One Last Time

by Beth Reekles

“Mmm,” he said, straightening up and leaning around Amanda. “You’re back again? I thought we finally got rid of you.”

  “Lee,” Noah huffed.

  “Guess you didn’t try hard enough,” Amanda told him, waving her spatula before going back to easing the pancake away from the edges of the pan.

  “Pancakes?”

  “Happy Fourth of July!”

  Lee turned around to look at us. He arched an eyebrow, catching my eye and whispering loudly, “She knows what this holiday is all about, right?”

  I felt a rush of relief at how normal he was acting.

  “I’m not convinced, so we’re doing a whole reenactment for her later. I get to be Jefferson,” I told Lee. “You can be John Adams.”

  “Aw, man. Can’t I be Franklin? I’ll get the old kite out of the den and everything. I will even throw in the Twinkie I found under my seat in the car yesterday.”

  “Hmm. You drive a hard bargain, Lee Flynn.”

  “You know, Noah,” Amanda announced, “when you told me they were a pair of freaks, I was like, ‘Nah, he’s just exaggerating, he doesn’t mean it,’ but, oh man, did you mean it.” She finished planting another pancake on a plate, then delicately decorated the stack with blueberries, chopped strawberries, and a flourish of whipped cream before handing Lee the plate. “Voilà.”

  “Hey! Red, white, and blue! Nice!”

  “I’m glad someone appreciates it.”

  “We appreciate it,” I told her, my mouth full of pancake, gesturing my fork between me and Noah.

  “Is Rachel up?”

  “She’s taking a shower,” Lee told Amanda, who set about making even more pancake mixture.

  With Lee sitting next to me eating his breakfast, the crackle of tension I’d been expecting appeared between us. The cracks that had been there a couple of days ago when I forgot about the trip to Berkeley were back. His elbow knocked mine while we ate, but he felt a million miles away in that moment.

  It was only afterward, when the two of us were doing the dishes, that he said, “Noah told me, you know. That you guys changed your plans.”

  “I thought you weren’t leaving till seven,” I mumbled. “You were gone when I got up.”

  “We were ready early, and…I didn’t know we were supposed to be waiting for you.” He nudged me, catching my eye again—looking at me properly for only the second time that morning. “I’m sorry, Shelly. I really am.”

  I shook my head, focusing on the plate I was drying off. If I looked at Lee too long, I was kind of worried I’d start crying. “You’re right. You didn’t know. How could you have known? I should’ve, like, I don’t know. Texted you. Or something.”

  “Maybe we can go another weekend. Just us two. Don’t get me wrong, it was a great day with Rachel, and Ashton gave us the grand tour, and his girlfriend’s great, too, but it wasn’t the same without you there. We should go. I can re-create Ashton’s tour and everything.”

  He made my heart melt.

  “That sounds perfect. Thank you, Lee,” I whispered, resting my head on his shoulder.

  Maybe, at least for today, I could keep both Noah’s and Lee’s plates spinning steadily.

  * * *

  • • •

  June and Matthew showed up midmorning. June, Rachel, Noah, and Amanda headed straight back out to buy some extra supplies for the day, while Lee, Matthew, and I got to work tidying the place up and getting things ready for the party.

  Lee’s parents had brought a big white folding table. We set it up outside, rearranging the rest of the furniture to fit it in. I laid out stacks of paper plates, plastic cutlery, and napkins, while Lee hung a string of flags around the porch to decorate. Matthew got started making a vat of potato salad—his mom’s recipe and a Fourth of July tradition for us.

  When the others got back, Amanda was decked out in a big glittery blue cowboy hat with a red ribbon tied around it and a sprig of white stars sticking out of the top, and she had a huge plastic flag that was probably intended to be a tablecloth tied around her neck like a cape.

  “This is my first time celebrating this holiday,” she argued. “I’m going all out. Chances are, I won’t be back next summer.”

  “Oh, sweetie, you’re welcome to spend holidays with us anytime,” June told her warmly. “Elle, what time are your dad and brother getting here? He’s got the ribs and the fireworks. And Linda’s bringing pie.”

