Always You: A Lilac Bay Novel (Friends with Benefits)

by Rachel Schurig

  “I’ve been so nervous all week,” she continued, apparently oblivious to the overwhelming length of the to-do list in my hands. “I mean, what if I actually get on camera? What would I even say? How would I act?”

  I glanced up at her sharply. “You’ll act the same way you do every day, Becky. We’re having the Fish Fry here tonight, the same event that we’ve had in this square every spring since you were born.”

  “I know, but this is different.”

  “No, it’s not. The camera crew wants to see us acting normally. The whole point of this feature is to see us in our natural environment, to get to know our town. They’ll see right through us if we’re fake or putting on a show.”

  Her face clouded a little bit. “So maybe I should skip my hair appointment?”

  “Your hair appointment?”

  She nodded eagerly. “Yeah. Sherry is running a special this afternoon for any of the girls who want to get their hair done for the cameras.”

  I closed my eyes briefly. Sherry may have been styling hair on this island for decades, but in that time she had only mastered two styles—the bad perm she herself sported, and the highly teased 80’s flashback updos that still passed for high fashion around here during prom season. I could just see it now—half the island’s teenagers walking around the square looking like extras from Footloose.

  “Definitely skip your hair appointment,” I told Becky. “And please pass that along to your friends.”

  “Got it,” she said. “I’ll just go give these lanterns to Iris.”

  Just as I was about to write Deal with Sherry on my list, I saw Libby heading across the green. I waved her over.

  “You look stressed,” she said by way of greeting.

  “Not so much stressed as filled with a desire to kill Sherry.” I explained what Becky had told me while she clearly tried not to laugh.

  “Want me to deal with her?”

  “Can you? Because that would be great.”

  Libby peered over my shoulder at my list. “Looks like you have a lot left to do.”

  “I swear to God, the list is growing.”

  “Are you delegating?”

  “Of course.” I pointed around the square. “Posey and Rose are in charge of decorations. David and Eddie are getting the tables set up. Cora is on drinks.”

  “Then why is your list so long?” This time she grabbed the clipboard from me and began reading. “Make sure boys stagger food tables. Show Rose how to hang gazebo streamers.” She looked up at me, her expression a mixture of amusement and exasperation. “You’re only pretending to delegate!”

  “I’m not—”

  “This is micro-managing, Riley.”

  “I just want everything to go smoothly.”

  “Of course you do,” she said. “But you need to remember that they chose our town for a reason and that reason had nothing to do with being perfect.”

  “I don’t think we need to be perfect—”

  “Riley. You’re a perfectionist. You’ve always been a perfectionist. There’s nothing wrong with that. But that’s not Lilac Bay. We’re quirky and we’re messy and we’re fun. And yes, sometimes our residents may seem a little nutty—” Her eyes wandered over to where Jerry was setting up the fence for the petting zoo. Despite my strong hints that kids would be more interested in interacting with larger animals—specifically ones who didn’t posses such sharp beaks—Jerry had brought at least a dozen of his chickens along with the more appealing goat and pig. Libby shook her head before continuing in a determined voice. “But that’s part of our charm.”

  My eyes were still on Jerry, who had abandoned the portable fence to introduce a passing Zane to the chickens. “Oh, yeah. Charming.”

  “Hey,” she said, placing a hand on my shoulder. “I mean it, Riley. If you try to make these people into something they’re not, it won’t turn out well.”

  She was basically repeating my line to Becky. But then again, she hadn’t heard Chris that day, basically saying that we had no shot at this. I hadn’t shared that conversation with anyone—I couldn’t bear the thought of them all being so disappointed. Instead I'd doubled down on my efforts for the event, determined to prove her wrong.

  “I know. You’re right. I’ll try to let go a little bit.”

  “Good.”

  “But,” I said, feeling a flash of worry, “we should still get Sherry to stop with the up-dos, right?”

  “Oh, absolutely. The last thing we need is half the town walking around with Sherry hair.”

  After she left I directed my attention to the various groups of people working around the square. Several members of the Elks club were assembling the sound system where the band would set up later. Senior class officers and student council members from the Island School were carting boxes and supplies around the green, and judging by their still-normal-looking hair, none of them had visited Sherry yet—thank God for small favors. Most of the Libbies were here helping Posey and Rose with decorations—though several of them had abandoned any pretense of work to participate in their favorite pastime: staring at David Jenkins while he lifted heavy things. Even the island’s Girl Scout troop was here, setting up their lemonade table. And the square was already starting to come together.

  It’s all going to be fine, I told myself. No one cares about this island more than the people who live here. You don’t have to micromanage.

  A familiar voice across the square caught my attention, and I turned to see Mason and Jayden helping Jake to hang bunting from one of the tables. I grinned, happy to have them there. I was about to step over to say hello when someone stepped in front of me, blocking my path.

  I knew who it was at once—the man from the bar, that pitcher from the Big Hotel team. I hadn’t thought of him in weeks, what with all the excitement, but it was impossible to mix him up with any of the islanders.

  Guys around here just didn’t look like that—designer jeans, expensive haircut, hands that looked suspiciously manicured. And the way that he was smiling at me was familiar—he’d looked at me that same way from the pitcher’s mound.

