Waves crashed along the beach and could be heard from the street in front of the small house I’d rented. One of four homes built directly on a private stretch of beach, my house was number one. It wasn’t any kind of prime tourist season, so only one other house was occupied by an older man, the travel agent had sworn. Secluded from the rest of the island by a narrow bridge, the little stretch of land was an island in itself.
I’d been warned that when the tide rolled in at night, the road wouldn’t be accessible, so if I wasn’t back home in enough time, I wasn’t getting home. It looked safe and secluded in the pictures and the actual thing wasn’t different.
The homes were mock Cape Cod homes, with sharply pitched roofs and white-washed cedar shingles for siding. Large windows lined the outer walls and large, white brick fireplaces formed the fronts and centers of the homes. Small window boxes hung from the front windows and grew brightly colored flowers. Some sort of climbing flower trailed up the small mailboxes next to the street and the sidewalks up to the front doors were surrounded by flowers, as well.
White picket fences started at the side of each structure and gave a little patch of yard to each resident. The grass was still bright green, despite how late in the season it was.
I walked up to the bright red door and slipped the key from my pocket. Before I could get the door opened, a whistle came from the house at the end of the lane.
“Biscuit! Get back here!” A voice aged to a fine crackle called out to a tiny pit bull puppy that was quickly running my way.
I smiled towards the old man and lifted my hand in a wave. I dropped my bag and watched as the puppy stumbled and rolled once before getting back to his feet. Sprinting at me full speed, he flew into my shins and yipped happily. Dancing around on his back legs, he fell over again and stared up at me with the brightest blue eyes I’d ever seen on an animal.
“Biscuit, I’m going to give you back to Karen if it’s the last thing I do. And then you’re going to have to live with that squawking bird of hers. How would you like that, you little bugger?”
I scooped the puppy into my arms and laughed as he covered my face in kisses immediately. He still had puppy breath and it, even more than the peacefulness of the house, relaxed me.
Snuggling him to my chest, I crossed through the yards between myself and the little man who was slowly making his way towards me, his cane shaking in the air at the puppy, instead of aiding him in walking.
“Hi. I think I found something of yours.”
A warm smile met me. “If you hadn’t seen him run away from me, I’d be half tempted to tell you he wasn’t mine.”
I laughed. “How you’d chance missing this puppy breath is beyond me. He’s adorable.”
“You must be the new neighbor Mr. Miller was telling me about. Said you’re a detective from Dallas.” He stuck out his hand. “I’m Mack T. Stonebrook. I’ve been living on this little stretch of heaven for the past ten years.”
I shook his hand and ignored the furrow of anxiety that crept up the back of my neck at my job description. “Nice to meet you. I’m Rain Willows. And for the next month or two, I don’t even plan on hearing the word ‘detective,’ so let’s just pretend I’m a nice school teacher or something.”
He grinned and cupped my hand with his other hand, dropping the cane in the process. “I was a cop for fifty years, honey. I get it. Now, why don’t you come inside for an introductory cup of coffee? It’s a little late in the day, but I think we both know that there’s no such thing as too late for coffee.”
I looked down at the puppy in my arms and frowned. “I have to check in with some people first and then run into town for groceries before the tide comes in. How about I cook you dinner instead?”
His smile grew even wider. “Well, look at this. I never realized it would take me until I was eighty-six to get asked out by a pretty lady like yourself, but I’ll take it.”
I let more of my hair fall into my face at that and forced a smile. “You want your dog back?”
“My daughter insisted on giving me that dog. She’s sixty-seven and already crazier than I could ever hope to be. She saw a clip on the internet about dogs playing with old people and making them happy and thought that I needed a dog. I was already happy. So, no. I don’t want my dog back.”
My mouth fell open as he turned and hobbled back to his door without his cane. Without a thought, I bent over and picked it up and followed him.
“And I don’t want that cane, either. I just got asked out by a young woman. Clearly, I’m not old enough to have a cane.”
I laughed, the feeling blossoming in my chest like a wild flower, and hooked his cane on his doorknob. “Just in case you want it to look dapper for dinner.”
He turned and grinned at me and then shut the door in my face. Yelling through it, he was obviously having a good time. “Got yourself a new dog!”
I looked down at the puppy, who’d fallen asleep in my arms, as if his entire world wasn’t changing around him and felt a tug at my heart. Sighing, I walked back towards my house and grabbed my bag. My shopping trip had just gotten larger.
I let myself into the house and felt even more stress lift from my shoulders as I looked around. Everywhere I looked, things were in shades of white or cream with pale blue accents. Even the floors were whitewashed. It was clean and peaceful and, hopefully, what I needed to find myself again.
I groaned as the thought crossed my mind. Find myself. It was a direct quote from my therapist, the one I’d been forced to see even more frequently since having an anxiety attack in Ramsey’s office. She thought I needed to get back to a calm state and try to determine what I wanted to do next. Just the thought of it made me feel anxious. What did I want to do next? I had no clue.
