Chapter 12
Lucy
Present Day
“Damn, bitch! You look hot!”
I smile at Ellie when she whistles at me as I walk into the registration area of the front room. I do a little twirl and curtsey for her, laughing when she gives me a slow golf clap. With a teal, form fitting tank top that comes to a vee in the front and ties up around my neck, my boobs look pretty good, if I do say so myself. The incredibly short, white jean shorts I have on make my tan legs look longer than they normally do and the teal and white wedges on my feet bring me up a good three inches, adding to the illusion. I left my strawberry blonde hair straight, hanging around my bare shoulders and down my back, and I added a few peach bangle bracelets to my wrist. It’s not much, but aside from wearing a dress last night, it’s more fancy than my usual.
“Nice, very nice. Stanford won’t be able to keep his hands off of you,” Ellie informs me.
I blush, thinking about what happened last night over there on the couch in this very room. I’m pretty sure Stanford will be keeping his hands off of me for a while after that. It doesn’t matter, though. I’m going to relax with a picnic on the beach with the man I’m dating. The sun is shining and there is only a light breeze coming in off the ocean, so we won’t have to worry about sand flying all over the place, getting into our food. It’s a perfect day on Fisher’s Island, and I’m not going to let anything ruin it.
“That little weasel better keep his hands to himself,” Trip grumbles as he walks in from the front porch and stands in the middle of the room, looking me up and down.
“Oh, please. Like you weren’t just like that little weasel back in the day,” Ellie laughs at him. “I’m sure you had a line of ladies just begging you to put your hands on them.”
Trip raises his eyebrow at her and harrumphs. “Of course I did. Have you looked at me lately?”
Ellie laughs even harder, skipping around the counter and throwing her arms around Trip’s neck. “You are the best grandpa in the entire world. I’m going to adopt you.”
Trip shakes his head at her behavior and then eyes me again. “I take it you’re going to see Salamander?”
I roll my eyes and shake my head at him. “It’s Stanford and yes, we’re going on a picnic after he gets out of his meeting at the bank.”
“Heard you ran into Fisher last night at Barney’s,” he says nonchalantly as he runs his hand over the top of a side table and tries to jiggle it, pretending like he’s checking it for a loose leg.
“Don’t play coy, it’s beneath you,” I tell him. “The entire town knows I ran into Fisher last night, Trip. What’s your point?”
He shrugs, folding his arms across his chest as he looks me in the eye. “Don’t really have a point, Lucy girl. I’m just wondering about all the sparks I heard were flying between the two of you, that’s all. If I were Santana, I wouldn’t take too kindly to my woman getting all hot and bothered over another man.”
“Oh, my God,” I mutter. “STANFORD. His name is Stanford and I didn’t get all hot and bothered.”
“Yeah, you were pretty hot and bothered,” Ellie agrees.
I glare at her. “You weren’t even there, how do you know?”
“Word travels fast in this small town, my friend. Also, Bobby called me right after you left the bar,” she informs me with a sneaky smile.
“I’m leaving. To go on my date with STANFORD. You two yentas enjoy gossiping like a bunch of little old ladies,” I tell them with a huff as I grab my purse from the desk and walk around them, out the door. “You can also be prepared to explain to me why Bobby has your cell phone number when last I heard, you couldn’t stand the guy.”
I watch Ellie’s smile fall and a nervous look come over her face. She’s definitely going to explain that shit later. Bobby’s been hitting on her since the day I brought her to this island and all she’s ever done is complain about how annoying he is and how she wouldn’t date him if he were the last man on earth. Unless the Apocalypse hit and I didn’t hear about it, something is going on with those two.
Leaving Trip and Ellie behind to most likely talk about me, I decide against taking one of the inn’s golf carts into town and walk the ten blocks instead. It’s a gorgeous day and I want to enjoy it. I still have a half hour before Stanford will be out of his meeting, plenty of time for a leisurely walk.
I quickly realize the error of my decision as I walk down Main Street. The sidewalks are filled with the first crowd of vacationers window-shopping since this weekend is the official start of our busy season, but they are also filled with busybody townies. They stand in doorways or sit on lawn chairs and benches in front of businesses, chatting back and forth about the happenings on the island. Clearly, what happened last night at Barney’s is the only exciting thing going on right now, even with the island overflowing with out-of-towners constantly doing stupid shit. I hear my name and Fisher’s name whispered several times as I walk by, smiling and waving at people uncomfortably. I hasten my steps until I get to the front of Fisher’s Bank and Trust right as the front doors open and Stanford walks out to meet me.
“Good timing, I just got finished,” he tells me, leaning in to kiss my cheek. “You look beautiful.”
He grabs my hands and holds my arms out to the side so he can look at me.
“Absolutely beautiful,” he reiterates. “But do you think those shorts are a bit…short for you?”
I look down at myself and try not to roll my eyes. They’re called shorts for a reason. There’s not much length to them, but my ass isn’t hanging out and they fit me perfectly. Stanford isn’t the type of man to ever dress casually, even for a picnic on the beach, so I just smile at him and shrug, letting his comment slide rather than get into an argument with him about my clothing choices.
