“Really? I can’t believe I’ve met a woman who doesn’t like to shop.”
“See. You don’t know everything about me.” I returned my hands to the staircase rails.“But I do enjoy nice things,” I said, just to make sure he knew. “But shopping with my mother for an afternoon is not my idea of vacation. So I thought I’d just go for a walk.” I dropped my eyes for a moment. The first don’t of telling a lie.
“So, since you’re here, and I see you’ve got your suit on . . .” he said as his eyes made the observation. He didn’t linger. Not like hairy Ted had on Amber anyway. He took his hand from the end of his towel and reached out for mine.“Why don’t you hang out for a while and then go get some lunch with me?”
“Well, I can’t stay all day. I do have work to do, you know.” He led me toward two beach chairs. “That’s why I’m here, in Seaside, remember?”
“Yeah. You’re here to work. I remember,” he said, smiling. “Got a towel?” he asked.
“Right here in my bag.”
He patted one of the chairs.“Then quit thinking about work and sit down and enjoy being at the beach with me.”
So I did. I wanted to adjust my straps though. I needed to adjust my straps. But I didn’t want to sit in front of Joshua and start lowering bathing suit straps. It just wouldn’t seem proper. So I did my best to forget about it. And for the next hour we watched Johnny get stung by a jellyfish and Mark threaten to pee on his leg, because an episode of Survivor showed that pee took away the sting. We encouraged Mark not to, and Mark walked Johnny to the clinic instead. Johnny screamed like a girl all the way.
We talked about life and friends and work. We shared our thoughts on our editor, Mr. Hicks, and his incessant craving for sweets, and our other thoughts on Mr. Hicks’s secretary, Jessica, who adores Joshua and abhors me. And we learned even more about one another, about each other’s lives and the fact that he hates butter beans and I love them. He loves macaroni and cheese out of a box, which I only get to eat when my mother’s not cooking, because she won’t cook anything out of a box. And I learned that his eyes light up when you mention his friends, and they get introspective and older when you mention his parents, and they get amazingly passionate when he’s talking about me. And with each topic there is a different cock of the head and raising of the eyebrows. And everything about him is new yet feels old, as if I’ve known it all my life yet am experiencing every aspect of it for the first time.
“Interrupting something?” Paige asked. I hadn’t even heard her sneak up on us.
“Not a thing,” I said, patting the edge of my chair for her to sit.
“Hey, Paige. It’s great to see you,” Joshua said, sitting up to greet her.
I saw her eyes move down to his chest. I nonchalantly tugged at her arm.“Where is your friend?”
“Huh?” she said, not wanting to peel her eyes away.
I tugged again.“Where is your friend?” I emphasized the your.
“Oh, uh . . .” She finally turned her gaze back to me, offering a you’re-one-lucky-woman kind of look. “Uh, he’s got to work until two, and then we’re going to grab some lunch together. Would ya’ll want to join us? I think you’d like him,” she singsonged.
“Well, I really have to go get my story ready to submit to Mr. Hicks.”
“Story-shmory. You have to eat. Isn’t that right, Joshua? She needs to eat.”
“We’d love to join you,” he said.
“You know you’re craving some hot wings from Shades.” She nudged me.
Few things were truer.“What time?” I asked “Two fifteen. We’ll meet you there.”
“We’ll look forward to it,” Joshua said.
And off she went, her little red and white skirt swinging in the breeze. She turned back once and tugged on her bathing suit straps. I knew what she meant. I had successfully ruined my tan.
“Who’s her friend?” Joshua asked.
“Oh, I’m not really sure. He works over there at the cabana.”
He rolled over on his stomach so he could look up at me with his dark eyes.“Did she know him before you got here?”
“Know him?” I asked with a chuckle. “No, she met him yesterday.”
“Yesterday?”
“Yep. Sister likes it; sister makes her move.”
He rested his head on his hands. “This will be interesting.”
“It always is. It always is.”
