LITMIR.BIZ

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he saw a blond-haired woman inside, sitting in one of the rocking chairs, engrossed in something on her lap. She stood up when she spotted him and walked to the porch door.

      “Hi,” Rory said. “Are you Shelly?”

      “Sure am.” The woman pushed open the screen door. “And you’re Rory,” she said.

      “Right.” Still standing in the sand, he put his hands on his hips and cocked his head to study her. Her smile was wide, her teeth straight and white, and she was very pretty. Her long hair was a silky, pale blond. “You were about three years old the last time I saw you.”

      “Well, you were about thirty-five the last time I saw you.” She grinned. “I saw you just the other night on True Life Stories.”

      He laughed. “Thirty-six,” he said.

      “I don’t remember you from when I was little,” Shelly said. “Daria and Chloe remember you, though.”

      “Who are you talking to, Shelly?” A female voice came from the living room, beyond the porch.

      “Are they here?” Rory asked. “Daria and Chloe?”

      “Yes, they’re inside. Come in.” She stood back to let him walk past her onto the porch, and he noticed she was tall—nearly as tall as he was. “Did you get my letter?” she asked in a near whisper.

      “That’s why I’m here,” he said.

      “Oh, thank you!” She gave him a quick, sideways hug, then led him into the living room.

      “Rory Taylor’s here,” Shelly announced to the woman who was sitting on the couch, a book on her lap.

      It took him a minute to recognize the woman as Chloe. She rested the book on the couch and stood up. “Hello, Rory,” she said.

      She was still beautiful, although she looked quite different from the last time he’d seen her. Her hair was very short, capping her head in dark curls. She looked like a Greek goddess.

      “Hi, Chloe,” he said. He wanted to move forward to give her a hug, but her stance, stiff and uninviting, kept him rooted near the door. The sound of an electric saw came from somewhere in the cottage, and he wondered if Mr. Cato was still building furniture in the Sea Shanty’s workshop.

      “It’s been a while,” Chloe said. “You remember Shelly, I guess?” She looked at her sister.

      “Very well,” he said. “Although I can’t say I would have recognized her.”

      “I’ll get Daria,” Chloe said, heading for the door to the porch. “She’s down in the workshop. Shelly, why don’t you get Rory something to drink?”

      “We have lemonade or iced tea or soda pop,” Shelly said once Chloe had left the room. “Orange, ginger ale or Coke.”

      “Orange sounds good,” he said.

      “Be right back. Don’t go away!”

      He watched her disappear into the kitchen. It was strange to be in this cottage again. The furniture was different—of course it would be, after all these years. Poll-Rory’s furniture, purchased for him by the real estate agency, was the boxy wood and nubby upholstery type that would hold up to the abuse of renters. The Catos’ furniture, with its blues and yellows and traditional lines, had a homier feel to it. The walls were lighter, and he noticed that the wood paneling had been painted a soft cream color. Were Mr. and Mrs. Cato still living? he wondered once again. Daria was in the workshop, Chloe had said. Was she with her father down there? He remembered that workshop. It was on the ground floor, built into a space among the stilts, and it smelled of wood and metal. He recalled that every time a major storm came through, the Catos would have to pack up the tools and carry them up to the first or second story of the cottage to get them out of harm’s way.

      “Rory!” Daria strode into the living room and over to him, wrapping him in a welcome hug. “I can’t believe you’re in Kill Devil Hills.”

      He drew away to look at her. She’d probably been about fourteen the last time he’d seen her. He guessed she’d been pretty back then, but now she possessed the rare, exotic sort of beauty that had once attracted him to Chloe, with those dark eyes and long, thick, unruly black hair. Unlike Chloe, though, she still had the body of a tomboy—tight, small-breasted, compact and tan in her shorts and T-shirt. Her hair was barely contained in a ponytail and there was something pale and feathery scattered through it. Sawdust?

      “I’m happy to see that you guys are here,” he said, glancing at Chloe, who stood in the doorway, arms folded across her chest, a small smile on her lips. “I was hoping you would be.”

      Shelly walked into the room and handed him a glass of orange soda. “We’re always here,” she said.

      “How long are you staying?” Daria asked.

      “All summer,” he answered. “My son is with me.”

      “Well, sit down,” Daria said, motioning toward one of the chairs.

      He took a seat. Chloe and Daria sat at opposite ends of the sofa, while Shelly sat on the floor, her back against one of the other chairs in the room. She was wearing a deep purple sundress, and her long, slender legs looked very tan against the pale carpet.

      “So, bring me up to date,” he said. “Your parents? Are they…?”

      “Mom died fourteen years ago,” Daria said. “And Dad, just last year.”

      “I’m sorry to hear that,” Rory said. “I guess you know I lost my parents.”

      “Yes,” Daria said. “The real estate agent who handles your cottage told us. What about Polly? How is she doing?”

      “She died two years ago.”

      “Oh, I’m sorry, Rory,” Daria said.

      “Me, too,” Chloe added. “Polly was truly special.”

      “Mmm, very,” he said.

      “I read about your divorce,” Daria said.

      He laughed. His life was open to the public. “I guess I have no secrets,” he said.

      “That must be strange,” Daria said. She sounded sympathetic. “But the news just reports the facts about a celebrity. So and so got divorced. So and so landed in a mental hospital. They don’t say how so and so feels about what happened to him.”

      “Good point,” Rory said. “Well, I can sum up my feelings about those events pretty quickly. Losing my parents was the pits—they were too young. Losing Polly was even worse, as you can imagine.”

      “I bet,” Daria said.

      “My divorce was…difficult, but a relief in the long run. And my son is the best thing that ever happened to me, although he hasn’t figured that out yet.”

      “Who is Polly?” Shelly asked.

      “My sister,” he said.

      “Why did she die?” Shelly asked.

      “She had Down’s syndrome,” Rory said. “It affected her heart.”

      “She was so fair,” Daria said. “I remember she’d always burn, every summer, no matter how much lotion your mom put on her.”

      “That was Polly,” Rory agreed. “She wasn’t much of a beach person.” He looked at Chloe. “So,” he said, “now all of you know what I’ve been up to. How about the three of you? Chloe? You were so smart. You were in college before I could even spell the word. I remember you were studying history, right? You wanted to be a teacher. Is that what you are?”

      The three women laughed, and he raised his eyebrows, surprised. “I’m wrong, I take it?” he asked.

      “Well, no, you’re not wrong,” Chloe said slowly, coyly. “I teach history and English

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