her eyes the same vivid green. She wore her straight brown hair long and most often pulled through the back of her baseball cap.
Her features were an odd mix-a wide, slightly top-heavy mouth, a small nose, and dark, arching brows. Her looks had made her feel awkward as a child, but Ripley liked to think she'd grown into them, and grown out of worrying about them.
She strolled into Cafe Book, waved at Lulu, and headed for the stairs. With luck, she could get a look at this Nell Channing and avoid Mia altogether.
She was still three steps from the cafe level when she saw her luck wasn't going to hold.
Mia was behind the counter, looking slick as always in some floaty floral dress. Her hair was tied back and still managed to explode around her face.
The woman working beside her looked tidy, nearly prim in comparison.
Ripley immediately preferred Nell.
She jammed her thumbs into her back pockets and swaggered toward the counter.
"Deputy Todd." Mia angled her head, looked down her nose. "What could possibly bring you here?"
Ignoring Mia, Ripley studied Nell. "I'll have today's special soup and sandwich."
"Nell, this is Ripley, Zack's unfortunate sister. As she's come in for lunch we can safely assume hell has frozen over."
"Kiss ass, Mia. Nice to meet you, Nell. I'll have a lemonade to go with that."
"Yes. All right." Nell shifted her gaze from face to face. "Right away," she murmured and ducked into the kitchen to put the sandwich together.
"Heard you scooped her up right off the ferry," Ripley continued.
"More or less." Mia ladled the soup. "Don't poke at her, Ripley."
"Why would I?"
"Because you're you." Mia set the soup on the counter. "Notice anything odd when you stepped off the ferry yesterday?"
"No." Ripley replied too quickly.
"Liar," Mia said quietly as Nell came back with the sandwich.
"Can I take this to a table for you, Deputy Todd?"
"Yeah, thanks." Ripley tugged money out of her pocket. "Why don't you ring me up, Mia?"
Ripley timed it, sliding into a chair just as Nell set the food down. "Looks great."
"I hope you enjoy it."
"I'm sure I will. Where'd you learn to cook?"
"Here and there. Can I get you anything else?"
Ripley held up a finger, spooned up soup and sampled. "Nope. This is great. Really. Hey, did you make all those pastries yourself?"
"Yes."
"A lot of work."
"It's what I'm paid for."
"Right. Don't let Mia work you too hard. She's pushy."
"On the contrary," Nell said in a voice that chilled. "She's incredibly generous, incredibly kind. Enjoy your lunch."
Loyal, Ripley decided as she continued to eat. She couldn't fault Nell for that. Polite, too, even if she was a bit stiff about it. As if, Ripley thought, she wasn't quite used to dealing with people.
Nervous. She'd visibly cringed at the relatively mild byplay between Ripley and Mia. Well, Ripley decided with a shrug, some people couldn't handle conflict, even when it had nothing to do with them.
All in all, she thought Nell Channing was harmless. And a hell of a good cook.
The meal put her in such a good mood that she took the time to go by the counter on her way out. It was easier to decide to do so since Mia was occupied elsewhere.
"Well, now you've done it."
Nell froze. She deliberately kept her face blank, her hands loose. "I beg your pardon?"
"Now I'm going to have to start coming in here regularly, something I've managed to avoid for years. Lunch was great."
"Oh. Good."
"You may have noticed, Mia and I aren't exactly chummy."
"It's none of my business."
"You live on the island, everybody's business is your business. But don't worry, we manage to stay out of each other's way for the most part. You won't get squeezed in the middle. I'm going to take a couple of those chocolate chip cookies for later."
"You save if you buy three."
"Twist my arm. Three, then. I'll give one to Zack and be a hero."
Relaxed now, Nell bagged the cookies, rang up the bill. But when she took the money from Ripley and their hands touched, the bright shock had her gasping.
Ripley glared, one long, frustrated stare. Snagging her cookies, she strode toward the stairs.
"Deputy-" Clenching her hand tight, Nell called after her. "You forgot your change."
"Keep it." She bit the words off as she stomped down the stairs. There was Mia at the bottom, hands folded, brow lifted. Ripley simply snarled and kept going.
***
A storm was coming. Though the sky stayed clear and the sea calm, a storm was coming. Its violence roared through