“Morning, Lass,” Pop said. “This is my nephew.”
Avery stood to shake my hand. A tight tee shirt stretched around a sculpted upper body, showing actual ripples—ripples! And when he smiled at me, it was a celebrity’s smile. I could have sworn I saw a starburst of light spin off his teeth, like in the chewing gum commercials on television. “Good morning.”
“Good morning to you, too,” I managed. Life in Rumton suddenly looked brighter. I poured myself some coffee and refilled Pop’s cup. “It’s wonderful that you were able to get here so quick.”
He aimed the star-quality smile at me again, and an adrenaline rush spread through my body. “I brought all my equipment with me, so I can get started today. But only after one of Pop’s notorious breakfasts. You can’t get cooking like his anywhere else.”
Pop winked at me. “Reckon I better get started on it then.”
I settled in next to Avery and tried not to drool. “So tell me all about your business. It must be fascinating.” It was one of my standard conversation-starters, and in this case I actually was interested.
I paid rapt attention while he told me about the different levels of environmental surveys, and explained how each contract job differed from the last since no two places on earth were exactly alike. I could have listened to him talk for days and decided that he was much more interesting than the last guy I’d dated, who was a GM and Chrysler dealer.
“That’s pretty much the nickel version of what I do,” he finished, reaching down to scratch Flush’s head. His ring finger was completely, delightfully naked. “I’m an investigator, really. But nature is my subject instead of people.”
Simmering onions and peppers made my mouth water. A block of cheese sat on the counter next to some cubed ham, and it looked like Pop was cooking omelets.
“So you’re a detective of sorts,” I said, throwing my best smile at him. Flirty, but not obvious. “It must be hard on your family, though, since you travel so much.”
“I don’t mind the travel,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “And I don’t have a wife or kids to worry about.”
No ring and no baggage. Yes, my life in Rumton had absolutely taken a turn for the better! Before I could do something stupid, like impulsively run my hands over Avery’s abdomen ripples, Pop intervened to see who wanted juice with their coffee.
We both did.
“Well, I can’t wait to see what you uncover,” I told Avery, thinking that it would be fun to watch him uncover his entire body. “It’s great of you to help out like this.”
“No problem. But I have to give you a heads up on something. You mentioned the old inlet and just so you know, odds are slim to none that we can do anything to open it up. Environmental rules have really gotten strict in recent years due to all the coastal development, a lot of which has really damaged the environment. You have to follow county ordinances, plus there are state regulations from varying agencies, and the Army Corps of Engineers on top of that. It’s gotten really tough to do anything that involves disrupting marsh or wetlands.”
“That’s disheartening.”
He shrugged. “It was necessary, although now some people think the regulations are too restrictive. But in any event, we’ll get your survey done.”
“Okay you two,” Pop said. “I’m serving from the stove, so grab you a plate and come fill it up.”
Pop had effortlessly whipped up omelets, sautéed mushrooms, hash browns and a bowl of fresh fruit salad sprinkled with mint leaves and walnuts. When we loaded our plates and sat down, he produced a basket of toasted English muffins placed a pitcher of juice on the table. Something squirted inside my mouth and I realized that I was salivating. Flush, tongue lolling out on side, was probably doing the same.
“Pop, you’re the best,” I moaned through a bite. “Seriously. You could open a restaurant. Or be a famous TV chef!”
“Jaxie is accustomed to eating out,” Pop explained to Avery. “She can’t cook.”
“I can to cook!” I fibbed.
Pop raised a bushy eyebrow at me.
“Sort of,” I added. “Well, there are a few things I can make.”
“Aye, she assembles a mean deli sandwich,” Pop said. “Even puts a slice of pickle on the plate.”
Avery laughed. “Sounds like Mike. He can’t cook worth a damn, even after I made him take a class. His claim to fame is grilled hamburgers and microwaved baked beans.”
“Mike?”
“My partner.”
“Your business partner?” I persisted.
“My life partner.”
