“Nope. Every time she hit a pothole the queen just bobbled along right with the car. Freakiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Hmm,” Cass hummed and bit her thumb as she stared out the window. “I wonder where I could buy one.”
Our conversation in the cab grew silent as Cassandra watched the buildings fly by while we made our way to the oceanfront hotel and condo building. The air conditioning worked hard to fight off the heat, but it barely helped as I sat there sweating with the sun beating through the windows.
Regardless, having Cass by my side helped. Every time she was close, my world felt right. Things in my life hadn’t been this settled since the last time she’d been in Pelican Bay. Now things were completely different. We’d be okay to have fun the next two days, but I had to remind myself she wasn’t here to stay.
8
CASSANDRA
“The sun is so bright,” I said as I tipped a pair of sunglasses lower on my nose to shield me from the rays.
Riley nodded as he stopped beside me and we stared out at the expansive beach in front of us. “I can’t decide if God hates Florida or loves it most.”
Truth. I laughed at his assessment. I didn’t ask in that exact manner, but I had similar thoughts. Florida in early July was intense.
We stepped out from underneath the large canopy at the end of our hotel, and my feet landed on the warm sand. I lifted one and then the other, giving them each a reprieve from the fire-like sand until my skin adjusted to the temperature. Summer sun heated my skin, and I closed my eyes even behind the dark shades and took a large breath.
Every single thing about the moment equaled perfection. Not only the location and the weather but also the person I walked beside as we made our way to the open area of the beach. Riley grabbed the oversized blanket we found in the condo and flipped it out, giving us a place to sit.
“I’m in love with this towel,” I said, staring at the light blue design.
It wasn’t normal to have such feelings about a piece of fabric, but I was emotional that day. The oversized towel was Turkish cotton from what I read earlier on the label, and it gave plenty of space for us both to sit on the sand with enough room left for my bag. My butt sank into the ground as I sat, but the towel thankfully kept the warm sand away from my skin.
“Thank you for bringing me here,” I said to Riley once he situated himself beside me.
I’d been to Florida once my entire life. After I left Pelican Bay and found a job in Tennessee, I took a few classes at the local community college. Spring break my last semester, a group of us from my class piled into a friend’s van and drove to the gulf for a week of sun and sand.
Riley tilted his head to the side and looked at me when he answered. “I couldn’t imagine being here with anyone else, babe.”
I didn’t know when he started throwing the word babe in his vocabulary, but it definitely worked for me. I nodded once in response but said nothing else. There wasn’t much for me to say. Instead, I stared at Riley. The sun highlighted his features in a way you couldn’t see under a cloudy sky in Pelican Bay.
Riley had always been the hottest Jefferson family member, but right then, he was the hottest man on the planet. How had I gone so many years without getting to stare at him? He’d always had a nice physique, but it had only improved in the years since I’d left. His pecs stretched against his white polo shirt. I worried for the fabric. He had to be stretching the arms.
The moment grew awkward as I stared at him, but I couldn’t think of anything to say to break it up.
Thankfully, Riley had my back and steered the conversation. His attention fluttered out to the ocean and the wide expanse of blue sky in front of us. “I bet the water is warmer here than anywhere in Maine.”
I ran my fingers through the sand beside the blanket and scooped up a few pieces before letting them fall back out again in a homemade timekeeper.
“Either way, it’s better than Tennessee.” I now called the land-locked state home, but I missed the sound of waves crashing along the shore and the screaming of the seagulls as they searched for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
I especially missed having someone special to sit on the sand beside me. Or maybe I only missed Riley.
“You want to test the water temperature?” he asked, but with way too much mischief in his smile for me to fall for whatever plan he’d concocted.
You’d always trust Riley to give you a good time, but you couldn’t always trust his methods. “Only if you go first,” I countered.
His smirk only grew. “Babe, I’m always up for a challenge.”
Yeah, he was definitely planning something. There weren’t any paragliders, jet skiers, or tubers on the backs of boats, but I didn’t put it past Riley to find the closest place to rent death-defying equipment. He never followed in his brother’s footsteps and joined the military, but he would’ve made one hell of a soldier.
I’d been ready to ask for clarification before I agreed to anymore of his ideas when my phone rang. I searched my bag and stopped myself before I swiped to answer.
“Oh, it’s Mandy.” I told her I planned to take the box to her cousin’s house the day before, but boarded a helicopter and found myself in Florida. The truth wouldn’t go over well. “I’ll text her back later,” I said, silencing the phone and dropping it back into my bag.
Definitely not winning coworker of the year award.
