Magnetic (8 page)

“Oh, I bet that doesn’t always make you popular,” Stick said with a smile.

“Not always, no.”

Ronnie smacked her hand on the table. “I almost forgot, Layne. Alana
Mayeaux
is Stacy’s cousin.”

Layne visibly stiffened and glanced at Jenny, who looked away with a smirk. “Ronnie…I already—”

“Are those eyes?” Jenny practically shouted and pointed to the woods. “Are those eyes looking at me? Is that a fucking bear?”

Stick looked over her shoulder and laughed. “That’s a raccoon in a tree. They get
kinda
brazen when they smell food.”

Jenny looked at Layne wide-eyed and shook her head, silently telegraphing a warning. “I was scared to death there for a moment.”

“You act like you’ve never been outside.” Ronnie pushed Jenny’s glass closer to her. “Drink and chill out.”

“It could’ve been a bear.” Jenny made a face and looked around at the other tables where people stared at her like she was insane.

Ronnie rolled her eyes. “Layne, you were saying?”

“I…was going to say that—”

“What’re the words to Blue Moon?” Jenny looked up at the sky. “The moon looks blue tonight. I wanna sing.”

“Layne
was
talking.” Ronnie looked annoyed. “
Mol
, what is wrong with your spouse?”

Molly shrugged. “This is normal.”

“Come on, sing it with me.” Jenny started to clap. “Blue, blue something borrowed something…shit.”

“So you know Alana,” Stacy said and smiled at Layne.

“Uh…yes. We’ve worked together for years.”

“I’m curious about your name, Stick,” Jenny said, smiling at her.

“My grandmother used to call me stick bug when I was a kid. I was so lanky, and no matter how much I ate, I couldn’t gain a pound. It used to embarrass my mother because no one believed she was feeding me.” Stick grinned. “Eventually, it just shortened to Stick, which I prefer over Agatha. I adored my grandmother, but not her name.”

“My grandmother called me bug,” Molly intoned with a grin, “because she said I bugged the shit out of her. She lived with us for a while, and I was always getting into her things.” Molly shrugged. “I like to rearrange.”

“I’ll drink to that.” Jenny looked at Layne, who also raised her glass.

Molly raised a brow. “I’m not that bad.”

“You’ve rearranged my sunroom six times.” Layne wagged a finger at Molly. “And I think you were the one that hung that print in the living room, though you blamed it on Jenny.”

Jenny shrugged. “You know it wasn’t me. I didn’t even notice you had a print in there.”

“That’s a shame, Ms. Observant,” Layne said with a laugh. “It was yours, the one I gave you for your birthday last year.”

Jenny’s jaw dropped as she turned to Molly. “My
Midnight on the Bayou
?”

“It’s temporary,” Molly said with both hands up. “Layne needed something above the mantel.”

“I can’t wait to see your new place, Layne,” Ronnie said, smiling at Molly and Jenny, who were bickering quietly among themselves. “Are you happy with it?”

Layne nodded and felt light-headed. “It’s bigger than the apartment, and there’s a back deck. We grilled burgers and sat out on it the other night.”

“You were invited but otherwise engaged,” Jenny said, “so no bitching.”

“I remember.” Ronnie grazed the backs of her fingertips across Stacy’s neck. “But it was short notice, and I’d already made plans to stay in.” She gave Stacy a suggestive smile and looked back at Jenny. “We were doing some rearranging of furniture ourselves.”

Molly cleared her throat. “I’ll bet.”

Layne felt a heat envelop her as she remembered how she and Stacy had “rearranged” the hotel room. Stacy had used everything with a surface before they managed to make it to the bed. Layne had worried that the coffee table would give way under her weight in the sitting area.

A scant niggling sensation formed in the pit of her stomach, and she realized it to be the stirrings of jealousy. She’d been so caught up in worrying about how Ronnie would feel if she knew about her and Stacy that Layne had not taken the time to entertain her own feelings. She glanced at Stacy, who met her eye for a fleeting second, knowing that Ronnie was enjoying now what she’d gotten a taste of.

“It’s a pretty night,” Layne said while the music coming from the dance faded as they drew closer to her cabin. “Thank you for walking with me, though I’m sure you’d rather be on the dance floor.”

“I can dance any night, but I don’t often get the opportunity of such pleasurable company.” Stick reached out to steady Layne as she stumbled when her sandal caught a root. Her fingers grazed the skin of Layne’s arm as she reached down to take her hand. “Are the margaritas doing a number on you?”

“Yes, I see a dozen cabins where I know there’s only one. If you’ll get me to the stairs on the right one, I’ll be grateful.”

Stick chuckled. “Take my advice, drink plenty of water before you turn in.”

“Does that work for you?”

“That, a light breakfast of toast the next morning, then a Red Bull.” Stick led Layne up onto the porch of her cabin. “I’ll have a cold one in the van for you tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you and thanks again for the escort. I’m not at ease with the woodland critters. Pickle-brained or not, I would totally lose my mind if I encountered one.”

