Page 13

EMERY

Then . . .

“Pssst. Emery.” The jalousie window next to her bed rattled. “You awake?”

Pulling out of a dead sleep, she cranked open the window. Between the hum of the ceiling fan and the cha-chunk of the old A/C unit, Emery’s room sounded like an old Cessna airplane. The digital clock on the nightstand blinked eleven thirty.

“Caleb? What are you doing?”

“The carnival is in town. Want to go?”

“Maybe. Who wants to know?”

“Me,” he whispered, his lips pressing against the screen. “I’m off work tomorrow.”

“Stop kissing the screen. If my dad sees a sloppy lip print . . .” Since their breakfast at the diner—where he’d stuck her with the bill—she’d seen Caleb every day. He’d stopped by a few times. Then she ran into him at the Starlight when Dad “rallied” the troops for an evening skate.

Caleb was becoming a good friend. He was cool. And cute—really, really cute. She’d filled her journal with descriptions of his cuteness. This evening, she’d sent him a Facebook friend request. So far, he’d not accepted.

“So, the carnival?” Caleb wiped the screen with the hem of his T-shirt, showing off his taut, tanned belly. “You want to go?”

“Gee, I don’t know if I can hang with a guy who disses me on Facebook.”

“Disses you on Facebook? What are you talking about?”

“You haven’t accepted my friend request.” She tried to sound somewhat irritated, but sounded flirty instead.

“I hardly look at Facebook. Too much drama. Especially since you-know-who went all crazy on us.” Over the last week, Emery learned that his sister continued to cause tension in the family. “But you, I’ll Friend. As soon as I get home. So, are we going?”

“Em?” Dad knocked on her door. “Everything okay?”

Caleb dropped out of sight as she fell back on her pillow. “Huh, what?” Did she sound sleepy? She needed to sound sleepy.

Dad peeked in. “I thought I heard voices. I know it’s hot, but don’t leave your window open. Delilah called her A/C guy, he should be here tomorrow. And close your blind. You never know who’s walking along the beach.”

Yep, you never know who might walk down the beach, tap on your window, and set your bones on fire. No, siree.

When Dad had gone, Caleb popped up again. “Shew, I escaped the Boyfriendinator. What time should I pick you up tomorrow?”

“Talk to me after you’ve Friended me.”

He grinned, pulled out his phone, tapped the screen a half dozen times, then turned it toward her. “Done.”

“See you tomorrow, Caleb.” She cranked the window closed and fell back down on her pillow, smiling.

In the morning, before Mom had even started breakfast, Caleb knocked on the cottage door. “Mr. Quinn, I’d like to escort your daughter to the carnival this afternoon.”

He’s asking Dad? The Boyfriendinator? Gutsy.

“Escort my daughter?” Dad tried not to laugh, and Emery swatted his arm. “I don’t know, Caleb, what are your intentions?”

“Intentions?”

“Oh, good grief,” Mom said. “His intention is to have fun. Honestly Doug, this is not the 1920s. Of course she can go, Caleb.” Lately Mom answered a lot for Dad, and it always felt like she was trying to show or teach him something.

Caleb thanked Mom and said he’d be back in the afternoon. Dad, after giving him the evil eye, said, “That’ll be fine. But I may be calling your father. Just in case.”

“Yes, sir, he’d be glad to hear from you.”

After breakfast, Emery cleaned the kitchen while Mom showered, and Dad stepped outside to take a call.

When he came back in, he went straight to their bedroom.

They’d had a lot of closed-door conversations since arriving at the Sands.

They whispered a lot too. While sitting in the courtyard Adirondacks, while cooking or washing dishes.

Cottage 7 could fit in their Cleveland home’s living and dining room, so maybe they wanted privacy, but still ... it was weird.

“Emery.” Dad returned to the kitchen. “Your mom and I are going to see a friend of mine in Jacksonville. You have fun at the carnival. Check in with Delilah when you get back.”

“You have a friend in Jacksonville? How long will you be gone?”

“Just the day. We’ll be home late. It’s a five-hour drive over and back.”

Emery made a face. “You’re driving ten hours to see an old friend? For a day? Why aren’t you staying over?”

“We want to get back, enjoy our time in Sea Blue Beach. And we don’t want to leave you overnight. As for Todd, we’ve only recently been in touch. Don’t feel the need to spend the night.”

“But you want to drive ten hours to see him?”

“Yeah, your Mom and I thought it’d be fun. Besides, this summer is really about making family memories.”

“Then why don’t I go with? Meet your old friend.”

“Well, sure, you can come if you want. Rosie, Em thinks she might like to ride along.”