  “I…I thought you were making pie.”

  Although, now that she’d said it, I hadn’t seen any and I guessed we had enough to get by without making pies as well.

  “Well, I was planning on it, but Linda offered, so…It’s nice! Don’t you think?” June smiled at me. “She seems really great, Elle.”

  “You’ve— Wait, you met her?”

  “We all went to dinner last week. Your dad didn’t tell you?”

  “I guess he forgot.”

  I gritted my teeth and went back to prepping salad. Fine, great, Linda was bringing pie. Whoopee. Good for her. They wouldn’t be as great as June’s, but…fine.

  Much as I wanted to stay out of her way, I knew I’d run into her at some point. At least it couldn’t be as awful as last time, right? Or anywhere near as awkward and weird as the first time I’d met Amanda?

  But I couldn’t be the only one who thought it was all moving a little fast, right? A month ago, I’d had no idea about her, and now she was bringing over pies to spend the holiday with us.

  No, Elle, come on. Not today.

  I did my best to shake it off. Today was supposed to be something special. Not just because all of us were getting together to party and eat way too much food, not just because all our friends were coming over, but because it was the last Fourth of July at the beach house. It was special. It mattered.

  So I’d swallow whatever feelings I had toward Linda (none of which, I hated to admit, were particularly favorable) and enjoy the day. Hell, I’d even enjoy her damn pies.

  Besides, I’d only just gotten a grip on things with Lee and Noah. I didn’t think I could handle any kind of emotional turmoil over anyone else right now.

  We took a break long enough to get changed. While Amanda was almost aggressively red, white, and blue with her extra accessories, Rachel kept it simple in a pair of denim shorts and a cute T-shirt. My outfit was a happy medium between the two: while my shorts were bright red, the loose cami I threw on over my bikini was pale blue, and I finished the look with a pair of dangly silver star earrings. And while Noah, like Rachel, wasn’t particularly dressed up, Lee had a pair of American-flag swim shorts on, paired with a white T-shirt with a gray star pattern. We did love a theme, after all.

  Dixon, Olly, and Warren arrived midafternoon. A couple of Rachel’s friends were only minutes behind—including Lisa, Cam’s girlfriend. Olivia and Faith showed up with Jon Fletcher and a couple of the football guys. Ashton and his girlfriend arrived next. I threw myself into playing hostess, chattering away to everybody as they showed up.

  June ushered everyone outside, and we quickly decided to head down to the beach to hang out and start tossing around a football—but only after pilfering a bunch of snacks from the kitchen while June and Matthew weren’t looking.

  “Plus”—Warren produced a bottle of vodka with a flourish and a grin—“I got this for later.”

  “Or now,” Olivia suggested, bouncing over to him to pluck the bottle out of his hands. She unscrewed the cap, took a sip, and then sputtered, almost spitting it all back up onto the sand and sending the rest of us into fits of laughter. Half the group suddenly found themselves in a competition to see who could take a sip of straight vodka without reacting.

  Jon Fletcher was pretty good, but Amanda won by a mile, taking three large gulps without so much as blinking, to everyone’s astonishment and a round of applause.

  As t
he afternoon wore on, more people started to arrive, filtering down to the beach to join us. They brought more drinks, some snacks. Someone brought a Bluetooth speaker and set it on someone else’s towel. People sunbathed, swam, played ball…Jon Fletcher made the mistake of lying down to take a nap and was currently being buried in sand up to his chin.

  Our first night at the beach house, the housewarming party Noah and Lee had organized had made the place feel cramped and crazy. Today might have started out as something for a more intimate crowd, but it definitely hadn’t turned out that way. It wasn’t just our close friends—somehow, word had gotten out. This was a whole thing.

  When I pointed out as much to Lee, he just shrugged and said, “Hey, gotta do this one justice, Shelly.”

  “Guess you’ve got a point.”

  I headed back up to the beach house to check on things. The five of us had been taking it in shifts to go see when the barbecue was starting up and food was ready, and right now it was my turn.

