For the Best

by LJ Scar

  He stared suddenly realizing we were serious. “About the same but I couldn’t ask that of you two. Especially you Della, you’ve got a baby on the way.”

  Della explained, “It wouldn’t be a loan. Could we all be partial owners? Is there enough space to allow for a dog groomer and CPA?”

  “More than enough. We could probably live there if we renovated right.”

  We were allowed to begin renovations without having the title in hand. The good faith money of $50k down had helped though Della’s portion was being withheld because Jace wouldn’t budge on selling the house.

  I hadn’t let Tanner know. I wanted to surprise him when we were further in the renovation process. Maybe take a laptop around the place showing him via live feed like he had done with his room.

  For a week, we’d been working non-stop on demolition and clean-up. The place was coming along. On a break from renovating and working at the laundry, I launched Skype, selected Tanner’s name and Skype started ringing.

  I smiled as Tanner appeared. He didn’t. I don’t know why he accepted the Skype call. It was like I was interrupting something.

  “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

  “No, well, kind of,” he didn’t explain why.

  “Sorry,” I muttered. “I really wanted to talk to you. I missed you the last couple of times I’ve tried to Skype.” My bright, chipper attitude was forced. My newfound happiness dampened.

  “I’ve been busy with schoolwork and friends.” He was studying something looking down. I couldn’t demand his full attention. We were less than ten minutes in the conversation.

  “Tell me about your friends?” I asked.

  “Like what.”

  “I don’t know. Where are they from?” I had all the time in the world. Apparently he did not.

  He looked up and I swear his eyelid twitched. Before I could clamp my mouth, “Ooohh,” slipped quietly out.

  “It’s not like that,” he muttered.

  “What is it like?” I asked and marveled at how un-accusing my tone was.

  “You are going to be insecure no matter what I do. I mean it isn’t like I don’t deserve it with my past history. So let me be the one to offer. Do you want to see other people while I am over here and then when I come back we can see where things lie between us?”

  My lips were frozen but still I mustered, “What about Trev? He won’t be able to Skype or e-mail without me.”

  Sarcastically, he answered, “Well I didn’t say I didn’t want to talk to you anymore did I?”

  Calmly, I put his sarcasm in place. “We shouldn’t continue talking. It wouldn’t be fair to anyone else either of us dates.”

  He became angry. “Got someone lined up already?”

  “Don’t you?” I asked.

  He looked guilty. “When Trev wants to talk can you send his e-mail for him?” he asked.

  I nodded.

  “Listen Hanna I don’t want it to be like this between us.”

  In our past, there were steps he used to make me feel like he wasn’t to blame. That was the first, remorse. I’d seen this before. He was already fucking whoever she was but refused to come clean. “I’ve got to go to work.”

  “No you don’t. Just talk. It’s not like the Laundromat can’t run without you.”

  There it was. Second, the condescension. I decided not to tell all the plans I’d began. I think he would have tried to persuade me not to make financial obligations and actually it was risky. Risk takers were the people that ended up great successes. If we failed, so be it. Only Della had responsibilities. We were all young. We had aspirations. Most importantly we had drive.

  “Sorry I need to go.” I ended the session.

  Chapter 39

  Tanner

  I lost her and not just on Skype. I pissed her off for some girl I’d been spending too much time with not because I liked her but because she was my guide over here.

  Her name was Skylar. She was a year older, a high maintenance girl with unnaturally blonde hair, sharp features and light blue eyes. Skylar was the complete opposite of Hanna way beyond looks. She was controlling, materialistic and driven. If she wanted something she went for it. After our fourth weekend of her showing me sights I only got to see courtesy of her wallet we slept together. That was why I told Hanna maybe we should see other people while I was away. I wasn’t sure about it but like I always did with Hanna I wasn’t going to admit I was already messing around.

  Hanna

  Clay, Della, and I filled three dumpsters with debris. The remainder of lockers and school desks we shoved into the boiler room.

  Since Tanner’s admission, my emotions had been overloaded so I compensated with work, unwilling to dwell on his inability to remain faithful long-term. When I couldn’t lift another muscle yet sleep wouldn’t come I sought out serenity, a desolate beach at sunrise or twilight on the bay wall with my feet dangling over the water of the Matanzas River and the ancient fort called Castillo de San Marco at my back.

  I was a different girl than the one who’d let loss and betrayals bring her down in high school. I had goals and was on the path to accomplishing them for myself as well as my friends.

  Jace had been brought into the fold. Della preferring not to sue her brother for her portion of the house proceeds presented him with an offer. In exchange for free rent, he would provide his construction skills.

  We all were caught by surprise when Jace approached us with an idea.

  “I want to open a place called Day Trippers.” He produced an airline magazine with an article on if you only have one day, or a few hour layover in a city what you could do. “This is my model and with St. Augustine being a tourist haven I think there is potential. It is going to be website only so I can still work construction. Here is the questionnaire I’ll put online.” He handed them out.

