Love on the Sound

by Matthews, Jamie

  “Welcome to On the Sound. Can I help you?”

  “Yes, we have reservations,” began Steve, and then he broke off when Ben got up and came striding out of the living room.

  “Aww, were you waiting for us? How sweet.” Lucas threw an arm around him and deftly handed off his shoulder bag at the same time. “Be a dear and take this, would you?”

  “Nice to see you, too,” Ben said, draping the bag’s strap around Lucas’ neck. “Carry your own damn bags.”

  “This is a special moment,” declared Steve. “I can feel the love.” He grinned at Ben and then dropped his duffel and gave him a hug. Ben felt the grin spread across his face.

  “Damn, it’s good to see you morons.” He looked over at Amy, who stood with her brows drawn together in surprise. “Amy, this is Lucas and Steve. Guys, this is the owner, Amy. Be nice.”

  “Pleasure to meet you,” drawled Steve, stepping up and shaking her hand. At 6’4”, with shaggy red hair and green eyes, he was built like a linebacker, and, Ben noted, had apparently spent the last few years moving beyond the depression from his divorce back to his old flirtatious self.

  “It’s very nice to meet you.” Amy paused, seeming to shake off the surprise.

  Lucas and Steve exchanged knowing glances.

  “You were probably expecting fancy Hollywood movie stars,” Lucas said, leaning against the desk.

  “Not at all,” Amy demurred.

  Ben laughed. “She’s totally lying.” He just smiled when she glared at him. “She wanted to know if you have any special dietary needs.”

  “I only eat wheatgrass,” deadpanned Steve.

  “The truth is,” Lucas said confidentially, “we’re the only ones who can put up with old Ben, here.”

  It rang too close to what Ben had been thinking moments before they arrived, and he looked away. The silence that followed was strained.

  “Um, let’s see,” Amy said quickly. Ben gave her a grateful look. “Mr. Roberts, you’re in Room 3.” She handed him the key. The key ring also sported a tiny silver boat, which Ben knew had been designed by a local artist. She handed a key with a miniature whale to Lucas. “And Mr. Charles, you’re right next door in Room 4.”

  She ran down her standard spiel about breakfast and finished by letting them know she was offering complimentary dessert that evening. “If there’s anything else, just dial 0 on your phone, and I’d be happy to help.” She looked at their bags. “Can I—”

  “Oh, no.” Steve picked up his duffel and gave her a wounded look. “Leave me with the illusion of my masculinity, and let me carry my own bag.”

  Amy laughed, and Ben told himself it was ridiculous to be jealous.

  “I can show them up,” he told her.

  “The lunches are in the kitchen whenever you want them,” she replied and went back to the computer as Ben led his friends up the stairs.

  “Nice place,” Steve commented as they reached the top of the stairs.

  “Yeah, when you said that you were at a B&B at Lopez Island, I was expecting a remote cabin where we’d have to pump our own water,” Lucas remarked.

  “Or, a lot of frills.” Steve raised his eyebrows when he unlocked the door to his room and saw the gleaming hardwood floors, the deep blue walls, and the white, farmhouse style armoire. “Definitely not frilly.”

  Lucas, already in his room, whistled. “Look at that view.” He nodded to Ben, who had walked over to check it out. “I can see why you’re staying here.”

  “I like it.” Ben shrugged. He paused. It had been so long since he’d seen them, and he wasn’t sure what to do next. “So, I, uh, thought we could go for a sail on my boat this afternoon. Amy made us sack lunches, and it’s a nice way to see the Island. But it is kind of cold, so if you just want to hang out here…” he trailed off.

  Steve sauntered over and poked his head in the doorway to take a look at Lucas’ room. “A sail would be good. Whatever you guys want to do. Wouldn’t mind stretching my legs a bit after the plane.”

  “Figured you’d be taking us out on the boat—we picked up some beer in the village. It’s in a cooler in the car. I’ve got to check in with Mary first, let her know we got here okay. Maybe unpack a little.” Lucas was already dragging his suitcase to the closet.

  “That could take all day,” Steve said dryly.