Shades has the feeling of a Jimmy Buffet song. It smells of sand.You can come through the bar and grab yourself a margarita on the way to your table. The pastel colors of the benches on the front porch, which looks more like a boat dock, all resemble the shades of the Caribbean: periwinkle blue, Pepto-Bismol pink, and ocean green.
We made our way to our table across the aged wooden floors, which begged us to take our shoes off, and meandered through the artwork, some of which I was certain I could have painted myself. Joshua and I took a seat by the front window.
The view from our seats was a perfect landscape of the Town Center. We could see the little stores resembling beach shacks that sold jewelry or videos. What every couple needs. A little entertainment for her, a little entertainment for him. From here we’d be able to see our lunch companions arrive and watch the rest of the city go by until they did.
We ordered a Coke and a Dr Pepper and felt our heads bobbing to resurrected Beach Boys music even before we realized music was playing. And we found even more to talk about. And laugh about. And discover about each other. Then we saw Paige approaching. Alone. She was showered and shined and in another attempt at a heel. An apparently newly purchased wedge.
“Did you see that old red phone booth outside?” Paige asked as she sat down in the black wooden chair with its hunter green pleather cushion.
“Yeah, remind you of home?” I asked, referring to the one outside of the Sixpence Pub.
“Yeah. But just reminded. Didn’t beckon.”
“Where’s your friend?” Joshua asked.
She laughed a nervous laugh.“Couldn’t get away from work. They had someone call in sick.”
“Well, this is a perfect day to be sick,” Joshua offered.“Maybe we can meet him tomorrow.”
“It’s no big deal,” she said in her way. But I knew it was always a big deal. It was one more man who couldn’t keep even a small commitment. Just lunch, maybe, but that’s usually where it started. Paige was a master at hiding her hurts. I was the only one she let into those places. Joshua would never know she cared. And he didn’t. To the last bite of our buffalo wings, he never knew that she would struggle with the frustration of another broken date all day. Because even though she and I swore off boys years ago, I’m certain her fingers had been crossed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
It’s easy to see why you two are best friends.” Joshua said as we walked along the sidewalk past the new Izod store and Modica’s Market.
“She’s the best friend I’ve ever had.”
“It’s easy to tell.You complement each other.”
“How’s that?” I noticed the tandem flopping of our flips.
“The way you hurt for her when she walked in alone. The way she tried to hide her disappointment from me.” I felt my brow furrowing.“The way you tried to continually reaffirm her the entire lunch and the way she made it known, through a hundred gestures and all the words that she didn’t say, that she would be okay, you didn’t need to worry about her right now, but you should enjoy this week for yourself.”
I came to a dead halt in front of L. Pizitz & Co.“There is no way you read all of that between us.” It was more a statement of sheer amazement than an actual question.
“Every line, Savannah.” He reached over to take my hand and gently raised it to his lips and kissed it softly.“Every line. And you are both very lucky to have each other. Because I don’t believe I’ve ever seen two women protect each other like you two did in the matter of a lunch.”
“I can’t believe you noticed all that.”
“I not
ice a lot of things, Savannah.”
My shock had trouble settling.“I declare you do,Mr. North. I declare you do.”
My tribute to Scarlett was interrupted by my cell phone. It tumbled out as I was rummaging through my beach bag to try and find it. It crashed on the sidewalk. Joshua scooped it up.
“Hello. Savannah Phillips’s phone. Yeah, uh, sure, she’s here.” His speech slowed as he handed me the phone. “It’s a guy.”
That shocked me about as much as it shocked him. Unless it was Mr. Hicks, there weren’t any testosterone-bearing callers on my speed dial.
But the voice on the other end was all too familiar.“Are you with that guy? The guy that you work with that you absolutely abhor?” I could hear the “I told you so” in Gregory’s voice all the way from Jackson, Mississippi.
“Don’t you have a job?” I retorted.
“Don’t you? What are you doing gallivanting with your boyfriend in the middle of the afternoon on a workday yourself ?” I could hear his grin. And I was certain those white teeth were downright taking over his chocolate face with his great sense of satisfaction. He had seen Joshua once, when his job as law clerk for a judge in Jackson brought him to Savannah to assist with the Ten Commandments’ situation. Gregory let me know in specific terms that he thought I was completely taken with Mr. North. He would make me suffer for this for years.
