Page 45 of Resting Beach Face
Not even Cash had kept me awake so late with one of his conquests. Although, there was one night?—
No. I squashed the thought. Living through it once was quite enough.
“I’ll pass your thanks on to Cash when I see him,” I said.
Tom and Ellen were checking out later this morning, thankfully, so I could get some rest tonight.
“It’s too bad he’s not here,” Janice mused. “I was going to tell him about thesecocksI saw for sale in town.Cocks!Like roosters. Get it?”
She cackled loudly, continuing to regale the other guests with the wackier things she’d found at the Outdoor Market.
Some were sexual innuendos like the “cocks.” Others were just Ozarks backwoods humor, like the toilet-turned-planter. There was actually an event in this region for racing outhouses, so nothing surprised me anymore. When she got to the needlepoint with naughty sayings like, “Kindly Fuck Off” I decided it was a good time for me to do the same.
“I’ve got to make a call. Enjoy your breakfast, and just leave your plates. I’ll clear them when I’m free.”
“Tell Cash thanks again!” Tom called.
“Will do.”
“You’re the best!”
No, Cash is the best.
The thought didn’t rankle nearly as much as it should. Maybe because I’d be leaving all this behind soon enough. I was done trying to force my bitch-face personality into a smiley-face shape.
The flutters in my gut when I heard Cash’s name had nothing to do with it.
I wasn’t lying about the phone call I had to make. I retreated to my quarters and opened my laptop. On the screen, a Zoom page labeledAmelia’s 8th Birthday!waited for me.
I clicked the button to join the video chat.
Noise immediately assailed me.
A child’s squeal. A jumble of voices. The squeaking over and over of a toy, followed by a bark.
That would be Bowser, wanting in on the action.
I smiled as I watched the chaos play out on screen for a solid two minutes before my family noticed I’d joined.
My younger sister Monroe leaned in, her face filling most of the screen. “There you are, Declan. I’m glad you could make it. Melia’s been so excited.”
Amelia squeezed in next to her mom and held up the SpongeBob Lego set—complete with a pineapple house. “I got your present! It’s so cool because I like to build stuffandI like SpongeBob!”
“Thatiscool,” I said with a chuckle.
Monroe grinned. “Yeah, it’s almost like Uncle Declan planned it or something.”
“I know!” Amelia said, completely missing the sarcasm. Ah, to have the innocence of youth and take everything at face value.
“How’s your birthday going?” I asked.
“Amazing! Except Jasper keeps trying to tell me how to play with my toys.” She huffed. “They’remytoys.”
Monroe tsked. “Brothers are the worst.”
“Hey now, some of us are great,” I protested.
Monroe’s husband ducked down, filling the screen with a bushy beard. My sister went for the bear type, but Will’s heart was big and generous. He’d always treated my sister and his kids like precious gems, which was good enough for me.