  “Fuck you,” Lucas said without heat. “I’m not wearing the same clothes all week.”

  Steve looked at Ben and rolled his eyes. Ben smiled. “So, I’ll let you two ladies settle in then, and we can head out in about half an hour?”

  “Sounds good. I don’t need to unpack, think I’ll take a little walk.” Steve gestured out the window. “I’m assuming there’s a path to the beach through the garden?”

  “Yeah, right by the picnic bench.” Ben walked over to the window and pointed the way.

  “Get out, both of you.” Lucas, cell phone in hand, waved them away. “I must talk to my woman.”

  “You are so whipped,” Ben said and laughed when Lucas shoved him the last foot over the threshold and shut the door in his face.

  As Steve headed back down the stairs, Ben went into his own room and gathered his maps, donned a heavy sweater. He called down to the marina to ask them to check on the gas level in the emergency fuel tank on board and before leaving his room, grabbed his raincoat just in case.

  Lucas’ door was still closed, so he headed down the stairs and into the kitchen, where, as promised, the three sack lunches sat on the island. He was sneaking a peek at what Amy had prepared when she came up the basement stairs, hoisting a basket of towels. She raised her brow when she saw him.

  “I thought you’d be busy with your friends,” she said, as she set the basket on the floor and opened one of the drawers, restocking with neatly folded kitchen towels.

  “We’re going to head out in a bit. Lucas is on the phone with his wife, and Steve wanted to take a walk.” Ben looked out at the garden, where the bright flowers waved in the breeze and tried not to think about the fact that his friends hadn’t seen him in months and already they wanted time away from him. Christ, what was he going to do with them all week?

  Amy closed the drawer and turned to face him, leaning her arms on the island counter. She waited until he finally met her eyes. “Look, your friends flew several hours on the red eye and then drove from Seattle on top of it—they’re probably tired, and if I’d spent eight hours in a plane and a car with a friend, I’d want a break from them for a while, too.”

  Her brown eyes were kind and understanding, and Ben had the urge to hug her. “So, it’s not always all about me, is what you’re saying?” he said instead. “Apparently, this is a hard concept for me to swallow.”

  She laughed and hoisted the laundry basket back on her hip. “I can tell you that, as an outsider, it looked to me as though the three of you were very close friends. So…” she patted him on the arm as she passed by. “Relax. Have a good afternoon. Okay?”

  “Okay. And, Amy?” He smiled wryly at her. “Thank you.”

  “No problem.”

  He watched her go and then decided to take her advice. He grabbed the lunches and dumped his stuff in his car, where he’d also stockpiled a few bags of chips, nuts and other snack food, along with the wine he’d bought at Orcas Island. He wandered along the gravel path back to the garden and took a seat on the porch, propping his legs up on the railing. Closing his eyes, he enjoyed the rhythmic crash of the waves as they hit the beach, the soft rustle of the leaves and the bright chirping of the birds.

  “Wow.” He’d heard footsteps across the porch but hadn’t bothered to open his eyes until he heard Steve’s voice. “You’re napping.”

  “Not napping.” Ben sat up, taking his legs off the porch railing. “Just relaxing.”

  Steve leaned against the porch railing and studied him. “I don’t think I’ve seen you relaxed in the last two years.”

  Ben laughed. “Get out of here.”

  “No, really. Even when
you’ve come back home to visit.”

  “Going back home isn’t exactly relaxing to me,” Ben pointed out, and Steve nodded in acknowledgement.

  “True. But, even when you’ve come to see Lucas and me, you’re always…go, go, go.”

  Ben considered this and thought about how soundly he was sleeping at night, how he hadn’t had a tension headache…well, since he’d arrived on the Island. The french doors opened behind them, and Lucas poked his head out. “Are we ready, or what?”

  “Let’s go.” Ben stood up, and led the way around the porch to the front. “Did you say you have a cooler? I’ve got the food in my car.”

  Steve nodded and jogged over to their rental car. They transferred the cooler to Ben’s trunk, and Ben drove them to the marina, pointing out items of interest along the way.

  “Nice boat,” Lucas said as they made their way along the gently bobbing deck. “Is she new?”

