Death of a Lobster Lover Read online

  But no.

  She stood there, arms folded, waiting.

  “Tracey Gold,” the desk clerk stammered.

  “Who?” Mona asked, dumbfounded.

  “Tracey Gold,” the desk clerk said again, feeling smaller and smaller by the moment.

  “Who the hell is that?” Mona demanded to know.

  “The actress from Growing Pains,” Hayley said softly.

  “That show from the eighties with Kirk something or other, who used to be cute but is now creepy and weird and judging everybody because they’re not as religious as he is?” Mona asked, struggling to remember.

  “Yes,” Hayley said, nodding.

  “So Tracey Silver played the mother? I thought that was Jody Lighthouse or something,” Mona said, scratching her head.

  “You’re thinking of the mother. The mother was played by Judith Light,” the desk clerk jumped in, unable to restrain himself any longer.

  “No, she wasn’t! Judith Light was in Who’s the Boss?, the one with Tony Danza!” Hayley quietly offered.

  The affronted desk clerk glared at her, bemused by the fact she was joining her friends in ganging up on him.

  “Then who played the mother on Growing Pains?” Mona asked.

  “I don’t know!” the desk clerk sputtered. “But I do know Tracey Gold played the sister!”

  “Oh, yeah. Now I remember. Didn’t she get sick or something?” Mona asked, as the desk clerk sighed, having thought the discussion was finally coming to a merciful end.

  “She battled bulimia,” Liddy said, finally chiming in and adding her two cents. “I read about it in People magazine a while back.”

  “She was here and she had Ebola?” Mona gasped, spinning her head around, eyes bulging as if she would suddenly be able to spot some insidious airborne virus.

  “Not Ebola, Mona! Bulimia!” Hayley cried. “It doesn’t matter! The man was just trying to make a point.”

  “Well, he didn’t exactly do a bang-up job of it now, did he?” Liddy laughed. “Comparing some washed-up eighties sitcom actress to Martha Stewart to impress us? It’s sad, really.”

  The desk clerk appeared as if he was going to hurl his massive bulk over the counter and strangle Liddy, but he held himself, and repeated one last time to the three women, with more than a hint of relief, “Like I said, we’re fully booked.”

  At that moment, as if a gift from the heavens, a family of four arrived to check in and the desk clerk was finally freed from his torturous interaction with Liddy and her pals, who huddled in a corner to debate their next move.

  “I say we suck it up and go back to the cabin and spend the night, and then we can drive back in the morning,” Hayley suggested, tired from the long drive and anxious for a plan.

  “I have absolutely no intention of spending one night in that rat-infested hovel. Do you hear me? I say we drive back tonight,” Liddy insisted.

  “I didn’t haul butt all the way down here to stay just one night! I want to enjoy the whole long weekend! Like we planned!” Mona wailed.

  “Well, we came in my car and my car is leaving in two minutes!” Liddy hollered, turning for support to Hayley, who labored to stay neutral.

  “How will I get home?” Mona barked.

  “Take a bus!” Liddy said.

  “Greyhound doesn’t come all the way down to Salmon Cove!” Mona countered.

  “Then hitchhike for all I care, Mona! I’m leaving right now!” Liddy screamed as she swiveled around to march dramatically out the front door.

  Before she took a step, a man appeared out of nowhere flashing them all a warm smile as he walked past them and up to the desk clerk, who was finishing up with the family of vacationers.

  “Just wanted to see if I could get another room key card. I can’t seem to find the one you gave me when I checked in,” he said.

  “Of course,” the desk clerk said. “Just give me a minute.”

  “No hurry. I’m off for a hike. I can just pick it up when I get back,” he said.

  He was strikingly handsome, not tall, almost Tom Cruise short, thin and wiry in a tight-fitting T-shirt, wearing khaki shorts that showed off his sturdy hairy legs, and L.L.Bean hiking boots.

  The desk clerk smiled. “Have a nice time, Mr. Young.”

  The man spun back around and finally noticed Hayley, Liddy, and Mona, all of whom couldn’t help but stare at him, taking in his obvious attractiveness.

  He flashed that winning smile. “You here visiting, ladies?”

