Deep Waters

about this whole thing, if you ask me," Roy Yapton, better known as Yappy, declared. "Hayden Stone was weird, but at least he played straight with us. I ain't so sure about this guy."
    "He owns the whole shooting match," Bea Hatfield said, "so you'd best watch what you say, you old coot."
    Roy and Bea were both on the far side of sixty. They'd been operating their respective pier enterprises for over twenty years. Their affair had been going on for as long as anyone could recall. No one knew why they had never married or why they bothered to pre tend that they were just good friends.
    "Wonder what he brought to eat." Ted Jenner absently scratched his stomach, which was barely concealed by an extra-extra-large T-shirt. "I'm starving."
    The shirt was from his own shop, Ted's Instant Philosophy T-Shirts. Charity glanced at the slogan on the one he was modeling this afternoon. It read, I May Be Dysfunctional, But You Are Definitely Crazy-
    "That's not exactly news." Radiance scanned Ted's portly figure with an amused expression. "You're al ways starving. I keep telling you that if you switched to vegetarian, you'd lose weight."
    "Dropping a few pounds ain't worth havin' to eat nothin' but nuts and berries for the rest of my life," Ted said cheerfully. "Even if Charity can cook that bunny rabbit food better than anyone I ever met."
    It was a long-running argument. No one paid much attention. Everyone was too busy watching Elias, and no one seemed quite certain how to greet him. Last week he had been one of them, albeit a newcomer Charity thought. This week he was their landlord.
    The new leases had not yet been signed. Elias had nearly two months to change his mind about extending the old contracts, and everyone present knew it.
    Charity decided that, as president of the shopkeepers association, it was her duty to take charge. She smiled very brightly at Elias when he reached the little group.
    "You can put your dish down on that table over there," she said, deliberately infusing her voice with authority. It was an old trick, one she'd had to learn quickly when she'd faced a roomful of creditors all bent on salvaging what they could from the failing Truitt department store chain. It was her intuition that had gotten her through those early days of over whelming responsibility. She would use it to deal with Elias. "Have you met everyone?"
    Elias glanced around as he set the covered pan down next to Bea's potato salad. "No."
    Charity hastily ran through the introductions. "Roy Yapton. He owns the carousel. Bea Hatfield. She owns the Whispering Waters cafe. Radiance Barker, owner of Nails by Radiance. Ted Jenner. He operates the T-shirt shop. And you've already met Newlin Odell. Newlin works for me."
    "Hi." Newlin peered at Elias through his small, round glasses. "Otis doing okay?"
    "He's fine." Elias nodded politely at the small circle of faces. Then he leaned back against the pier railing, crossed one booted foot over the other, and folded his arms.
    Charity lifted her chin and prepared to pin him down. "I've explained to the other shopkeepers that you've committed to renew the leases at the old rates."
    Elias nodded, as if the subject held little interest. Yappy scowled. "That true, Winters?"
    "Yes," Elias said quietly.
    "Whew." Bea fanned herself with a napkin. "I don't mind telling you, it's a relief to hear you say it. Charity told us that you know all about the town council's plans to turn Whispering Waters Cove into a sort of Northwest Carmel."
    Elias glanced out over the cove, his gaze thoughtful. "Somehow, I don't see that happening."
    Ted frowned. "Don't be too sure about that. Phyllis Dartmoor, our illustrious mayor, says the council's al ready come up with a couple of possible new names for Crazy Otis Landing. They want something that sounds more up-market, she says. Indigo Landing or Sunset Landing."
    Charity groaned. "They sound so generic. No character at all."
    "Charity has been doing battle with Mayor Dart moor and the council on a regular basis since the spring," Radiance told Elias. "We all go to the monthly council meetings, but we let Charity do the talking. She's good at that kind of thing."
    "I see." Elias rested his gaze on Charity. "Crazy Otis Landing suits the pier. I don't see any reason to change it."
    "I'm glad you agree with the rest of us," Charity said. "But I warn you, you're going to get a lot of pressure to change not only the name of the pier but everything else about it as well."
    "I