  “Hey,” he said. “You’re Riley, right?”

  “Yeah.” I brushed my hair off my forehead. I had planned to go home to get cleaned up after the square was set up and now I wished I hadn’t waited. I felt distinctly grubby compared to this shiny-haired, Calvin-Klein-model-wannabe.

  “We haven’t really met yet, but we played against each other a few weeks ago.” He held out his hand. “I’m Chase.”

  The name rang a bell, but I was too distracted by his smile when I took his hand to give it much thought. It was warm and smooth and surprisingly strong.

  “Hi,” I said, hoping my voice didn’t sound as breathy as it felt. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “I’ve been trying to work up the courage to come say hi for a while,” he said, his smile far more smug than his words were. Something about it reminded me a little bit of Andrew. He’s a player, I told myself.

  “Why did you need to work up courage?” I smiled back and his own grin deepened. Maybe I didn’t look quite as grubby as I thought.

  “It always takes some courage to talk to a pretty girl.”

  I should have rolled my eyes, should have walked right away from this flirty, smug-smiled boy, but somehow I didn’t.

  Maybe it was the fact that he was still holding my hand. I pulled it away abruptly. You have work to do here tonight, I reminded myself. Important work.

  “You seem pretty sweet—and way too conscious of that fact,” I told him. “But this is a pretty big night, and I have work to do.”

  “Well, that’s the other reason I came over,” he said. “I want to help.”

  “You want to help hang crepe paper streamers in Town Square?” I asked, eyebrows raised. “Instead of going back home at the end of the day?”

  “I’m actually staying on the island,” he said. His eyes flashed a little and I got the feeling he was trying not to laugh. “I know that doe
sn’t really fit in with your preconceived ideas of the outsiders up at the hotel, but there it is.”

  “You’re staying here?” I asked, the skepticism strong in my voice. None of the Big Hotel workers stayed on this island when their shifts were done. Why would they? They had things like nightclubs and actual shopping malls on the mainland. And, you know, cars.

  “I am. It seemed silly to commute across the bay every day,” he said. He watched me for a minute and then laughed. “You can lower your eyebrow any minute. I’m telling the truth.”

  “Sorry,” I said, intentionally raising the eyebrow in question a bit more. “I’ve just never met anyone who actually wanted to live here while working at the hotel for the summer.”

  “Who said I’m just there for the summer?” There was something about the way this guy looked at me that had my cheeks heating up. Something about the intense way his eyes were staring into mine, unblinking and warm and full of amusement.

  “You want to move here? To Lilac Bay?”

  “You’re not doing a very good job being an ambassador for the island,” he pointed out, laughing. “I thought that was supposed to be your thing. Aren’t you the head of the welcome committee for that show?”

  Oh. That was where I’d heard his name. The Hillmans had nominated him to be their representative on the island. And now he was chatting me up with those sparkling eyes and that flirty grin. Some coincidence.

  “It was nice to meet you,” I said, taking a step backwards. “But I have work to do.”

  “Like I said, I want to help.”

  “You want to help your boss,” I shot back. “That’s what this is, right? You’re trying to make nice because they want an in with the producer.”

  His face clouded. “No. That’s ridiculous.”

  “I know they nominated you to be on the committee,” I shot back. “And that they were pissed when they got shot down. So why don’t you go tell them that Jenny will be sure they get their fifteen minutes of fame, okay? No need to send their top employee to flirt with the mayor’s assistant.”

  He held up a hand. “Okay, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Uh huh,” I muttered, turning away. “I have to go.”

  He called after me but I merely waved over my shoulder as I went to check in on the food tables.

  Andrew was standing at the first one, watching me approach.

  “Hey,” I began, but he cut me off.

  “Who is that guy?”

  “Chase something or other,” I said. “He works for the Big Hotel.”

  “That’s the guy the Hillmans were trying to get on your committee?” he asked, glaring over my shoulder.

  “Yup. And it would appear they don’t give up easily. They sent him to come chat me up, trying to get on my good side.”

  “Was he hitting on you?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, and doing a pretty good job of it. He could give you a run for your money in the whole smoldering-smirk thing you've got going on.”

  Andrew snorted. “Like you would fall for that.”

  There was something in his tone I didn’t like. “And what does that mean?”

  “Come on, Riley,” he said, finally tearing his eyes away from where Chase stood to look down at me. “A guy like that, flirting with you?”

  The thing about being friends with someone for as long as Andrew and I have been friends is that very little is off limits. Especially when that friendship spanned puberty, first kisses, and every subsequent attempt at relationships. Over the years, Andrew and I had developed a very comfortable, teasing kind of friendship—particularly when it came to our interactions with the opposite sex. I ragged him about his man-whoring, and he ragged me about being too busy playing sports and worrying about my sister to bother with dating. I never took anything he said about my love life seriously.

  So why did it feel like he had just slapped me?

  “You’re an asshole, Andrew.”

  His eyes widened. “What did I do?”

  “You know, that guy actually flirted with me way before we even found out that we got on the show. So it’s not completely unheard-of, you know. That a cute guy might be interested in me.”