  Liddy quickly stepped forward, like some Jane Austen character determined to leave her sisters in waiting behind as she seized her moment to engage the moneyed and eligible and swoon-worthy bachelor in the remote English village. “Yes, we’re from Bar Harbor.”

  “Nice place. But it’s much too crowded with tourists this time of year, to be perfectly honest. I like the tranquility of Salmon Cove.”

  “Me too,” Liddy said, unconcerned with her stunning contradiction from just a few moments before in front of everyone in the hotel lobby.

  Mona chuckled.

  Hayley couldn’t stop watching the desk clerk, who was so astounded by Liddy’s brazen turn, he was struck speechless.

  “Where are you from?” Liddy asked, almost singing the words like an animated Disney princess.

  “Boston. I’m a writer. The name is Jackson Young. Maybe you’ve seen my byline? I do mostly puff pieces for travel magazines. But it pays the bills and allows me to come up here and get away from it all, work on my novel which I’ll never finish, and gorge on lobster.”

  “Yeah, that’s why we came too,” Mona said. “Except the novel part. I hate reading books. Don’t have the patience for it.”

  “He’s talking about writing a novel, not reading one, Mona,” Hayley said softly, shaking her head.

  “I especially needed to get away,” Liddy continued, her voice cracking just a bit, batting her eyes for effect. “You see, I recently broke up with my boyfriend and thought some quality time away with my two best friends would be the tonic I need.”

  “You said you and Sonny were just taking a break!” Mona howled.

  “No, it’s definitely over. Sonny and I are finished. Kaput. Finito!” Liddy said in Mona’s direction before adding, “The end.”

  “Are you married, Jackson?” Hayley asked.

  “Me? Oh, no, mostly a wandering spirit, I guess you have to be to be a travel writer. But hey, I’ve been doing this job for a long time and there are days when I think I might want to settle down, but . . . man, I should just shut up. Too much information!”

  “Not at all! I’m riveted,” Liddy cooed, not a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

  “Well, I don’t want to keep you ladies from your bonding time,” Jackson said, nodding to the three of them before turning to leave.

  “I love lobster too!” Liddy blurted out.

  This stopped Jackson in his tracks.

  He took another look at Liddy and smiled.

  God, the man certainly possessed a hypnotic smile.

  Their eyes locked and they drank each other in for a moment.

  “Good to know,” he said with a wink.

  “What are you talking about?” Mona interjected, oblivious to the burgeoning love connection unfolding right in front of her. “You hate eating lobster. Especially tearing off the claws and cracking the shell. You told me it’s like dissecting an animal in biology class and the whole process makes you want to hurl!”

  There was an awkward silence before Liddy said evenly, “But I love the taste of lobster meat in a nice pasta dish, Mona. Let’s leave it at that.”

  “Hope to see you ladies around,” Jackson said, though he was looking right at Liddy.

  And then he disappeared out the door.

  Liddy watched him go, and then slowly turned to Hayley and Mona, her mind racing.

  “You know what? I’m too tired to drive back to Bar Harbor tonight. Why don’t we just suck it up and at least stay one night in the cabin before we
head out tomorrow,” she said as if it had been her idea.

  “I’m getting whiplash from you constantly changing your mind!” Mona said, shaking her head as they trudged back out the door to the car.

  Chapter 3

  The Starfish Lounge, located just across the street from the one hotel in town, was the local watering hole that served as the social center in Salmon Cove. It was narrow and musty and a bit claustrophobic, and there was a distinct fishy smell emanating from the harbor outside, but there was something quaint and familiar about the place, and Hayley felt right at home upon entering with Liddy and Mona.

  It was early, just after eight in the evening, but the place was packed and a Tim McGraw classic played on the old-fashioned jukebox in the corner. Mona managed to stare down a couple of fishermen who were finishing their mugs of beer until they got up and offered their table to the trio of female strangers who had just arrived.

  “Thank you,” Mona said sweetly, as if relinquishing their table had totally been their idea.

  “What do you gals want to drink?” Liddy said, snapping open her purse and fishing around for some cash.

  “Just a club soda with lime,” Hayley said, resigned to her role of designated driver for the evening.

