Summer in Eclipse Bay

Nash's vintage sports car stood next to it.
    A gray, weather-beaten cabin occupied the center of the open space. It was on the verge of crumbling into the ground. The front porch sagged and the windows were caked with grime. There was a worn-out quality to the old house, as if it were content to follow its owner into the grave.
    "It doesn't look like Thurgarton took good care of his property," Octavia said.
    The touch of feminine disapproval in her voice almost made him smile. He thought about her pristine gallery with its sparkling windows and carefully hung paintings. The interior of her little fairy cottage out on the bluffs probably looked just as neat and tidy.
    "Thurgarton was not real big on home improvement projects," he said.
    He switched off the engine and climbed out from behind the wheel. Octavia did not wait for him to show off his first-date manners. She got out of the front seat all on her own.
    Free spirit.
    Virgil Nash opened the front door of the cabin as Nick and Octavia started toward the porch steps.
    "He certainly doesn't fit the stereotypical image of a porn shop proprietor, does he?" Octavia murmured in a very low voice.
    Nick grinned. "Virgil's definitely one of a kind, and you've got to admit that his business offers a unique service to the community. Sort of like a library."
    "Well, that is one way of looking at it, I suppose. There is something scholarly about him, isn't there? Maybe it's the frayed sweater vest."
    "Could be."
    It was true, Nick thought. With his gaunt frame, silver goatee, and preference for slightly frayed sweaters and vests, Virgil would have been at home in an academic environment. There was an old-fashioned, almost courtly air about him. No one knew where he had come from or what he had done before he had arrived in Eclipse Bay. His past was as shrouded in mystery as Arizona Snow's.
    For as long as anyone could remember, Nash had operated Virgil's Adult Books amp; Video Arcade. The establishment was discreetly located a couple of hundred yards beyond the city limits and, therefore, just out of reach of ambitious civic reformers and high-minded members of the town council.
    Virgil believed in the old saying that location was everything in real estate.
    "Nick, this is a surprise." Virgil walked across the porch. "Good to see you again. Heard you were in town for the summer."
    "Needed a change." Nick went up the steps and shook Virgil's hand. "Thought Carson would enjoy the beach."
    "Good thing you drove Octavia out here." Virgil smiled ruefully at her. "I got to thinking later that it might not be easy for you to find this place, what with being new to the community and all."
    "You were right," she said. "Left to my own devices, I'd probably still be looking for the turnoff."
    "Thank you so much for coming all the way out here to look at the paintings. We certainly appreciate it."
    "Happy to be of service," Octavia said. "Where's A.Z.?"
    "Right here," Arizona boomed through the screen door. "You met Photon, here?"
    "Yes, of course." Octavia nodded at the tall man in the long, flowing robes who stood behind Arizona. "Good evening, Photon."
    "May the light of the future brighten your night, Miss Brightwell." Photon inclined his gleaming, shaved head in Nick's direction. "Light and peace, Mr. Harte."
    "Thanks," Nick said. "Same to you, Photon."
    Another resident eccentric, Nick thought. Photon was the leader of the New Age crowd that operated the Incandescent Body bakery. The group styled itself the Heralds of Future History. Their philosophy was a little vague, but their baking skills were outstanding. The incredible muffins, pastries, and cornbread produced at the bakery had gone a long way toward quelling local concerns that Eclipse Bay had been invaded by a cult.
    "Come on inside." Arizona thrust open the screen door. "Got the paintings lined up here in the living room."
    "We had to clear out two pickup loads of junk to make space to display them," Virgil said dryly.
    Nick grinned. "There goes the inheritance, huh?"
    "Let's put it this way," Virgil said. "It was nice of Thurgarton to think of us, but it's starting to look like being the beneficiaries of his will is more trouble than it's worth. The furniture is in such bad shape it isn't even worth the effort of putting on a yard sale. Other than the paintings, everything else is just junk. Personally, I'm not holding my breath that the pictures are worth much, either."
    Nick ushered Octavia ahead of him into the