He did as she asked.
“Why is she mad at you?”
“It’s complicated. Everything with a twelve-year-old girl is complicated, and, with Maggy, it’s slightly more complicated, because she has diabetes and I never know if she’s being difficult because of her age or her blood sugar. Also, we’ve just come from viewing Wendell’s body at the hospital. Up until that moment—when we saw him, she didn’t actually believe he was really dead. I guess I didn’t either. I mean, intellectually, I knew it had to be true. But emotionally? It didn’t hit either of us until that moment. This is real. Wendell is dead. Now all we have is each other. And the thing is, Maggy was a total daddy’s girl.”
“Must have been tough,” Nate said. “Seeing the body and all.”
“It was. But you’ve been through this, with your dad. You must know what it’s like.”
He shrugged. “It’s not really the same thing. My dad was seventy-eight, and he’d had a good, long life. It hasn’t been easy, but my mom and I are coping. She’s actually coping surprisingly well.”
“And you’re not? A big tough guy like you?”
“Like you said, it doesn’t seem real. Losing a parent, I guess it makes you realize none of us is gonna be immortal. I’ve had some changes in my personal life recently, and now, without Dad, I feel sort of unanchored. If that makes sense.”
“Unanchored. Is that a pun?” She laughed at her own joke, and it reminded him of the old Riley, a sunny, confident girl with an open face and a sweet, carefree manner. Damn Wendell Griggs for taking that girl away.
“Not an intentional one. I’m not really all that clever.”
“How are you unanchored?”
“Like you said, it’s a long story. Right now, I’m kind of between gigs. I’ve sold my business, and my house in California, and I’m trying to figure out what my next move will be.”
“I thought you were running the ferry business.”
“Not really. I’ve made some small suggestions about updates and marketing, but my mom is clearly the brains of this outfit.”
“Annie doesn’t teach school anymore?”
“This was her last year. She’d been thinking about retiring anyway, but with Dad gone, this seemed like the time to go ahead and hang it up.”
“Will you stay on the island?”
How should he answer that question? Should he tell her what he’d been contemplating? No. The timing could not be worse for something like this.
“I’m not sure yet. For now, I bought an old duck-hunting camp, and I’m fixing that up for a temporary headquarters. How about you? Will you stay on the island for the rest of the summer, or go back home to Raleigh?”
Riley made a wry face. “I’ve sold the house in Raleigh. Thanks to the very viable island gossip mill, I’m sure you’ve already heard that I’m currently homeless.”
“I did hear something about that.”
“Maggy and I are staying at the Shutters with Mama. I can’t find out anything about this foreclosure thing until Tuesday, when the courthouse opens again.”
“I hope you get things straightened out,” Nate said. He meant that, even though, from his personal knowledge of her situation, he doubted that would happen.
“When will you have Wendell’s service?”
“That’ll depend on the autopsy,” Riley said. She bit her lip. “The sheriff … seems to think Wendell’s death wasn’t an accident. That he was killed. And there are all these horrible rumors floating around. Some television reporter in Raleigh left a voice mail on my phone. About an FBI investigation into Wendell’s finances.” She clapped a hand over her mouth, appalled that she’d just spilled out the latest chapter in her ongoing shit show of a life.
“Oh, damn. I shouldn’t have said anything about that. I’m a mess. Please don’t repeat what I just told you. Not to anybody.” She was crying again, despising herself for being such a blubbering baby.
He felt an involuntary chill go down his spine. “I’m sorry,” he said again and, after a moment’s hesitation, he reached out and placed his hand over hers.
“If there’s anything I can do, I wish you’d let me know. Anything at all.”
“Mom?”
Maggy Griggs stood before Riley and Nate Milas with a foil-wrapped sandwich in her hand and a look of undisguised wrath on her face.
“Hey.” Riley’s single-syllable greeting to her daughter contained a mixture of guilt, surprise, resentment, and wariness.
Nate took a step sideways, feeling the withering heat of the girl’s glowering disapproval.
“Anyway,” he said, after an awkward pause. “I better get back up top. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help out.”
Maggy plopped down on the bench and eventually began sucking so noisily on the straw in her drink, Riley caught herself grinding her back molars in acute annoyance.
The minutes ticked by. The bay was calm and soon they caught sight of Big Belle silhouetted against the brilliant blue sky.
“What did that jerk want?” Maggy demanded.
“Nate? He just wanted to offer his condolences.”
“How do you know him?” Maggy demanded.
“He grew up on the island, but he moved away after college. His father was Captain Joe, you remember him. Anyway, Nate and I have known each other since we were your age. He just wanted to offer his condolences,” Riley said. “His father died recently, so he knows what it’s like—to lose a loved one.”
“So … somebody hit his dad on the head and pushed him into the water and left him like that too?”
Riley closed her eyes and waited a moment before replying calmly. “No. I believe his father died of a heart attack.”
“So he doesn’t really know what it’s like to have somebody in his family get murdered, does he?”
Their eyes met. Maggy’s were unblinking. Riley felt her right eyelid twitch rapidly. “Do you enjoy being difficult?”
“Why is that difficult? You said that guy knew what it was like to lose somebody he loved, and I was just pointing out that he probably has no idea what it’s like to have your father killed, like I just did. Plus, he’s an asshole. He took Shane’s phone away, just because he was playing some music.”
“Maggy, I swear…”
The girl jumped up and headed for the bow, leaving her mother twitching and cursing under her breath.
* * *
The cluster of departing passengers stood aside to allow the arriving passengers access to the Belle Isle ferry entry ramp.
“Riley!” She looked up to see Scott standing among the waiting passengers, a leather tote slung across his shoulder.
He gave her a brief hug. “How did it go at the hospital? Was it unspeakable?”
She gave a wry smile. “It was … unpleasant. Did you see Maggy come off the ferry just now?”
“She went streaking past me when she saw Billy standing by your mother’s golf cart.”
“Of course.” Riley tugged at Scott’s bag. “You’re leaving today? Already?”
“Yes.” He sighed loudly. “There are so many moving parts to this steak house install, something’s bound to go wrong unless I get there a day early to sort everything out.”