Secrets Whispered from the Sea - Emma St. Clair Page 0,58

you in it.”

“Right.” My cheeks flushed. Alec crossed the room and held out a set of shiny new keys. I opened my hand and he dropped them in my palm.

“Here you go. All yours.”

“Thank you,” I said stiffly.

“Would you like me to hang that while I’m here?” Alec lifted his chin toward the painting—his painting—which was still where he’d left it a few days ago.

“We’ll probably just have to move it once we start working on the house.”

Alec already had pulled a hammer and nails from his toolbox. “I don’t mind. Better to be surrounded by beauty, even for a short time, than not at all.”

I sank down on the couch, my front-row seat as Alec quickly installed a hook and hung the painting exactly where I’d wanted it. Immediately, it made the room feel brighter and more like mine. That was a thought I shouldn’t entertain.

Don’t get too comfortable, Clem. This place isn’t yours. But I could at least hope that Alec’s painting would convey the same feeling in whatever room I hung it in, in whatever city I moved to. Even if it felt somehow perfect right there on Nana’s wall.

I’d expected Alec to make some kind of remark about his amazingness or demand a thank-you, but he packed up his tools and went straight for the door. A not-so-small part of me was a little disappointed.

“I’ll see myself out,” Alec said. “Don’t forget to lock up when you go.” He turned back in the doorway, his stormy ocean eyes finding mine. “Oh, and, Clem? Love the pajamas.”

I looked down, reminded that I was wearing blue cotton shorts and a matching tank top. Not terribly inappropriate, though they showed off a lot of skin. And made it perfectly clear, as if he had any doubt, that I was indeed sleeping here.

When I looked up again, Alec had gone.

20

“What in the world is liquid monk fruit extract?”

I stared down at the list on my phone, sent over that morning straight from Vivi herself. She was smart and didn’t send the list until after I agreed to pick up a few things at the store for the Three Terrors. Apparently, their frail arms and feeble knees required help with the shopping today. I suspected there were other motives at play but hadn’t discovered them. Yet.

I read through the list again, which included several items I’d never heard of, plus adult incontinence pads and, of all things, condoms. It seemed logical to me that if you needed one of those things, you shouldn’t need the other, but I didn’t say a word. I didn’t even want to know which of the three requested those. When they stopped by Nana’s later to pick up their things, I would conveniently disappear. Maybe while plugging my ears and singing.

“Monk fruit extract is located on the baking aisle,” a voice said to me.

I turned to see a teenage boy with acne-covered cheeks and a Harris Teeter apron looking over my shoulder at my list. He had a rolling cart filled with cereal boxes. Between the two of us, we were blocking the aisle. A woman turned down the row, sighed, and turned back around.

“Oh, uh, thanks.”

I started to push my cart away, but without warning, the boy grabbed the list from my hands. “The carob chips can be found in the bulk items. You might think baking but that is incorrect. Condoms and incontinence pads are in the pharmacy area. I would recommend going to the deli last so your meats will stay cold. Unless you brought a refrigerated bag.” He examined my cart, then looked disappointed. “Which you didn’t. So, deli last.”

My cheeks were flaming when he handed the list back, but he didn’t seem bothered in the least that he had just talked to an older woman about condoms. I appreciated his candor and helpfulness, despite his clear lack of social boundaries. It was oddly refreshing, if not a little off-putting.

“Thank you?”

“You’re welcome.”

He began to push the cart of cereal down the aisle. When I didn’t move right away, he turned back to me.

“Do you need further assistance? I can show you where items are located. Service is our priority.”

“No, I've got it. Thank you … Craig.” I read his name on the tag pinned to his apron.

He touched his name tag, as though surprised I noticed, then nodded. “I’ll be in the cereal aisle for the next twenty-three minutes if you change your mind. I have to restock. But people take priority