The deep male voice startled her, and she gasped, searching the shadowy darkness beside the house.“H-hello?”
“Over here,” the voice said.
She tracked the sound and found the man hidden by the shadows and hedges between the homes.
“Can I help you?”he asked again.
“Uh, no.Thank you,” she said, wondering if she needed to make a run for the house or dive into the car to lock the doors.All beach towns had crime, and in Carolina Cove, drunkenness and theft were the norm.
Hadley stood between the house and her car, and she shifted uncomfortably, gripping her keys tighter.She wasn’t about to be mugged, was she?
A loud clang made Hadley jump after the man tossed something into the back of a truck parked in the driveway next door.It was just bright enough for her to make out the logo on the side.
The house next to Nan’s had sold sometime during the year, but since she hadn’t been in to visit, she’d never met the new owners.Obviously they were having some work done.She’d vaguely noticed a dumpster as she’d pulled in but hadn’t paid it any mind, until now.“Are you the contractor?”
“Yeah,” the man said.
The words lifted some of the stress she felt given the dark and the situation.At least now she knew why he was there.“Nice to, uh, meet you.I’m… I’m the new owner,” she said, testing out the words.“Um, Nan’s—Georgia’s—granddaughter.”
“My condolences.”
So he did know Nan had passed.“Thank you.”
“I didn’t see you at the service.”
He’d gone?She supposed, given Nan’s nature, her grandmother would’ve made friends with the man if he was around enough.That was just Nan’s way.“I was a little late.”
“For your grandmother’s funeral?”
“I-It couldn’t be helped,” she said, sounding defensive to her own ears.But who was he to comment one way or another?“Besides, I didn’t see you at all.”
The words came out of nowhere, and the moment she uttered them, she wanted to yank them back.They sounded… “I mean, at the service.”
“I had to leave early.”
The man folded his arms over his chest and studied her from across the way.It was difficult for her to see much other than a dark tan, red shirt and cargo shorts, and a dark head of hair with a bit of gray along the sides that glinted in the light whenever he turned his head.
“Well, I won’t keep you.Have a good evening.”
“Y-you as well.”Hadley hurried to the porch, and in her effort to get away from prying eyes, she unlocked the door and stumbled over the threshold.
Inside wasn’t any better.
She’d never been there without Nan, and the fact sucked the air from her lungs for a long moment.Nan always knew when someone pulled in, and any time Hadley had been to visit, her grandmother would open the door, smile in place, and more often than not, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies warm from the oven were waiting to be eaten.How many dozens of cookies had been baked in this house?
She and Nan had that in common, too.Their love of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.To them it was a crime to throw a raisin into something so delicious, and they’d lamented the fact with every baking.
Hadley froze, her back against the door as she took in the room.Nan’s TV tray beside her chair, the throw she’d knitted years ago folded neatly and placed on the arm ready for use.Her favorite rag mags on the side table along with a half-empty bottle of water.
Oh, Nan.What am I going to do without you?I wish I’d known.I wish I’d talked to you about this mess I’m in.I’m so sorry.
Hadley closed her eyes, simply breathing in her grandmother’s home.The jasmine-scented air mixed with a hint of lemon furniture polish and that indescribable something that made it Nan’s.
Packing her grandmother’s things and figuring out the house allowed Hadley the perfect excuse to linger in Carolina Cove, but there would come a point when questions would be asked.
Answers demanded.
But maybe in the next few days she could gather her nerve and come up with a plan for the unavoidable breaking of her parents’ hearts and the disappointment that was sure to follow.