Chapter 6
It had been four days since Willow arrived in Sanibel and there was still no word from Charlie. She had finally given in last night and called him, but it went straight to voicemail. She sent a slightly passive aggressive text to call her when he got home from work but like the past three days, she didn’t get a reply.
“What are your plans for today?” Brandi asked that morning as she made them both breakfast, already dressed up and ready for work.
“I don’t know,” Willow sighed. “I’m wondering if I should go back home and talk to Charlie… he’s not answering my calls, so I feel like he’s really mad.”
“Excuse me?” Brandi scoffed. “You want to drive all the way back to Tallahassee to a man who treats you like garbage, doesn’t allow you to work, and makes you feel like a terrible person for it?”
“Well…”
“Nope. You’ve only been here for like three days. He’s a grown man. If he wants you to come home, he can be a man, and come get you himself.”
“Let me ask you again.” Brandi cleared her throat like they were starting the conversation over. “So, what are your plans for today?”
Willow rolled her eyes and went along with it. She really didn’t want to leave, and Brandi sticking up for her was enough to keep her here a little longer.
“Probably lay out on the beach, read a book, get a tan. Maybe go to the tiki hut for lunch.”
“Much better,” Brandi said satisfied, “But don’t get too wasted today. We’re going to another dinner party tonight when I get home from work.”
“Really?”
Willow was excited to get out again, she enjoyed the last party and was happy to be invited to another.
“Yep. I got us another set of dresses too. No pampering today because there’s just no time. But your hair still looks great, so we’ll be fine.”
“Of course we will.” Willow smiled. “Maybe I”ll run into that District Attorney friend of yours again.”
“Lloyd?” Brandi scoffed. “He is a pain in my you-know-what. He is a great guy though.”
The women gawked over Sean and how good looking he was over breakfast. When it was time for Brandi to leave for work, they embraced each other and squealed about the great time they knew they would have that night.
Once she decided to go to the beach, she got herself dressed in a nice bikini, a large sun hat and sandals, grabbed her beach bag and set off. There were a lot of people on the beach that morning. It was summertime and the kids were still enjoying being out of school.
Seeing them running around and splashing about made her think about her beach days as a schoolgirl. When she caught a glimpse of a group of high school kids, she noticed a kid off to the side. He stood off to the side wearing jeans and converse sneakers, not really beach attire, so it wasn’t hard to tell that he was the outcast. He was a handsome boy, just a bit odd.
Willow found an empty spot on the sand away from all the commotion and laid out her towel. It took her no time to lather herself up with suntan lotion and spread herself out like a slice of bread to get toasted. Once she was comfortable and ready to get baked, she pulled her hat down over her face and laid out to do some thinking.
I vowed to love him all my life, but what do I do now that he doesn”t love me anymore? I’m sure he did at one point. Well, I thought he did. This really isn’t the life that I signed up for. Maybe Brandi was right. She sure seems to think there was something off about him. Maybe I was just too blinded by love to see it.
She thought so long and hard about her marriage with Charlie that it carried her into a deep slumber. She didn’t wake up until she heard the squawking of seagulls and loud laughter close by.
When she removed her hat and sat up to check out her surroundings again, the high school kids had moved closer to her. They were throwing a football back and forth and talking smack about each other.
Still, off to the side, she noticed the outcast. He kept glancing at her and quickly looking away each time they made eye contact. She figured he was a kid with a schoolboy crush, so she covered herself with her beach gown and laid back down in the sand.
Little boys can be such pervs, she chuckled to herself. Then again, I remember having a crush on my music teacher. Mr. Staple. He was so handsome. I seriously thought one day I”d grow up and he and I would get married.
“Hey Richy! Get over here, weirdo.”
One of the other boys shouted over to him. It was clear to Willow he was only taunting the kid and didn’t actually want to play with him, but he went over anyway. He looked like he only wanted to fit in and was willing to be the butt of the joke to do so.
“Catch!”
The kid threw the ball in his direction. Of course, he failed to catch it, but quickly chased it as it bounced over towards Willow. She quickly sat up and grabbed the ball before he was able to.
“Let me.”
She clutched the ball in her hand, the way her father taught her, and threw it as hard and far as she could. It landed in the water behind the kid who initially threw it to be a jerk. He looked shocked to see that she had an arm on her.
“Nice arm,” Richy smiled. “Thanks for that.”
