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“Um.” I glance down at my Merman’s T-shirt, shorts, and the frayed, stained Nikes I hope will last me through the summer.
Mrs. Wade walks in after her sister. “Really, Lady, that’s inappropriate.”
“But totally accurate,” Mrs. Gibbes chimes in, grinning.
“Margaret.” Her husband gives her a look. “You should go change. There’s cola all over your dress.”
Mrs. Gibbes’s grin fades. “Of course. How embarrassing. Riley, you take care, you hear? And Lulu, I’ll help you with dinner after your tennis lesson. You still thinking barbecue shrimp?”
“I was, yes. Maybe with a loaf of French bread from the freezer and a kale salad?”
“Yum. Sound good to you, Jimmy?”
“Sounds great.”
My stomach grumbles for the zillionth time. What I would give to be able to sit around the Gibbes’s enormous dinner table and eat Lu’s shrimp tonight.
Mr. Gibbes’s eyes narrow. They linger on me for half a second before moving to Lu. Then back to me.
The hair on the back of my neck prickles to life.
I hold up my hand in an awkward half-wave. “I’ll get out of y’alls’ way, then.”
“You’re hardly in the way when you’re emptying the dishwashers and doing the dishes,” Lu replies. “How kind of you to help out.”
Are those daggers in Mr. Gibbes’s eyes? Or am I just imagining it?
“Happy to. Y’all have a good night.”
Lu raises her hand, clearly intent to stop me from leaving without a baggie of cheese straws. I shake my head the tiniest bit. Don’t give us away.
I turn and run headfirst into Mom. Her hair is still wet from the shower. She’s wearing her usual apron. She’s also got on her knee pads, which means she’ll be scrubbing floors tonight.
My heart, already fluttering like a trapped bird, twists. “Hey!”
“Hey, honey.” She frowns at my expression. “Everything okay?”
“Yes. Yeah. I’m running late. I emptied both dishwashers and loaded the one on the left with all the dirty dishes from the sink.”
“You didn’t have to do that. Thank you.”
I give her a quick hug. “I’ll bring home dinner from the restaurant.”
“Wonderful.”
The tasteless burgers from Merman’s are hardly wonderful, but it’s one less thing Mom has to worry about.
Scurrying across Harbour Village, the sunburn on my arms screaming thanks to the brutal late afternoon sun, I tell myself there’s only six hours until I get to hold Lu again. Seven, max, if the restaurant is busy. She said she’d bring the book she just finished that she’s obsessed with. Something about a bossy guy in a suit by an author whose name I can’t remember.
I said I’d bring the bottle of Havana Club Tuck swiped from his dad’s bar. Lu can use it to experiment with the rum punch recipes she’s wanted to try. I even got the little paper umbrellas she likes to stick in her parents’ drinks.
It’s not perfect, but it’s the closest thing to heaven I can think of.
One day I’ll love Lu Wade the way I want to. The way she deserves to be loved. Out in the open.
Until then, I do like Dolly and bust some ass.
now
Louise
Present Day
July
To: Louise Wade & Patrick Lorne ([email protected], [email protected])
From: Goldie Smith & Cooper Hunt ([email protected])
Tuesday, August 2 6:50 A.M. (1 hour ago)
Subject: Surprise! We’ve Changed Our Wedding Date *IMPORTANT*
Dear Family & Friends,
Hope summer is treating you well. Ours has been an eventful one. We’re thrilled to announce we’re expecting! Baby Hunt is due this winter (we won’t be finding out the gender!). While this has been a welcome surprise, it does mean we will be pushing up our wedding date. The new date is Saturday, September 2; see below for the official invitation and schedule of events. We sincerely hope you can make it, but we understand if you’re unable to attend on such short notice.
Much love,
Goldie & Cooper
Together With Their Parents
Gillian Eliza Smith
“Goldie”
And
Cooper Henry Easton
Cordially Invite You to The Celebration of Their Nuptials
On Saturday, September 2*
At 5 o’clock in the Afternoon
The Ocean Club**
Bald Head Island, North Carolina
Reception to Follow
www.Goldie-and-Coop.com for Details
*Yes, THIS September 2! As in one month from today!
**Huge thanks to our dear friend, DR, for nabbing us a venue after a last-minute cancellation!
Schedule of Events
Thursday, August 31: Combined Bachelor/Bachelorette Party (details to come)
Friday, September 1: Rehearsal, Welcome Cocktail Reception
Saturday, September 2: Wedding Ceremony & Reception
one
Lu
Sea Men
End of August
Granny has a saying: what’s done in the dark always comes to light.
For the first time, I wish she wasn’t always right.
The full force of my hangover—my heartbreak—hits me just as the sun sinks into the Cape Fear River. The ferry sways in the wake of a passing barge, and my stomach sways with it. I grab onto Goldie’s leg beside mine. My best friend offers me a sympathetic smile.
“You all right?” She pats my hand.
We’re on the ferry’s open-air top deck, so I suck in a lungful of the humid summer breeze and let it out, its familiar, salty smell making me feel slightly less like dying.
