Page 25 of Just Beachy

My body begins to unclench, and my lips stretch into a smile.

“Where are the kiddos?” I ask after a second long, lovely sip of my drink.

“Troy, Dustin, and Max are with Joe and the girls,” Nikki replies. “It’s Luvvie’s day off.”

Luvvie is Nikki and Joe Giraldi’s Mary Poppins, complete with British accent and an almost magical way with children. “I’m sure pizza will be involved.”

We, on the other hand, have Ted Peters “famous” smoked fish spread, the saltine crackers and hot sauce that go with it, and an extremely large bowl of Cheetos, whichare Avery’s favorite food and have been a part of every sunset I’ve spent with these women.

I sip on my drink and nibble on a saltine slathered with smoked fish spread as the sun inches ever closer to the water.

Avery takes handfuls of Cheetos, washes them down with her margarita, then flashes a cheesy smile. (I mean this literally, not judgmentally.)

The conversation is casual and comfortable, and I’m grateful to be with people who don’t expect me to solve anything more taxing than passing the fish spread or mixing another pitcher of margaritas.

The sun is about ready to do its final nosedive into the Gulf of Mexico when Maddie dings a fork on her margarita glass and looks around the circle. “Okay. Who wants to go first?”

This is our call to share One Good Thing: a daily sunset tradition that Maddie instituted while she, Avery, Nikki, and Kyra were first desperately renovating Bella Flora, which was in abysmal shape, covered in filth, and had birds nesting inside. Back then finding even a kernel of positivity amid their grim, backbreaking reality was a challenge.

Maddie smiles and leans forward in her chair as each person sitting around the table finds a positive nugget to offer up. Nikki has the twins and Joe to be grateful for. She also has Luvvie, whom she once resented, tried to get rid of, and now admits she could not live without.

Maddie says she’s happy to have her family around her, her cottage at the Sunshine down the road, and William Hightower in her life. It’s not every fifty-plus woman who’s engaged to a former bad boy rockstar that worships the ground she walks on, has his own private island, and can’t wait to marry her.

Avery swipes at the cheese on her face and says, “I’m loving creating tiny houses. And thrilled to finally get to do our own version ofDo Over. Even if Chase can be difficult at times.”

Kyra snorts a laugh, which she tries to cover up when Avery shoots her a stink eye. Then she announces that she’s happy that Dustin’s so happy and glad that Troy has turned out not to be the jerk she thought he was back when they were first shootingDo Overand a big part of his job was making them look bad.

Bitsy is excited about the renovation of the Historic YMCA, and can’t wait to plan the grand opening.

I take another long slug of margarita as their gazes turn to me.

“I’m not sure I can come up with anything at the moment,” I say. “I mean, my career is in the toilet; people actually think I’m Cassie Everheart and have just gotten out of rehab. Plus, someone broke into Grand’s studio, and I don’t think she’s being truthful about not knowing why. Oh, and did I mention that I couldn’t even get a part at a local dinner theater or pretending to cook food for Publix?”

Kyra pours me another margarita. Maddie, who claims she’s not the “good enough police,” but totally is, says,“Things do sound tough, Sydney, but there has to be a positive in there somewhere.”

“Okay, how about I’m really happy to be here with you all tonight?”

Nothing.

“The margaritas are delicious? And it’s extremely wonderful that they actually have tequila in them!”

More silence as I reach for the bowl of Cheetos and stuff a huge handful into my mouth—something I could never have done while my face and body were critical to my career. I blink as my OGT becomes obvious. Even though my mouth is still full of Cheetos, I smile and say, “Rihs his uh fuss hime in amos a deked dat I kin heet anying.”

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Kyra grins.

I swallow and lick the cheese residue off my fingers. “My good thing is that this is the first time in almost a decade that I can eat and drink anything I want.” I flash a cheesy grin. “Could someone pour me another margarita? And is there anything here for dessert?”

Thirteen

The new slider gets installedin Grand’s bottom floor bonus room/studio and we spend the morning organizing the space. Grand sets her easel back in its spot and puts her paints and brushes on shelves. When she can’t find her charcoals, I empty the last of the boxes in her studio and double-check the garage shelves. When I run out of obvious places to look, I go down and search her car, finally popping open the trunk.

“Hey, look what I found.” I hold up the box of charcoals along with a number of rolled-up canvases.

“Oh. Great.” She clears her throat, takes the charcoals, and sets them on her worktable. “Where did you find those?”

“In the very back of your trunk.”

Grand nods at the canvases but looks almost reluctant to take them from me.

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