17. Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen
Remington James
M oving the card table into place, I put the sign making materials on it. “How much do you want to mark these down again?” Ceily has stacked next to me a box of purses and hats, along with two racks of jewelry for the sidewalk sale during Lake Hollow Days. A week-long celebration of this crazy kookie little hub.
“Let’s go half off for the whole lot of it. No, no seventy-five percent.” She'd give it all away if she could. I eye up one of the rhinestone encrusted cowboy hats, plopping on my head.
“You’re going to go bankrupt,” Keenan quips, setting down a hat rack and an armload of books. “Meemaw, stick with fifty percent.” While they go back and forth, Natalie waves from Talley’s where she’s leaving with Alanna, and our new employee that Skip felt we needed for the Lake Hollow Days rush. Kami. Who just happens to be Cal’s last ex. Something we all figured out when Alanna mentioned him, she burst into tears fleeing to the restroom. Cal meant it when he said he refused to be hard to get over.
We’re not the only business getting things ready today for the start of the festivities tomorrow. Pops has employees moving a stand into place to give out bratwurst and soda… called pop here in Minnesota. The sign keeps coming loose to flap in the wind. Twice we’ve begun to walk that way to help before they fix it. The sidewalks of main street are getting cramped, and a side street is shut down with barricades where home businesses have tents to sell their wares.
A fizzy little burst of excitement works its way through me. Relia and I never lived anywhere that celebrated themselves. Hovels in big cities, backwoods stretches of county. This feels like I stepped inside another world. One I knew existed, but never let myself think about. I shared my anticipation with Natalie, surprised to find out she feels the same way. Turns out that Uncle Skip didn’t see the value when she was growing up in doing family things… parades, amusement parks, vacations in general.
“Why is your cousin hanging out with harpy talons?” Keenan’s new nickname for Kami. To be fair, she’s left Cal alone completely. Choosing instead to tell us how horrible he is any chance she gets.
Shrugging, I blow at the glitter I’d dusted over the glue on the sign. “Natalie didn’t know who she was, but that’s just Nat. She couldn’t be mean if her life depended on it.”
“Well, count me as mean then. She was saying yesterday that Cal’s been around so much you’re just a novelty to him because you’re new here.” I roll my eyes. Not terribly original. She’s just bitter because he’s moved on. I get it… if he left me, I’d be upset, too. I’m actually curious to find out what she remembers of the drownings. She grew up here, too.
“Tell me about your latest haunting shit.” Keenan sits on the edge of the table, readjusting the purses. “Has the necklace reappeared anywhere like the creepy ass talisman it may be? Or… even better, have you used your gifts from me yet?” In my dreams. Oh, Lordy.
Screechy laughter startles us from down the street where high schoolers are practicing their dance team’s moves. “Just the usual. The bathroom light, the window over the kitchen sink. Nat swears she is hearing a female voice whispering at night. I haven’t. Droolius keeps getting out, and Wilder swears he isn’t doing it. Then… this is kind of new, a scraping noise. And yesterday, I was walking up from the dock, and I swear I saw a shadow of someone in the cabin, but when I ran up, it was gone.”
“Borrrinng… now what about those fun new toys?” I swat at his leg.
“Not happening.” Holding up the sign to show him, he claps in delight. “If…huge if, I ever use a single one there will be no talking about it.”
Giggling, Nat splashes me, as I kick away from her. Temps this afternoon are at a record level of ninety-one. We eagerly threw on swimsuits and raced to jump off the dock. The water is a cool relief from the heat. I held my breath, staying under the water for several seconds, my eyes wide open looking up at the circles of ripples and bubbles. My lungs burning, I let myself push up. Breached the surface to pull in a big breath.
Lazily floating on my back, occasionally fluttering my feet, the sun beats down brightly on my eyelids. Nat squeals about the weedy plants touching her legs. She finally turns onto her back to float next to me, reaching out to take my hand. Momentarily, I feel young, like twelve-year-old Remi connecting with twelve-year-old Natalie.
