by Jeff Shelby
I looked across the top of her car. The sun was gone now, the lights of the condo buildings dotting the darkened shoreline. The heat clung to the evening air and I knew the garage would be stuffy.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t have any plans right now, though.”
She stared at me for a long moment. “So you’ll at least be here tomorrow.”
I laughed, then nodded. “Yeah, pretty sure.”
She smiled again. “Then maybe Jax and I will see you on the beach.” She bounced her eyebrows. “You’ve been warned.”
She made a U-turn in the cul-de-sac and waved a hand out her window as she and Jackson drove off.
ELEVEN
I woke early the next morning, seagulls squawking on the bay behind the house, the humidity already oppressive.
I’d slept restlessly, images of Zip clouding my mind. I’d tossed and turned for most of the night, not knowing what I should do now that someone knew where I was. It was possible that Zip didn’t even know the details of why I’d left San Diego, but I didn’t know if I could take a chance on sticking around to find out.
I washed my face and threw on a pair of shorts. I wondered if it would ever be different. Would I feel this way wherever I was? Always looking over my shoulder, always nervous about who might be around the next corner? I didn’t know how long I could live like that.
But I wasn’t sure how to change it, either.
The concrete guys showed up a little after seven, just as Ike promised, and I showed them what he wanted done. They seemed to understand and went about their business.
I went back in, grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, smashed a granola bar into my mouth, pulled my backpack on and headed for the beach.
The humidity in the garage was nothing compared to the humidity outside. Sweat dripped down my back within thirty seconds of starting my walk to the beach, the air wrapping around me like a hot, moist blanket.
The sand was already dotted with chairs and towels as I unlocked the shed and pulled out the umbrellas. People immediately streamed my way and I was happy to be occupied with planting and opening umbrellas along the shoreline, forcing my mind away from places it didn’t want to be.
By ten, my umbrellas were all out and I had only a handful of chairs left to rent. The water was filled with kelp and most of the beach-goers had planted themselves on the sand, shielded from the sun, hoping the tides would clear out the thick bundles of June grass.
I was stretched out in a chair, burying my feet in the sand when Jackson came jogging up the sand, waving at me, closely followed by Bella.
Male heads turned casually, trying to steal a quick glance at her as she walked, her slim body exposed in a skimpy, light brown bikini. She wore giant black sunglasses and her hair was pulled back away from her face. There was no denying she was attractive.
“Hey!” he yelled. “Hi! It’s me! Jackson!”
I held a hand up and waved at him. “Hey, dude.”
He crashed onto his knees next to me, huffing and puffing, his cheeks bright red. He dropped a plastic basket of beach toys and they spilled out next to him.
Bella strode up the sand behind him, a black nylon backpack slung over her shoulder. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
“Do you just sit here and bake all day?” she asked, wrinkling her nose.
“Pretty much.”
She shook her head. “You aren’t even under an umbrella.”
“I rented all of them.”
“So do you ever sit under one?”
“No.”
“Didn’t think so.”
“Can I stay with you?” Jackson asked, grabbing my leg.
“What?” I asked, looking at him.
She frowned at Jackson and sighed. “Jackson.”
He squeezed my shin. “Can I?”
I looked at Bella. “Do you need me to watch him?”
“No,” she said. “Well, yeah. I mean…ugh.” She shifted her feet in the sand. “I need to run a quick errand and he doesn’t wanna go.”
“I wanna build a castle,” he said, digging his hands deep into the sand. “A super big one.”
“He immediately said he wanted to come stay with you. I told him we’d walk down and see what you were doing,” she said. “But I made him no promises because you’re working.”
Jackson twisted his head up to her and squinted. “He’s just sitting here.”
“Jackson. Hush.”
I smiled. “He can stay with me.”
He raised his fists in the air, sand flying everywhere. “Yes!”
“Are you sure?” Bella asked. “I feel like we’re just showing up here and dumping on you.”
“Well. You are.”
Her face flushed.
“I’m kidding,” I said. “Really. It’s fine. He can stay.”
“Are you positive?”
“Yes. Positive.”
She pursed her lips. “I know he doesn’t wanna go and I honestly have no one else to watch him. But…I mean, we barely even know you.”
I shrugged.
“But he asked to come to you,” she said. “He likes you. You were nice to him.”
Jackson already had his hands buried up to his elbows, moving sand around to begin castle construction. I wondered who hadn’t been nice to him.
