Lowcountry Stranger Read online

  Moses’s body went rigid and he froze in the middle of the dance floor. “Well, I’ll be damn. Would you look at that.”

  “What?” Faith asked, searching the crowd for the object of Moses’s interest.

  He spun her around ninety degrees until Bitsy was in her direct line of sight. “That, my friend, is your daughter, having what appears to be a meaningful conversation with that waif of a young woman. Do you know who she is, by the way?”

  Faith squinted, taking in the teenage girl’s unkempt appearance. “I’ve never seen her before in my life.” Her hand flew to her mouth. “I can’t believe she’s talking. My traumatized daughter has finally come out of her shell. I need to get to her.”

  When she started off the dance floor, Moses gripped her arm tight. “Not so fast, Faith. This is the wrong time for you to hover. Rushing to her side might make Bitsy angry or scare the waif away.”

  “But—“

  Moses tightened his grip on her arm. “Listen to me. I definitely think you should keep an eye on her, but do it from a distance. Tomorrow, when you have some time alone with your daughter, ask her what she talked about with the girl. My guess is, you’ll get more out of her if you try not to make a big deal about it.”

  “You’re right, of course. You always are.” Faith threw her arms around the big man. “You did it, Moses. You worked a miracle.”

  She led Moses off the dance floor, but they were quickly swept up and separated by the crowd. A woman she’d never met before grabbed Faith by the arm. “Best wishes to the bride,” the woman said, pressing her cheek against Faith’s. “We’ve never met, but I’m Chloe Morrison, a friend of Mike’s from the hospital.”

  Faith mentally reviewed the invitation list, but she couldn’t remember seeing the name Chloe Morrison. “So nice of you to come,” Faith managed. She couldn’t put her finger on exactly what, but something about the woman made her feel uneasy. Her hair was dyed an unnatural shade of blonde, like wet sand on the beach at low tide, and her blue eyes were so cold they gave Faith the chills.

  As Chloe dug her fingers into Faith’s arm, she said in a bitter voice, “Aren’t you the lucky girl marrying a doctor and working your way up from a rundown trailer in the woods to a beautiful new house on the water.”

  Faith wrenched her arm free. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to tend to my other guests,” she said, and hurried away.

  Spotting her sisters over near the food tables, laughing and carrying on with Eli, Faith dismissed the strange woman from her mind and navigated her way over to them.

  Sam offered Faith a high five. “Isn’t it wonderful? Your daughter is finally talking again.”

  “I can hardly believe it.” Faith beamed. “But who’s the girl? Who’s Bitsy talking to?”

  “We have no idea,” Sam said. “We were hoping you could shed some light on that little detail, since you’re the bride and this is your party.”

  “I’m telling you,” Jackie said. “That girl is an urchin from the sea, washed in with the tide.”

  They watched as Cooper handed the sea urchin a plate piled high with barbecue and the fixings. She shoveled in the food as if she hadn’t eaten in days.

  “I’d say we have ourselves a real live wedding crasher,” Jackie said.

  Sam shot their older sister a look like she’d lost her mind. “Don’t be ridiculous. Someone here knows who she is.”

  Remembering the strange woman she’d just encountered, Faith said, “Mike invited some of his coworkers from the hospital. Maybe she’s one of his friends.”

  “I doubt that,” Jackie said. “Cleanliness is a prerequisite for employment at the hospital. That girl hasn’t seen the inside of a shower stall in a very long time, judging from her greasy hair and the dirt beneath her nails.”

  Sam rolled her eyes at Jackie. “Give the girl a break. She’s just a kid.”

  Faith surveyed the crowd for her groom. When she spotted him on the other side of the dance floor with some of his colleagues, she waved him over. “Mike, do you know who that girl is over there with Bitsy and the boys?”

  He shot a quick glance in the direction of the Sweeney cousins. “No. Why?”

  Faith leaned in closer to her new husband. “Because Bitsy has broken her silence, and it seems that girl is responsible.”

  Mike shut his eyes tight, then opened them again wide. “Did you just say Bitsy is talking?”

