Page 26 of Ten Beach Road

Avery laughed. Madeline just patted the empty seat. “Come on. I’m pretty sure that just sitting inside a minivan won’t turn you into a suburban housewife.”

Avery laughed again. “Relax, Nicole. If you want, I’m sure Madeline will leave you off a couple of blocks away so no one will know how you got there.”

Madeline speared Nicole with a look. “We’ve got bigger fish to fry than our personal images,” she said. “And we’re running out of time.” She patted the seat once again. “Your secret’s safe with me.” Turning to the backseat, she asked, “What about you, Avery? Will you feel the need to let people know thattheNicole Grant rode in a minivan and value shopped in a membership club?”

Avery pretended to think. “I don’t know. It’s pretty explosive information, but I think I can keep it to myself.”

“Very funny.” Nicole climbed into the passenger seat and pulled the door closed, pointedly ignoring Avery’s laughter and Madeline’s triumphant smile as she backed the beige behemoth down the driveway. “But I have a bad feeling this is just the first in a long line of new experiences that I could have gone the rest of my lifetime without.”

Like the rest of the day, the hour and a half they spent in Sam’s Club turned out to be better and worse than Nicole had feared. On the plus side, no one recognized her or even noticed her for that matter. Largely, she suspected, because most of them seemed to be even older than the Realtor, John Franklin, and seemed focused on navigating their unwieldy flatbeds through the aisles or speed pushing their walkers from sample table to sample table. When she finally accepted the fact that there was not a potential client in sight and absolutely no chance of running into a former one, she began to relax and even kept her complaints to a minimum as Madeline masterminded their acquisition of every cleaning product and tool known to man.

“Load the brooms and mops in Nicole’s cart,” she said when the flatbed Avery was pushing was piled high with industrial-sized drums of Pine-Sol and Clorox as well as anything else that could be sprayed or wiped. “And let’s get another box of large trash bags and one of the outdoor kind. And a couple of those Rubbermaid garbage cans. Even if we have a Dumpster, we’re still going to have to get things to it. Oh, and what about those folding beach chairs?” Madeline asked as they wheeled by a display of cheap aluminum chairs with multicolored mesh straps. “We can use them out back and take them down to the beach if we want.”

Nicole kept her groan to herself as the chairs were balanced on top of the flatbed. Madeline then focused on filling up her own basket with more food and drink than Nicole would normally consume in a month. “I’m used to shopping for four, including a teenage boy,” Madeline said when Avery questioned the huge quantities of everything she chose. “We definitely need at least a case of Diet Coke to start and one of bottled water.” She eyed the mixed case of cheap wines she’d chosen. “Maybe we should get a bottle or two of the better wines for celebratory situations.”

As if.“You mean something intended for more than its numbing qualities?” Nicole asked.

“Yes, exactly.” Madeline smiled, ignoring or simply not noticing Nicole’s sarcasm. “Will you choose a couple?” And then to Avery, “Can you squeeze a few of those rotisserie chickens in the basket? We’re going to want to eat in as much as possible to try to keep expenses down.”

Now there was a real day brightener, Nicole thought as they pushed their bounty toward the front of the store. A summer full of cheap food, folding chairs, and home-cooked meals. Those good times were so going to roll.

As they neared the checkout lanes, Madeline waved them to a stop in the ladies’ clothing aisle—strategically located just past the automotive section—where Avery and Madeline selected some of the ugliest shorts and T-shirts Nicole had ever seen.

“Do you have anything you can work in?” Avery asked with a glance at Nicole’s cream-colored capris and body-sculpted T. “Cleaning is a pretty dirty business.” Her look said she doubted Nicole had any experience with this. “And the grunt work is bound to be even filthier.”

“I have running clothes with me,” Nicole replied. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

Avery shrugged, but Madeline held up a pair of plaid seersucker shorts and a poorly cut sleeveless T-shirt with a striped umbrella on it. Nikki shuddered.

“Are you sure?” Avery asked with a smirk. “I think that would really round out your wardrobe.”

“It’s unlikely anything nice is going to survive the summer,” Madeline pointed out. “You really should have some things that don’t matter.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Nicole said, suppressing another shudder. She’d spent a lifetime making sure she’d never have to wear cheap ill-fitting clothing again. She was not about to start now.

Assorted paper goods were added to the tower of stuff. By the time they’d made it through the checkout line and anted up their thirds, Nicole was far too numb to object to the foot long hot dog and giant fountain drink that Madeline proposed for lunch. They ate them in a few hungry bites then carried their drinks with them to the van, which they loaded under Madeline’s expert supervision; it seemed efficient cargo area filling was yet another suburban skill at which Madeline Singer excelled.

In the parking lot, where cars seemed to move and zip around far faster and with even more deadly intent than they did on the street, Nicole contemplated her partners and reflected on just how far out of her comfort zone their little shopping venture had yanked her. Still, she joined in on the three-way high five at all they’d managed to purchase for just a hundred dollars apiece. When it was time to climb back into the minivan for the trip back to the beach, she only flinched slightly.

An eternity later, they hobbled out to the backyard just as the sky was beginning to pinken. Bedraggled, they dropped into the beach chairs with a scrape of aluminum against concrete.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this dirty in my entire life.” Madeline plopped a family-sized container of hummus and triangles of pita bread on the upside down packing box that their Sam’s purchases had been carried in.

“Me, neither.” Avery dropped a bag of Cheez Doodles beside it and swiped the back of her forearm across her forehead, managing to add another streak of dirt to her face.

Nicole set an opened bottle of Chardonnay on the pool deck next to her bare feet and handed a plastic cup to each of them. “If there was an inch of water in this pool, I’d be in it.” Nicole slumped in her chair. “I think we should make it a top priority.”

“We barely have a working bathroom,” Avery pointed out. “It took me forever to clean the shower and the tub up in the hall. There’s pretty much no water pressure. I’d rather have a shower than a swim in a pool.”

“I want both,” Nicole said, lifting the cup to her lips. “It’s not an either/or sort of thing.”

“Well, it is here.” Avery took a long sip of her wine as the sun slipped farther toward the Gulf. “Everything’s not going to get done at once, but I will talk to Chase about the schedule and how things should be prioritized.”

Madeline looked ruefully down at herself. Together they could have posed for the illustration of “something the cat dragged in”—even Nicole in her high-end running clothes and her hair pulled back in a glittery clasp. This was only day one; she could hardly imagine what they’d look like after the long, hot summer that lay ahead.

Her arms were so tired that it took real effort to lift even the small plastic cup, but she nonetheless touched it to the others. “Cheers!” she said, and they nodded and repeated the toast. “Will you be able to run your business from here?” she asked Nicole as they contemplated the sinking sun.

Nicole’s cup stopped midway to her lips. In the pass, a boat planed off and gathered speed as it entered the Gulf. “Sure,” she finally said. “Have laptop and cell phone, will matchmake.” She turned her gaze from the boat that was now disappearing from view to focus on Madeline. “How about you?” Nicole asked. “Can you really leave home for the whole summer?”

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