Love on the Ledge (8 page)

“Thank you,” I say.

“I’m just speaking the truth. My eyes are fixed on you.”

“Why?”

“You’re gorgeous. We come from the same origins. We have similar families. It seems like fate.”

“I’m not looking for anything right now.”

He leans over and places his hand on top of mine. “You might think so now, but I think you’ll change your mind.”

Our food comes just in time because the fluttering just turned to panic. Xandro watches me eat with that infuriating smile across his face.

“At least you’re doing something you like,” I tell him, trying to bring the conversation back to careers.

“It’s the best of both worlds.”

I can’t imagine how peeling back someone’s skin and shaving down their bones or injecting ass fat into lips is something to love, but to each their own.

Then, he says the one thing I’ve been dreading since my mom shoved us into his red Maserati. “Your family tells me you’re recently single.”

I chew my steak taco extra long, imagining the ways I could get back at them. Diuretic in their breakfast mimosas?

“Yeah,” I say, sitting up straighter, as if better posture is the thing that’s going to make me look like I’m keeping my cool. I go through my catalogue of things to say, but this is a stranger. I don’t care if we crossed paths back in the day. I don’t care that my mother and family think he’s the best thing since sliced bread. Sliced bread isn’t even that good. “Things end.”

“That’s bleak. Well, now that we’re neighbors again, we can go out and catch up again.”

There’s nothing to catch up on because we were never really friends. “I’m going to be really busy planning the wedding and all.”

“I’m sure you’ll have some downtime now that you’re not working,” he says. His confidence in asking me out makes my skin crawl. “Besides, didn’t you hear? I’m invited.”

I want to order some more wine but I can feel the headache blooming at my temples, and that would only make him order another drink as well.

“Your mom says you don’t have a plus one, so I’m offering my services. I’m not just a surgeon.” His voice drops down an octave and his eyes get that lazy look, like he’s ready to throw down in bed. “I’m an excellent date.”

I signal the waitress for the check. It’s like my brain is throwing up flares that write “nope-nope-nope” in the sky. I reach for my purse.

“Stop it,” he says pulling out a shiny black card that clinks on the glass table. The waitress takes it and brings it back. He signs with a flourish of his pen. His letters are bold and, unlike every other doctor’s signature I’ve seen, incredibly neat.

“I’ll drive you home.”

I shake my head. “I’m okay, I have some wedding things to take care of while I’m here.”

“Do you need company?”

“Some of the other bridesmaids are joining me.” I throw in as many wedding-related activities as possible to ensure that he won’t want to stick around.

He pulls me into a hug and lets his hands slide down my waist. “I’m glad we’re neighbors again, Sky. I can’t wait to see more of your beautiful face.”

Leti and River pick me up. I’m holding a tray of black iced coffees. My phone buzzes with a text. It’s Lucky Pierce telling me she’s in town. My hands are too occupied to respond so I make a mental note to text her later.

“How was your hot date?” Leti asks saucily.

“He said he’d never cut up my face because I’m
so
gorgeous.” I hand them their coffees.

River pulls out and starts driving. “Well if that isn’t romance, then I don’t know what is.”

I shake the ice in my coffee before I take a sip. “Where is this restaurant?”

We take a turn off the highway and drive for about five miles. We pass an old RV and nothing but trees.

“River?”

She pulls up her phone and holds the screen up to Leti’s face. “Read that.”

“We passed it.”

River makes a sharp right at the next exit and we turn around. We drive in a circle and still there’s nothing.

“That’s not an address, River¸” I say, panic starting to flood through my veins.

We do another round, this time slowing down a bit. I realize something.

“What’s the name of the restaurant?”

“Just his name. Luke’s.”

“You mean, Luke’s
HOT DOGS
?” I point to the RV parked off the highway. There are a few cars parked beside it and a bunch of beachgoers making a line at a window.

“That’s Luke!” River shouts.

“What were you doing when he told you he was a chef?”

River shrugs. “I don’t know…he asked for my number or something.”

“River!”

“I’m sorry! He doesn’t
look
like he sells hot dogs off the side of the road.” River steps on the gas and we drive past the stand. With the windows down, we burst into a fit of laughter.

