That was good news. She sat with them for a few minutes and was about to make for the laundry room when Beth told her that Derek was using it.

“Hasn’t he gotten any sleep at all?”

“Not much.”

Arin must have caught the tone. His eyes shut momentarily. Then he said something and Ken nodded.

“Believe it or not,” said Beth, “they’ve been talking. Ken’s learning the language, aren’t you, love?”

Ken grinned. “I can say hello, good-bye, and where’s the washroom?”

“I’m serious,” said Beth. “That’s the real reason Derek brought him along. Just in case we needed somebody who has serious language skills.” Her eyes locked on him. “How many languages do you speak now? Six?”

“Probably more like two.”

“He’s kidding.”

Ken turned and said something to Arin, who responded with that giant grin.

“What did you tell him?” asked Beth.

“That you think he’s pretty good-looking.”

•  •  •

When Derek appeared, carrying his laundry in a basket, he offered to show Hutch how the rollers worked. Arin asked Ken something, probably to explain what he’d said. Ken replied, but judging from Arin’s puzzled expression, he didn’t understand. But he certainly saw the pile of laundry, so he caught Hutch’s eye and pointed at himself. Could he help?

“No, Arin,” she said. “Thanks. I can manage.”

Again, Ken tried to translate. Maybe he did. In any case, it must have been obvious she was indicating she could figure it out. And it wasn’t that difficult. The washtub had baskets and liquid soap. Pour it and hot water into one of the basins and wash the clothes. Rinse in the second basin and run them between the rollers to get rid of most of the water. The rollers were equipped with a handle, so they were easy to use. She was surprised that they didn’t function on electricity.

There was a box of clothespins. When she’d finished, she picked some up, put everything in a basket, and took it all outside, where Derek’s laundry was already hanging from lines strung between two of the trees. She was still working on getting everything up when Beth came out. “Hutch,” she said, “you want to go over to the beach?”

“Sounds like a good idea, but I’m not sure my bathing suit won’t fall off.”

“Mine’s a decent fit. They’re elastic. And you can use a cord to fasten them.”

Hutch knew that, of course. But tying clothes together to keep them from falling off wasn’t appealing. Still, a day at the beach sounded like a good idea.