Mom came out of the bedroom dressed in jeans that bagged around her hips, no makeup, and her hair in a loose ponytail.

She looked nothing like the bank exec heading out the door, ready to kick butt and take names.

“Of course we’d love to have you come.” She looked at her watch.

“You’d better get ready. We need to get on the road. ”

Mom and Dad started gathering their things, but Emery didn’t move.

“Em?” Mom said. “Better grab a book. Maybe a pillow. Once Dad starts talking shop with Todd, who knows when we’ll get out of there.”

Okay, fine. They called her bluff. She didn’t want to sit in the car for ten hours, then at dinner while Dad reminisced with Todd.

Besides, Caleb braved the Boyfriendinator for her. “Well, I told Caleb I’d go to the carnival with him.”

“And a woman must keep her word,” Mom said, leaning to kiss Emery’s cheek. “Doug, she’ll need some money. And the spare cottage key.”

Standing in the courtyard, with a twenty in her pocket and the cottage key in her hand, Emery waved good-bye to Dad and Mom. She startled when Delilah hooked her arm around her shoulders.

“There’s no need to worry,” she said.

“What do you mean? Worry about what?”

“Oh, nothing. Just when your parents drive off and leave you behind in a new place for the first time, it can be kind of scary.” Delilah smiled down at Emery and squeezed her shoulders.

“But I’ve got a hundred bucks for the girl who can clean the two cottages vacated this morning.

My regular cleaning service is running behind, and new guests are checking in at noon. ”

“Where do you keep the cleaning supplies?” Emery said.

By lunch, she was a hundred dollars richer and considering a career as a motel owner. Back in Cottage 7, she showered, ate a quick sandwich, then picked her outfit for the afternoon—the new jean shorts she bought before coming down, a pink tank top, new Converse, and her crossbody bag.

At three o’clock, Caleb came knocking.

“I don’t think your dad likes me,” he said as they walked past his truck, up Avenue C, toward the lights and music of the carnival.

“He likes you. He just likes me more.”

He laughed. “My sister says our parents like me more. But it’s not true.”

“Is that why she’s causing trouble?”

“Nah, I think it’s whatever happened in the spring.”

The carnival was set up in the lot by the abandoned Doyle’s Auto Shop, and Caleb stepped up to the ticket window for two passes.

Emery walked with him toward the crowded thoroughfare. “So, what do you want to do first?” He paused by the Serendiporama machine. “Want to know your future?”

She glared at the mystical mechanical man at the top of the machine, with the wild, kaleidoscope eyes and lopsided turban. “No. That guy gives me the creeps. Do you really think this machine knows the future?” She tapped the name of the machine. “Serendiporama isn’t even a word.”

“Maybe not on earth, but—”

She chuckled and playfully nudged him. “Not even on Krypton.”

“Okay, then just for fun.”

“Or to throw away your hard-earned money.”

Caleb slipped two quarters in for himself and handed Emery two.

She groaned as he closed his eyes and crossed his fingers.

“Say I’ll be a millionaire, a millionaire.

” Then bleep , bloop , bloop —the Serendiporama spit out a white card.

Caleb pressed it against his abdomen. “Okay, you go. I won’t look until yours comes out. ”

“Fine, but if I get a curse, I’ll never forgive you.”

“You won’t. But if you get the millionaire one, it’s mine.”

“You wish.”

“Hey, who gave you the quarters?”

“ Oookaaay , I’ll give back your quarters when I’m a millionaire.”

“Even better, we split the million. Deal?”

“Geez, Ransom, I’m beginning to see why Cassidy hates you.” Emery heard her words as she paid the machine the required fifty cents. But it was too late. She meant to be light and airy. Teasing. But her comment changed Caleb’s expression, and a dark glint flickered through his blue eyes.

“Caleb, I’m sorry.” Emery said as the machine spit out her card. “I didn’t mean it.”

“Forget it, whatever. Let’s go.” He walked off without waiting for her.

“Caleb, stop, I was trying to make a joke. I’m horrible at jokes.” She tucked her card in her pocket and ran after him. “I’m an idiot. Big, fat idiot. Bad Emery. Bad.”

He stopped short and turned to her. “I never said she hated me. But now, I don’t know, maybe she does.”

“I take it all back. What do I know? I’ve never even met her.” Emery mimed eating her words, then locking her lips and tossing away the key. “The piehole is officially closed.”

Caleb stared at her, then broke with one of his grins. “For the rest of the day?” He plopped his arm on her shoulders. “Who am I going to talk to, Em?”

“Me. Only if you forgive me.” She wanted to hug him, but that’d be weird. What if he pushed her away? “I’m an only child who talks to adults most of the time, which makes me a bit of a smarty-pants.”