“Thanks, Ladies” he said as he gave them an extremely shallow bow.
He got a bouquet of titters for his trouble. Cory gave him a standing ovation when he came back to his seat. Even Aimee was laughing at him.
“I can’t help it if I’m irresistible.”
“Damn straight. See what happens when you clean up and wear a jacket and a button down shirt?”
His pink margarita looked like a tired glass of Hawaiian punch. Even the straw was drooping, and the paper flamingo had fallen on the table. He looked over at Aimee’s and noticed she had finished hers. Of course, that nice little glow at her cheeks would’ve told him that.
Their waitress told him he could get a refresher, on the house, so he asked to try a regular margarita with no salt on the rocks this time.
“So we got an invitation for this wedding on Saturday.” He threw his thumb over his shoulder and explained, “The bride’s the one with all the BS on her veil.”
“Oh yes.” Aimee giggled. “I see what you mean.”
“Very tacky,” he said.
“Shocking, even,” Aimee added and then chuckled.
Cory leaned forward on his elbows. He had three empty beer glasses in front of him. “So what’s the plan, Stan?”
Andy took the invitation from his jacket and showed it to Aimee and Cory. “They’re all local. The bride’s marrying some horse breeder.”
“Oh a trophy wedding!” enthused Cory. “I love those. The old man must be ancient.”
“I’m not sure.” Andy tapped on the name.
“Anson Jonathan McKinsey Moore, the third?” Cory read. “Yeah, they’re loaded. I think they’re Pegasus Farms. He’s a bigwig in local politics too. Owns a couple sports franchises—I don’t know which ones.” He leaned back in his chair, placing hands on top of his head and stretching to the side, and then moved his right arm up and down slowly, babying his brand new joint.
Aimee pushed the invitation back to him. “I don’t think that’s my kind of thing. But you guys could go.”
“So let me get this straight, Aimee. You’re encouraging Andy and me to go crash a wedding party with a bunch of oversexed bridesmaids and probably half the pretty girls in Florida, single and just dying to get laid by a Navy SEAL? Is that what you’re saying?”
“No, of course not! I didn’t see it that way. If I don’t know anybody there it really wouldn’t be any fun for me. I don’t want to go just to say I attended some big wedding for the rich and famous. That’s not really who I am.”
“But why not?” he insisted.
“It would probably just be uncomfortable. I’d be so nervous I wouldn’t enjoy it. That’s all.”
But Cory wasn’t going to give up so quickly. “Let’s see, they’ll probably have a French chef, a Cuban chef, pastry chef, free booze, and a tribute band, that will be even better than the real guys. It says here it’s at the Belle Meade Country Club in Sarasota. Now, the brief amount of time I was there—well, let me put it this way, before I got kicked out—it looked like a pretty cool place.”
Andy couldn’t help but chuckle. “And being totally practical, like Cory here?” He paused while Cory toasted him. “We’ll need you to drive us home Aimee.”
“There’s Uber.”
Andy tilted his head and then began shaking it no. “She doesn’t wanna go, Cory.” He placed his fingers at the top of the card preparing to rip it up when Cory stopped him.
“Give me that.”
“Cory, what are you doing?” asked Aimee.
“I’m here to keep you two from making a huge mistake,” barked Cory. “Trust me. I’d pay to go to one of those functions. And we got a free ticket in. I think you could even bring Shelley, if you wanted to, Andy. I’d bet she’d love it.”
“Does that change your mind any?” Andy asked her.
“You really think this is a good idea? Do either one of you think this is a good idea?” Aimee said as she alternated searching both their faces.
Andy knew without looking at Cory what his answer was going to be.
In unison, they both said, “Yes!”
“I gotta go pee.” Aimee stood and headed toward the kitchen with the bathrooms just beyond.
“You think we just screwed up, Cory?”
“No, she’ll come around. And if she still is adamant about not going Saturday morning, I’ll take her somewhere. You and Shelley should go. I think it will be a good way to check out how the better half lives in Florida. I guarantee you won’t ever see anything like it again.”
“I’m thinking maybe the three of us should go. Less things to manage.” Andy read in Cory’s expression that they were on two different pages. “No, no, no, Cory. I don’t mean anything like that.”
“Sure you did.”
“It will give us all something to dream about. Something to aspire to. Something to tell our grandkids someday.” He paused. “Remember what we said? To making happy memories? Now that’s what I’m talking about. What were you thinking?”
Cory just groaned and rolled his eyes. Andy knew that by the time they made it home, he’d be in no shape to walk. In fact, Cory would probably be asleep as soon as he hit the backseat of the Jeep.
Chapter 6
All the way back to her Sunset Beach home, Aimee thought about something that happened at the restaurant. She wrestled with the idea of telling Andy but decided against it.
They’d placed Cory in the back seat of the Jeep so he could stretch out over the bench. Andy insisted he hadn’t consumed enough alcohol to be impaired, so he drove. That left the passenger side for Aimee.
