15. Boo-Berries And Hot Dogs
Lula
T oday the Country Club is at capacity, with every member eager to join the Fourth of July celebrations.
It’s a tradition in Star Cove for pretty much the entire town to come and watch the Club’s firework display. Tickets are sold to non members for that occasion and by the end of the night, the whole town will be at the beach.
As Jules goes in search of Arianna and Jenna and Stefan talks to every bartender in the club, Crew, Napoleon and I head to the main pool area to check out all the fun activities the club has to offer.
“I don’t know if I want a hot dog or an ice cream.” Crew muses.
“We should have both,” I say. “First we could have a hot dog and then ice cream.”
Woof .
Napoleon barks excitedly, wagging his tail at the mention of ice cream.
“Yeah buddy,” Crew chuckles. “Lula is very smart. We can get you a hot dog and some ice cream, you deserve a holiday treat too.”
Napoleon licks his whiskers in anticipation, his beady eyes shining as we walk toward the hot dog stand.
“Do you let him have ice cream?” I ask Crew. “I didn’t know if it’s ok to give it to dogs.”
“Not every day,” Crew shrugs. “But on special occasions, Napoleon is very partial to a scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt. I get him the non-fat, no sugar added one and it’s ok for him.”
I smile, petting Napoleon’s head. “I love the way you spoil him.”
His blue eyes soften as he looks at his dog. “He deserves it. Could you ever believe that his previous owner kept him chained in the sun all day? He used to beat him if he barked too and yell all sorts of abuse at him.”
My heart hurts at the idea that poor Naps was treated that way. “Some people should go to jail and the key should be thrown away. Abusing an animal is just as bad as abusing a child.”
Talking about child abuse, my mother’s voice reaches me from behind.
“What are you wearing, child?” her tone is somewhere in the middle between disgusted and indignant.
I should probably walk away and refuse to engage with her, but it’s hard to forget years of harsh criticism.
I hate how my first instinct is to look down at my ripped jean cut-offs and the black tank that doesn’t hide the straps of the bikini I’m wearing underneath.
Years of living under Tiffany’s roof should have taught me that fighting with her is pointless and they definitely have; rather than arguing with her, I do something even more stupid, I justify myself.
“The club relaxes the dress code for today, except for the main restaurant. I have a change of clothes for later but I want to go swimming and on the jet-ski first.”
My fight or flight instinct is broken when it comes to my mother and I stand there for the inevitable rebuff that I know it’s coming.
“Do you know why your life is a dumpster fire?” Tiffany asks when I turn around to face her.
“No,” I bite out, resigned. “But I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”
“It’s all your father’s fault. He’s a lousy parent, but I shouldn’t be surprised since he’s too busy with his whore to take proper care of his daughter.”
I want to defend Dad and tell Tiffany that at least in Dad’s house I can sleep without worrying for my own safety.
But Tiffany isn’t done with her rant and charges on. “I can’t believe he let you come to the club dressed like that. At least if those were designer clothes, we could pass that for an edgy style, but your father has absolutely no taste.”
Well, he married her after all.
I don’t say that out loud, eager to end this interaction as soon as possible.
“You’re right Mrs. Johnston,” Crew smiles, giving Tiffany a once over. “Lula should definitely learn from you.”
I stifle a giggle when my mother doesn’t detect the sarcasm in Crew’s voice and looks down at her outfit the same way I just did a minute ago.
“Why thank you, Crew.” She attempts to smile, failing miserably because her face is frozen by her latest beauty treatment. “I’m glad someone in Lula’s life has some sense of style.”
She smooths her tennis dress, that in Tiffany’s habitual fashion bears the logo of the designer in a dizziness inducing pattern.
She looks like she got that outfit at an outlet mall, especially since her heels and bag exactly match the same pattern as her dress.
“What are you kids up to?” she asks.
Her friendly tone worries me more than if she’d said something rude and I can’t help but showing my concern.
“If you’re going to yell at me for hanging out with Crew, I?—”
Tiffany’s eyes narrow but her forehead remains smooth. That must be all the movement range she has left. “No, I might just reconsider my opinion on this young man,” she lowers her voice. “I heard you might be coming into some serious money, as long as you had nothing to do with your father’s murder, of course.”
Go figure.
Tiffany hated Crew when she thought he was penniless, but now she’s willing to give him a chance.