“I’m not gallivanting, for your information. I’m in Seaside, pursuing a story.” I tried to smile at Joshua and whisper into the phone at the same time. “Excuse me just a moment,” I said to Joshua as I stepped to the other side of the walkway.
“Pursuing a story, my eye.You are pursuing a dark, curly-headed Southern gentleman. I just hope you’re being tactful.”
“Did your call have a purpose?”
“Actually, it did. I was headed to Savannah with the judge and wondered if you were in town. Thought we could catch up. But consider me caught up.”
“Well, have a wonderful trip, and I’m sorry I won’t be there.”
He chuckled.“Be there for me to gloat? Yeah, I’m sure you’ll hate you missed that. Well, have a wonderful week, and I want a rundown when it’s over.”
“I’m sure you do.”
I closed the phone and looked up at Joshua, who was sitting on a bench outside of L. Pizitz.
“Competition?” he questioned.
“Excuse me?” I asked, dropping the phone back into my bag.
“Is there something I need to know? Do I have competition I’m not aware of?” He crossed his ankles.
“Mr. North”—I chuckled like a true Southern charmer—“I am the daughter of Victoria Phillips. There will always be competition. Are you jealous?”
He stood up rather quickly. “Me? Jealous? A little competition never scared me.” But the texture of his voice was strained.
“Well, I’m not sure your tone matches your words.”
His arms slipped around my waist, and right in front of the store window for every accessory-buying vacationer to behold, he planted one more doozy on me.A doozy that left me a little woozy.“When he can do that to you, I’ll be nervous.”
And he left me there. Two old ladies about fell into the window when I turned in their direction. They both gave me big ol’ winks. I winked back. After all, if competition did that to Joshua, I might make Gregory call twice a day.
From the sounds of the twin choo-choo engines on the sofa, shopping must take a lot out of a person. Mother was sacked out on one end, surrounded by, well, sacks. Amber was sacked out on the other end, surrounded by,well, more sacks. And each of their three-inch heels was resting on the coffee table.
“If you’d worn sensible shoes, you might’ve had a little more energy when you got home.” They responded in simultaneous snores.
Paige was lying on her bed, reading a book. That behavior was the equivalent of me power-cleaning a bathroom. The woman was on the verge of cracking up. She hated to read. Reading put her to sleep, which was the goal. And to prove the scope of her sorrows, she was reading He’s Just Not That into You. Things were worse than I thought.
I leaned against the doorframe.“Where’s the perky step from this morning?”
She propped her book on her knees.“Perked.”
“Did he really have to work?”
“Not until the new cabana ‘boy’ showed up in a one-piece suit with long blonde hair. Cynthia.”
“She was pretty, huh?”
“She was disgustingly perfect.”
I laid myself across the bottom of her bed. “I think you’re pretty perfect.”
“Pretty perfectly pathetic.”
“Ooh, whiney Amber has created whiney Paige.” Her eyes bore into me.“That’s not the way to find a man anyway.”
“This coming from the woman who has liked two men in her life. Okay, Miss Dating Guide for the Twenty-first Century, how exactly should I find a man?”
“Don’t be catty.”
“Don’t be so full of advice. You have everything you’ve ever wanted. And you’ll get married. And you’ll have babies. And I’ll still be looking for a man who’s simply willing to pay for dinner.”
“You need to slow down this cart you’re haulin’ for me into the land of wedded bliss.”
“Well, it’s true. I can see it all over both of you.”
“You’re ridiculous.” I didn’t want to laugh. She was too pitiful for me to laugh. “Joshua thinks you’re pretty great.”
“He does?” She folded her book across her chest.There really wasn’t any need; she was only on the copyright page.
“Yeah.” I crawled into the bed next to her, wrapping my arms around her. She nestled her head against me.
“I need a man,” she said.
“You need a good man. Not just any man. And don’t you forget that.”
