Hurricane Season Page 12

  “All right, then. Well, I think I’ll turn in right after a nice warm shower and a couple of chapters of reading. Time to hibernate for the evening. Sure you don’t mind?”

  “Hell no.” AJ stood up and stretched. “I’ve got at least all next week to spend with you, so one evening isn’t a big deal. Besides, if I’d driven all day, all I’d want to do is what you do: crash. If you want anything, you know where the kitchen is. Help yourself. I think I’ll go hibernate as well. It’s been a busy week. Oh, by the way, there’s some rocky road ice cream in the freezer. I just thought you might need it.”

  “You remembered. Another reason I like you. Thanks.” Shawn stood up and put her arm around her friend’s shoulders. “I love you, you know.” Then they finished in unison, “But not like that!” They both laughed and said goodnight as Shawn headed down the hall to her bedroom.

  As Shawn pulled the door shut, and began unpacking her overnight stuff, she wondered what Carrie was doing. Before she knew it, she was punching in Carrie’s number.

  “Hi, there. Did you get there in one piece?” Carrie asked.

  “I’m fine. I was just thinking about you, that’s all. I thought I’d call and see how the rest of the chocolate pie is doing,” Shawn said.

  “It’s almost gone, as a matter of fact. I took some in to work…Shawn I’m so glad you called. I miss you already. It feels funny for you not to be here. I hope you have a great time up there with your friend, though. You probably need a vacation after finishing your book.”

  “I do. I miss you, too. Do you think maybe there could be another chocolate pie when I get back?”

  “You got it. Just let me know when you’re on your way, and it’ll be here for you.”

  Was that a hint of excitement in Carrie’s voice? “I’ll be looking forward to it. But right now I’m really tired, so I think I’ll say goodnight. It’s not that late, but all that driving…”

  “I get that. I’ve done that drive and it’s a long day. Well, take care of yourself. And I hope you have a great time and the weather holds up for you there.”

  “Thanks. I’ll see you when I get back,” Shawn said. “Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight. Sleep well.”

  Shawn hung up, almost unwilling to give up the sound of Carrie’s voice. She tossed the phone on the nightstand and finished unpacking what she needed. She headed for the shower and turned it on to warm up. As she stripped off her clothes, she realized she did miss Carrie already. She had said it, she thought, just to be nice. But it was true she actually did miss her.

  This time last night she had been sitting in Carrie’s kitchen eating pie, and then making out on Carrie’s sofa like a couple of teenagers. It was more than that, though. She wanted to touch Carrie’s skin. She wanted to feel her body and smell her fragrance, like something very clean. She wanted to kiss her. She wanted to make love to her in the worst way. No, scratch that. She wanted to make love to her in the best way. She wanted to make slow, sweet love to her. She was really going to need a shower now, for sure. Oh no, I’m falling in love with her! But it’s too soon. Is a year long enough to grieve over a bad relationship? Is a few months long enough to know whether you’re really in love with someone?

  Shawn stepped into the shower and leaned against the shower wall, letting the warm water pelt her skin. She was tired enough to doze off standing there and almost did, it felt so good. But her brain was on overload again, streaking in so many directions that she could feel it ache.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  THE NEXT DAY CARRIE was waiting at the Smokin’ Pit’s pickup area for her order, when she heard someone call her name. She realized right away who it was, and decided to pretend she didn’t hear. But when Tracy called her name again, she turned around and waved halfheartedly at her. Tracy and Kelly were seated a few booths away by the front window, eating lunch. They waved her over.

  “Come, sit with us,” Tracy said.

  “Oh, no thanks. I’m just here for takeout. It’ll be ready in just a minute. I can’t stay...” Carrie began.

  “You can wait here as well as over there. You can hear them call you from over here.” Tracy slid over and patted the bench next to her.

  Kelly chimed in, “Come on, sit down for a minute. What’ve you been up to?”

  “Nothing much, just working, as usual,” Carrie answered as she slid in next to Tracy. But not too close.

  “You and Shawn doing anything this weekend?” Kelly asked.

  “No. Didn’t she tell you? She’s out of town. Went to Atlanta to see her friend AJ. She said something about being gone for a little while.”

