Summer on Main Street

by Crista McHugh

  “I’m so sorry, Blue! I just…got excited. You didn’t have to stay once Fitz was here.”

  Didn’t have to? Wounded, he rested his hand on the doorknob. “Right. Welcome home, Fitz. I’ll see you, Brioney.”

  But she was already turning back to her brother, drawing him toward the couch.

  What the hell was wrong with him that he kept falling for women who couldn’t see how much he cared for them? Yeah, she was excited about her brother’s return, but she had treated him no better than a babysitter, when he’d done it all for her.

  *****

  Brioney bounced onto the couch beside her brother. “I can’t believe you’re here. Tell me everything. When did you get out? Why didn’t I know?”

  “I didn’t want to let you know in case everything fell apart and I couldn’t get back.” He stretched an arm along the back of the couch behind Joy. “Plus, it was kind of fun to see your reactions this way.”

  “I can’t believe our whole family is finally together again.” She gripped her brother’s hand. “You’re staying?”

  He leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees. “I have plans, big plans. And I want you and Brandon, and Joy, to be part of it.”

  “Here in Avalon?”

  “You know the old motel on the north shore?”

  “Sure. The one the town council can’t decide to tear down or not?” The motel had been built in the 1960s or 1970s, when Avalon Island had been in its heyday. But once the more modern hotel had been built, with a better view of the water, fewer and fewer people had stayed at the motel, until it was just a place college kids came for spring break, until the owners finally decided that they didn’t want to deal with the mess and they walked away from it. The place had been abandoned for at least a decade.

  “The reason they haven’t done anything to it is because they had trouble tracking down the owners, but they have, and I bought it.”

  “You bought it? How?” He’d sent most of his paycheck home to her, Brandon and Joy.

  “I volunteered for some assignments that brought in some extra pay, and I put it aside. I thought it would be an emergency fund, you know if you or one of the kids needed it, but you never did, so now I’m thinking, it will be my future.”

  “Fitz, have you even seen that place? It’s in terrible shape.”

  “And I’m good at stuff like that. Plus, I have some buddies who are coming, and they said they’d help. It’s going to be fun. I’m excited.”

  “How can we help?” Joy asked.

  “Well, I’m going to need ideas, you know, and I will need help getting organized. That’s where your mom comes in. She can use her almost-business degree to help me with a business plan, help me plan my expenses, all of that. She’s so good with money, you know. And I thought Brandon could help me with the remodeling and the labor.”

  Brioney wanted to point out that Brandon would be no good at those things, but she would wait until she talked to Brandon first.

  “My plan is to be open by summer. I don’t think we can make it by spring break.”

  “How are you going to get people to stay there?”

  “My plan is for it to still have the retro look and feel, but with all the modern amenities. It’s going to be great. But we’re going to have to get to work on it right away. Can you come down with me tomorrow?”

  His enthusiasm was contagious. “I have to work at the hotel tomorrow.” And they might not like the idea of her working toward their eventual competition.

  “Afterward, then, or before. I want to walk through it and show it to you the way I see it.”

  “I can’t wait to do that. But first, we need to have a welcome home party for you. I think I may be able to put something together by Sunday, if you will help.”

  “If I’ll help? Plan my own welcome home party?”

  “I just told you, I’m working tomorrow, and since it was your idea to surprise us, you can help. I need you to go to the grocery store. I’ll give you a list.”

  She jumped to her feet and went to the kitchen for a notepad.

  “So tell me about singing,” he said when she returned, stepping over her guitar where she’d dropped it when she saw her brother.

  “Oh, well.” She dropped back to the couch, tucking her legs beneath her, the notepad on her thigh. “JoAnna lets me sing at The Wharf on Friday nights, for tips. It’s fun, and I like it.”

  “So much that you leave your daughter with Blue Ramsey?”

  She dropped her gaze, not wanting him to see too much. “Blue’s my friend, and he always comes in to watch me sing, he knows what it means to me to be able to perform.”