  Faith bobbed her head up and down so hard her wreath of daisies came loose.

  “Looks like we have double reason to celebrate.” Mike signaled for a waiter, who was passing out champagne. When everyone had a flute in hand, Mike offered a toast to his bride, followed by another to his soon-to-be adopted daughter.

  Sam held up her cranberry spritzer. “And to the girl who broke Bitsy’s silence.”

  “Hold on a minute,” Eli said, interrupting the celebration. “I think maybe your uninvited guest may have overstayed her welcome.”

  They returned their attention to the sea urchin. They watched, mortified, as the girl lifted a wallet out of the back pocket of the man standing in front of her. Oblivious to her new friend’s crime, Bitsy continued to dance around her cousins’ legs as they snuck sips of beer from red Solo cups.

  When Eli’s face grew dark and his body stiffened, Sam grabbed his arm. “Please, Eli,” she begged. “Don’t burst Bitsy’s bubble.”

  “I’m an officer of the law. I can’t ignore the fact that she just pick pocketed that man.” Eli pried Sam’s fingers off his arm and turned away from them, making swift strides toward the girl. When she saw him coming, she took off across the lawn. She bowled over a waiter bearing a tray of dirty glasses and kept on running. The band stopped playing at the sound of the commotion. The crowd stood motionless, watching Eli chase the girl down the hill and out of their sight.

  Three

  Jackie

  By the time Jackie and Sam caught up with Eli, he was helping the wedding crasher up from where he’d tackled her on the ground. “I need to see some identification,” he said, gripping her arm tight.

  “Please, Eli. Do we have to do this here, with everyone watching?” Jackie gestured at the dance floor where their guests stood gaping like spectators at the circus.

  Eli stole a quick glance at the party of onlookers. “Let’s go inside then, where we can talk.” He waved at the band. “Everything is fine here. Just a misunderstanding. Please restart the music.”

  Needing no further encouragement, the band members resumed their play with a song from the Doobie Brothers.

  Eli led the girl across the lawn to the house with the Sweeney family on his heels. They surrounded him in Jackie’s upstairs living room, ready to pepper his suspect with questions.

  Eli held his hand out to the girl. “I’d like to see that identification now, please.”

  The wedding crasher gnawed on her lower chapped lip. “I don’t have any ID. My wallet was stolen.”

  He nodded at her hobo bag. “What’s in there?” She clutched the bag tighter to her chest. “You know… just stuff.”

  When Eli threatened, “You can either hand it over willingly, or I’ll take it from you by force,” she gave it to him. He dumped the contents onto the coffee table in front of him, and watched as an assortment of food, mostly sweet potato biscuits, rolled out, along with a man’s leather wallet and gold wristwatch.

  “Hey! That’s my watch.” Bill picked it up and slipped it on his wrist. “Why, you little thief. I’ve been looking for this all afternoon.”

  “I didn’t steal it. You left it by the water hose near the garage.” The girl lowered her head, a curtain of stringy hair falling in her face. “You took it off when you washed the dogs earlier. I guess you forgot to put it back on.”

  A flash of anger crossed Jackie’s face. “If that’s not stealing, then what do you call it, Finder’s Keepers?”

  The girl held her chin high. “I’m not a thief. I needed some money for a bus ticket. I just thought… well, since you ha
ve plenty to spare. I didn’t see any harm.”

  Jackie glared at the girl. “Have you been spying on us all afternoon?”

  The wedding crasher shifted from one filthy foot to the other. “I wouldn’t say I was spying, exactly. I was helping the catering people set up for the party.”

  “I should charge you with trespassing for lurking around on my property,” Bill said, the overhead light shining off his balding head.

  Everyone began talking at once, the younger Sweeneys pleading with Bill not to bring charges while the older Sweeneys demanded answers from the intruder. “Who are you and why are you here?”

  Eli raised his hands to silence the crowd. “All right, everyone, let’s calm down and give this young lady a chance to explain.” He turned to the girl. “You can start by telling us your name.”

  The girl’s chin quivered. “Annie.”

  “Does Annie have a last name?” Eli asked.

