Page 18 of New Day at the Beach House

Trina thought about that. “I don’t know. A lot of our stuff is kind of worn. Most of it was secondhand to begin with. So maybe not. Other than the stuff you mentioned, my clothes and shoes and accessories. There are a few things. The photo albums. A couple of keepsakes. But there’s a lot I could leave behind, too.”

Her bed in that house was a twin that she’d slept on since she was maybe eight or nine. Her bed here was so much nicer it wasn’t even a competition.

“Then it shouldn’t be too hard to sort out,” Mimi said. “Maybe your mom and I can go back and take care of that while you stay here and deal with getting the salon open.”

“But then I won’t have a car.”

“Your car will stay here. I’ll rent us one and we’ll drop it off when we get there. We’ll have your mom’s, like you said.”

“Yeah, I suppose that would work. But there is something else I need.”

“What’s that, sweetness?”

“A printer. I know everything’s supposed to be paperless and all that, but I like having paper copies of things. It’s easier to keep straight. At least to me it is.”

Mimi nodded. “I agree with you. I’m the same way. Where can we get a printer? Is there a place in town?”

“There’s a Walmart. We can get one there.”

Her grandmother dug around in her fanny pack and pulled out a credit card. “Here. Go get whatever you need. And pick me up a bag of Twizzlers, will you? I want them for the play tonight.”

Trina smiled as she took the card. “You don’t think they’ll give me any grief about this not being my card?”

Her grandmother frowned. “If you go through the self-checkout lane, you could be an albino gorilla and they wouldn’t say boo.”

“I suppose that’s true.” Trina got up and went into the bedroom to grab her purse. She came back to the living room. “I’ll check in with Ma before I go and make sure there’s nothing else we need.”

“Good girl.”

Trina took the steps down to the ground floor and walked over to the pool. Her mom was just getting out. “Hey, I’m headed to Walmart to get Twizzlers for Mimi and a printer so I can print out some of the salon stuff.”

“Don’t forget a cable,” her mother said.

Trina nodded. “I’m going to get a wireless one. You need anything? Or do we need anything for the house?”

Roxie grabbed her towel and started to dry off. “We could use eggs. If you feel like getting them.”

“Sure, I’ll pick some up. It’ll be a quick trip, because then I have to get ready for the play, although I’m not dressing up too much.” Trina glanced down at what she had on. “Probably not much fancier than this.”

Her mother nodded. “Same. Although now that I know Ethan’s going to be there, I want to look nice. Hey, have you talked to Miles lately?”

“I texted with him a bit at lunch.”

“Did you invite him to the play?”

“No, he’s on shift tonight. I told him how things were going and that we’re staying here and all that.” She smiled. “He was happy we’re staying.”

Her mom smiled, too. “I bet he is. His girlfriend is about to be a major businesswoman.”

“Ma, I don’t know about all that.”

Her mom walked over. “Trina, you are going to be the best, most sought-after hair stylist in this town. Your shop is going to be the number one place to get your hair done. People will be on a waiting list to see you. Mark my words. You have what it takes.”

Even though her mom was still wet from the pool, Trina hugged her. “Thanks, Ma. That means a lot to me.”

Her mom hugged her back, laughing. “You’re going to get all wet!”

Trina shrugged as she let her mom go. “It’s Walmart. No one’s going to care.”

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