  “Well, honey, we’ll have to all do something together then. Right, Kelly?” Tracy said, her voice all maple syrup sugary.

  For some reason, Carrie already wanted to throttle her. What did Kelly see in her? Seriously, is that for real? She wanted to gag. “I, uh…don’t know. Maybe. I don’t want to be the third wheel.” Carrie looked around toward the takeout desk. “I think I heard them call my name. I’d better go.”

  “Carrie, you’d never be a third wheel. I’d love to have you come along with whatever we’re doing. Tracy and I, well, we’re not doing anything much. If you’ll give me your number, I’ll call you tomorrow. We’re thinking about a cookout at my house.”

  “That sounds like fun,” Carrie said as Kelly handed her phone over. Carrie punched in her number, then handed it back. “Oh, by the way, Shawn called last night. She got to Atlanta in one piece. I guess she just needs a vacation.”

  “Thanks. I know I’d need one if I’d just finished writing a book. A little R and R is just the thing, I’m sure.”

  Carrie slid out of the booth and stood up. “I’m sure it is. I’d better go. Talk to you tomorrow.”

  As Carrie walked back to the pickup area, she overheard Kelly telling Tracy, “See, I told you there was something going on between them.” What Tracy said in reply, she couldn’t hear, but she hoped that was enough for Tracy to lay off any plans she had for Shawn. At least Shawn is out of town and well out of Tracy’s clutches.

  Carrie picked up her carryout pork ribs and hushpuppies, and headed for her car. Kelly is such a nice person, how could she stand being around Tracy as a friend, let alone a lover? Oh, no, where did that come from? Tracy has done nothing to me, except to ask politely if Shawn and I were a couple before she said she wanted to ask Shawn out. At least she asked. Maybe I’m being too harsh with Tracy. Just because I find her personally annoying doesn’t mean she’s not a nice person. Kelly likes her, so she can’t be all that bad.

  Okay, maybe I’ll try harder to be friends with Tracy. After all, I really like Kelly and Kelly is one of Shawn’s best friends, and Kelly likes Tracy. So there we go. When Kelly calls tomorrow, I’ll be sure to be friendlier than I was today. I’ll try harder to be nice to Tracy, too. Tomorrow.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  CARRIE WAS WORKING AWAY at her desk when Kelly called her cell the next morning.

  “Hey Carrie. Hope I’m not interrupting your work, but I wanted to make sure you understood my invitation is for tonight. I’m doing the grilling, but if you want to bring some dessert, that’d be great. Tell me you’ll come.”

  “Of course. I’m looking forward to it. And I’m happy to bring dessert. How about if I bring the makings for sundaes. Does that work?”

  “That works very well and sounds like fun. How about six thirty? Do you remember how to get here? If not, I can text you the address and you can map it. Or you can call me if you get lost,” Kelly said.

  “Go ahead and text me the address just in case, but I’m pretty sure I can find it again. See you at six thirty then.”

  “Great! I’m looking forward to a sundae for dessert. See ya.”

  Carrie smiled. She didn’t know where she came up with the idea for sundaes but now it sounded quite yummy to her as well. All she needed to do after work then was to run by Publix to pick up the ice cream and toppings. She found herself looking forward to see
ing Kelly again. And Tracy. She reminded herself she was going to be nice to Tracy.

  ***

  Carrie had no trouble finding Kelly’s house again. Once she got into the general vicinity, she remembered where she was going from the last time she was there, with Shawn. She smiled and felt a little glow inside, remembering her conversation with Shawn the other night. It felt nice that Shawn cared enough to call her. In fact, it felt very nice.

  As she pulled in, she noticed three vehicles in the driveway. Maybe someone else was coming as well. She thought for a second and determined she brought plenty of ice cream. There would be more than enough for even five or six people.

  By the time she reached the door, Kelly was already there, grinning, holding the door open for her. She reached for the cooler bag Carrie brought with her holding the ice cream and the rest of the sundae fixings, and then gave Carrie a quick hug.

  “Thanks for coming,” Kelly said as they walked toward the kitchen. “Everyone is out back. By the way, Tracy invited a friend to come along, so there are four of us. Don’t worry, she’s not supposed to be your date. She’s actually Tracy’s date.”

