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“Simba, you be a good boy.” Simba barked as if he knew exactly what was asked of him, and lay back down.
It was only a short drive to Boca Grande. We parked on 12th Street, as it looked like it was the least busy. I grabbed the cart from the back of the truck while Kayla grabbed the bags from the backseat. Together, we loaded the cart and headed over the small dune path to the beach. Fortunately, barely anyone was on the beach, so we claimed a spot straight ahead, as close to the water as possible, without getting wet. There was a slight breeze, but not so bad that we couldn’t put up the cabana. Everything was set up, so we went swimming before chilling on the chairs.
“The water is still pretty warm, considering it’s almost the end of September,” I said to Kayla as we sat down. “Want a beer?”
“Sure, I’ll take one, and you’re right:It’s unseasonably warm.” She took the beer and the koozie, opened it, and took a drink. “Good ole Corona. Did you bring limes?”
I laughed. “Of course! I was waiting for you to ask.” I reached inside the cooler, handed her a lime wedge, and took one for myself. Then I saw the salsa and took it out. We snacked on some tortillas and salsa while we drank beer.
“Oh look, a school of dolphins!” she said as she pointed excitedly at the water in front of us.
“Nice. Our good luck charm,” I said and gave her a wink.
“So, how are things going? Do you like the house?”
“It’s good, and yes, I do. I’m glad it’s finally done, and now I can enjoy it. I want to have the family over soon for a cookout. I should call my sister. I’m sure she would appreciate that after putting up with me for almost a year.”
“Probably,” she said, and laughed.
“Bitch,” I mouthed, and laughed with her. It had been a minute since she’d been truly happy. I knew she struggled to make ends meet on her salary and tried to keep the doors open at her hair salon.
She had the same struggles with finding the right guy: she always attracted the losers. I tried to tell her that often, and she knew it already. She just didn’t know how to attract anyone different.
“Okay, it’s three o’clock. Should we go to the hotel, get a real drink, shower, and head to the restaurant?” I waited for Kayla to respond. She looked like she had to think about it.
“Yes, that sounds good,” she agreed, running her toes through the sand.
“Everything okay, Kayla?” I bent down to sit next to her on the blanket.
“Yeah, I don’t want today to be over. It's been such a nice one. We need to do this more often.”
“It’s not over, it’s just beginning, and now that I have my place, we will do this a lot. Now get off your ass and let’s go; I need to get the sand off me, it’s driving me crazy,” I said as I stood and shook the loose sand off my legs and started picking things up. Then I turned to her and held out my hand. I helped her up and hugged her. “It’s going to be a great year, babe,” I said, kissing the top of her head.
She swatted me away and started helping me load the cart. A bunch of seagulls flew by and sang to each other as they landed nearby, looking for food scraps. I thought we couldn’t have asked for a better day as I pulled the cart back to the truck.
“Which hotel did you book? I didn’t even ask,” she asked as she closed the back door of the truck.
“Well, we’re not on the island,” I said, laughing as we jumped in the truck.
“No shit.” Laughing, she opened her beer and took a drink. “Again, where did ya book a room?”
“I got us a little place up on Forty-One. It’s a little one-bedroom near Siesta Key, right on the beach. We can stay there tonight or go home; I got it for the showers. But it’s paid for, so if we drink too much, we’ll Uber back here, which is a bit closer than home. Deal?” I glanced over in her direction.
“Sounds good to me.” She took another drink and turned up the radio to sing along. She had a great voice and could believably sing along with Taylor Swift. So I listened to her and Taylor sing as I drove along Beach Road.
Within a few minutes, we arrived at Island House on Beach Road, right around the corner from where we’d been all afternoon. We unloaded the truck after checking in and went to our room, which happened to be an apartment they had available at the last minute. Itfaced the ocean, so we had a great view from the second floor. The place wasn’t fancy. However, it was clean, fresh, and very nicely decorated.
“Hey Parker, let’s just run to Publix, pick up one of those ready-to-cook meals, and stay in. What do you think? It’s a beautiful place; we can hang out on the patio and watch the waves, talk, and we don’t have to worry about drinking and driving; hell, we can even dance if we choose to.”
I thought about her idea momentarily, and it sounded like the perfect plan. “Okay, let’s go.”
She laughed at me and rolled her eyes. “Well, can a girl freshen up and get a drink to go first?”
Laughing, I said sure and went out to the patio to get some air while she did whatever she needed to do.
The sun had set by the time we left to go to Publix, though the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. The sky was filled with stars, and the moon lit up the water as the ocean moved across the shore.
Once in the store, we went to the back, where the pre-made meals were stocked.
