“And it’s ball time for us,” Elizabeth said and everyone groaned.
“Ball time?” Zak said with surprise.
Chapter Seven
Crystal left to go home. Madeleine left as well, explaining that she’d just be with us part-time. “I have a number of ceremonial duties this weekend,” she said. “This evening we’re cutting the ribbon on the sculpture garden we donated outside the natural history museum. It’s an installation of giant glass monarch butterflies on milkweed leaves.” She faced my group. “You probably don’t know this but Cadbury is known for our monarchs. They come every fall like clockwork.”
She pulled on her long sweater and then bid them all a good evening.
“You’re not serious about that ball nonsense,” Vanessa said as she got up from the table, and Elizabeth nodded her head.
“You don’t think I lugged them here for nothing. They’re what brought us together.”
I was barely listening, still thinking about the so-called introductions. First and foremost, I was glad that I hadn’t said more. It they were all that judgy about what little I’d said, I could just imagine what their comments would be if I’d told them the rest of it.
I was surprised by the amount of tension among them all. Somehow I’d always thought they were such good buds and I was the outsider. When I thought about it, though, the seeds of who they’d become had been evident in the past. I’d suspected that Vanessa was smarter than she got credit for. Courtney had seemed single-minded and persistent. Lauren thought she was right and somehow purer of heart than the rest of us. And I kind of remembered Elizabeth as having set ideas of when things were supposed to happen in her life. It was no wonder that she seemed to be freaking out about still being single. And Zak had said nothing about any attachments, which made me suspect he was as illusive as ever.
Lucinda nudged me and gestured toward Elizabeth. “I think you better do something.” Her comment brought me back to the present and the fuss going on between Elizabeth and Vanessa. Elizabeth appeared almost in tears. “Can’t we just do it once for old times’ sake?”
Lauren stepped in and tried to plead Elizabeth’s case. It was the thing that had brought us together, she said. “And there’ll be no peace until we do it,” Lauren added.
Vanessa finally agreed, but Courtney tried to back out until Elizabeth stood in front of her looking a little crazed, saying that no was not an option. Courtney tried to dismiss Zak, but Elizabeth objected. “I want him there,” she snapped. Nobody wanted to mess with Elizabeth now that she seemed a little unhinged and Courtney gave in.
“But no photos or videos,” Courtney said. “I’m serious. I can’t afford to have a video going viral of our routine. It would be devastating to my image.”
I saw Zak roll his eyes and shake his head.
“ Lucinda agreed to take Blair’s part and quickly took her bag to her room, saying she’d change into something more appropriate.
“We need an indoor spot with no people and enough room,” Elizabeth said, staring at me. Luckily I knew the perfect place. We stopped at the Sand and Sea building to pick up the balls and Lucinda, who was now wearing classic white Keds.
Then I led them across the grounds past the Lodge and the Sea Foam dining hall and up a small slope to Hummingbird Hall.
I didn’t think they were up for a lecture on architecture so I didn’t bother mentioning that the looming dark wood building was the same Arts and Crafts style as the Lodge and dining hall. I just explained that it was used for different kinds of gatherings.
I was glad to see that it was empty, as I expected since it was a Thursday night and there were no other group events going on at Vista Del Mar. It was quite grand inside. The center was open with a stage at the front. The sides and back all had alcoves formed by a series of supports I assumed were holding up the roof. The idea that the structure was part of the design was a main point in the Arts and Crafts style. Rows of windows on the sides and back filled the space with natural light. It was a nice plan and might have brought in enough light in the desert where the sun was unrelenting, but here on the Monterey Peninsula there were just too many clouds. I flipped on the interior lighting and the group filed in. Elizabeth dropped the bag of balls in the center of the open area.
“You thought of everything,” I said, noticing she had a small speaker attached to her smart phone.
