Hurricane Season

by BJ Phillips

  “I didn’t get that feeling. She wasn’t even bragging. She just said it matter of factly in conversation, like it was nothing.” Carrie brushed away one escapee tear.

  “Carrie, I don’t mean to pry, but have you and Shawn been together?”

  “No, but not because I didn’t want to. It is always her who backs away, not me.” Carrie examined her feet again. “I thought she just wasn’t ready. That’s what she said. Is there something wrong with me? I’m not some little goody-two-shoes, as my grandmother used to say. I really care about Shawn. I think she feels something for me as well, and then she did this. Why would she do that?”

  “Tracy can have quite an effect, that’s for sure. But I’m guessing there was something else involved. I don’t know what that something is, but I can’t imagine Shawn would intentionally do something to cause you pain. Look, I can tell you’re feeling very hurt and probably a bit angry right now. The Shawn I know is not the bed-jumping kind of woman, at least not anymore.” Kelly put her arm around Carrie and held her close. “Why don’t you come to lunch with me tomorrow and meantime I’ll try to get some more information out of Tracy. Maybe I can find out what really happened. Think about it. Call me tomorrow and let me know if you want to get together and talk.”

  Carrie nodded. She was blinking hard to hold back the tears. “Okay. You know Tracy better than I do, obviously. I thought I had a good bead on Shawn, but maybe I didn’t.” She shook her head. “Now, I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

  “Yeah, I can imagine. Look, I’m under the definite impression that Shawn really likes you. A lot. From the things she’s said, I can’t imagine that she doesn’t. I can’t tell you what to feel, but for right now, don’t write her off.”

  “Thanks, Kelly. I’ll try hard not to let my imagination run away with me. She did call me from Georgia the evening she got there. She said she missed me. I guess that’s something, isn’t it?”

  “I’d say so. She didn’t call me to tell me she missed me.” Kelly laughed. Carrie couldn’t help smiling. “See, better already. Looks like you’d better get home and get that chocolate out of those shorts,” she told Carrie. “I don’t want to have to buy you some more, since it was my bumbling that caused the accident.”

  “You’re sweet,” Carrie said, looking up into Kelly’s eyes. “I never noticed you had green eyes before. They’re very pretty.”

  “Uh, thanks. I can’t take credit for them, of course. I, uh, guess I’ll see you tomorrow, maybe?”

  Carrie nodded.

  “Drive home safely then,” Kelly said, giving Carrie a little hug. Carrie turned around fully, put her arms around Kelly, and kissed her on the cheek.

  “Thanks for being my friend, too. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

  Kelly released Carrie, watched as she got into her car, and pulled out of the driveway. As Carrie drove away, Kelly touched the place on her cheek where Carrie had just kissed her. She could still smell Carrie’s scent. Shawn, you might’ve blown it here, buddy. Should I try to help you, or not? She took a deep breath as she turned and walked slowly back into her house to rejoin her company.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  CARRIE REALIZED SHE’D BEEN sitting in her car in her driveway for a while. She wasn’t crying. She didn’t even feel mad any more. She finally got out and trudged to the house. Opening the screened porch door, she found a little bouquet of flowers in a vase. Her hands shaking, she picked them up and carried them into the house, placing them on the kitchen table. The tiny card attached to them read: I really do miss you. Shawn

  Carrie was torn between wanting to cry from being happy and wanting to shred the card and throw the flowers out the back door as far as she could pitch them. She wanted to be angry. Shawn, though, would have no idea that she knew about Tracy—if there was, in fact, something to know. She so hoped Tracy had embellished the story and nothing actually happened. It was possible. She left the flowers on the kitchen table and placed the card next to them.

  Once in her room, she mechanically stripped off her stained shorts and the rest of her clothes, wondering what she’d find out from Kelly the next day. Throwing on a long T-shirt, she took the shorts to the utility room and sprayed them again with stain remover, tossed them into the wash, and hit the start button. She stood there and stared at the washer for a minute before she realized what she was doing.