  Her eyes traveled the room before settling on the watercolor above the mantel, a depiction of the sun rising over the inlet. “Um, Dawn. My name is Annie Dawn.”

  “Annie Dawn?” His eyebrows shot up in question. “Is that first and middle, or first and last?”

  Annie avoided his gaze. “First and last.”

  “Okay, then. We’ll go with Annie Dawn for now.” Eli didn’t believe the girl anymore than Jackie did. “You mentioned needing to buy a bus ticket, but you also said you were working for the catering company. Are you from around here, Annie Dawn? If so, I can call your parents and have them come pick you up.”

  Annie sighed. “No. I’m not from around here. And I don’t work for the catering company either. I was just helping them set up. I’m from Florida. My mom is a maid at a seaside motel and my father works in construction, but he’s been out of a job for going on three years. I’m trying to get to New York. I got a gig with a modeling agency up there.”

  Eli softened his tone. “Prospect is off the beaten track from most major highways. How did you end up here?”

  “I hitchhiked most of the way. I got a ride in Georgia with this nice family, the Andersons. They have a real cute baby. Jason was his name. He has the chubbiest pink cheeks.”

  “What happened to the Andersons?” Eli asked.

  Annie shrugged. “I’m not sure. We were on the way to the beach. They were going to take me with them, said they’d give me bus fare to New York if I helped take care of the baby for a week. Then they just ditched me. We stopped at a gas station outside of town. I went in to use the restroom, and when I came back out, they were gone. They took all of my stuff with them, including my wallet.”

  Eli rubbed his chin. “Sounds like the Andersons weren’t such nice people after all. So… you said you were on your way to a job in New York. I find it surprising this modeling agency didn’t offer to fly you up. Did you interview with them in person?”

  Annie shook her head. “I met them online,” she said, her lower lip quivering.

  Eli moved closer to Annie. “Hey, now,” he said, rubbing her back. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of. Lots of kids your age fall for scams like these. I worked on the police force in New York for several years before I moved to Prospect. I met a lot of homeless kids who were out of money and living on the streets. Many of them came to the city under the same pretenses as you. You can’t trust anyone you meet online these days.”

  Annie began to sob, and Lovie removed several wadded tissues from her purse. “We’ll just have to figure out a way to get you home to your parents,” she said, pressing the tissues in the girl’s hand.

  Perched astride her mother’s hip, Bitsy removed her thumb from her mouth. “Can Annie be my babysitter, Mama?”

  When the room broke out into laughter, Bitsy buried her face in her mother’s neck.

  “That’s not a bad idea,” Cooper said. “Now that Aunt Faith and Bitsy have moved out of the guest cottage, Annie can live here until she saves enough money to get home.”

  Jackie drew in an unsteady breath. For the past nine months, she’d commuted to Charleston during the week to manage her fledgling interior design firm. Admittedly, she’d taken a leave of absence from her duties as wife and mother to sort out her personal crisis and jumpstart the career of her dreams. She felt more confident and emotionally stable because of her hiatus. Her life had fallen apart, but she was slowly putting it back together. She’d hired two associates to manage the thriving business in Charleston, and she planned to spend the next three months with her boys, their summer before senior year. Even more important, she needed to find out if the few sparks left in her marriage could be ignited into a flame.

  “I don’t know, son,” Jackie said. “That’s asking a lot, not just of us but of Annie.”

  Annie perked up. “Oh, I don’t mind. In fact, I’d be mighty grateful. Just for a while anyway.”

  Sean cozied up beside his mother. “Please, Mom,” he said, and then added in a low whisper, “I think Annie could really use our help.”

  “We’ve been swamped at the market lately,” Jamie said. “We could hire her to work the afternoons.” Sam cast her son a warning glance, and he glared back at her. “What? You know it’s true.”