I should probably ignore her, but I can’t help it. “Crew would never hurt anyone like that.”
Tiffany’s fingers close around my forearm with a viselike grip. “Don’t be naive, Talulah. Ironically, you, Jules, and Rikki are the only ones who are officially cleared so far.”
This is news to us. “Really? How do you know? I mean, the sheriff released Rikki since the gun residue test was negative but he didn’t say anything about me and Jules.”
Is there any way the sheriff knew about Mason’s air tag?
Tiffany’s superior smirk—or at least the attempt at a smirk—would usually piss me off, but I’m too curious to antagonize her right now.
“You don’t know because you don’t have the connections I do. The forensic team has been at work at Twinberry Cove and they could confirm part of your story. The ground was soft because of the storm and yours and Jules’s footprints are consistent with your story and apparently their placement isn’t consistent with you two being the shooters.”
Crew asks the question on the tip of my tongue before I can. “Did the sheriff tell you that?”
Tiffany cackles, pleased with herself. “He told Howard late last night. He’s keeping him updated with the investigation in real time. Isn’t it funny how Arianna thinks she’s someone in this town because she went to school with the sheriff and the mayor, and her family has money but my husband has way more influence than she could ever dream of?”
I don’t care about Tiffany’s stupid power games. What I care about is that the police know I’m innocent.
“Thank you for letting me know, Mom .” I bite out, bitter about her behavior last weekend. “Now hopefully you can stop wasting your time telling the police that if drugs were involved, I’m the only possible culprit.”
Tiffany doesn’t show any regret for the way she’s been acting. “Can you blame me? After all the trouble you’ve caused in the past year, what did you expect me to think? If that Trevor was a drug dealer, I’m surprised you didn’t at the very least befriend him.”
“Trevor and I weren’t friends.” I snap.
“That’s good to know. Hopefully what happened last year has taught you a lesson, Lula. God knows how many problems you caused between me and my husband. You should stay out of trouble and take your brother as an example of what Howard and I expect from our kids.”
She’s unbelievable.
“Evan isn’t my brother,” I bite out. “And how do you know he didn’t shoot those three people? Or have the police cleared him too?”
“They’re working on it,” Tiffany’s tone is outraged. “But they know Evan was going to propose to Maura. Why would he kill her? He had no motive.”
I can’t bite my tongue. “Was he? Then why did he come after me, trying to put his hands on me during his girlfriend’s birthday party? Maybe Maura saw him and they argued. Maybe Evan snapped and?—”
“Stop it, Talulah!” Tiffany seethes. “Right now. No one believed your lies about Evan last year, and no one believes them now. You wish you were half as successful as Evan. He got his Ivy League degree, he had a suitable girlfriend, he’s never caused us any problems unlike you. He’s the kind of son Howard and I can be proud of. He’s charming, smart and he’ll soon have a senator as a father. I’m sure he’s going to find another excellent young woman before we know it. You could only wish he’d even look at you.”
There it is.
I always suspected my mother preferred Evan to me, but her words confirm it without any doubt.
“Yeah Evan is perfect,” I snort, pointing toward the tables on the veranda that overlooks the pool area. “Look at him. He’s trying to get into Jasmine Wheeler’s pants. Oh and in case you didn’t know, she’s pregnant. Can you imagine if they got photographed together? Explain to Howard how you let that happen under your watch.”
Jasmine and Evan are openly flirting. There are two empty martini glasses on their table and two fresh drinks in front of them.
Jasmine laughs at something Evan says, running her fingers over his arms and then leans to whisper something in his ear.
Tiffany’s eyes track the direction I’m pointing at. “No way!” She gasps. “He can’t be seen with that harlot.”
When Evan downs his martini and so does Jasmine, the couple walks away hand in hand.
“Looks like they want to go somewhere more private.” I suggest.
“Hell no! Over my dead body.” Tiffany takes off in their direction.
“Who knew that Evan would be useful in getting rid of Tiffany?” Crew laughs at the way my mother runs in her sky high heels.
“Yeah.” I say, tasting bitterness on my tongue. “She never had a motherly bone in her body when it comes to me, but she cares about that creep.”
Crew wraps his arm around my shoulders in a comforting way. “She doesn’t care about him, baby. Tiffany is the female version of Eddie. People like them only care about themselves. She just doesn’t want Evan’s actions to make her look bad with her husband.”
