Page 9 of The Hampton Beach Café 3
"I'm fine, are you?"
She took a moment to try and figure that out.
"I...think so?"
"Very convincing," Alex said. "Shall we try again in a few hours?"
She nodded and headed out to the café to help set up and start planning for this party.
FIVE
This was getting old, Frances thought as they entered the fifth party supply store. Sure, they'd waited until almost the exact last minute before the Fourth of July to start getting ready for a party, but it wasn't even like they were going for something huge! Just some sparklers and red, white, and blue sprinkles...along with the rest of the country.
"You look like you're flagging," Alex said, bumping her shoulder gently with a pinata shaped like Uncle Sam's top hat.
"I...don't want one of those," she said, batting the novelty thing away. "I just feel like we're getting ahead of ourselves––it doesn’t need to be a massive deal, just enough to participate and have fun...right?"
Alex smiled knowingly. "Stop panicking."
"I'm not! Just maybe I jumped into saying yes a bit...hastily."
"Or…just hear me out…you made a solid choice with very little risk, a large payoff, and an excuse to set some things on fire..."
She glanced over at him and saw his mischievous smirk, which made her laugh in itself.
"Well...that's one way of looking at it."
Frances hmphed as she sat on the overstuffed purple velvet couch in, apparently, the last party store on the coast to still have anything Fourth-themed.
Alex joined her. The impact of him sitting down heavily caused a small disturbance in the balance of the stuffing and Frances felt herself lift slightly as he landed.
"Frances…" he said seriously, "…all we need are three or four things that look good enough to go on some social posts, a good playlist, and Vincent serving up the biggest and most unnaturally colored milkshakes this side of a dentist’s office––and people will love it. There is absolutely nothing to be worried about."
She winced. "I don't really think we should be spending money on something like this..."
"What if I can get it all for under fifty bucks?"
"No way," she said.
"Yes way," Alex retorted. "Fifty bucks to decorate and absolutely no way you'll regret this party. Deal?"
She looked at him skeptically. Fifty bucks wouldn't get the piñata he was holding on to, hopefully.
He grinned. "I'll take that as a yes."
He bounced up off the couch and made his way towards the counter, where a surly-looking older man stood glaring at them as they chatted.
Shaking her head, Frances stood and wandered back towards the front of the shop.
PING!
Her phone chimed, making her wince––for a party supply shop, it was deathly quiet in here.
From Hayley: Hey! I'm in LA for a job, but then I'm heading to Boston! I was thinking I might swing by Hampton Beach. It's been wild reconnecting with you, but like, no pressure to say yes.
She bit her lip. Did she really want to see Hayley? It would be kind of weird, wouldn't it? After all, the major thing they had spoken about was the very recent divorce...and considering they hadn't spoken at all in the last twenty years, it felt like a huge deal to be talking about Hayley coming down to visit.
Turning a corner, she came face to face with a life-sized Elvis statue that made her yelp. The waxy staring eyes would have been intensely creepy even if the paint hadn't been cracking and peeling.
