ISABELLE SAT CROSS-LEGGED ON THE bed, watching as Letty folded the last items of clothing into her rolling suitcase. “That’s it?” she asked, looking around the motel unit for other pieces of luggage.
“Yes,” Letty said, zipping up the bag. “I was in pretty much of a panic when I left New York to come down here. I just threw some stuff in a bag and started to drive.”
“I can’t even believe everything that’s happened since then,” Isabelle said, picking up Maya’s shopworn stuffed elephant. “It’s all like something out of a movie.”
“Not one I want to relive anytime soon,” Letty said. She sat down on the bed beside the teenager. “Maya and I are really gonna miss you, Isabelle.”
“I still think Mom’s being totally unreasonable, not letting me go to New York with you guys,” Isabelle said, pouting. “We’ve only got like a month of school left, and all my class stuff is just bullshit anyway. I could totally do, like, remote learning, and help you out with Maya.”
“Sorry, I’ve gotta stick with Ava on this one,” Letty said. “It’s your senior year. You’ve still got prom and all the graduation stuff. You don’t want to miss any of that. New York will still be there this summer. And if you still want to come, you know we’d love to have you visit.”
“I guess we know who won’t be visiting,” the teenager quipped.
Letty sighed and went into the bathroom, pretending to check for anything left behind.
“He still hasn’t called, has he?” Isabelle asked.
“No. Not since I told him when we’d be leaving.”
“He’s my brother, and I love him, but he’s such a dumbass butthead,” Isabelle said. “I don’t get why he’s acting like this. If he loves you, and we both know he does, he should understand why you’ve got to go back to New York.”
“It’s more complicated than that,” Letty said. She opened the closet and closed it, then went out to the patio for one final look at the beach. She found a thumbnail-size scallop shell that Maya had left there to dry, brushed off the sand, and tucked it in her pocket. A remembrance.
“Guess we’d better get moving if we’re going to make our flight on time,” Letty said, picking up her purse and her cell phone. “I know it’s early, but sometimes traffic gets stopped on the bridge over to Tampa.” She glanced at the phone screen for the tenth time in an hour, wondering if Joe would call, or text.
She hadn’t seen him in two days, since she and Maya sat down in a conference room at the police station with Vikki Hill, so Maya could give a formal, videotaped statement about what she’d witnessed the afternoon of Tanya’s murder. Joe had been in the room, of course, and though he’d been warm and solicitous with Maya, he’d been aloof, almost ignoring Letty’s presence during the process, allowing Vikki to conduct most of the interview.
Isabelle glanced down at her own phone. “Hey. Mom just texted to say she and Maya had to go over to the rec hall. I think there’s something going on with the air-conditioning thermostat.” She reached for Letty’s suitcase. “I’ll just stick this in the car and meet you over there.”
The motel was surprisingly quiet for a Friday morning. It was the first week of April. Several of the snowbirds had already departed to head back north, and the Murmuring Surf’s reservation system was filling up with bookings for young families who’d be checking in for spring break and early summer stays.
Only 10:00 A.M., and it was already hot and humid. The morning weather report predicted the day’s high would be eighty-two. She checked the forecast for New York City—rainy and low sixties. Letty wiped a bead of perspiration from her neck.
Zoey had volunteered to pick them up at JFK. She hoped her friend would bring along a rain jacket from the stash of Letty’s belongings she’d been storing all this time.
Clothes were on the list of things Letty had been mentally scribbling all week. Maya had outgrown most of her old clothes that Letty had brought to Florida. She’d need real shoes—no more dollar-store flip-flops or cheap sneakers. And socks. Letty had been studying apartment listings and had narrowed her search down to two viable options in the East Village, both within walking distance of the kindergarten Sammi had recommended.
She pulled the rec room door open.
“Surprise!”
The room was filled with colorful balloons and streamers. All the remaining regulars stood in a circle around a table topped with a cut-glass bowl of red Hawaiian Punch and a chocolate-frosted sheet cake with pink and purple lettering that said GOODBYE LETTY & MAYA.
