Of course, I missed the hot postal worker that day. As a matter of fact, I missed him every day for the rest of the week. It was like he was avoiding me. I knew that wasn’t it, since he’d never met me, but still. I didn’t even get a look at him again. It was downright disappointing. I had the office organized already. By the end of the week, I’d either stored or displayed all the merchandise Cat bought at the wholesaler. I twiddled my thumbs and felt guilty. Maybe this wasn’t a full-time job. I hated to tell Cat that. I was terrified of being broke. Friday had me on pins and needles, waiting for time to close up shop. I had lots to do before Vee got to my house.
At ten thirty, Vee’s headlights lit up my house. I’d been reading a good book, but had no problem putting it down to greet my friend. I hadn’t realized how lonely I’d been until I saw her get out of her car and smile at me.
“You made it!” I ran out and hugged her fiercely. We started pulling bags out of her trunk together.
“That’s one heck of a long drive,” she said.
“Tell me about it. But just wait until tomorrow morning. You won’t believe how beautiful the sunrise is.”
“I’m thinking the sun rises earlier than nine, so I’ll be missing that event.” She stopped and looked up into the sky. The stars were out with no clouds to obstruct the view.
“See the Milky Way?” I pointed to the smudgy streaks in the sky. She wrinkled her nose and turned to me.
“That’s it? I thought it was all colorful and bright.”
“You’re talking about those time-lapse photographs. But you’ve gotta admit, this is pretty great.” I started rolling her largest bag toward the front door.
“I didn’t know there were that many stars,” she said.
“Remember Carl Sagan? “Billions and Billions.” He named his book that.”
“My brain can’t wrap around that. How about you pour me some wine?” She dropped her bags at the door and swept Sally up in a hug. “Hey, sweetie pie!”
“I think she knew something was up. She’s been watching the window for hours.”
Vee rubbed her nose in the fur on Sally’s back. “She misses her Auntie Vee. Yes, she does.” She was baby talking. I’d never heard her do that before. It cracked me up.
“Here, see if you like this.” She put the kitten down and took the wine glass.
“Me likes it,” she said as she snuggled into the overstuffed chair I’d been sitting in to read.
“So, what’s new?”
“Let’s see. Lyle has a boyfriend, but he won’t admit it. Angel is taking belly dancing lessons.”
“Get out!” I pulled my feet under me and waited for the next nugget.
“I heard they had more lay-offs at Whitney, Mercer, Applebaum and Littleton, so you shouldn’t feel bad.” She sipped the wine and nodded her pleasure.
“Wow, who’s left to run the show?” I went into the kitchen pantry to retrieve the stick with the feather on the end and handed it to Vee. Sally went to town on it immediately. Vee giggled.
“Maybe they’ll cut their noses off to spite their faces. Serve ‘em right,” she said.
“I guess.”
“So, what have you heard from the vet?” She ducked her head and stared at me through her eyelashes.
“Not a damned thing. Makes me so mad at myself.”
“At yourself? What? You should be mad at that creep. Who does that kind of thing to someone? If he comes around while I’m here, I’ll get him in a tazzmission hold and not let up until he begs your forgiveness.”
“I love it when you talk wrestling. What’s a tazzmission hold?”
“Never you mind. Just know that he’ll be sorry.” She’d finished her wine, so I refilled the glass. “This is good stuff. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. You hungry?”
“Always. What ‘cha got?” She followed me into the kitchen. Sally followed too, meowing.
“We’re not feeding you. It’s late and you’ve already had three meals today.” I pointed at Sally, but she only had eyes for Vee.
“Ah, she’s hungry.” Vee put her glass on the counter and snuggled her face into cat fur.
“You’re going to get cat hair in your mouth,” I said.
“It’ll wash out. I’ve missed this little white fur ball.”
“You two sure bonded fast.” I poured more wine and pulled a platter of olives, cheese, and pickles out of the fridge. I’d already put out a box of crackers. I started opening them, and Sally meowed and started fighting to get out of Vee’s arms.
“She likes to eat. I’ll say that for her.”
“Well,” Vee said, “If you’d been left out in the streets to starve, you’d probably be like that too.” She turned and said in her baby talk voice, “Wouldn’t you? Yeah, you would.”
I rolled my eyes and put some cheese on a couple of crackers. We stood around eating and chatting until our feet got tired.
“I guess we better go to sleep if you want me to get up by nine,” Vee said as she stuffed an olive in her mouth.
Vee was true to her word. She didn’t wake up until nine-thirty, and she wanted coffee immediately. She can be a little demanding, but I love her.
“Let’s walk to Bernacki’s. You won’t believe how good their cinnamon rolls are.”
“Do I have to get dressed?” She loved staying in her pajamas all day on Saturdays.
“Don’t whine. It’ll be worth it. We can take a walk on the beach after we eat.”
“What is this? Fat-spa weekend?”
I swatted at her as she headed toward my bathroom.
“Hey, no damaging the merchandise,” she said.
