Sheâs the evil one.â
âCongratulations on getting your driverâs licenses,â said Zee. âWheels are power.â
âYes!â The twins shot fists into the air. Their smiles were bright.
âDadâs let us have the Jeep for the afternoon,â said Jill or Jen, âand weâre headed for East Beach, over on Chappy, where there arenât so many people. Itâll be great!â She looked at Karen and Debby. âYou want to come?â
âA moral dilemma,â I said to Debby. âShall it be the beach or the quahog flats?â She hesitated. âI vote that you head for the beach,â I said. âYou can come clamming tomorrow, when I go after steamers.â
âYou can take the bedspread we use for a beach blanket out of the Land Cruiser,â said Zee. âIâll put some colas in a cooler and get you a couple of towels. Put your bathing suit on, Debby. You, too, Karen. Hurry up, now!â
Debby hurried, but Karen hesitated before going after her. Soon they came out, wearing beach robes andcarrying bags full of whatever it is that women always seem to need, whether theyâre going to the beach or to a royal ball.
âI donât know about this,â whispered Karen Lea as she passed by.
âYouâll be fine,â I said, giving her a cousinish pat on the shoulder. âSee you later.â
The Wagoneer drove away, and Zee and I watched it go. âI feel like their mother,â said Zee. âGood grief!â She laughed, but her laugh sounded wistful.
âHow does it feel?â
âNot too bad. But I think I should get to be a mother of my own babies first, and then my own little kids, before Iâm mother to teenagers.â She looked up at me with her great, dark eyes.
âWe can work on that,â I said. âIn the meantime, you want to come quahogging down at Eel Pond?â
She sighed and nodded. âSure, but I have to be home in time to go to work at four.â
âA wife with a steady job is too valuable an asset for me to run risks with her,â I said. âIâll have you back in plenty of time.â
I put another basket and rake into the Land Cruiser, and we drove out to the pavement and turned toward Edgartown. There was a car parked beside the bike path a hundred feet or so up the road in the direction of Vineyard Haven. I thought there was someone in the driverâs seat.
The car was still there when we came back with our quahogs an hour and a half later.
I pulled into the driveway and stopped and looked at the car.
âWhat is it?â asked Zee.
âIâm not sure,â I said.
As I got out of the Land Cruiser and crossed the highway, I thought I saw the driver taking my picture. Then, as I walked along the bike path toward the car, its driver started the motor, made a U-turn, and drove away.
I thought the car had a Massachusetts plate, but I couldnât make out the number.
I walked back to the truck.
âWhat was that all about?â asked Zee.
âI donât know,â I said. âProbably nothing.â
But I didnât think it was nothing.
â 4 â
âMaybe it was just a car,â said Zee when we got to the house.
I felt a frown on my face. âMaybe, but maybe not. It was parked there when we came out, and it was still there when we came back. It didnât leave till I went toward it.â
âI didnât notice it when we went out,â she said. âBut why would somebody be out there, watching our driveway?â
I could think of four possibilities about the car and driver. The one I liked best was that the car had nothing to do with us at all. It was just happenstance that it was there when it was there and left when it left. I could also live with the idea that the car contained a watchful backup Secret Service agent in addition to Karen Lea, but one who, for some reason, didnât want to be identified
Elle Thorne, Shifters Forever