“What are you doing for the Fourth of July?” I ask Natalie, with plans to invite her to join us. “Are you and Mitch doing something?”
My attention is pulled away by Wilder stepping out of his cabin in nothing but shorts. Nat doesn’t miss it. “Ohhh… him, too?”
Instant ovulation. The man inspires dirty thoughts upon dirty thoughts. The depraved things I dream of with him… with Grady joining us. My face feels several degrees warmer.
“We’re telling each other things now, so I should tell you that I’m kind of involved with Wilder and Grady, too.”
Nat starts to sputter as she tries to turn, pulling me towards her. “Romantic Ruin Grady?” I love that she glazes right over Wilder, our neighbor she thinks is rude, straight to the rockstar. Both her hands clap over her mouth. “Don’t tell dad.”
Well, duh. That is not on my immediate agenda. Although, I have every intention of keeping them all in my life, he’ll need to know eventually.
Droolius spots his favorite person, Wilder not me, wiggle running right to him. Sloppy kisses all over. Yeah, I get it, puppo. Totally get it. He shades his eyes looking at us in the lake. “Hey, Natalie, can I have permission to enter your cabin?”
Huh? Laughing I ask, “What? Are you a vampire or something? You need to be invited past the threshold?”
Natalie, confused, but naive, answers him, “Sure.” She shrugs while she pulls a piece of vegetation off her shoulder grimacing.
But then I understand what he’s doing. I can’t run through the mucky bottom of the lake fast enough, cutting my foot on the rocks scrambling out. “Oh no you don’t!”
The sound of his laughter follows him into the cabin as he flings the screen door open, Droolius hot on his heels. I should’ve seen this coming. It was a taunting move hanging the necklace in my bedroom window. Call it a moment of ‘fuck you’ energy. It didn’t hurt that having it there meant I’d know right away if it ended up relocated.
Damn that pointy rock hurt. I rub at the punctured skin for a second, balancing on one foot. “Touch it and suffer the consequences, Lee!” As I run towards the cabin, he reemerges with the necklace in his hand and held over his head, triumph written all over his face.
Natalie has hopped onto the dock, as she wipes down with a towel she yells, “I didn’t say you could take anything!”
I’m having none of it. Racing after him, I lunge trying to tackle him. Turns out he’s solid even though he looks lean. Holding the necklace high, he’s trying to get his laughing under control. “Maybe putting it in your window was a bad move.” I shove at him with all my might, knocking him to the ground finally.
My chest heaving, dripping wet from the lake, awareness I’m laying on top of him lands on me. Placing my hands on either side of him, I push up slightly. His eyes hold my gaze for several beats too long. I want him to close the distance and kiss me. More than I want to breathe.
Instead, the scoundrel rolls me off him, jumping up all in one quick motion. I’m steps behind him, as he sprints down the dock in front of his cabin, launching my necklace as far as he can. Back into the dark waters of Lake Hollow. That fucking dick.
A look of challenge crosses his face when with arms over his chest he turns to face me. I’m so close to slapping him. Anger rippling through me.
Fucking again? He did it again.
Then I discovered that my scream sounds the same if I’m terrified or just damn furious. The frustration inside me causes me to close my eyes, make fists at my sides and scream as loudly as I’m physically able.
The police may be called. I don’t even care.
“Remi?!” Nat calls to me from our dock.
I put a hand up to her. “Just let me freak for a minute.”
Droolius jumps in the lake after a stick, the splash drawing my attention from Wilder, He brushes past me, but I grab his arm. “You’re going to regret doing that. Not only do you refuse to play nice and tell me what the deal with the necklace is, you threw it back into the lake. It’s my damn necklace.”
“You don’t want that thing.” He fucks right off to his cabin, but I’m tempted to follow him. The only thing stopping me is Droolius’ interest in a turtle he’s barking at.
“Friends… Droolius, we don’t put friends in our mouths.” Well… nevermind.