“Use Lucy’s phone. If he thinks she’s calling him, he’ll probably answer.” Then Taylor stood up. “I have to go now.” She paid her share of the bill and marched out of the restaurant without saying good-bye.

Well, you’ve done it now, haven’t you?

“Thanks a lot,” Annie whispered. “But you’re a little late.”

She could have sworn she heard Murphy chuckle.

Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Before heading back to Chappy, Annie texted John and asked him to call when he got home. Or sooner if he could. She said it wasn’t urgent; she just wanted to hear his voice. There was no way she was going to report Donna’s prognosis in a text.

Then she stopped at Basics in Oak Bluffs and picked out a pretty nightgown and a new pair of slippers for Donna, along with a warmer robe than the silk one. She went to the pharmacy and checked items off her list, then to Stop and Shop where she picked up ingredients for several meals so she wouldn’t have to bother anyone to run errands at least for the first few days that Donna would be back. By the time she was finished she knew that school would be out, so she went directly to John’s. She saw Lucy through the window; she was in the living room, engrossed in something on her iPad.

“Dad’s at a meeting on the Cape,” Lucy said when she opened the door. Restless greeted Annie with wet kisses.

“I know.”

“He should be back on the seven thirty.”

“Well, I’m not here to see him. I came to talk to you.”

“What have I done now?”

“You sound guilty.”

“You sound like a teacher.”

“I was a teacher.”

“I know.” Lucy laughed, then invited Annie inside.

They sat down, and Annie gave Lucy a quick rundown of Taylor’s plight. “I told her I’d help. Not only because she feels this is your fault, but also because she’s been dating my brother, and I don’t want to mess that up for him if he’d rather I didn’t.”

“She’s weird.”

“Sometimes.”

“Do you really think Jonas is being scammed?”

“It sounds that way, yes.”

Lucy seemed to think about that. “Yeah, you’re probably right. He’s vulnerable.”

“He is.”

She fidgeted with the iPad. “Did you see his website? It came out really cool.” She passed the iPad over to Annie.

Annie didn’t want to waste time looking at the site, but wanted to reassure Lucy about her work in having created the site—that she’d done a good job.

“Click on the menu bar to see the pages. . . .”

With a small smile, Annie said, “I know about navigation.”

“Oh, sorry.”