Cherry Grove Susan X. Meagher

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Lacey didn t seem to have the same urge, or if she did, she concealed it
well. She was polite and friendly, but she didn t seem very interested in
me. She didn t, in any way, seem rude. She just gave me the usual quick
hello that you give to people you meet at a party. If Lacey was jealous, you
sure couldn t have proved that by me. Actually, her demeanor reassured
me because she not only seemed uninterested in me, she didn t seem
overly interested in Gina, either.
It s been a long time, hasn t it?
Gina nodded. Yeah, it has. You d think we d run into each other more
often.
We would if you worked normal hours. Are you still working
fourteen-hour days?
No, Gina smiled while shaking her head. I m down to 10 hour days
now. You remember my cousin Case? Lacy nodded briefly. He got his
pilot s license this year, and he s working the late shift.
Shit. He was just a kid last time I saw him.
He still is. He s only been out of high school for a year, but I trust
him. Gina laughed again, her eyes crinkling up from the effort. I trust
him more than my lunkhead nephews.
Lacey s eyes grew wide. Don t tell me those idiots have their pilots
licenses, too!
No, they both want to get their licenses, but I m not sure either of
them can pass the test. They re both working for me this summer,
though. Chris s girlfriend is working for me, too. Nice girl, but s-l-o-w.
My grandma says she looks like a hookah, Gina said, imitating her
grandmother perfectly.
Lacey s head rolled back, and she laughed heartily. Hard to believe,
but she was even prettier when she laughed. If there was a just God,
Lacey had a hairy back or uncontrollable flatulence or body odor to rival a
frightened skunk.
Your grandma must be feeling good to be up to her old tricks. I don t
think I ever heard her say a nice word about anyone.
Smiling, Gina said, Give her time. She s only eighty.
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Susan X Meagher
It seemed like an unconscious action, but Lacey reached out and
grasped a few stray strands of Gina s hair, tugging on them gently. Your
hair looks great. I guess I was wrong when I told you not to cut it.
I can do more things with it at this length. When it was longer, I had
to either pull it back or do something fairly dressy with it. Now I can wear
it up and not look like I m going to the prom.
Well, it looks great. I m really glad you guys could come, she said,
looking at both of us.
I m glad we came, too, Gina said. It s been too long.
Yeah, it has. Someone must ve caught Lacey s eye because she gave
us a quick wave and walked away.
That wasn t too bad, was it?
No, she seems nice.
Oh, yeah, Lacey s a really great woman. I don t go out with women
who aren t nice.
She doesn t have a hairy ass or six toes does she?
Gina laughed, but it was clear she was bemused. That s the strangest
question you ve ever asked me. Where did that even come from?
Women that pretty should have something seriously wrong with them.
It s just not fair if they don t. So, I was imagining she had a butt so furry
that the dogs laughed at her.
Putting her arm around me, Gina gave me a hearty squeeze. You re
something else, Hayden Chandler. I m not sure what you are, but
whatever it is, I like it a lot.
)
For the next couple of hours, I kept my eye on Lacey& surreptitiously,
of course. I didn t want Gina to know that I was mesmerized by her ex-
girlfriend. Gina had told me Lacey had a new partner, but if she had one,
she wasn t in attendance today. No, to me, Lacey looked entirely single.
Gina didn t want to go swimming, but it was such a hot day that I went
in several times. Just before dusk, I took another swim with a few of
Gina s friends. We played around in the water for quite a while. At
hearing a shrill whistle, I looked up to see Gina pointing in the direction
of one of the paths to town. I took that to mean she had to go the
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bathroom. Gina was not the kind of girl who would squat in the bushes.
She was very earthy in many ways, but I couldn t imagine her risking
wrinkling, much less staining, her shorts.
We stayed in the water for a while, emerging when it was getting too
dark to see anything that might be in the water. Gina s friends had rented
a motel room for the weekend, and they invited me to go with them to
shower. I didn t want to be gone that long, so I refused. The evening
wind was picking up a little bit, and even though it was still warm, I was a
little cool. So, I stretched my towel out next to a short wall built of cases of
beer. The little wall stopped the wind from hitting me, and I lay in the
dying sun luxuriating in the feel of its warmth.
I m not sure if I fell asleep, but voices relatively near me caught my
attention. I couldn t see who was speaking because they were sitting on
the other side of my little wall, near the bonfire that someone had built.
But they must have been close because I could hear them very well. They
both had strong Long Island accents, but one woman sounded
particularly nasal. Hers was the first voice.
She didn t tell me to ask, but I m gonna tell Lacey that Gina has to be
single.
Yeah, she has to be. Maybe that girl s her cousin or something.
There s no way Gina s dating her.
No way ever! Gina could get anybody on the island. There s no way
she d choose that girl. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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