Stone Cove Island Read Free Page B

how fast federal emergency money would come in torepair the harbor. Someone would have to work with the coast guard to figure out how we would get food shipped in, garbage shipped out, and how people would get on and off the island. There were many more questions than answers, and all of them needed to be solved before winter set in. I was scared, thinking about how bad things could get once the temperatures really dropped. You couldn’t survive on Stone Cove without heat, gasoline or a way to get food.
    “If there’s no ferry until spring, my dad is going to completely lose his mind,” said Charlie with a grim smile.
    Or starve
, I thought.
    He gave up trying to fix the connection and stood, taking his coffee cup back. It was no longer steaming. “Sorry, Jay.”
    “No worries. Your parents have been down here, you know that? It sounds like the inn did okay. They have power, at least.”
    Charlie sighed. “The boiler room was flooded. They are dealing with some unhappy folks.”
    Jay nodded. I could see his newsman’s antenna sussing out a story in this last comment, a piece about those stranded, late-season guests who refused to leave despite dire warnings—island dilettantes now stuck here with the rest of us.
    “I’ll bet. I’ll swing by later and see if I can find some way to help with that. Coast guard is holding a press conference at eleven to talk about initial transportation plans. That should be on the agenda too.” He looked up at us and I noticed for the first time the dark circles ringing his eyes. “You two go and be with your families. I’ll manage here.”

TWO
    Charlie walked me home. I couldn’t help thinking that under any other circumstances, that event would have made prime Stone Cove gossip.
What is Charlie Pender doing with Eliza Elliot?
But today there was no such thing as “bizarre.” Today everything was bizarre. Besides, there was no one around to whisper about or watch us; we were all alone. I kept looking for people. What was everyone doing right now, our friends and neighbors? The ruined streets were eerie and deserted, no signs of life behind the dark windows. I reminded myself there was no power. That my own mom was too afraid to go out. They must be inside, trying to stay warm, figuring out how to face the devastation.
    Our house sat part of the way up the hill, still within the village. From there it was another ten-to-fifteen-minute walk up to the inn. Most guests took advantage of the inn’s loaner bicycles to get back and forth to town, or a couple of golf carts the inn made available.
    “It’s always weird to be back,” said Charlie out of nowhere.
    I almost jumped. “Yeah,” I said.
    “This place is always so its own world. But today …”
    “Today it’s like being on another planet,” I finished. “What’s Jay going to do if his house is gone?”
    Charlie shook his head. I pictured Jay and Sparkler moving into the
Gazette
offices permanently, making coffee on the hot plate and eating ramen noodles every night.
    “Can we swing by Meredith’s? Do you mind? I just want to make sure she’s okay.”
    I’d said “we” without thinking. But it did feel like we were in this together, tossed into the same hole that we’d now have to crawl our way out of. I suppose you picture getting through a disaster with your closest friends and family, but instead you’re thrown into random situations with people you would never expect. There was no question of making plans.
    “Sure,” said Charlie. He didn’t seem to be in a rush. The problems were too big; you couldn’t go straight at them. Addressing them would mean chipping away over a very long time. It made me itchy though. I wanted to jump in, start, figure out some way to put things back, fix it
now
.
    I hurried ahead. Meredith would get it. Meredith, my best friend since we were toddlers, lived nearby in one of the Rose Cottages: a tourist-friendly neighborhood of really old, tiny houses—all adorned with