“Oh,” I said, trying to keep the disappointment off my face. Usually, my gaydar was operative, but I was so starved for male attention that I’d completely missed the mark with Avery. “I mean, I’m cool with that. It’s just that…;”
Pop laughed. “You were flirting with him, but don’t worry about it. All the ladies do.”
“I haven’t been out with anyone since I got here,” I told Avery, “and of couldn’t help but to notice how incredible-looking you were—”
“Still am,” he deadpanned, slicking back his hair in an imaginary mirror.
The awkward moment passed as everyone laughed, and we got to the business of eating. I stole another look at Avery, trying not to be bummed out. God was punishing me for something, I decided. I felt sure of it. First I get sent to Rumton, and then the only man who’s not AARP material turns out gay. Sheeesh.
Flush ambled to the back door and woofed. A second later, someone knocked but entered without waiting for an answer. Avery jumped up to give the visitor a handshake and a hug. “Justin! Pop didn’t tell me you were coming. Good to see you, bro.”
Shine’s vice president of market research got another handshake-hug from Pop.
“Justin. What are you doing here?” I was stunned. He’d threatened to visit, but I didn’t think he was serious. And how did he know Avery?
“Came to see my uncle.” Although the ugly glasses remained a fixture on his face, the standard suit had been replaced with a red cotton shirt, khaki shorts, and leather loafers with no socks. It was the first time I’d ever seen his legs. Or arms, for that matter. Even during the summers, he only wore long sleeve button-downs to the office.
“Your uncle?”
“Avery and Justin are brothers, Lass,” Pop said.
Clearing dishes from the table, I did a double-take from one man to the other and almost dropped a plate. “Brothers?”
Pop nodded.
“Huh,” I muttered, filling the sink with soapy water and wondering how a bore like Justin could have emerged from the same womb as a charismatic hunk like Avery. “Why didn’t Aaron tell me you were from here? For that matter, why didn’t he send you instead of me?”
Justin poured himself some coffee and added cream. “I’m not from here, Jaxie. Our mother moved away at sixteen, years before we were born. But as kids, we came to visit Pop as often as we could talk her into it.”
Pop had mentioned that his sister left town, giving up her half of the house he inherited. But he neglected to tell me that one of her kids was my coworker! I stared at Pop with narrowed eyes, irritated with him for withholding information. But, already back at the stove, cooking an omelet for Justin, he ignored me.
“And as far as Aaron sending me instead of you,” Justin continued through a mouthful of fruit salad, “I’m research, remember? You’re creative. Not to mention that I have a department to run.”
I finished the dishes and joined the men.
“Pass me a muffin, would you, Jaxie?” Justin said.
Knowing the basket was empty, I passed it to him anyway. Perched in a chair, her head barely visible over the tabletop and her cheek pouches full, Bandit happily munched away on the last muffin. Feeling the weight of the basket, Justin frowned.
I grinned. “Looks like she beat you to it.”
“Sneaky little vixen,” he mumbled to the animal. “I ought to come over there and fight you for it.”
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As the three of them chatted and shared each other’s news, I decided that, away from the office, Justin almost looked like an interesting person. Tanned skin suggested he spent time outdoors, so he must have a life outside of work. His clothes were plain, but shabbily stylish. And he had a pleasantly toned body with biceps that were probably the result of lifting weights or working out on Nautilus machines. Or perhaps the muscles were just due to good genes.
“Being unusually quiet, over there,” Pop said. “Cat got your tongue, Lass?”
I shook my head. “No, I was just thinking that I should go ahead and get on the road.”
“To where?” Justin asked.
“I’m taking the day off and heading to Atlanta for a long weekend. Do some shopping, check on my place, get my mail.” Get back to the real world for a few days so I don’t go stir crazy.
“Thought your mail is being forwarded,” Pop said. “A big envelope full of it comes every few days.”
Everyone looked at me.
“Uh, I mean my, uh, work mail.” My left eyelid twitched, just like it did any time I lied or got stressed out. In this case, both. “I’m sure there is a pile of stuff in my office that I need to sift through.”
