26. James
James
SAM
FOURTEEN MONTHS AGO
I’d been at the ‘resort’ for a month when James showed up.
I’d just finished a full day of surfing, the sun was setting, and Mirabelle was running the generator, playing Bob Seger on the speakers as I strolled into the beachside restaurant.
Bob Seger reminded me of my Dad. He was one of the few things Dad liked besides baseball.
But it also reminded me of Ellie. That song that had been playing when I asked her to take a walk with me.
I hoped she was doing well. I hoped she’d found some incredible man who spoiled the shit out of her.
Actually, no, I didn’t like that thought.
“Hey Mirabelle,” I said, heading up to the counter to grab a menu and shaking the thoughts of a bygone life from my mind.
Mirabelle waved from her hammock, where she was watching something on her phone.
She charged it whenever she went into the crossroads a couple of miles up the road, where there was a single shop selling a few provisions.
It was more of an outpost. When Mirabelle was there she always came back with a few episodes of her favorite show downloaded, too.
It was this K-drama she’d shown me yesterday about a girl with ten cats who falls for a dog breeder.
I’d considered walking up to the village myself to charge my phone and check my email, but I’d gone this long without looking at any of it, and frankly, there was nothing I needed or wanted from the outside world at this moment in time.
“Your bestie’s running late,” Mirabelle said.
I grinned. Ulli and I hung out pretty much every night.
He came here to chat with Mirabelle, but when she was busy, he’d tell me funny stories from his work, or from his home back in Germany.
He’d come here on a working holiday, but loved being in the middle of nowhere so much he’d stayed.
I suspected Mirabelle had the most to do with that.
Ulli also liked telling me about the different flowers he was growing in his garden.
He was the softest dude. He loved flowers and sunsets and he hummed songs.
He spent every moment not sleeping or working here, with the woman he was madly in love with.
And he never did anything about it. By now, I was pretty sure Mirabelle knew it, and it was this game they were playing.
Which both of them loved. Sometimes she came and sat with us, joined in our game of cards.
When she had to do something again, he’d grill me for intel.
Did I see the way she smiled at him? Did she think his jokes were funny or was she just being nice?
Did she seem happy today? Ulli had quickly become one of my favorite people in the world.
And I’d met a ton of people in my travels around the globe.
It was clear something had happened to Mirabelle, though. Sometimes I saw her running her finger over that scar on her face. And she startled at loud noises. “She’s been through a lot,” Ulli said. “It’s why she’s here.”
He didn’t say anything else, and it wasn’t my place to ask. But I got the distinct feeling she was hiding from something or someone. And Ulli had made it his mission to help keep her hidden.
“I can’t believe he’s late,” I said to Mirabelle now. “We had big plans to make friendship bracelets.”
Mirabelle laughed, and lit up when the sound of an engine came from the road. She brushed her hair from her face and rolled her lips together.
“Right on schedule,” I said.
Mirabelle blushed.
Right after I’d put in my order, footsteps sounded on the pathway behind me.
But instead of smiling, Mirabelle went stiff.
I looked over my shoulder. The man who’d arrived wasn’t my happy-go-lucky friend.
This was a short, skinny guy in his twenties, with bleached-yellow hair and a massive tattoo of the Virgin Mary on his chest. It was only partially visible through his open shirt, but I could see her eyes were dripping blood.
Something cold ran over me.
“You got a room?” the guy asked. His bloodshot eyes bounced from me to Mirabelle to the rest of the open-air restaurant, which was empty except for a couple who’d arrived last night on ATVs. They were on the far end of the deck, facing away from us.
Mirabelle swallowed. “Tents,” she said quietly.
The man sucked his teeth like this was going to be a problem.
“There’s a proper resort up the road,” I said. “Twenty miles.”
The man looked over at me, and the feeling I’d hoped was unfair of me locked in. This guy was bad fucking news. And I didn’t think he was here for a vacation.
“How much?” he asked Mirabelle.
She gave him the price.
He slapped some bills on the counter.
My neck prickled. “What brings you out here?” I asked, casually resting my elbow on the end of the counter like I was just shooting the shit.
The man ignored me, tossing the pen back down on the counter after scribbling his info in the logbook.
He picked up the duffel he’d tossed on the ground and walked right over to me. My pulse skipped. But I didn’t move. I didn’t acknowledge that he was standing too close.
He smelled like cigarettes and booze. “You work here?”
“No, but these are my friends.”
He snorted. “Sure.”
My blood felt chilled. Still, I smiled, holding out my hand in the short space between us. “Sam.”
The man stared at my hand for a moment. Then he took it. His handshake was limp.
Behind him, Mirabelle’s eyes were wide. She shook her head at me, almost imperceptibly.
“James.” The guy said. Then he spat off the concrete floor into the sand and sauntered off toward his tent.
“You okay?” I asked when he’d gone.
“Yes,” Mirabelle said in that soft voice. She didn’t look okay. Her hands were shaking as she closed the registration book.
Another engine sounded then, and a moment later, Ulli came striding in.
“Hey!” he called. But the big wide grin he wore dropped as he looked at both of us.
He went immediately to Mirabelle, taking her off to the side. He held her by the shoulders and spoke quietly, too low for me to hear. She spoke back, her eyes welling. Ulli stiffened, looking in the direction of where the man had gone, then at me.
He said something else, then Mirabelle nodded, slipping into the kitchen.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Do you know that guy?”
“Yeah,” Ulli said.
“Who is he?”
Ulli looked me in the eye and said, “You don’t want to know.”