Summer on Main Street

by Crista McHugh

“Bullshit.”

  “How do you know? You were wrapped up in Vince.”

  “Not so wrapped up that I didn’t see you talking to Blue Ramsey.”

  Talking? She didn’t actually remember talking to him. Drooling over him, yes, dancing with him, yes. Talking… She lifted a shoulder and hoped it came across as nonchalantly as she meant.

  “I thought you’d sworn off Blue because of Jess,” Madeline said.

  “I did.”

  “Yeah, you didn’t,” Mercedes said. “I didn’t see you with anyone else last night.”

  “Because, well,” She could say she’d gone home, but Mercedes knew her better than anyone except Jess.

  “You went home with him,” Mercedes accused.

  “What?” Madeline screeched. “You did?”

  “You should have seen him,” Mercedes told Madeline before Brioney could respond. “Dressed like a Greek god or gladiator or something, no shirt, just fabric around his hips.” She turned to Brioney. “What was he supposed to be?”

  “I never asked.”

  “Huh. Well, it didn’t matter. He was hot as damn and whoa.” Mercedes twisted in her chair and drilled Brioney with a look. “Which is why I know you went home with him.”

  “We, ah, left together,” Brioney admitted.

  “And went where?”

  Brioney dropped to an empty chair. “All right, back to his place, and I spent the night, and I’m a terrible sister. Let me hear it now.”

  “I’d just be wondering if he’s comparing us,” Madeline said.

  “It’s been a long time,” Brioney said, but the argument sounded weak even to her ears.

  “I wonder if it’s been long enough for Jess,” Mercedes said, her tone ominous.

  “What was the story between them?” Madeline asked.

  “Together since the end of sophomore year in high school, she got into UT and begged him to come to Austin with her. He went to St. Edward’s, then transferred to UT,” Mercedes said. “She majored in politics, he majored in…I don’t remember. They lived together up there. They graduated, got jobs, and he decided that wasn’t the life he wanted to live, so he quit his job and asked her to come back here with him. She said no, so they broke up and he came back without her.”

  “I thought you said he broke up with her,” Madeline said.

  “He did,” Brioney and Mercedes said together.

  “Sounds like she was the one who wanted him to change his life for her and couldn’t deal with it when he didn’t.”

  “He went along with it,” Mercedes said. “And she felt that if he loved her—”

  “That he should be someone he wasn’t?” Madeline shook her head. “Let me tell you ladies this. It’s one thing to tame a man, to domesticate him, if you will. But to get him to change his stripes altogether? You wouldn’t want a man to do that to you, would you?”

  “Of course not,” Brioney said. “But he asked her to do the same when he asked her to come back here after she was already working at the capitol.”

  “I suppose that’s true. They were both young, though.”

  “Still, they’d been inseparable,” Mercedes said. “It was always the four of us. It’s just…weird that the dynamics have changed.” She looked at Brioney. “Have you told Jess yet? Of course you haven’t.” She answered her own question. “She would have called me. Girl, I want to be a fly in the wall for that conversation.”

  “I’m not telling her just yet.”

  “What? Why?”

  “There’s no reason getting her upset if nothing comes of it. I’ll tell her at Thanksgiving if we’re still seeing each other.”

  “You don’t think she’ll be pissed that you hid it from her?”

  “Oh, she will. But I’ll deal with that when the time comes.” If ever.

  Mercedes folded her arms on the table and nestled down. “So how was he? As good as Jess said he was? Did you lick him all over like you wanted to?”

  Brioney felt her face flame, wishing she’d never shared that bit of information. If she’d never mentioned her attraction to Blue, Mercedes never would have noticed them together. “It was very nice.” She had no intention of sharing details. “I’d never been with anyone but Cameron, so that was weird.”

  Mercedes straightened at that. “That’s right, you haven’t! That may be weirder than you sleeping with your sister’s ex. So he’s definitely better than Cameron?”

  Brioney shifted in her seat, uneasy with the topic. “No comparison.”

  “Well, if nothing else, I’m glad you got the Cameron monkey off your back. Are you going to see Blue tonight?”

  “No, I…” Not after the way she’d left things. “I saw him this morning after Joy went to school.”

  Both Madeline and Mercedes whistled. “Sure, why wait for afternoon delight when you can have morning sex?”

  “We went surfing.”

  Mercedes groaned. “You’re killing me.”

  “I hadn’t been surfing for a long time. I’d forgotten how fun it is.”

  Mercedes turned to Madeline. “If you had a guy who looked like Blue, would you be wasting your time surfing, or would you have him tied to a bed somewhere?”

  “We’re not machines, geez,” Brioney said. “And if we’re going to figure out if we have a future, you know, we have to see if we have something in common.”

  “Sex. You can have sex in common.”

  “Right.”

  “You can talk after you burn off all that sexual tension,” Madeline added.

  Brioney had to get the women off of the subject of her love life. “And you, Mercedes? Who did you go home with on Halloween?”

  Mercedes poured herself a glass of water. “Vince. Again.”

  Her tone said she was bored. “No good?”

  “Always good.”

  “So what’s the problem?”

  “Good sex, but nothing else.”