She was in a very light-hearted mood tonight and was headed back to their table when she noticed two men arguing in the backyard. The rear restaurant door was open, but a screen protected the inside diners from bugs. Both men were wearing white, indicating they worked in the kitchen.
One man began to shout at the taller one. He began pressing his forefinger into the other man’s chest, making some kind of demand. He was rotund and shorter of the two, with black curly hair growing like weeds all over the top of his head. He even had a heavy mustache. The other man was extremely thin and much younger. He also towered over the angry man by more than six inches.
Several times, the force of the older man’s chest tap became more like a small shove, causing the other one to step back. Finally, she saw the younger man hold up his hand and shout, “Don’t you dare!”
The words echoed throughout the alleyway behind the restaurant and even made a neighboring dog start to bark.
Both men looked back to the screen door of the restaurant. Aimee froze in place and then noticed something familiar about the younger man. At first, it was his voice. Although he’d been pushed to anger, the basic timbre was very familiar.
She pressed close to the screen to get a clearer view and called out, “Logan?”
Both men ran in different directions. She heard a car start and another slam of a car door.
It can’t be! Although she doubted the impossible, she still had to check it out.
She noiselessly unlatched the screen door, stepping out onto the paver tiles traversing the small yard. She stopped and listened again for any sound out of place and found none. Certainly there was no arguing.
She called out again, “Logan? Are you out there? It’s Aimee. If you’re there, let me talk to you. You don’t have to be afraid.”
No one answered. And although their white jackets could easily stand out in the moonlight, she couldn’t find evidence of either man anywhere.
Suddenly, her knees began to shake, and her breath became ragged. The dark night felt evil, menacing, and she ran back to the safety of the warm establishment and her two SEAL protectors.
But the encounter with the two strangers had rattled her. She’d not been sleeping well lately, so tried to justify that it was a hallucination brought on by nerves, caused by a lack of sleep. And the more she played the strange visitation over and over again, as she watched the road and
let the two-lane highway lull her back to normalcy, the more she began to doubt that it had happened at all.
It certainly wasn’t Logan. It couldn’t be. Logan would have appeared, come up, and talked to her. No matter what state he was in, he’d never just flee without talking to her.
It was the first time in the ensuing seven years that she’d actually seen someone that closely resembled him. There had been lots of false starts over the years, people who looked like him from behind. But when she examined their faces, they were complete strangers. She knew it upset everyone around her when these things happened. So, eventually, she made it a point not to search anymore. Her parents had moved on years ago. She adopted the same attitude.
Leaning back in the seat, she closed her eyes for a few minutes.
“You okay?” Andy asked her.
“I think I’m getting a migraine or something. My whole head hurts.”
Andy pulled a water bottle from the pocket in the side of the driver door and handed it to her. “You need more water. Hydration will do the trick.”
He was probably right. She thanked him and took a long swig.
She turned, pulling one knee up so she could sit sideways, and looked at his handsome face. Red and yellow lights reflected on his statuesque features. By contrast, her brother’s face was very angular and sharp, and in the vision she’d seen tonight, if it was real, the features were even more so.
The last time she saw him, his eyes appeared to have sunk farther into his skull, revealing dark brown circles beneath. He still had the same prominent cheekbones, but below, his face was gaunt and the coloring was pasty white. Unlike the man she was looking at now, Logan seemed like he was near death.
“So tell me what’s going on?” he asked. His deep voice was soothing and kind.
“I was just thinking about all the characters there at the restaurant. The girls who would have devoured you if you let them. The silver-haired couples. The wait staff, and the kitchen help.”
“You should see it when I go overseas. Talk about a clash of cultures. Imagine if they were all speaking different languages.”
She threw out a question she’d often thought about since high school. “Can you imagine if you wanted to orchestrate all these people coming together like they did tonight? If that was your job to choreograph that scene, how would you do it? When you think of it, it’s a statistical miracle.”
“Whoa! That’s way beyond my bandwidth. You came up with that on your own?”
Aimee readjusted herself and smiled, facing front once again. “I could lie, and you’d think I was a genius. But I had a statistics professor in college who loved to throw that out to all his Freshmen. He said it was his proof that we were living in miracles every day.”
“Or a grumpy farm boy like me might say it’s proof of the randomness of life.”
She couldn’t suppress another smile. “Or you could say that.”
“But man, what a place, right? Great food. Packed on a Wednesday night. That place is a goldmine.”
Aimee was grateful for the conversation. “That’s for sure.”
“Except for the Flamingo Special. That one didn’t grow on me like I thought it would.”
“And I loved it,” Aimee grinned. “They are so consistent, Andy. I never get tired of their jambalaya. Can you just imagine how much seafood they go through every evening?”
“And it was all fresh,” he said. “I can see why you guys go back there so often.”
“Creatures of habit.”
“Purveyors of good taste,” he corrected her.
She decided to let the differences stand where they fell and to change the subject.
“I guess we’re going to be attending that wedding, then. I’m going to have to check my wardrobe because I don’t think I have anything suitable to wear,” she sighed.