He keeps hold of one of my hands as we cross the street and head over to the outdoor farmer’s market. “Listen, about last night…”
I bite down on my bottom lip to keep myself from telling him that we should never, ever talk about that again.
“I’m sorry about the way I reacted,” he continues. “I wanted to kick my own ass when I got home.”
I let out the breath I was holding, assuming he was going to call me crazy again, and let him continue.
“Really, how stupid am I? I had a beautiful, sexy woman in my arms and I pushed her away when she finally gave me the green light,” he laughs.
I don’t correct him, even though I should. I really, really should. I don’t want him to think that it’s time to move this relationship into warp speed, regardless of my behavior the previous night.
“I’m an idiot and I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t make you feel bad. I never want to make you feel bad, Luce,” he tells me softly.
I smile up at him as we walk through the tables of produce, throwing things into a basket that we can take down to the beach.
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. I was a little out of sorts last night, anyway,” I explain as we make our way to the register.
“It was because of Jefferson, wasn’t it?” he asks as I set the basket on the counter and start pulling our wares out of it.
“It’s Fisher, and yes, he’s part of the reason.”
I have no idea why I corrected him when he called Fisher, Jefferson. Why do I care if he gets Fisher’s name wrong? It’s not like Fisher gave a rat’s ass about saying his name wrong over and over. I even called him Jefferson myself last night, but that was just to piss him off. He hates that he shares a name with his father.
“It’s hard running into an ex again for the first time, it’s completely understandable. I just want you to know that I’m here for you. Whatever you need, I’m not going anywhere. I really care for you, Luce. I want to make this work and see where it goes.”
I nod and smile without saying anything in return. I should agree with him and tell him that I want to make this work, too. I should tell him that he makes me happy and that it’s been a long time since I’ve had a reason to smile, but nothing comes out of my mouth.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see my mother a few tables away and I lift my arm and wave, flagging her over to check us out. My parents had me pretty late in life; my mother was forty-five and my father was fifty-one when I was born. Even though running the inn soon became too much for them, my mother isn’t the type of person who can just sit around and do nothing but fish all day like my father. She likes to stay busy, so during the summer months, she helps out at the farmer’s market on weekends.
“Lu-Lu, I didn’t know you were coming by the market today,” my mother tells me as I lean over the table and kiss the cheek that she turns up for me. I got both my short stature and my looks from my mother. In her late sixties, Evelyn Butler refuses to grow old gracefully. She still has the same dark, strawberry blonde hair as myself, though Mom’s is now courtesy of her standing appointment at Sally’s House of Beauty every six weeks. She wears her hair in the same short, straight bob that she has for all of my life and, even after years of baking her skin in the summer sun, she still has a great complexion, with freckles across her nose and cheeks that match mine.
“It was a last minute decision yesterday evening. Stanford and I decided to do a picnic on the beach, so we’re just picking up a few things,” I explain to her.
She finally notices Stanford standing beside me and her head jerks back and forth between us like she’s at a tennis match.
“Oh! You’re still…I thought…I mean, I heard…last night. I didn’t realize you two were still together,” she stammers awkwardly.
Oh, for the love of God. Now my mother is joining the gossip mill?
Moving closer to Stanford, I slide my hand through his arm and lean into him, resting my head on his shoulder.
“Yes, we’re together and we’re very happy,” I inform her, giving her my biggest smile.
“It’s nice to see you again, Evelyn,” Stanford tells her with a warm smile. He’s met my parents a few times over the last month and my parents have been nice to him, but a little standoffish. It’s annoying and we’re definitely going to be sitting down and having a talk about it soon.
Lifting my head, I push up on my toes and kiss Stanford right on the lips. Laying it on a little thick, I know, but give me a break. My mother, of all people, needs to cut me some slack. She knows what I went through with Fisher and she knows that dating someone else for the first time in my life scares me to death. Unfortunately, she and my father adore Fisher and all they talk about when I see them is whether I’ve heard from him and how worried they are about him. I know it’s going to be much worse now that he’s back home.
“Yes, well it’s…very nice to see you again, too,” my mother says with a tight smile as she adds up our total and Stanford pulls out his wallet to pay her.
I grab the bag from the counter and try not to give her the stink eye when I tell her I’ll talk to her later. We say our goodbyes and Stanford and I walk away, heading across the street to the beach.
“I’m sorry about that. My mother is…”
“Protective of her one and only daughter?” Stanford asks with a laugh. “It’s okay, I’m a big boy. I can handle it. As long as you’re okay, I’m okay.”
I tighten my hold on his arm and rest my head on his shoulder, just for myself this time instead of for show. This man really is charming and kind and I should be thrilled that he wants to be with me. I need to stop comparing him to someone else and enjoy learning about him and, like he said, see where this thing takes us. As we walk down the stairs to the boardwalk on the sand, I decide that is exactly what I’m going to do. I don’t care what anyone in this town thinks, I’m going to do what makes me happy.