  “Since when, I guess is my question.”

  “Since something I’ve always dreamed of doing. It may be a small way of fulfilling it, but it’s a way where I can still be near the people I love.” She grinned at Joy, whose eyes were drifting. She shoved the notepad at her brother and rose to gather up her daughter. “Tell your uncle good night.”

  “Mom.” She dragged out the word, which ended on the yawn.

  “He’ll be here in the morning.”

  Fitz stretched up to kiss his niece’s forehead. “Get some sleep, Joy-bug. Looks like your mom is going to have a lot for us to do tomorrow.” He looked past her to his sister. “Want me to get her?”

  “Nah, I’ve got her. I won’t be able to do it much longer.” Already Joy’s feet banged her shins when she carried her into her bedroom, and her weight, when Brioney lowered her to the bed, threatened to overbalance her. No, not much longer at all.

  Fitz had helped himself to a soda from the fridge when Brioney returned to the living room. Her brother was wired, even though it was approaching midnight. She plopped down beside him and took the notepad back.

  “First we need to figure out a guest list, then what you want to eat, and then I’m going to bed, since I have to work at ten tomorrow.” And she needed to get her stuff out of her room so he could sleep in there.

  “You don’t have to do this, Bri.”

  Of course she did. Fitz had been a big-shot in high school, everyone had loved him. If he hadn’t been so popular, actually, he would have had a lot harder time when their parents died and he was stuck raising two sisters and a brother. A lot of people pitched in, especially with Brandon, who’d been so little, barely in school.

  “You tell me who you want to see, and I’ll make it happen.”

  “I don’t even know who’s around anymore.”

  “I’ll get whoever’s here. We’ll have a barbecue in the back yard.” She flipped the page over to start the grocery list: beer, burgers, buns, chips, condiments, sodas, ice. Then she flipped again to the next page, to list all the things she had to get done before Sunday.

  He held out his hand for the notepad and started writing some names. He handed it over and she read it. Only her name, Brandon’s and Joy’s were listed. “That’s all I need.”

  But not all he deserved. If he wasn’t going to help her, she’d do it herself. She owed it to him for all he’d done for them.

  *****

  Brioney stepped out the back door, balancing a platter of hamburger patties. The backyard was full of friends gathered in groups, some around the cooler, some around the grill, where Fitz was holding court. She was happy to see so many show up on such short notice, and not only that, they’d brought food and drinks. Joy wasn’t having much fun, since none of Fitz’s friends had kids Joy’s age, so she was hanging out at the snack table making a dent in the potato chip bowl.

  And then Blue showed up. Brioney’s nerves sparked as she remembered the night on the boat. But she hadn’t treated him well the night Fitz came home.

  He came in through the gate and shambled over to join Joy at the snack table. Brioney watched her daughter’s face light up. Brioney delivered the patties to her brother, and walked past him to the snack table. Blue looked up, but his smile faded when he saw her.

  “Hey, Blue, I didn’t think you were going to make i
t,” Brioney said, a little taken aback by his reaction.

  “Yeah, I just got in from my last tour, thought I’d drop by.” He looked past her to her brother. “Since he wanted to kick my ass the last time I was here, I did debate a bit.”

  “What? Fitz?” She pivoted to see her brother glaring at Blue. “Why?”

  “Jessamy.”

  “Ah.”

  “I guess the two of you haven’t discussed it?”

  Discussed Blue and her sister? Why would they? “We haven’t talked about much but the party and Fitz’s plans for the old Sand Dollar Motel.”

  “Plans? What plans?”

  “He’s bought it and is going to remodel it. He plans to have it up and running by summer. I may actually have a job waiting for me there when I graduate.”

  He turned his gaze back to her, his eyes softening. “That would be really great.”

  “He’s really excited about it. I’m a little…overwhelmed by the responsibility. He has a lot more faith in me than I deserve.”