“Well, after Cory told us about his little experience there, I don’t think it’s going to matter. We may only be in attendance for about five minutes, right?
Aimee nodded. “That was a new story for me. He must have thousands of them.”
“He’s got lots of stories all right. Some of them are even true.”
She directed him to turn just after the dog park and the Pelican sanctuary. Although her house was a more expensive rental, though it was smaller than Cory’s, she liked the neighborhood better.
“How long are you here for, or do you know?” he asked her.
“I’m on a two-month lease, but I can extend it up to a year if I want. Technically, it’s just a month-to-month tenancy now.”
“How come you don’t move in with Cory? And don’t answer that if it’s too personal.”
She leaned back into the comfortable lumbar support of the leather seat and smiled. “That’s a good question, Andy. We’ve talked about it every once in a while, but it’s sort of like I don’t want to give up my house and he doesn’t want to give up his. I couldn’t tell you which one of us is the more stubborn, although he’ll claim it’s me.”
“I can see the difference in the neighborhood already. Looks like they’ve torn down and rebuilt most of the smaller homes in this area. I think it’s safer for a woman, living alone.”
“And I have a handgun.”
“Good to know,” he said, nodding. “Bad for the bad guys.”
“It belonged to my dad.”
“You trained in how to use it, clean it, know the rules of engagement?”
“Not quite.”
“You don’t want to own a gun unless you’re prepared to use it, Aimee. It will be far safer for you that way and for any innocent who happens to come across it. You should take it seriously.”
She kept quiet. Finally, he added, “I don’t mean to interfere, but you have to respect guns. Then it becomes a protective device and not something that could get you or someone else killed.”
She didn’t respond again.
“So I did it, didn’t I?”
“You did. But I understand it was for my benefit. I’ll add it to my list.”
He touched her shoulder. “Thanks. Lecture over.” Then he asked, “How did you find the place?”
“I couldn’t believe I found it online. And it’s quieter, too, than just about any other place I’ve looked at. The land slopes to the shore here, which makes it not quite as good for swimming, but it does block the traffic noise from Gulf Boulevard, and that’s a huge plus.” She pointed to the little bungalow on the beach. “Home sweet home.”
Andy stopped the car and turned off the ignition. He accompanied her to her front door where she lingered.
“Are you going to be okay with Cory?”
“Just like I did the night before. He’s a sack of potatoes.”
She wanted to touch him but didn’t want to be inappropriate. Taking the safe road, she extended her hand and they shook.
“It was fun. It was really, really fun, Andy. I can’t remember when I’ve had such a day filled with so many activities. That morning run and breakfast was outstanding. Then we got the bikes. We ate ice cream and watched the sunset. Then danced at JJ’s. It feels like a week has gone by. Normally, my life’s a lot slower.”
“Mine’s a little different pace than that. When we’re home, it’s slow. But at work, things come up all the time. And you never know when it will just explode.”
“Well, thank you, Andy. Now, do you want me to call Shelley and invite her for Saturday? Or do you want to do it?”
“Let me think about that for a little bit. Cory and I will talk it over unless you feel strongly about it.”
“I just want to do whatever is more comfortable for you. I wonder if we should take two cars. That way, if someone wants to come home early, they can.”
“Good point.”
She suddenly realized that she was just making nervous conversation, like she didn’t want him to leave. She gently placed that thought in the back of her mind, smiled, and said good night one more time.
Her house was a sanctuary of all
the things she loved about living on the beach. She knew she was going to have to pay extra because she’d put so many holes in the wall with her must-have finds, mostly beach-themed plaques and pictures. A long turquoise fishing net stretched along one wall where she clipped favorite things to it with bright colored clothespins.
As was her nightly routine, she checked every window and every door to make sure they were locked. She had her father’s handgun in the nightstand, loaded, but she double checked it anyway.
Andy would be proud.
The silvery water was calmer than it had been the night before.
She peeled off her clothes, took a quick hot shower, and snuggled into a flannel nightgown. It wasn’t quite cool enough now to wear the nightgown, but it made her feel safe.
Lying on her back, she mentally set her internal alarm clock for six a.m., took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. As she sunk into sleep, she began to hear music from the dance floor and the sounds of those silly laughing wedding party ladies. She remembered the look of Andy’s smile bathed in the magical sunset. She remembered the taste of her ice cream and the way the sun surrendered at last to the blue horizon.
Then she saw the face of the young man she thought looked like Logan. But sleep was beginning to overtake her, and she didn’t have the energy to explore further.
Chapter 7
On the morning of the wedding, Cory got a phone call from Little Creek that he had to take in private.
Andy watched his buddy walk out onto the patio and plop down in one of his favorite yellow Adirondack chairs. He didn’t want to spy on Cory, but it didn’t look like a conversation that originated from SEAL Team 4.
Last night, he and Cory had begun to talk about Cory’s drinking. His cast was coming off next week, and he said he was looking forward to driving again. The problem for Andy was he hadn’t seen Cory without a beer in his hand just about anytime from late morning to bedtime.
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