Jules
“Seriously Mom?” I chuckle at the sight of Mom and Jenna. They have matching face painting and they’re both licking snow cones in matching colors.
She offers me a sheepish look. “What? Can’t I have fun with my granddaughter?”
I fake a stern look when Jenna jumps up and down with so much energy that she could power the entire town if we could find a way to harness it.
“Daddy, look! We’re mermaids!”
I compliment the shimmering green scales on Jenna’s cute cheeks and the little colorful fish and stars. “I can see that. You look beautiful.”
Jenna squeals, delighted. “I’m a mermaid princess and we have a surprise.”
I brace myself for it.
“What is it?”
Jenna looks at Mom. “Ready Grams?”
“On my three,” my mother beams. “One, two… three!”
At her three, they both stick their tongues out and I lose my battle to keep some kind of composure. “Your tongues are blue?” I laugh.
“It’s the cone!” Jenna jumps. “It’s boo-berry!”
I shake my head at the way my daughter keeps jumping, too excited to stay still. “A snow cone couldn’t have done all this, Mom. What else did she have?”
This time Mom is too embarrassed to look me in the eye. “Definitely some ice cream and some churros dipped in chocolate.”
“Mom,” I groan. “No wonder she’s bouncing off the walls. She’s jacked up on sugar. Give her an hour and she’ll crash. I expected better from you. You used to always tell Grandpa to make sure Stefan and I didn’t get too many sugary treats when he took us out to the boardwalk.”
This time Mom smiles. “And did Grandpa listen?”
I think about it. Stef and I used to love going out for a day on the water and a stroll on the pier with him. “I guess he didn’t. He used to buy us anything we wanted.”
She nods. “That’s the job of every grandparent, Ju-Ju. We spoil our grandkids and what’s a little too much sugar on occasion when we don’t need to deal with the fallout?”
I laugh. “Unbelievable. You let her have all those treats because now I have to deal with her hyper little butt?”
Her smile widens. “It’s the grandparent’s privileges. You’re Jenna’s parent and that comes with all the parental responsibilities. I just get the fun part this time around. As long as I keep her safe and return her in one piece, I just get to spoil her.”
Mom’s smile is contagious. I’m not the only one who missed Jenna and I love the way she dotes on her.
“I guess you do. What do you want to do next, princess?” I ask my little girl.
“Bouncy castle!” She screams, jumping for good measure.
If the bouncy castle wasn’t visible from here, the screams and laughter of all the kids that are enjoying it, would give away its location pretty easily.
“Hey Jules,” Trish welcomes me with a smile. “Who do we have here?”
Right. Trish is a recent hire and she didn’t get a chance to meet Jenna, before Jasmine decided to use her as a pawn to get more money from me by cutting me off from my daughter.
I make the introduction and Trish gets immediately on Jenna’s good side when she compliments her mermaid t-shirt and outfit.
“Ready for the bouncy castle?” she asks.
“Yay!” Jenna jumps, beside herself with excitement.
It might be overkill but every kid is given a helmet and knee and elbow pads. Mom doesn’t want to risk a lawsuit in case of an injury.
“All that’s left to do is take your shoes off and we’re all set.”
Call me an apprehensive father, but I’m suddenly worried about letting Jenna go into the bouncy castle without me. “Can I go in?” I ask, more out of respect than anything because after all, we own the club.
“If you want,” Trish sounds uncertain. “The thing is, I had to tell a few parents that it’s kids only. I know this is your club, but if I let you in, we’ll have complaints. If you’re worried about Jenna getting hurt, you can relax. We have one member of staff in there to monitor and for the next two hours it’s toddlers and up to age five only.”
That puts my mind at ease and I stand a few steps back. “If I go grab a snack, would you mind keeping an eye on Jenna in case she gets tired before I’m back?”
Trish reassures me that she doesn’t mind. “We’ll come and find you if you aren’t back when Jenna is done. I’ll get someone else to cover for me here if needed.”
As I near the side of the main pool where all the special food stands have been set up, I spot Lula and Crew by the hot dog stand.
Before I get within earshot, Tiffany approaches them and I can only assume that their conversation isn’t a pleasant one by the way Lula tenses up.
I watch with a mixture of awe and amusement as Tiffany marches toward Evan and my ex-wife.
