Anywhere But Here

by Stephanie Hoffman McManus

  Cammie apparently took the threat seriously, because she left in a huff without another word from her toxic mouth.

  “Dragon lady, I presume?” Cici asked once she was gone.

  “Mmhmm.”

  “I shoulda clawed her eyes out.”

  “You can if she comes back, but for now, why don’t you go sell that nice couple the helm clock they’re admiring.”

  “On it!” She bounced off, and two minutes later the couple was making their way over with the clock and a seashell lamp.

  “She is good,” Trinity commented.

  “That she is,” I agreed. “I can take care of them if you want to go see how Liz is doing out front.”

  The rest of the day passed relatively uneventfully, if you didn’t count that the later in the day it got, the more craft beer everyone had consumed. Everyone was buzzing and having a good time, and we were going to be hauling away much less than I’d expected.

  At six the festival officially ended, but with so many people still out on the streets as everything was wrapping up, we didn’t close the doors until seven.

  “Wow,” was all I said as I turned the key in the lock after we dragged the last of the things in from outside. “What a freakin’ day.”

  “You can say that again, so tell us how we did.” Cici and the other two anxiously watched as I went over to the register and printed out the day’s final totals. I read it and grinned.

  “Come on, don’t tease us, tell us what the number is,” Liz urged.

  “It’s big.” I held it out for the three of them to look at.

  Cici snatched it right out of my hand and then started squealing as she handed it off to Trin. “We kicked ass today!”

  “This calls for a celebration. Let’s not wait until tomorrow. I’m thinking dinner and drinks now,” Trin suggested after she looked.

  “Hell yes!” Liz concurred.

  “Drinks it is!”

  Twenty-One

  Shae

  May 8

  Present …

  “That’s the last of the dolphins,” I announced triumphantly Sunday morning as I closed the lid on the box that now housed what remained of Didi’s dolphin figurine population. “Now we just need Luke to show up with that truck so we can get this stuff loaded up.”

  “He texted me a few minutes ago, he’s on his way,” Cici called from her corner of the store where she was wrapping and boxing shells and miscellaneous beachy items.

  “Hey, I know the books are staying, but is it okay if I take one of them. It looks really good,” Trin hollered from the back of the shop.

  “Yeah, I think since you showed up on your birthday to help us pack up, you can take the book,” I laughed.

  “Awesome!”

  “Hey Trin, can you come up here for a minute?” I was staring at the records and record player that hadn’t sold yesterday. Not too many people still collected vinyl, and we had more left than anything. I could have boxed them up and sent them to be donated along with everything else, but I remembered someone who used to have a love of old records.

  “What do you need?” Trin asked.

  “Your brother, he ever get a record player?”

  She saw me staring at the one in front of us and a soft smile touched her lips as she shook her head.

  “Take it, but don’t tell him it’s from me. You can say you bought it all.”

  “Are you sure? I really can pay you for them.”

  “No. He should have them. They should go to someone who will appreciate them.” He used to waste so much time trying to fix up the old player his parents left behind, but was never able to make the hunk of junk play. I didn’t know where Didi had come across this one, but it was in beautiful condition, same as the records.

  “He probably would have bought them himself if he’d come by yesterday.”

  “I doubt he felt very welcome over here, and this doesn’t mean I’m ready to make nice or anything.”

  I helped her pack all the records; he could sort through what he wanted and toss the rest. We loaded them along with the player into the back of Trinity’s car. Before we made it back inside, a big black pickup pulled around the corner and came to a stop. The window lowered, “Hey good lookin’, heard you were in need of a truck.” He winked.

  “Thanks for coming Luke. There’s not that much that we need hauled away, just a couple bigger items and a few boxes, but it will definitely be easier to put it all in your truck than one of our cars.”

  It took no time at all to get everything loaded into the bed of his truck and secured for the short trip to the Goodwill.

  “Well then ladies,” he said, slamming the tailgate closed. “I’ll see you all at casa de Luke.”

