Murder On Wild Winds Island

CHAPTER THREE

"Really? That's all he told you?"  Kaitlyn stared at me in surprise as she handed over a chocolate doughnut and coffee in a large takeaway cup.

"Yep.  No direction on what to write, no leads, nothing."  I said. 

I'd planned to not say anything bad about the man I'd never met, but I was unsure what I was going to do and even wondering if I could do the job.  I wasn't sure if he'd placed more trust in me than I had, or if he just didn't care because he'd left.

Kaitlyn was less covered in flour today and apparently had started later. 

An older man walked out of the back room and looked at me.  He wasn't as covered in flour as Kaitlyn, but he had clearly been baking.

"Morgan, this is my dad, Max, Dad, this is Morgan."  She said.

I would have shaken his hand but they were covered in flour and I was holding my coffee.  Instead I smiled at him, "It's nice to meet you.  Your food looks delicious."

He was older than I'd expected Kaitlyn's father to be, with grey thinning hair, bright blue eyes and his resting face seemed to default to grumpy. 

However when he smiled and spoke it was clear that was just his natural expression.  I got the impression he was tough but seemed nice enough.

He grunted a thank you and nodded, "Nice to meet you Morgan.  So you're the new scribe around here are you?" 

I nodded, "Yeah.  It looks that way.  Perhaps I could do a feature on your bakery sometime?"

He shook his head, "Thank you, but the locals already know about this place and tourists always manage to find it."

I was surprised by his reaction and Kaitlyn gave me an apologetic look where he couldn't see.  He wasn't rude, but he was more guarded than the other people I'd encountered in town.  I got the impression he was a man of few words who just wanted to get on with his job.

"Well it was nice to meet you."  I said as I turned to go with my doughnut in the paper bag.

I glanced back but was surprised to see he'd already disappeared out the back again.

Kaitlyn came from behind the counter, "Sorry.  He's a good guy, he's just not really a people person."  She whispered, looking apologetic.

I shook my head, "It's fine.  No need to apologise."

"Want me to come and help you unpack this afternoon?  I'll be finished around 3:30."  Kaitlyn asked.

A part of me was happy for the company, but another part wanted time to explore my surroundings on my own.  I didn't know when my first article needed to be published, but I knew I had to get on with it soon.  At the same time, I liked Kaitlyn and I didn't want to discourage or offend her, so I nodded, "That would be great.  Maybe message me when you're done and we'll meet up?"

We'd exchanged numbers the night before.

She nodded, "Sounds good. Only thing is there's not great phone reception on all parts of the island, so if I don't hear back I'll just head to your place and sit on the porch.  Is that okay?"

"Yeah of course.  Apricat will probably hang out with you."  I said.

She smiled, "So you've decided to keep him?"

I shrugged, "I think it's his house more than mine; I can't kick him out of his home."

I made sure the kitty door was unlocked so he could come and go as he pleased while I was out of the house.  I really did feel like the house belonged to him and didn't want to be rude to my new roommate.