God knows I’ve never liked Lula’s mom or seen anything eye to eye with her, but I can’t fault her for wanting to nip in the bud whatever seems to be blossoming between her stepson and my ex.
“She never had a motherly bone in her body when it comes to me, but she cares about that creep.” Lula sounds sad, bitter even.
Crew wraps his arm around Lula’s shoulders in a comforting way as I reach them.
“She doesn’t care about him, baby. Tiffany is the female version of Eddie. People like them only care about themselves. She just doesn’t want Evan’s actions to make her look bad with her husband.”
Surprisingly, I agree with him. “He’s right, Luls. And I’m not gonna lie, I’m enjoying Evan being stuck between your mom and my ex.”
“Karma is a bitch, but so are Jasmine and Tiffany.” Crew says, with more insight than I’d like to give him credit for. “I just say Evan deserves them both. I hope he hooks up with Jasmine and can’t get rid of her. No offense.” He says to me.
“None taken,” I scowl, because agreeing with Crew is seriously starting to fuck with me. “Maybe taking a spin on the Jasmine ride will keep him distracted and away from you, Luls. It’s not like most men aged eighteen to forty in town haven’t had a turn with her anyway.”
There’s bitterness in my tone and Lula takes it the wrong way.
“Are you jealous of Jasmine?”
I take Lula’s hand, pulling her away from Crew’s arms. “No, I’m just stating the obvious. When I started hooking up with Jasmine, Mom warned me about her reputation. I should have listened.”
Crew’s words make me wonder if he’s just curious or if he’s playing Devil’s advocate here. “Why didn’t you? Listen, I mean.”
I don’t owe Crew James an answer, but at the same time, I don’t want Lula to think that I have any residual feelings for my ex. “Because I didn’t see why people were so harsh in judging her. Sure, Jasmine made a mistake when she cheated on her ex. But she told me she was young and made a mistake getting married the day after high school graduation. What she did after she got divorced was no one else’s business. I hate that we’re still judging a woman who openly enjoys her sexuality. If a single guy enjoys hooking up, people don’t judge him half as harshly as they do with a woman. That rubbed me wrong and when Jasmine showed interest in me, I thought why the fuck not? I was trying to stay away from Lula and obviously I wasn’t planning on getting her pregnant.”
Crew considers my words. “Right. Though I guess the town folks weren’t judging Jasmine too harshly after all, since she cheated on you too.”
I agree with him again. This is starting to get weird now. “In the end she did me a favor. I married her because I thought I wasn’t good enough for Lula and I was just fooling myself that I could ever love anyone else. I confused my love for Jenna with the chance to learn to love Jaz.”
Lula’s gaze meets mine. “I hate what she did to you, but in a way if she hadn’t, you and I wouldn’t have had a chance.”
She’s right and my heart overflows with love for her. I lower my head to touch her lips with mine.
I don’t even think that we’re out in public, with half the town in attendance at the club.
“Hey get a room you two,” Crew chuckles.
I nip at Lula’s bottom lip, reluctant to let her go. “You have no idea how much I’d like that. But Jenna is here today and I can’t just pawn her off to Mom.”
If agreeing with Crew is surprising, what happens next is almost surreal.
“Where is Jenna now?” he asks.
“At the bouncy castle. I was getting lunch while she’s in there. Mom already fed her.”
Crew smiles at Lula, but his words are directed to me. “I just got a text from Mom, she went to see Rikki this morning at rehab. She just got here. I know she wanted to meet Jenna. How about we find your mom and we take Jenna to the kids’ slip and slide or something? That should buy you twenty minutes.”
I feel a little guilty to do that, but there’s no harm in spending a little time with Lula. Things have been crazy and we haven’t had a minute alone since the night of the storm at Twinberry Cove last weekend.
“Sounds good, if you don’t mind.” I double check, almost expecting Crew to take back his offer. “Chances are she’ll still be in the bouncy castle in twenty minutes, but in case she isn’t, I would be grateful if you, Tilly and Mom were with her.”
“Don’t sweat it,” Crew nods. “Let’s just say that you owe me one.”
Usually just the idea of owing Crew anything would be enough to make me reconsider, but I’m dying to have Lula in my arms even briefly. “Thanks,” I bite out.
His smirk is irritating. “I’m gonna come find you in twenty minutes, so you better hurry. Tick tock.”