Lucas had decided to quit early, so when Derek called, he was already getting ready to leave his desk downstairs at the Rose. “Sorry to bother you,” Derek said, “but Lee and I are at Pond House, getting ready to take Tante out to see Twelve Angry Men, and we’ve found another puddle. Salt water. Next to the bed. Would it be too much trouble for you to come by and see if you can locate the leak? You have keys, right?” “Sure, I’d be glad to,” he said. He was heading over to the house anyway, to talk to Pop, and it would be no trouble to walk across the road to Pond House. They mopped the puddle up before they left, of course. And naturally, there was no leak anywhere. Even when you were alone in the house, there was always, always somebody else there. Either just in the next room.

Or standing in the doorway, watching you.

I’m leaving now,” he’d announced before turning around, walking back into the kitchen and out the back door.

What was going on wasn’t a mystery to him at all. He doubted it was to anybody else in the family either, though nobody would admit it. Certainly Lee Tesange knew. And Tante. Weird that Macana Beach wasn’t haunted. That was, after all, where it had happened. He liked walking along that stretch of shoreline. The sound of the waves helped him to think, and he had a lot to think about these days. It was good to be young, to have money in hand and years ahead of him. He’d convince Pop yet about the rooms above the restaurant. Two of the offices had been vacant now for almost a year, and the new Pritchard building downtown was where everyone wanted to be. It couldn’t be all that hard to convert the rooms back to hotel suites and bedrooms. Hell, he was willing to put in a little of his annual payment from the trust to offset the cost. Tourism was booming these days, and who wouldn’t want to stay in a beautiful bit of history like The Rose?

As for Pond House… Well, the smart thing would be to pull it down, rebuild something nicer and bigger, and put in a driveway so the road (which was a dead end anyway) could be dug up, grassed over and the lot reconnected with Macana Beach. That would increase the value significantly. Some would say to take out that memorial stone Grandpa had put down, but he didn’t like the idea. It was history, and if they decided to use it as rental property the tourists would like it. The ghost might even been an inducement for some, a nice bit of Island exotica. It would all depend, of course, on whether or not Grandma Pinny minded. He was sure she’d let everybody know if she did, and if that were the case, no renters, no question. Only members of the family. Really, it would be up to her. Lucas had a profound respect for the dead. But who’s to say a ghost wouldn’t like a more spacious house and a few visitors? Aside from the uncanny, there was the matter of liability if tourists stayed there and used the beach. No doubt about it, the currents were dangerous, but so were the currents off most of the beaches on the island and that didn’t seem to deter off-islanders. They would likely have to put up one of those blood-curdling danger signs showing a swimmer going down for the third time. But the ocean view might be enough… He’d turned around to talk back when he saw the woman. At first, when he noticed the ponytail, he thought it was Babette. She’d left for the mainlaind last year, but she always said she’d look him up if she came back. He’d worried about the lingering bad feelings most love affairs seemed to leave, even though she’d seemed to be okay after they broke it off. I would be nice to see her again as a friend.