“Then I’ll make it a point to be with you as often as I can.” Stick leaned in and kissed Layne on the cheek. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Layne stood in the doorway of her cabin for a moment and watched Stick disappear into the darkness. She was sweet, good-looking, and definitely interested, and unfortunately, Layne was not.

Chapter 8

Jenny banged loudly on Layne’s cabin door for the third time, wondering if Layne had already risen and trekked to the mess hall. She was about to leave when the door opened a crack, and one bloodshot eyeball stared out at her. “You’re not going,” Jenny said as she put a hand on her hip. “Layne, I was looking forward to having someone commiserate in my misery while Molly and Ronnie drag me through shops of junk.”

“I think the margaritas were made with gasoline,” Layne whispered and opened the door wider as she slowly made her way back to the bed with one hand stretched out in front of her and the other on her stomach. “I’ve never puked so much in my life. This morning before dawn, I think my ribcage flew out and it was on fire.”

“You never drink like that. You should’ve known this would happen.”

Layne sank onto the bed. “Lower your voice, please.”

Jenny went into the bathroom and filled a glass with water. She dug around in Layne’s toiletry bag until she found a bottle of pain relievers. “You need to take a couple of these and empty this glass.”

“Again with the shouting,” Layne rasped and clutched her forehead.

“I think you’d feel better if we can get some food into you. I’ll run over to the mess hall and get you some toast. You wanna chance some bacon, too?”

Layne sat up straight, her face ashen, before she bolted to the bathroom. Jenny grimaced when she heard the retching. “That would be a no on the bacon,” she said as she set the water and bottle of pills on the bedside table.

Layne returned a moment later with a wet cloth draped around the back of her neck. “Sleep is what I need,” she whispered as she crawled back into bed.

“I can’t leave you alone like this.”

“Yes, you can because I’m going to do nothing but lay here.”

“I’m gonna go get Molly.” Jenny walked out despite the whimpered “no” that followed her.

Ronnie and Molly were walking down the trail between the cabins when Jenny met up with them. “Baby, Layne needs your medical expertise. She’s sick big-time.”

Ronnie’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, shit.”

“Nope, that’s not the problem. It’s all headed north.” Jenny clamped her lips tightly together before saying, “You know I can’t handle
barf
.”

“Okay, you and Ronnie run up to the mess hall and get some toast, crackers, too, if they have them, and a soda, something like Sprite.” Molly headed for Layne’s cabin.

“She puked when I mentioned food.”

“Get it anyway, Jen,” Molly called over her shoulder.

*******

Layne was lying on her side with the washcloth over her face when Molly walked in. “I’m pretty sure this is a hellacious hangover,” Molly said when she removed the cloth and put the backs of her fingers against Layne’s cheek.

“Yes,” Layne mumbled into the pillow.

“Have you been able to keep anything down?”

“I drank half of the glass of water Jenny left. So far, so good.” Layne grimaced when Molly sat on the side of the bed.

“It’s safe to say you won’t be going with us. Since Stick is going to be our driver, I don’t know of anyone to ask to look in on you aside from Stacy.”

Layne opened one eye. “I’ll be fine. There’s no need, and don’t leave Jenny behind. I know you want to spend time with her, and all I’m going to do is sleep.”

Molly stroked Layne’s hair from her face. “I could stay. I remember you sitting with me when I was sick. Sometimes now when I can’t sleep, I miss you reading to me.”

Layne smiled despite the pounding in her head. “You go and have a great time. If Apalachicola is as neat as Stick claims it to be, I can go another day. Besides, everyone says I need to relax, and this is the perfect opportunity.”

“Maybe you and Stacy could talk.”

Layne rolled onto her back. “I don’t think there’s anything for us to discuss. I thought about this before I passed out last night. You know how Ronnie is. By the time they get back home, she’ll be hooking up with someone else if not sooner. So I don’t see any need in telling her what happened in Detroit. I’ll just keep my distance from Stacy.”

“That’s probably the best course of action.” Molly turned when Ronnie came through the door with a tray.

“I have toast, crackers, and a can of Sprite. I lost Jenny when Les introduced her to the sweet potato pancakes.”

Layne groaned. “That would be gross even if I weren’t
hungover
. Ronnie, please put that tray way over on the other side of the room,” Layne said with a weak wave of her hand. “I appreciate it, but I can’t smell food right now.”

Ronnie did as she was asked, then walked over to Layne and kissed her on the forehead. “I asked Stacy to look in on you.”

“That’s not necessary.” Layne’s head swam as she tried to sit up to show Ronnie she was fine. “I can’t handle sightseeing, but I’m not bed-bound, either. What you brought is all I need. Now you two go before you miss the van.”

“I have my phone in case you need anything,” Molly said as she stood. “Call me.”

“I will.”

*******

“Stick seemed mighty disappointed when we told her Layne wasn’t going,” Ronnie said as she and Molly strolled the streets of Apalachicola with Jenny trailing behind. “That’s a guaranteed fling for the next two weeks. It might do Layne some good to saddle up the cowgirl.”

“I don’t think Layne’s looking for anything right now, temporary or not,” Jenny said as she joined them. “She just needs time to get herself together and jump back into the game when she’s ready.”