The calm of his voice made Annie feel odd; it made her believe him.
With John’s help, her foot found the ladder rung and she maneuvered the rest of herself down out of the hatch with about as much grace as a hippo climbing backward through a hoop. John’s hands never touched any part of her, but she could see his arms splayed upward ready to catch her if she fell.
“Thank you,” she said when she was safely back on carpet. “Sorry about the ceiling. I’ll pay to get it fixed.”
They walked into the kitchen together and looked up at the size-seven-foot hole above their heads.
“I can fix it,” said John.
“Well, then, I’ll pay for plaster and whatnot,” said Annie.
“What were you trying to get up there?”
“Mari’s Halloween stuff.” Annie sighed. “It seems like Halloween is a pretty big deal down here, and I didn’t want to let everybody down.”
John looked at her quizzically. “Oh. That’s very . . . I’m surprised. I didn’t think you’d be. I mean, I didn’t expect you to be that invested in the traditions of Willow Bay.”
“It means a lot to Mari,” said Annie. “And, you know, I haven’t had much time over the past few years to get into Halloween, and so I thought this year I would. New start and all that . . .” she trailed off. Why was she telling him this?
“How do you know it means a lot to my aunt?”
“It’s in the book,” Annie replied. “There’s a whole section on it.”
“The book?”
“The Saltwater Nook book that Mari wrote as a guide for whoever became its guardian.”
John frowned and shook his head. “I didn’t know she’d written notes.” And then he chuckled to himself. “That’s just like Aunt Mari, bossy to the last, never leave anything to chance.”
“Oh, it’s more than just notes,” said Annie. “It’s practically an almanac. She writes beautifully. It’s almost like prose poetry in parts.”
“May I see it?” John asked.
Annie considered him, her head tilted to one side. “Yes,” she replied after a beat. “Of course.”
John followed Annie out of the mess in the kitchen—she felt slightly off kilter with one shoe missing—and into the sitting room. She picked the yellow exercise book up off the coffee table and handed it to him. John took the book and began to leaf through it. He stopped every so often, his finger hovering over the page to read a particular extract before continuing. A wry smile played on his lips as he skimmed over the pages.
“These are some comprehensive notes,” John mused.
“Yes.”
“Almost a manual,” he added.
“Almost,” Annie agreed.
John closed the book but held it in both his hands as though weighing it. Outside the window, the October sun danced across the teal water, making it sparkle and wink as though it were trying to convey a message via Morse code. John looked down at the book, then out over the ocean and back again.
“Right,” he said as though responding to an unseen voice. His dark eyebrows knitted together, his expression pensive, and then he said, “Right,” again but made no move to expand on his internal monologue.
Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle meowed mournfully—pure attention seeking on her part—as she padded into the sitting room and broke whatever cycle of thought John had been locked in. He looked at Tiggs, and she looked back.
“I sought permission first,” said Annie hastily before John saw fit to reprimand her for yet another abuse of his aunt’s abode.
“Yes,” he replied absently, still holding the book. “Of course.” He bent down, resting the book on one knee, and made a kissing sound to Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle while holding his hand out to the yawning cat.
“She won’t come to you,” said Annie. “She’s not good with people. Hates my husband.”
John looked up at Annie, one eyebrow raised. His eyes, she noticed, were blue-gray like the sea when the sky was thick with cloud.
“Is your husband here too?”
“No. I left him behind. I prefer the cat.” She added, “We’re separated,” though she wasn’t sure why she felt the need to clarify this.
John’s mouth twitched at the corners in what Annie thought looked like a suppressed smile. “What’s her name?” John asked, nodding his head toward the fat ginger cat.
“Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle. Tiggs for short; she answers to both.”