Page 41 of Sea La Vie
“You must think we’re crazy,” Lainey sighs. “Sid, Lucille, and everyone else; they mean well, they really do. They’re not used to visitors, I guess. I think they’re maybe a little excited and want to impress you.” Lainey’s voice sounds pleading, like she’s trying to convince me this place really isn’t so bad. Like maybe she’s starting to warm up to me. Like maybe…she wants me to stay.
“It’s okay, Lainey,” I chuckle. “I know they mean well. Although, I’m still not too sure about Lucille. But, I’m still having a great time here.”
Lainey’s shoulders relax a fraction. “Do you want to play a round of bingo with me before we call it a day? If you’re up for it?”
“Only one round?” I ask. “Just so you know, I’m a bingo pro. I’d play all night if they’d let me.”
“I think it’s all luck, but nice try.” Lainey grins. One corner of her raspberry lips turns up in a smile, and she catches me staring at it. Slowly, her gaze meets mine.
“Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you something. How come you never told me you visited my Grandpa?” I ask.
Lainey licks her lower lip. “I don’t know. I didn’t want you to think I was doing it to get back at you or something.”
A halfhearted laugh bubbles from my chest. “Get back at me? Lainey, knowing that you’ve visited my grandpa every week for the past ten years couldn’t make me any happier. You have no idea what that means to me.”
Her eyes meet mine, and she gives me a shy smile. “I can’t wait to hear the rest of his story.”
“Me either,” I say. After he began telling us about his summer with Emma, he only got about a half an hour in before the nursereally did kick us out. We promised to come back as soon as possible, but it was hard to ignore the pang in my chest that he may not remember next time.
“I think there’s something else we should probably talk about, too,” I say, unsure of where my boldness is coming from. But it’s like Lainey’s a light and I’m a moth, constantly being pulled toward her. And I’d really like to know where we stand, especially because it seems that every time Lainey and I are together, a little piece of her wall cracks. It’s starting to feel like we are getting back to the way things used to be before I left for college.
Lainey slides an eyebrow up.
“When I was washing your dishes the other day…”
“We said we weren’t going to talk about that!” Lainey swats my arm playfully then covers her eyes and groans. I pull her hands away and hold them at my sides. It’s a position very similar to our kitchen incident, her hands sitting low on my hips.
“I’m not talking aboutthat,” I say, although if she wanted to talk about running into me half naked wielding a bottle of champagne as a weapon, I’d be more than happy to. Heaven knows I’ve only replayed it in my mind a million and half times. “I’m talking about what happened in the kitchen. I think we almost…you know.” I wiggle my eyebrows, and hope I don’t look like a complete dork.
“I do?” Lainey blushes before a smile lights up her entire face. It’s the first time I’ve seen a genuine smile from her since I’ve been back. And that’s when I know. It’s like a bad commercial from the early 2000s. I'm falling for her—hard—and I can’t get up.
“You mean how you almost kissed me before Lucille interrupted us?” Lainey’s eyes are trained on my lips, her voice barely above a whisper.
“I thinkyoualmost kissedme,” I correct her. She leans a fraction closer as I do the same, a contest to see who makes the first move. Our foreheads press together and I reach a hand up to cup her jaw.
“There you two are!” Lucille hollers. “I’ve been looking all over for you. I need my pirate costume back.”
I pull back and grimace, remembering what I’m wearing, and Lainey chuckles.
“You have some impeccable timing, Lucille,” I mutter. Louder, I say, “Let me go change.”
“I told you he was a thief,” Lucille says. “Trying to steal my costume. I’ve had that since our very first Founder’s Day, back in the fifties.”
“That explains the weird smell,” I mutter.
“I’ll go grab us seats at bingo,” Lainey promises. She takes off toward the bingo tent, leaving me alone with Lucille.
“You’re darn tootin’ I have impeccable timing,” she hisses. “You listen to me right now. Don’t you go breakin’ that girl's heart; it’s already been broken enough. Do you hear me?” She pokes a finger in my chest and raises one permanently tattooed eyebrow.
“Yes ma’am,” I reply, not because I’m scared of Lucille—I am—but because I know if I’m lucky enough for Lainey to give me her heart, I could never break it.
“She likes you,” she says through slotted eyes. “Beats me as to why, though.”
“She does?” I ask, warmth flooding through my chest. “How can you tell?”
“Open your eyes! The whole town can tell. Heck, even Sid picked up on it. Why do you think he attacked you like that?” Lucille’s talking animatedly, arms flying.
“Sid? Isn’t he like sixty?”