  “So why do you keep going back?”

  “Did you hear me say good sex?”

  “Yeah, but there has to be something more. I mean, you’re going in circles because you don’t want to give up good sex? There’s got to be someone better for you out there.”

  “Says the woman who had only slept with her ex until this weekend.”

  Brioney glanced at Madeline and reddened. “I’m just saying. You deserve more.”

  “So do you.”

  “Ladies.” A sharp voice came from the doorway, and all three of them pivoted to see Leeayn standing there, her hands on her hips. “There are some windows that need washing.”

  In this climate, the windows always needed washing. Brioney bit back a groan as she pushed to her feet.

  She was working on the windows in the gift shop when she saw a motorcycle pull into the parking lot. The rider hopped off the bike and shook his shoulder-length blond hair out of his face, then reached around the far side of the bike and straightened, holding a bouquet of colorful flowers.

  Brioney dropped her wash cloth into the bucket and her hands went automatically to her hair. She’d just wrapped it up and stuck a couple of pins in it. She thought about taking it down, but, hell, he’d seen her worse, just this morning.

  She stepped away from the window before he saw her, and glanced down the hall. She saw him walk through the automatic doors, look right toward the check-in desk, and amble toward Debbie, who worked the desk tonight. Debbie pointed and he pivoted, his grin spreading when he caught sight of Brioney in the doorway. He jog-walked toward her, the flowers bouncing.

  “Hey,” he said, his low voice skittering along her nerves. “I brought these for you. They didn’t fare too well on the ride.” He presented her with the bouquet of mums, daisies and sunflowers.

  “Why?” she asked, taking the bouquet. She’d never gotten flowers before, except from her brother when Joy was born.

  “I was pushing too hard this morning and I shouldn’t have. You’re right, we need to have fun with this. I have been having fun, and I want to keep
it going.”

  She couldn’t look away from the flowers, and while he was right that they’d gotten a little beat up, she’d never seen anything so beautiful. She couldn’t meet his gaze and let him see what this gesture meant to her.

  “Thank you,” she finally managed.

  “Are we good?”

  The hopefulness in his voice prompted her to look up and meet his gaze. “We’re good.”

  He gave her a lopsided smile, then curved his fingers around her cheek and bent to kiss her softly. The kiss lingered maybe longer than it should have in a place of employment, but when he backed away, both of them were smiling.

  “See you in the morning?”

  She dipped her head to the flowers again and nodded. When she looked up, he was backing toward the door. Debbie was leaning on the counter, watching, and Madeline and Mercedes were in the restaurant doorway. Oh, Lord.

  But once she heard his motorcycle drive away, she faced them all. “I need a vase to put these in. Does anyone have one?”

  *****

  Blue would count himself content most of the time, but he had kind of forgotten what happiness was.

  Until now.

  Brioney showed up at his house the next morning with a bag of tacos from the place on the corner. He’d planned to take her straight to bed, but, well, tacos.

  “I don’t have coffee or anything.”

  “Water will do,” she said, clearing a space at the breakfast bar.

  “You didn’t have to bring breakfast,” he said, setting mismatched glassed of water in front of them. “Now we have to wait an hour to go in the water.”

  “I’m sure we can find something to occupy us,” she said with a wink, unwrapping the foil from the tacos and handing his over. “I don’t think I said thank you for the flowers last night.”

  He winked at her. “You did.”

  “Ah. Well. Good. I couldn’t remember. No one’s ever given me flowers before.”

  “Are you kidding? Ever?”

  “Well, Fitz did, when I was in the hospital with Joy, but that’s the only time.”

  “That’s a shame. If I’d known that, I would have brought them sooner.”

  “They wouldn’t have meant the same.”

  He grunted and took a bite of his taco. “Do you work today?”

  “Not at the hotel, but I’m going to the motel with Fitz later and we’re going to get started cleaning it up. He rented one of those big dumpsters and we’re going to start filling it.”

  Blue shook his head. “That’s a big project.”

  “I get the feeling Fitz needs a big project. Plus, you know, what else is he going to do here? That’s why he went into the army in the first place.”

  “But do you have time to help?”

  She laughed. “No. I don’t have time for any of this.” She waved her hand around the room. “But he did so much for us. I owe him.”

  “I bet he doesn’t think of it that way.”

  “Probably not. But he’s doing this for us. Every decision he makes is for us.”

  He touched her hand. “You don’t need to feel guilty about that.”

  She drew her hand away. “What makes you think I’m guilty?”

  “I think I know you well enough to know.”

  “I didn’t make it easy for him. I didn’t think he should be telling me what to do. He wasn’t that much older than us. And then I turn up pregnant and give him something else to worry about, another mouth to feed.”

  “But you always worked. I mean, you’ve been at the hotel since you were a teenager. You supported yourself and your daughter. You contributed. Hell, you’ve been taking care of Brandon since Fitz went into the service and Jess went to college.”

  “I got myself into the situation. It was the right thing to do.”

  “But you thought Cameron would be more involved.”

  “I thought having his baby would make him love me enough, sure, but he made the right choice. We never would have lasted as a couple. And we would have been broke. At least right now he sends child support. If he hadn’t gone to college, he’d never have been successful and never would be able to send us what he does.”

