Hawthorne Harbor Box Set

by Elana Johnson

  “Rude to you? At the grocery store? What happened?” And where did she think she was going to get groceries? There was only one store in town that had everything she needed. Sure, she could try Duality and probably get the staples. But they didn’t sell fresh fruit or vegetables.

  As her mom ranted about the boy who’d offered to help her take her groceries to her car, Janey realized she was confused. “Mom, he was helping you.”

  “He didn’t bring them out.”

  “You told him not to.”

  “I did not. I said....” She turned from the cabinet. “I can’t remember what I said.”

  “Mom, you have to get groceries. You don’t have anything to eat.”

  “Oh, I’m fine. I’ve got loads of stuff in the storage room downstairs.” She waved away Janey’s concerns, the same way she always did.

  Exasperation filled her. “Mom, you can’t go up and down the stairs.” Her oldest sister’s husband was supposed to come move everything upstairs for their mother a few months ago—and lock the door that led to the basement. “Do you want to have another hip replacement?”

  “Oh, I’m fine.” She set the sugar bowl on the counter with a little too much force, causing the lid to rattle against the bowl.

  Janey gritted her teeth. Nothing irritated her more than her mother telling her she was fine. The evidence said she wasn’t fine. “Didn’t Bruce come and put all the food storage in the utility room?”

  “Oh, that’s right,” she said. “See? I don’t go up and down the stairs.”

  But Janey was a mother of a teenager, and she could spot a lie from a mile away. She accepted the mug of coffee and put in as much sugar as she could stand since there was no milk or cream. After sipping and making small talk for a few minutes, she said, “I need to use the bathroom.”

  She moved down the hall and went in the bathroom. Then, quietly, she opened the door again and darted over to the door that led to the basement. It had very clearly been sealed off at some point. But her mother had obviously taken the nails out and was definitely going downstairs for some reason.

  Janey slipped through the door as quietly as she could and tiptoed into the basement. Her father had finished it himself, to make room for all the kids. Once it was done, Janey had gotten her own room down here, and she’d loved it.

  Her old room held a few things from her childhood she’d never claimed. Nothing important. Junk that should be thrown away. Still, she enjoyed the memories of playing the clarinet in the band and the dance costumes she’d thought were too extravagant to throw away.

  Annabelle’s room had been down here too, and it sat spotless and empty. The bathroom had a note on the door that said, The water’s been turned off in here. Do not use!

  It looked like Bruce’s handwriting, and Janey made a mental note to call him and let him know that his handiwork had been undone. The furnace room contained a couple of filters, and nothing else. The living room was empty.

  So what was her mother doing coming down here?

  Janey glanced up the steps as she passed them, darting into the storage room and closing the door. She used to sneak her friends down here every summer to get popsicles out of the deep chest freezer in this room.

  She opened it, and the scent of warm rubber met her nose. She wrinkled it and closed the lid on the empty, unplugged freezer. The shelves her father had built to hold her mother’s canning, big bags of flour and sugar, and buckets of oats were all empty. Bruce had come over and moved everything upstairs, just as Janey had thought he had.

  The only thing in the storage room was a bookcase, with an old rocking chair next to it. Her mother had told all four girls that she’d sat in that chair and rocked them to sleep at night when they were babies.

  Janey touched the top of it, setting it into motion. It was clear this was where her mother had been coming. Baby books and photo albums lined the shelves, none of them out of place. She sat down in the rocking chair, this memory corner of the house so quiet and peaceful.

  She thought of Matt, bracing herself for the powerful, debilitating emotions that came whenever she conjured up a picture of him in her mind.

  Today, though, she rocked and smiled, no tears in sight.

  “I’ve moved on,” she whispered to the cement storage room. The idea was as wonderful as it was sad, and she let herself experience both emotions.

  “Janey?” Her mother’s voice broke Janey’s solitude, and she leapt from the rocker.

