Island Girls (and Boys) (16 page)

�W
hat was
that
for?� Amy asked.

She�d been coming out of the bathroom as I was heading to the kitchen.

�Just doing what my horoscope advised and hugging a best friend. It�s supposed to improve my outlook.�

�Did it?�

I took a deep breath, thought about it��Not really.�

�Bummer. I was hoping you might do me a favor tonight.�

�Just because my outlook on life sucks doesn�t mean I won�t do you a favor. Just ask.�

�Will you watch the dogs?�

Okay, that was asking me to do something above and beyond. I stared at her. �Huh?�

�Noah and Chelsea are working�like always. Alex isn�t.�

�Then let him watch them.�

�Well, that�s the thing. We�ve never really had a chance to have a real date. Tonight we thought we�d go to the mainland, catch a movie, or whatever.�

I so did not want to do this.

�The dogs are your responsibility. And Noah�s. I never wanted anything to do with them.�

�But if I leave them in my room, and they need to go out, they�ll make a mess. All you have to do is walk them. Come on, Jen. What have I ever asked for?�

�Let�s see.� I ticked off on my fingers. �A little dog, a medium-size dog, a big dog, and a cat. Oh, yeah. And a boyfriend.�

�The boyfriend you don�t mind because he helps with the expenses.�

I nodded. �Okay. I don�t mind the boyfriend.�

�You wouldn�t mind the dogs either if you got to know them. Please, Jen. I won�t be able to have fun if I�m worried about them.�

I sighed. It wasn�t like I had any exciting plans for the night�except to curl up with a new romance novel. �Oh, all right.�

She beamed her brightest smile. �Thanks!�

I walked back toward my room.

�Where are you going?� she asked.

�To get ready for work. I�ve lost my appetite for breakfast.�

 

�You guys are pathetic, you know that?�

We were in the utility room, and I was trying to get leashes put on each of the dogs. I tried to remember what Amy had named the two newest dogs and couldn�t. So out of fairness, I renamed Tiny so the dogs became Dog 1, Dog 2, and Dog 3. From smallest to largest.

Dog 1 was yipping, Dog 2 kept leaping on me every time I got close to having the leash attached to its collar, and Dog 3 was throwing itself against the door.

�Okay, already, I know you need to go. Just hold on.�

I finally got all the leashes snapped into place. I held tightly to my end. Then I made the mistake of opening the door. They bounded out
like steak heaven was waiting on the other side.

And I went with them.

�Hold on!�

I held tight to the leashes while closing the door. I locked it and slipped the keys into my shorts pocket. �Okay, fellas, let�s go.�

And they did, pulling me along while they sniffed the ground. Our journey was a series of quick walks, then standing around waiting for one or more of them to mark its territory. We headed up the road toward the beach. My goal was to walk them until they were worn out and pee�d-out. I didn�t want to have to go through this again.

We walked past the Coast Guard station. A Coastie waved and yelled, �Beautiful dogs!�

Was he kidding? I guess they weren�t as ugly as I�d thought. As a matter of fact, they were looking better than they had when Amy first took them in.

�Thanks!� I yelled back.

Then I looked at the dogs. �Amy takes good care of you, doesn�t she?�

She�d also looked spectacular earlier when she and Alex left. She�d gone all out, putting on
a halter dress and actually styling her hair. The normally straight brown strands had been curling over her shoulders. And her makeup had been perfect. Alex was one lucky guy.

The dogs and I made our way over the dunes. I had a feeling that my shoulder was going to be aching in the morning. It was aching now. How did Amy do this every night?

Then the dogs went wild, bounding over the sand, headed for the surf, jerking me along. I figured once they got to the water, they�d retreat. But nooo!

In they went, bounding over the waves, splashing, jumping on me. I started laughing. This was insane!

Then Dog 3 knocked me down. I screeched and hit the water, the sand. Laughing harder. For no reason, except that it felt good.

I flopped back, letting the water rush over me and retreat.

�Come here, you!� I grabbed Dog 3, holding him close.