“I like him, too,” I said.
“I can give you my cell,” she said. “You can call me if you need to?”
“Nah, it’s fine,” I said. “We’ll be right here.”
“Maybe I should get yours?” she said. “Just in case.”
I cleared my throat. “Actually, I don’t have one.”
“You don’t have a phone?”
I shook my head.
“Wow,” she said. “I didn’t know that was allowed anymore.”
It was an inconvenience not having one. It really was. But I knew that getting one would provide a possible route to finding me.
Besides, I had no one to call.
“Okay,” Bella said, adjusting her sunglasses and adjusting the backpack on her shoulder. “Thirty minutes. I promise.”
“We’ll be here.”
“Jackson, you listen to Noah, alright?” she said. “He’s the boss.”
“He’s the boss,” Jackson said, studying the mountain of sand in front of him. “Okay.”
“Thank you,” she said. “Really. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
I watched her as she walked across the sand, away from the water and toward the dunes and wondered where she was heading.
TWELVE
I couldn’t recall if I’d ever babysat, but if I had, I’d never sat for a kid with half the energy of Jackson.
From the moment Bella left, it was like someone plugged him in and set him on high. I helped him dig a hole about three feet deep. Then we dug a moat around the hole. He grabbed the wall and turret-shaped sand molds he’d brought and we worked together, filling them with sand and placing them around the moat, sculpting a castle.
He was a blur of constant motion, constantly jumping up and running to the other side of the hole to inspect or fix something. Then he’d sprint back and collapse into the sand, deciding on the next piece to build.
He chattered constantly, talking about the castle and the water and dogs and his mom and crackers and just about everything else you might find in an encyclopedia. He laughed randomly at his own words and never once asked where his mother was or when she’d be back.
I envied his carefree attitude and joy at nearly every little thing we did.
After I don’t know how long, we walked down to the water to rinse the sand off of our arms and legs. He splashed me and I splashed him back. He giggled and dropped face first into the waves, popping back up and shaking the water off like a dog.
I laughed and shook my head.
“Are you trying to drown him?”
I turned around and Bella was standing behind us.
“No,” I sa
id. “Just rinsing off.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t blame you,” she said, coming down next to me in the ankle deep water. “I’ve thought about it plenty of times.”
“I doubt that.”
Jackson jumped up and fell backwards into the water.
“You’re probably right,” she said, smiling at her son. “He can be awful cute.”
“You get your stuff done?” I asked.
Her smile broke a bit and she ran a hand through her hair. “Um, yeah. All done.”
Her cheeks were pink, not from the heat, and her ponytail was in disarray. Something was off, but I couldn’t place it.
“He didn’t drive you nuts, did he?” she asked.
“Not at all. We had fun.”
“He can be a handful.”
“He did most of the work,” I said. “I was an assistant.”
A wave rolled in and knocked Jackson off his feet. He bounced up and flexed his tiny muscles, roaring at the water.
She shook her head. “If only he had more confidence.”
I smiled. “He’s a fun kid.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “Thank you. For saying that. And for watching him. And I keep having to thank you.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Yes. I do,” she said. “You’ve bailed me out twice in two days.”
I wanted to tell her that playing with her son was as much fun as I’d had in months, but I was fearful of the questions that might bring out. But it was the truth. Playing with Jackson was the first time I’d stopped worrying since I’d left San Diego.
“So I’m gonna need to pay you back again,” she said.
“No, you don’t.”
“I want to,” she said, touching my elbow. “For two days we've invaded your life and you’ve been nothing but kind to me and to Jackson.” She hesitated and her hand fell away. “It’s been awhile since we’ve…had that.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I watched Jackson do jumping jacks, water spraying all around him.
“Would you like to come over and have dinner with us?” she asked. “Not hamburgers from a window. But a real dinner.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know I don’t, but I’d like to and I’ll feel guilty if you don’t let me,” she said. “Plus, you live in a garage and I don’t think you’re doing a lot of cooking in there.”
I shook my head, but didn’t say anything.
“I’m off tonight,” she said. “And I’m a decent cook. I swear.”
I felt stuck. I wasn’t sure what to do. It wasn’t that I minded spending time with her or Jackson. I didn’t. I was enjoying their company. But I feared several hours in a confined place with anyone. Even I couldn’t do that much small talk.
“Please,” she said, touching my elbow again. “I’d really like to.”