  My dad was just starting to fire up the barbecue, and Matthew was laying out platters of meat next to him. They were deep in discussion about something. A cry came from the pool, followed by a splash—Brad and two of his friends were playing there. One of them had a water gun and squirted me with it as I approached.

  “Oh no! I’ve…been…attacked!” I gasped, staggering and clutching at my wet leg. “Tell my brother…he…gets all my…agh.”

  I collapsed to the ground.

  “I heard gets all her money,” Brad announced. “Right, Dad?”

  “Hmm, I heard gets all her chores.”

  I climbed back up, stopping to ruffle Brad’s hair and dunk him abruptly under the water on my way to say hi to my dad. I gave him a hug.

  “Happy Fourth, bud.”

  “You too, Dad.”

  “You guys having a good time down there?” Dad asked.

  “Sure sounds like it,” Matthew added with a smile.

  “Are we too loud?”

  “Nah, it’s good. It’s not like we’ve got many neighbors left around here right now to worry about, huh?”

  “I guess so. Yeah, it’s…it’s great. I’m just starting to think we don’t have enough food for everyone. I swear, I thought this wasn’t gonna be such a big thing.”

  “Don’t even worry about it,” Dad reassured me. “A lot of your friends brought food. We’re gonna be eating hot dogs and potato salad and pie for weeks. Hey, bud, uh…L-Linda’s in the kitchen with June. It’d be good if you maybe went to say hi.”

  I wanted to tell him I wasn’t a little kid, that he didn’t need to tell me to go say hi to her, but he looked so goddamn nervous I didn’t have the heart to bite back with a sarcastic remark. I wasn’t used to seeing my dad nervous. But right now, his eyebrows furrowed behind his prescription sunglasses, his forehead lined with deep creases, and he snapped the barbecue tongs closed repeatedly, agitatedly.

  So I chirped, “Sure! Of course. And, um, a couple of people brought some drinks? Not much, just a little. Maybe keep Brad and his buddies off the beach for a little while?”

  My dad sighed. “Why am I not surprised?”

  “So long as nobody pukes in the pool, it’s all good,” Matthew told me. “Anyone pukes in the pool, or anywhere else for that matter, you kids are cleaning it up.”

  “Roger that.” I saluted them both and left them to the barbecuing.

  Inside, June and Linda were chatting and laughing over something, moving about the kitchen together organizing bowls and platters, many of which I didn’t recognize, and I could only assume—

  “Oh, Elle! Thank your friends again from us. They’ve all brought so much food. Although”—June held up a tub of potato salad, sniffing and squinting at it—“if Matthew asks, their potato salad isn’t as good as his.”

  I mimed zipping my lips shut.

  Linda was wearing a gray linen sundress with a brown woven belt tied around her waist and matching flat brown sandals. She gave me a smile that was borderline wary and said a hopeful, “Hi, Elle. It’s great to see you again.”

  I remembered how nervous my dad had been to tell me about Linda, and how nervous he’d looked again outside. She’d apparently heard so much about me; I imagined that she hadn’t been overly honest about our first meeting, since my dad hadn’t said too much about it to me and what a disaster it had been. Maybe I owed her one for that. Brad liked her. June and Matthew seemed to like her. Dad obviously liked her a lot.

  Okay, take two. Let’s try this again.

  Drawing a deep breath, I decided in that instant to give her a second chance at a first impression.

  I mean, she sure looked like a nice person.

  “You too,” I told her, giving her the broadest, sincerest smile I could manage. “And June said you brought pie! That’s really nice of you.”

  I didn’t miss the relief on her face over the fact I didn’t snipe at her.

  “Oh, it’s nothing. My pleasure.”

  “Did you, um…” I glanced at June, who gave me an encouraging little nod. “Did you not, uh…want to spend the day with your family?”

  “My parents have their own plans for this evening,” she told me with a laugh, not explaining any further, and I decided that as willing as I was to give her a second chance, I didn’t care that much to ask. “I saw them this morning. And my ex and I aren’t exactly on ‘spend the holiday together’ terms.”

  “Oh. Uh, right. Well…”

  June gave me another look, and I didn’t have to be a genius to figure out what it meant.

