Free Postcards from Cedar Key by Terri Dulong

it a nanny . In my day, they were babysitters.”
    I laughed. “Oh, that would be great. Paula struck me as a responsible girl, and if she has a younger sister, she’s used to kids.”
    â€œRight. So hopefully this will work out for her. Well, time to close up, Chloe,” Dora said, walking to the door to flip the sign.
    Chloe glanced at her watch. “Yeah, it’s almost five-thirty. Hey, Berkley, I’m heading over to the Pickled Pelican to grab some dinner. Wanna join me?”
    I had planned to have some leftover lasagna, but the escargot and a salad that I knew was on the restaurant menu tempted me. “I think I will. Sounds good.”
    â€œDora?” Chloe questioned. “Why don’t you join us?”
    â€œOh, thanks, but no. I have to get Oliver home for his dinner.”
    At the mention of his name, the dog lifted his head and looked at Dora questioningly.
    â€œYes, Oliver. You put in a good day at work. Time to go home and rest. Not that you don’t get plenty of resting here all day.”
    Chloe and I laughed as we left the shop and headed to Dock Street.
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    â€œThat sure beat leftover lasagna,” I said when we finished dinner.
    â€œMy chicken was excellent too.” Chloe took a sip of wine and glanced across the railing over to Atsena Otie. “Such a pretty night to eat outside.”
    My eyes followed a flock of pelicans as they swooped to the water, catching their own dinner.
    â€œYup. And I never get tired of looking at the scenery here.” I let out a deep sigh. “I can understand why my mother came here,” I said before I even knew what was coming out of my mouth.
    I saw the look of surprise that covered Chloe’s face across the table. “What? Your mother came here? So you have been here before?”
    I shook my head and took a sip of my cabernet. “No. I was never in Cedar Key until last year. That was my first trip here.” I avoided looking at Chloe as I rolled my paper napkin in a ball. “Actually, I wasn’t quite honest with you when I met you at the coffee café.” When she remained silent, I went on. “It’s a long story, but my mother came here back in 1972. For the summer.”
    â€œOh,” Chloe said. “Without you?”
    I nodded. “Right. Without me. I stayed with my grandmother in Salem.”
    â€œDid she come here for work?”
    â€œI have no clue why she came here,” I said and then proceeded to fill Chloe in on my story.
    â€œWow. So both your mother and grandmother would never tell you why she came here? It all sounds so mysterious. I mean, gee, there had to be a reason, and it doesn’t make sense that even when you got older they refused to talk about it.”
    â€œExactly. None of it ever made sense to me.”
    â€œAnd the only way you finally found out exactly where she went was from the postcards she sent to your grandmother? That’s amazing.”
    â€œYup. If I hadn’t found those postcards after my mother died, I never would have known that this is where she came that summer.”
    â€œWhy was it such a secret, I wonder. Do you have any idea why she would have come here without you?”
    I laughed. “Yeah, a million ideas but no answers. I wondered if maybe she was pregnant—as unlikely as that scenario was. I thought maybe she just didn’t want to raise a kid anymore, came here, thought better of it, and then went back to Salem. I also wondered if maybe she was ill, but when I got here last year and saw there were no hospitals or even a doctor on the island, I knew that couldn’t have been why she came.”
    â€œHow about the postcards? No hints there as to why she ended up here?”
    â€œNope. None. Just short messages from my grandmother telling her that I was doing okay. And my mother only wrote back updates on the weather here or that she was fine. That’s pretty much it.”
    â€œSo