by Jill Sanders
There was a swimming pool with white lounge chairs around it. Walking around the corner, she followed the boardwalk down to the soft white sand. Removing her shoes, she left them at the end of the walk and started towards the sound of the water.
Sweat dripped down her back as she made her way across the deep sand.
She set the blanket down near the edge of the water and watched the dark waves lap along the edge of the sand as she thought about her next move.
* * *
Alan was having the time of his life. The sounds, the people, the rush of the job—he loved it. Sweat dripped down his brow as he filled an order and turned to get another ticket.
The bar was completely full of tourist. It was in the middle of high season and this year had been one of the best the Boardwalk Bar and Grill had seen in the few years he’d been working there. The place along the old boardwalk had had a few slow months last year, but then after some political and local business issues were resolved, had quickly made a strong comeback.
He’d taken the job when Wendy, one of his best friends, had offered. Wendy had been hired before opening week by the owner, Cassey Grayton, who was now Cassey Callaway, as of last year.
He’d heard great things about the new Boardwalk Bar and Grill in Surf Breeze before its doors had even opened. The place used to be one of the most popular places along the Gulf Coast.
Now, under Cassey and her husband Luke’s control, the place was one of the hottest spots along the Emerald Coast. Cassey’s family, the Graytons, had quickly become his family. Her three brothers and sisters-in-law and their kids often showed up and always treated him like he was one of their own. It was one more thing that made the job better than he ever could have imagined.
Alan lived for the attention and the excitement of working behind the bar. Thankfully, it was a far cry from what he used to do for the marines. He held back a shiver as memories tried to surface and focused on the drink order he was filling for a group of barely legal college students.
He remembered those days. Not that they were far behind him. At only twenty-seven, he felt like he’d lived more than most people his age.
Of course, all his buddies had believed he’d gone crazy when he’d told them he was leaving his home in Alabama and heading to the coast for good. They’d really thought he’d lost all his marbles when he’d told them he was going to be tending bar. Someone with his “qualifications” didn’t just start pouring drinks for a living.
Well, in his book they did if it was what they wanted and it made them happy. Besides, it paid the bills and allowed him to live in paradise and flirt.
“There you go, hun.” He slid the drink across the bar and gave the woman a wink before turning and wiping the sweat from his brow. As he filled the next order, he felt a familiar tickle at the base of his neck. Someone was checking him out. He normally didn’t pay any attention to it, but something was different this time. His body went on high alert, and he turned and scanned the faces surrounding him.
He stopped on a pair of brown eyes. His own eyes narrowed as he turned towards the man who had been his commander for the worst year of his life. The man’s shaved head spoke of years in the military. The scar across the forehead spoke of sacrifice, and the look in his eyes spoke of everything else that came with a military career.
“General.” He gave the man in uniform his full attention.
“Corporal.” The man stepped up to the bar as the crowd moved aside for him.
General Nate Harmer had always been a hard-ass, but he’d been good to his men and he’d been a friend to each of them. Including Alan.
“I heard you were in town,” Alan said as he set a beer in front of the man. He’d drunk with the guy often enough that he knew what he liked without asking.
“Yeah, for only a day.” He looked around the crowd, frowning as he drank his beer. “Got a minute?”
Alan glanced over at Sarah, then nodded. “Sure, let’s take a walk.” He nodded towards the open doors that would lead them out to a small dock area.
He was silent as they made their way out into the warm night. There was a slight breeze coming off the water, but nothing that would cool anyone off. The sun was almost done sinking and there were so many people out on in the sand trying to get that perfect shot of it before it was gone for the day.
“Jesus, it’s hot here,” the general said, wiping his long sleeve over his forehead as he took another drink from the cold beer.
“Yup.” Alan smiled as he leaned against the railing of the boardwalk as people walked by.
“You heard about Manny?” The general wasn’t one to beat around the bush. The smile fell away from Alan’s lips.
He nodded. “Adam called. I had thought you’d be there…” He let his words fall away.
“I would’ve been, but I was… detained.” He leaned next to Alan and took another sip of the beer. “Krissy said he went quick, in his sleep.”
“Good.” Alan took a deep breath. “We all knew…”
“Yeah,” he broke in. “But somehow… I thought…”
“Yeah.” Alan wished he was off duty, so he could enjoy a cold drink in honor of his lost friend.
“To Manny.” The general held up his beer, then downed the rest of it. After a moment of silence, he turned back to him. “We could use you back on the team.”
Alan knew it was coming. Ever since Adam’s call had woken him earlier that morning, he’d braced for it.
“I’m where I belong,” he answered.
“Are you?” The general glanced around as a group of loud tourists rushed past them and stood along the boardwalk to get a group photo with the sunset behind them.
The simple act caused Alan to smile, reinforcing that he was in the right place.
“Yeah.” He turned to his friend. “Thanks for coming down here.” He held out his hand.
The general just looked at it. “Alan, I meant… we need you back. With Manny out, we’re short one man. The team… we’ve taken on a few new… jobs and need someone with your skills.”