  “Not really. But I guess it’s been a while since you’ve been to L.A., so yeah, you probably haven’t seen it before.”

  “She’s a beauty.” Steve had already hopped in and was eyeing the sail, running his hands along the ropes.

  They stowed the food in the cabin, and Ben turned on the engine to maneuver the boat out of the harbor. Once they were out in open sea, he cut the engine, and started unfurling the sails. Before he could turn to ask Lucas or Steve for help, Steve was already expertly feeding rope up to the sail.

  “You sailing now?” Ben asked in surprise. Now that he thought about it, Steve had definitely seemed to enjoy the one time they’d been out on his boat in L.A., years ago. And, he vaguely remembered Steve saying that he’d gone out sailing once home, but his wife hadn’t liked it.

  “Yeah, I’ve started taking lessons.” Steve shrugged. “If you want to steer, I can probably handle the ropes.”

  Ben relinquished the sail over to him and took his spot behind the wheel. “Well, shit. I didn’t know.”

  “I always thought it would be cool. And, Boston’s a great place to do it. Cara never liked it—too much work, she always said. But, I realized a few months ago that, hey, that didn’t matter anymore.”

  “His balls grew back,” clarified Lucas, who lounged on the deck.

  “Watch out for the boom,” said Steve, deliberately sending it swinging Lucas’ way. Lucas laughed and ducked.

  “Do you have a boat?” Ben steered a course that would take them around the north corner of the island. He couldn’t feel hurt, he told himself. As Steve had pointed out last week, he hadn’t talked to either of them in several months, so he had only himself to blame.

  “Not yet.” Steve kept an eye on the sail. “Just been taking lessons for about six months.”

  Ben started to tell him to pick up the slack as the wind began to push them to the west, but Steve beat him to it. “Well, you’re pretty damn good at it.”

  “College boy,” said Lucas, scanning the shoreline. “He’s a freaking genius. Still broke though, from the divorce.”

  “Thanks, asshole.” Steve’s normally calm voice took on an edge.

  Ben frowned and glanced over at Lucas, who nodded.

  “Well, I actually still have that boat that you guys went out on when you visited,” Ben said casually. “Don’t know why—I never use it since I got this one, and I’m still paying marina fees for it. Maybe you could take it off my hands.”

  “I don’t think I can afford it.” Steve sighed, sounding more resigned than irritated now.

  “Thing is, I don’t know when my next job is coming in.” Ben leaned back against the railing. “And, I know I have enough to keep me afloat for a while, but I should probably stop spending money on stupid things. Like a boat that I never use.”

  “How much do you have?” Lucas asked.

  Ben tipped his head back and thought. “No idea,” he finally said.

  Steve laughed as Lucas pressed a hand to his heart and looked pained.

  “How many of these asinine expenses like a boat you never use do you have?”

  Enjoying his friend’s discomfort, Ben shrugged. “Probably too many. I don’t know, people take care of all that shit for me. Anal people like you.”

  “That, my friend, is fucking idiotic. You could be robbed blind.” Lucas’ voice rose.

  “Anyway,” Ben looked at Steve and rolled his eyes. “What I was saying before Mr. CPA got started is, look into the marina fees in Boston—if you could afford those, you could just take the boat, as far as I’m concerned.”

  “I can’t just take a boat.” Steve shook his head.

  “I don’t need it,” Ben explained. “Look, I’m not trying to be an asshole, or just throw gifts at you. If you want to pay for it, that’s cool, I should sell it anyway. But if I could sell it to you rather than somebody who doesn’t know shit about boats and is just going to show it off to his trophy girlfriend, then I’d rather do that. You could pay me in installments. No interest.”

  “And, Steve might be helping out with those payments,” Lucas pointed out. “Since you have no idea how much fucking money is in your bank account.”

  Steve hid a smile. “I’ll think about it.”

  “Just let me know.” Ben shot a glance at Lucas. “Thanks for the advice, dad.”

  “You’re welcome. And, yes, I am.”

  “You are what?”

  “A dad.”

  Ben’s mouth dropped open. “What?”

