Crazy Little Thing (20 page)

“I hope you’re referring to my ex-husband and not my adorable children.”

“Uh, sure. Whatever. So you’re childless now, huh? In the mood for some good news?”

I nodded, grabbing a feather duster from the pantry and swooshing it over a shelf.

“I just talked to Kyle on the phone. He went to Owen and Patrick’s housewarming party, and apparently they were gushing about what a great job you did for them last week. And now a bunch of their friends want to hire you! And guess what else?”

“What?” My arm froze, the duster poised above Dody’s porcelain statue of Abraham Lincoln.

“A couple of them want me to do some redecorating too. At the same time. Isn’t that stupendous? You and I can work together. Just think of it, pumpkin pie. This could be the start of a bee-yoo-tiful partnership, don’t you think? We decorate, we organize. We’re decorganizers! We could start our own company, along with Kyle too, of course.” Fontaine began pacing, holding his hands up as if to contain all the fabulous ideas about to burst out. “We need a name. Something clever and catchy.” He snapped his fingers and spun around to face me again. “By Jove, I’ve got it. Stash-in-Fashion.”

I fluttered the feather duster over President Lincoln’s face. “Hold on, Fontaine. That’s great news and everything, but don’t get all wound up over it. I mean, there’s a lot to consider. I’m not ready to commit to anything.”

Dody’s eyes glistened. She clapped her hands together. “Oh, you two will be so happy together. I hoped and hoped something would come up to make you want to stay here, darling.”

I dropped the duster and nearly knocked Honest Abe from his pedestal. “What? Dody, come on. That’s not even what we’re talking about.”

“Not really, but think of it. If you did move here, the children could walk to school. There’s that path from the corner of my yard that goes right to the elementary school. I’ve already talked to the principal. She’s in my stained-glass class. And you could live right here. Fontaine will be back in his place soon and Jasper is always at Beth’s, so there is plenty of room. Oh, Sadie, I would love for you to come live here.”

I would have laughed if it wasn’t so ridiculous. “Are you kidding me with this stuff, Dody? I can’t move here.”

“Why not?” Fontaine and Dody cried in unison.

I stared at them for a full minute, waiting for the “gotcha” to come. It never did.

Dody sat down on the sofa. “I thought you were enjoying yourself here, darling.”

I sat down next to her while Fontaine paced again, biting his manicured thumb.

“I just never thought about it, Dody. I mean, I do love it here, but my life is back in Glenville.”

“But aren’t you happier here than you were there?”

“That’s apples and oranges, Dody. Of course I’m happier here. I’m on vacation. But Glenville is home.” I stacked the magazines on the coffee table.

“Why? What’s there for you except a house that’s too big?”

“Well, there’s Penny, and my mom, and my friends.” It occurred to me just then that none of my friends had called me in weeks, not to see how I was doing or even to share their latest gossip. And every time I was back in town to drop off the kids, none of them was ever available for lunch or coffee. Had I been voted off the island and no one told me?

Dody shook her stubborn head. “Penny travels and your mother is always busy with her committees. You told me that yourself.”

Penny did travel, but she’d be getting pregnant soon, and I’d want to be close by for that.

“OK, so what about Richard? We’d have to drive the kids back and forth all the time.”

“Stash-In-Fashion, Sadie. Don’t you love it?” Fontaine said loudly. “We can still do it, even if you move home.”

“Hush, Fontaine. She needs to move here.” Dody patted my hand. “Glenville was your past. But I think Bell Harbor is your future. We should go see Madame Margaret. She’ll tell you what to do.”

I ejected from the couch. “No, Dody. I’m not letting your psychic advisor decide where I live. And Fontaine, as far as a partnership goes, it might be fun to do this one project together, but after that I’m going to have to think about it.”

CHAPTER 15

MOVE TO BELL HARBOR? WHAT a ridiculous idea. I needed to clear the thought right from my head. Some solitude on the beach would soothe away my agitation. Too bad I couldn’t seem to get any. No sooner had I stretched out my blue-striped towel on the sand before Dody and Fontaine were on me again. They clumped down the deck steps laden with umbrellas, beach chairs, and coolers. Dody was wearing her floppy red sun hat and a daisy-covered swimsuit. Jasper showed up twenty minutes later with three of his lanky friends, each carrying part of a volleyball net. I must have missed the memo about a beach party, but apparently I was the only one.

By midafternoon, a dozen people cluttered our beach. Kyle showed up, looking liked a well-oiled Calvin Klein underwear model. Dody’s BFF, Anita Parker, arrived wearing purple sunglasses and carrying a feathered beer koozie. She was scrawny, freckled, and never stopped talking.

“Hello, Anita,” I said. “It’s so nice to see you again.”

“Nice to see you too, Sadie. Dody’s been keeping me up to date. Sorry to hear about your lousy husband.” She took a loud sip of beer through a straw.

I exchanged a look with Fontaine. “Thanks. Sorry to hear your cat ate your bird.”

“Oh, that was awful, let me tell you. Pure carnage! Fur and feathers everywhere, and nothing I could do to stop it. I don’t blame the cat, mind you. It was purely self-defense. Birdie always was mean, but I never expected them to go at it like that. One minute I’m sitting on the couch watching my shows and the next thing I know, there’s a deranged cockatoo pecking away at my poor old pussy.”

Fontaine’s eyes went round, but before he could form a response that was sure to be grossly inappropriate, I grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him to the deck steps, where we collapsed into a pile of laughter.

“What’s so funny?” I heard Des’s voice ask from over my shoulder.

