Page 55 of On the Rocks
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” he said, kissing my forehead again before steering us toward Daddy’s truck. “I’ll find something to do, maybe go check out the casino with your dad or something. He’s been begging me to go.”
I smiled as much as I could, aiming for lightness in my voice. “Well, that’s not at all surprising. Hope you’re ready to lose all of your Sunday in that dungeon of bells and flashing lights.”
Anthony held the back door of Dad’s truck open for me, closing it gently once I was inside.
In that moment of silence, I took my first real breath in days.
I couldn’t wait to get home, get changed, and get away.
“You look like hell,” Annie greeted, still somehow cheerful even with the insult flying from her lips.
“Happy Sunday to you, too,” I replied on a chuckle. I flopped down into the chair next to her, sighing as the cushion gave into my weight in a familiar, softwhoosh. “Can I just… can I just nap right here?”
Annie snickered. “Mama Barnett pushing you that hard, huh?”
“You were there for the seating arrangement fiasco,” I reminded her, referring to our Friday morning spent with my mom. “Now, just imagine that same frenzy… All. Weekend. Long.”
She cringed, sliding her coffee toward me. “Here. You need this more than I do.”
I took the hot mug gratefully, tilting it toward her in thanks before taking a sip. I hummed as the mocha-flavored magic made its way into my stomach, reaching forward to flip through the events calendar for the day. I’d only been inside the building for five minutes and I already felt my muscles relaxing, the tension leaving that spot between my eyebrows, my breaths coming easier. These walls and the people who lived within them were comfortable to me, safe, familiar. It was the one steady thing in my currently chaotic life.
“Everyone already at the pool?” I asked, noting that water aerobics had been added to the schedule for the day.
“Mm-hmm,” Annie said, biting against a smile.
“Betty having a good day?”
“Oh, she’s having thebestday,” Annie said, still with the weird smile.
I cocked a brow.
“She’s out there with our newest volunteer — hell, the entire nursing home is out there. No one has been able to teach water aerobics since the summer started, so it was a welcome surprise for us to have some help.”
“I could have done water aerobics,” I offered.
“You still can,” Annie said. “I’m sure the new guy would love the help. Those old ladies were practically ripping his swim trunks off when he made his way through the halls to the pool. I swear, in the five years I’ve worked here, I’ve never seen Mrs. Hollenbeck go swimming. Until today.”
I frowned. “Interesting. We haven’t had any new volunteers in a while, either — aside from those completing community service. Who is this guy?”
Annie’s grin widened. “Oh, you know him.”
My best friend had that look in her eyes, the one she used to get when she was about to ask me for a huge favor or to go to a party I didn’t want to go to.
“Annie…” I warned. “Who is it?”
She just did a little shoulder dance, fishing one of the volunteer pool keys out of the desk and tossing it my way. “Why don’t you go find out?”
I frowned deeper, clutching the key in hand as I stood. “You’re a brat.”
“You love me, anyway.”
“Debatable.”
She was still chuckling as I made my way down the hall to the bathroom, changing into the swim suit I’d brought with me. For some reason, my stomach was fluttery as I changed, mind swirling with the possibilities of who it could be. I wondered if it was Tanner, the guy I’d dated sophomore year. Or maybe Annie was joking about the guy being hot. Maybe it was someone weird, like the scrawny, perverted kid who delivered newspapers and always liked to stare a little too long into the windows of whichever girl didn’t leave their curtains drawn enough.
My heart thumped even harder when I realized Anthony had left to go to the casino with Dad before I left for the nursing home. Dad hadn’t even left yet, saying he had a few stops to make along the way and he’d meet him at the main bar.
Maybe it’s him. Maybe he’s surprising me.