When she got closer, he realized it wasn’t Babette. But she still looked familiar. She stopped and for a moment they simply looked at each other. “Hello,” she said, then walked to him. He came close to saying, “This is private property,” but she was smiling, and he didn’t want to be rude. He knew from her face exactly who she was, and there were already enough bad feelings with that branch of the family. Instead he asked, “can I help you?” trying not to sound too annoyed. “I apologize for intruding,” she said. “You seemed to be thinking, but I felt like I should at least speak to you. You must be…” “I’m Lucas Macana,” he said. “And you must be Janet Abbot. Aunt Kristal’s youngest. The pianist.” “Cousin Lucas! Mama says you’re the sensible one. I mean, the most sensible one! I’m sure everyone in your family is sensible…” He smiled. “I take after my mother,” he said. “I didn’t mean… Forgive me. The last time I saw you I was little girl and you were practically a baby. It’s really so ridiculous we’ve not met since then, but we lived over on the Western End, all the way in Theodosia, and then I went off to boarding school and college. And Mama, well, you know Mama, she’s so busy all the time and she… I know… I love her so much, she’s my mama after all, but I know she can rub people the wrong way, really.” “We can be friends, can’t we?” “I don’t see why not,” he said, unsure if it were the truth. He was trying to think of a polite way of asking “what are you doing here?” but she spoke before he could say anything. “I know what you want to ask. I’m here because Mama asked me to call on old Tante Laurette. She said I should now that I’ve moved back. But nobody was there, and then I walked across the road and looked down at the beach and saw you and I thought “that must be a Macana,” and so I walked down to meet you, which is probably not what Mama intended. Really, I think she wanted me to look at the house and tell her what shape it’s in. ‘Make sure that dotty old dear isn’t getting pneumonia in that shack,’ she said, but really I think she wants…” “It’s embarrassing, but, well really… It seems like a nice house, even if it is kind of small. And I would like to meet Tante, because I’ve heard so much about her, and everyone says she’s so nice, my brother Ben says she’s ‘half-way to a saint,’ those are the words he used, even though I don’t think he’s ever really met her either. Which is such a shame, being relatives and all. Anyway, I think with Mama, to tell you the truth, I think it’s really all about the house and equity and all that, because to tell the truth, she’s little afraid of Tante. She may have forgotten, but she told me once Tante was a witch and I should keep away from her. I think she was serious, too! Mama’s such an Islander, you know, and Islanders believe in that stuff. But really, I’m one too, I guess, so I chouldn’t talk. I love Mama, I really do, but I think she’s up to something. That’s what I think.” She smiled sadly. “Like my brother Ben always says, “Watch out when Mama’s up to something.” They said goodbye just as the sun started to go down. In the meantime, Lucas had shown Janet around. “Of course, I remember the stone!” she said. ‘How nice of Tante to take such good care of it!” He took her inside — briefly — and she seemed to notice nothing amiss, even pronouncing it “really cozy.” As dusk began to settle, her walked her to her car and they shook hands. “I guess,” she sighed, “I’ll have to report back to Mama. Do you mind if I not mention meeting you? She’ll interrogate me, and she’s such a dear really, so I hate it when she interrogates me because then I have to lie.” Funny woman, he thought, as he walked back to the house. He’d have to mention to Pop he’d seen her, that she’d moved back to the island and Aunt Kristal was “up to something.” Not that that meant much. These days, with the fate of Pond House up in the air, Aunt Kristal was always “up to something.” Everything he was going to say to Pop went out of his head as soon as he came in sight of the house. Pop and David Baghill were sitting on the porch. With drinks. David was talking. Ella was nowhere in sight. A serious talk. Maybe the serious talk. As he walked up the steps to the front porch, Pop and David rose and shook hands. “I just wanted you to know,” David said, “That I am not just frittering away your daughter’s time. I’m serious. Very serious. I love her.” “I believe you,” Pop said. “Hello, Lucas,” David said, nodding, without smiling. He’d never quite forgiven Lucas for making fun of him the night they met. Which was fine with Lucas. “Hello, Dave.” They didn’t bother waving as David walked away. Lucas followed Pop inside. Mom was sitting on the couch, and she put her book down as soon as they walked in. “Well?” she asked. Pop sat next to her as though he were very tired. “It’s as you said,” he told her. “It’s not just some off-Islander fling. He wants to marry her.” “Remember what we talked about, Artie. We don’t want to repeat history, do we?” “I suppose not,” Pop said. Lucas couldn’t believe it. “Him? You can’t let this happen!” Mom and Pop looked at each other, and he realized they were as upset about it as he was. “Yes,” Mom said gently, her eyes on Pop. “I’m afraid we may have to.” He wasn’t going to leave without at least trying to talk some sense into Ella. Mom and Dad knew he would, of course, when he asked if he could stay for dinner. “She’s at the Artte Shoppe helping with inventory, so she’s not getting back until after midnight,” Dad told him. “Now Lucas,” Mom said, “I don’t want you to bullyrag your sister. We’re going to talk to her about it tomorrow over breakfast when everyone has had a good night’s sleep and a chance to think about it.” But he stayed instead of driving back to his apartment in Theodosia. Even after they went up to bed he sat in the dining room at the table, going over some old plans of the upstairs rooms at The Rose. He heard her come in at about half past one, close the front door quietly behind her, and climb the stairs. She would get ready for bed, then come downstairs for the glass of water she always carried up. He waited. When she came in and saw him, she stopped. “What are you doing here?” she asked. At least with her make-up washed off she looked like his sister again. He’d been half afraid she was wearing mascara and lipstick to bed. “Could you sit down for a minute, Sis? I want to talk to you” She settled into a chair, her face guarded. “David came over tonight,” he said. “He had a conversation with Pop. One of those ‘my-intentions-towards-your-daughter’ things.” She smiled. “I knew he would! Wasn’t that sweet? Just like him, too. David really is trying to fit in on the Island, and sometimes he goes a little overboard. He told me he wasn’t comfortable buying a ring until he’d cleared things with our parents. I guess he thought the old-fashioned approach was the best way.” “Ella, You do realize, don’t you, that Mom and Pop are less than happy about this?” “If they haven’t said anything, it’s because they’re afraid of acting the way their families did. They don’t want to make the same mistakes.” Ella nodded. “Actually, they have said something to me. Or at least, Mom has. Last week she sat me down and we had a long talk about it. She said she and Pop are worried about how I’m still very young, and they aren’t sure David and I are compatible.” “But they don’t know. I do! David and I are completely compatible. Like this!” She pressed her hands together. “Like two peas in a pod! We have everything in common. He understands me, and he’s one hundred percent behind my art!” Lucas had to force himself not a shake his head. “Always asking to look at it, is he? Always encouraging you to take out your sketchpad and draw? Put something on a canvas? How long has it been since you painted something?” “Lucas, what’s your point? We’re in love. Of course we’re going to spend a lot of time together, doing all sorts of things. He doesn’t necessarily want to just sit in some room watching me work.” “My point? My point is, you are twenty-one years old. You are a good, talented artist, and you know, after that talk at the bank, that you can do what you want.” “…And you’re going to marry David Baghill? Really?”

