Free Sea Fever by Virginia Kantra Page A

good.”

    She carried the mug out to him while Margred served the last table.

    “Thanks.” Caleb took the cup; watched her over the rim. “Maggie
    tells me you hired that homeless guy you’ve been feeding.”

    Regina jerked her mind from one set of worries to another. “I’m
    thinking about it. You said he checked out.”

    “He doesn’t have a record. He still has issues.”

    She cocked her chin, on the defensive. “You mean, besides needing
    a job and a place to live?”

    Caleb sipped his coffee. “There’s an encampment,” he said abruptly.
    “Homeless guys, vets mostly, out at the old quarry.”

    Her mouth opened. Shut without a sound. A camp? Of homeless
    vets. On World’s End?

    Margred finished her table.

    “I’ve been by there once or twice,” Caleb continued. “Keeping an
    eye out. Took one of them to the clinic this afternoon to see Doc Tomah.”

    “So?”

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    “He had headaches. Delusions.” Caleb’s gaze locked with his wife’s.
    “Claimed he was possessed by the devil.”

    Margred sucked in her breath.

    “Uh-huh,” Regina said. Why was he telling her this?

    “What did you do?” Margred asked.

    “The doctor prescribed Haldol. And I drove him back to camp.”

    “You have to tell Dylan,” Margred said.

    “I plan to.” Caleb’s voice was grim.

    “Where is Dylan?” Regina wanted to know.

    Caleb’s gaze switched back to her face, but she got the impression
    he didn’t actually see her. Story of her life, really. “Damned if I know.”

    Typical. Unreliable, typical male.

    “Reggie.” Caleb’s eyes sharpened. His voice was gentle. “Is there
    something going on? Is there a reason you want to hire this guy, this
    Jericho?”

    Yes. No.

    I could be pregnant. With your brother’s child.

    Definitely, No.

    She shrugged. “We’re really busy right now. I could use some help.”

    “Lucy,” Margred said.

    Caleb frowned thoughtfully.

    Regina shook her head. “I don’t need a waitress. I need somebody to
    do the dirty work.”

    “Lucy’s not afraid of work,” Caleb said. “Or dirt.”

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    Margred nodded. “And she’s strong.”

    “On her college track team,” Caleb said with pride.

    “She’d make more money sterning for your father,” Regina felt
    obliged to point out.

    “Lucy hates the water,” Margred said.

    “Talk to her,” Caleb said. “I’ll tell her to stop by.”

    “That would be . . . good,” Regina decided. She smiled. “Thanks.”

    Caleb did not smile back. “Just take care of yourself.”

    Regina fingered the cross at her neck. “I’m trying.”

    With one eye on the clock and the other on the entrance,she tackled
    the evening prep, chalked the day’s specials on the board, boiled and
    boxed a dozen lobster orders for pickup.

    And every time a tall, dark man crossed the threshold, her heart
    jangled like the bell above the door.

    But it was never Dylan.

    Customers came and went, picking up orders of lobsters and pizza,
    lingering to chew over gossip or pasta in the dining room. Antonia came
    and went during the height of the dinner rush to help on the line. Nick
    came downstairs to bolt a meatball sub between the first and second
    features of a Chuck Norris movie marathon on TV.

    Dylan did not come.

    Maybe his conversation with his brother took longer than expected,
    Regina thought as she shut down the grill.

    Or maybe she had finally driven him away. She walked through the
    silent restaurant, her own words echoing in the empty space. “You try
    being responsible for somebody besides yourself sometime, and we’ll
    talk.”

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    Well, fine. She flipped the sign on the front door from OPEN to
    CLOSED.

    She didn’t expect anything else. From him, from anybody. If you
    learned not to expect things, you couldn’t be disappointed. She and Nick
    were fine on their own.

    Or they would be with a little help. Tomorrow she would talk to
    Lucy about working out the summer.

    She closed the register, counted