  Jackie studied Annie more closely, noticing the steely determination in her big brown eyes. Beneath the mop of limp dirty locks, she appeared to be a stunning beauty. This sea creature temptress wasn’t the type of girl Jackie would normally choose for her boys. Based on the way they hovered close to Annie, hanging on her every word, they were already gaga over her. Having Annie living in their guest cottage could cause a rift between the twins if they continued to vie for her attention. On the other hand, she couldn’t turn her back on the poor child. Jackie felt something for the girl, although she was still confused about what that something was. She sensed a certain spunk, a resilience to tough breaks. And Oscar and Lovie Sweeney had always taught their daughters that to whom much is given much is expected. And Jackie had certainly been given a lot.

  “Why don’t you kids go back to the party and let the grown-ups talk,” Jackie said to their expectant faces. “Tell the caterers we’re almost ready to cut the cake.”

  Oldest to youngest, the Sweeney cousins plus Annie filed out of the room and down the stairs. As soon as the children were gone, Sam said, “I think we might be getting ahead of ourselves by taking in a stranger, regardless of her circumstances. There is still the matter of the stolen watch and wallet.” She looked pointedly at Jackie. “Are you sure you’re comfortable having a girl who steals things living on your property?”

  Faith cleared her throat. “I can’t just turn my back on this girl after what she’s done for my daughter. I don’t need to remind you that Bitsy hasn’t spoken to any of us in nearly a year. For some reason she trusts Annie. And that means something to me.”

  Bill tossed his hands in the air. “Why not just give her the money for a bus ticket?”

  “We can’t just ship her off to New York,” Jackie scoffed. “She’ll be bait for the wolves that prey on girls fresh off the farm.”

  “I agree. New York is no place for girls like Annie. She won’t survive the year.” Eli paused to consider the situation. “If you decide to let her stay, I’m willing to keep an eye on her for you. I’ll make it clear to her that she’ll be in serious trouble if she breaks the law again.”

  Her arms akimbo, Lovie said, “If it’s too much for Annie to stay here at the farm, I’m happy to have her stay at my place.”

  “Mom, please,” Sam said. “The last thing you need is a teenage boarder.”

  Mike stole a glance at his wristwatch. “I’ve only been a member of this family for two hours and twenty minutes, so my opinion doesn’t carry much weight. But I’m sure Bitsy would love for Annie to come and live with us.” He blushed from head to toe when Faith kissed his plump cheek in approval.

  Jackie turned to Mack next to her. “You’re unusually quiet tonight. What do you think?” She’d always valued his opinion, even more so since her father ha
d passed away six years ago.

  Mack’s face reddened and a bead of sweat appeared along his brow. “This girl has already proven her worthiness to the family by getting Bitsy to talk again. I think she at least deserves a chance.”

  “That leaves you, Moses,” Sam said. “Where do you stand in all this?”

  He chuckled. “I didn’t realize I had a say in Sweeney family business.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Sam snorted. “None of us is capable of making a decision without your input.”

  Moses smiled. “In that case, as long as everyone understands the boundaries, I say give it a shot. If we’re lucky, Annie might help facilitate the breakthrough we’ve been hoping for in Bitsy.”

  Jackie raised an eyebrow in question at her husband across the room. He responded with a why-not shrug. “Sounds like we’re all in agreement, except for you, Sam.”

  “Me? What about you?” Sam jabbed a finger in Jackie’s direction. “You’re the one who called her a sea urchin and a wedding crasher earlier.”

  “True, but I think maybe I was too hard on her,” Jackie said. “Like you said earlier, she’s just a kid.”

  “I’m fine with letting her stay as long as we proceed with caution,” Sam said. “Jamie is right. We could use an extra set of hands at the market.”

  “And I’ll hire her to babysit for Bitsy during the mornings while I’m at work,” Faith said.

  “Then it’s settled,” Jackie said. “For the time being, Annie will stay here at the farm, in the guest house.”

  Four

  Sam

  Friends and family gathered on the dock to throw handfuls of rose petals and blow bubbles at the bride, groom, and Bitsy as they made their getaway. The party wound down quickly after that. Despite the rejoicing that had transpired that evening, Sam departed Moss Creek Farm with a heavy heart. Preoccupied with the mounting concerns about her relationship with Eli, she hadn’t felt like herself in weeks.