  Back in the kitchen, she put on the kettle and waited for the water to heat for the Earl Grey tea that always made her feel better. As she sat at the kitchen table waiting for the whistle on the kettle, she looked at the card again. It still said I really do miss you. She didn’t know quite what to make of it. Had she not had Tracy’s little revelation this evening, she’d have been very pleased to sit there and look at them. It would’ve been a sweet end to the day. The vase shaped similar to a little Mason jar held what looked like a bunch of wild flowers, like someone had picked them in a field and brought them to her. She loved them.

  The little bird on the kettle whistled that the tea water was ready. Standing at the stove, she looked back at the kitchen table and imagined Shawn still sitting there from three nights ago. It seemed so natural for her to be there. So comfortable to be together. She smiled at the thought, even as a single tear formed in her left eye and then overflowed onto her cheek.

  Swiping away the tear with her palm, she sat back down at the table with her mug of Earl Grey and sighed. She looked across the table at the imaginary Shawn and asked, “What am I going to do about you, Shawn Richards? Where do we go from here?” She shook her head. Imaginary Shawn didn’t answer.

  ***

  Carrie waited until nearly lunchtime before calling Kelly. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know what, if anything, Kelly found out from Tracy. When Kelly answered the phone, though, Carrie didn’t want to wait any longer to ask the big question. As soon as Kelly said hello, Carrie asked her, “Do I want to know what happened or not?”

  “You do. Do you want the sordid details over the phone or in person?” Kelly started to laugh.

  “All right, what’s so funny? This situation isn’t all that funny to me.”

  “I’m sorry, Carrie. I promise that when I give you the whole story, you’ll think it’s funny, too. I swear you will. So, how do you want it?”

  “All right, I’ll make lunch for us. You can come over here and tell me the whole sordid tale. How’s that? Since you think it’s funny, I think I’d rather hear it in person. I’m two doors down from Shawn on the same side of the street. I’ll text you my address, just to be sure. See you in about half an hour?”

  “I’ll be there. Do you want me to bring anything? I just happen to have some ice cream and sundae toppings here.”

  “Well, I just happen to have some pie here. If you want to bring some ice cream to go with it, that’d be just fine. See you in a bit.” Carrie texted her address to Kelly as soon as they hung up.

  Half an hour later, Kelly was sitting at Carrie’s kitchen table enjoying ham sandwiches, potato salad, and sweet tea. Kelly nodded at the little jar of flowers on the table. “Those are pretty.”

  “From Shawn,” Carrie replied, smiling.

  “Well, well. What do you know…maybe you’re making some progress with that thick-headed idiot. Speaking of,” Kelly paused, taking a bite of her sandwich. “Are you ready for the real story about what happened at Tracy’s?”

  “Let’s hear it. How detailed did she get?”

  “Pretty detailed. By the way, great sandwich. Love sourdough bread. Anyway, back to the story. First off, Tracy actually had invited her over to talk about collaborating on her photography book. So they honestly were meeting to talk business and did for a little bit. Tracy said she thought she’d have a little fun if Shawn was interested. She kept the alcohol flowing, thinking Shawn might be a little too tipsy to drive home and would stay the night with her, and see what happened. But that’s typical Tracy, she just wants to have a good time. She doesn’t usually want to keep what she catches.”


  Carrie was getting a different picture in her mind now of what might’ve happened. “Go on,” she urged Kelly. “I think I can see where this is headed.”

  Kelly took another bite of her sandwich. “Okay, well, apparently she got Shawn up to her room to ‘see the view’. Hey, it worked on me. Anyway, they looked at the view, and Tracy kissed Shawn. She said Shawn did kiss her back, but it was clear Shawn had a bit too much to drink. By the time Tracy got her on the bed, Shawn flat passed out.” Kelly laughed some more. “Shawn was obviously not going home, nor was she going to make any mad, passionate love to Tracy. So, Tracy only took advantage of her enough to strip her clothes off her and put her to bed.” Kelly paused, watching while Carrie wiped a tear from her eye, but from laughing, not crying. Kelly took another bite of ham, pausing for effect.

  “Come on, now, there’s more, of course. Give.” Carrie leaned forward.