And it suddenly occurred to me that I was hugging man�s best friend.
A best friend.
Just like my horoscope had advised.

And it did improve my outlook on life!

The dogs licked my cheeks, my neck, my hands. I buried my face in Dog 3�s fur. Why was I spending my summer moping around? I lifted my head. Remarkably, the dogs had calmed.

We sat there, at the water�s edge, and watched the sun go down. And I made a decision. It was time that I took charge of my life again.

 

�Let�s have a huge Fourth of July bash,� I announced after everyone got home that night. �We have a week to plan. They�re going to have fireworks at the campground. We could have fireworks here��

�Isn�t there some sort of ordinance against fireworks on individual property?� Alex asked.

�That�ll be your job to get it okayed.�

He nodded. �All right.�

�It�ll be great, guys. We�ll invite everyone we know on the island. It�ll be even bigger and better than the last party we had here.�

�Sounds cool,� Noah said.

�Because it�ll
be
cool,� I assured him.

He yawned. �Just leave me a note with instructions. I�m wiped out from work. I�m going to bed.�

Chelsea started to go with him, then stopped and faced me. �I�m not too tired yet. Let�s get this thing planned.�

Alex went to bed as well, but Amy, Chelsea, and I sat on the floor around the coffee table.

Before we got started, I looked at Amy and asked, �How was your date?�

She blushed. �We had such a good time. How did it go here?�

I had my hand buried in Dog 3�s fur, his head in my lap, his doleful eyes looking up at me. I smiled. �We did okay.�

Then we started discussing our plans: decorations, food, drinks. How we were going to afford it all.

We decided people would bring their own drinks and whatever they wanted to go on the grill. We�d provide lots of chocolate desserts and the space. And I�d be cool with people in the house. We�d invite the island people that we knew. Some people from the campground�if Amy and I agreed that they were cool enough.
We�d have an open invite policy. Anyone could bring anyone.

The object was to get lost in the crowd, to have a super great time.

I had a mission now, a purpose. And I was really excited about it. I thought about the party constantly. Amy and I talked about it on the way to work and on the way home. It was going to be the absolute best.

I had everything planned out perfectly.

There was just one thing I hadn�t planned on happening.

But then no one else had, either.

T
onight Cupid will have you within his sights�retreat if you don�t like the prospects!

Retreat? No way! I was ready for a little romance, because I was totally over Dylan and ready to move on to new conquests.

July Fourth was hot almost beyond endurance, but it didn�t really seem to matter. There was a breeze blowing across the ocean, across the island. There was excitement in the air that I couldn�t explain.

Party atmosphere. Amy and I both felt it, even before we left work.

The partying was scheduled to begin as the sun began to set, but with island time, it started when anyone, everyone wanted.

Alex had taken the night off from work, and
he became our official bartender. Chelsea and Noah�to everyone�s complete surprise!�called in sick. Like their boss wasn�t going to figure that one out.

But it was something for them to worry about�not me.

I�d adopted the new attitude that nothing was my problem�unless it really was my problem. I couldn�t run the lives of my friends. I had to let them make their own choices, just like I had to make mine. And for tonight my choice was to have the best time of my life, to drink and dance, and find a guy who would take my mind completely off Dylan.

And there were ample selections to choose from. Many of them cute, a couple of them very charming�but most important, they were all here. Available. Not about to take off for parts unknown.

�Alex made some margaritas,� Amy said when I walked into the kitchen to check on the brownies that I�d put into the oven earlier.

�Sounds good,� I said.

�Can you believe how many people are here already?� she asked.

�Must be at least fifty.�

�Where did they all come from?�

�Here, there, everywhere.�

I took the brownies out of the oven.

�You�re okay with people inside the house?� she asked.

�Sure. It�s a new me, Amy. Live and let live. I�m an islander. Take life easy.�

�I�m glad we decided to spend the summer here,� she said. �You had a great idea.�

�Yeah, it�s been good.� I leaned near her and winked. �And you got a boyfriend.�

�He�s thinking of moving to College Station at the end of the summer, to be near me. He says college towns always need bartenders.�

�You really like him,� I mused.