After practically dragging her all the way to Bernacki’s, I thought I’d never get her out of the place. We split one cinnamon roll, and we both had a sausage kolache. Our lattes were perfect with cute little hearts made in the foam. Mr. Wallingford’s dog, Billy Bob, was back at his station out front, so he got some good lovin’ from both of us. His tail was wagging so excitedly, his whole body shook. Vee wanted to take him home to Sally, but I convinced her that wouldn’t be a good combination. We finally made it to the shore around eleven. The sun was glinting off the water, making us squint.
“Look at these little birds.” Vee pointed to the sandpipers searching for goodies each time a wave swept out and little holes appeared. “They’re just like those pictures I’ve seen at the mall galleries.”
People were everywhere. It was getting close to the full-on tourist season. Kids were squealing and splashing each other, parents were burning their tender skin, and teenagers were learning to use boogie boards in the small waves we get. A couple of wind-surfers were getting some speed up outside the sandbar.
“Now that looks like fun,” Vee said as she stared at the wind-surfers, holding her hand over her eyes for shade.
“Looks like work to me.”
“That one’s a hottie.” She pointed to the guy on the left. I squinted into the sun and watched a long, lean guy handle the board and sail easily. He had blond hair.
“I think that’s my mail man,” I said.
“Girl! Why haven’t you told me about him yet?” She nudged my shoulder playfully. We admired his physique for a while, but the sun was too intense, so I rented an umbrella and two chairs from Barry’s rentals, and we settled in with our books. I love having bookworm friends. The story I was reading had just gotten good and juicy when someone approached us.
“Hey, ladies.” He was smiling at Vee.
“Nice form,” she said. Was this the surfing mailman? I wasn’t sure. He had on bright blue board shorts and no shirt. He was dripping. I licked my lips.
“Thanks. Are you just visiting? I know most every local around here.” He directed his question to Vee. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not the jealous type. After all, the woman has caramel skin to die for stretched over a toned, voluptuous body, but hey, I’m not invisible. I wanted to say, “Hello boy, over here boy,” like I would call a puppy. Fortunately, I was able to keep my mouth shut.
Vee shot her thumb my way. “She’s a local. Guess you don’t know ‘em all.” She batted her eyelashes at him.
He finally looked my way. “Hey. You new?”
“Just moved a month or so ago, but I grew up here.” I resisted the eyelash batting.
“Hmm, where?”
“Where did I grow up? I just said I grew up here.”
“No, I mean, what street?” He had intense blue eyes rimmed with long blond lashes that looked sun bleached to almost white.
“Breaker. Where the condos are now.”
“Gnarly. So, you moved away. Why’d you come back?” He leaned over to put his head in the shade.
“Nosey?” Vee asked. He smiled at her and turned back to me.
“Not really. It’s weird that I don’t know her is all.”
“Well, let me introduce you. Samantha Jones this is…” She looked at the guy and waited for him to insert his name.
“Joel Martindale,” he said. He to me. “And you are?”
“Vee.” She tapped her chest.
“Bee?”
“Vee, like in vixen,” I said and snickered.
“Watch it.” Vee acted upset at me, but her smile gave her away.
“Would you ladies like to join me and a few of my buddies tonight for dinner?” He was pretty adorable. The hair on his legs looked as bleached out as his eyelashes and brows.
“Do you think we’re easy?” Vee put her hand on her hip and gave him the evil eyeball.
He backed away with his hands held out in front of him. “Nothing like that. Just thought you might have fun. Me and my buddies mean no harm.”
“Well, OK, then,” she said for both of us.
“Epic, dudettes. See you at Patty’s around eight?”
Dudettes? We looked at each other and grinned.
“Eight it is,” I said.
“Sick!” He strode away.
We broke out in giggles.
“Was he for real?” Vee managed to get out after we’d laughed ourselves silly.
“Yeah, dudette, and he was stoked, man.” I used my best surfer dude accent, and we cracked up again.
“So glad I came,” she said.
“Me too!”
Patty’s was overflowing with locals and tourists when we arrived, sunburnt and ready for drinks. A band played country music on the patio, so Vee and I opted for an inside table. We’d been there long enough to have one margarita each when Joel and his buddies found us. Patty makes a strong drink, so Vee and I were well on our way to being tipsy.
Joel wore board shorts in a bright orange and yellow pattern. He’d donned a Hawaiian print shirt that clashed, and flip-flops.
“Stoked you dudettes made it!” he said as he pulled a chair from another table, pointed it backwards and sat facing us with his arms on the back.
“Good of you to show up thirty minutes late,” Vee said in her most sarcastic voice.
“Island time, lady. Island time.” He nodded his head and showed no trace of being sorry for being late.
“Don’t worry about her,” I said, “She’s still on city time.” Hey, I know how to talk like a local. Some things you never forget.
A couple of guys who looked as obviously like surfers as Joel came in from the patio. Joel stood up, and they all patted each other on their backs and did a lot of nodding and saying they were stoked and how gnarly everything was. When they finished their surfing ritual greetings, Joel sat back down and the other two guys found chairs from various tables. They all sat backwards like Joel. I guess it’s a surfer thing.
Kyle was tall, with dark hair that was still wet. His eyes were the darkest brown. It was difficult to tell where his iris started and stopped. He couldn’t have been more than twenty years old. He didn’t talk much, but bobbed his head to the music seeping through the windows. We were too old for him to be interested in conversation, or anything else.