When we’re quiet except for the sound of wind blowing through the car, I realize that we still don’t have a solution to the catering problem.

“I’d just like to point out,” I say, “that this would only happen to us.”

“Come on,” Leti says. “We have better luck than that. You have to put your desires into the Universe and the Universe will answer. You just have to be specific. Like with Hayden. Have you called him yet?”

River catches my eyes in the rearview mirror. “I’m sorry, Sky. I tried.”

“I know, baby.” I stare out the window. The wind makes my eyes feel dry, but even our failed mission raises my spirits in a way lunch with Xandro could not. “I’ll figure something out.”

“Let me see the shell,” Leti says.

I put up my feet on the armrest between them and wiggle my toes. “It’s a sand dollar, and I’m not saying a word.”

“What are you going to do about it?”

I take a sip of my bitter coffee. “That’s between me and the Universe.”

• • •

After River’s catering lead failed epically, we returned home to join my family around the pool. River tells me to stay calm. We’re going to find something, even if it means buying two hundred TV dinners at Costco. It’s reassuring, really.

Uncle Tony is at the grill turning burgers and hot dogs while everyone else takes in the last of the day’s rays. He’s wearing Pepe’s men’s beachwear. The neon board shorts don’t really go with the Wall Street vibe he still can’t shake off. That’s how you know it’s True Love.

“How was your date with Nip/Tuck?” cousin Steve asks. He’s grown a foot since the last time I saw him. As much as I complain about my family, I really do love seeing them all at once. That is, until they start to pick on me.

I throw my bottle of sunscreen at him. It hits him right in the gut, and he moans and almost rolls off his lounge chair.

“Leave Sky alone,” Uncle Tony says, using metal tongs to poke a juicy burger.

I step into the pool and shiver as the cold water envelops me all the way to my waist. I grab onto a purple pool noodle and float over to the deep end where no one else goes. Out of my whole family, I’m the only one who knows how to properly swim, something I have to thank Bradley for.

I realize there are so many little things that Bradley taught me or showed me while we were together. Things like swimming and learning to like the taste of whiskey and how to tie a proper fisherman’s knot and how to deliver a killer serve. I wonder if I’ll every truly learn to forget him.

“How long has my mom had Xandro up her sleeve?” I ask, leaning my face towards the delicious sun.

“You always think the worst of people,” Maria says. “He stopped by to give your mother a message from his mother. Apparently, Xandro just got out of a five-year relationship, and he’s
looking
.”

“Well, you can save your money,” I tell my cousins, leveling my eyes at each one of them. “This is one pony you won’t be betting on.”

Leti and River act all innocent, as if I didn’t see money pass through Leti’s hand. Surely she’s gotten River in on it, which is the last thing that River needs.

“I say they end up dating by the end of the summer,” Maria says. “You’ve never
not
been in a relationship, Sky. You’re a serial monogamist. It’s like you
have
to be with someone or you can’t function.”

Hearing that come from Maria of all people makes me pretty ticked off. “Considering I spent all my college years away at school, I don’t see how you can know that.”

She purses her lips and brings her sunglasses down back over her eyes even though the sun is setting.

“Well, I’ve got my money on someone
else
,” Leti says.

I widen my eyes in her direction. She just can’t help herself when she’s around everyone. My cousins are a mini gossip mill. When our cousin Margie got knocked up it was like a round of telephone that, by the time it got to me, had exploded into a story of how Margie was pregnant with triplets and one of them was Asian.

“Who?” Yunior asks. “I hope he’s not a doctor, because Nip/Tuck is going to have some serious competition.”

He screams as the purple pool noodle hits him in the face.

“You guys need to get your own lives,” I tell them, splashing everyone within distance.

There’s a chant of “Aww, come back, Sky.”

But I’m already walking away, my wet feet smacking on the warm blue tiles that create a path back to the house. I grab a half empty bottle of prosecco from the fridge and a plastic cup. That’s how classy I feel. I open the door to my balcony and let in the breeze that announces sunset.

They’ve got me all wrong. But that’s okay. I’ve decided this summer I might surprise everyone, including myself.

