An Unlikely Family. Cynthia Thomason

groaned. “Already? I didn’t expect such prompt service.”

      Mary Alice jutted her thumb at the window. “See for yourself.”

      Leaning over the back edge of a van, a man dressed in trademark brown shorts and shirt lowered a hand truck laden with boxes to the ground. A half dozen other cartons already sat in the school yard.

      “He needs to know where you want it,” Mary Alice said.

      Evie pressed her hand against her forehead. “I never dreamed… I thought it would be days yet.”

      Billy strode to the window and stared at the growing pile of boxes. “What is all that?”

      Evie sighed. “Oh, books, reference materials, clothes, knickknacks…” A burst of near hysterical laughter escaped her. “…ice skates.”

      Billy turned. “Ice skates?”

      “I thought there might be an indoor rink. We have them up north…” She waved her hand in front of her face. “Never mind. It’s a total of fifteen boxes of all the things I thought I couldn’t live without.”

      He chuckled. “You can live without ice skates in Heron Point.”

      “I know that now,” she said. “I was hoping my things would arrive after I found a place to live.” She stared at the stack in the yard. “I can’t fit even half of this at the Pink Ladies.”

      Mary Alice tapped her foot on the wood floor. “So what should I tell him?”

      Evie looked around. “In here, I guess. Temporarily at least.”

      Mary Alice made a clucking sound with her tongue. “It’s going to be crowded.”

      Grimacing at the woman’s obvious and unnecessary observation, Evie said, “I’ve got to find a place. Now!”

      The phone in the outer office rang and MaryAlice hurried to answer it. She called to Evie a moment later. “It’s for you. It’s the mayor.”

      Evie grabbed the phone. “Claire?”

      At the sound of her new friend’s calm voice, Evie’s breathing returned to normal. With each sentence from Claire’s mouth, she relaxed more. She finished the conversation by thanking Claire, hung up and looked at Billy.

      He raised his eyebrows. “Good news?”

      “Yes. What did I just say five minutes ago?”

      “That we were heading to the Tail and Claw.”

      She scowled at him.

      “Okay, second guess. That you need a place to live.”

      “Right. You won’t believe this. Claire just offered me the cottage behind her house. She said it would be ready by Friday.” As the first load of boxes was wheeled into her office, Evie exhaled a deep sigh. “I said yes. I’m moving in Friday.”

      “I should have told you Claire was going to do that,” Billy said.

      “You knew?”

      His response was matter-of-fact. “It’s Heron Point. Of course I knew.” He began stacking the cartons against the only spare wall in the office. “I have Friday night off and I own a pickup.” The mischievous look over his shoulder was disturbingly similar to Gemma’s. “So, do you want my help?”

      She watched him squeeze a box into a space between the stack and the ceiling. “Sure. And I’ll buy the pizza.”

      THE NEXT AFTERNOON after school, Evie went by Claire’s bungalow, which she’d learned was called Tansy Hill by local residents. Interested in the history of the century-old home, which sat on a rise with a stunning view to the Gulf, Evie discovered that the original owner had raised herbs in the backyard, tansy being one of the principal varieties. Since then, everyone in town, even the postman, knew the property as Tansy Hill.

      Claire took Evie through the kitchen, out the back door and down a brick pathway to a charming cottage that could have been out of the pages of a child’s book. It had a peaked roof with scalloped shingles over the eaves, small casement windows with flower boxes at the sills and a leaded-glass front door with a brass knocker shaped like a crescent moon. The entire structure was painted yellow and white to match the main house.

      Claire opened the door and stepped aside. “I just had the cleaning lady here today,” she said as Evie went in. “If there’s anything you want to change, feel free. Aunt Pet packed up her personal belongings when she moved into Finn’s place, and what’s left is just the furniture that’s been here for a while. It’s still serviceable I guess, but I have no great love for any of it. You can bring in your own things.”

      Evie quickly appraised the cozy parlor. “Oh, no, I wouldn’t change anything. Besides, I’m not moving the furniture from my apartment down here. It’s all in storage in Detroit.”

      She was more than pleased with the bright chintz sofa, overstuffed wicker chairs and glass-topped wrought-iron tables covered with magazines dedicated to herb growing and the celestial arts. It was Evie’s taste with a touch of the unconventional Pet, and once she filled up the empty bookshelves along one wall and set out a few precious treasures, she knew she’d be comfortable here for as long as Claire allowed her to stay.