by L A Morgan
“I wouldn’t say that. You see, Kitty and I are basically very different people.”
“How so?”
“Well, I’m a rather old-fashioned, quiet person. Kitty has a very daring, bold streak in her nature. She thrives on excitement and danger. One of these days, she’s going to get herself into something she doesn’t like, and she’s going to have a hard time getting out of it. I keep hoping that she’ll change, but I doubt she ever will.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“After I lost my parents, I tried to be a father to Kitty, but she would have none of it. She’s a very independent young woman.”
“Is she married?”
“No. She started her own dating service agency in Hartford, and I understand that she’s been quite successful. She owns a beautiful home, has plenty of money and has no use for an older brother that can’t help criticizing her life style.” Michael sent Laurel an apologetic glance. “That sounds bitter, I suppose,” he said. “I’m sorry to bore you with the sordid details of my life.”
“I wasn’t bored at all!” Laurel assured him.
Her eyes kept wandering to the wedding ring on his left hand, and she hoped he would mention his marital status, but he did not.
After a brief pause, she asked, “So, what do you do for fun, Michael?”
“I work,” he replied bluntly.
“That’s all?”
“I don’t have time for much else. I have a demanding job in Hartford and I like it that way. When I have some free time, I work on my house or in my garden. I like to design and construct things.”
“Like what?”
“I built a small pagoda in my back garden. I use the bottom level as a tool shed.”
“What about the upper levels?”
“They’re vacant.”
“Then why did you build a whole pagoda?” Laurel could not resist asking.
After a moment, Michael replied, “I had plans for them, but that’s over now.”
Sensing this had something to do with the man’s unhappiness, Laurel changed the subject by asking, “What else have you built?”
“The back deck.”
“That’s really great! Did you ever think about doing something like that for a living?”
Michael’s face suddenly fell into sad, stern lines. Too late, Laurel realized that she must have touched on a sore spot.
“A long time ago, I had dreams about becoming an architect.”
Not wanting to disturb him further, Laurel softly whispered, “I guess that didn’t work out.”
“It’s too nice a day to talk about sad things,” Michael replied, shaking off his melancholy mood. “What would you like to do now?”
Laurel smiled, content with the notion that he wanted to spend more time with her. She enjoyed Michael’s company and she still hoped to find out what made him so sad at times.
“Did you notice all of those fantastic looking miniature golf courses on the highway?” she asked.
“As a matter of fact, I did. I never saw anything like them before.”
“Kids must love to come here. With all those life-size dinosaurs, waterfalls and caves, they must have a hard time choosing where they want to play.”
“Do you feel like a kid today, Laurel?”
“If you’re asking me if I’d like to play some miniature golf, I’d love to.’”
“Which place did you like the best?”
“I’m afraid that I’ll also have a difficult time choosing,” Laurel admitted with a laugh.
Michael smiled at her dilemma.
“In that case, why don’t we just drive up the road and look around until you can make up your mind,” he suggested.
Laurel happily agreed and they left the restaurant. It was not long before they found a rather intriguing looking miniature golf course. Most of them were set up on an incline, so it was necessary to climb up and down a complicatedly laid out hill in order to play.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve done this,” Michael apologized when his ball splashed into an artificially-colored green pool of water.
Laurel laughed gaily as she hit her ball into the hole.
“Are you going to go fishing for your ball or would you like me to do it?” she asked mischievously.
Michael pretended to frown in dismay.
“Even if I manage to find the ball and hit it into the hole on the next stroke, I don’t think I have a chance of beating you!” he declared.
“I’m not going to let you off that easily! We still have another five holes to play, and I don’t intend to play them alone,” Laurel replied in the spirit of the game.
“All right,” the man replied with mock poutiness, “but you’ll have to give me a free stroke for this.”
“Don’t tell me you’re a sore loser!” Laurel exclaimed with a grin.
“You won’t know until the game is over. I might make you walk back to the motel.”
“Anything but that! Take two strokes, three if you like!” she exclaimed playfully.
Although Laurel won the game anyway, Michael decided it would be more fun to take her back to the motel with him than to leave her there. His spirits felt more uplifted than they had in a very long time.
After a swim in the pool, the couple stretched out on lounges to bask in the sun until they were ready for lunch. Laurel made up some sandwiches and a salad for them to eat in her apartment. They talked for awhile and then Michael excused himself to go and take care of some business. Laurel also needed some time alone to write out the inevitable postcards to family and friends. For once, she would have something especially interesting to tell them.
Michael had offered to take Laurel out to dinner that night. She had gladly accepted and they agreed to meet at five o’clock. After a shower and a short rest, Laurel felt completely relaxed and ready to begin the evening’s activities. She put on a pretty, short-sleeved dress and low heels. Just as she finished brushing her hair, there was a knock at her door.
It was Michael. Laurel had to admire how well he looked in his dark blue suit. She smiled inwardly, wishing that her mother could see who she was going out with now. Most of her dates arrived in casual clothes, so she found this to be a very pleasant change.