  Carrie raised her eyebrows as she looked at Kelly. “I thought you and Tracy…”

  “Off and on. Mostly off. We‘re pretty much just friends. I don’t have any problem with her bringing a date. Hey, you can sort of be my date tonight. How’s that?”

  “Well, since this appears to be a foursome now, I’m good with that. As long as I don’t have to adopt you permanently or anything.” Carrie laughed. “I don’t think I could afford to feed you.”

  “Oh, now, that’s unfair. I don’t eat that much!” Kelly said, grinning widely. “Let’s get this stuff into the freezer and head out back. I’ll introduce you to Tracy’s friend.”

  A few minutes later Carrie stepped outside onto Kelly’s patio to see Tracy and a woman who could’ve been the negative of a picture of Shawn. She was tall and dark, with a nice athletic-looking body that wore clothes well. She and Tracy were locked into a very passionate looking kiss. Kelly stepped out behind Carrie and she cleared her throat dramatically.

  “Hey, you two. Enough of that for a while,” Kelly said. “Carrie, the person who was just lip-locked with Tracy is Chris.”

  Chris reached out to shake hands. As Carrie shook her hand, she noticed Chris had some interesting callouses. “So what do you do, Chris?”

  “She’s a sculptor,” Tracy broke in. “She’s going to do me.” Chris actually blushed. “I mean, she’s going to do a figure of me. Geez, you guys.”

  “Well, you walked right into that one,” Kelly said, chuckling. “You’re good at that.”

  “Very funny.”

  Chris pulled a chair out for Tracy to sit. “Actually I saw her out on Fort Myers Beach. I just walked up and asked her if I could sculpt her. She thought I was just feeding her a line and I had to prove to her that I really am an artist. Over lunch, I showed her pictures of some of the things I’ve done, and eventually got her to come to my studio. The rest is history. We just clicked.”

  “How romantic.” Carrie wanted to gag. “So when will we all get to see this piece?”

  “Oh, it’s not started yet,” Tracy said. “She’ll start work on it right after she gets finished with her current project. Meantime, we’re enjoying each other’s company, aren’t we sweetie?”

  “Oh, yeah.” Chris patted Tracy on her bare thigh.

  Carrie looked at Kelly, who didn’t seem to mind what was going on between Chris and Tracy. This seemed quite odd to Carrie, since she had just been on a double date with them—Kelly and Tracy, that is—a short time ago, and they had been holding hands and acting like they were a couple.

  Kelly got up to check on the grilled steaks. Tracy brought some potato salad, and Kelly had also made some grilled vegetables. It was a pleasant dinner, and they all chatted away as they sun began to go down. They brought out the ice cream and toppings and had a great time deciding which toppings to put on which ice cream, along with sprinkles, cherries, nuts, and whipped cream.

  “I haven’t had anything like this in ages,” Kelly said. “Carrie, the sundaes were a great idea. Thanks for thinking of it.” She waved her hand across the table, just barely tapping the uncapped chocolate sauce. It fell straight into Carrie’s lap. Before she could grab it, a fair amount of sauce was already dripping out onto Carrie's shorts and her leg.

  Kelly grabbed the jar and began apologizing as Carrie began dabbing at the chocolate sauce with a napkin. Tracy jumped up. “Come on Carrie – let’s find something to get that out before it stains.” Carrie stood up and Tracy grabbed her by the arm and led her into the house.

  As they looked in the laundry room for some spray stuff to get the chocolate sauce out, Carrie decided it was time to try to make nice with Tracy. “So did you really meet Chris like that on the beach?”

  “Pretty much. I was very flattered, of course. But I kind of figured she was coming up with a big line. I mean, really, doesn’t it sound like, ‘hey baby, let me put you in the movies’ or something equally dumb? But she really is a sculptor.”

  They found the spray stain remover and a cloth and Carrie began working on getting the chocolate out of her shorts.

  “So, Carrie, you said yesterday Shawn took off up north for a while?”

  “Yes, she left a couple of days ago. Off to see her publisher, she said.” Carrie continued to spray and dab.

  “I wonder if they’re going to talk about my book,” Tracy said, leaning her back against the counter.

