“No one I’d consider a murderer.”

“You did see someone though?”  Lin’s face was serious.

“Yeah.  Before I went below to make my breakfast, I saw that charity lady.  That older woman.  Mrs. Hartnett’s her name.  She was walking on the dock.  I nodded to her before I went down to make breakfast.”

Libby Hartnett?  “Does she have a boat down here?”  Lin’s eyebrows knitted together.

Nate shook his head.  “I figured she must be down to pester some big wig into making a donation to something or other.  I thought it might be something for the Whaling Museum since she had that historical guy with her.”

“What historical guy?”  Viv eyed the man.

“That writer guy, you know, he’s kind of weasely looking.  He wrote all those books about Nantucket.”

Lin and Viv exchanged a look.

“You’re sure they were together?”  Lin’s heart was beating double-time.

“Well, they were on the dock at the same time.  Can’t say if they were together or not.  Seemed like it, though.”  Nate drained his beer bottle.  “I better get going.”  He stood up, thanked the girls for the refreshments, and returned to his boat.

“What’s that about?”  Lin whispered to her cousin.  “Anton Wilson and Libby Hartnett on the dock just before Greg Hammond was murdered?”  Her breathing was quick and shallow.  For a second, Lin felt cold and she thought she saw something fleeting pass by the stern of John’s boat.

Viv’s eyes were wide.  “There must be an explanation.  They must have been down here for some legitimate reason.  They couldn’t have killed Hammond.”  She looked over at the other boats lined up along the dock, her face muscles tense.  She turned to Lin and said softly, “Could they?”

Chapter 11

Lin had been up late doing programming work for the Boston start-up company that she was working for remotely.  She tumbled into bed after 1am and when the alarm went off at 5:30 in the morning she wanted to pummel the screeching little box with her pillow.

After a long day of outside work, Lin couldn’t wait to get home and shower and then curl up with Anton Wilson’s ghost book that Viv had given her the night before.  The sun was low in the sky when Lin yawned and turned the truck onto Vestry Road.  Her stomach was growling, her head was aching, and her muscles were still screaming from four days of gardening work in the high heat.  A light sheen of perspiration covered her skin and smudges of soil and plant matter stuck to her jean shorts from hours of weeding, watering, and mowing.

Approaching her house, she saw a truck parked in front.  Oh, no.  The carpenter is still here. She wondered if there would ever be a day when she talked to the handsome man without looking like she’d been hit by a train.  She let out a long sigh as she and Nicky emerged from their vehicle.

When she opened the front door, the little dog tore across the living room and into the kitchen where the man was finishing up the work on the doggy door.  The carpenter laughed as the dog danced around and gave the man a swish across his chiseled cheek with a long pink tongue.

“Hey, Nick.”  Jeff sat back on the floor.  “Your door is almost finished.”  The carpenter pushed the little door to show the dog how to use it.  Nicky sniffed, pushed through it to go out onto the deck, and ran into the yard.

“Well, I guess that’s a success.”  Lin chuckled.  “I see you found the key to the back door under the rock.”  She couldn’t help but admire the physique of the man sitting on her kitchen floor.  His warm smile and deep brown eyes made her heart swell.

Jeff stood up.  “In the future, you might want to find a better hiding place for the key.  It’s kind of in an obvious spot.”  He gave Lin a smile.  “I got here later than I thought.  Another job ran over time.  That’s why I’m still here.”

“The doggy door looks great.”  Lin couldn’t stifle a yawn.  “Sorry.”

“Looks like someone has had a long day.”  Jeff gathered his tools from the floor and put them in his metal case.

Unable to hide her fatigue and knowing that a guy like Jeff would never be attracted to a dirty, sweat-soaked mess like her, she gave up all thoughts of flirting and sank onto the stool where she leaned forward and put her chin in her hand.

“You okay?”  Jeff looked at Lin with concern.

“I can barely move.  I was an idiot to think I could handle this gardening job.”  Lin’s eyelids drooped.

Jeff let out a soft chuckle.  “You’ll get used to it.  Don’t give up.  You look like you’re in good shape.  Before you know it, you’ll be coming home feeling like you could keep working for a few more hours.”

Lin narrowed her eyes skeptically.

“Okay.  I’ll modify that statement.  You’ll come home in the evening and you won’t be dragging.  And your muscles won’t be burning either.”

Lin sucked in a deep breath and let it out.  “Really?”

“Really.”  Jeff snapped the lid shut on the tool case.  He eyed Lin.  “If you can stay awake long enough, how about you go take a shower and I’ll make a run to the farm store and bring back some takeout for us?  We’ve both had a long day and my guess is that we’re both starving and neither one of us wants to cook dinner.”

The corners of Lin’s mouth turned up.  “Really?”

“Really.”  Jeff chuckled.  “I’ll be back in thirty minutes.”

Lin smiled.  “It’s a deal.”

Just then Nicky ran into the kitchen through the doggy door, whooshed in a circle around the room, and darted back outside through his little door leaving Lin and Jeff roaring with laughter at the nutty dog’s antics.

“I think he likes it.”  Lin’s eyes sparkled.

***

Her hair still damp from the shower, Lin finished setting the deck table with plates, glasses, and silverware just as Jeff came around the corner of the house carrying a large paper bag full of takeout food.

“It smells delicious.”  Lin’s stomach growled.

They sat at the table eating their food and drinking craft beer with a candle flickering softly on the table in the waning light of the day as they chatted and got to know one another.  Jeff had been an Air Force pilot for eight years when he left the service to return to his hometown on Nantucket.  He’d considered applying to fly for a commercial airline, but decided he would prefer the quieter lifestyle and natural beauty that his home island provided so he came back and started his business.

Lin shared things about her growing up years, her schooling, first jobs, and her desire to make a permanent home on Nantucket.  Throughout their conversation, the small dog asserted his independence by using his doggy door to enter and exit the house at will.

“You heard about the murder down at the docks?”  Jeff lifted his beer glass.

Lin’s shoulders tensed up.  “I did.  Awful.”

“Murders are pretty rare around here.  I’ve been wondering what it was all about.”

“Did you know Hammond?”

Jeff leaned back in his chair.  “Only a little.  The business people on the island can be a tight-knit group.  Greg never struck me as much of a businessman.  He seemed to rely too heavily on his employees.”

“Did he ignore his company?”

“I can’t say that for certain, but he never seemed too involved with the day-to-day tasks.  He had the manager, Bill, running most of it.  Bill’s wife, Joan, is the bookkeeper and Leonard runs the nursery section.”

“Leonard?  He’s capable of running part of the business?”

“Not sure about that.”  Jeff shrugged. “Hammond was always off on some new scheme to make money.  The guy was fascinated with treasure hunting.  He loved diving sunken ships.  I think he was pretty sure he was going to hit the jackpot one day.  About a year ago, he asked a few of us to join him on a dive in the Caribbean.  I refused to go.  I thought he was too much of a daredevil, taking stupid risks, putting himself in danger.  I had enough of danger serving in the military.  That was something I didn’t need any more of in my life.”