“Peace offering,” he said, his voice gruff. “You were right. It was an accident, and I shouldn’t have blamed you. Definitely shouldn’t have cussed in front of a little kid.”
“Nothing she hasn’t heard before,” Letty said guiltily. She opened the bag and pulled out a bottle of chilled white wine and two plastic cups.
“It’s screw-top, because I figured you might not have a bottle opener, but it’s not cheap screw-top.” He shoved his hands in the back pocket of his jeans and looked at her uneasily. “You drink, right?”
She smiled despite herself. “I’ve been known to.”
He held out another bag. “This is for your little girl.”
It was a pint bottle of chocolate milk. “Her name is Maya.”
“I knew that,” he said, bristling.
“That’s nice of you,” Letty said. She held up the bottle and showed it to her niece. “Maya?”
“Chocolate milk!” Maya snatched the bottle from Letty’s hand.
“What do you say?” she prompted.
Maya was busy trying to remove the plastic seal from the bottle’s neck. “Thanks.”
“Yes, thank you,” Letty said, remembering her own manners. “How’s the toe?”
“Hurts like a mother.”
“Well,” she said, feeling uneasy. “Guess I better get back to work now.”
“What about food?” he asked.
“Ava gave us a late lunch,” Letty said. “I’ll hit the grocery store in a few minutes.”
“Mom wanted me to check the fridge, to see if it works,” he said, pointing to the kitchenette area just outside the bathroom door. There was a single-bowl stainless-steel sink, which was piled with a jumble of sixties-era electric percolators, and as advertised, an apartment-size refrigerator sitting beneath a chipped Formica counter that held two electric burners.
“I’ve been so busy clearing the place out, I haven’t even gotten to the kitchen,” Letty admitted.
Joe knelt on the floor and opened the fridge door. He put his hand inside and shrugged.
“Needs a good cleaning, but it’s cold.” He stood up and dusted his hands on his backside.
“Looks like you’re good to go,” he announced.
Letty followed him outside. A pair of elderly women sat on rusting metal chairs in front of the unit two over from hers. They were dressed alike, in flowered pastel blouses, white knit pants, and pastel sun visors. One was tall and skinny, with long bony arms and short gray hair, and the other was shorter, softer, and rounder, with shoulder-length hair worn in a stiff pale blond pageboy.
“Hello there, Joseph,” the tall skinny one said, peering up at Letty from behind thick tinted glasses.
“Hey, Miss Ruth,” Joe said, nodding. “Miss Billie.”
“Who’s your friend?” the round one asked. She wore cat-eye glasses on a chain around her neck and she put them on now and stared, unsmiling, at Letty.
“Oh, uh, this is Letty.”
“Hello,” Letty said.
“Are you moving in?” The skinny one pursed her lips and shook her head. “To the storage unit?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Letty said, lapsing into the Southern manners Mimi had drummed into both her granddaughters. “I’ve spent the day cleaning it out. Joe just hauled the last load out to the dumpster.”
“We noticed,” Ruth said. “We were wondering what was going on over there.” She nodded in the direction of Letty’s room. “Ava didn’t notify us that she would be renting out the storage unit.”
“It was a last-minute decision,” Joe said cheerfully. “Okay, ladies. If you have any questions, I’m sure my mom can answer ’em.”
Ruth, the tall one, pointed an accusatory finger at Maya, who clung to Letty’s hand. “Whose child is that?”
Maya retreated behind Letty, hiding her head.
“Mine,” Letty said, instantly on the defensive.
“Joseph?” Ruth said, raising her voice. “Is Ava aware that this person has a child?”
“Yup,” Joe said. “Like I said, any questions, concerns, bring ’em up with Mom.” He scuttled away toward the parking lot without even a backward glance.
“Well…” Letty said. Her hand was on the doorknob. “Nice to meet you ladies.”
“Dear?” Billie said. “Since you’re new, I think I should let you know that most of us here at the Murmuring Surf have been staying here for years.”
“Years and years and years,” Ruth added.
“We’re used to things a certain way,” Billie said.
“Ava never used to rent to people with young children during the season,” Ruth said sternly. “We thought we had an understanding.”
“You have something against children?” Letty heard her own voice harden.
“Only when they’re living in the room in proximity to ours,” Ruth said. She peered over her glasses at Maya, examining her as she might a dead roach. “This is a quiet place. That’s how we like it. No stinky diapers in the trash cans, no screaming kids splashing in the pool, leaving toys all over the place for folks to trip over.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Letty said, turning to leave.
These two! Terri would have called them nosy old biddies, or worse. She knew the type from her own childhood. She had a vivid memory of pursy-lipped church ladies, peering at her and Tanya as Terri dropped them off at whatever Sunday school was closest to wherever they were living at the time.
“Isn’t your mother coming to church? Where do you girls live? Will your daddy be picking you up after services?”
Letty, mortified, would shrug and look away, but Tanya, her feisty little sister, wasn’t having it. “None of your business!” she’d shout.
“Where’s the child’s father?” Ruth asked, one eyebrow raised expectantly.
Maya wound her arms tightly around Letty’s knees, sniffled, and ducked her head.
“I really couldn’t say,” Letty said. She gave the two a curt nod, picked up the child, and retreated to her room.
4
MAYA SPOTTED THE MOTEL’S SWIMMING pool as soon as Letty pulled into the Murmuring Surf parking lot after their grocery-shopping excursion. The rippling turquoise water beckoned in the gathering darkness.
“Swim! Letty, I wanna go swimming,” Maya called, kicking her sandal-clad feet against the back of the driver’s seat.
Letty was worn out from the long day of cleaning and hauling, followed by an exhausting shopping trip to the nearest big-box store, where the four-year-old had clamored to buy every bright-colored item that caught her eye.
“Oh, ladybug,” she said, turning around to face her niece. “Aren’t you tired? Maybe we could go for a nice swim in the morning.…”
“No!” Maya cried, her face starting to crumple, a sure sign that tears were about to start. “I wanna swim. I wanna swim now.”
“All right,” Letty said hastily. “Let’s put our food away and then we swim. But just for a little while. I think we both need an early bedtime.”