It all sounds pretty in my head. I hope I’m up to it.
Ten minutes or more have passed since I entered the bathroom, but when I walk out Dolores is piling a heap of eggs on a plain white square plate. I sit back on the same stool Bennett and I used last night and tinker with the fork she hands me.
“Do they catch many fish at the pier?” I ask taking my first bite of scrambled egg and moaning. I’m a picky eater, but these are some of the best I’ve ever tasted. They’re light and fluffy, seasoned with the perfect amount of salt and a dash of pepper.
Dolores laughs. “I think they caught one…once. But the tradition started when Liam and Bennett first moved here. Bonding experience for them both, I’m sure.”
“He’s a good dad.”
“He is. I started helping them out right after Liam moved in. The man has struggled at times, but he’s learning.”
Besides his inability to cook vegetables I didn’t see Bennett struggle in raising Liam last night. He’s obviously learned a lot.
Dolores busies herself with wiping up the pan and putting it in the dishwasher, but she stops long enough to turn back and dish out one piece of advice. “It takes a village to raise a child, they say, but what Bennett really needs is a dedicated girl who will help make his family complete.”
“Um…” Just when my face is going back to my regular shade this happens. “It’s not really like that between Bennett and me. He’s just…” What is Bennett doing? “Helping me because of his job.”
I haven’t been in Pelican Bay long, but I have watched Bennett’s boss, Ridge, fall head over heels in love with Tabitha. There’s no way he would let anything happen to his girlfriend’s friend. I’m sure Bennett is taking orders from his boss. If Tabitha wasn’t involved none of them would be either.
“You sure it’s only because of his job?”
My argument about being Tabitha’s best friend dies on my lips as the back door swings open.
“We catched a frog,” Liam yells running into the kitchen. He stops a centimeter before smacking into the counter, and out of his hands jumps a fat dark green toad.
“Oh my God,” I practically scream, grabbing my plate off the table, and try not to fall off my stool as I stand and back away from the counter.
Dolores has a much better reaction. She leans forward and scoops the frog off the counter. “You need to keep your new pal outside, Liam.”
“Do I have to?” he asks as Dolores leads him to the back door, the frog carefully placed between her two palms.
“Absolutely.”
Bennett sidesteps them as they cross paths at the doorway.
I put my plate of eggs back on the counter. “Bennett, you have frog… dirt on your counter.” I’m not sure what a frog butt print looks like, but this one left big dirty streaks all across the white and black counter top. The place where we all eat. Where food is made.
Rather than seeming horrified, Bennett laughs. “Yeah, he has a way of doing that. I buy the cleaning wipes in bulk.” He fumbles around under the sink for a few moments and pulls out a huge purple and white container of sanitization wipes. Pulling one from a jar, he uses it to wipe up the dirt from the table. It’s clean when he’s done but I wish he had used five, six, a hundred more…to be safe.
He shrugs. “He’s five. What are you gonna do?”
CHAPTER TEN
“Are you sure you’re okay? I can drop you off with Tabitha or Ridge.”
Bennett’s hesitancy stretches my lips across my face into a large smile. “No, this is great.”
Liam runs back to us, his little feet smacking the pavement with each step making the lights on the back of his shoes flash. “Can I get the chocolate flavor?”
“Sure, buddy.”
Bennett’s house isn’t far from the water — no one in Pelican Bay proper is — so when Liam suggested we take a Sunday walk for ice cream, none of us were going to say no. The way his eyes lit up and his face exploded in excitement when his dad told him he could get any flavor he wanted was enough to remind me there is a reason to smile today. In fact being around his constant ball of energy I haven’t had much time to sit and fret about what I’m going to do when Bennett finally lets me go back to the bakery.
The wind blasts cool air off the top of the ocean right down the road blowing my hair every which direction. When it settles I attempt to flatten it as close as possible to my head. Tabitha was super concerned about packing lingerie, but she didn’t stop to think about the little stuff like a hair tie…or a toothbrush.
A slight dead fish odor lingers in the air, a sure sign we’re getting closer to the beach. Closing my eyes, I breathe deeply letting the smell remind me of back home. Most people think of the beach as a pleasant scent — and I do too — I just know where it really comes from. Living so close to the ocean from childhood makes you aware of what really goes on down there under the surf.
Two black cars, one right after the other, drive past us. They slow, the passenger in the second car turning her head and staring out the window. If it wasn’t obviously Pearl, I would probably be diving for the bushes.
