Page 32 of The Backtrack
Sam picked an enormous green dragon kite with a lush fat tail, then she’d chosen an aggressively ugly cross-eyed octopus with eight long legs for Damon. She brought them out.
“I’m impressed you’re not making me fly the one that looks like a goat-donkey,” he said.
“You’re enough of an ass without flying the kite version.” She handed him the octopus.
His tongue poked out from the side of his mouth as he took the kite. “You almost make me want to take back the rosé I got you.” He held the can out, and she deftly snagged it.
“What’d you get?” She popped open the lid.
“A bottle of my own beer.” He held up the IPA with the signature Band Practice Brews label. “Don’t judge me.”
“You just make the jokes too easy sometimes.” Sam unspooled the line of the kite, then carried it out into the sand and waited for a strong breeze. The wind kicked up and she tossed the kite into the air, then ran ahead until it caught and soared up. Damon came next to her, his octopus a few feet from her kite. She carefully unspooled more line and let the dragon reach higher into the sky.
Closer to the water, Alligator Alice pumped her arms as she power-walked through the sand. She glanced up and gave a quick wave to Sam and Damon. Sam raised her glass of rosé in return.
“Alligator Alice never quits, does she?” Sam asked in a hushed tone.
“She’ll outlive us all.” Damon swerved his hands to adjust the kite as a breeze drifted through.
Sam slipped off her sandals and dug her toes into the sand. The sun burned hot and bright as it inched toward the water line, and scattered bonfires lit up the shore.
“How come we’re the only adults doing this?” Sam eyed the younger kids flying kites nearby.
“We’ve always been the only cool ones,” he said.
They locked eyes, and he gave her an easy smile. Eventually, he said, “So, you’re really not seeing anyone, huh?”
She looked away, thinking of Marissa. “I’m not. But you are?”
“Casually, yeah,” he said.
Her stomach tightened. Was she really jealous about this? Of course Damon was dating. He was in his thirties, owned his own business and was the walking definition of a glow-up. But still, she was indeed a bit jealous.
“The brewery keeps me pretty busy, though,” he added.
“Exactly. I’m busy with work, too,” she said. But was that just an excuse?
He changed the subject, thankfully. “What’s the status with Pearl?”
Sam shook her head. “She thinks the best option is a retirement home. I just can’t see her being happy in one of those. She’s so independent.”
“It’s weird to see them get older, huh?”
“Yeah,” Sam said. She couldn’t shake one particular image of Pearl struggling to get up the three small stairs to their front door, and how frail she’d seemed. She was a mountain of a woman in a failing body. “I can’t lose her,” Sam said softly.
“She’s still here,” Damon tried to reassure her. “But I know what you mean. My mom had a breast cancer scare earlier this year.”
“What? Oh, my God, Damon.” If this had been high school, she would’ve been the first person he’d told about it; now she was likely the last.
“It’s okay. She’s okay. They caught it at stage one. She had a mastectomy and they got it all. But when that happened... I don’t know. You never think about your parents’ mortality until you have to. It’s sort of impossible to wrap your head around. It scared me, though.”
“I’m so sorry. I’m glad she’s okay. I wish I’d known.”
Damon gave her an uneasy look. “I thought about telling you, but we hadn’t talked in years. Felt weird to reach out and tell you something like that after all this time.”
“Can we just say it?” Sam asked.
He gave her a look, like he didn’t know what she was talking about. So she filled in the blanks.
