Page 22 of Sea La Vie (The Outer Banks #1)

Tate

“ W hat are you wearing?” Lainey giggles as she opens her front door.

I glance down at my outfit, then hers. “A pirate outfit. Where is yours?”

“Mine?” She twirls a strand of hair around her finger, a playful smile sitting on her lips.

“Yeah, Lucille told me everyone dressed up as pirates for Founder’s Day. She said I had to wear this.”

“There are certain people who wear pirate costumes, yes. But those are typically people who reenact Blackbeard’s last battle,” Lainey says then her eyes widen in horror. “Unless—oh no…She wouldn’t.” She tucks her bottom lip between her teeth, eyebrows arched.

“Whatever you’re insisting Lucille would not do, I have a feeling she absolutely would,” I say, my heartbeat picking up its pace.

“I can’t believe you’ve never been to Founder’s Day before,” Lainey muses.

“Grandpa usually kept to himself,” I say. “I can see why this wouldn’t be his cup of tea, especially if pirate costumes were involved.”

Lainey gives me a half smile. “How are your acting skills?”

I frown, realizing that whatever Lucille has tricked me into is going to most likely be embarrassing. “Not great.”

“Perfect! He gets beheaded in the second scene anyway. Lucille always has trouble finding someone to play that part because, you know, who wants to be beheaded?”

I consider my options. Refuse and show Lucille who’s really the boss here, or swallow my pride and show this town the best Blackbeard they’ve ever seen.

My chest puffs out after a deep breath. “I’m going to play Blackbeard so hard, he’s going to wish he was me.”

Lainey’s suspicions are confirmed as we walk down the sidewalk toward the courthouse green. We pass a few pirates, but most everyone else is dressed in normal, everyday summer clothes.

Lucille meets us with a sly smile. “Tate, Good to see you! Here are your lines. Memorize them in the next fifteen minutes, and be ready to show this town what you’ve got.”

“I don’t even get to practice?” I ask, shooting Lainey a nervous look. She shrugs in return.

“Practice is for the weak. Are you weak, Tate?” Lucille asks. She stands on her tiptoes in an attempt to meet my eyes, but still only manages to come to the center of my chest.

“No ma’am,” I choke out.

“You’ve got this Tate,” Lainey whispers. “I’m going to go find a seat on the lawn.”

She disappears before I have a chance to back out, leaving me in my pirate get up, sweaty and nervous.

“Tate! You’re on in thirty seconds!” Lucille yells from under her visor. She’s decked out in director gear, pen tucked behind her ear, and clipboard in hand. I peer around the curtain and find Lainey in the grass beside Eden and Sam.

I know Widow’s Wharf is small but when the whole town comes together, sitting on the courthouse lawn to watch Blackbeard’s last battle, it actually seems pretty big.

My palms are sweaty, and as much as I try to dry them, the hot polyester these pants are made of only seem to make it worse.

My stomach has crawled into my windpipe and no matter where I look, Lucille seems to be there, staring directly into my soul.

Sid and Dave walk off the stage, dressed in similar outfits, and Sid taps me on the shoulder on his way past me. “You’re on,” he whispers.

I try to swallow the knot in my throat, but it only doubles in size. Lucille nudges me from behind, and I stumble onto the stage. The sun is blinding, and I throw a hand up to shield my face, only to discover that there are more people here than I thought.

“Speak!” Lucille whisper-yells from behind the thick red curtain.

A nervous cough escapes me, and I clear my throat and open my mouth, but nothing comes out. I really did try my best to learn my lines, but I can’t remember a single word of them right now.

“I’ll take care of this,” I hear Sid say from behind Lucille. I whirl around in time to find him charging at me with a very theatrical force.

And then the world goes dark.

“Tate! Tate, can you hear me?”

I slowly blink, opening first one eye, then the other. “Lainey?” I croak.

She, along with nearly the entire town of Widow’s Wharf, is peering down at me from above.

“I…I didn’t mean to!” Sid pleads. “I’m so sorry, man. I had no idea that my sword was going to hit you right in a pressure point. I mean, it’s plastic! I won’t charge you for your car!” His eyes dart back and forth between Lainey and me.

“What happened?” I ask, sitting up. I scrub my eyes and look around. Lucille is beside Lainey, assessing me through slitted eyes.

“He’s probably faking it,” Lucille mutters.

“Lucille, you’re making it very hard to respect my elders,” I grumble. My head pounds with every word, threatening to split in half.

“Don’t call me old, you harlot.”

“Take it easy,” Lainey says, and steps between us.

“Here, let me help you.” I grab her outstretched hand, and she pulls me up.

I notice she doesn’t let go of my hand as she leads me to a secluded area on the other side of the courthouse where there is shade.

“Are you okay? You went down pretty hard.” She carefully grabs my chin with her free hand and turns my head left and right, inspecting it for any signs of Sid’s blow.

“Well that’s embarrassing,” I say. “Who knew you even had a pressure point in your neck?”

“Well in your defense, Sid went at you with all his might. Sometimes he slips into character a little too much.” Lainey lays a finger to my jawline and hums softly. “You have a little bruise already forming here. Does it hurt?”

Yes, it hurts, I want to whine . “Oh, I do? I had no idea. I feel fine,” I lie, instead.

“You must think we’re crazy,” Lainey sighs.

“Sid, Lucille, and everyone else; they mean well, they really do. They’re not used to visitors, I guess.

