SOMEWHERE by the Sea

Frustration

Replacing the porch railing at Stone House, Baxter slammed his hammer against the nail until it was flush with the wood. He was furious with his mother.

"Hey Bax, if you keep hitting the nails like that, you're gonna split the wood. Why don't you use your nail gun?"

He slammed another nail. "Because I need to work off some frustration."

Brody Calhoun, the local carpenter who was restoring Stone House shot back, "That bad, huh?"

"Worse."

"Woman trouble?"

Baxter made a disgusted sound and pounded another nail.

"Want to talk about it?"

"Nope."

Brody shrugged and went back to using his nail gun.

After a few more nail poundings Baxter said, "The woman's a liar and my mother is defending her. You'd think a man's mother would be on his side, but not mine; she goes out of her way to make my life miserable." He wiped sweat from his forehead and glanced at his friend.

"You sure you don't want to talk about it?" Brody grinned.

Baxter rubbed his jaw and scratched his neck. "Brody, do you believe in supernatural shit?"

"You mean like aliens and spaceships?"

"No. Like ghosts."

"Hell, no. And I refuse to watch that crap on TV. Scares the shit outta me."

Baxter nodded. "Exactly."

"So, is your mom seeing ghosts?"

"No. But one of the B & B guests is." He paused. "At least that's what she claims, but I know it's a load of bull and I called her out on it."

Brody started reloading his nail gun. "So are you mad at your mother or the B & B guest?"

"Both. After I confronted the guest, I naturally thought she'd leave, but that was before my mom entered the picture and convinced her to stay."

Brody sat back on his heels. "Something I don't understand is why someone who thinks she saw a ghost makes you so mad. You got feelings for her?"

"Sweet Jesus, no. I got burned before by an angel-faced woman and I don't intend to make that mistake again. When I date I make sure the woman knows there are 'no strings' in our relationship." He made quote marks with his fingers.

"So, since you're off limits to all women, why has this one got you tangled in knots?"

"I'm not tangled–"

Brody cut him off with a disbelieving look.

Baxter cussed and went back to hammering.

**********

Garnering her courage, Faith opened the door to the museum and stepped inside. Vicky glanced up from her desk and smiled, but when she saw Faith her smile wavered. Before Vicky could speak, Faith said, "I'm really sorry about last night. I had no idea about your brother."

Vicky picked up a pencil and absentmindedly twirled it between her fingers. "Baxter was pretty harsh on you, wasn't he?"

Faith shrugged.

"It's only because we grew up together and he saw everything my family went through."

Faith said honestly, "I'm not angry with him. In fact, I was going to leave today, but Gabby talked me into staying."

Vicky laid the pencil down.

Since she wasn't sure how to broach the subject, Faith blurted, "The way I figure it, I talked to a boy who just happened to be named Owen and was playing with his dog. In fact, it's the only logical explanation. So, can we still be friends and forget what I said last night."

Vicky pushed away from her desk and walked over to Faith. "Yes. Let's forget about last night and I'm sorry about Baxter's reaction. I'll talk to him."

"No! I don't want to involve him anymore. I'll just go my way and he'll go his. We're adults and we can be civil. Promise you won't say anything to him."

Vicky frowned. "Okay. I won't say anything. I promise."

Later that day Faith returned to the art gallery andstudied the picture of the child and dog.