right by, with his head down. He had no idea who the hell this woman was and what the hell she wanted, and he had no interest in finding out. Ruth Thomas’s father was another of the men who passed Mary Smith-Ellis, and when she asked, “Are you Angus Addams?” he grunted a denial like that of the other men. Except that, after he passed, he slowed down and turned to take a look at the woman. A good long look.
She was pretty. She was nice-looking. She wore tailored tan trousers and a short-sleeved white blouse, with a small round collar decorated with tiny embroidered flowers. She did not wear makeup. She had a thin silver watch on her wrist, and her dark hair was short and neatly waved. She carried a notepad and a pencil. He liked her slim waist and her clean appearance. She looked tidy. Stan Thomas, a fastidious man, liked that.
Yes, Stan Thomas really looked her over.
“Are you Mr. Angus Addams, sir?” she was asking Wayne Pommeroy, who was staggering by with a broken trap on his shoulder. Wayne looked embarrassed and then angry at his embarrassment, and he hustled past without answering.
Stan Thomas was still looking her over when she turned and caught his eye. He smiled. She walked over, and she was smiling, as well, with a sort of sweet hopefulness. It was a nice smile.
“You’re sure you’re not Mr. Angus Addams?” she asked.
“No. I’m Stan Thomas.”
“I’m Mary Ellis,” she said, and held out her hand. “I work at Ellis House.”
Stan Thomas didn’t respond, but he didn’t look unfriendly, so she continued.
“My Aunt Vera is giving a party next Sunday for the whole island, and she’d like to purchase several hundred pounds of lobster.”
“She would?”
“That’s right.”
“Who’s she want to buy it from?”
“I don’t suppose it matters. I was told to look for Angus Addams, but it doesn’t matter to me.”
“I could sell them to her, but she’d have to pay the retail price.”
“Have you got that much lobster?”
“I can get it. It’s right out there.” He waved his hand at the ocean and grinned. “I just have to pick it up.”
Mary laughed.
“It would have to be retail price, though,” he repeated. “If I sell it to her.”
“Oh, I’m sure that would be fine. She wants to be certain there’s plenty of it.”
“I don’t want to lose any money on the deal. I got a distributor in Rockland who expects a certain amount of lobster from me every week.”
“I’ll build a big fire on the beach and boil them in garbage cans, with seaweed.”
“Oh, my goodness! Is that how?”
“That’s how.”
“Oh, my goodness! Garbage cans! You don’t say.”
“The Ellis family can buy new ones. I’ll order them for you. Pick them up in Rockland couple days from now.”
“Really?”
“The corn goes right on top. And the clams. I’ll do the whole thing for you. Sister, that’s the only way!”
“Mr. Thomas, we’ll certainly pay you for all that and would be very grateful. I actually had no idea how to do it.”
“No need,” Stan Thomas said. “Hell, I’ll do it for free.” He surprised himself with this tossed-off line. Stan Thomas had never done anything for free in his life.
“Mr. Thomas!”
“You can help me. How about that, Mary? You can be my helper. That would be pay enough for me.”
He put his hand on Mary’s arm and smiled. His hands were filthy and reeked of rotting herring bait, but what the hell. He liked the shade of her skin, which was darker and smoother than he was used to seeing around the island. She wasn’t as young as he’d thought at first. Now that he was up close, he could see she was no kid. But she was slim and had nice round breasts. He liked her serious, nervous little frown. A pretty mouth, too. He gave her arm a squeeze.
“I think you’ll be a real good helper,” he said.
She laughed. “I help all the time!” she said. “Believe me, Mr. Thomas, I’m a very good helper!”
It poured rain on the day of the picnic, and that was the last time the Ellis family tried entertaining the whole island. It was a miserable day. Miss Vera stayed down at the beach for only an hour and sat under a tarp, griping. Her European guests went for a