“Yeah,” she smiled as she sat back down. “You shouldn’t let those kids make a fool of you. It’s not cool.”
Richy looked down at his feet and shuffled the sand around for a moment. She felt bad for him.
“What grade are you in?” she asked.
“About to be a Sophomore.” he said.
“Finally in the big leagues.” Willow laughed.
They both laughed. When the others turned their backs again and started to play amongst themselves, Richy gave off a sad look and turned to head back to his post as the outcast. But Willow stopped him.
“Hey, where you going? Why don’t you hang out with me for a bit? I mean, I know I”m an old woman and all, but I”m still a little hip.”
A large smile crossed his face as he quickly removed his shoes and took a seat beside her. Happy to have some company herself, she removed a sandwich and a juice from her beach bag and handed it to him. She also poured out chips and other junk food for them to snack on.
“How long have you known those guys?” she asked, nudging toward the other kids.
“Well, that’s Logan.”
He pointed toward the one who threw the ball.
“I’ve known him since first grade. The other two are Bronx and Axle. I met them in middle school. They basically follow Logan around and do whatever he says.”
“And you’re the lone wolf,” Willow said in a mysterious tone. “That’s not a bad thing, you know? Sometimes, being the outcast is the best role.”
Richy looked at the others for a moment, then lowered his head as if he wasn’t sure whether to believe Willow. She knew all about being the outcast. In high school, she was the same way. It didn’t start for her until she was a junior, but she knew what it felt like to be left out all the time.
“I was the lone wolf in my junior year of high school,” she said. “I grew up with my clique throughout elementary and middle school, but everything changed once we started high school. They started getting boyfriends, sneaking out, and drinking while I was still living the good-girl life.”
“You didn’t have a boyfriend?” Richy asked.
“Nope. I didn”t start dating until I became a senior. And even then, I wasn”t doing half the things my peers were. It wasn’t until college that I started taking dating seriously. Maybe that’s why I”m in the situation I”m in now.”
When she realized she involuntarily started to speak about her marriage, she changed the subject. Richy was maybe 15, if that. She didn’t want to taint his idea of marriage at such a tender age. Nor did she feel talking about hers was appropriate.
“Do you have a girlfriend?” she asked.
“What?” he blushed. “No. Girls don’t like guys like me.”
“Guys like you? What do you mean?”
“They think I”m lame. A nerd. You know?”
Willow knew exactly what he meant. He gave off the nerdy impression before they even spoke, but that was all she agreed with.
“Don’t let those kinds of girls try to change you,” she said. “It’s best to be yourself at all times. The right people will find you and love you for exactly who you are.”
Richy nodded as if he understood. It made Willow feel good to be able to give someone advice on their love life. Even though she knew Richy probably wouldn’t settle down until he was well into his adulthood, she felt great about giving him a few words of wisdom that he would possibly carry with him until he found someone who truly loved him.
“I think I”ve seen you around here before,” he said. “With your husband?”
His comment came out of nowhere but felt completely normal until he mentioned Charlie. Years passed since she and Charlie visited Sanibel together, so she didn”t know how he could remember them.
“Oh yeah?” she asked. “How so?”
“Well, I remember your husband mostly. Greg?”
She felt a sense of relief when he got Charlie’s name wrong.
“Oh, no,” she chuckled. “You must have us mistaken for another couple. My husband’s name is Charlie.”
Richy looked confused. So much so that Willow felt confused herself. She also felt weirded out by how seemingly convinced he was that Charlie”s name was Greg.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “I swear I know that guy. Sorry if this is weird, but I”m a true crime addict and he just reminds me of someone I”ve been reading into.”
“True crime?” Willow laughed nervously. “Well, I know for a fact you have the wrong guy now. Charlie’s no bad ass. An arrogant workaholic at times, yeah, but nothing crazy like that.”
Richy looked away again as if he were deep in thought. It made Willow think long and hard too. She thought about Brandi and her feelings about Charlie, and started to wonder.
Brandi was convinced that there was something up with Charlie too, and she has thought that for years. Am I really that blind by how I feel for him? Is Charlie even his real name? This is ridiculous, he clearly has the wrong person.
“Today was fun,” she said. “But I gotta get going now.”
“Oh yeah,” Richy quickly stood up and dusted the sand off his jeans. “Me too. Maybe I”ll see you around sometime.”
“Maybe.”