  “If you think about it, who better to pick than you? You have experience in the business. I mean, how many times have you thought, ‘This is a ridiculous way to do this. It would be so much better if we did it this other way?’”

  She lifted a shoulder. “There’s that. There’s also the fact that he’ll have a built-in maid along with a manager.”

  He laughed.

  “Blue, do you want a hamburger?” Joy asked, grabbing his hand and swinging his arm.

  “Yeah, they smell really good.” He held Brioney’s gaze, asking a silent question she didn’t understand.

  “I’ll get you one.” Joy darted off, a paper plate in hand.

  “Is it okay that I’m here?” he asked, easing a little closer to Brioney.

  “I invited you, didn’t I?”

  “Jessamy’s not going to show up, is she?”

  “No, I called her, but she couldn’t get away. Fitz will drive up to see her sometime this week.”

  “And he doesn’t know about us, either?”

  “There’s not much to know, is there? We went on one date.”

  A flicker of hurt flashed across his handsome face. “It was a pretty good date.”

  She dropped her gaze, her face heating. “It was. But I have so much else going on right now, Blue. I can’t give a relationship the attention it deserves. Can you understand that?”

  He looked from her to her brother, who was carefully placing a hamburger patty on the plate Joy held with both hands. He didn’t want to put more pressure on her when her life was in upheaval, but, “It would be worth the effort. I promise.”

  She shook her head sadly. “I just can’t right now. I’m sorry, Blue. Really, I am.”

  Knowing later might be too late, she nonetheless turned and walked away.

  *****

  Fitz unlocked the rusty padlock and dragged the gate open, the sound of it grating against the uneven concrete jangling Brioney’s nerves, which had been wide open since the conversation with Blue. He’d eaten the burger Joy had brought him, then left without a word to Fitz or her.

  Fitz reached a hand back to her and helped her up the crumbling step to the sidewalk surrounding the courtyard of the motel.

  “So we have twelve rooms, which isn’t all that much, an office and a laundry room. I’d like to add a common area, not really a restaurant, but maybe a game room or something for when the weather is bad. I’m thinking I’d put it behind the office. Now.” He continued down the sidewalk, stepping over cracks as if he’d done this a hundred times. “I’m thinking about doing each room a little differently. I mean, all the basic repairs, right, but picking out different themes for each room, all based on the 1960s. Maybe a cowboy room, and a hippie room, and a Mad Men type room, stuff like that. People can choose their room when they book.” He turned to her. “Do you know how to create a website?”

  “I actually do.”

  “That’s great. We can get working on that in the evenings, maybe start to build some anticipation.”

  “Don’t you think you’re getting ahead of yourself? You’ve never done a project like this before. Don’t you think we should realistically look at the work and the money it will take before we start advertising?”

  He gave her an impulsive hug. “See? That’s why I needed you in on this with me. You’re practical.”

  He usually was, too, the reason he went into the army instead of going to college, because they needed the money, and didn’t have time to wait for him to get a degree. Brioney didn’t want to think about what would have happened to them if he’d gone to college instead. Their mother’s desertion hadn’t been planned, or their father’s catastrophic illness, leaving all the responsibility on Fitz’s shoulders. They were lucky the house was paid for.

  So she’d let him have this excitement and rein him in only when it was necessary. She was happy her brother wanted to stay in Avalon. So she let him guide her around the crumbling motel and explain everything he wanted to do. And to be honest, his enthusiasm was contagious. She made notes about what he wanted done, and was already prioritizing in her head. They’d of course have to see what everything would cost and work on a budget.

  The magnitude of what they were about to do threatened to overwhelm her, until she looked into her brother’s face.

  “I think it will be amazing,” she told him.

  “Right?” Her approval only energized him more. “I think we need to start cleaning it up as soon as we can, because at least then we can see the progress, you know?”

  She rolled her eyes at him. “When will your buddies be here, again?”

  “After Halloween.”

