A Spirited Gift

Tim was getting a list of everyone who had been at the Blue Whale the night before from Marissa. They were acting a little flirty together—which was good, since otherwise Tim tended to think of me as his true love.

We’d shared our first kiss when we were in high school, and many people thought we’d end up together. But I never had those kinds of feelings for him as an adult. He only thought he felt that way about me—when he wasn’t seeing someone else. I seemed to be his port in the storm when he was single.

“Nothing too ragged, I hope.” Kevin put his arm around me, taking my thoughts away from my first boyfriend.

“Not at all. It was a relief to hand it all over to the chief. I don’t think I’d be very good at law enforcement. Too much responsibility.”

“What about being mayor?” He smiled. “I’ve seen you worry enough about trash thrown out of a car on Duck Road to go out at midnight and pick it up.”

“That’s different,” I told him. “Being in the FBI must have been a lot worse. You had to think about the whole country. No wonder you retired early.”

He laughed. “There’s no doubt it takes a toll on you. Now that everything is cleared up here, you want to walk down and see how Missing Pieces is doing?”

I cringed thinking about it. My little thrift shop was right on the Currituck Sound—on a boardwalk, no less. I’d done repairs to it and claimed damages dozens of times on my treasures that were stored there. This storm had been bad enough that I knew what to expect.

“Aren’t there potatoes to peel or something? I’d rather do almost anything else.”

“Come on. You’ve patched everyone else’s roofs and windows, let’s go take care of yours before it gets dark. Chief Michaels tells me there’s a curfew in force until the power comes back on for the streetlights.”

“What about dinner?” I procrastinated. “Shouldn’t we cook something?”

“There’s plenty of time for that later. I’ll get some tools.”

While I waited for Kevin to return with tools, Shawn Foxx was getting ready to leave with his little girls. Talking to them was probably even further down on the list of things I wanted to do today. I couldn’t stand the idea of facing those two pairs of blue eyes wet with tears for their mother.

“Thanks for everything, Dae.” Shawn shook my hand. “I know Sandi considered you a friend. We’re heading back home to get things straightened up there.”

His two little girls smiled at me, and I could tell their father hadn’t told them the result of their trip here. They didn’t know yet. Maybe he couldn’t bear to tell them either. I hoped he had someone who could be there for them.

“I’m so sorry about everything. I wish it could be different.”

He shrugged. “Life isn’t always what we expect. We have to make the best of it.” He smiled at his daughters. “Thank the nice lady for your snacks and for her help.”

Both girls had a sweet lisp as they thanked me. They followed their father out of the front door. It was all I could do not to break down into a sobbing heap on the floor. I didn’t blame him for not telling them about Sandi yet. A quiet place at home was a better spot for that explanation. I didn’t envy him the task.

I confided my feelings to Kevin as we went down toward Duck Road, walking around and under everything that had been deposited there during the night.

“I wish I’d realized what was happening before it was too late.”

“That’s a high level of responsibility even for you, Mayor. Sandi made her choices, which may or may not have played a part in her death. You didn’t have anything to do with it.”

“I hope not.” I saw my neighbor’s distinctive garden trellis in one of the trees as we walked by. I made a note to tell her in case she was wondering where it went.

Of course, it would’ve taken a huge spreadsheet to keep track of everything that had blown away during the storm. Just on the corner where we turned, there were two picnic table umbrellas hanging from trees. Beside them were green velvet drapes and a matching chair. We walked around a bed frame, complete with mattress. And there was a toilet. Cars were on their sides, pushed into places they didn’t belong. It would take months to get everything back to normal.

But at least most of the road on one side was clear for emergency vehicles and for people whose cars weren’t upside down in their living rooms. I hoped those people were helping others who needed it. I promised myself I would be one of them tomorrow after getting my house and shop in order today.

“This is a mess,” Kevin said. “But farther down toward Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills, they got hit a lot worse. Duck is in good condition compared to that.”

I was pleasantly surprised to find the Duck Shoppes on the Boardwalk were almost untouched. A few signs had been blown away or fallen down, but my shop was exactly as I’d left it the day before.