“We couldn’t do it without our music.” She had set it out of the way. She fidgeted with the phone and “Cool” from Westside Story blared out. She quickly shut it off. “Well, at least that works on my phone. Then she turned to the group.
“It’s ball time,” Elizabeth said. Zak started to go off to the side, but Courtney stepped forward. “Sorry to have to do this, but I really won’t be comfortable until I know there’s no chance anyone takes photos or videos.” She found a basket sitting on the side and went around collecting everyone’s phone. Then she put it at the back of the room.
“Is she that important?” Lucinda said, leaning close to me and dropping her voice to a whisper.
“In her own head, for sure,” I said.
“Now what?” Lauren asked.
Elizabeth started unloading balls and throwing one to each of us. “We do the routine.”
Elizabeth took her ball and did a demonstration without the music. “I’d thought the choreography was lame when we did it and it didn’t look any better now. She walked in bouncing the ball with an attitude that was a combination of menacing and slinky and stopped abruptly. “This is where we have the standoff. Like we’re two gangs.” She told Courtney to stand across from her. Elizabeth started moving from side to side, bouncing the ball with a vengeance, and finally made a move toward Courtney. “You were supposed to come toward me and bounce yours to me.” Courtney reluctantly followed her directions. “We repeat this with some free dance thrown in like it’s a girl gang knife fight. And then—” Elizabeth threw her ball up and fell to the floor. She waved for Courtney to do the same, but she resisted and Elizabeth shrugged. “We end up on the floor like we’ve all killed each other.”
“Yeah, and the point was that violence doesn’t end well,” Lauren said.
“That was your idea,” Elizabeth said.
“I can’t believe you remember all the moves,” Lauren said. “I sure don’t.” She looked to the rest of us and we all nodded in agreement.
Elizabeth was undaunted. “You just think you don’t remember. Your head might not, but your hands and feet do.” She told Lucinda just to follow along and do the best she could as she arranged us in two lines on opposite sides of the center. “Okay, Sharks and Jets. Hit it.” She leaned down and hit something on her phone and rushed to join the shorter line.
I hated to admit it, but Elizabeth was right. At least, sort of. As soon as the music started to play, I instinctively began to snap the fingers on my free hand and my group began to bounce our balls and prance toward the center. We got to the face-off and that’s when everything fell apart. I looked at the people facing me and froze with no idea who I was supposed to throw the ball to. It seems as if it was the same for everyone and balls just went flying.
Elizabeth shut the music off and glared at us with consternation. She turned to me first. “I don’t remember the order of who threw to who back in the day. So you throw yours to Courtney.” She assigned the rest of the ball partners and had us do it again. When we got to the rumble, Courtney and I tossed our balls with no problem. Not so for the rest of them, and all the balls just went flying. I stole a look at Zak, thinking he’d probably fallen asleep from boredom, but he seemed to be enjoying the show.
“That’s it,” Vanessa said when Elizabeth wanted them to do it a third time. She dropped her ball in the canvas bag and retrieved her phone before going out the door. The rest of them followed suit, and I waited until Elizabeth had packed up the balls and gone to the door. Zak did a mock bow and offered to carry them for her. Elizabeth agreed and then took his arm.
“It l
ooks like she’s expanding her net,” I said to Lucinda, who’d hung back with me.
“Thanks for being such a good sport and taking Blair’s place. There would have been no peace until we did that stupid routine,” I said.
“It was fun,” Lucinda said. “If only I’d been able to keep it straight who to throw to,” she said.
The sun had decided to make an appearance just in time to go down. I always marveled how everything changed when the sky cleared. From the top of the slope we had a view of the ocean. The sun glinted off the water and the trees around us threw shadows on the walkway. Even the dark buildings appeared a little less moody.
“It’s easy,” I said. “Forget looking at faces. You just find something distinctive about the person’s hands.” It was simple to pick out Courtney’s. She’s the only one wearing blood-red nail polish.
“What a good idea,” Lucinda said.