  “Not to sound weird, but why would they be talking about your book?” Carrie looked up at Tracy.

  “Well, she came to my place one night and we did discuss working together on my photography book,” she paused, then did one of those long slow smiles that everyone knows means something else is coming. “Among other things.”

  Carrie continued to dab, barely looking up. “Oh, really. She didn’t mention it when I saw her the night before she left. But that’s business. Maybe she does need to discuss it with her publisher.” She finally got most of the chocolate sauce out of her shorts and now she was looking at a huge wet spot. She thought absently that it was a good thing those were not her good white shorts.

  “Could be. But we didn’t end up talking about the book much when she was over, if you know what I mean,” she said, winking at Carrie. “I figured we’d talk some more about it later, but I haven’t heard from her since then. When did she leave?”

  “Two days ago. Why?”

  “Just wondering. She was at my place three nights ago. Oh well, maybe she wasn’t that interested in working with me after all. I might not be ready to do it any time soon, anyway. I might be kind of busy for a while. Collaborating with my sculptor friend, if you get what I mean.” She laughed.

  “Yes, I do. So were you and Shawn collaborating the other night, too?” Carrie held her fingers in the air like quotation marks around collaborating.

  “Well, yeah. You said you weren’t a couple, so I figured you didn’t mind. It was just one night. She got pretty wasted, but it was fun until she passed out.”

  Carrie felt her stomach grab. She wanted to run. She wanted to pretend she hadn’t heard what she just heard. But it was too late. She tried to tell herself that it didn’t matter. But it did. Shawn had just told her the night before she left that she couldn’t sleep with her yet, that she wasn’t ready. Yet, she didn’t think twice about jumping into bed with Tracy. She blurted out, “Hey, I’ve got to go.”

  “I’m sorry, did I say something?”

  “No, Tracy, you didn’t.” Carrie gave her a little smile. She didn’t want to give Tracy the satisfaction of seeing her acting upset. “I’m good. I just can’t get all of this chocolate out of my shorts and I need to get them into the wash before they’re totally trashed. I’d better go say goodbye to Kelly and Chris.”

  Carrie found Kelly had finished mopping up the spilled sauce and was sitting at the table once more. She got up whe
n she saw Carrie with that large wet spot on her shorts leg. She pulled out Carrie’s chair.

  “Oh my God, I’m so sorry, Carrie. You probably think I’m such a klutz. I’m not, normally. Come sit down, and I’ll get you some more tea.”

  “I really can’t. I need to get going. My shorts are going to have a permanent chocolate mark on them otherwise.” Carrie tugged at the wet leg of her shorts.

  Kelly looked at Tracy, who just rolled her eyes and shrugged. Tracy sat back down next to Chris. Kelly followed Carrie back into the house as Carrie picked up her bag.

  “Let me get the rest of the ice cream and—” Kelly headed for the kitchen.

  “Oh, no. You keep it. I’m sure you can find a use for it.” Carrie tried to find a small smile. It wasn’t Kelly’s fault that she felt like crawling under a bush.

  “Well, thanks. I’m sure it’ll get eaten. Let me walk you out to your car.”

  Carrie was silent as they walked out the front door. She beeped her car unlocked and reached for the door handle. Kelly’s hand was on hers before she could pull it open.

  “What happened in the house, Carrie? You were fine, but when you came back outside you looked like you had been kicked in the stomach.”

  Carrie turned around slowly and leaned her back against her car. “Are you sure you want to hear this?”

  “I’m very sure. I want to know about anything that’s bothering you,” Kelly said. “I like you a lot and I don’t like seeing you hurt. Did Tracy say or do something?”

  Carrie wrapped her arms around herself and examined her sandals for a minute. She looked back up at Kelly. “Shawn slept with Tracy,” she said softly. Carrie’s throat constricted and her stomach felt like a pretzel. She was trying very hard to not sound like some stupid little girl who found out her sweetheart had kissed her best friend.

  “Oh,” Kelly muttered. She looked away then back at Carrie. “Are you sure? I mean, Tracy can stretch things to suit herself. Maybe they didn’t really, and she wanted to brag a little to you anyway.”