Page 6 of Seven Summer Weekends

“You again,” he said with a smile.

Addison blushed and smiled in return.

“What’s good?” she asked, motioning to the vast array of deli meats and cheeses in the case in front of her.

“It’s more likewho’sgood,” he whispered. “Insider tip. Position yourself so that you always order fromthatguy.” He pointed to the tallest of the three behind the counter.

“That seems tricky.”

“It’s not. When any of the other guys ask to help you, say,I’m still thinking, until Little Les over there asks. Watch and learn.”

A skinny guy with huge ear gauges asked, “What can I get you?

“Still thinking, bud, thanks.”

The ear-gauge guy moved on to the next customer before the tallest one approached.

“The usual?” he inquired.

“You like turkey?” her new friend asked Addison.

“I do.”

“Avocado?”

“Yes.”

“Make it two,” he told the chosen one, “one for me and one for my friend, You Again.”

Addison giggled. She wasn’t a giggler. Soon, Little Les handed them each a perfect sandwich wrapped in white paper.

“See you around,” said the tall stranger, who smiled before flashing his sandwich to the cashier without stopping to pay.

“Not if I see you first,” she joked, before berating herself for the cliché response.

She grabbed a few more things and placed them all down at the register. The young girl behind it sized her up. Addison had no idea that the checkout staff here were the greatest purveyors of gossip in town.

“If you will be here for a while, you should set up an account. Will you?”

“Yes, OK,” Addison answered cautiously. She was glad she had the summer lake experience to reference. Everything felt like a setup for one of those new-guy-in-small-town horror flicks.

The girl copied Addison’s name on top of a simple, lined form.

“House number?” she asked.

“Oh, I’m not sure. It’s my aunt’s house, right across from the ball field,” she said, not wanting to share her personal windfall with this rather aloof girl.

“Are you Gicky’s niece?” she asked, with a whole different ’tude.

“Yes,” Addison responded quietly, in great contrast to the girl’s enthusiasm. The girl called out to her friend behind the other register.

“It’s Gicky’s niece!”

Everyone in earshot stopped, stared, and gave her the once-over. This was not an exaggeration. Horror story vibes seeped back into Addison’s head, and she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The silence broke with a flurry of introductions and condolences. She felt strange accepting the latter but did so graciously. She left feeling that her aunt was a local treasure. It was a nice feeling.

After lunch (which was unexpectedly delicious), she took a quick peek at the beach. It was overcast and empty. She returned home and began looking through her aunt’s things. It was a weird experience: part snooping, part treasure hunt. She thumbed through photo albums brimming with pictures of Gicky in far-off places. Hard-to-decipher words were scribbled in cursive throughout the yellowed pages. A terrarium filled with sand from different beaches and another with hundreds of matchboxes—from Caesars Palace, Kusky’s Bowling Alley, the Royal Bombay Yacht Club, the Brown Derby. She could have spent hours just reading the covers. Every artifact left her more curious about her aunt’s life while reminding her how little she herself had lived.

Addison went to bed early that night, cracking the window a bit and listening to the distant sound of the ocean. The day had been endlessly long, and she fell off around nine. She remained asleep until early the next morning, when she woke to the sound of loud barking that seemed to come from inside the house. She peeked out the bedroom door to see a large shaggy black dog on the other side. She closed it just as quickly. To say she wasn’t adog lover was an understatement. She’d had a pretty big fear of dogs since being bitten as a kid. This merited a text to the agent, she thought. She sent one. No response. The dog quieted down, and Addison got down on the floor and peered under the door to see if it was still there. All she saw was a pile of fur. It appeared to be sleeping on the other side.

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