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Taylor had her door open before he pulled the keys from the ignition. “I put the order in my name. You wait. I’ll get them.” She left before Curt could mount an argument. The man hated to let her pay for anything when they went out.
True to his word, a short while later Curt punched in a security code and two massive gates opened, giving them access to a private residential community. She watched the gates begin to close after they drove through and waited for Reese to comment.
“Those are cool. How did you get them open?” Reese asked. She turned her whole body so she could peer out the back window. “Do you use a remote like the one for the TV?”
“If the guard isn’t here to open it, I have a special code I type in,” Curt answered. He drove them down the tree-lined road.
“Like Auntie Taylor uses to unlock her phone?” With the gates no longer in view, Reese turned around so she sat properly in her seat.
Special codes and security gates reminded her well with whom she rode. The man behind the wheel was not just some average Joe. She hadn’t thought much about it since learning the truth Monday. Funny how something as mundane as a gate could remind you.
“Same basic idea,” Taylor answered.
They passed two condos, or what he called condos. Actually, each looked larger than her house. He slowed as they passed a particular one. “My cousin and his wife live there.”
“And that’s where the party is tomorrow?” Taylor asked.
“Nope. Different cousin. Trent has a house on Ocean Drive. He’s the one having the party. Derek lives here.” He pointed toward the condo and kept driving. “Several of my cousins have homes in the area. At least for the moment, Derek and his wife, Brooklyn, are the only ones who live here full time. They’ll probably be at the party tomorrow.”
Curt drove past five equally beautiful condos before stopping at the final driveway. With the press of a button the garage door opened, revealing two vehicles parked inside. “How about pizza first? After that we can check out the beach. Or will it be too late?”
She tried to figure out what model of cars they’d pulled in next to. One resembled something she’d seen in a recent James Bond movie. The other was a complete mystery. Whatever they were, they belonged to Curt. She understood why he’d left them here instead of taking them to Pelham. Either of these vehicles would call attention to themselves.
“We should have time,” she answered.
Taylor had left work early this afternoon and got home before the bus dropped Reese off. After Reese ate a quick snack and used the bathroom, they hit the road. Despite being a Friday afternoon, they’d made good time on the drive down. Assuming Reese didn’t linger over dinner, they could take a walk on the beach and still get Reese into bed at a decent hour.
She carried the three pizza boxes inside, while Curt took care of all the bags except for Reese’s backpack. The night before, she’d stuffed it with friends so Peanut wouldn’t be lonely tomorrow when they left him behind. Peanut naturally hadn’t made the backpack. Instead, he’d been strapped in next to her for much of the ride. The rest he’d spent on her lap.
“Make yourselves at home. I’ll bring these upstairs and meet you in the kitchen.” Curt left them standing in the entranceway and carried their things up the staircase.
“Let’s find the kitchen.” Taylor’s comment gave Reese the go-ahead to move around and explore.
A room with a high ceiling took up much of the first floor. Glass doors lined the outermost wall, giving anyone in the room a perfect view of the ocean and beach. A large royal blue sofa faced two extra-large blue-and-white-striped chairs. Two dark coffee tables sat between the sofa and the chairs. Off to the right, a large opening led into an airy kitchen filled with windows. The barstools at the kitchen island matched the coffee tables in the living room. The whole place looked like it’d been plucked straight out of an interior-decorating magazine.
She placed the pizza boxes on the counter. He told us to make ourselves at home. She hadn’t remembered to ask for paper plates when she picked up the food. The glass cabinet doors made locating plates easy. She took three of them down and left them near the pizzas. Glasses followed, although she didn’t know what they’d drink. They hadn’t brought any food or beverages with them, and he’d admitted he hadn’t been at the condo in months. Why someone would have a place with a view like this and not come more often made no sense to her.
“Can I start eating?” Reese climbed onto a barstool and opened the top pizza box. “Yuck. This has sausage on it.” She closed the cover and moved it out of the way.
“You know better, Reese Walker. We’ll wait for Curt.”
“No need. I’m here.” He walked in and went straight to the refrigerator. “What do you want to drink, Reese? Looks like we have apple juice, lemonade, and milk.”
“Apple juice,” Reese answered, pulling open another pizza box for a peek inside.
Okay, how had he managed that? “Did you have a maid or someone go shopping for you?” The place appeared spotless. Not a speck of dust in sight. No house remained closed up for months and dust-free, too. It even smelled clean and fresh. Houses left empty for long periods of time got this stuffy smell to them. Curt’s place smelled slightly of lemons and the ocean.
“Derek. Having a cousin as a neighbor comes in handy. I asked him to fill the refrigerator for me. He got us some hard lemonade as well.” He twisted the caps off two bottles and handed her one. “Whatever we don’t use this weekend, I’ll get rid of when we leave.”
She helped Reese get a slice of cheese pizza, her niece’s favorite. “Did he clean, too?”
“He doesn’t know one end of vacuum from the other. I called the service I always use to come in and touch things up. It handles the cleaning for most of the condos here.”
She vacuumed and cleaned bathrooms because she had to. If she had access to a company that handled it, she’d call them in every week.
Dinner progressed much the same way it did at home. Reese gave them the full scoop of her day at school, and occasionally Taylor had to remind her to not only talk but eat, too. Later, they walked along the private beach she’d viewed from both the kitchen and living room. The ocean water lapping against her feet wasn’t cold, but she needed
the air temperature a little warmer before she went swimming in it. Neither Reese nor Curt seemed to mind the temperature. He held Reese’s hand as they waded out far enough for the water to hit her knees before rolling back out.