“You look lovely,” Michael said with sincerity.
“So do you!”
The man smiled at her enthusiasm.
He replied, “I’ve never been told that I looked lovely before, but I’ll accept it as a rare compliment. Now where would you like to eat?”‘
“After I wasted all that time trying to choose which golf course I wanted to play this morning, I’m surprised you ask me that!” Laurel replied half-jokingly. “But if you insist . . .”
“No, that’s all right!” Michael cut in with a laugh. “I’m too hungry to drive up and down the highway for an hour. Do you like seafood?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Good! I noticed there are lots of Calabash seafood restaurants.”
“Calabash?” Laurel repeated questioningly.
“Don’t tell me that you’ve been in Myrtle Beach for three days and you still haven’t heard of Calabash seafood buffets!”
Laurel shrugged her ignorance of the matter.
“You haven’t been reading your tourist pamphlets!” Michael censured her with a grin. “Allow me to explain. Calabash is a fishing village just north of the North Carolina state border, and it claims the title of being the Seafood Capital of the World. The Calabash style means you’ll get a large selection of lightly battered, deep-fried food with fast service and simple decor. From what I hear, Calabash has more seafood restaurants within a two-mile radius than anywhere else. So there! Are you impressed?”
“I’m impressed with the way you memorized what you read!” Laurel responded lightly.
“Should we give it a try?”
“I’m ready. Let’s go!”
As they drove up the main highway, Michael and Laurel were truly amazed by the number of
Calabash buffets that were advertised even though they had been prepared for abundance. Sometimes, they would see three clustered together in a row. This complicated their choice.
“I’ll never be able to decide!” Laurel declared with a worried frown.
“I have an idea. Let’s look for the restaurant that has the most cars in its parking lot. That should tell us that the food there is exceptionally good.”
“It might also mean they have the lowest prices, Michael.”
“Either way, I can’t lose.”
Laurel laughed at the ingenuity of this plan. Shortly after this, they were seated in a comfortably crowded restaurant. The buffet smelled delicious as they prepared to indulge themselves as fully as possible.
After finishing a huge meal, Laurel patted her stomach and said, “I couldn’t eat another thing. That was really great.”
“I think I ate enough to last me through tomorrow,” Michael agreed with a smile.
“Let’s sit here for awhile and let some of this food digest before we go. If I get up now, I might split my seams!”
The man laughed companionably and signaled the waitress to bring them another drink. Laurel sipped the remainder of the white wine in her glass.
Sitting back in his chair, Michael asked, “What are your plans for the rest of this vacation?”
“Nothing definite. Of course I intend to swim and lay in the sun as much as possible. I’d also like to get in some shopping. There are quite a number of malls and outlet stores around here.”
“The female shopping syndrome.”
“Why not?” Laurel replied defensively. “Being a working woman, I get little enough chance to indulge myself at home. Besides, if there are bargains to be had, I plan to make the most of them.”
“That’s a reasonable excuse.”
“Are you making fun of me, Michael?”
“Not at all! I wouldn’t dream of making fun of such a worthy ambition.”
“And I wouldn’t have guessed that you’re such a tease,” Laurel stated, putting her hands on her hips in pseudo aggravation.
“That’s the way of the world, my dear,” the man replied flippantly. “Women will always find excuses to shop and men will find ways to make fun of them for doing it.”
“There are worse indulgences than shopping!”
“I’m well aware of that. You could be an inveterate fisherman, who would force me to continually clean your catch for you.”
“If I wasn’t afraid of making a pun, I’d say you appear to be baiting me.”
“I’d never bait a fisherman,” Michael replied seriously, but there was a glint of humor in his eyes.
“Fisherwoman,” Laurel corrected him.
“Fisherperson . . . to avoid any controversy over chauvinism.”
“Whatever. How did we ever get on this subject?”
“I don’t know, but I think we ought to get off it right now before things start to get nasty.”
The air was filled with Laurel’s breezy laughter. The man watched her with an appreciative smile.
“Oh, Michael! You can be so funny!’’
“I work hard to control that.”
“Please, be serious. If I laugh any more, the waiters may ask us to leave.”
“There’s always that danger. Why don’t I pay the check so we can get out of here and laugh all we like?”
“That’s a good idea.”
Once they were in the car, Michael asked,” Is there any particular place you’d like to go now?”
Laurel briefly considered the idea of going dancing, but when she thought about all the money that he had already spent on her that day, along with the terms of their no-strings-attached relationship, she felt reluctant to take advantage of his generous nature.
‘“Let’s go back to The Oasis and talk,” she finally replied. “After paying extra for that room with an oceanfront balcony, I want to be sure that I take maximum advantage of it.”
“That’s fine with me. Should I stop off somewhere and pick up some more wine?”
“Only if you want to drink it. I had plenty with dinner and on the balcony last night.”
Michael appreciated her frugality, but did not comment on it. On their drive back to the motel, Laurel noticed a quaint grouping of stores, all lit up in white lights.