  “I’m coming,” she called as she went up the steps. She pulled the door closed behind her and went back into the kitchen. “Mom, you really can’t go up and down the steps.” She picked up her coffee mug and took a sip, keeping her eyes on her mom. “I’ll bring that rocker and bookcase up this weekend, okay?”

  Her mother pressed her lips together and nodded, hiding behind her own coffee cup.

  “Well, I can’t. I have to work. But I’ll send over my boyfriend.”

  Her mom wasn’t so far gone that she didn’t understand what it meant for Janey to have a boyfriend. She whipped her attention to her and said, “What?”

  “I’m dating the Chief of Police,” Janey said with a smile. “Big, strapping man named Adam Herrin. He and Jess will come over on Saturday and bring up the photo albums and the rocking chair. Okay?”

  Her mother patted her flat curls as if she’d be meeting a king this weekend. “Oh, my. The Chief of Police.”

  Janey laughed, feeling happier than she had in a long time.

  * * *

  “What kind of apples?” she asked her mom, a plastic bag at the ready and dozens of apple varieties spread out before her at the grocery store.

  “Fuji and gala,” her mom said.

  Janey bagged them up for her and walked ahead of the cart to get a couple of cucumbers. “Then you can have that salad you like,” she told her mom.

  They went up and down the aisles, slowly filling a cart almost all the way to the top. Janey had finally gotten out of her mom that she hadn’t been to the store in five weeks. She’d vowed to check in on her more often. It wasn’t like it was hard. A few miles separated them, and Janey had two days off every week. She could probably do her mother’s shopping for her from now on.

  “Bread?” she asked, finally in the last aisle. “Wheat or white?”

  Her mom acted like she hadn’t spoken. “Mom,” Janey said louder. “Wheat or white?”

  “Oh, wheat.”

  Janey picked out a loaf that looked good and put it in the cart. “Anything else?”

  “Did I get ice cream?”

  “Yes, mom. Two different kinds.” And that had taken several minutes of Janey yelling the flavors out for her mom to pick from.

  A pair of women went by, both of them looking at Janey with wide smiles on their faces. She searched her memory to see if she knew them, but came up blank.

  Shrugging it off, she swung the cart around. “Oh, what about cat food?” Her mom had a little black cat named Peanut. He only liked her mother, and he usually hid when anyone else came over.

  “Rat food? Why would I feed a rat?”

  “Cat food, Mom. Cat.” Janey’s throat was starting to feel raw from all the yelling. “For Peanut.”

  “Oh, right. Peanut. He likes scrambled eggs.”

  She hadn’t had any eggs, so Janey had no idea what her mom had been feeding the cat. She pushed the heavy cart back a few aisles to the pet food. Another woman stared right at her, not even trying to hide it.

  Janey wondered if she’d forgotten to do up one of her buttons on her blouse, but when she checked, all was well. So what was everyone staring at?

  She got the cat food and some new kitty litter, and started for the check stand. It seemed like every eye in the place found her and held on. Surely she was just imagining things. She was no one special.

  The girl started ringing them up, and all at once, her face brightened. “Are you Janey Germaine?”

  Again, Janey tried to figure out how she knew this Caro
l ringing up her mother’s groceries. Maybe she’d come out to the lodge at some point. But no, she didn’t know her.

  “Yes,” she said slowly. Maybe she was one of Jess’s friend’s mothers. Or maybe—

  “You’re dating Chief Herrin, aren’t you?” The woman looked absolutely giddy as she slid a can of black beans over the scanner.

  “Oh, well—”

  “I heard he runs along the beach every morning.” She sighed as if that was the most wonderful thing on the planet. “Makes a girl want to start running, don’t you think?”

  Janey had no idea what to think, but all the staring suddenly made sense. Two check stands away, another woman had turned around to stare at her, and Janey ducked her head and willed Carol to scan faster.

  The town had obviously gotten the memo on her and Adam’s relationship, and Janey wasn’t sure how to feel about being recognized in the grocery store.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Adam waited outside Janey’s house on Saturday morning, the rain pounding against his car. He’d called Jess and told him not to skateboard over. Adam was afraid the boy would get washed right off the streets, what with the way the weather had turned during the night.