  To his credit, Andrew looked aghast. “I didn’t mean that!”

  “Yeah. Sure you didn’t. Just like you didn’t mean the shit you said that night at Cora’s when the girls were trying to fix me up.” I didn’t know why I was getting into all of this right now. Or why I was letting his words bother me so much in the first place. It wasn't like he hadn’t made similar jokes before. And I joked right back. But for some reason, right now, with so much riding on the night, the idea of my best friend doubting my abilities—even when it came to dating—made me feel like crying.

  “Riley.” He reached out and grasped my arms, right under the elbow. “I didn’t mean it like that at all. I promise you. Hey.” He pulled my arms gently until I looked up at him. “I didn’t. I know that’s the guy from the game and I know that he was flirting with you then.”

  “You do?”

  He rolled his eyes. “I mean, come on. Anyone who was watching could see the way you guys were checking each other out.” His eyes narrowed a little. “Obviously he was into you. All I’m saying is that you’re way too smart to be swayed by some off-island pretty boy.”

  I took a deep breath and pulled my arms away. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what my deal is tonight.”

  “You’re obviously under a lot of pressure.” His gaze remained fixed on my face. “Something happened.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re not just nervous, you’re upset. I can tell. You’ve been off all week. Why?”

  “We don’t have a shot at this,” I blurted out. “Its hopeless. They just picked us to improve their geographic representation.”

  “What? That’s crazy—”

  “No, Andrew, she told me.”

  His eyebrows came down. “Who told you?”

  I relayed the entire conversation with Chris and watched as his face got progressively stonier.

  “Well, that’s just bullshit,” he said the moment I was done. “We’re not going along with that crap.”

  I gaped at him. “You think we should drop out?”

  “What? No! Are you crazy?” He flexed his fists, the way he always did when he was pissed about something. “We show that woman that she doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking about.”

  “She’s seen the other towns, Andrew. I think she knows what’s she talking about.”

  “She lives in New York,” he sneered. “What does she know about small towns? I don’t care how many of them she sees, that doesn’t mean she knows them. We’re not trying to win her over, Riley, we’re trying to win over regular Americans who will see something in this place when they see it on TV.”

  “What will they see?” I asked, hating the uncertain note in my voice. He heard it, too, because he directed his narrowed eyes at me now.

  “They’ll see a community that cares about each other. They’ll see people who care about their town and the ones who visit it. They’ll see a place were they would want to spend time. And then they’ll vote for us.”

  He sounded so sure about it, so fierce. Almost like he could will it to be true with the sheer force of his voice.

  “Hey.” He pushed on my shoulder, nearly making me trip. “I’m really surprised at you, Riley.”

  “Why? And don’t push.” I pushed him right back; it didn't affect his balance in the slightest.

  “I’ve never known you to back down from a challenge. You freaking love challenges! That’s your whole jam.”

  “My jam?” I asked, smiling now. “Since when do you say lame hipster crap like that?”

  “Since right now, apparently,” he said, grinning. “But I mean it. You excel at this stuff, Riley. When it’s the bottom of the ninth and the bases are loaded—”

  “Okay, now you’re just being melodramatic.”

  “Riley J
ames, there may come a day when the courage of Lilac Bay falls—”

  “Are we doing Lord of the Rings now?”

  He continued as if I hadn’t said a word, raising his voice now to be heard all across the square. “But it is not this day!”

  “Shut up.” I laughed, pulling on his arm, which he had raised over his head as if brandishing a sword. “Everyone is staring at you.”

  “Let them stare! For tonight, we ride! For Frodo!”

  “Oh my God, I’m leaving now.” I started to walk away, but he grabbed my arm, spinning me around so I was facing him.

  In doing so, he inadvertently pulled me a little too close, close enough to feel the heat from his body, to look up and be able to count the lashes around his dark blue eyes and—

  “Sorry,” he said, releasing me and taking a step back. He was breathing heavily—apparently being an idiot took a lot out of him. “Maybe Lord of the Rings was a little over the top.”

  “You think?”

  He grinned. “But my point stands. We’re not going to let anyone tell us our town isn’t good enough. You put together an awesome event tonight, Riley. And you planned a great list of people for them to interview.” He rolled his eyes. “If talking to my grandmother and Jerry Brooks doesn’t give them a good sense of what our island is all about, I don’t know what will.”

  “True. You’re not likely to find someone like Jerry in a major media market.”

  “Exactly.” He took a step closer and bent his knees a little so he could look right into my face. “You feel better?”

  I nodded, and he grinned. And the funny thing was, I did feel better. Andrew hadn’t fixed any of the problems Chris thought we faced—he hadn't magically created a major metropolitan area nearby to vote for us, he hadn't increased our budget to the level the other towns apparently had. But all the same, I felt better. Excited, even, for the first time since I had met Chris Cunningham.

  “Good.” He slung an arm around my shoulder and led me back into the square. “Then let’s get to work.”

  Chapter 10

  Two weeks after the Fish Fry, what felt like half of the town gathered in Cora’s pub to watch our national television debut.