Page 30 of Gulfside Girls
“You said that before. Is there a band or entertainment?”
“Every evening, the greatest show on Earth. It’s winter so tonight it was 6:00 pm. Tomorrow a little later.”
He put his arm out to the horizon. She looked out to the ocean. A couple people were strolling, and a few kids were still running on the beach, but mostly, it was quiet.
“The ocean is your floorshow?”
“Actually, the sunset. You came just a touch too late for it today. But you can catch it tomorrow, our Grand Finale.”
“Ah, well, that’s a lot more family-friendly than I usually associate with floorshow.”
“Yeah, just a joke. So you from Toledo, or just aM*A*S*Hfanatic?”
“From Toledo, born and raised. Go Hens.”
“Go Hens. I hear you have a nice new baseball stadium. I played in the old one, Ned Skeldon, I think they called it?”
“Yes, well, we’ve had the new one for over twenty years, but I remember the old one, The Ned.”
“Yeah, my very short, very non-illustrious career had me in your fair city one summer.”
Ali couldn’t believe the coincidence and said as much.
“Yeah, except everyone down here has some connection to up there. It’s crazy.”
“Ah.”
“Now, you get your Shack Daq in you, and you’ll be on beach time by the time I bring out the crab cakes and pie.” He winked at her.
Oh, wow, what a charmer,she thought. From busboy to restaurant manager to owner to former baseball player. Ali figured he must have quite the story.
She watched as Henry disappeared into the restaurant.
Ali didn’t know what beach time was, but she did know that, even with the little breeze, this was lovely.
Her phone buzzed; she looked down. The news app on her phone let her know that it was a First Alert Snow Advisory in Toledo.
She took a sip of her Shack Daq and let the cold drink warm her from the inside out.
Twelve
Ali
She’d made it an early evening. The food, the fresh key lime pie, and the Shack Daq had her sleepy and ready to turn in.
Ali had wanted to return the sweatshirt to Henry, but he’d insisted on letting her keep it.
“Please add this to my bill,” she’d tried to insist.
“Free advertising for me. You’re a model, right?”
She’d rolled her eyes. “Yes, a five-foot three-inch model pushing fifty. I rarely get out of bed for under ten thousand dollars.”
“I figured.” Henry had laughed easily.
That was rare, finding a new person with the same sense of humor. But this wasn’t Ali’s first rodeo. She could spot a shameless flirt a mile away. But it was still nice to be flirted with now and then.
Despite the strength of the Shack Daq, it was just the right potion to give Ali a relaxed sleep. With work, Ted, and then her father, she wasn’t sure when she’d slept without a millioninterruptions. Sure, she had a potty break, but that’s midlife. She had to accept that.
