Chapter 6 #3
I sit back in my seat and laugh because I think he’s right.
I can only imagine the field day she’s going to have asking me about this when I see her next.
I turn around and see her watching us as we drive away.
I wave one more time. She holds a hand up but I don’t think the gesture she sent me in return would be considered friendly.
Just past the campground I see where the mouth of the waterway channels into the Atlantic. We keep going until I see a big peach-colored house on the edge of the water. “What’s that?” I ask, inhaling deeply. The scent of fried everything floats through the air.
“Lunch,” he says, cruising the boat toward a dock.
Three hours later, I’m standing by the Jeep trying to figure out what to do next. I smell like greasy food and my hair is matted into a rat’s nest from the boat ride and my face is burned again. Even so, I can’t stop smiling.
“Thanks for dragging me out of the house today,” I tell Justin when we’re both out of the car.
“You’re welcome,” he says, running a hand through his hair. It’s equal parts perfectly windblown and stylish disarray, his face is tan and smooth, and the flat stomach I saw at the beach the other day seems immune to the amount of fried shrimp and other garbage I watched him inhale.
I learned a lot about Justin over lunch.
Born and raised in Ocean Beach, a business major at Clemson, with plans on taking over the marina from Richard in the next couple years.
The information is hard to reconcile. He looks and acts like a southern beach bum, but there’s a lot more going on underneath that dirty ball cap.
He’s smart and motivated. I tried not to let on that I’m impressed by his academic achievements but I’m pretty sure he caught on.
“So is that where you take all the new girls in town?”
“Only the ones willing to help me carry trash to the dumpster,” he jokes. I helped him throw out the trash before we left the marina. To my surprise, it was kind of fun. Everything we’ve done together has been fun. I wonder what Mason would think of that.
I internally chastise myself. Why am I thinking about Mason right now?
“I’m putting that on my resume. Expect a call for a reference someday,” I laugh.
There’s a bit of awkward going on right now because this feels kind of like a date, but I’m pretty sure it’s not a date.
Which is good. If he asked me on a date I’d definitely say no.
But just hanging out? I can totally hang out.
“I guess I’ll see you around, you know…later. ”
“Let me walk you back,” he says. I start toward my camper, using the gravel path that runs between lots. Just as we reach the back of our silver monster, I hear my mother talking to someone. I grab Justin’s arm and stop him. He gives me a questioning look and I just hold my finger up to my lips.
“I can’t believe you showed up here,” my mother says, angrily.
“What did you think would happen? That I’d stay away? It’s been thirty years, Julia,” a man says in return.
Justin’s eyes grow wide. He looks down at me and mouths. “Richard.”
So my mother and Richard are fighting? I guess Justin was right about their past.
“I’m here to write a book. Not open old wounds.”
“If you ask me, those two things are one and the same.”
Justin kicks the gravel and coughs.
“What the hell?” I whisper, because we were just getting to the good stuff.
“Summer,” he says, giving me an amused look. I guess he has better standards than I do because he pushes me forward, around the corner of the camper.
They must have heard Justin’s warning. My mother sits under the shady canopy. Completely composed and drinking wine. With Richard.
“Oh, Summer,” she says, when she sees us. There’s an awkward beat. “You met Richard at the party, right?”
“Yes, at the cocktail party.” I turn to him. “Justin and Pete showed me around the marina today. Very impressive.”
“Thank you,” he says. He’s dressed casual again. Shorts and a golf shirt. I’d expect more tension between him and my mother but I’m not catching any.
My mother holds up her glass. “If you got Summer out of bed before dawn to go work, then I’m impressed. Did you have fun?”
I glance at Justin but his eyes are on his uncle, and some communication passes through them that I can’t interpret.
“We did. Boat ride and everything,” I say.
Richard lifts an eyebrow and stands, while taking the last sip of his drink. He places the glass on the small patio table when he’s finished. “Thank you for the drink, Julia.” He turns to his nephew and asks, “Can you give me a lift back?”
“Sure,” Justin says, his eyes flicking in my direction. Guess our date-not date is over.
“Nice to see you again, Justin,” my mother says as the two walk away.
The minute they’re out of sight I turn to face my mother. “What’s going on with that?”
“Just two old friends having a drink, that’s all.” She stands up and collects the empty glasses. “I could ask you the same thing.”
I reach for the camper door knob and twist it open. “I’ll let you know when I figure it out,” I tell her, walking into the cool trailer.
I hear the door open behind me as I start tossing my dirty clothes on the bed. I expect her to say something else smart, but instead she places the glasses in the sink and says, “Same.”