  Halloween. Crap, that was this weekend. She needed to put the finishing touches on Joy’s costume. She supposed she should be glad her daughter wanted to be a shark and not a princess or something, but shark costumes weren’t exactly ubiquitous, and she had to make it. Add to that, Mercedes wanted her to go to the bonfire on Halloween night, so Brioney needed a costume, too. She wished she was more of a hoarder, and had held onto some costumes from back in the day, but her house wasn’t big enough to store something she thought she’d never wear again.

  This would be her first adult Halloween party, ever, since she hadn’t exactly been an adult when Joy was born, and hadn’t gone out on Halloween since. Cameron had Joy this weekend, which broke Brioney’s heart a little. She’d never spent a Halloween away from her daughter, but the holiday had never fallen on Cameron’s weekend before. Cameron was excited about getting this time with his little girl, which Brioney couldn’t resent. So she was going along with Mercedes’s plan, and would rely on pictures and Joy’s stories to relive it.

  “I didn’t thank you for the party,” Fitz said as he held her hand and guided her over some buckled concrete. “You didn’t have to do that.”

  There was so much he didn’t have to do for her that she couldn’t even respond. “Did you have fun?”

  A corner of his mouth hitched. “Did.”

  “I saw Rachel there.”

  “Yep, she was.”

  “Don’t tell me you’re picking up where you left off.”

  A smile tilted his lips. “Maybe.”

  “Isn’t it time to try fresh waters, instead of swimming in the same old pond?”

  “What do you have against Rachel?”

  “It’s more what she should have against you, leaving for years and then showing up and expecting her to be waiting for you. I guess I didn’t think you’d be jumping back into the dating pool so soon.” She thought she’d have more time with him to herself. But if he was going to be seeing Rachel and working here, well, he’d be busy.

  Maybe she shouldn’t have moved so quickly to push Blue away.

  “I guess I never understood your relationship with her.”

  “Fu—friends with benefits. And not something I want to talk about with my sister.”

  “Gotcha.” Because God knew she didn’t want to talk to him about Blue…o
r anyone else.

  “So what do you think? You think this is a good endeavor for the Dawson siblings?”

  She drew in a deep breath. “It’s going to be a lot of work.”

  “None of us are strangers to hard work. Well, maybe Brandon, but it’s about time he learned.”

  “I don’t even know where to start.”

  “Like I said, we get it cleaned up, then go from there. Structural stuff first, like the roof.”

  “Have you had it inspected? I mean, is it safe?”

  “I had it inspected, and it’s got some weak bits, but we’ll shore them up, fix some of the sub floors. Some of the plumbing. It will be great.”

  She hugged his arm, trying at once to absorb some of his enthusiasm and to ground him. “It will be great.” But she didn’t know if he had it in him to see a big project like this carried through.

  She supposed she’d wait to see.

  Chapter Five

  Brioney smoothed her hand over her bare belly and stared at herself in the mirror. Well, she didn’t look too scary, she supposed. She had worn bikinis on the beach, but somehow the idea of wearing the belly dancer costume felt more revealing. Maybe because the temperature was in the mid-sixties, and she was going out, acting like an adult, not a mom, not a silly teen. She pressed her hand a little firmer over the butterflies in her belly, then she attached the veil over her face.

  She was walking to the beach, since she planned to drink, and would meet Mercedes at the bonfire. Thankfully Brandon had gone to San Antonio with his friend Daniel to visit haunted houses and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow night. She wouldn’t have to worry about setting a bad example for him.

  She grabbed the chilling bottle of wine from the refrigerator, tucked her house key and her phone into a little pouch inside the waistband of her costume, and headed out the door.

  The breeze tonight was brisk, and tugged at the sheer fabric of her costume, raising goose bumps on her skin. She’d lived in Texas long enough to know some Halloweens were hot and some were chilly. It figured she’d decide to venture out in next to nothing on one of the chilly ones.