Page 40 of Seven Summer Weekends

The barbecue featured all the usual suspects—hamburgers, hot dogs, corn, watermelon salad, and lots of beer. She knew most of the people from the game and was introduced to a bunch of others she had never met before.

She found herself guessing who was who from Ben’s last book. The handsome guy from the market was working thegrill—well, not working it literally. He was clearly a guest helping out. The ferry captain popped in, grabbing a burger and a beer. Everyone was giving him the third degree about his daughter, who was spending the summer in the Galápagos—apparently for the second year in a row. Even Addison was interested in her whereabouts after putting it together that she and Matty from the ball game were the characters from the big coming-of-age plot in Ben’s book. She was introduced to Matty’s mom, Renee, who seemed to be currently single, but also seemed to light up when the ferry captain plopped himself down next to her.

Addison made a plate and brought it outside.

“Hey, Slugger,” Ben called out to her. She smiled. She liked the nickname better than Addie—though she was warming to that a little too. He tapped the seat next to him on the oversized sectional on Shep’s back deck. It surprised Addison how chic Shep’s house was. Chic and Shep did not go together.

“This house!” she noted upon sitting.

“I know. Shep’s wife Caroline had beautiful taste.”

Shep belched as he walked by.

“In most things,” Ben added dryly. He was funny when he wanted to be.

“Where are your friends?” he added, looking around.

Addie pointed to Kizzy in the corner, having her ear talked off by one of the ballplayers—Eddie.

“It’s just Kizzy. The others made the five o’clock.”

She was finally getting the insider lingo down.

“I think Eddie has a crush,” Ben observed.

“Everyone has a crush on Kizzy. He won’t get very far, I’m afraid. She’s not ready to date. Just last week, she was a happily married woman. Or at least she thought she was.”

“Ugh. I knew there was something up. I could see it in her eyes.”

Addison was surprised that Ben was so perceptive. Also, she wasn’t surprised.

A lull fell on the conversation, and they both took the opportunity to eat their corn on the cob. A few rows later, Ben broke the silence with, “Good corn.”

Addison smiled in agreement, revealing a kernel wedged between her teeth. The two of them did that dance that people do when trying to home in on the location of a wayward morsel till Ben gave up and stuck his finger in her mouth. He held the errant kernel on the tip of his finger.

“You want it?” he asked. She pushed on his shoulder and laughed the way one does when both embarrassed and happy.

Kizzy made her way over and joined them.

“How long are you staying, Kizzy?”

“I’ll probably leave before the weekend. You have a guest coming, right, Addie?”

Addison gave her a look.

“Sorry. I kind of like calling you Addie. It seems to fit suddenly. But don’t worry, I will get Addison—not Addie—a fabulous job in the fall.”

“Kizzy is a headhunter and I am out of work—the Page Six incident,” Addie added sheepishly.

“She was on track to be the first female head of the art department at a top Madison Avenue ad agency,” Kizzy embellished. Her pride was adorable.

“What about you?” Addison asked strictly out of politeness. She had already completed an online course in Ben Morse 101. And Kizzy was close behind her.

“I write forSports Illustrated,” Ben responded.

Kizzy and Addison both shook their heads in acknowledgment, as if they didn’t already know where he worked, where he was born, and whether he wore boxers or briefs. Aside from Addison being present for the Spice Girls interrogation, there were a million interviews on the internet with this guy.

“Actually, your guest next weekend is my next subject. Terrence Williams—the Vagabond Surfer. He’s at the tail end of a year of surfing across the country, and he’s stopping here before heading to a big contest out in Montauk. Claims to be sleeping on people’s couches, but rumor has it he has a girl in every port.”

---