Letty felt her eyes fill with tears. Maya darted into the middle of the crowd. She was dressed in a fluffy blue satin and tulle ankle-length princess dress, her curls topped with a rhinestone-studded crown.
“Letty, Letty,” she cried, spinning around in a circle and fluffing the multiple layers of tulle skirts. “Miss Ruth and Miss Billie made me a present because I am going away on an airplane. Look! I’m Elsa.”
Letty was speechless.
“Billie designed it and sewed it herself,” Ruth Feldman said proudly. “I found the crown at a costume store and bedazzled it.”
“She insisted on putting it on right away,” Billie said. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“It’s fantastic,” Letty said. “Billie, Ruth, what a wonderful gift. We can’t thank you enough.”
“Hey, let’s give Letty our present now too,” Oscar Jensen said loudly.
“Let’s cut the cake and have punch first,” Merwin said. “I’m taking Trudi to get fitted for her new walker in half an hour.” He tapped Letty’s arm. “And don’t worry. I’m not gonna ask you to pay for it.”
“Only because I read him the riot act,” Trudi said, leaning heavily on the back of a folding chair.
Ava DeCurtis emerged from the rec room kitchen with a stack of paper plates and cups. “Okay, come on everybody. We’ll present Letty with your gift, and then cut the cake and let her get on her way to the airport.”
Isabelle brought out a large flat package wrapped in silver paper with a silver bow. “This is for you and Maya, Letty. Everybody here chipped in. Even some of the regulars who already went home.”
“We all want you to have something so you don’t forget about us. And the Murmuring Surf,” Oscar said.
“Let me open!” Maya clamored, already tearing at the paper and letting it drop to the floor.
It was a large, period framed photograph with delicate pastel tinting. Letty recognized the building, and the retro neon sign at once. “Oh my gosh!” she exclaimed.
“That’s one of the original postcards of the Murmuring Surf, from way back in 1937,” Ava said proudly. “The old owners left ’em behind when we bought the place. I found a couple of ’em you missed when you were cleaning out the storeroom. I had one enlarged, and a lady I know hand-colored it. I hope you like it.”
Letty clutched the frame to her chest. “I love it. It’s the most thoughtful gift I’ve ever been given.”
“Look on the back,” Trudi urged.
Letty turned the frame around. Instead of a cardboard backing, the reverse of the postcard was also framed in glass. Her name, and Maya’s, were written in the address side of the postcard. And on the opposite side, someone, probably Ava, she guessed, had written a greeting in bold black pen. WEATHER IS BEAUTIFUL. WISH YOU WERE HERE.
It had been signed by Ava, Isabelle, and Joe DeCurtis, plus all of the motel regulars.
“I don’t know what to say,” Letty whispered, choking up with emotion. “You people—every single one of you—have become so dear to me and Maya. We showed up here out of nowhere and you took us in and accepted us.…”
“Eventually,” Ava put in, to good-natured laughter from the gathering.
“You saved our lives,” Letty said. “Literally. I don’t know what would have happened to us if it hadn’t been for Ava and all of you here. After I lost my sister Tanya, I started telling people that Maya’s the only family I have now, but that’s not really true. All of you are like family to me. And we will never forget you. Or the Murmuring Surf.”
“We don’t intend to let you,” Ava said loudly. “Go on, Oscar. Cut the damn cake and serve up that punch before we all get to crying and carrying on.”
The regulars closed in on the cake and punch, and Ava slowly maneuvered Letty and Maya out the door and into the parking lot.
“Ava,” Letty started.
“Never mind that.” The older woman hugged her. “I already know what you’re going to say, so save us both the heartache. You know you’re like a daughter to me, right?”
Letty nodded.
Ava released her and pushed her in the direction of the white pickup truck idling in the loading zone. “Your ride’s here,” she whispered.