My laughter faded. When the hell did he show up? I hadn’t even seen him arrive! I suddenly became acutely aware of needing to suck some stuff in and stick some other stuff out. Even if I was mad at him, I didn’t want to look pudgy in my swimsuit.

Fontaine squawked like a bird and started laughing all over again, but the joke was over for me.

I shaded my eyes and looked up at Des. “Oh, hi. It’s nothing. Mrs. Parker’s cat ate her bird. It was funnier the way she told it.”

“Mmm.” He scratched his head absently and looked around. He seemed to be avoiding eye contact. “Fontaine, suppose you could give us a minute?”

“Sure thing, cowboy.” Fontaine hopped up and was gone before I could grab his shirt again. He was a terrible wingman.

Des sat down on the deck step next to me, clearing his throat. He clasped his hands, tapping his thumbs together rapidly.

I leaned away. “So what’s up, neighbor?” I meant to sound indifferent, but there was no disguising the edginess in my voice. I may as well have said, “What’s up, asshole?”

He chuckled, dropping his head down for a second. “I think I might owe you an apology.”

An apology? I rubbed the spot where my wedding band used to be.

“I warned you about the sake,” he said. “But I guess I should’ve been more insistent. I didn’t realize how bad off you were until that recruiter showed up. Well, and then you started crying. That was a dead giveaway.”

A buzz began building in my head. “Who?”

“Reilly, the physician recruiter. She’s been badgering me for weeks about taking an extended assignment in Bell Harbor. I told her I haven’t decided yet, but she won’t let up. That’s why I didn’t introduce you. She would’ve talked your ear off.”

Little whorls of sand twisted around my feet. A white bird flew overhead. Waves continued to caress the shore, and all around, I heard people chatting and laughing. Nothing around me was different than it had been ten seconds before. But somehow, everything had changed. As Des’s words sank in, I began feeling light and floaty, like somebody was dialing down gravity. The buzz swelled then receded.

“A recruiter?”

Des nodded. “Yeah. Stan Pullman has decided to retire and move to Arizona, so the hospital wants me to fill in until they hire his replacement.” He turned to me, smiling. “I tried to explain that to you at the restaurant, but by then you were already crying. Then Jasper showed up and I was embarrassed.”

There went the gravity, down another notch. I nearly lifted off the step.

“You were embarrassed?”

He nodded. “I don’t usually make women cry until the third or fourth date. This was a new record for me.”

This day was getting better and better. First Richard was polite, then I found out I had a job if I wanted it. And now Des was apologizing to me? And telling me that woman was a job recruiter? Was it possible? I suppose he could be lying, but why would he bother?

“She seemed awfully...friendly.”

Des looked out over the water. “I’m not going to lie to you, Sadie. We went out a few times, but she’s not really my type.”

“Gorgeous isn’t your type?”

“Vain isn’t my type.”

I crossed my arms. No one ever called me vain. At least I had that going for me. And maybe Penny was right. He could’ve been with that blonde but asked me out instead. For once I was the other woman.

“I made a fool of myself last night,” I finally said. “I should be apologizing to you.”

He shook his head and chuckled. “No, don’t. I know how sake affects me, so I should’ve realized it would be too strong for you. Plus you drank about a gallon.”

I was still hungover, come to think of it. “How does it affect you?”

“Well, let’s see. One time it made me decide public urination should be a constitutional right. Nearly got deported for that one. And another time I decided to steal a street sign from right in front of the police station. I think my picture may still be on the wall of a little county jail in northern Illinois.”

“Really?” If that was true, maybe my little bout with tears hadn’t been so shocking after all. Was it possible I had overreacted? Me?

I smiled, inside and out. Sitting next to Des, warmed by the sun and his understanding, I felt good. Simply delightful, as Dody would say. For the first time in two days, I took a breath that didn’t hurt my chest.

Des pushed his sunglasses up on his head. His eyes, even the bruised one, were bright and beautiful, and mesmerizing. I suddenly found myself breathless and mute. I smiled stupidly, lacking the wit to say anything clever. I pressed my knees together tightly.

Des made a funny noise in his throat and turned his head away.

After a minute I said, “Well, either way, I wasn’t at my best. I’m sorry I ruined your evening.”

“Likewise. So, you know, I was thinking, maybe we should—”

Sand spewed into my face as a volleyball slammed against my feet, bounced up, and smacked me in the cheek.

“Oh, hey, Sadie! Sorry!” Jasper called out, laughing. He collected the ball, nodding at Des. “Careful, man, she’s a crybaby.”

I tried to wipe the sand away, but it stuck like Fatso’s fur on black pants. Des pulled me upright.

“Come on. Let’s rinse that off in the water. I hope we don’t have matching black eyes.”

And so we frolicked in the lake like sixteen-years-olds playing beach blanket bingo. Ariel the mermaid never had it so good. Waves buffeted me against him, and I let them, thoroughly enjoying the sensations. When a particularly robust whitecap rocked me against his torso, Des caught me by the waist and held me there. For a brief, tantalizing second I thought he might kiss me. But he only dipped his head to my ear and whispered, “God, you’re killing me.”

The water began to steam.

We made it back to the beach eventually, and Des joined Jasper and his friends in a game of football. I grabbed my towel from where it sat near Dody and Anita Parker, who was now on a rant about her latest medical drama.

“The doctor says I need more fiber. Three bowls of bran cereal this week and I still can’t poop for shit.”

“I’ve told you, Anita. Try some flaxseed,” Dody assured her. Then she lifted the brim of her big floppy red hat to smile at me. “Did you have a nice time swimming, dear?”