  Janey had texted and said she’d made it up to the lodge okay, and Adam hadn’t gotten in his run on the beach. With the Fall Festival only three weeks away, he was already starting to check the long-range weather forecasts to see if they’d need to move everything indoors.

  They had contingency plans for that, of course, but he hoped they wouldn’t have to use them. His officers had a hard time working long hours in the rain, and less people would show up for the festivities if Mother Nature didn’t get her act together before the festival.

  He was just about to call Jess again when the front door opened and the boy dashed down the steps. He ran across the grass and practically dove into the front seat of the cruiser. “Whew! It is so loud in the house.” He brushed water from his shoulders and hair.

  “And still no jacket, I see,” Adam commented, remembering when he was thirteen and it was so uncool to wear anything that provided any protection whatsoever. It seemed like that hadn’t changed.

  “I figured I’d be in the car or the house most of the time.” Jess grinned at him. “Surely we’re not still hiking to the waterfalls today.”

  “Nope.” Adam flipped a U-turn and headed down the street to get back to his place. “But we are meeting your mom at the lodge for lunch.”

  Jess groaned, and Adam asked, “What?”

  “I don’t like the food at the lodge.”

  “You can eat the soup we’re about to make.” He turned right and then left to get out of Janey’s neighborhood, went down the road a ways, and pulled into the grocery store parking lot.

  “We have to go grocery shopping first?” Jess peered out the windshield like Adam had brought him to the dump.

  “The food doesn’t magically show up in your fridge by fairies,” he said. “I take it you’ve never been grocery shopping.”

  “I mean, I’ve come with my mom.”

  “It can be fun.” Adam unbuckled his seatbelt. “I always get to buy whatever I want.”

  Jess laughed and together, they ran through the torrential rain to the safety of the store. “Will you let me buy whatever I want?”

  He handed Jess the list he’d made for the corn and crab bisque they were making. “You get all of this. And one other thing. One thing. Your choice.”

  Jess’s dark eyes glittered like this would be a great adventure, and Adam was reminded of Matt so much, his breath petered out of his body. He trailed along behind Jess, who pushed the cart and selected onions, vegetables, butter, and cream. Adam had never had a problem spending time with Jess; he wanted to do it. First, to help Janey if he could. Second, he genuinely liked the boy.

  Of course he saw Matt every time he looked into Jess’s face. He’d just never been hit by such a wave of longing to have his best friend back before.

  They moved into the canned area, and Jess got chicken broth. The crowd at the grocery store seemed thinner today, and Adam remembered it was dumping buckets outside. He was suddenly glad for the terrible weather, as it probably saved him and Jess from more curious stares.

  As it was, everyone who passed looked at Adam and smiled. When they saw who he was with, they either blinked like they couldn’t believe it or grinned wider. Thankfully, Jess didn’t seem to notice.

  “I don’t know how to choose crab.” Jess turned back to Adam, the anxiety on his face. He looked back to the seafood counter, his feet shifting.

  “You just ask,” Adam said, leaning his arm on the meat case. When Taylor Locke, the butcher came over, Adam grinned at him. “Hey, Taylor. We’re making crab bisque. We want the best crab you’ve got. Anything good today?”

  “Sure thing. How much do you think?” He glanced at Jess and back to Adam. He was used to people staring at him, making judgments about who he was with and what he bought, and he could practically see Taylor’s wheels turning.

  So the rumors are true. He is dating Janey Germaine. Here he is, with her son.

  “How much, Jess?” Adam looked at the paper, where he’d written down what to get.

  “One pound,” Jess said when he found the info.

  “Comin’ up,” Taylor said.

  Jess beamed at him and crossed off the last item on the list while Taylor wrapped the crab. He put it in the cart, and said, “Okay, I just need my one thing.” He pushed the cart toward the front of the store.