Jeffrey was closer to Joel’s age, if my guess was correct. He wore a Salt Life t-shirt with cargo shorts and deck shoes. He shook our hands, which took me off guard.
“Nice to meet you. Joel says one of you grew up here. Which one?” His eyes moved from me to Vee and back again.
“Me.” I raised my hand slightly. Our waitress happened to be passing by and thought I was calling her over, so she stopped and got orders from all of us. I opted for another margarita, knowing that Vee and I could walk home and get my car in the morning. Vee asked for a double. The woman likes a good buzz, that’s for sure. The guys all got beer.
“I grew up in Brownsville,” Jeffrey said. “Used to come here when the beaches were too crowded at Isabel. That’s how I met Joel.” He patted his friends back, and Joel bobbed his head up and down.
“Ever met a guy named Trent Jensen?” I figured it wouldn’t hurt to get some background.
“Yeah, went to high school with him. He was into sailing. He wasn’t bro, so I didn’t hang out with him much.
“Was he an OK guy?”
“I guess. He was popular, if you know what I mean? Never saw him stoned.”
Jeffrey looked over at Joel, and they did that hand signal surfers do with the thumb and little finger sticking out. I wasn’t sure what that meant. Kyle was busy checking out the new waitress with the low-cut shirt, so he didn’t hear a word we were saying.
It was loud with people yelling to be heard over the music. After our brief interchange, the guys mostly talked amongst themselves. We heard surfing terms I didn’t know existed like ankle busters, Eskimo roll, 360s, carve, pig dog and goofy foot. They used some I’d grown up with like pearl, foamies and mushburgers. The drinks started making me and Vee silly.
She leaned over and said into my ear, “It’s like we’re on a great adventure with Ted and Bill.” We both laughed so hard at that one that I almost fell out of my chair.
We stayed until after eleven when the guys started hinting that they wanted to take us to their pad. It was time to go home for us, so we paid up, locked arms and waddled home without escorts. We stumbled inside and collapsed on the couch, laughing uncontrollably.
“Tell me you aren’t going to date any of those guys, please.” Vee had her hands in the praying position but couldn’t keep the smile off her face.
“What was I thinking?” I pulled my hair up and fanned my face.
“Your room is waving at me.”
“Don’t you dare puke,” I yelled. She’d done that to me before, and let me tell you, it ain’t pretty.
She laid down and put her head on my lap. “Sleepy now,” she said, so I got up and threw a pillow at her. She grabbed it and crumpled it up under her head. She was snoring before I made it to my bedroom. Sally was hiding in the closet. I guess we were making too much noise for her. I tried to coax her out, but gave up and fell onto the bed fully clothed. If the silly cat wanted to come out, she would.
I woke up to the smell of coffee. Vee had opened all the windows and the sounds of the surf almost lulled me back to sleep. I made myself get up, though. I didn’t want to waste the time I had with my friend.
“Hey,” I mumbled as I shuffled into the kitchen.
Sally was at her bowl eating, and Vee was dressed and sipping coffee at the table.
“What got you up so early?”
“Sally was meowing and digging her claws into my back. I woke up with slobber on your pillow. You might want to wash that cover after I leave.”
“Yuck. Thanks for the warning.”
She got this serious look on her face and started to say something but stopped and drank some more coffee instead.
“What? I hate it when you do that. Just spit it out, girlfriend.” I sat at the table and blew on my coffee.
“I was thinking about last night. Remember I told you that you shouldn’t date any of those guys?”
“Don’t worry.”
“No, what I was gonna say was, maybe you should. I mean that veterinarian was cute and all, but the guy stood you up. I couldn’t believe you were asking that Jeffrey guy about him. I don’t want you getting hung up on somebody that won’t treat you right. Maybe surfer Joel would be alright when he gets away from his friends.”
“Wow. I think he’d be a little much for me.”
Vee poured some more coffee and sat back down. “Listen, you could go out and have some fun. You don’t have to marry the guy. I mean, think about it. When was the last time either of us laughed that hard? He’s pretty entertaining.”
“I’ll think about it.” I said to get her off the subject.
“You do that. Now, get dressed. I need one of those cinnamon rolls. I want a whole one for myself today. Drinking always makes me hungry for carbs the next day.”
“Sounds like a plan. What else do you want to do?”
“Go back to the beach. I want to hear those waves as much as I can before I have to leave.”
And when will that be? I wish you could stay for a while. I’ve really missed you.”
“Gotta leave around three if I want to get back in time to get a good night’s rest before Monday morning hits me hard.” She stuck her bottom lip out and stared into her coffee cup.
“Bummer, dudette,” I said as I walked toward the bedroom to get dressed. She threw the dish towel at me but missed. I turned around and stuck my tongue out at her. She started to get up, but I ran into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.
“Chicken.” She was laughing again. I loved hearing that sound in my little beach rental. It went perfect with the waves and palm fronds in the breeze. Now if I could only find a guy that made me that happy.
“Yeah, right,” I said to myself as I turned on the shower. “Good luck with that.”