  Blue shook his head. He still remembered the drama of it, the way Cameron had turned his back on her and walked away at the urging of his parents. How Brioney had shaken with fear and abandonment. She’d lost so much in her young life, and to have him betray her…

  But she was right. Being married to him would have only made her miserable.

  He wadded up his foil and tossed it into the trash. “Let’s get out there.”

  “We can’t surf yet.”

  “No, but we can go look for shells or something.”

  She laughed. “Blue, we live here. We can do that every day of our lives.”

  “When was the last time you did it?”

  She considered. “A couple of summers ago, with Joy, I think.”

  He held out a hand to her. “This is a great time of year for it. We’ll find something cool, I promise.”

  She folded her unfinished taco back in the foil and put her hand in his. He brought her fingers to his lips and guided her out of the house.

  *****

  “I like this one the best.” Brioney held a leopard-spotted shell in the light as she rested her head on Blue’s chest.

  He lifted his hand from where it rested on her naked stomach and angled the shell for a better look. “Leopard crab.”

  “Aw. Pretty thing. Not very big.”

  “Big enough for the seagulls.”

  She twisted her head to look up at him. “Why didn’t you ever finish your degree?”

  “I did. I graduated. Not much to do with a bachelor’s in marine biology. You have to go to grad school, and I didn’t have it in me.”

  “I guess I get that. I mean, I feel like I want to be done already, and I still have a semester to go. It just seems…I mean, you love the ocean so much, it seems like that job was tailor-made for you.”

  “Maybe I’ll go back when Joy goes to college, keep an eye on her for you.”

  He could sense her frustration, but he’d already thought this through, been through it with Jess. He was happy where he was. He had hoped Brioney would see that, and wouldn’t try to change him like her sister had. Then again, she was trying to change her own life, so maybe it made sense to her that he would be ready for change, too.

  Well, he wasn’t. The only change he wanted was her in his life. He’d make that clear to her if she pushed.

  She lifted her head from his chest with a sigh. “I need to get over to the motel to help Fitz. What are you doing the rest of the day?”

  “No charters today, and the rentals are closed, so I don’t know. Maybe go work on the boat if the weather holds.”

  “Something wrong with it?” She hooked her bra as she looked over her shoulder at him.

  “No, just needs some polishing, and a little organizing before my charter tomorrow. It’s an early one, so we won’t have a chance to meet up in the morning.”

  “Well, that sucks.”

  He tightened his arm around her. “It was booked before this all started, so, yeah. In the summer I’ll have a lot more early charters.”

  She gave him a look, and he realized he was jumping the gun again, assuming they’d still be together in the summer.

  “Well, I’ll have a kid at home, so there will be that. And who knows what will be going on with the motel by then.”

  “You might have it shoveled out by June,” he teased, kissing her shoulder.

  “You could always come give us a hand.”

  “You want me to?” He didn’t savor the idea of spending that much time with Fitz, but if she wanted him to…

  “No, don’t worry about it. I don’t want to explain why to Fitz, not yet.”

  “You don’t think he knows where you’re going in the morning?”

  “He hasn’t been home long enough to know my regular routine.” She slipped into her pantie
s and jeans in one fluid movement, then reached up to braid her hair, which was a mess from his hands.

  He could smell himself on her skin with every movement, and the scent turned him on. He wanted to drag her back to bed, especially knowing that tomorrow they wouldn’t have this time together, but if she had to go, well, he’d best let her.

  But not without giving her something to remember.

  He rolled from the bed, naked, and pulled her flush against his body. He covered her mouth with his in a long, deep kiss, then stepped back. “Have fun at the motel.”

  *****

  Lord, if she thought motel rooms that were empty for a few hours were a mess, well, she would never complain again. She was on her third pair of work gloves over rubber gloves and had a serious case of the heebie-jeebies as she helped Fitz haul a mattress out of one of the rooms.

  “Gee, I wonder why Brandon didn’t want to help,” she grunted as she balanced the mattress while Fitz shoved it over the rim of the dumpster.

  “He should be getting home soon, right?”

  “Yeah, but he’s got to watch Joy.”

  “She could come help.”

  “Not until it is in way better shape than it is now. I don’t want her to get stuck by a needle or something.”

  “How’s school?” he asked as he led the way back into the nasty guest room.

  “Okay, I guess.”

  “Just a couple more weeks in the semester.”

  And she wasn’t giving it her best effort, since she’d been spending most of her studying time with Blue. She knew she should be giving more attention to the courses. She didn’t want to let Fitz down again. After all, he’d given up his chance to go to college by raising the lot of them. She should take advantage of the opportunity she had. “I’m just ready to be done.”

  He smiled. “I guess that happens, short-timers disease or something. But don’t let it slide now, not when you’re this close.”

  “I know. I won’t.”

  “If you need any help, I can do whatever you need.”

  “Are you going to go to school, now that you’re home?”

  “Maybe. Maybe go to Kingsville. Depends on what this place takes, and what this place costs.”

  “Did you keep any money back, or did you sink it all in here?”