“Do hurry dear,” Mrs. Williams advised her. “Everything will be ready by the time you return.”
“Don’t poke along as you sometimes do,” Jane called from the kitchen. “Get a move on!”
Vevi made up her mind not to keep anyone waiting. So she walked as fast she could to the store. She bought the paper plates and napkins, and remembered to pick up the change.
On the way back to the cottage she decided to take a short cut along the beach. As she walked, she kept looking down at the sand, hoping she’d find a pretty shell for the exhibition the Brownies were to have.
She was so intent upon the search that she did not see a man in black bathing trunks coming toward her. When she glanced up she was nearly face to face with the lifeguard, Raymond Curry.
Vevi would have walked past him without saying a word had he not stopped her with a question.
“Have you seen my son anywhere this morning?” he asked.
“Jamie?” Vevi shook her head. “I haven’t been up very long though.”
“When did you see him last?”
Vevi thought it odd that the lifeguard should ask so many questions.