  I studied mine. The similarity it had to the career aptitude test Tanner had made me take could not be dismissed. The first question was while in St. Augustine would you rather:

  1)lay on the beach

  2)take in the historic culture

  3)go deep sea fishing

  After you chose, based on which it opened there were more questions delving into your interests.

  “So you tailor their itinerary to a person’s interests. How much?” Clay asked.

  “$10 for the personalized itinerary which comes with discount coupons and vouchers because if you choose an activity that isn’t free you would book it through a link on the Day Tripper website.”

  “You’d get a cut of any activity booked like a recommendation fee?” I asked.

  “Exactly and best of all I would get paid to advertise on the website for all the area businesses.”

  “What if all a person wants to do is lie on the beach all day?” Della asked.

  “A market for bike, kayak or surfboard rentals and the person still has to eat,” Jace stated giving his sister a look of irritation.

  “That is a lot of finagling with the local businesses dude. You sure you can pull it off while working construction on the side?” Clay asked.

  “If it works it works. It involves very little investment on my part just a lot of time building the website.” He grinned.

  “What does Michelle think of it?” Della questioned.

  “She isn’t quite on board.” He frowned.

  “Big surprise. The me, me, me girl isn’t on board,” Della whispered.

  Chapter 40

  Hanna

  Only the old kindergarten, first grade, and principal’s office had bathrooms. The art room contained a sink. We were using the girl and boy’s gym lockers for showers. Della chose the first grade room. Clay claimed an apartment downstairs. With a lot of reluctance over the lack of view Jace and Michelle took an apartment on that floor as well.

  Across the hall from Della, I took the principal’s office with the request that I could also have the art classroom next door hoping an inspector would tell me a non-load bearing wall separa
ted the two so I could tear it down. The principal’s office was the smallest of the toileted apartments but it overlooked the old fenced in playground. From the window behind where one might have positioned a desk there was a flat tarred roof jutting out.

  The interior walls were brick just like the outside. The floor was commercial grade tile pinkish tan with flecks of metallic. I disliked the floor, loved the brick. Everyone was modifying their flooring, but I couldn’t decide what to do with mine. Clay was painting his black. Jace ceramic tiled his. Della had gone to the added expense of carpeting hers.

  After walking aisle after aisle in the hardware store in search of an idea I bought some acidic compound. Throwing open the windows, I rolled it on quickly backing myself up and out the door. Closing it off, I found fresh air downstairs.

  The brewery was days from opening. Clay had contracted a part-time caterer to deliver pre-made appetizers daily. All the limited serving staff had to do was heat them. He would only be open during the evenings starting at 5p.m. Closed for business Monday so there was a day of rest. The interior had the same brick walls as the rest of the building, just accented by a stainless steel bar, high seated tables and chairs. Flat screens were being mounted every few feet where the wall met the ceiling. Public restrooms were accessible in the hallway.

  Un-utilized classrooms and a janitor’s closet we made available to rent as climate controlled storage. The Laundromat remained Bubbles and Brews located in the electrically modified basement of the building. The brews now had to be accessed above in the brewery. Della’s accounting office was complete and conservatively yet tastefully decorated.

  In the back were my doggie spa and daycare. The backdoor led to the enclosed playground, which was now a backyard dog park. I stopped to get an update from the plumber I hired to install three large stainless tubs at different levels. Then I made ready the stations as the booths were all rented. Much like a human hair salon the canine groomers booked their own clients, had their own sets of keys, my only obligation was maintaining the space while their rent served as part of my income and to meet my portion of the construction loans.

  Finished, I skirted past Jace’s small storefront, seeing no one inside as I returned to my apartment. The acid turned the pink to brown, the metallic stayed metallic. I could live with it.

  Diverting to let the area further dry until I could seal the surface, I stepped inside Della’s future unit. A plumber was busy completing her bathroom, the only accommodations thus far with a bath/shower combo. Jace was busy doing finish carpentry, baseboards and shoe molding. Everyone had agreed because of Keb, Della’s apartment needed completing first.

  He looked up.

  “Hi,” I said.

  “Hi.”

  “You’re doing a great job,” I complimented trying to lessen the tension that flowed between us. “Really pretty colors.”

  Della had chosen all her colors and accessories. The charcoal walls, the whitewashed cabinets, an antique red stove, stainless steel refrigerator, dishwasher and microwave. The countertops were polished concrete.

  “Yeah, kind of funky.” He hammered a piece in place. I turned to go. His voice stopped me. “Listen, I know you and my sister have some issue with Michelle.”

  I replied, “That is putting it delicately.”

  He shrugged. “She wants to bury the hatchet.”

  I wondered whose back she wanted to bury it in. “Fair enough.”

  He rubbed his neck uncertain yet he still proceeded. “She would like some space?”

  “For what?” I asked.

  “A staging company.”

  “I thought she was a realtor.”

  “She is but she wants to do other things.”

  “I’ll speak to Della and Clay on it. If they agree we’ll get the lawyer to draw up a contract.”

  He smiled.

  “She’ll need to read the fine print. Just like your contract, there will be an opt-out clause for the owners of the building.”