“Not that it matters. Our ball performance is done.”
But of course that turned out not to be true.
Chapter Eight
We made it through dinner. As expected, Vanessa was horrified at the cafeteria setting but somehow worked it out and got them to make her something special. Lauren’s pitch was to be grateful for the food. Courtney came in at the end, having spent who knows how long in one of the phone booths. Elizabeth was still on a high from us doing the ball routine and could have been eating straw. Zak said any day when he didn’t have to survive on vending machine food was a good one.
Lucinda worked the table, making sure everyone’s ice tea glass was full. No matter what I said about it being her time off, she insisted on helping with the hosting.
Everyone went their own way after the meal. I’d announced we were to meet back in the Lodge for the evening’s activities. I took a quick detour to my place and made sure Julius got his dab of stink fish. When I returned, I collected the tote bags in the meeting room and brought them all to the Lodge. Just before the appointed time, I commandeered the seating area around the fireplace. The two leather couches sat in an L shape facing the massive fireplace. They were separated by a shared square table and each couch had its own table on the other end. Two mission-style chairs sat across from the couches with a small table between them. The way the furniture was arranged made it seem like a separate area from the rest of the large room. I had set the red tote bags on the large coffee table that sat in the middle between the couches and chairs to further stake the space out as our own.
Lucinda was the first one there and the only one who knew about my plan to slip away later and go to the Blue Door to bake.
“Are you sure they’ll show up,” my friend said, glancing around the social hall.
The large room was already abuzz with activity and there was a hum of conversations. Someone cheered a good shot in a game of table tennis. A middle-aged man bent over the pool table and eyed the balls. A young family hovered over a jigsaw puzzle on one of the smaller tables spread around the room. Four women were playing cards. All of the phone booths were in use and several people were checking in at the registration counter.
People streamed in and out of the café. The gift shop at the other end of the building had customers as well. The people were all a blur to me except for the two guests I’d actually talked to. The woman with the name that reminded me of pasta was reading a book in another of the mission-style chairs under the window on the deck side of the room. I recognized the other woman by her loose clothes, though I couldn’t recall her name. She was sitting at one of the small game tables and appeared to be playing solitaire.
“They’ll come for the same reason the rest of these guests are here. There’s nothing else to do in their rooms,” I said. Along with all the people, there was an assortment of jackets and different kinds of tote bags scattered around the room. “This is going to be a long, long weekend. I was so glad that I’d stuck to starting it on Thursday instead of Wednesday. It will be over faster,” I said with a grin.
“You’ll work it out,” Lucinda said in a reassuring voice. “By the end they’ll be claiming the weekend changed their lives. But I have to admit, it’s going to be a challenge. Except for Zak. He’s sure a cutie. What’s the story between you two? I saw how you looked at him.”
“There is no story. I knew him in college.”
“And,” she said.
“And Zak was the crusading reporter and went after the story no matter the consequences to anyone,” I said, thinking back to some of the uproar he’d caused on the Clayton television station when he’d done an exposé of the school bookstore.”
“C’mon, I know there’s more.”
I caved and told her about our romantic encounter in the rain. “And that was it,” I said. “I was disappointed it didn’t go anywhere at the time. But I wonder what I would have done if he’d followed through and wanted a relationship. I probably would have taken off.”
“Poor Dane,” Lucinda said. “He finally gets you to go out with him and now Zak shows up.”
“I’m not interested in him anymore. It was just a one-time kiss in the rain. And Dane doesn’t own me. We’re just going out occasionally with no idea of it heading anywhere.”
“Says you. I think he has a definite goal in mind.” Lucinda smiled and I rolled my eyes.
“Here they come,” Lucinda said. “Except Zak.” I followed her gaze and saw the four different-looking women come in and I waved them over.
“We’re here,” Vanessa said with pursed lips. “What exactly do you have planned?” She seemed out of place in her designer jacket carrying a Prada purse. The rest of the guests were all in cargo pants and jeans with tote bags and recycled grocery bags to carry their things.
