The Shore (16 page)

Lucas was the last into the house, and Polly slammed the door behind him. The three of them stood shivering and dripping rain and seawater onto the floor. Polly's normally uncontrollable hair hung in wet, red clumps around her ears and down her back, little rivulets of water rolling off it onto her already soaked skin. Goose bumps stood up all over her skin. The chill made certain other parts of her anatomy stand out as well.

She glanced down at the floor. Pools of water were forming
beneath each of them, and they had tracked wet sand all over the entryway.
Great, something else to clean up,
she thought.

“Well, that was unexpected,” Lucas said at last.

“I can't believe how fast that storm came up,” Avery added.

“I vote for staying in tonight,” Polly said, struggling to catch her breath and keep her teeth from chattering.

“I've got the perfect idea!” Avery said, heading for the kitchen.

Polly rubbed her cold arms and stared as Avery pulled something off the refrigerator.

“Pop's Pizza!” Avery said triumphantly, displaying a little magnet. “Let's order in.”

Polly glanced out the window and saw sheets of rain coming down almost horizontally as they were being driven by the rain. “That sounds good. Owen was working the boat, so he should be home pretty soon. April's shift is over in half an hour. I'm not sure about Sabrina and Curt, but I don't imagine anyone will be going out in this weather, so we should probably order for everyone.”

“Check how much community cash we have,” Avery said.

Polly joined her in the kitchen and reached up to the top of the refrigerator for a clam-shaped cookie jar. She pulled it down and placed it on the counter. She looked inside and gasped.

“What is it?” Lucas asked, moving closer.

Polly slowly pulled out a crumpled ten and five ones. “There
should be at least a hundred and twenty in here. Where's the rest of the money?” she stammered. “We're supposed to pay the electric bill on Friday.”

Avery grabbed the cookie jar and inspected it. “Are you sure there was supposed to be that much in here?”

“Positive. Last night I put my tips in after work. There was no reason for anyone to take it.”

A sad, almost nauseating sensation flooded through Polly. This wasn't the summer she'd imagined. One thing after another had gone wrong. And they really didn't need a thief among them as well.

The next morning was cool and misty. The house was darker inside than usual because there was no sunlight to stream through the windows. It made Owen restless and edgy. Or maybe it was Polly that made him restless and edgy.

Polly had called a group meeting in the living room to discuss something about missing money. Owen didn't actually care. Sabrina was at the meeting too, though, and he did care about her. Disturbingly so. She was perched on the arm of the sofa, legs swinging slowly back and forth, looking extremely bored and at the same time gorgeous in white capris and a light blue tank top.

Owen was regretting his decision to sit in one of the chairs. If he'd sat on the end of the couch, he could have been closer to Sabrina. He hadn't wanted to sit next to April, though, who had taken the middle of the couch. Lucas had the far end of
the sofa and had his bare feet propped up on the coffee table.

Owen continued to stare at Sabrina, wishing he were closer to her. He could smell her perfume, and it was driving him wild with memories of their night together.
She might like to pretend that she doesn't remember, but I do.
For a moment he imagined brushing her honey hair back from her face, touching her golden arm, caressing her soft skin.

“Where's Curt? He's the only one not here,” Polly said, interrupting Owen's thoughts as she paced in front of them like some kind of schoolteacher.

“Practicing for the Battle of the Bands,” Avery said, perched on the edge of one of the other chairs, looking intent.

He's going to need a lot of practice,
Owen thought.

Polly frowned. “He should be here. This is important.”

“It may not matter,” Avery said. “We're missing money from our room, too.”

“So am I,” Sabrina said.

“Is it possible someone outside the house has been coming in?” Polly mused.

“Like Fred?” April asked.

“I really don't think Fred could have done this,” Polly said.

“Why not?” Sabrina asked. “After all, he does have access to everything.”

“He just doesn't strike me as the type who would steal,” Polly said.

