Page 109 of Absorbed

“It is….” Stacey looked over her shoulder and sneered at her living room, where she’d spent so much of the last few weekscurled up pathetically on the couch. “But, could we…maybe go somewhere else to hang out instead?”

“Sure. Anywhere,” Gabe said.

His grin was so reassuring, Stacey had to resist an urge to kiss him for always showing up when she needed him the most. “The beach?”

Gabe dug his hands into the front pockets of his jeans, rocking a little on the heels of his Converse. “The beach would be great.”

“Could you give me like thirty?” Stacey asked, biting her bottom lip.

“I’ll come back.” Gabe reached down and gave Murphy another firm pat on her side. “We could take Murphy with us.”

Stacey’s heart swelled. “She’d love that. Do you have any tennis balls?”

“In the garage. I’ll dig ‘em out.” Gabe’s dimple appeared in his right cheek as he backed out. “Don’t worry, Murph; I’ll be back.” The screen slammed shut.

Stacey closed the front door and rested her back against it. “Murphy, we get to go to the beach with Gabe. Mr. Wonderful. I really need your help so I don’t screw up today, okay?”

Thirty minutes later, Stacey opened the door to Gabe’s three-knuckle knock. He held up a bag from Mr. Crumb’s donut shop, a Milk Bone, and two orange juices. “Breakfast?”

“Awesome!” Stacey said, leading Murphy on the leash out the screen door, and closing the front door behind her. “I’ll drive.”

Stacey had already thrown towels and a small ice chest with snacks in the trunk, covered her back seat with an old blanket, and brought an extra water bowl. She popped her seat forward to let Murphy jump in back. The dog spun around once, sniffing the back seat, before sitting proudly in the center.

Stacey rolled her window down, took the cinnamon twist from the bag, and started backing out of the driveway. “You’re the DJ on this road trip,” she told Gabe.

He held his bear claw in one hand and grabbed the book of CDs from under the passenger seat with the other. “What do you want to hear?” he asked, munching a too-big bite.

Stacey smirked and put the car in drive. “It’s not like Kevin and Bean are taking requests on KROQ.” She took a big bite, and imitated him talking with his mouthful. “I saidyou’rein charge of the music.”

“Don’t mock me, jackass.” Gabe elbowed her.

Stacey shoved another huge bite in her mouth and said, “Takes one to know one.”

By the time she pulled the Silver Bullet onto Mesa Valley Boulevard, Gabe had selected “When I Come Around” by Green Day. They sang along, while Murphy’s jowls flapped in the wind, her drool dripping on the side window the full five miles to the freeway.

As Stacey turned onto the onramp, she rolled up the windows and turned on the AC.Murphy curled onto the seat and closed her eyes.

Gabe left the album to play, but turned the volume down. “So, are you ready to talk about the accident at the pool?”

Stacey exhaled. “Yeah. I’ve actually had to talk about it a lot. I had to give my testimony to a lawyer at city hall yesterday.”

“Really? What did they ask?”

“Everything from when I arrived in the morning until the coroner left with the body Saturday afternoon, basically. Plus, the lawyer wanted to know about all of our ‘procedures’ and ‘protocols’.” She mock-imitated the lawyer.

“I can’t imagine,” he said.

“If you read the article, you know what most everyone else knows. It was a crazy morning. Way too many people. And weexpected it was going to be a crazy afternoon, too.” She used her blinker and looked over her shoulder before moving into the carpool lane. “But Jessie’s accident actually happened during lap swim, when it’s normally slow and boring. Bob went to city hall. By the time he got back, an ambulance was rushing Jessie to the hospital and a paramedic declared Mr. Henderson’s time of death.”

Stacey hadn’t decided yet how much she wanted to tell Gabe. Now, or ever. He was turned toward her and his undivided attention made her uneasy, but she decided that, like the lawyer, there were things that didn’t need to be shared. At least…not yet.

“That sounds terrible, Stace. I wish I’d known sooner. I’m so sorry.”

She gripped the steering wheel harder. “You went on a trip.” Stacey gave Gabe a small smile as she looked over her right shoulder and made her way to the 91 Freeway interchange. “Tell me about it.”

He faced the road. “The Grand Canyon. It was beautiful out there. So quiet. Untouched, you know? No one around for miles. We hiked and camped, carried everything in backpacks, hiked like twelve miles a day.”

Gabe rubbed his quads. They peeked out from his black and blue striped boardshorts, and his legs were more tan and more defined than before the trip.

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