  “What are you going to get?” Adam asked when Jess didn’t detour toward the cookie aisle, or turn back toward the bakery—both of which Adam would’ve done at his age.

  Almost to a check stand, Jess paused where a bunch of boxed baked goods were displayed on the end of the aisle. “These.” He picked up a box of oatmeal pies, and brandished them toward Adam.

  “You want boxed cakes?” Adam looked at them with disgust.

  “My mom never lets me get them, and Thayne always has them at lunch.” Jess took the box back and put it in the cart. “You said I could get one thing. Anything I wanted.”

  Adam’s eyes flickered to the price tag. Two bucks. “That’s fine. I’m just surprised you don’t want an apple fritter bear claw. I mean, they make those fresh every day.”

  “These are good.” He pushed the cart toward the check stand. “Are you going to get something?”

  “Yeah, you start loading those groceries on the belt, and I’ll be right back.” He headed over to the bakery and procured his bear claw. He’d just turned around to rejoin Jess when he nearly plowed into Mabel Magleby.

  “Oh, good morning, Mabel.” He tried to step to the side, but the old woman blocked him again.

  “Are you dating that sweet Janey Germaine?” she asked, her voice creaky and crotchety at the same time. At least she’d come right out and asked him, no staring, no speculating.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, almost saluting her. He wasn’t sure why Mabel was frowning so deeply. “What’s wrong with that?”

  Mabel stepped in closer and pointed one knobbled finger at him. “You better not break her heart.”

  “Oh, Mabel, come on now.” He chuckled and noticed a few other shoppers watching the exchange. He leaned in closer and lowered his voice when he said, “If anything, she’ll break mine.”

  He nodded and whistled as he stepped around her and hurried back to where Jess had already unloaded the whole cart’s worth of groceries onto the belt. He nodded back toward the bakery, which could just be seen from where they stood. “What’s with Mabel Magleby?”

  “Do you know her?”

  “Yeah, of course. Everyone knows Mabel.”

  “More than that, I mean.” Adam glanced back to the bakery too, and then focused on Jess.

  “Yeah, she always brings leftovers when there’s a big event at the Mansion. She’s been doing it for years.”

  “Huh.” Adam stepped forward to pay for the groceries. “Your mom never
told me that.”

  “We have someone else who leaves stuff for us too,” Jess said. “We don’t know who it is. Mom calls them our anonymous angel.”

  Adam’s movement stuttered as he swiped his debit card through the reader. “What kind of stuff?”

  “Food, cookies, sometimes presents. They left me a scooter once on my birthday, and Mom says they left diapers and clothes when I was a baby.”

  Adam lifted the bags back into the cart and said, “You stay here. I’ll run out and pull the car up.”

  Jess agreed, and Adam walked away from the boy before he spilled his guts and confessed that he was their anonymous angel. Why does it matter? he thought as he jogged through the rain and took shelter in the cruiser.

  “And you’re going to have to tell them sometime.” He pulled up to the store and he and Jess loaded the groceries into the trunk with at least some shelter from the rain. Once Jess was back in the car, Adam looked at him and asked, “Can you keep a secret?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  “This has to actually stay secret,” Adam said. “Not like when I told you I liked your mom and you blabbed to Dixie the first chance you got.”

  “I didn’t—” Jess ducked his head. “All right. So I did. But I swear I won’t say anything to her—to anyone—about this.”

  Adam drove through the rain, his words taking their sweet time to align. He’d made it all the way back to his house and put the car in park before he turned to Jess. “So your dad was my best friend. Did you know that?”

  Jess nodded, his eyes serious. “Yeah, Mom’s mentioned that.”

  Adam exhaled. “So a few days before he and your mom got married, we went to dinner, and he asked me to take care of her. And any kids they might have. You know, if anything ever happened to him.”

  Jess’s eyes widened and he blinked.

  “He didn’t know something would happen,” Adam said. “He just wanted to know I’d be there if he couldn’t be. And I have been, Jess. I stayed with you and your mom the night he died. And I’m your anonymous angel.”