Page 2 of Not Another Beach Read
Drew's arms dropped to his sides as he rolled his eyes. "The big deal is that one of these days someone is not going to appreciate having their picture taken and you are going to be the one standing there. I'm going to get a phone call one of these days that you're hurt. Do you think you'll listen at that point?"
"Probably not."
"That's what I thought." He turned once again to continue stirring, but his lecture continued. "I don't understand why you feel the need to do this. You've got a job you love at the bookstore. You've got your book club. You've got your golf league. You have all the friends you could possibly want. You're helping Paige with her writing retreats. And we've got our Jamaica trip coming up. Does all of that make you horribly unhappy? Are you not fulfilled? What is it? How can I help you?"
"I just like feeling needed. I like feeling helpful, and I certainly don't like men out there thinking that they can do whatever they want and get away with it." I closed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around him from behind, prompting him to turn and mirror my affection. His hand rubbed my back while his heartbeat slammed into me.
I hated that I'd upset him, but not enough to relent. It was the only way I had to feel as if all the lies in my own life could be swept away, instead of just under the rug.
He stepped back and gently took my hand, pulling me over to the kitchen table. He pulled my chair out for me, then turned his and sat so we were face to face. This was his favorite "Come to Jesus" speech position. "Honey, I understand your reasoning behind this. If anybody understands you, it is me. But what I don't understand is why you continue to put yourself in harm's way for perfect strangers."
"They're not strangers. These are our neighbors." My eyes remained on his face as my hands searched for the closest thing to fiddle with. A napkin left over from breakfast fell victim to my nervous energy as I folded it into a tiny square and flicked it into his lap. "Two points," I said deadpan, but Drew was less than impressed with my deflection skills. He picked up the projectile and set it on the table between us, then leaned over to still my hands before I could grab it again.
"This is exactly my point. These are our neighbors, and you're getting yourself involved in their personal business. When this first started out, and it was something you were doing once in a while, I thought for sure it was going to blow over quickly. And now this has been going on for two years, and it just doesn't seem like this is going to end well."
Eden, having given up on Drew returning to his dropping station anytime soon, wandered over and lowered her head into my lap, volunteering the baby-chick-soft fur under her ears as tribute. I wrapped my hands around her ears and bent to kiss the top of her head.
"I promise you that I'm careful. I'm going to be fine. Most of the time I just follow them for a couple days, take a few notes, snap a few pictures. Super stealthily, of course. Besides, it only takes them a little while to mess up and after that, my job is done."
"Yeah, except that lady goes on these mommy groups that you're on and tells everyone how great you are, and then the next thing you know, her friend is calling you, wanting you tofollow her husband around. I'm telling you Elyse, this has got to stop. You're putting yourself in harm's way and there just isn't any logical explanation for why."
"Not everything I do has to be logical."
Drew took a measured breath in and wiped invisible sweat from his forehead. "Don't I know it. But, Elyse, this is definitely high up on the scale of illogical behavior. I just don't see this ending well."
I admitted we had a deep mutual understanding based on shared history, even though we'd only been together for a little over a decade. Drew had often tagged along while his Dad was coaching my high school's varsity softball team. We played catch after every practice until the street lights came on, then he walked me back home. After two seasons of playing catch, he finally worked up the courage to ask me out during the end-of-season party at the end of our senior year. We had the best summer of our lives until we went our separate ways when we left for our respective colleges.
Nearly two decades later, who happened to pop up on my LinkedIn? That's right! My old softball coach! Just kidding. It was Drew. Like me, he was newly single, and like me, he was pretty much over other people's nonsense. Three years later, we said "I do" on the beach in Oyster Bay, Jamaica, and it had been like one big sleepover with my best friend. I know. Barf. But we were content and fulfilled. Mostly.
2
ELYSE
March, 2014
They say if you really want to test your compatibility, take a trip together. Neither of us have a whole lot of disposable income right now, so we decide to rent a car and turn this little adventure into a road trip. Sounds like fun, right? Worst-case scenario is we break down on some remote country road and have a story to tell everyone when we get home. The plan is simple (in concept). While Drew is at work, I'm going to rent the car, pick up his dog at his house, drop him off at the kennel, then meet Drew back at my house to pack the trunk and leave. Well, what they say about the best laid plans is absolutely true, because these plans turned into a cautionary tale about how if something can possibly go wrong, it will.
When I arrive at the rental facility, I'm already running thirty minutes behind schedule. No surprise there, but as a lifelong, card-carrying member of the procrastinators society, I have no doubt I can make up the time somewhere. After all, I work best under pressure. I stroll into Enterprise with all theconfidence of a varsity quarterback on Friday night. When the line in front of me clears, I plunk down my ID and credit card. "Last name is Hall. I reserved a car for today."
The rental associate looks harried. It's three-thirty on a Thursday and from the look on his face, he's ready to throw the towel in for the day. "This should be an easy one for you," I quip, reassuring myself just as much as him if I'm being honest.
"Welcome to Enterprise! Let's get you going here. We've got you down for a mid-size sedan for five days. Does that sound correct?"
"Yep!" We're off to a good start.
"Okay, I need your license and a major credit card." He looks down at the counter and relief transforms his face. "Oh, look at you! You're ready for me! I love when people are this prepared. It makes my job so much easier."
As I stand there beaming with pride, I have no idea that this is the very moment when everything is about to go sideways. One day when I look back, it's going to be so embarrassing how confident I'm feeling right now.
"Ms. Hall, do you happen to have a more recent drivers license? This one is expired."
Remember my passing mention of how I love to procrastinate? I don't just put off big icky things like mammograms and filing my taxes. It's every-damned-thing from buying a new tube of toothpaste to... renewing my drivers license. In fact, I've put this particular task off for so long that I didn't even remember that it was out of date. Yeah... it's a gift.
I take the ID back from him and stare at the date as if by some miracle the date will change to one more in the range he's looking for (as in, sometime this calendar year), sigh, and gather my wits a bit while silently cursing myself for this ridiculous flaw I can't seem to overcome.
"I'll be back. How long can you hold this car?" I ask him, silently praying for some sort of miracle at this point.
He looks down and my eyes follow his gaze to the counter where his hands are clenched tightly in front of him. It's at this point where I realize that I'm NOT going to be the customer that makes his day better. Quite the opposite, actually.