  “Well,” I tried again, “we’re happy to have you here.”

  There was a knock at the door, and a familiar voice yelled, “Hey, anybody home? Sorry we’re late!”

  Grateful for the distraction, I excused myself, running out to greet Cam.

  “Sorry,” he sighed. “I had some car trouble.” He grinned at me, giving me a quick hug before stepping aside to reveal Levi, laden down with Tupperware.

  “What he means,” Levi said, “is he got lost.”

  Cam rolled his eyes. “Dude. Come on.”

  Levi laughed, then held the Tupperware up. “I come bearing baked goods. Brownies and snickerdoodles and cake pops.”

  “We,” Cam corrected him. “We come bearing baked goods. I helped.”

  “You put the cake pops in a container.”

  “That counts as helping in my book,” I decided, and told Cam gravely, “Thank you for the cake pops, Cameron. We’re very grateful for them. So, uh, everyone’s down on the beach. Food’s not gonna be long. Tell everyone I’ll come grab them when it’s ready?”

  “Gotcha.” Cam bounded off, calling, “Hey, Mrs. Flynn!” as he went.

  I closed the door behind Levi, then led him to the kitchen, aware he hadn’t been here before like Cam had. I announced him and all his baked goods, and snuck a cake pop before June could tell me not to.

  “I thought you were coming up to check on the food.”

  I turned around to spy Noah hanging in the doorway from outside. But he wasn’t looking at me.

  “I am. I sent Cam ahead. I’ll come grab everyone when it’s ready. Hey, you want a cake pop?”

  Noah was staring past me at Levi, and no sprinkle-covered cake pop could distract him right now. I found myself holding my breath.

  “Levi,” he said.

  “Hey, man.”

  Noah nodded. Levi was nodding beside me. Noah cleared his throat and left again, stopping to help out at the barbecue, where our dads were currently debating over something to do with the ribs. (But seriously—it was grilling some meat. Could it really be that much of an art form?)

  Levi let out a long breath and bent to whisper in my ear, “Think he’s still mad at me?”

  “I think you’re off the hook,” I told him. I shoved the cake pop
I’d just offered Noah into my mouth before grabbing Levi’s hand to tell him, “Come on, I’ll give you the grand tour.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  There was a time when Lee and I were attached at the hip pretty permanently. But right now I was nibbling at my second hot dog, hanging out near the guys as they joked around and talked about plans for next year at college, and Lee hadn’t stopped talking to Ashton for maybe an hour now.

  They were practically attached at the hip.

  Dixon said, “Right, Elle?”

  I had no idea what he’d just said.

  “Right,” I said.

  What was Ashton saying that had Lee’s face all lit up like, well, like the Fourth of July? What the hell could they even be talking about? What was so funny that Ashton was almost doubled over, half choking on his burger?

  I chomped on my hot dog angrily, trying not to glare in their direction.

  Wasn’t it good that Lee had such a good friend for when he went to Berkeley?

  Wasn’t it good that he was replacing me so easily?

  I shook myself. I knew I was being ridiculous and it wasn’t like Lee was actually replacing me, but this was weird. Seeing him hang out with someone else like he did with me.

  I kept watching, mumbling, “Oh sure,” and “That sounds great,” whenever the guys reeled me back into their conversation. Lee and Ashton gestured wildly as they talked about something; then Lee took out his phone and the two of them pored over it for a while.

  “Hey.”

  I jumped at the hand on my arm, smiling when I saw it was Noah.

  “You’re gonna burn a hole in that poor guy’s head if you keep staring like that.” Noah nodded in Ashton and Lee’s direction with a gentle, somewhat amused smile. “Jealous is a cute look on you. When it’s not directed at me, obviously.”

  “Mmm-hmm,” I mumbled, blinking a few times and dragging my eyes away from them. “Ugh, am I that obvious?”

  “Hideously obvious,” Cam said suddenly just behind me. “Warren told you that you had mustard in your hair and you said, ‘Sounds good.’ ”

  I ducked my head, trying not to be as obvious about looking for the mustard apparently in my hair. Noah’s hand was still on my arm and he tugged me aside.