Justin reached for his duffel bag. “I brought your mail, along with a survival kit from Sheila. She said you were probably missing your Starbucks bottled Frappuccino. And she sent you a manicure in a can, whatever that is.”
“Oh. Thank you,” I attempted a smile. “But she didn’t need to do that. I mean, I planned to head back this weekend anyway. Just to, uh, check on things.”
“Well, do what you need to do,” Justin said, polishing off a glass of milk. “But Aaron asked me to come help you out for a few days. And this weekend was the best time for me to get away.”
“Besides,” Avery said, “shouldn’t you be around while I’m doing your survey? I might want to run some findings by you.”
He was right. How would it look if I left the same weekend that Avery graciously volunteered? And what would Aaron think if I disappeared after he’d sent in backup? My eyelid did aerobics as my weekend plans deteriorated.
“You’re right,” I relented. “There’s nothing in Atlanta that can’t wait.”
“Good,” Avery said, handing me a two-way radio. “I’m going to head out and get started, then. Keep your radio on, so we can chat. It’s already set to the right channel. If you hear me call, just push the button to talk. Release it to listen.”
“Ten four,” I said, stifling a sigh. I had to keep my eye on the prize. The sooner Avery did his work, the sooner I could finish my assignment and go home. “But I need to get a fax machine so I can send and receive stuff from the office. Is it okay if I’m out of touch for a few hours this morning? I’ll have to drive to a town with an office supplies store to get one.”
“Sure. Just leave your radio with Pop until you get back.”
“Why don’t I go with you?” Pop said to Avery.
“Even better.”
I waited for Justin to say that he’d join Avery, too, but suspected otherwise.
“While they’re out romping in the marsh, why don’t I help you shop for your fax machine?” Justin said through a mouthful of breakfast. “I’ll even drive.”
My eyelid twitched so violently that I had to shut it for a moment. I prayed Justin didn’t perceive the motion as a wink. “Okay, sure. That would be great.”
A surprising amount of traffic flowed in both directions as we headed north on Highway 17. I asked Justin where all the people had come from. It was a surprisingly well-traveled road.
“DOT statistics indicate that the volume of traffic on this stretch of highway remains steady year round,” Justin said from behind the wheel, making good on his offer to chauffer me. “You’ve got travelers coming from feeder cities to visit tourist destinations like Charleston and Savannah. And people going the other direction to visit Myrtle Beach, as well as the popular North Carolina spots like Southport and Wilmington. In the summer, it’s families with kids. In the spring and fall, it’s retirees and golfers. Plus, a fair amount of northerners head south to winter each year, so they’re driving this route. And then, there’s always the usual general business traffic and truckers.”
He was a walking, breathing spreadsheet of data. I almost rolled my eyes before I realized something important.
“So all these people whiz right by Rumton every day?”
“Of course. But there’s no reason for them to stop. Most probably don’t even realize the town is there.”
He was right. Other than a weather-beaten, faded sign, nothing indicated that a town lived between the highway and the ocean. It stated simply, ‘Rumton. Y’all Hideout’.
“What does the slogan mean, anyway? Y’all hideout?”
Justin thought for a few seconds. “Good question. Maybe it’s an invitation for people to hideout here, as in stay awhile and relax. We’ll have to ask Pop when we get back.”
“Holy cow! The famous research guru is stumped,” I teased from the passenger seat.
He smiled. “A good challenge is half the fun of doing research.”
“What’s the other half?”
“The prize. Solving the puzzle. Getting what I want.”
Although historic Georgetown would have been much closer, we decided to pass it and keep driving until we reached Myrtle Beach. The area had a reputation for drawing millions of visitors every year to its various tourist attractions, and I wanted to see if I could pick up any good ideas for Rumton.
