Driftwood Lane (Nantucket #4)(18)

The Browns’ room was tidy, the bed hardly slept in. The room still bore the lingering remnants of old lady perfume. Meridith pulled up the quilt and fluffed the pillows.

After gathering the dirty towels, she went to the laundry room to retrieve a fresh stack, Ben following. The leftover smells of cinnamon and bacon filled the house, and Meridith felt a swell of pride that breakfast had turned out so well. The Browns had raved over the cinnamon rolls and quiche Lorraine, making her efforts worthwhile. Of course, Noelle had taken one bite of her roll and pronounced it subpar to her mother’s. Meridith wasn’t about to admit it had taken her two tries to get them right.

Still, she was glad it was Saturday and she could spend the day bonding with the kids. And best of all—no Jake.

“When are we leaving?” Max stuck his head into the laundry room. He seemed to have recovered from the nightmare, especially when she’d mentioned the idea of golf lessons after breakfast. “As soon as I’m finished with the Browns’ room. Give me fifteen minutes, and would you tell Noelle to be ready?”

The girl had been in the shower half an hour, and their lessons were in thirty minutes.

None of the children had golfed before, but they seemed eager to learn. Or maybe they were eager for a distraction. Staying busy was a wonderful coping strategy.

Meridith was delivering the towels when a knock sounded at the front door. It was too early for the Browns’ return. Besides, they had a key.

Ben followed her down the steps. Max was nearly to the door.

“I’ll get it,” Meridith said. Didn’t the children have any sense of safety? He couldn’t even reach the peephole.

She leaned into the door and peeked through the hole. Jake smiled at her with that cocky grin of his.

She huffed, pulling the door. “What are you doing here?” And with tools, she thought, her gaze running over his leather tool belt.

“I work here.”

“It’s Saturday.”

“I work Saturdays.” His eyes went over her shoulder, and she heard Max shuffling his feet behind her.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve clarified the hours. Monday through Friday will do.”

“Thought you’d want that partition finished at least.”

Her mind raced back to the scare the night before when she’d heard Max scream. She did want that thing finished, but she couldn’t leave the man here without supervision. What if he robbed them blind? Robbed the Browns blind?

And staying was out of the question. The children were excited about the golf lessons, and they had to come first. Besides, she was sure the Browns were harmless.

“I’m sorry, but the children and I have plans today, so I’m afraid—”

“That’s okay!” Max said in a peculiar rush. “I mean, we can have lessons another time, right, Ben?”

“Uh, right.” Ben nodded thoughtfully, looking more grown-up than his seven years.

Strange, she’d thought they’d be disappointed.

“It’s settled then.” Jake stepped in, nudging her aside.

“Now wait a minute, I made reservations,” she said, and then addressed Ben and Max. “And boys, I think Noelle was looking forward to this.”

“I’d rather stay,” Noelle said from the stairs. Her hair had been carefully styled into a fashionable ponytail. “I mean, lessons are cool, but I’d rather just hang around here today anyway.”

Meridith eyed the kids one by one. Maybe there was a strange virus going around. Or maybe they were secretly eager to get that partition up too. Maybe after losing their parents they needed security.

Jake tossed her a smug grin and started up the stairs. So much for a peaceful day.

Meridith spent the morning doing laundry and prep work for the next day’s breakfast. She checked on Jake a few times, but couldn’t bring herself to hover as she had the day before. Even so, just having him in the house ruined her sense of serenity. She needed to make sure he wasn’t coming the next day. Surely he didn’t work Sundays.

She made the children a simple lunch, then they disappeared upstairs again, even her tagalong. At least they were together. Their muffled laughter seeped through the ceiling as she stuffed the towels in the dryer and started the cycle.

That done, she went out back to enjoy the unseasonably warm day for a few minutes.

The grass had greened up after the rain a couple days before, and the sun shone brightly in a sky so blue it hurt her eyes. She sank into one of the Adirondack chairs on the beach and closed her eyes.

A breeze ruffled her hair and pebbled the skin on her arms. She should coax the children outside to enjoy the fresh sunshine and soak up some vitamin D. She was surprised they weren’t outside enjoying the reprieve from winter.

The waves lapped onto the shore in quiet, relentless ripples. A seagull screeched from somewhere down the shoreline, and another bird replied. She missed home, the comfort of her padded swing, her tall shade trees and scented lilac bushes. If she closed her eyes and blocked out the sound of the waves, she could almost imagine that she was back home in her garden, dozing on her swing under the tall oak—

“Hey, Meri!”

Jake’s voice shattered the illusion. She craned her head around, following the sound of his voice to an upstairs window. His elbows perched lazily on the ledge.

She glared up at him. “Meridith.”