She nodded enthusiastically. �A lot.�

I hugged her. I didn�t know why. Maybe I wanted some of her true happiness to rub off on me, because the truth was, if I was honest with myself, I was only pretending to be happy, and I was afraid that it showed.

There was a time when I wouldn�t have pretended with my friends. I would have told them that I�d never been so lonely in my entire life,
that the loneliness was like a sharp pain in my heart that pricked every time I moved. But they were happy, and I didn�t want to bring them down. Not any more. Not for the rest of the summer.

I went into the living room, and Alex poured me a strawberry margarita. He grinned at me. �This was a great idea. We can drink till we drop, and no one has to drive.�

�Exactly.� I took a sip of the thick frozen concoction. It was good. �You know, if you hurt Amy I�ll break your kneecaps.�

He laughed, apparently taking no offense at my statement. �Then my kneecaps are safe. I�d never hurt her. I like her too much.�

�Good.�

I made my way outside. Someone had set the stereo speakers on the balcony, and music was raining down on us. Chelsea and Noah were manning the grill. The aroma of charred meat wafted through the air.

�Steaks?� I asked incredulously once I got near enough to see what he was cooking.

�We thought we should go all out, and we got a huge discount from the guy who supplies
the restaurant,� Chelsea said.

�My Chels is a bargain shopper,� Noah said.

Chelsea stepped away from him, took my arm, and led me a short distance away. �You and I haven�t really had a chance to talk since I quit the campground. So you see how it was with me and Noah? We just never saw each other.�

I wanted to say that explanation gave him no excuse for kissing another girl, but I bit my tongue. Chelsea had to live with her choices, not me. �Yeah, I see.�

Although I really didn�t.

�He wasn�t kissing that girl. She was kissing him. She�d gotten drunk��

�Chels, it�s not my business.�

�I just don�t want you thinking badly of him.�

�As long as you�re happy, that�s all that matters.�

�I am happy, Jen. Totally.�

�Then I�m happy, too.�

And I was. For Chelsea and for Amy. And in a way for myself. Because I was free to play the field. And I planned to do exactly that. I was going to have fun with every guy here, dance
until my feet ached, drink until my head spun, eat until my stomach hurt. Then I was going to watch the fireworks at this end of the island, climb into the crow�s nest and watch them going off at the other end of the island, near the campground.

And I didn�t plan to watch them alone.

Chelsea had gone totally still and quiet. I figured she was ready to get back to Noah.

�You and Noah have fun. I�ll catch up with you later. Right now, according to my horoscope, I have a guy to hook up with.�

I had no idea who he might be, but I had to believe that he was out there somewhere, lost in the crowd, waiting for me to find him.

I turned around, and my brain stopped functioning. My heart hammered, but nothing else worked. My legs wouldn�t move, my lungs wouldn�t draw in air. I simply stood there like a dolt.

I�d planned tonight to perfection. Planned every minute. Every aspect.

But I hadn�t planned for Dylan to return.

If at all possible, he looked more gorgeous. More tan. His black hair longer, shaggy looking.
He needed to shave. I curled my fingers against my palm to stop myself from reaching up and touching the roughness of his face, from reaching out for him period.

In thirty-five days�not that I�d been counting the days since he left�I�d changed. And he probably had as well. I wasn�t going to be pathetic like Chelsea. I wasn�t going to let him sweep me into his arms.

I was going to be cool, calm, collected. I was going to walk away as though he was nothing. As though he didn�t make my heart sing. As though the very sight of him didn�t cause pleasure to ripple through me.

I wasn�t even going to acknowledge him. I was simply going to turn and take a step away and then another and another until I couldn�t see him, smell him, hear his breathing. Until he was a speck of dust, a forgotten memory, a�

�I missed our sailing date,� he said quietly.

I gave him a jerky nod, swallowing hard. Then to my eternal mortification and embarrassment, I burst into tears.