Highway 17 stretched all the way from the mountains of Winchester, Virginia to Florida’s gulf coast at Ponte Vedra, Justin explained as we drove. Portions of the road were in use prior to the Revolutionary War, he said, and probably followed ancient Indian foot trails that ran north-south along the coast. Laughing, I told him the amount of trivia and general knowledge he possessed astounded me.
“Mostly useless stuff,” he said, glancing at me with a grin, “but fun to know. I mean, hey. It’s impressing you.” Half an hour and more trivia later, we hit a string of quaint, beach towns.
“Very pricey real estate along here,” Justin commented. “But these folks can waltz right up to the ocean, or dock a boat in their back yard.”
When we got closer to Myrtle Beach, miles of big box stores, strip malls, beachwear shops, restaurants, and miniature golf courses outlined our approach. We found an electronics store and accomplished our mission. Walking back to the car, we decided it would be a nice gesture to leave the combination fax, copier, and telephone answering machine with Pop after my assignment ended. It was a pretty high-tech gadget for his place, but if nothing else, Bandit would have some fun trying to steal the shiny buttons off it.
“And speaking of your assignment, I get the impression you aren’t thrilled,” Justin said as we got back in the car.
“Gee, what gave you that idea?”
He looked at me before starting the ignition. “Seriously, Jaxie. What’s so awful about getting out of the big city for a while?”
“Look, I just don’t do small towns, you know? Rumton is so…; uneventful. I like Atlanta.”
“I like Atlanta, too,” he said. “But I’d be just as happy living in an uneventful town, if I could earn the same salary I make now,” he said.
“I wouldn’t.”
“Maybe big city life has desensitized you. Pop once told me that it’s the simple things that pull heart strings. You know, stop to smell the roses and all that?”
“Since when does being a research analyst qualify you to be a shrink?” I said, miffed.
“I’m not trying to get in your head. But I do think a change of pace is good for everybody once in a while. It’s healthy to get away from your normal environment. See things from a different perspective.”
I could have debated Justin’s opinion. But I was stuck with him for the drive back and didn’t want to make it worse than it had to be. “Whatever.”
“Don’t get mad. I came
to help you, remember?”
“Correction,” I shot back. “You were sent to help me.”
“I don’t need an excuse to visit Rumton, Jaxie. And, I don’t need an excuse to help you. I’ve always been there for you.”
I squirmed in the passenger seat, not knowing what to make of that. Probably, he just meant that he was there as a company resource for every employee. “Well anyway, I miss Sheila and all my friends. And I miss going to my favorite restaurants, and just having something to do after work. I would really love a night out on the town.”
He turned to study me and grinned mischievously. “Tell you what. Tonight, I will take you out for a night on the town. Avery and Pop may even want to join us.”
“You’ve got to be kidding. There is no town to go out for a night on.”
“Might be surprised.”
“Doubtful.”
Justin pulled into traffic. “Is there anything you like about Rumton?”
“Well, sure. Pop is awesome. And the area where we went crabbing was incredible. What a view! But the Rumton lifestyle just doesn’t excite me.”
We wove our way to Ocean Boulevard. Both high-rise hotels and mom-and-pops dotted the street. Justin found a parking lot and talked me into a beach walk before heading back to Rumton.
“This is what Myrtle Beach is all about,” he said, after we crossed sand dunes on a wooden walkway. “The beach, the ocean. It’s a magnet. Without this, there would be no malls or golf courses or theaters.”
I kicked off my sandals and headed straight to the water to get my toes wet. Waves lapped at my feet before dissipating to foam as I stood and took it all in. Toddlers played in the surf, people walked and jogged in the strip of hard sand at the water’s edge, and clusters of tourists were perched in chairs beneath bright umbrellas, reading and drinking and talking.
Loafers in hand, Justin joined me at the water’s edge and waved a hand at the Atlantic. “Without the beach, nothing else would have developed. Did you know that about a hundred years ago, you could have bought an oceanfront lot, right here, for a hundred dollars? Literally, one hundred dollars. And if you agreed to build a house on the land, the state gave it to you. Free.”
Carolina Booty Page 7
