Page 59 of The Newcomer
She needed to find Letty to answer that question. And she needed to find her before Evan Wingfield did.
22
LETTY SIGHED.
Joe lifted his head and gave her a quizzical look. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He kissed her deeply. “You just said ‘Don’t stop.’”
She kissed him back. “I know, but this is a public beach. Maybe we should slow things down a little. Go get a drink somewhere and chill out?”
“I know a place. It’s not far from here.”
“What’s it called?”
“It’s called Joe’s Place. And it’s only a block away. The atmosphere ain’t much, but the drinks are free and the bartender is averyfriendly guy.” He leered at her with this last statement.
She raised an eyebrow.
“Come on. I’m harmless.”
“I sincerely doubt that,” Letty said.
“And yet you went for a moonlit walk on the beach with me, and you’ll notice I didn’t grab you and rip your clothes off.”
“Yet,” Letty said. “I’m sorry, Joe, but I don’t think going to your place is a good idea.”
“Because you’re afraid you’ll grabmeand ripmyclothes off?”
She looked away for a moment. “Yeah, that’s part of it.”
He took a half step away from her. “What are you so afraid of? I don’t think I’ve ever been around you when you were completely relaxed. I like you, Letty. And I know you like me. Can’t you turn off your brain and your self-control for an hour or so and relax and enjoy yourself?”
“You don’t understand,” Letty said quietly. “I wish I could be like you and do whatever I want, but I can’t. My life is too complicated right now.”
“Complicated how? You’re essentially a single mom now. I get that. Remember, I was raised by a single mom. But Ava never walled herself off the way you’re trying to do.”
“I can’t explain it.” She walked to the water’s edge and looked out at the sky. A jagged bolt of lightning flashed on the horizon, and the wind picked up, creating whitecaps on the water.
“I’ve got to get back to the motel,” she told him. “Maya’s afraid of lightning.”
“And what are you afraid of?” Joe stalked away.
Firstit was the wind. From nowhere, it seemed, it swept off the Gulf, nearly knocking her down in its intensity. The temperature seemed to plummet, and then the rain started when she was halfway back to the Murmuring Surf, slashing at her face and clothes. Letty broke into a run, head down, stumbling in the soft sand, and she didn’t slow until she saw the lights of the motel. Lightning crackled over the water as she made her way up from the beach path, drenched and shivering from the cold.
She found Isabelle sitting on the rusty chair in the breezeway in front of her room, with Maya wrapped in a blanket and curled up in a ball in her lap. The child was asleep, with Ellie hanging limply from one hand.
“What are you doing out here?” Letty asked, trying to catch her breath. “Maya is terrified of lightning.”
“When it started, she got really upset and was crying,” Isabelle said, smoothing the sleeping child’s hair. “But then I told her what Mom used to tell me when I was little, that the lightning was just angels laughing. So we came out here to watch it. And she reminded me that her mama was an angel, and she wanted to watch her laugh. She just now fell asleep.”
“That’s amazing,” Letty said. She held out her arms. “Here. I’ll take her.”
“I can do it,” Isabelle said. She looked Letty up and down. “I didn’t expect you back so soon. What happened to Joe?”
“How did you know we were…”
“He texted me to say you guys were going out for a drink, and could I hang out with Maya for a while. Must have been a short drink.”
“It didn’t really work out,” Letty said. “And then it started to rain. I’m gonna go inside and get dried off. Can you tuck her in for me?”
