Megan's mate

The food's better than the service.

Nathaniel winked at Kevin as he led them to a booth.

You've just met one of the monuments of the island, Kevin. Mrs. Peterson's family has been trapping lobster and cooking them up for over a hundred years.

Wow.

He eyed the waitress, who, to almost-nine-year-old eyes, seemed old enough to have been handling that job personally for at least a century.

I worked here some when I was a kid. Swabbing the decks.

And she'd been kind

to him, Nathaniel remembered. Giving him i.e. or salve for his bruises, saying nothing.

I thought you worked with Holt's family Megan began, then cursed herself when

he lifted a brow at her.

Coco mentioned it.

I put in some time with the Bradfords.

Did you know Holt's grandfather?

Kevin wanted to know.

He's one of the

ghosts.

Sure. He used to sit on the porch of the house where Alex and Jenny live now.

Sometimes he'd walk up to the cliffs over by The Towers. Looking for Bianca.

Lilah says they walk there together now. I haven't seen them.

And it was a

crushing disappointment.

Have you ever seen a ghost?

More than once.

Nathaniel ignored the stiff kick Megan gave him under the table.

In Cornwall, where the cliffs are deadly and the fogs roll in like something alive, I saw a woman standing, looking out to sea. She wore a cape with a hood, and there were tears in her eyes.

Kevin was leaning forward now, rapt and eager.

I started toward her, through the mist, and she turned. She was beautiful, and sad.

'Lost,' was what she said to me. 'He's lost. And so am I. Then she vanished. Like smoke.

Honest?

Kevin said in an awed whisper.

Honest wasn't the point, Nathaniel knew. The pull of the story was.

They called her

the Captain's Lady, and legend is that her husband and his ship went down in a storm in the Irish Sea. Night after night while she lived, and long after, she walked the cliffs weeping for him.

Maybe you should be writing books, like Max, Megan murmured, surprised and

annoyed at the shiver that raced down her spine.

Oh, he can spin a tale, Nate can.

Julie plopped two beers and a soft drink on the table.

Used to badger me about all the places he was going to see. Well, guess you saw them, didn't you, Captain?

Guess I did.

Nathaniel lifted the bottle to his lips.

But I never forgot you, darling.

Julie gave another cackling laugh, punched his shoulder.

Sweet-talker,

she said,

and shuffled off.

Megan studied her beer.

She didn't take our order.

She won't. She'll bring us what she wants us to have.

He took another pull of the

beer.

Because she likes me. If you're not up for beer, I can charm her into switching it.

No, it's fine. I suppose you know a lot of people on the island, since you grew up here.

A few. I was gone a long time.

Nate sailed around the whole world. Twice.

Kevin slurped soda through his straw.

Through hurricanes and typhoons and everything.

It must have been exciting.

It had its moments.

Do you miss it?

I sailed on another man's ship for more than fifteen years. Now I sail my own.

Things change.

Nathaniel draped his arm over the back of the booth, like you

coming here.

We like it.

Kevin began to stab his straw in the i.e.

Mom's boss in Oklahoma

was a skinflint.

Kevin.

Granddad said so. And he didn't appreciate you. You were hiding your light under a bushel.

Kevin didn't know what that meant, but his grandmother had said so.

Granddad's biased.

She smiled and ruffled her son's hair.

But we do like it here.

Eat hearty,

Julie ordered, and dropped three enormous platters on the table.

The long rolls of crusty bread were filled with chunks of lobster and flanked by a mound of coleslaw and a small mountain of French fries.

Girl needs weight,

Julie proclaimed.

Boy, too. Didn't know you liked 'em skinny, Captain.

I like them any way I can get them,

Nathaniel corrected, which sent Julie off into another gale of laughter.

We'll never eat all of this.

Megan stared, daunted, at her plate.

Nathaniel had already dug in.

Sure we will. So, have you looked over Fergus's book yet?

Not really.

Megan sampled the first bite. Whatever the atmosphere, the food was four-star.

I want to get the backlog caught up first. Since Shipshape's books were the worst, I dealt with them first. I still have to work on your second quarter, and The Retreat's.

Your mother's a practical woman, Kiev.

Yeah.

Kevin managed to swallow a giant bite of lobster roll.

Granddad says she

needs to get out more.

Kevin.

But the warning came too late. Nathaniel was already grinning.

Does he? What else does Granddad say?

She should live a little.

Kevin attacked his French fries with the single-minded determination of a child.

'Cause she's too young to hole up like a hermit.

Your granddad's a smart man.

Oh, yeah. He knows everything. He's got oil for blood and horses on the brain.

A quote from my mother,

Megan said dryly.

She knows everything, too. But you

were asking about Fergus's book.

Just wondered if it had scratched your curiosity.