Chapter 2
Eve
“I can’t believeyou’re leaving us.”
Anjannette draped her arms around my shoulders and pulled me in for a dramatic hug as she said those words.
“I’m only going for the summer.”
She pulled away to look me in the eye.
“That’s too long. I’ll miss you.”
“And we all know you’re going to go out there, fall in love with the town handyman, and stay in Seaside forever,” Keera said.
“That only happens in Hallmark Channel movies. My life isn’t that romantic. Never was.” I shook my head. “Writers are told to write what they know. I don’t know what ever possessed me to write romance.”
“Well, you’re very good at it so there must have been some romance in your life at some point,” Anjannette said. “Even with my shitty exes there were a few decent moments.”
“John and I started dating in college so having a pizza date before sex instead of getting a booty call at midnight was considered romantic.”
That led to a whole conversation about pathetic pick-up lines and bad decisions. Although Anjannette and Keera have both recently found happiness with amazing men, they had tons of stories from their dating days. Sophie is the opposite. Like me, she married young and divorced a couple decades later. Unlike me, there was no infidelity involved in the breakup. She and her husband just drifted apart and decided to call it quits. So, the stories she’s sharing are all recent as she jumped back into the dating scene with both feet in the last year.
Sad to say, I don’t have anything to add to the conversation. Other than John, I only had a few boyfriends in high school. They all know what happened with the former and there’s not much to tell with the latter.
“I honestly don’t know how I wrote anything interesting before I met you ladies. My life is so boring compared to yours,” I said. “You don’t have to worry about me never coming back. I need your stories for inspiration. That is, if I ever start writing again.”
“You’ll get there. You have to.” Keera pointed at me then Sophie. “Now that you got me hooked on the genre, you two better never stop writing it.”
“I’m going to Seaside to hopefully get the creative juices flowing again.”
“Maybe some other juices will flow while you’re there too,” Sophie bobbed her eyebrows. “It might not end like a sappy TV movie, but I’m sure there’s a sexy handyman or veterinarian who’d be up for a summer fling.”
“That’s not on my agenda. I’m going to spend time with my aunt and focus on writing.”
“Not for nothing, maybe a good fuck is just what you need,” Keera said. “It might inspire you.”
“I’m not really ready for that. Or maybe I’m just scared.” I shook my head. “I don’t know, but the thought of having sex with someone besides John freaks me out. I mean, there are men I find attractive, but I don’t feel that need or desire like I had way back when with John.”
“My first time post-divorce was weird, but it wasn’t bad,” Sophie said. “Maybe you just need to fake it ‘til you make it. You know, find a guy and just do it. The first time is always the hardest. After that, it’s smooth sailing.”
“You at least had a college experience or two before you got married. John was my college experience. Before him, I’d barely seen a penis, much less touched one.” I rested my head in my hands. “I’m forty-two and I’ve only had sex with one man. I’m basically a unicorn.”
No one commented on that and I looked up to find three sets of bewildered eyes staring at me.
“Oh God, I’ve stunned you into silence.”
“It’s not that,” Anjannette said. “Your life is just so different from mine so I’m trying to put myself in your shoes. Honestly, I could see myself feeling the same way you do.” She put her arm around my shoulders and squeezed. “Just make sure that if the opportunity does present itself, you’ll at least consider climbing some hot handyman like a tree.”
I burst out laughing. Her tone was so serious then she ended with that.
“I promise.”
Max
The waitress plunkeddown two pints and an order of loaded nachos. Once she left, I picked up my beer and held it up.
“To your first night out in nearly a year. Enjoy.”
I tapped my glass against my friend Dex’s, then took a long drink before setting it down.
“It’s only been nine months, but thanks.”
For the first time in a long time, Dex and I are hanging out at The Rusty Skipper. We used to come here a couple times a week, but since he got married, that dwindled down to maybe once a month. And it hasn’t happened at all since the twins were born.
“So, what’s it like without Courtney and the twins home?”
“Quiet. Sometimes too quiet,” Dex said. “I think I’ve gotten used to the chaos and don’t know how to function without it.”
“I’ll be honest, I never thought you’d settle down.”
“Me neither.” He shook his head. “Then Courtney came to town and that was it.”
Dexter Doyle is my best friend and was my one-time wing man on the Seaside dating scene. But he fell head over heels in love with a woman who came here on vacation a few years ago. They did the long-distance thing for a little while, then he somehow convinced her to move here permanently. They married three years ago and the twins, Andrew and Aaron, came last October. It’s been interesting watching him transform into a married man and father.
“So how long is she visiting her parents?”
“A week. She’s only been gone two days and it seems like forever.”
“That’s love.”
His eyes widened.
“I never thought I’d ever hear you say something so sappy.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I just shrugged and perused the mound of nachos. After finding one perfectly piled with meat, cheese, salsa, and a single jalapeno, I picked it up and popped it into my mouth.
“Have you been seeing anyone lately?” he asked when it was obvious I wasn’t going to say more.
“No, not in a while,” I said. “You know what it’s like here.”
I dated a couple women who lived in town when I was in my early twenties, but that got messy a few times when they wanted more and I didn’t. So I started focusing on the ones who were just visiting, especially the festival goers. They were usually just up for a fun, uncomplicated, fling. But at some point, that got monotonous.
“Hey, all the other guys got married and I found Courtney. You never know who’s going to pop into town and change your life.”
Through the years, our whole friend group got married. Dex and I were the last singletons, and now it’s just me. And it seems that anytime I see my old friends, instead of wanting to hang out, they try to set me up with someone.
“What is it with you married people always trying to get the rest of us hitched?”
“Hey, when you find something good, you share it with your friends.” He laughed then finished his beer in one long gulp. “Are you having another one?”
“Just one more,” I said. “I’m fixing a couple things at Winnie Everly’s tomorrow and I want to get an early start so I finish before Pop shows up.”
“I’m surprised he’s not going there himself.”
He waggled his eyebrows.
“He has a meeting with the festival committee in the morning. After he asked me if I could go, he said he could make it in the afternoon, but his gout has been acting up so I want him to take a break.”
“Good luck with that.”
“Thanks, I’ll definitely need it.”