“I thought so! Dad’s been keeping it from me. Why all the secrecy, I wonder?”
“Well, my trip here isn’t exactly a pleasure jaunt. And if I have luck, I’ll be gone again in a few days.”
“I certainly hope you have no luck then,” Penny said with a laugh.
The car drew up at the Crystal Inn and Jerry unloaded his suitcase. He was taller, Penny thought, or at least more filled out. The trim uniform set off his broad shoulders. As he bent to pick up his luggage, a group of women on the hotel veranda turned to stare at him.
“I’ll check in and clean up a bit,” Jerry said. “Then where can I meet you girls?”
“Oh, we’ll be somewhere on the beach,” Penny replied carelessly. “Do hurry, Jerry. We have a million things to talk over.”
The girls parked the car not far from the hotel. As they walked along, scuffing their shoes in the loose sand, they saw Mrs. Deline coming toward them from the direction of Crag Point.
“She’s evidently been at the lighthouse all this time!” Penny commented in an undertone. “Now how did she get in there for a visit when I couldn’t?”
Mrs. Deline saw that she would meet the girls. Frowning, she glanced quickly toward the boardwalk as if seeking an avenue of escape. However, she could not avoid meeting them without appearing to do so deliberately.
“How do you do,” she greeted Penny coldly.