Alan kept his hand out as his heart jumped in his chest. He thought back to the last job he’d done with the team.
“I’m no longer that person,” he said softly.
The general moved closer. “You want to stick around here and bury your head in the sugar sand?” He knew the man was trying his last-ditch effort and couldn’t blame the guy for pushing him. “Especially when your country needs you?”
Alan took a step closer. His hand dropped to his side as his eyes narrowed. “I’m one of the most patriotic people you know, but I’m done.” Again, his voice was soft, but the general saw something in his eyes and backed off.
“Yes, you are.” After a brief moment of silence, he nodded. “If you change your mind, or need anything, you know where to find me.” He turned to go without another word.
Alan leaned against the railing until his heart settled in his chest.
“That was intense,” a soft voice said from behind him.
Alan turned, his guard up, as he scanned for the owner of the voice.
A woman in a soft cream dress stepped forward from the entrance of the bar. Her long blonde hair was draped over her bare shoulders in a long braid. She was a vision of beauty from the tip of her head to the delicate pink polished toenails poking out of her heeled white sandals.
“And I thought my parents were strict,” the woman said, moving closer. There was a beer in her hand, but he could tell she had only had a sip or two so far.
“He wasn’t…” He sighed. “We’re not related.” He leaned back again and looked her over once more when she came closer to him.
“Beauty” didn’t scratch the surface. The woman was a knockout, a perfect ten. He’d never met one before in all his years of tending bar, or anywhere else for that matter.
Then his eyes settled on hers and he noticed the pain behind them.
“Did you just get in?” he asked.
Her blonde eyebrows
shot up. “How can you tell?”
He smiled. “You’re not burnt.” He nodded to her shoulders. “Haven’t had a full day in the sun yet.”
“I spent some time on the beach today.” She sighed, and leaned on the railing next to him.
“Is it your first time to the coast?” She’d been staring off at the sinking sun like she was seeing it for the first time. Most tourists took out their phones and snapped hundreds of photos at the beautiful scene before them.
“You can tell that from the lack of suntan, too?” She narrowed her eyes and glanced sideways at him.
He smiled again. “No, that time it was the look in your eyes. I’ve seen it a million times. The look of pure awe at that.” He nodded at the sunset. The colors weren’t as bright as they would be in the fall, but still, the view couldn’t be beat.
“It is pretty amazing.” She turned towards him slightly, and he noticed her eyes running up and down him and tried to hold back another smile.
2
Okay, maybe she was going crazy. Here she was, standing on the boardwalk with a stranger, checking him out, days after being left at the altar by the man she believed she’d spend the rest of her life with.
She couldn’t even blame it on the beer because she’d only had a sip of it before deciding she didn’t like the taste. She’d initially stepped outside to watch the sunset and had overheard the last part of the guy’s conversation.
“You live here?” she asked, trying hard to think of anything to say. She’d never really tried her hand at flirting, since there had always been Corey.
The man nodded, and she realized just how different he was from Corey. He was much taller, blond, with blue eyes and a very hard looking face. Even though his eyes screamed of kindness, she imagined at one point or another, the man had seen trouble. Or caused it.
“Yup, moved here a few years ago.” He turned slightly towards her. “Kentucky?” he asked.
She nodded. “The accent gave me away that time.” She smiled. “Alabama?” she replied nodding to his Roll Tide shirt.
He nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. “What brings you down to paradise?”
Every muscle in her body stiffened when she thought of the reason she was there.
“Vacation,” she lied quickly.
When she met his eyes, she knew that he could tell it was a lie. Taking a sip of her tart beer, she asked.
“What brought you down here?” she asked.
“I needed to get away. A change of scenery.” He glanced out at the sunset and her eyes followed. It was one of the most beautiful scenes she’d ever witnessed.
The colors made her wonder if she wasn’t imagining it all.
“You should see the sunrises,” he said softly next to her.
Her breath hitched, and her chest felt tight. “Is that a proposition?”
He chuckled. “Normally, yes, but something tells me you wouldn’t be ready for me… just yet.” He straightened quickly, causing her to tense. “I’ve got to get back in there.” He nodded towards the bar. “See you around.”
He turned to go, and she watched him walk in and take his place behind the bar. She hadn’t noticed him when she’d first entered the place. She’d been too preoccupied with her own discomfort from entering the bar by herself.
Now, however, she moved inside and watched his every move for the next half hour as she sat at her table across the room. She ordered dinner and nursed the warm beer, which tasted worse than it had when cold. She wanted to order something else, a glass of wine maybe, but decided she didn’t want to try to drive the golf cart back to the house in the dark tipsy. She doubted she was going to be able to find her way back to the house as it was.
Still, she’d needed company. Her eyes moved to the bartender again. She’d heard several people calling him Alan and wondered what else she could learn from him.
“You alone?” a young dark-haired woman around her own age asked from the table next to hers. “I only ask because, well, I’m here by myself too. Not by myself, but well… tonight anyway.” She blushed a little. “I thought, if you were alone, maybe I could sit with you?”
“Sure.” Grace motioned to the chair across from hers.