I turn the lock on my door and set the sand dollar on my bed. I pace back and forth weighing my options. What do I say? I’m not looking for a one-night stand, but I don’t want a relationship either. Sure, that doesn’t sound psychotic at all. After all, the boy just wanted to walk with me on the beach and I turned around and ran away.

I wish I had Leti’s sweetness, River’s charm, and Lucky’s gusto.

What do I have? A wishy-washy attempt at friendship. A broken heart that I have to work on before I let anyone else put their grubby hands on it—figuratively of course.

I have a sand dollar, that’s what I have.

I punch in the number, and wait.

“Hello?” he says.

Naturally, I hang up.

My heart hammers in my chest, and I throw myself on my bed like the big, brave girl that I am.

When he calls back I nearly jump out of my skin. Of course he’s calling back. If I don’t answer, he’s going to think I’m a creep. I’m not a creep, just a coward.

“Hi!” I say, too high-pitched.

“Hello? I just got a missed call from this number.”

I’m a little disappointed that he doesn’t recognize my voice. But I plow through my embarrassment.

“Hey, Hayden. It’s Sky—you gave River a sand dollar—” There’s a sentence I never thought I’d ever say out loud.

He laughs. “I’m just kidding, Sky, I know it’s you.”

I choke on my words. “How?”

“River actually came up to me this morning while I worked on the gazebo. She gave me your number.”

That bitch. “How come you didn’t call?”

“I got the feeling you wouldn’t want that.”

I let myself slide down my bed. My heart slips and slides inside my chest. No, no, no. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize. It’s cool. I just figured if you wanted to talk to me you would call when you wanted to. I’m pleasantly surprised it only took twelve hours.”

“You were counting?”

I can hear a couch creak with his weight. The noise of the television goes away completely. He’s settling in to talk to me.

“Oh, I’ve been staring at my phone all day. I even had my friend call me and make sure my phone was still in service. But enough about me. How was your day, Sky?”

I’m glad he can’t see the smile plastered on my face. I like the way he says my name. Like the way he repeats it over and over, even though there’s no one else he could be talking to but me.

“I prevented a potential calamity from happening.”

“Did another hole appear on the roof?” he chuckles. “This time it wasn’t me, I swear.”

I tell him about River and Luke’s Hot Dogs and the catering problem. “It’s one more thing I have to worry about.”

“What else is there?”

“Well, now there’s the gazebo that this guy is taking forever to build.”

“Hey, now. That is excellent craftsmanship. It’ll get done before you know it.”

I settle back into my bed, the voices from the living room filtering upstairs every now and them.

“How did you end up working with wood?” I realize the way that sounds instantly, but it’s too late to take it back. “You know, building stuff. You know, carpentry.”

There’s that laugh again. “When I was a kid we lived near a lumber yard. That was upstate before we moved out to the Island. This old man that worked there used to see me walk around by myself. He thought I was lazy and a vagabond, naturally. I just wanted out of the house when my folks fought. So he put me to work, shaving wood into pencils. I can make pencils, if you ever need them. I’m not just a roofer who builds gazebos and has great hair.”

“No,” I say, “you’re all of that
and
also carry sand dollars in your pocket.”

“I forget to change out of my shorts from the beach sometimes. My dad hates that. I’m sure it’s a safety hazard, but I crossed that line when I—” He whistles and it sounds like a cartoon elevator plummeting. “Fell right at your feet, Sky. Plus, sand dollars are the perfect way to make new friends. That’s how dolphins pay for everything they need.”

“You’re crazy,” I say.

“Thank you. That means a lot.”

No, really. Hayden is nuts. How does he manage to be so innocent and sexy all at once? “How are you so happy?”

He’s quiet for a bit and I feel like I botched it. Who likes to hear that they’re too happy?

“Listen, if you knew the shit in my life.… Let’s just say that if I don’t make myself look at something positive—like falling through a roof and opening my eyes to find the most perfect human I’ve ever seen, or getting fired by my dad only to have him rehire me to build a gazebo where I can see your balcony and get a peek at your sad smile when you drink your coffee.”