“Something called social knitting,” Lauren said, showing off her copy of the schedule. She was the only one who thought to take hers out of her tote bag before she left it in the meeting room. “Then there’s something called a roast and toast.”
“If that’s toast as in wine, I can certainly get behind that,” Vanessa said.
“Not exactly.” I explained the roast involved marshmallows on a metal stick over a campfire and the toast was hot chocolate. It all would take place later in the area called the fire circle.
Vanessa made a face. “This place really is like a glorified camp, isn’t it?” She brightened when I told her the café had wine. “That’s more like it. Wine for everyone, my treat,” she said, glancing back at the others.
“You don’t have to always be the one to treat,” Lauren said.
“But it’s nothing to me,” Vanessa said. “And I know the rest of you are struggling.” I noticed that Lauren didn’t seem happy with the comment and muttered something about Lauren’s good heart was only a ruse.
“Where’s Zak?” I asked and got shrugs in answer as the four of them spread out on the couches. I’d already put my purse and jacket down on one of the two chairs and Lucinda had taken the other one. I grabbed one of the totes and checked for the owner’s name. “We might as well get started.” Courtney excused herself and rushed toward a phone booth that had just emptied. Vanessa’s gaze was stuck on the café.
“Let’s get some wine first,” Vanessa said and turned to me. “How do we get someone to take our order?”
“That’s not how it works here,” I said.
“That’s right. We’re not at a luxurious hotel,” she said in a sarcastic tone. “Let’s see what I can do.” She sounded all business as she got up. She swished past the coffee table, almost catching her fancy yellow and orange jacket. I thanked my lucky stars when she didn’t. There would have been hell to pay, probably for me, if she tore it.
Lauren looked at the red tote bags with concern. “I think I already forgot everything Crystal taught us.” I was going to ask Lucinda to help her when Vanessa returned looking stormy-faced and sat down on the couch.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. Before she could answer, Kevin St. John was standing next to my chair.
“Did I hear there was
a problem?” he said with a solicitous smile.
“We were going to get some wine,” Elizabeth said, giving him such an obvious flirty look I wanted to throw up.
“Maybe you can get the woman in the café to give us some service. She was quite unpleasant when I asked her to bring us the wine. It’s my treat and I’d be happy to throw in a generous tip.” Vanessa was already opening her wallet.
“Anything to please our guests,” Kevin said, giving me a sideways glance. “No tip is necessary. What would you like?”
“White zin for me,” Vanessa said, as I expected. She turned to the others. Lauren and Courtney wanted white wine spritzers, Elizabeth asked for merlot and Lucinda asked for chardonnay. It was lucky that I had decided to pass on the wine since I was working, because Kevin St. John left without even a glance my way.
“Let me help,” Elizabeth said, rushing after him.
“Is she always so obviously on the prowl?” Lucinda asked.
“I think she’s feeling a little desperate. As I remember, she had a timetable for her life. There was something about meeting her future husband in school and then marrying him within the year after graduation. By now I’m sure she’d expected to have kids in middle school instead of still being single.”
“But Kevin St. John,” Lucinda said with a wince. “That’s really desperate.”
By the time the manager and my schoolmate returned with trays of wineglasses, I’d gotten everyone situated and suggested they grab their tote bags and take out their work. Everyone complied but Vanessa. The wine was handed out and Vanessa proposed a toast. “To us ballers,” she said with a mischievous chuckle.
After a few sips, I suggested they keep the wine away from the yarn, and they used the lamp tables at either end of the couches. There was some concern about not mixing up the glasses, but it was easily solved when Courtney and Lauren put their white wine spritzers on tables at the opposite side of the couch. Lucinda put hers on a separate table. Vanessa’s white zin was actually pink and she set hers next to Elizabeth’s deep red merlot.
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