10 Savannah #3
“I like it!” the little girl next to him said with all the enthusiasm. “I like the ones with the plants in them, too.” She
pointed at a similar wall hanging that housed a plant.
Bianca beamed at the little girl. “Me, too.” Then she turned to Cora with a smug look.
“One out of the four people here back you. Odds aren’t really in your favor, babe.” Cora took a self-righteous bite of her
snow cone.
Savannah couldn’t help the hint of a chuckle. Cora had always been impossible to argue with. And since Savannah didn’t have any skin in this fight, she didn’t mind watching.
Bianca, on the other hand, just huffed and glared.
Savannah shifted her attention to their landlord. “It’s nice to see you again, Luke.”
“You, too. The toilet’s working fine, I assume?”
“No issues. Thanks.”
Bianca turned to Luke with rapt attention. “So, I’m dying to know. How did it turn out?”
From the way Bianca was lit up, they weren’t talking about toilet repair. Since the only other thing Savannah knew Luke had
been involved in was trivia night—and they already knew the outcome of that—Savannah had no idea what was going on here.
“She said yes!” The little girl pumped both fists in the air in celebration. If there had been confetti cannons, they would’ve
gone off.
Luke nodded in agreement, looking very proud. “And even better than that, they were both more than impressed with the setup.”
“Really?” Both of Bianca’s hands covered her mouth, and she let out an excited squeal.
What was happening here?
Luke nodded. “He said it was even better than he’d imagined, and she can’t stop sharing the pictures with everyone they know.
Which is all because of you.”
Bianca gave a humble shrug. “It was a team effort.”
“What did you do?” Cora asked.
“Remember yesterday when I said I had to help Luke? We were setting up a proposal for one of his renters.”
“It was the most amazing thing ever. You should’ve seen it,” the little girl said.
Luke nodded. “So amazing, in fact, that I just got two more requests this morning from people who saw it and want a romantic dinner like that for themselves. One is for tonight. An anniversary dinner.” He turned to Bianca.
“Any chance you’re available to help me set it up?
I’ll pay you for your time.” He pulled up something on his phone and spun it around so she could see it.
Bianca studied it for a minute, her expressive face filtering through a wide array of emotions. “Wow... Huh... Okay...
Yeah, I think we can do that.” She glanced at her watch and looked surprised. “Yikes, but we should probably get started.”
“Sylvie and I were about to head that direction. Do you want to ride with us?”
“Sure. I mean, I have my bike here, but I can come back for it later.”
Luke waved the thought away. “No problem. We can throw it in the back of the truck.”
“Yay!” cheered the little girl. “More frozen lattes!”
Bianca swung her gaze over to Savannah. “I guess I’ll see y’all back at the house, then.”
Before Savannah even knew what was happening, the trio swept out of the tent and disappeared into the crowd on the pier.
Savannah stared in their general direction, stunned. “What just happened?”
“I know. She didn’t even stay for a hot dog.” Cora shook her head as if that were the biggest shock of the whole ordeal. She
meandered over to the next booth to check out the jewelry made of local seashells.
Savannah followed, still trying to make sense of Bianca’s absence. “Is she working for Luke?”
Cora shrugged. “That’s what it sounded like.”
“Does that seem weird to you?”
“The girl just quit her job, which was at least her second one this year, because she wants to move across the country and
marry a man she’s never met. A man, I might add, who has a striking resemblance to Captain Underpants if Captain Underpants
grew up and did semi-legal steroids.” She took a bite of her snow cone. “At the moment, most of her decisions seem odd to
me.”
“Fair.”
“So, are we getting hot dogs or what?” Cora asked.
“Please,” Savannah responded.
After weaving through the crowds and finding the original hot dog stand—still called The Original—they put in their order for hot dogs and chips and found a spot at a picnic table under a tent.
“Is it possible to taste memories?” Cora asked after her first bite.
“I was just thinking the very same thing.” To Savannah even the smells were familiar. It all took her back to being a kid.
Back to when things were... less complicated.
“Remember that time we saw the dolphins jumping off the pier?” Cora asked.
“Of course. Before we saw that I had no idea dolphins flipped like that in the wild.”
“Me, either.” A grin tugged at Cora’s lips, and she glanced around looking the most nostalgic Savannah had ever seen her.
“I used to love it here.”
“Me, too.” Savannah closed her eyes and drew in a deep, cleansing breath and savored the moment. This was why they were here,
so that they could remember. And if they could remember, maybe they could find their way back.
“Oh, wow, look at the time. I didn’t realize it was that late.”
Her sister’s hurried tone made Savannah’s eyes pop open. Cora shoved the last bite of hot dog into her mouth, then pushed
what was left of her salt and vinegar kettle chips toward Savannah. “Do you want the rest of these? I have to run.”
“Run?” Savannah glanced around as if she was reorienting after a long nap. Weren’t they in the middle of sharing a moment?
“I thought we were eating hot dogs on the pier.”
“We did.” Cora pointed to her empty basket as proof. “And now I have to go.”
“Where?” They were on vacation, weren’t they? Why was everyone rushing off?
“To stop Bianca from marrying the gym rat.” Without any more of an explanation, she stood and started down the pier toward
the sidewalk.
“Huh,” Savannah said out loud to no one in particular, since she was now sitting at a table by herself.
She munched on chips while she watched vacationers wander from booth to booth with their friends and family.
Once again here she sat, finishing a bucket list item all on her own.
She wasn’t quite sure how this kept happening.
On the bright side, at least she could ride home as slowly as she needed without anyone questioning her about it.
But she would tell them. Of course she would.
As soon as the time felt right.