“Why else would he always be hanging around?” April asked.

“Maybe because he owns the place,” Lucas suggested.

“And he's paranoid,” Owen added.

“And he's hitting on us, well, at least on me,” Sabrina said, rolling her eyes.

Owen smiled at the thought of a nerd like Fred hitting on a hottie like Sabrina. He wished he'd been there to see that one.

“I think if Fred really wanted our money, he could have had it some other way, like charging us more for the rooms,” Avery said.

“Okay, let's say for the moment that it's not Fred,” Polly said. “We don't know who's taking the money, but we have to keep it safe.”

“What do you suggest?” Lucas asked.

Polly sighed. “I don't know, maybe we should all move our money to different places. Also, we can put the common money somewhere safer.”

“Stick it in the freezer,” Owen suggested. “Burglars don't look there.”

Sabrina rolled her eyes. “But none of this helps if one of us is the thief.”

“Then we'll know them by their cold hands,” Owen said, belatedly realizing that everyone else seemed to be reacting badly to Sabrina's statement, casting doubtful looks at one another.

“You really think one of us is stealing the money?” Avery asked quietly.

“I guess we have to consider the possibility,” Polly said, her freckles standing out against her pale skin.

“There are other people who come and go around here,” April said.

Owen narrowed his eyes, wondering if she was referring to his friends. Lucas also looked distinctly uncomfortable, and Owen remembered he had seen a girl in the house a couple of times with him.

“Well, we can each hide our own money and hopefully keep it safe. If we move the community cash into the back of the freezer, away from the ice cubes, then I guess we'll know if it's one of us who is stealing,” Polly said slowly.

“Works for me,” Lucas said.

“Everyone's also going to have to chip in extra money so we can pay the electric bill on Friday,” Avery said, looking pained.

“I'm not going to be able to chip in until next Friday,” April said.

Everyone gave her curious looks.

“A box of new DVDs was stolen from the video store,” she explained. “The owner says it's my fault because it happened on my watch. He's taking it out of this week's pay.”

“He can't do that,” Sabrina said. “That's totally unfair. I'd never let someone do that to me.”

“Easier said than done,” April groaned. “I need this job, and I don't have time to go looking for another. Besides, by this point in the summer, most of the jobs are taken.”

Owen had an idea. He had some extra cash and maybe he
could do something that would help April and score a few points with Sabrina. “I don't want to drink hot beer,” he said, “so I'll cover April's share of the electric bill for Friday and she can pay it back later.” He glanced at Sabrina hopefully, but she wasn't even looking at him. She was too busy inspecting her nails.

“Wow, I really appreciate that,” April said. “I'll pay you back as soon as I can.”

“Thank you, Owen,” Polly said. “That's very generous.”

The meeting ended with the agreement that everyone would be careful about their money and the community funds would be hidden deep in the recesses of the freezer.

Owen headed to the beach. The odds that anyone was going to want to go parasailing before the mist burned off were slim, but work was work. When he had finished prepping the boat, he got a hard lemonade out of the shack and settled himself down to a seat on the sand.

He'd only been sitting a little while when Sabrina appeared through the haze, towing her two young charges behind. Owen tensed, but she smiled at him. He never knew what to expect from her.

“Does anyone actually parasail on a day like today?” she asked, all honey and sweetness.

“Most likely not. I'll just keep the boat anchored there and wait.”

“So, you're pretty much hanging out?”

“Yeah,” he said, hope stirring in him. Maybe the offer to
help cover April's bill had made a difference after all. “Feel like joining me?”

“Sure,” she said. “I just have to do a couple things first.”

“Well, hurry up,” he said, grinning at her.

“It would take less time if I could go by myself,” she said, nodding at the kids.

Now Owen understood. She'd come by to dump the kids on him. He was tempted to tell her to drop dead, but caught himself. That wouldn't do him any good as far as she was concerned. He'd be better off taking the kids and scoring brownie points. “Sure thing,” he said, forcing a smile. “They're welcome to share all the excitement.”

