Page 84 of Happy Harbor
Diane grinned. “Oh, that’s a very romantic thing to do.”
“I don’t know what to think.”
“Yes, you do. Youabsolutelyknow what to think.”
“Changing the subject, my friend from Atlanta called me earlier. She got engaged and wants me to come to her bridal shower next Saturday. Do you think you could keep an eye on Kendra for me while I’m gone?”
“Of course. I mean, I’ll be working at the restaurant that day, but I’m sure I can shift around some of the schedules if I need to.”
“She does a great job of taking care of herself now. I don’t really worry about her too much. Scotty is a great influence, and Kendra seems to be flourishing here.”
“It seems that way. I’m so happy she’s doing so well.”
“Hey, ladies. How’s it going?” Walker asked, strolling over.
“I have learned that I am not a good face painter. I’ve destroyed the cheeks of many little children today,” Josie said, giggling.
“I’m sure that’s not true. I saw a kid who had a beautiful unicorn on her cheek earlier.”
“Yeah, I didn’t do that one. Ethel was manning the booth when the unicorn happened.”
“Oh well, at least you did your best. I was hoping I could borrow both of you for a little while.”
“Okay, but for what?” Josie asked.
“Let’s just say that the community wants something, and if we can give it to them, I think it will earn us a lot more money.”
“This doesn’t sound good,” Diane said, as they both followed him like two lambs being led off to slaughter.
* * *
As soon as they got out on the boat, Kendra knew they’d made a mistake. She rummaged around in her backpack but couldn’t find her phone. Kendra must have stuck it in her mother’s purse when she asked her to hold it earlier.
“We need to get back,” Scotty whispered to her. She felt terrible. Scotty was a straightlaced kind of guy. He didn’t get into trouble. He didn’t make rash decisions. She did, and she thought she had gotten better about it—until now.
“I know, but they’re not going to take us back. Half of them are drunk already,” she said, looking around the boat. The two guys were taking turns jumping into the water and climbing back into the boat. The girls were giggling and lying out, trying to get darker suntans. Music was blaring.
“Aren’t y’all about ready to go back?” Scotty asked, louder than he needed to.
“Go back? It’s not even dark yet,” Kimmy said, rolling her eyes. Kendra was surprised that one of her fake eyelashes didn’t fly off in the breeze.
“It’s just that we didn’t expect to be gone this long. We appreciate y’all inviting us, but we really need to get back,” Kendra said, trying to be the mediator.
“Then I guess you can swim back,” Dusty said, his arrogance on full display. Out of all the kids, he was the one Kendra liked the least. She thought several times about just pushing him off the boat, but it seemed he could climb back onto it easily. Maybe if she knocked him over the head with an anchor?
“So you’re going to hold us hostage out here?” Scotty said, sounding a little dramatic. She patted his leg.
“Don’t antagonize them,” she whispered. They were out in pretty open water, and there was no way they could swim to shore, even with life preservers. Plus, they’d probably get eaten by gators long before they made it back to the Riverwalk.
“Y’all aren’t even drinking! What are you? Straight edge?”
“What doesstraight edgemean?” Scotty asked.
“It means that you don’t do anything cool, like drink or smoke weed. I bet y’all are like on the debate team or something,” Kimmy said, rolling her eyes again. The old Kendra would’ve already punched her in the face by now, but she was trying to be better. She wanted to stay in Happy Harbor. If she started getting in trouble, her mother was going to make her go back to Atlanta.
“Then I guess we are straight edge,” Kendra said. “Look, just take us back to the dock, and you’ll be rid of us. You can have your fun party on your fancy boat.”
They all started laughing. “You actually think this is our boat? Y’all are so stupid,” Kiki said sarcastically.