  “I’ll take a beer. Nothing fancy. Whatever’s on tap,” Mona said.

  “Well, I’m going to need something a lot stronger,” Liddy said. “It’s imperative that I dull my senses if I’m going to spend the night in that crumbling rat trap in the woods.”

  “You know, you’re really starting to tick me off, Liddy,” Mona barked. “Quit putting down my family’s vacation home.”

  “Forgive me, Mona,” Liddy said, every word dripping with sarcasm. “I didn’t realize you thought of your little getaway destination as Balmoral Castle where the Queen spends her summer days traipsing across the grounds with her corgis!”

  “Was that an insult?” Mona asked Hayley.

  Hayley nodded.

  “Can you just get me a friggin’ beer? Is that too much to ask, Liddy?” Mona growled.

  Liddy crossed to the bar and ordered a round from the statuesque, sturdy, busty bartender with flat blond hair and a weathered face that had probably been stunning years ago when she was a sprightly young woman. But years of hard living had undoubtedly taken its toll, and now in her fifties, though still attractive, there was a hardness that had calcified her once soft features. Only when she smiled after Liddy made a joke could you see the roughness fade and a hint of that long-lost beauty return.

  Suddenly a white dish rag in a hammy fist appeared in front of Hayley’s face, and she sat back in her chair, startled. It was the young bar back, nineteen or twenty years old, and he vigorously, almost violently, wiped down the table. He was a big lug, over six feet, a flat nose and big lips, matted brown hair, his body a mix of muscles and fat. He wore a tight-fitting Starfish Lounge T-shirt and scrubbed the table until it rocked back and forth, at one point nearly tipping over.

  Once he was done, he stuffed the rag inside the left hip pocket of his faded ragged blue jeans and noticed Hayley and Mona for the first time.

  “You’re new here. I haven’t seen you before,” he said in a gruff, not quite welcoming voice.

  “We’re just visiting,” Hayley said, smiling.

  He didn’t smile back. “What are you doing here?”

  “Are you deaf? We’re visiting! Like she said! We don’t live here!” Mona yelled, not inclined to receive the third degree from a bar back who didn’t seem to boast a lot of brainpower.

  In fact, as he stared at them, eyes blinking, a vacant look on his face, it struck Hayley that he almost seemed a bit slow, if not outright mentally challenged.

  “Where are you from?” the boy asked, fingering his dirty dish rag that slung down his side from his back pocket.

  “Outer space. We’re aliens. We’ve been sent here to suck the brains out of all earthlings in Salmon Cove!” Mona said, shaking her head in frustration.

  The boy’s eyes widened as he digested this information.

  It was almost as if he actually believed Mona.

  Hayley decided to put his mind at ease.

  “We’re from Bar Harbor. And I assure you we’re one hundred percent human,” Hayley said. “I’m Hayley and this is Mona. What’s your name?”

  “Boyd,” the boy said, eyeing them suspiciously. But then he was distracted by the door opening and a young girl entering the bar. She was a petite thing, roughly the same age as Boyd, maybe twenty or twenty-one, her tiny head and limbs sticking out of an oversize sundress with a lobster print. She wore thick glasses and appeared shy and demure, almost waiflike. Boyd stared at her as she approached the bar to speak with the owner.

  By this time, Liddy had walked back over from the bar carrying a bottle of beer, a cosmo, and Hayley’s club soda in her hands.

  Boyd blocked her way.

  “Excuse me,” Liddy said politely.

  Boyd didn’t budge.

  He was too busy staring at the tiny girl who was still struggling to get the bartender’s attention.

  “Hey! Beanstalk! Step aside so my friend can sit down!” Mona snapped.

  Boyd glanced down at Mona, gawking at her as if he still believed her joke of being an alien from another planet, and then moved off, still clutching his dish rag like it was a security blanket as he slowly moved toward the girl at the bar and said hello. The girl turned and smiled at him and they started a conversation that was drowned out by Tim McGraw’s singing from the jukebox.