I think they’re maybe a little excited and want to impress you.

” Lainey’s voice sounds pleading, like she’s trying to convince me this place really isn’t so bad.

Like maybe she’s starting to warm up to me. Like maybe…she wants me to stay.

“It’s okay, Lainey,” I chuckle. “I know they mean well. Although, I’m still not too sure about Lucille. But, I’m still having a great time here.”

Lainey’s shoulders relax a fraction. “Do you want to play a round of bingo with me before we call it a day? If you’re up for it?”

“Only one round?” I ask. “Just so you know, I’m a bingo pro. I’d play all night if they’d let me.”

“I think it’s all luck, but nice try.” Lainey grins. One corner of her raspberry lips turns up in a smile, and she catches me staring at it. Slowly, her gaze meets mine.

“Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you something. How come you never told me you visited my Grandpa?” I ask.

Lainey licks her lower lip. “I don’t know. I didn’t want you to think I was doing it to get back at you or something.”

A halfhearted laugh bubbles from my chest. “Get back at me? Lainey, knowing that you’ve visited my grandpa every week for the past ten years couldn’t make me any happier. You have no idea what that means to me.”

Her eyes meet mine, and she gives me a shy smile. “I can’t wait to hear the rest of his story.”

“Me either,” I say. After he began telling us about his summer with Emma, he only got about a half an hour in before the nurse really did kick us out. We promised to come back as soon as possible, but it was hard to ignore the pang in my chest that he may not remember next time.

“I think there’s something else we should probably talk about, too,” I say, unsure of where my boldness is coming from.

But it’s like Lainey’s a light and I’m a moth, constantly being pulled toward her.

And I’d really like to know where we stand, especially because it seems that every time Lainey and I are together, a little piece of her wall cracks.

It’s starting to feel like we are getting back to the way things used to be before I left for college.

Lainey slides an eyebrow up.

“When I was washing your dishes the other day…”

“We said we weren’t going to talk about that!” Lainey swats my arm playfully then covers her eyes and groans. I pull her hands away and hold them at my sides. It’s a position very similar to our kitchen incident, her hands sitting low on my hips.

“I’m not talking about that, ” I say, although if she wanted to talk about running into me half naked wielding a bottle of champagne as a weapon, I’d be more than happy to.

Heaven knows I’ve only replayed it in my mind a million and half times.

“I’m talking about what happened in the kitchen.

I think we almost…you know.” I wiggle my eyebrows, and hope I don’t look like a complete dork.

“I do?” Lainey blushes before a smile lights up her entire face. It’s the first time I’ve seen a genuine smile from her since I’ve been back. And that’s when I know. It’s like a bad commercial from the early 2000s. I'm falling for her—hard—and I can’t get up.

“You mean how you almost kissed me before Lucille interrupted us?” Lainey’s eyes are trained on my lips, her voice barely above a whisper.

“I think you almost kissed me, ” I correct her. She leans a fraction closer as I do the same, a contest to see who makes the first move. Our foreheads press together and I reach a hand up to cup her jaw.

“There you two are!” Lucille hollers. “I’ve been looking all over for you. I need my pirate costume back.”

I pull back and grimace, remembering what I’m wearing, and Lainey chuckles.

“You have some impeccable timing, Lucille,” I mutter. Louder, I say, “Let me go change.”

“I told you he was a thief,” Lucille says. “Trying to steal my costume. I’ve had that since our very first Founder’s Day, back in the fifties.”

“That explains the weird smell,” I mutter.

“I’ll go grab us seats at bingo,” Lainey promises. She takes off toward the bingo tent, leaving me alone with Lucille.

“You’re darn tootin’ I have impeccable timing,” she hisses. “You listen to me right now. Don’t you go breakin’ that girl's heart; it’s already been broken enough. Do you hear me?” She pokes a finger in my chest and raises one permanently tattooed eyebrow.

“Yes ma’am,” I reply, not because I’m scared of Lucille—I am—but because I know if I’m lucky enough for Lainey to give me her heart, I could never break it.

“She likes you,” she says through slotted eyes. “Beats me as to why, though.”

“She does?” I ask, warmth flooding through my chest. “How can you tell?”

“Open your eyes! The whole town can tell. Heck, even Sid picked up on it. Why do you think he attacked you like that?” Lucille’s talking animatedly, arms flying.

“Sid? Isn’t he like sixty?”

“Get your mind out of the gutter!” Lucille swats my arm then grabs ahold of my ear.

“Sid’s known that girl her entire life. He’s her dad’s best friend, practically her uncle.

He helped raise her. We all did after her mom passed away.

” Behind her bifocals, her eyes grow misty and she blinks rapidly in an attempt to clear them.

“Oh,” I say, because I’m not sure what else to say.

I was with Lainey when she found out the news, but that was the last day I was in town.

I didn’t get to stay for the funeral, no matter how much I begged my parents, and when I finally called Lainey after we made it home, she didn’t want to talk about it.

So, I’ve never known about the specifics and never wanted to bring it up and open old wounds.

“‘Oh’ is right,” she harrumphs. “You break her heart, I’ll break you. Capeesh?” She drags the thumb of her free hand across her neck, her Revlon-red lips curling into a snarl.

“Um…capeesh,” I say and side eye her hand still grasping my ear lobe. Reluctantly, she lets go and storms away, all five feet of her moving surprisingly fast.