Much like the puppy, my entire world was changing around me, only I wasn’t going as peacefully as he was.
I walked through the house, a nervous habit that I doubted I’d ever kick. Once I’d checked the place out, I deposited the puppy onto the pristine white couch and unpacked my bag while dialing Ramsey.
Just a few shirts and pants went into the dresser in the one small bedroom and the underwear joined it. It barely filled one drawer. I slipped my extra pair of shoes, flip flops, into an unused drawer and then shoved the notebook I was supposed to be writing in into another.
“Ramsey.”
“I’m here.”
He made a scoffing sound. “Hello to you, too, Rain.”
“Hi. I’m here.”
I could practically hear him rolling his eyes. “How is it?”
I sat down next to the puppy, Biscuit, and sighed. “Nice. My neighbor gave me his dog.”
A bark of laughter came from him. “And you just took it?”
I stroked Biscuit’s head and then touched the tiny pink pads of his feet. “Yeah. It’s a puppy. Tiny little thing, but it seems to like me.”
“Never thought I’d see the day. Hey, listen to me, Rain. Just take it easy while you’re out there. If the puppy is what you want, keep it. If you want to…do something else…do it. You get what I’m saying?”
I swallowed. “You mean not be a cop.”
“I didn’t say that. I just want you to be happy. More than anything, I owe it to your dad and grandfather to make sure you’re okay. And I like you, Rain. A little bit.”
Ignoring his attempt at sweetness, I shook my head and blew out a breath. “I can’t just not be a cop.”
“Fine. Be a cop, if it’s what you want to do. I’ll say it once and I won’t repeat myself, but I saw you relax over the last month. Not being on the force lightened you up. You need that. Just because you’re good at it doesn’t mean you have to do it, Rain.”
I felt the prickling sensation of anxiety starting and shut down the conversation. “I’ll call you. I’ve got to cross over to the main island and buy groceries and stuff for this puppy before the road floods.”
“Be careful.”
I swallowed and dug my fingers into my knees. “Of course.”
Slipping my phone into my pocket, I carried Biscuit into the backyard with a pillow. “Stay here, buddy. I’ll be back soon.”
I hurried through the house and out the front door. The drive to the main island was short and beautiful. Surrounded on both sides by open water, it was only interrupted by an equally beautiful slice of land that sat off the coast of Southern Texas and was only reachable by ferry.
Faint Island was full of trees and lush vegetation that grew up on both sides of the road on the way into town. The center of the island was broken up by Main Street that ran the length of the center of the island and housed a small grocery store, a beauty shop, a diner, a bar, and a police station. There were other things spread out around the island, but mostly that was it.
I parked on the street in front of the grocery store and hurried through throwing food in the cart. I found a pet care aisle and grabbed temporary things for Biscuit. I could order better things online, but these would work for the time being.
I got in line behind a young mother with two children in a stroller. I looked down as the little boy shoved his finger up his nose and then wiped it on his sister. I winced and looked away, not wanting to be witness to anything else he did.
After checking out, I hurried back to my new house. I let myself in and put the groceries down on the kitchen island before heading out back to find Biscuit pawing at the door, trying to get inside.
I made cutesy noises at him and bent down to scratch him behind the ears before heading back to the kitchen. He loped around my feet and made snorting sounds as he pressed his nose to the floor and sniffed every square inch of the room.
I quickly put out bowls of food and water for him before putting a frozen lasagna in the oven. I put everything else away and saved the bags under the kitchen sink, the same way my mother always had.
An hour and a half later, I was carrying a hot tray of lasagna, a loaf of garlic bread, and a salad over to Mack’s house, with Biscuit trailing happily at my feet. I used my knee to knock on the door and heard Mack talking to himself as he got closer.
“You just keep getting better and better. Is that lasagna? My favorite. Karen doesn’t let me have many carbs. I try to tell her that no matter what, I’m dying soon. She may as well let me enjoy my ride out.”
I grinned at him as he stepped aside and let me in. “Something about you makes me think that there’s not much that could stop you from enjoying your ride, Mack.”
He gave a mighty laugh and pointed to the room identical to mine that acted as a dining room. “You got my number fast.”
I put the food down on the table and then looked around. There were framed pictures of a family smiling at the camera in different matching sweaters. It looked like Karen had made her family take pictures at every holiday for years.
I picked up one where there was a younger boy scowling at the camera in his matching pastel Easter egg sweater. “Looks like this little thing takes after you.”
Mack adoringly tapped the photo. “That’s Junior. He’s not so little anymore. He’s a lawyer in Boston.”
I whistled. “A lawyer in Boston. Wow.”
Mack eyed me. “His wife’s a bitch. I could probably set you two up, if you’re single.”
I laughed so hard that I got choked. With Mack pounding on my back and Biscuit bouncing at my feet, I finally got it under control and shook my head. “If he really is like you, I’m not sure I could handle him.”
He winked at me. “Nothing to it, sweetheart. Now, let’s have wine. I’d ask you if you wanted red or white, but I say we have both.”