That made sense. I was still reeling a little bit from Pam, but I hung out with Beth for a little bit longer until my time was over.
“You can just fill out your timecard here,” Beth said, showing me a folder on the wall with different cards with names on them in it.
“We don’t really use them, but some of our volunteers really like the idea of signing in and out, and it’s a good way to keep track.” Beth had made me up a card and I filled in my time and placed it back in the folder.
I thanked Beth and said I’d be back next week for my second training session and headed off to get lunch at the Grille. Things were pretty quiet, so I almost had the entire place to myself.
I pulled up a book on my phone and read quietly as I enjoyed a grilled chicken sandwich and a small chef’s salad with a huge glass of sweet tea.
The beach wasn’t as quiet, but things were going to completely change when the kids were out of school for the summer in another week or so. Castleton was almost the opposite of Boston in that Boston cleared out in the summer so everyone could beat the heat, but the size of Castleton apparently boomed during the warmer months. I didn’t quite know what that was going to be like, but Paige and the rest of the residents had told me to prepare myself.
I slapped a giant hat on my head, sunblock on all of my exposed skin and shoved my feet in the sand.
“This isn’t so bad,” I said to myself as I watched seagulls wheel on a breeze, and the ocean waves crashing onto the shore.
After I’d soaked in some sun, I got up and took a walk down to where the tide went out and you could search for shells and rocks and beach glass.
There was someone else collecting, with a mesh bag slung over their shoulder. She looked familiar and when she got closer, I realized it was Paige’s friend, Emerald—Em, everyone called her.
She turned around at the sound of my feet and smiled as she recognized me.
“Hey,” she said. “Looking to steal some of my supplies?” That reminded me that she had a business where she made various things using shells collected from various beaches. So right now, she was “working.”
“Definitely not. I don’t want to infringe on anyone’s hustle,” I said. “Maybe I could help?” It seemed I was helping everyone around here.
“That would be great. Sometimes my wife helps me, but she’s been really busy lately,” she said.
“Your wife is Natalie, right?” I said, hoping that was right.
“Yup. She works for Piper Patrick, have you met her?”
I shook my head. More Castleton Crew members.
“And then Piper is engaged to McKenna Williams, who’s Julia’s sister,” Em explained. My head was starting to spin.
“I really should have gotten that chart from Julia,” I said.
Em laughed and then leaned down to pick up a shell and inspect it. She frowned and handed it to me.
“I can’t use it, but what do you think?” I took the shell and slid it into my pocket.
“So how often do you search for shells?” I asked as I combed the sand and rocks, looking for good shells she could use. I found a lot of pieces, but no luck with full shells.
“During the warm months, I’m out at least two days a week. I have a bunch of spots that I hit, and I have to make sure that I don’t take too much from any one area,” she said, picking up another shell and then sliding it into her bag.
“It sounds like a cool job,” I said.
“It’s much better than working for my uncle’s insurance company, that’s for sure,” Em said, making a face. “I thought I was going to lose my mind there.”
I didn’t blame her. That sounded awful.
Em chatted away about her wife, and her job, and being a freelancer. It was nice to hear from someone else who had taken on working for themselves.
“It’s not easy, but I’m really glad Nat made me take the plunge and go for it. Who knows, it could all blow up in a few years, but for right now, things are really good.”
“How did you figure out this was what you wanted to do?”
“I’d always searched for shells and made things out of them and I kept doing it as a hobby on the side until people started wanting to buy my shit. Nat was really the one who told me I needed to suck it up and quit.”
Her phone buzzed and she got it out of her pocket and made a face at the message.
“Do you have any siblings?” she asked.
“No, I’m an only child,” I said. I wished all the time I wasn’t.