  He sat back on his heels understanding. “Meaning if she pisses Della, Clay or you off she loses her lease?”

  “Exactly.”

  Chapter 41

  Hanna

  When a tropical storm hit the first coast on November 2nd, a sharp pain brought Della to her knees and all my carefully planned scenarios of her child labor came crashing to an end.

  The hospital admitted her three weeks before her due date. While she screamed and crushed my hand, I comforted and cajoled her to breath. Twelve hours after her first contraction, Della gave birth to a baby boy.

  After what seemed an eternity of doubt Della morphed right before my eyes into the most determined single mother imaginable. She molded the baby’s untamed, curly brown locks off his forehead and recapped his skull as she held him tight. “Who do you think he looks like?”

  “You,” I answered on automatic. Truthfully, I didn’t see Benny in him.

  “Keb you look like Mommy,” she cooed.

  “And Jace…a little.”

  “Maybe, where is he?”

  I shrugged. I’d actually called Jace hours before, but he never came. Clay on the other hand had arrived with a teddy bear, a rattler, and flowers with a promise of a completed and clean apartment waiting for her when she was discharged.

  As I was walking out of the hospital my phone rang. I did something I thought I would never do. I answered Ansel’s call.

  “Hanna?” he asked in disbelief.

  “Ansel,” I tried not to smile as I said his name.

  “You answered. I can’t believe you answered. Hanna, I’m sorry. God, I’m so sorry,” he rushed out of breath.

  “Ansel, it’s been a year and a half. I’m over it. You’re forgiven.”

  He breathed easier. “Where are you?”

  “St. Augustine, Florida. I’ve just had the best moment of my life.”

  “What happened?” he asked eagerly a touch of worry in his voice.

  “I just helped my best friend bring a beautiful baby boy into the world.”

  Chapter 42

  Hanna

  Living on opposite coasts and cash poor, I was the one who had extended the invite. I saw him approach from Gate 3. His hair was longer…brown glinting with golds, his face more mature, a shadow of beard growth surrounding his jaw, his skin just a shade lighter than mine, and eyes more green than my hazel.

  Catching sight of me he rushed forward and flung himself full body arms wrapped round me, knocking us off balance but righting me before I fell.

  “Hanna.” He released me.

  “Ansel.” I laughed separating from him.

  “God, I want to say I missed you but I guess I blew that one long ago.”

  “Want me to pretend we never had the miss you conversation?” I teased falling in step beside him as we walked from the concourse.

  “You remember everything don’t you?”

  “How could I forget those damning words?” I lowered my voice in imitation. “I don’t understand words like miss you, need you. Want you only makes sense.”

  He groaned and looped our arms. “Stop...we’ve got four days together no past douche quotes from the ass I used to be.”

  We walked on, making it to the airport garage. “I think we need to celebrate your success,” I said thinking about the link to an architectural magazine he’d e-mailed. His shot graced the cover. Inside was a four page spread of a house he’d photographed.

  “That I owe all to you,” he said stowing his bag in my open trunk.

  “How so?”

  “You made me ashamed of my old job.”

  I flinched and met his eyes over the roof of the car. “Oh, Ansel, I never meant to make you feel like that.”

  He lowered into the passenger seat and I followed on my side. “You never said out loud what I could read on your face. Then came that awful night where I took my frustrations out on you. When you left, I was so sick of what I’d been doing, all the misery it caused. I quit working for the gossip shows and
magazines. I only took jobs that inspired me. An architectural magazine noticed some shots I’d donated to a park interpretive center. Out of the blue I got a call to do a shoot for them. Now I get paid what I normally made in a month before, I can live wherever I want and I am happy. Really happy.”

  I smiled. “Love what you do, do what you love.”

  He froze, reached for my hand. “Exactly.”

  Together again, it felt like the time and strain had never come between us. I gave him the tour of the school, asked his opinion on every aspect of my plans. He was curious, eager, encouraging – the complete opposite of Tanner.

  After a moonlit stroll on the beach, I tried to ignore the chemistry growing between us. I led him up to my room. Pulling the Murphy bed down seemed to heighten what I knew was becoming inevitable. Ansel grabbed a pillow and walked over to the couch.

  “Is that where you want to sleep?” I asked quietly.

  “You got another suggestion.”

  “I was thinking we could share.” I gestured.

  He turned away but I didn’t miss the smile on his face. “Okay, I promise to be a gentleman.”

  I teased, “I can’t promise to be a lady.”

  He laughed it off. “Don’t tempt me.”

  I grabbed his pillow and vaulted onto the bed with a bounce, turned on the TV, and demonstrated my new remote control activated light switch. When he sat on his side of the bed and stared at me, I lost my nerve.

  “A lot changed in the past year and a half,” I said.

  “Like?”

  “Against my better judgment I let Tanner back in my life.” He stiffened. His body language told me he didn’t like hearing he might have to compete with Tanner. “At first we were just friends, then lovers. He ended up cheating on me again,” I admitted.

  “What now?”

  “He mentioned going on a break but for me it’s over.”

  He nodded. “You’ve never been with another guy, have you?”