“I don’t like the way you say his name,” Ella said.

She stood. So did he.

“I am going into the kitchen, pouring myself a glass of water and going to bed. I know you don’t like David, Lucas. I don’t know why, but you behaved horribly towards him the night you met. All I’m going to say is that you are wrong. If you think he’s after my money…”

“Your money? You mean the trust? Jesus Christ, Ella, that’s pocket change to Dave Baghill.”

“Well, whatever you’re thinking, you’re wrong and you’d better just stop talking. This has been a very happy day for me, and you’re ruining it. Please go home.”

She started into the kitchen. He was standing in front of her before either of them really knew it.

“Ellie, stop. Please. Listen to me.”

“I know he’s good-looking. I know he’s nice to you, and he’s funny and smart, and in any other situation I might like the guy, even be his friend. No, I don’t like his politics, I’ll admit it. Yes, I think you’re too young to be engaged to someone. But that’s not why I… That’s not even why Mom and Pop are really, really worried about this.”

He took a breath. He tried to smile. “We love you, Sis. We care about you. And that night he came over, you didn’t see his face.”

“His face?”

“Yes, his face. His expression. When he saw Pop on the porch. I could tell right off he’d never seen Pop before. He hid it quickly, but he was shocked.”

“What are you saying?”

“He may love you, Sis. I don’t have any trouble believing that. ”

“…but he doesn’t love all of you.”

“How dare you.”

“Ellie…”

“How dare you accuse David of being some kind of…of…racist! You don’t know him at all! You’re wrong, absolutely wrong.

“Do you know what I’m doing next month? I’m flying Mainland with him, to Pennsylvannia. He wants me to meet his parents, his family. So you see, you’re completely and utterly and unforgiveably wrong about him!”

She turned away. “Get out,” she said quietly. “Go back to your own place. I can’t even look at you anymore tonight.”

“Ellie….” he said.