The kids had plopped themselves down on the sand and got busy digging and making a sand castle with their shovels. Watching them didn't seem like a big deal.

“So you'll keep an eye on them?” she asked.

“No sweat.”

“Thanks!” she said brightly. “I'll be right back.”

She took off up the beach. Owen felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness. Okay, this was it. His second chance. And this time he'd better not blow it. He got up and went into the shack for another hard lemonade. He just wanted to calm his nerves.

April was relieved that Owen had come to her rescue by offering to pay her share of the electric bill. She wouldn't have expected
that from him. On the other hand, she was bummed by the implication that someone in their house might be taking money. That really sucked.

She got to the video store and took a deep breath before going inside. She loved movies, but had grown to hate this job. Leonard, the owner, was an unpredictable tyrant who seemed to enjoy taking out his frustrations on his employees.

When she walked inside, she was surprised to find Sabrina there arguing with Leonard. The video store owner was a short, squat man with a balding head and bulging eyes. At that moment, his face was red and there were sweat stains under the arms of his blue Hawaiian shirt. He was waving his arms and spitting his words out along with a spray of saliva. “What about my missing DVDs!? Someone's gotta pay for them, and it's sure not going to be me. I wasn't even in the store when they disappeared.”

“It's not going to be April, either,” Sabrina said, her voice stern and strong and her eyes glittering like diamonds. “You have no proof that the DVDs were taken while she was working here. Besides, she doesn't make enough for you to take more money out of her salary. I know you can afford it. You're paying your employees dirt, and it would be a shame if the IRS found out you're also paying them cash off the books.”

If anything, Leonard's eyes bulged out even farther. “But the DVDs—”

“Get a better security system and stop complaining,”
Sabrina snapped. “And don't forget, you can take the loss as a tax write-off.”

April stared at Sabrina in amazement. She couldn't believe what she was witnessing. Sabrina glanced over and winked at her, then turned back to Leonard. “And another thing. April has been so traumatized by this whole experience that you'd better give her the day off.”

“Now that's total bull!” Leonard argued.

Instead of yelling back, Sabrina smiled. “Can I use your phone? I need to call the IRS.”

“Oh, go take a day off.” Leonard waved at April.

April turned right around and headed out the door. A moment later, Sabrina joined her. They took off up the street, laughing.

“I can't believe you did that!” April said when they were out of earshot of the store. “How can I thank you?”

Sabrina shrugged. “It was no biggie. I didn't like the idea of some jerk taking his own security issues out on my roommate . . . and her paycheck.”

“Well, thanks a bunch,” April said, feeling an unexpected rush of warmth toward Sabrina. “You completely saved my butt.”

“Guess I'm not as bad as everyone thinks, huh?” Sabrina said.

Guess not,
April thought,
but it sure is a strange thing to say.

Lucas was discovering the joys of teaching. His parents had talked about the rewards endlessly when he was growing up, and
then they'd gone on to greater glory in the world of education, but until now, he'd never experienced it firsthand. Of course, teaching three kids to surf wasn't exactly the same as a full professorship at Princeton University, where not one, but both his parents taught. Nor had he written one of the great textbooks in his field the way his father had. But still, he found himself basking in admiration of his little class, who clearly drank in every word he said.

The two girls and one boy stood around him on the damp sand, clutching foam surfboards. He smiled at them all. “You're going to make great surfers. Just remember, what is the key?”

“Safety first,” they chimed back.

“Excellent.”

“And why'd we have to stop surfing today?” Lucas asked.

“It's getting too foggy,” one of the kids answered.

“Right.”

Someone behind him chuckled. Lucas turned to find Avery, smiling.

“Class dismissed,” Lucas told the kids, who headed back to their parents, who were waiting nearby.

“Looked like you were having fun,” Avery said.