“Thanks,” she said, moving to sit across from her. “I’m Anna.” She held out her hand. Grace noticed several things about her. First, she had a sunburn on every inch of her exposed skin, which looked very uncomfortable. The second was that she was wearing what appeared to be an expensive silk dress that clung to her beautifully curved body. Her hair and makeup were beautifully done.
“Grace.” She held out her own hand and shook Anna’s.
“I’m from Mississippi. I’m stuck here for the next week. My mom decided we needed this trip so I could get close to my new stepdad.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m twenty-two for god’s sake, they should have given me my own place.” She waved her hand as if shooing a fly away. “They’ve kicked me out or I’ve gone running out from the condo with my ears plugged more than six times in the past two days.” Anna made a face of disgust.
“Eww,” Grace joked.
“Tell me about it.” Anna rolled her eyes. “You? Did someone kick you out?”
Grace took a deep breath and decided to tell Anna everything. “My fiancé forgot to show up for our wedding, so now I’m honeymooning alone.”
“Seriously?” Anna leaned closer to her. “For real?”
Grace nodded her head.
“Wow, that sucks. I’m sorry.” She sighed. “Okay, now I don’t feel so sucky about my trip. Tell me that you’re plotting his demise when you return.” Anna waved a waitress their way.
“I hadn’t thought about it.” She bit her lip as Anna ordered a drink.
“Do you want something else?” She nodded towards the barely touched beer.
“I…” She shrugged. “I’m not sure what’s good.” The truth was, she knew all about bourbon drinks, but avoided those since she had never really enjoyed the taste of the amber liquid.
Anna shook her head. “Make that two, oh, and add a couple tequila shots.” She smiled as she turned towards her. “I can’t let you sit here on your honeymoon and not get drunk.”
“I…” She sighed when Anna broke in.
“You’re a stronger woman than I would be. I don’t know if I could pack up and go on my honeymoon by myself.” She shifted slightly and glanced around the bar. “Although, if you wanted a place packed with good-looking men, you chose wisely.” Anna sighed as she looked around the bar. “Of course, it’s always hard to hookup when you’re by yourself.” She turned back towards her. “You know, I had a sorority sister who went to a bar by herself last year and woke up in an alley, her clothes gone.” Anna’s eyes grew sad. “Since then, the entire sorority has made promises not to leave a sister by herself, sorority or not.” She stopped talking long enough for the drinks to be delivered, then reached down and took up the small shot glass. “To sisters everywhere…”
Grace picked up the small glass.
She watched how Anna placed the salt on the back of her hand, licked it off, downed the liquid, then squeezed the lime in her mouth. Grace watched as she shivered and smiled after, then followed her directions.
The liquid burned her throat, but the lime after was tart and replaced the feeling quickly.
“Now, this is called a Bahama Mama.” Anna held up the glass full of a sunset-colored liquid.
Grace enjoyed this drink a lot more than the shot.
“I’ve come here the past two nights.” Anna looked around again. “There’s this one guy…” She bit her lip as she looked around. “There.” She nodded towards the end of the bar where four guys were drinking beers and watching the game on the TV over the bar.
Grace watched as Alan slid another cold beer down the bar top towards the group.
“I’ve been trying to work up the nerve to go talk to the blond one on the end. Talk about sex in swim trunks.”
Grace’s eyes moved to the man she wa
s talking about and agreed. The guy was sexy, but her eyes returned to Alan behind the bar.
“What are you going to do?” Anna asked out of the blue after taking another sip of her drink.
“Do?” she asked, her eyes returning to her.
“Sure, I mean, I assume you’re down here for about a week…”
“Two,” she supplied, to which Anna whistled softly.
“Okay, two whole weeks by yourself down here, partying, plotting.” Anna’s dark eyebrows wiggled, then her smile fell away. “What next? When you return home?”
Grace’s heart did a little skip and she had to take a sip of the cold drink to soothe the soreness in her throat.
“I’m not sure, yet.”
“School?” Anna asked. “I’m on my last year.”
“I’ve been going to the liberal arts college at home. But I’m not sure I want to return. I left halfway through the semester to get married.”
“Mississippi has some great schools. Ole Miss.” Anna smiled. “I’ve been working towards becoming an occupational therapist.”
Grace could tell that Anna would be great at the job and felt a twang of jealousy that Anna knew what she wanted to do in life. Grace didn’t have a clue. Especially now.
“Don’t worry.” Anna reached across the table and touched her hand. “You have your entire life to decide. Until then, how about we plot your ex-fiancé’s demise as we get another shot?” Anna waved the waitress over.
* * *
Alan watched the blonde from across the room. When the dark-haired beauty who had been coming in the past few nights by herself moved over and sat with her, he wondered if they knew one another.
“You’ve got your eye on someone,” Lauren said as she tossed a few olives into the dry martini he’d just made. He’d been working with Lauren since he’d helped Wendy hire her.
“Maybe, shut up,” he joked, diverting his eyes from the table near the end of the bar.
“Who?” Lauren said, leaning her hip against the bar and narrowing her eyes. “Dark or blonde?” she asked.