‘“Isn’t that pretty!” she said as she pointed toward it.
“The Christmas Shop,” Michael read on the sign. “Would you like to go in and shop?”
“I wouldn’t dare after what you said at dinner!” Laurel jokingly exclaimed.
“There’s always tomorrow,” Michael replied with a smile.
CHAPTER FIVE
Several minutes later, they arrived back at The Oasis. It had already been established that they would go to Laurel’s apartment.
Walking to the kitchen, she asked, “Can I get you something to drink? I have juice and soft drinks in the fridge.”
Laurel purposely averted her eyes from the entanglement of covers she had left on her bed after her afternoon rest.
“No, thank you.”
After that, she led the way to the balcony and then carefully closed the drapes before she shutting the sliding-glass door behind them.
“I love the smell of salt air,” Michael commented as he took his customary seat.
“Me, too. Hartford isn’t far from the water, is it?”
“It’s a bit of a drive. I used to love to go and watch the sailboats on the Sound.”
“You sound as though you don’t do that any more.”
“I don’t.”
“Did you get bored with it or are you short on time?”
“Both.”
Laurel wanted to question him further about this, but hesitated to pry.
Instead, she said, “Once, I went out on a sailboat on a date. It was a tiny, little thing. The boy I was with asked me if I wanted to learn how to sail, and I agreed because I thought it looked easy. What a fool I made of myself!”
“What happened?” Michael asked with an inquisitive frown.
“Well, it was a good thing we were both wearing bathing suits.” Laurel paused for a moment to laugh to herself and then continued, “With a few inept moves, I managed to tip the boat over and land us both in the Sound.”
With an understanding smile, Michael commented, “I imagine no serious damage was done or you wouldn’t be laughing about it now.”
“The only damage was to my ego,” Laurel grinned. “My mother was watching from the shore, and she got so upset when she didn’t see me come up from the water that she called the Coast Guard.”
“What happened?”
“When the boat went over, I went over the far side and she couldn’t see me com up. Then it took awhile for Tommy and me to turn it over. It was a big mess, but everything turned out okay.”
“Did the Coast Guard actually come?”
“No. The pilot or whoever ran the marina saw we were all right. He had binoculars. This was one of my first dates.”
“How embarrassing.”
“Tell me about it. I guess I’ll never be a sailor. Do you sail?”
“Not really. I could never get the knack of tacking.”
“What’s that?”
“If you don’t already know, there’s no need to explain it.”
“Why did you choose to come here, Michael?”
“Believe it or not, my boss suggested it. He owns some property around here and when I told him I didn’t know where to go on vacation, he suggested Myrtle Beach. I think its main appeal was that I’ve never been here before.”
“You sound like you’ve been to quite a few places.”
“I have. My job at the agency used to involve a great deal of travel. In fact, I was their East Coast representative for six years.” On another thought, Michael added,” I wish I hadn’t done that.”
Saying this, he looked sadly off into the distance, wrapped up in his own personal reminiscences. Laurel frowned, saddened by his continu
al retreats into a world of painful memories.
“Remember the past only in so far as it brings you happiness,” she solemnly stated. “My grandmother always used to say that.”
“Oh, Laurel. You’ve obviously never suffered,” Michael replied sadly. “I hope it will never happen, but there may come a time in your life when something will happen and you won’t be able to get over it. Some things, you can’t forget . . . you don’t want to forget.”
Once again, the man was lost in his private hell. Laurel looked on sympathetically.
She whispered, “It must have been very bad.”
“Excuse me?” Michael replied in a bit of confusion.
“What happened to you; it must have been awful.”
He looked at her with a pained expression in his eyes and said, “Sometimes life doesn’t seem worth living.”
“Was it your parents?” Laurel asked.
Michael shook his head slowly and replied, “No. Their deaths affected me deeply, but it wasn’t that.”
“Can you talk about it?”
Coming back to himself, the man answered, “No. Not now. I apologize for being so morbid. I have no right to put a damper on your vacation with my problems.”
“It’s all right. I don’t mind,” Laurel assured him.
“It’s not right. I’ve been very inconsiderate. Come to thing of it, I’d planned to call the police station to ask if they caught that burglar this morning. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go to my room now and make the call. “
“There’s no need for that. You can use my phone. The manager told me we have free, unlimited local calls.”
“Are you sure you wouldn’t mind?”
“Not at all. I’m curious, too.”
Michael stood up and went inside. Laurel remained on the balcony, but she left the door open so she could hear his conversation. A few minutes later, he returned to the balcony, closing the door behind him.
“What did they say?” Laurel asked impatiently.
“They haven’t caught him yet. Apparently, that police sergeant did not give us all the details this morning. When I asked about the jewel theft, the person on the line asked me which one I meant. I told him that I’d witnessed the burglar’s exit from Eatha Grant’s home this morning, and he said that I must be talking about The Cat. That’s the name the department has given him.”
