Thirty
TOTALLY NONCHALANT
Liv
Istretch my arms and legs out in opposite directions, feeling the delicious pull of my muscles. The morning sun filters into the room, bright and warm. Sunny lay, dead weight, against my side, releasing a tiny kitty groan that directly contrasts his massive size.
I roll onto my side and prop up on my elbow, scratching the curly hairs of his belly.
“You left me out to dry last night, cat. I should be furious with you. But if it weren’t for you, Luke and I probably wouldn’t have ever…” I hum at the memory of the moment. “I guess I should be grateful.” Sunny reaches a paw toward my face and presses it into my chin.
“Except we were on a pretty fantastic path to doing lots of glorious things when you came along and spoiled the show. So, I’m actually not sure how I feel about you right now.”
Sunny starts purring, eyes blinking closed.
“Fine, I forgive you.”
“Knock, Knock!” I say, tapping on Viv’s door. It’s eight thirty in the morning. She’s awake, and I know it.
She opens the door, hair a mess. “What?”
Oops. Guess she wasn’t up yet.
“Coffee’s brewing. I can smell it, and it’s calling my name.”
“Ugh, you morning people are brutal.” She leaves the door open and shuffles back into her room. I follow her in and sit down on her bed.
“Come on,” I whine. “It’s eight thirty. Let’s get something to eat and figure out our day.”
“Fine. Just… give me a minute to process your awakeness. Why are you in such a good mood?” She splashes water on her face and spreads toothpaste on her toothbrush.
“Slept well, I guess.” It’s not a lie. Once my vibrator took care of all the hot and bothered feelings left over from that make-out session, I slept like a baby.
“Hm.” She scrutinizes me, toothpaste foam dribbling out of her mouth.
The great room is buzzing with life. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee floats through the air. Mae comes in and out of the door from the kitchen to the great room with plates of bagels and muffins. Holly trails close behind, carrying spreads and a glass jar of orange juice.
“Coffee.” Viv bee-lines it to the counter where the coffee carafe sits.
The little old couple, who look to be in their late seventies, wander in from outside, holding hands. They break their connection; the husband going to the counter, while his wife heads my way, an impenetrable wall between me and the coffee on the other side.
“Good morning, dear.” She smiles, slipping her oversizedsunglasses off. “What a doll that cat of yours is!” She flicks her hand at me.
“Thank you. He certainly seems to be enjoying his vacation.” The woman smiles, eyes sparkling.
Unexpectedly, a frown washes across her beautifully aged face. “We lost our beloved cat, Sawyer, some time ago. The house cat who lived here, Percy—beautiful cat—helped fill the void left behind by our Sawyer.” Her lips purse. “Well, then he got old too, as everything does. Thank you for bringing him. It’s been so lovely to have his affection these last few days. I hadn’t realized just how much we missed our Sawyer. Cats are one of life’s little blessings,” she says, patting my arm in that way grandmothers do.
“I’m Gertie. That handsome fella over there is my husband, Frank. We stay here most summers.”
“I’m Liv. My best friend, Viv, is over there. We’re first-timers.”
“Wonderful to meet you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go see if I can sneak in a little smoochy time with Frank before we go shopping.” She winks conspiratorially, wiggling her eyebrows before making her way over to a patiently waiting Frank.
At some point when I was talking to Gertie, Luke arrived, stopping to say hello to his mom and sister, who were in the middle of a conversation with the family from the boat cruise the other night.
I catch him out of the corner of my eye on my way to the coffee station and prickle a little at the way their daughter looks at Luke. She bats her eyes up at him, and I look away, pretending to be unfazed by his presence.
“Morning, Trip.” Luke reaches up and grabs a mug, looking down to see if I need one too, then grabs a second one. He pulls the carafe from the hot plate and pours steaming coffee into both mugs.
