“So you’re goin’ home to see your folks?”
“Sort of. Maybe.” She shrugged, her shoulders brushing her ears and holding for a moment as she considered Kelsey’s question. “I left on . . . bad terms. I want to try to make things right before I move to New York this summer.”
“Wait! You’re movin’ to New York?!” asked Kelsey, putting her hands on her hips, her eyes sparkling and impressed. “Got room for one more? As a nanny maybe?”
“What would your grandpa say about that?” asked Laire.
There was only a few years’ difference between her and Kelsey, but Laire had lived through a lot of heartache in twenty-four and a half years, and Kelsey felt so much younger than she. The Leathams were originally from Ocracoke, which wasn’t anywhere near as conservative as Corey, but many of the values were still the same, and Laire wasn’t anxious that her new friend experienced the kind of hardships that she had.
Kelsey shrugged. “Wouldn’t love it. Nor my folks.”
“Think hard before you make a choice like that, huh, Kelsey?”
The younger woman sighed but nodded her head. “Yeah. It’s hard to leave.”
“It’s especially hard to come back,” said Laire softly, more to herself than Kelsey.
She’d already been back on the Banks for three days, and none of her family was any the wiser. Now that she was here, she found she wasn’t in a rush to see them, though they were a huge reason for why she’d decided to move here for a while. Then again, it made sense to settle Ava Grace in at the Hatteras Elementary School and move into Judith’s condo first, right? Yes. No sense in jumping the gun. Once they were settled in Hatteras, she’d call Kyrstin and ask for her advice about arranging a visit.
“Mama,” said Ava Grace, peeking around the bathroom door, “you know that I have a new friend?”
Grateful for the distraction, Laire grinned at her. “You do?”
“Uh-huh! His name is Oscar!”
She ducked back into the bathroom, and Laire chuckled as she turned to Kelsey. “Oscar? I didn’t realize that there was another child staying in the inn.”
“Oh,” said Kelsey, licking her lips and giving Laire a funny look. “He’s not a kid. And, actually, his name isn’t Oscar. It’s—”
“Mama!” screamed Ava Grace.
Laire’s heart kicked into high gear as she crossed the room in three strides, rushing into the bathroom. “Ava?”
Ava Grace was sitting on the toilet with her snow pants around her ankles, pointing at the shower. As Laire looked around the curtain, she saw a hairy spider the size of her palm resting on the white tile.
“Oh, God,” she said, cringing. “Gross.”
Kelsey, who had followed her into the bathroom, gasped, then groaned. “Second one this week. I think they got washed in by the storm. They’re comin’ up through the pipes.”
“Mama,” wailed Ava Grace. “It’s so yucky!”
Laire backed away from the arachnid and handed her daughter some toilet tissue. “Wipe.”
“I’ll get Grandpa,” said Kelsey, backing out of the small room. “Spiders give me the creeps!”
“Me too!”
Ava jumped off the pot and flushed, and Laire helped her take off her boots, snow pants, and parka, settling her in front of the TV with a snack bag of cookies.
It was hours later, after Mr. Leatham had dispatched their hairy friend, and Ava Grace was happily eating order-in pizza for dinner, that Laire realized she’d never gotten the details on her daughter’s mysterious new friend, Oscar.
***
Erik spent most of the day at Utopia Manor with a local handyman, Charles McGillicutty, assessing the damage to the mansion and coming up with a plan for repair and renovation. The dock had been broken by waves and thrown about twenty yards onto the lawn, which was covered with detritus from the sea. Parts of the boardwalk needed repairs. The pool had been flooded, and the water had leaked through the sliding doors into the living room, destroying the ground-floor hardwood floors, carpets, and furniture. The basement had also flooded, killing the electrical panel. And several third-floor windows had been broken by flying debris, causing damage to the interior and exterior of the house. It was thousands of dollars of damage in landscaping and structure, and Erik needed Hillary to call his parents’ insurance agent in Raleigh to come out and make a report right away. He guessed it would a few days for someone to get out to the Banks, so Erik would probably be stuck there until at least the first of January.
Standing on the balcony off his room in the late-afternoon sunshine, he pulled out his phone and texted Hillary, relieved to discover that he had edge service.
ERIK: Hey. Are you around? At UM.