Lost and Found in Lavender Bay (The Lavender Bay Chronicles #2)

14. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

M aureen took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

Everett was still in Lavender Bay. There had been two sightings. Angie was clearing a table when she spotted him across the street, but when she went outside, he was gone. And Aunt Gail had seen him turning the corner at Oak and Vine, a takeout bag in his hand. But when she turned the corner to follow him, he disappeared between two houses, and her last glimpse showed him hopping the fence in the back.

Maureen hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since he disappeared two months ago. Like most mornings lately, she was up earlier than necessary. Lying in bed trying to sleep was a futile exercise. She made her way downstairs to the kitchen, followed by Roger, who meowed all the way until she fed him.

The house was quiet. She closed her eyes and listened to the silence.

Opening her eyes, she lifted her phone from the kitchen table, momentarily ignoring the fact that the tabletop was covered with toast crumbs. She didn’t have the energy to wipe it off, much less care about it.

A quick glance out the window showed it wasn’t raining. She scribbled a quick note for Allan, letting him know she’d gone for a walk.

She grabbed her keys and sunglasses from the table and glanced into the family room, where Roger sat on the back of the sofa, his tail moving slowly as he looked out the window to the backyard, his interest keen on the birds at the feeder.

She exited, pulling the door closed softly behind her so as not to wake anyone up. Outside, she tucked the keys in her pocket. The morning sun was strong and bright, and she immediately put on her sunglasses. The street was quiet, as most people weren’t up yet, and she headed in the direction of the beach. It was such a beautiful morning that the lake beckoned.

This early in the morning, there was hardly anyone on the beach. A lone jogger ran past her, the back of his T-shirt soaked with sweat.

She’d forgotten how much she loved being at the beach at this time in the morning, when it was all but deserted.

As she strolled along, her gaze swung across the shoreline and out over the lake, which appeared green and gray this morning, with foamy surf at the shore. The sand was damp and flat, which made it easier to walk on. The air was always a little cooler near the water, as the lake wouldn’t warm up properly until later in the summer.

For as far as she could see, the backs of the houses that lined Pearl Street ran parallel to the beach. In the distance, she saw her sister Nadine’s house. Nadine had turned the house into an inn after her marriage ended, and things seemed to be going pretty well for her. Maureen was pleased about that. Everyone deserved peace and happiness. Sometimes, it was hard-fought and hard-earned.

She was glad Nadine had returned to the area to live. That made three out of the four sisters living in Lavender Bay. If only they could convince their youngest sister, DeeDee, to move back home. But at least she seemed happy in Florida.

The beach was littered with shells, stones, and beach glass in shades of brown, white, and bottle green. Though she appreciated the colors and textures, she was not a collector of any of it. She thought of it like décor for the beach itself and liked to look at it scattered across the sand the way nature had placed it.

She wondered if she should get a dog she could take for walks on the beach, but she quickly dismissed that idea, thinking there was a lot of work involved in owning a dog. Cats were so much more independent. Besides, if she truly had the urge to walk a dog, she could borrow Nadine’s dog, Herman, and that would scratch that itch.

Something caught her eye, and she stopped in her tracks. There among a pile of shells, stones, and a couple of pieces of beach glass, the sun bounced off something metallic. At first, she thought it was foil paper or a candy wrapper as it was a dull gold. But as she neared it, she realized it was a disc or a coin of some sort. Bending over, she plucked it from where it lay half-buried in the sand. She wiped it against her jeans to get rid of the small particles of sand that clung to it. It appeared to be some sort of religious medal, as it bore the impression of a saint. Narrowing her eyes, she examined it, but the writing was faded, some of the letters worn off. Nevertheless, she managed to figure out that it was a St. Anthony medal.

As much as she wasn’t one to pick things up off the beach, she would keep this. It looked old, and she wondered how it was lost and what the story was behind it. She wiped it off some more and stuffed it into her pocket. She’d comb the lost-and-found column of The Lavender Bay Chronicles to see if anyone was looking for it.

But she soon forgot the medal, her thoughts drifting back to Everett and how she could help him. Her heart hurt.