doorbell. I heard him shuffling to the door, the old wooden floors giving away his location as the board groaned beneath his feet.

  The door opened and I smiled. "Hey, stranger!"

  Nate's face lit up as soon as he saw me. "Paige! What are you doing here?"

  "Going to keep me waiting out here on this shabby looking porch?" I gave him a wink.

  "Would never want anyone to think you might frequent a dive like this," he laughed, ushering me in.

  It was like night and day in the interior. I mean, there were still boxes and piles of paper stacked up everywhere. But the cobwebs were cleared away and someone had come through with a dust rag to brighten up the place.

  "Gearing up to give this place a fresh coat of paint?" I asked as I slipped off my shoes.

  "Hoping to get it all done before the rain starts."

  "Well, let me and Johnny know when you're ready. We'll come up and give you a hand."

  Nate gathered me up in his arms and gave me a warm kiss. "I'm too lucky, you know that?"

  "I mean, we'll charge you..."

  He leaned in with a more serious twinkle in his eye before he landed another kiss on me. "I'm ready to pay up any time." It was soft and sweet, but there was an urgency to it, too. When he finally broke away, he leaned his forehead against mine and asked, "So, what brings you to my humble abode?"

  I tried to remember. My mind was telling me more of that, please. But I actually had a real reason for being here. I pulled myself together.

  "Well," I said. "I was down talking to Holly and she's getting serious about those renovations. She was wondering if maybe in your stacks of town records, you might have historic photographs of her shop. She was thinking it might be fun to see if she can restore it back to its former glory."

  Nate nodded and motioned to all of the boxes. "Be my guest. I mean, I might have something, but who knows..."

  "No time like the present, huh?" I asked.

  "Let's dive in."

  He walked over to a stack by the banister and grabbed two boxes. "Follow me."

  We walked into the dining room. He set them on the long, formal, mahogany table and took the lid off. There were file folders, but there was no telling if the person who created them was careful or eventually just threw everything they could find in and shut the lid.

  "No wonder that time capsule was lost," I mused. "With a filing system like this, it'd be tough to keep track of something that happened last week."

  Nate grimaced. "You're telling me. I was able to find a note that all of these files originally were down in the Town Hall. But when they decided to start renting it out as a community center, they thought it might not be the best idea to leave these files where just anyone could rifle through them or spill a glass of punch."

  As I flipped through some adorable black and white photos of happy couples dancing on the beach, I sighed. "I can see why they think they are valuable."

  "There was supposed to be a library built, and a librarian appointed who could catalog the files and make them available to the public. But that was over twenty years ago. I think everyone became distrac
ted," Nate replied.

  Suddenly, I opened up one of the files to a stack of clippings. "What's this?" I asked, picking up a clipping stapled to another.

  Nate glanced over with interest. "Read it for me."

  I scanned the text. "It’s a newspaper article about how in January of 1945, all of the people of Seaside gathered up their belongings for the war effort. All of their silver and pots and pans and metal that could be melted down into scrap. People were even bringing in their jewelry and family heirlooms..." I flipped over the first page to get to the next page. "Oh," I said.

  "What is it?" asked Nate.

  I showed him the picture. "Evidently, one of your ancestors decided to unearth the time capsule to melt down the loving cup as a symbol of the town's solidarity with the war."

  Nate squinted closer. "That is totally the cup I saw."

  "Someone didn't do what they were supposed to do, did they?" I commented.

  "Looks like."

  "And the war effort headquarters was located in the general store, which also housed the post office. They were supposed to mail all of these things in."

  "Oh," replied Nate, sitting back in his seat. "So, whoever owned that shop Holly purchased took the things they were supposed to send... and maybe didn't?"

  I thought about that loving cup. "What if they then hid the time capsule with a map inside?"

  "Do you think the map had the location of all of the stolen property?"

  "If it was, the goods are all gone now," I remarked. "Whoever stole it would have been able to follow the map days ago." I held up the picture. "I think that we should go down to see Holly to show her this picture, and maybe see if she has the names of who owned the property before her."

  Chapter Eighteen