Her heart skipped a beat and for a moment she forgot about the locals. “I don’t want to ruin your record, so let’s go with pizza.”
They made their choices and took the basket to the checkout. Frankie was beginning to think that Matt might be right and that this wasn’t going to be as bad as she’d feared, when she turned and bumped into an elderly lady carrying a bag of apples. Her hair was as white as the snow that blanketed the island during the long winter months; her skin was wrinkled and paper thin, but her blue eyes were sharp and alert.
Hilda Dodge.
Recognizing her immediately, Frankie turned to make for the door but the woman shot out a hand and caught her arm.
“It’s Francesca, isn’t it?”
Crap. Coming back here had been a mistake. A big fat mistake.
Hilda had lived next to the Beckets. She’d probably seen Frankie’s mother climbing in and out of the bedroom window. And now they were going to talk about it in glorious detail. They were going to reminisce, right next to the vegetable aisle, where no doubt the color of her cheeks would make the heap of glossy vine tomatoes look washed out.
“It’s Frankie.”
“We haven’t seen your face here for—” Hilda’s head bobbed as she did the calculation “—it must be almost ten years.”
Ten years, one month, six days and five hours.
“I went to college.” I ran away and never came back. That’s how strong and brave she was.
“I remember you well. You, Paige and that other girl—pretty blonde who lived with her grandmother—”
“Eva.”
“That’s her. Eva. My memory isn’t what it was. The three of you were thick as thieves. And you were so shy.”
“Excuse me?”
“So many times I tried to talk to you after that business with your parents, but you always crossed the road so that you wouldn’t have to speak to me.” Hilda leaned in and lowered her voice. “I was the same age as you when my parents divorced. Such a shock. Like coming home and finding someone has knocked your house down. In an instant, everything you’re used to has gone. Vanished.”
It had felt exactly like that. As if her world had collapsed.
Frankie stared at her. “You—I assumed—”
“I wanted you to know that you had our support. Everyone on the island felt the same way. When you went missing that day—” Hilda’s eyes filled and she patted Frankie’s arm “—we all went out looking for you. Everyone. We searched the fields and the forest. We were all praying you hadn’t gone into the water. When Kathleen called to say she had you safe in the cottage—well, a few prayers of thanks were said that night.”
They’d said prayers of thanks?
“I—”
“We’ve missed seeing you around, although I understand why you needed to leave this place and have a fresh start. Too many memories here.” Hilda gave her a quick hug. “Still, it’s all behind you now. And you’re home, that’s the main thing.”
Home? “I live in New York now, Hilda. That’s my home.”
“Once an islander, always an islander. You can’t get away from it, pumpkin. Enjoy your stay. The whole island is excited about the wedding.”
In a daze, Frankie let Matt guide her to the door and back to the car.
He pulled out of the space, avoiding the line of traffic queuing for the ferry.
Frankie’s head was still spinning. She sat in silence, processing what had just happened. “Aren’t you going to say it?”
“Say what?”
“I told you so. You told me it was in my head. People crossing the road.”
“First, I grew out of saying ‘I told you so’ when I was around nine years old, and second, I don’t think it was all in your head. I love this place, but I’m the first to admit that it has downsides, and one of those downsides is the interest people take in other people’s business.”