“Yes. And I brought three kinds with me. That’s one of them. Want to try it?”
“Hell, yes. I love coffee,” Kennedy replied.
“It’s in my bag,” River said. “I think they brought it into the bedroom.”
“I can show you where that is,” Jessie offered.
“Cool. You can have whatever I brought, if you want, or if Cameron does. Lacey can get what I make anytime, so she won’t mind skipping it this time.”
“Do not let me eat everything you brought here, River. I already have to work out too much to keep in shape.”
“You look great. You’ll be fine. Come on. I’ll get it.”
Then, all the voices were gone.
“River owns a candy shop,” Lacey said, looking a little less happy than she’d been a moment ago. “She makes most of it herself. It’s pretty successful. She’s made it profitable in record time, really. It’s like her favorite thing in the world.”
“Yeah? That’s cool,” Cameron said. “Want to sit in the chairs over there?” she changed the topic and pointed at two oversized wooden chairs off to the left that looked out at the water. “We can kick our shoes off and put our feet in the sand.”
Lacey led the way until they both had their shoes off, and Cameron buried her feet in the warmth of the sand as she stared out at the water. It wasn’t completely dark yet, but the sun was mostly gone, just hanging on by a breath, giving the whole view an ethereal feel to it.
“So, you’re a masseuse? How does that work?”
“Oh, I just give people massages, mainly. Nothing like the fancy ones I’m sure you get.”
Cameron turned to her and said, “So, River has a successful candy shop, but you’rejustgiving massages?”
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“How did you mean it, then?”
“Well, I guess just that I–”
“Why don’t we try something? Don’t use the wordjustto define yourself. It’s something my mom taught me years agowhen I told her that I wanted to go to drama school and I didn’t think I’d get in because I wasjusta kid from small town, Colorado. Iwasa kid from small town, Colorado, yes, but notjustanything, and I should let my work and my application do the best it could to get me in, but if I didn’t, it wasn’t because ofme, necessarily. It meant that among that group of people trying to get into the competitive school, it wasn’t meant to be. It wasn’t my time. But I could go somewhere else where itwould bemeant to be and my time.”
Lacey nodded slowly and said, “Your mom seems really wise.”
“She is. But don’t tell her I said that.”
“I highly doubt I’ll ever meet your mother, Cameron.”
“Cam,” she said.
“Cam,” Lacey repeated. “Being a massage therapist with my own business is time-consuming and hard work, but I’m not sure it’s really that interesting. I have my table and supplies. I drive them to my client. They get their massage. I get paid. I leave and do it all over again.”
“But you have to go to school for that, right?”
“To be reputable, there are certifications and things like that. I have my undergraduate degree in kinesiology, and my initial plan was to be a physical therapist, but I changed my mind and went with massage instead. I got all my certifications, so, yes, I’m credentialed.”
“And you like it?”
“I do. My hands hurt sometimes, and it’s generally not something you can do forever because of that, but I try to take care of them. My plan is to own my own shop one day and run it more than give the actual massages.”
“That’s cool. All I’ve ever wanted to do was act. Now, I’m only thirty-five years old and worried I might not ever get to dothat again,” she said and looked back out at the water, realizing that she might have said too much.
“What? Why?”
“Um… Well, it’s complicated, but did you hear about a fight between Kennedy and me at the Golden Globes?”