“I won’t. But I want him to look as totally hot as yours.”
“I want him to, too, so you’ll quit looking at Joshua. You were shameless at the beach.”
“I couldn’t help it.That was one of the most handsome chests I’ve ever seen.”
“I cannot tell a lie. You are right. But this is about you.”
“Right. Me. So, since this is about me, I need my preferred therapy of choice.”
“Ice cream?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“We’ll ruin our steaks.”
“You can’t ruin steaks.”
The choo-choo trains never heard us leave.
“I did two weddings already this weekend,” the appar-ent wedding planner stated to the three fiftyish women clad in sherbet-flavored linen outfits.
Ms. Orange replied,“How were they?”
“Pretty good.”
“No problems at all?” Ms. Lime prodded.
“There would never be any problems if weddings didn’t come with mothers of the brides!” he said.
Ms. Raspberry got a kick out of that, and they all parted laughing.
Paige licked her strawberry gelato. “Wonder what he’d say about our mothers after our weddings?”
I licked my chocolate ice cream on a sugar cone.“He wouldn’t be able to say anything. He’d be in a padded cell, blubbering.”
She laughed. We both knew it was absolutely true.
Paige loves the Artist Colony of Ruskin Place. I knew the combination of that and ice cream would perk up her perker. Plus, her meeting at J. Proctor Gallery was in an hour, after the gallery closed. She had brought her portfolio with her. She is certain you just never know when the opportunity will arise to promote your talents. She should be a publicist. Hmm,come to think of it, maybe she was really my mother’s daughter.
Ruskin Place is a treasure trove in the heart of Seaside. Modeled after Jackson Square in New Orleans, it features quaint shops on the bottom floor of the townhouses that tower over them. Some of the townhouses actually house residents, which is evident by the landscaping. The others house people who want a different kind of Seaside experience.
The mus
tard-color stucco townhouse that is Lynn Field Reddoch’s interior design store is first to greet visitors to Ruskin Place. The windows, framed by aged teal shutters, display the backs of the antiques. The fronts are to be enjoyed by those who actually enter. Her store sits prominently on the corner. A couple years ago she expanded to the townhouse across the walkway. Ms. Reddoch lives above her store and obviously trusts us travelers completely. Because each evening many of her antique iron chairs and chaises and mosaic-covered tables remain on the sidewalk.
“What are you ladies doing?” came Thomas’s voice as he exited Quincy’s, Ruskin Square’s most popular arts, toys, and games shop.
We licked our ice-cream cones in unison.
“So funny.”
“When did you get through golfing?” I asked, touching his red cheeks.
“About thirty minutes ago.We got in eighteen holes, and now Dad wants to head out to the beach for a while. So I came to grab a few things for later.”
“What you got in the sack?” I asked.
“Party fodder.” He pulled out a fork that would extend to the next table, along with two new board games of some adolescent fare.
“And you are the one dumping Mary Francis?”
“You’re what?” Paige’s mouth fell open.
“Savannah, I thought we had a deal.”
“A deal requires both parties to receive something in return. You offered me nothing in return. Surely you were not able to keep it from Dad all day. The man is practically prophetic.”
“Well, he figured it out by hole eleven.” He fiddled with the strings on his bag. Tying. Retying.
“Then why would you care if I know?” Paige nudged him.
“Because you are getting chummy with Amber.”
I turned and looked at her with an is-that-true kind of look.
She shrugged her shoulders, crinkled her nose, and shook her head, confirming it as a drastic overstatement.
“And if you tell her, she will tell my mother, and the rest of the week will pretty much be shot.”
“So I take it you won’t be at dinner?” I asked.
“Dad’s grilling, I’m going. It’s not nice to talk with your mouth full of food anyway. Then I’ll head out and meet the fel-las.” Thomas hung out with the same group of guys every year. Many of them actually lived in Seaside. The boy never let moss grow on him. If he wasn’t sound asleep, he was out somewhere, doing something with someone.“See you two later.”
Savannah by the Sea Page 17