  Lucas nodded. “Mary’s twenty weeks along. We waited to tell people after last time.”

  Last time, Ben knew, had been a few years ago, when Mary had miscarried just as she was entering her fourteenth week, right after they’d told everyone the news.

  “And, everything’s okay, she’s healthy?”

  “Yep.” Lucas reached back and tapped on the deck. “Knock on wood.”

  “Well, shit.” Ben went over and gave him a hug. “Congratulations.”

  “It’s a girl,” Steve pointed out.

  “Wow. A little girl.” Ben grinned. “You are so screwed.”

  Steve laughed. “That’s what I told him. That poor kid, she won’t be able to date until she’s 30.”

  “Sounds reasonable to me.” Lucas tipped his head back and scanned the clouds. “Maybe even 35.”

  Ben found himself relaxing as they wind snapped the sails, and he peppered Lucas with questions about the new baby. He’d missed this, the easy camaraderie, the insults, the unspoken support. As the boat sliced through the water and rounded the curve around the island, he kept the conversation focused away from him and caught up on their lives.

  After twenty minutes, they had rounded half the island and were in the small bay that On the Sound overlooked. Ben dropped anchor, and they dragged out the cooler and food. They ate lunch in companionable silence as the boat bobbed up and down. Ben realized as he cracked open his second beer that for the first time in a long while, he didn’t have the urge to drink himself into oblivion after he got started. He wanted to get a little drunk and loopy with his friends, sure. But, that was it.

  “So,” he said, stretching his legs out. “I’m expecting that you’re teaming up to kick my ass at some point this week. Might as well do it now.”

  Lucas and Steve exchanged a look. “I already told you how I felt on the phone,” Steve said.

  Lucas reached for the bottle of wine and poured himself another glass. “You’ve been an asshole, that’s for sure.” He eyed Ben over the rim of the glass. “We’re both wondering what the fuck is going on.”

  “That’s it? That’s pretty weak.” Ben joked, but his smile faded when he noted the genuine concern on both his friends’ faces. He sighed, looked out over the water, where On the Sound’s windows glinted in the sun through the trees. “It’s the same old story, really. I did so well for a while. Everyone around you is telling you how talented and great you are, all the time, no matter what you do. People are snapping your pictures left and right, wanting to talk to you, wanting to be your friend. I was living the drea
m.”

  “Since we were kids, that’s all you ever talked about,” Steve noted.

  He nodded and reached over to open the bag of cheese popcorn, stuffed a handful in his mouth. “Yeah. Thing is…the movies just got bigger and crappier. I used to love going on set, the excitement of starting a new project, of delving into a character. But, it was all about the studio and making profits, looking just right. Going on some vapid talk show and making witty self deprecating remarks.

  “I don’t know.” He trailed off, picking spilled popcorn off the deck and tossing it over the railing, watching as the seagulls swooped in. “I don’t want to sound like a whiny movie star. I don’t know when it went bad. I just know that before I realized it, I was drunk on national TV, making a complete idiot out of myself. I threw my career down the toilet, and when I realized that, I just didn’t care.” He shook his head. “Years I’ve spent worrying about my career, what people think of me. And, when it comes right down to it, I just reached the point where I didn’t care.”

  Ben shrugged, looked over to where Lucas and Steve sat, listening. “So I left. Came here.”

  The three sat in silence for a minute. “So, is this a vacation? A chance to get away from the media and let it all die down?” Lucas asked.

  Ben leaned his head back against the railing. “Honestly? I don’t know. I don’t know if I want to go back.”

  “To L.A.? Or to acting?” Steve offered him another beer, and Ben traded him the empty one.

  “I don’t know.” Ben took a swig. “Maybe both.”

  There was another silence, while the three of them considered this answer.

  “Shit,” Lucas said finally, raising his glass in a toast. “You’re messed up. See what happens when you ignore your friends?”

  Steve smiled, but Ben just nodded. “I’m really sorry. I was an asshole. And,” he cleared his throat. “I’ve really missed you guys.” Yeah, the beer was kicking in, he thought.

  Lucas reached over and clapped him on the shoulder. “I’ve missed you too, you moron.”