Jackson got down on all fours and began barking at the waves, splashing around and bucking in the water. He was a very funny little boy.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll come for dinner.”
THIRTEEN
Late afternoon clouds billowed in over the water and the tourists headed in early. I collected the chairs and umbrellas and locked up the shed a little after three, then headed back across the highway to the house.
The concrete guys had cut out for the day and I was anxious about going to Bella’s for dinner.
So I grabbed a shovel and a hoe and started trenching. I dug sprinkler trenches for three hours.
The sweat poured off me as I dug, the clouds providing no protection from the humidity and heat. I worked hard, pulling up the sand and clay, making sure it was deep enough to lay the PVC piping and hoses that Ike wanted in. It was physical, mindless work and when I stopped, my muscles ached and I was too tired to be anxious.
I went inside and showered away the dirt and grime from the yard. I found a clean pair of shorts and a T-shirt, slid my feet into sandals, found the scrap of paper Bella had written her address down on, and headed out.
On my bike.
No phone, no car. There were definitely disadvantages to laying low.
Ike had somehow found me an old beach cruiser and left it for me. I rarely went anywhere I couldn’t walk, but based on Bella’s description of where their house was, it was too far to go it on foot. I pulled the bike around from the side of the house, pushed it out to the cul-de-sac and took off.
Sunset had dampened the humidity, but the air still felt thick and heavy as I pedaled. I went east on the highway, riding against traffic and then north over the bridge, past the massive souvenir stores and chain restaurants and into Fort Walton Beach proper. I pedaled down the boulevard, past the small boutiques and stores, and took a right into one of the old neighborhoods.
The houses were small, compact ranches on rectangle lots, the sidewalks crooked and cracked. Older cars sat in the driveways and it felt quieter and more sedate than the tourist area out on the strip.
I made a couple of turns and found their street and coasted into the driveway behind Bella’s car. I dropped the bike next to a faded Big Wheel and knocked on a beaten, metal screen door.
Feet scurried on the other side and Jackson crashed into the door.
“Noah’s here!” he yelled. “Noah’s here!”
He pushed the door open and grabbed me by the hand. “Come on! You have to see my room!”
The door banged shut behind me and Bella stepped into the living room, smoothing her hands over her yellow tank top and denim shorts. Her hair was wet and brushed straight down, a faint bit of makeup on her face.
She put her hands on her hips. “Jackson, you’re going to chase him away before we even eat.”
“I want to show him my Legos!” he yelled, still tugging on my arm.
Bella looked at me. “Hi.”
“Hey.”
“You’re going to have to tolerate Legos for a few minutes, I think.”
“I’ll live.”
Jackson dragged me down a narrow hall and into a small, square room. His twin bed was made, a thin Batman comforter covering it. A small white dresser sat against one wall, a tiny matching desk against another. Bins of Legos spilled out from beneath the bed and he fell to his knees next to them.
I sat down next to him and he started talking a mile a minute, holding up and explaining a multitude of different pieces, then dropping them into a pile. He was literally shaking, he was so excited. He could barely get the words out of his mouth.
I felt Bella behind us but I didn’t turn around. I didn’t want him to think I wasn’t paying attention.
“And this one, this one is like a space shuttle,” he gushed. “Like a rocket ship. The one that goes to the moon. I built it all by myself. And it has a station where it launches from. We could build it. Do you want to?”
“Jax, baby, we’re going to eat in just a few,” Bella said from the doorway.
“Awwwwww.”
“Maybe after, okay?” she said.
He looked at me. “After dinner?”
I nodded. “Sure.”
He thrust his fists in the air like he had at the beach. “Yes!”
“You clean up your pieces,” Bella said. “I’m gonna have Noah help me in the kitchen.”
“I’ll hurry!” he said, grabbing armfuls of pieces and tossing them into the bins.
Bella motioned for me to follow her and I did, back down the hallway into a small, galley kitchen.
“I figured I should rescue you,” she said. “Otherwise, you’ll be in there all night.”
“He likes his Legos.”
“And then some. You want something to drink? Beer, soda, water?”
“Beer would be good.”
She opened the fridge and held up a Blue Moon. “Good?”
“Good.”
She pulled out a second, grabbed a magnetic opener off the fridge door and popped the tops on both.
She handed me one. “Hope you like lasagna.”
“I do.”
&nb
sp; “Should be ready in about fifteen minutes,” she said. “That okay?”