  We thanked him again for his help and then went back inside. Standing in the middle of the now mostly empty shop, it was easier to visualize in my head what it would be. Now, it was just a matter of whether or not we could pull it off in time.

  “Tomorrow, the real work starts, but for tonight, we party. Go get beautiful. Ci, Liz and I will meet you at Luke’s at four to start setting up.”

  “Sounds good, you got his address I gave you?”

  “Saved in my phone. You got your list?”

  “Yep, it was pretty easy to remember. Alcohol and mixers for the alcohol.” We chuckled. “I’ll make Luke hook me up from the bar. He can restock. I’ll pick up the brats too and the buns for those, oh and my girl Lu makes the best potato salad. I told her to make me a big bowl of that shit, but of course then I had to tell her we were having a barbecue and then she wanted to come, so I told her she could as long as she brought that potato salad. I hope ya’ll don’t mind, but Lulu is good people.”

  The question on my mind was whether or not she was also a stripper, and if so, did they all have double names? I thought strippers were supposed to have names like Cherry, and Cinnamon and Roxie. Didi could have been a stripper. As soon as the thought entered my mind, I wished I could take it back.

  “Lu and her potato salad are welcome,” Trin assured her.

  “Okay, then I’ll see you beautiful bitches later. Wait ‘til you see Luke’s place. I’m telling you this party is going to be amazing.” If he had a place on Ocean Boulevard, no doubt it was amazing.

  Liz and I headed back to Didi’s to get ready for the party. It was a beautiful day, not quite noon and already the temperature was pushing seventy, not a grey cloud in sight. Couldn’t ask for better barbecue weather. At my insistence, we wore our bikinis under our sundresses. I knew the temptation of the ocean on a sunny day and it had been so long since I’d dipped my toes in the Atlantic. Ci, had also mentioned something about a pool.

  From the house, we had several stops before we made it to Luke’s, and the backseat of my car was filled with chips, fruit and veggie trays, a cake, every possible condiment one might put on a burger or brat, a case of water and the present I’d almost forgotten in our rush. When we pulled into the circular drive in front of the house, I had to double check the address.

  “This is the place?” Liz’s eyes were wide with awe as she leaned forward and scoped out the house.

  “I think so. That’s definitely Cici’s car.”

  “And you said this guy owns a strip club?”

  “Well, it is a nice one.” But even I had a hard time believing he could afford all this just from one strip club, but maybe there was more money in it than I thought. On a street lined with beautiful homes, this one stood out among them. Three stories, wrap around porch and balconies on every level. Huge windows, a big porch swing and beautiful landscaping all around. It wasn’t a beach house, it was a beach mini mansion.

  “Well, shall we get this party started?”

  “Most definitely.” Liz grinned and we both climbed fom the car. Before we even had the back open, the front door of the house swung in and Cici emerged excitedly. A pretty red head I could only assume was Lulu, and Luke, as well as Muscles and Hulk from the club, were hot on her heels.

 
“Stop, don’t grab anything. That’s what these big strong men are for,” Cici hollered.

  “Oh, I’ll just grab the cake. And the present.” Didn’t want those getting dropped, jostled or smushed.

  Liz and I followed the procession inside, my head turning in all directions as the large entryway gave way to the rest of the house. Everything was soft, warm colors, beautiful woods, lots of light coming in the windows and a wide open floor plan. The décor had an almost rustic feel that was very comfortable. Floor to ceiling glass on the back wall offered a beautiful view of the back yard which had a short trail that led right down to the sand and waves.

  “Beautiful place, Luke.” I set the cake on the tan granite countertop and walked over to the french doors that opened up from the kitchen into the enormous back yard. Yup, he had a pool. And a hot tub. I missed the days of living in a house with a pool and hot tub.