  Liddy set the drinks on the table and then plopped down to join her two friends. “The bartender owns the place. Her name is Sue and she’s quite a character. By the way, she knows all about your family’s cabin, Mona, and she agreed with me that it should be condemned. I liked her instantly.”

  Mona grabbed her beer and chugged it down, ignoring Liddy.

  Just as Hayley lifted her club soda to take a sip, someone slammed into her chair from behind. She dropped the glass and the soda spilled all over the table. Then two hands glommed on to her shoulders. She cranked her head around and up to see an elderly man, pushing eighty, a Red Sox baseball cap pulled down over his head, white stubble covering his face, using Hayley to balance himself. Everyone at the table could smell the bourbon on his breath.

  Sue the owner scooted out from behind the bar and raced over to help. “I’m so sorry, ladies. He’s been a bit over-served. Here, Rufus, let me help you back to the bar.”

  Rufus slapped her hand away, and bellowed in a slurred voice. “I’m fine, Sue. I just slipped on your wet floor on my way back from the john. You shouldn’t mop it so much.”

  Hayley glanced down at the floor, which looked like it hadn’t been mopped or swept in a decade.

  “Stop making excuses, you old drunk. You can hardly stand upright! Ellie, get over here and help me with your grandfather!”

  The young ragamuffin in her lobster sundress that was nearly swallowing her up whole broke away from her conversation with the slow-witted bar back Boyd and scampered over to Sue, taking old man Rufus by the arm, coaxing him away from the table.

  “Come on, Grandpa, it’s after eight. Time to go home.”

  “I don’t want to go home, Ellie! I just got here!”

  “You’ve been here since we opened at noon, you old coot! Now get out of here! We’ll see you tomorrow,” Sue said, signaling Boyd, who was only too happy to rush over and assist his little crush, whose name apparently was Ellie, with her grandfather.

  They quickly ushered him out of the bar.

  Sue turned back to Hayley, Liddy, and Mona. “Again, I’m sorry for the commotion, ladies. Your next round is on me.”

  Mona lit up. “Thank you, Sue!”

  “Rufus is here every night drinking too much. But he’s been here for years. Part of the local charm, I guess,” Sue said with a resigned smile. “Everyone comes in here expecting to see him so I put up with it.”

  “We have plenty of our own Rufuses back in Bar
Harbor,” Hayley said, laughing.

  “I believe it,” Sue said, grinning, before lumbering back behind the bar to attend to her other customers.

  Despite Liddy’s misgivings, Salmon Cove did share certain similarities with Bar Harbor. There was the small town coastal laid-back ambience, the eccentric, colorful locals, and more than likely, the hidden dark secrets that always seemed to surface eventually.

  Chapter 4

  Sue returned shortly with the free round she had so kindly offered on a tray and set the drinks down in front of Hayley, Liddy, and Mona.

  “Enjoy, ladies,” Sue said.

  “Thank you, Sue. This is very nice of you,” Hayley said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a five-dollar bill. She dropped it on the now empty tray as a tip.

  “Appreciate it,” Sue said just as the door to the bar swung open and Ellie returned, Boyd on her heels like a loyal basset hound.

  “What’d you forget?”

  “My car keys,” Ellie said, looking around. “We got Grandpa all strapped in, but I can’t seem to find my keys.”

  They all began a quick search of the bar area until Boyd spotted something shiny on the floor and scooped up the keys in his big fleshy hand. He gently handed them to Ellie.

  “There you go, Miss Ellie,” Boyd said, smiling shyly.

  “Thank you, Boyd. You’re a peach,” Ellie said, averting her eyes because she was embarrassed the big oaf was gazing at her so wide-eyed and lovingly, drool practically spilling out of his mouth.

  “Would you like me to ride home with you just to make sure you get your grandad home safely?”

  “No, Boyd, I don’t want to bother you.”

  “It’s no bother, really.”

  “But how would you get back to the bar to finish your shift?”

  “I can walk.”

  “It’s four miles.”

  “I don’t mind.”

  “No, really, I’ll be fine. But thank you.”

  There was a long, interminable silence.

  Neither of them knew what to say next.

  Finally, unable to handle the awkwardness of the situation, Ellie blurted out a fast “good night” and hightailed it out of the bar.