  “Here’s the good part.” Kelly leaned closer as well and lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Tracy got naked, just crawled into bed with her and slept curled up with her all night.”

  “Wow...really?”

  “Really. And there’s still more. Now, the next morning, Shawn woke up with Tracy snuggled up to her, nude like I said, and probably assumed what happened…but didn’t. Tracy didn’t tell her otherwise. She let her think she was the big stud, and all that. She made breakfast for them the next morning, although she said Shawn didn’t eat much. She said she figured Shawn had a hangover. And that was it. Shawn left. Just said goodbye and thanked her for a nice evening and breakfast. She didn’t kiss her goodbye or say she would call her or anything. Tracy said Shawn looked like she didn’t feel very well, though.”

  “Well, that explains something.”

  “Explains what?”

  “Last night Tracy did say that Shawn was a lot of fun till she passed out,” Carrie said, and began giggling. “Now, I haven’t seen her drunk, although we’ve downed a pitcher of margaritas together. Maybe I should’ve gotten her a little tipsy. That might’ve done the trick.”

  “Oh, no. I don’t think so.” Kelly stopped laughing and looked at Carrie. “Now, here we are having a good laugh at poor Shawn’s expense. She’s off in Georgia thinking she got drunk and slept with Tracy. She really likes you, but hasn’t slept with you.”

  “So?”

  “So I’m betting she’s feeling guilty as hell and doesn’t know how to deal with it. I know she likes you a lot. I think she really wants to be with you. You’re sweet, very pretty, and fun to be with. Besides, there’s a light on behind those gorgeous eyes.” Kelly lowered her voice. “If I didn’t think there was something between you two, I would’ve asked you out myself. You really are special.”

  “Oh, Kelly, you’re pretty special yourself,” Carrie said, reaching to touch Kelly’s hand. “You’re outstanding at rescuing damsels in distress.”

  “Damsels in distress?”

  “Sorry. Shawn once said you were very good at rescuing damsels in distress. Kind of a knight in shining armor thing. She meant it in the nicest way possible. She admires you, you know. You said that whole Tracy and Shawn thing didn’t bother you any more than the Tracy and Chris thing last night, but still…”

  “Oh, that was mostly Tracy. Besides, Tracy does what Tracy does. I could never be serious about her or anyone like her. I like her and I consider her a friend. But that’s pretty much it. I’m looking for someone…well…someone sort of like you to eventually settle down with one of these days. I’ll find her. I just have to keep looking.”

  “Kelly, you’re wonderful. One of these days someone just as wonderful will show up in your life and you’ll live happily ever after. And yes, I do read romance novels, but I truly believe there is a happy ever after for everyone. We just have to watch for it and believe it can happen. And you, my knight in shining armor, are just holding out for the right damsel, in distress or not.”

  “I guess I’ll see, huh? Okay, now that we’ve solved part of your problem, what’ll you do about the rest of it now?”

  “Nothing much to do until she comes back. She did send me those pretty flowers and she called me once from Georgia. That means something. I’m hoping that it means she wants to resolve her issues. Meantime, there’s nothing to do but wait.”

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  “ALL RIGHT…” SHAWN LEANED back in the quad chair and stretched her legs to put her hiking boots up on a stump. “This is the life. Don’t have to do anything at all unless we want to. No deadlines, no…signal.” She poked at her smart phone as if that would make it connect.

  “Well, you said you wanted to get away. We’re away,” AJ said, handing her a Corona. “The only signal you can get out here might be if you had one of those satellite things. You know, the ones you could make a connection with in the middle of the Sahara.”

  “Guess I’ve forgotten what it’s like. It does feel a bit strange, though.” Shawn shrugged as she put her phone back in the pocket of her shorts.

  “If you get too strung out, we can probably get a tower near that town we passed on the way up. We’ll have to go there anyway in a day or two for some more ice, if nothing else. No warm beer or soda for me, please.”

  “Me neither. Still, it’s pretty and so nice and quiet back here in the mountains.” Shawn picked up a stick and tossed it into the fire, watching the sparks rise with the smoke into the deepening twilight.