  “Thanks. You’re welcome to make yourself at home. We already stocked the bar in the den with drinks. It also leads outside to the pool. The grill is on the back patio, just let me know when you guys want that fired up. We’ll be in the den catching the ball game until party time if you need us for anything. This is Shawn and Preston, you might remember them from the bar.” I did indeed remember Muscles with his shiny head and beautiful dark chocolate skin, and Hulk with his buzzed hair and goatee, but I made quick introductions to Liz and then the guys disappeared.

  Cici introduced us to Lu, who seemed a little more soft spoken than Cici, but just as friendly and she had indeed made a giant bowl of potato salad that was in the fridge.

  The four of us got to work unloading the bags and Cici directed us where to put everything. There was a food station already set up on the back patio with a cooler to hold all the condiments and fixings until it was eating time. She and Lu had been setting up loungers all around the pool. A volleyball net divided the pool in half and on the far side was a horseshoe pit and corn hole boards. The only thing missing was a beer pong table, but when I said that out loud, Cici informed me they just hadn’t made the guys bring it out and set it up yet. She went to get them started on it.

  By the time Trin arrived with Kellen and Derek, promptly at five, everything was in place. There was no missing their impressed looks when they made it out back where we were all gathered.

  “This is so great, thank you guys,” Trin gushed and squeezed us all.

  It wasn’t long after that more guests started arriving. I recognized Angie, Carrie and Amy, her best friends from high school. Amy had a boyfriend with her, we were all introduced to as Eric. Sam and Jeff were two more familiar faces that came in. I’d liked Jeff since the night he came to my rescue and laid Jeremy out in Mike Fisher’s driveway, and his now wife Sam, who he’d been with since back then, was real friendly and sporting a bit of a baby bump that sent a brief twinge of jealousy through me. I always thought I would be married and starting a family by now, but that’s not how life turned out for me.

  Everyone after that was a stranger to me until Trin made introductions. Some were friends from college, and others worked at the same school Trin did. There was a mix of couples and singles and once all the guests had arrived, there were about twenty or so people mingling out by the pool while Luke fired up the grill.

  It didn’t take long before people were changing and getting in the pool or dangling their legs in the hot tub while they held drinks in their hands. Lizzie was acquainting herself with Derek, and I would have grinned except that more than once I caught Trin watching the two of them getting their flirt on with this pained look on her face. I’d always suspected she had a crush on big brother’s best friend, but as far as I knew that’s all it had ever been. I had no idea if it’d ever been reciprocated.

  Me, I was just trying to adjust being in the same place as Kellen, having a good time and not trying to kill each other. For the most part, we gave each other a wide berth, but what I saw the other day was still driving me crazy. I was dying to ask him when hugging became something he and the ice queen did. That was his nickname for her back then, not mine. He also used a few other less gracious words for her back then as well.

  Once the first burgers and brats were done, they just kept coming. There was so much food, everyone was eating and drinking and laughing even as the sun started sinking. I got my chance to question Kellen when I saw him slip down the trail toward the water by himself. I set my plate with cake down and followed. There was no one else on this stretch of the beach behind Luke’s, but figures could be seen walking along the sand in the distance. Kellen had dropped down close to the water’s edge, looking out over the horizon, elbows resting on his knees, a bottle dangling from his fingers.

  He raised it to his lips three times while I just stood there in the sand, unable to take those last few steps that would put me right beside him. It was almost too peaceful of a moment. I didn’t want to ruin it, and we didn’t seem to be able to say more than a few words to each other before it turned heated.

  I finally got the courage to take those steps and lower myself into the sand beside him, the waves coming up and nearly reaching my toes before receding. “You planning on letting the waves carry you out to sea?”

  “You’d like that wouldn’t you?” He turned his head to me, a half smile on his lips before he tipped his bottle back. I didn’t respond and his gaze returned forward. We sat there side by side, staring out over the ocean while the sun sank lower and lower behind us.