  “That’s why I keep this place, even though there’s no power. Keeps it rustic. Speaking of rustic, how’s that little cracker house of yours coming along? I couldn’t imagine you were actually going to live in that tiny place. It’s pretty old, too. It’s fine for a getaway, but really, to live in?”

  “I know, not your style, but I love that old place. It just suits me. It was around before my parents were born. More like when my grandparents were kids. It reminded me of a place my great-grandparents had. Theirs had been added onto several times, but the bones were the same as this one.”

  AJ looked at her quizzically.

  “You know, classic cracker…straight shot from the front door to the back, so the breeze comes through. Deep screened-in porch. The steeply pitched metal roof. God, I love the sound of rain on a metal roof.”

  “The way you describe it, it sounds almost romantic. But then again, that’s what we pay you for, don’t we. So what in the world made you decide to remodel during hurricane season? Wasn’t the contractor worried about that?”

  “Nah, he was game. He said if he only did construction work in the winter he’d be out of business. Besides, most of the time nothing happens. If it does, well, there’s insurance for that, and we fix whatever gets messed up. They know what they’re doing, though, and can close up a building tightly if they need to for a storm to pass.”

  “Um…Shawn?”

  “What?”

  “Don’t move.”

  “What do you mean, don’t move? I hate it when you do that. What is it?” Shawn looked all around trying so see what AJ was looking at.

  AJ, meanwhile, reached for a stick from the kindling pile and was aiming it right at Shawn’s head like she was going to beat her with it in slow motion. Shawn watched as she moved closer and closer.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Shawn stared at AJ like she had just sprouted an extra head.

  “Don’t. Move. I said.”

  Shawn did as she was commanded, and suddenly felt the stick swipe hard through her hair. Out of the corner of her eye she could see something go flying. Something dark. Something with legs. She shot up out of her chair, the beer in her hand went flying, and her hands went instantly to her hair, brushing furiously at it. “What the hell was that…please don’t tell me it was a spider. Please don’t…”

  “It was a spider. A big one.” AJ threw the stick back into the kindling pile and started snickering. “Oh my God, you’re such a girl about spiders. You always have been, though. I figured I’d better get it off of you before you touched it with your hands. You’
d have really freaked then. How you can enjoy camping so much but be so afraid of spiders is beyond me.”

  “Hey, I’m not afraid of them. They just gross me out and I don’t want one to touch me. That’s all.” Shawn paced back and forth running her fingers through her hair over and over. “So much for relaxing and peaceful.”

  “Oh, come on, sit back down. That thing just happened to fall on you out of the trees. It’s gone. Besides, I’m dying to hear you spill about what got you so wound up you needed to get out of Dodge in a hurry. I’m sure this is going to be good.” AJ rubbed her hands together like she was going to start a fire with two sticks. “I brought marshmallows…the big ones. While you talk we can roast ‘em. How’s that?”

  Shawn stopped pacing and sighed. This was what she came here for, the patented AJ Intervention. "All right.” Shawn picked up the bottle she’d thrown, tossed it into the recycling bag, and sat down hard on the chair. Once her feet were back up on the stump, AJ handed her another drink. Shawn spoke slowly, “It’s what you’re probably suspecting.”

  “Oh, no, you aren’t still strung out on that whole Jen thing are you?” AJ handed the bag of marshmallows over along with a peeled stick.

  “Yes and no. That whole Jen thing as you put it, did make me much more cautious about getting involved with someone else.” Shawn pulled out two marshmallows, threaded them onto the stick so they touched, and handed the bag back.

  “And…now there’s someone else in the picture?” AJ prodded her.

  “Yeah. There is.”

  “So what’s the problem, then?”

  “She’s a very nice someone else. She’s pretty. She’s sweet. She’s smart…she even likes me.” Shawn grinned absently, holding her marshmallows toward the fire.

  “She does? Wow, what a thought. Still not seeing a problem.” AJ laughed.

  Shawn backhanded AJ’s shoulder with her free hand. “Smartass, be serious.”