  Twenty-Two

  Kellen

  May 8

  Present …

  I didn’t know why she followed me onto the beach, but I wasn’t going to ask, afraid it would ruin this moment we were having, if it could even be called that. There was something familiar and comfortable about just being with her, sitting beside her, not having to say a word. Just being. We used to have some of the craziest conversations; we could sit and talk or debate the most ridiculous topics for hours, or I could just sit and listen to her talk about anything and everything; what she thought, the way she saw the world and people and life. I never got tired of hearing her share her mind, but we’d never felt the need to fill the silence just for the sake of it. Just as easily as we could talk for two hours straight, we could say nothing at all for long stretches of time without it ever growing awkward or stinted.

  I was just waiting for her to hook her arm through mine and lean her head on my shoulder, but I knew she wouldn’t. We weren’t those kids anymore. Right here in this place and moment in time, I could almost imagine that we were still two people who cared deeply about each other, not the strangers we’d become.

  “So, I saw you and my mom the other day,” she finally spoke after what seemed an eternity. I could hear the question even if she hadn’t asked it. There was only one place she could have seen the two of us.

  “I’m not having an affair with your mom if that’s what you think,” I teased, knowing, at least hoping, that wasn’t really where her mind was at.

  “Shut up. I know that much, but what, are you two a part of book club or something?”

  A soft laugh rolled through me and I dropped my gaze to the sand between my feet. “Book club? No.” I could feel her eyes on my profile and tilted my chin to look over at her. “We both attend once a month NA meetings.” Her bottom lip separated from the top, but no words came out, and her eyebrows shifted just a bit higher. Those long lashes of hers fluttered down and then back up as she blinked.

  “Not what you were expecting?”

  I could see her brain still trying to process and I let my head swing forward again, bringing the dark lager to my lips.

  “When did you start using?” I could barely hear her quiet words over the sound of the breeze and the waves gently crashing at our feet.

  “When I figured out you weren’t coming back.” I couldn’t look at her as I made that admission.

  She was silent again for a minute and I almost glanced over so I could try to read her face, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to. She was n
ever very good at hiding her thoughts.

  “How long have you been clean?”

  “Five years, plus a few months and some odd days.” Thankfully I hadn’t stayed in the dark pit I let myself fall into long. I had Derek and Trin to pull my ass out and make me see the light again before I destroyed what little I had left. That year though, that I’d fought them, that I’d let myself go down that road and become something I swore I never would, was a bad one. Felt like it had to be another lifetime ago, and yet, if I let myself go back there, relive that time, it was like it was only yesterday that I’d stumbled my way into a hell of my own making.

  “Your mom came to her first meeting about two weeks after mine. I don’t know if it was chance or what that she just happened to walk in. At first it was real awkward. She wouldn’t say more than her name at that first meeting, wouldn’t even look at me for the first several weeks, except I’d catch her every once in a while. She’d turn away and she looked so ashamed, but she kept coming back every week and so did I. Eventually we had some stuff out. It wasn’t pretty, but she did apologize to me for a lot. We made peace and after that, I don’t know, she was really supportive of me. She wouldn’t say what made her decide to get clean, still doesn’t, but Shae, I think it was you.” She looked away and I knew she didn’t want to hear it, but she needed to. “I think once you were gone, she finally realized what her life had become and that the pills weren’t helping anymore, that they never really had.”

  Shae shook her head and pushed up from the sand. “I don’t want to hear this. I don’t care,” the cracks in her voice and the shimmer in her eyes convinced me that she did.

  “I think you do, Shae.” I stood as well. “And whether you want to hear it or not, you need to. I know that you have a lot of years to be angry at her for, and I don’t know what happened between you two after you and me weren’t a part of each other’s lives anymore, but whatever drove this wedge deeper between you two, I know she has regrets. I know she’s sorry, but she’s too damn stubborn to ask for forgiveness. I know she wants to find a way. She’s not the same woman, I mean, hell, she could have checked herself into some fancy ass rehab and tried to hide her problems from the world, but she didn’t. She’s spent the last five years trying to fix her mistakes, Shae, and you two have already lost so much time. You should give her a chance. Your grandmother didn’t, and now look. That chance is gone.”