I smile at them and nod my head. No way am I going to burden them with the thoughts rolling around in my head.
“Can I ask you a question?”
They nod. “Anything, dear,” Tiny says.
I ask, “How long did you two know each other before you knew it was meant to be?”
Tony and Tiny look at each other and smile. Tony goes first, “She and I were best friends for years before I had the nerve to ask her out. When I did, to my surprise, she said no. It crushed me.”
Tiny nods and gives a slight pout of regret. “And then one day I woke up and realized, there’s nobody else for me. He’s my person. If I don’t fall in love with him, then what else is there? Nobody in this world speaks my language the way Tony does. And that’s when I knew.”
I nod and smile, holding back the lump in my throat.
“Thank you,” I say, a bit raspier than I would like.
As I always do, I fire up their favorite song, get them secured in their compartment, and watch them ascend into the sky, holding hands and laughing together.
The sunset is so pretty tonight, and although I have played this song hundreds of times, it hits me like a truck.
I am deadass in love with Hudson.
The tears of anxiety at how he might react to this are like a floodgate has opened. And pretty soon, I’m sobbing.
What am I going to do with myself?
I have to tell him. I have to risk losing him to tell him there’s no one else for me.
When their ride ends, Tony lovingly helps his little Tiny out of the compartment. It grips my heart the way he’s so sweet with her that my tears well up again.
“Sweetie, what in the world?” Tiny asks, handing me a tissue.
Tony places a hand on my shoulder and says, “Tell him. Right away. And don’t worry. He already knows.”
All I can do is blubber and keep the snot and tears from ruining my makeup.
Chapter 4
Hudson
Usually, when I’m done with work, the first thing I do is head over to the Reef Beach Bar on Sugar Road to say hey to bartender Lincoln Locke and the owner Daphne Dawes. Even though I don’t touch alcohol, I like to stop by for whatever creative virgin fizzy drink Daphne dreams up for me. After that, I typically stop by the Ferris wheel for a chat with Frenchie, head back to the boat I call home at the marina, kick up my feet, and watch the game.
Today, however, all I want to do is tell Adalee the news.
This afternoon, Captain Jack approached me about a summer job chartering his fishing boat in the Florida Keys. I can’t believe my luck!
“I know you’re a hard worker, and you deserve to have a change of scenery. What do you say?”
I tell Captain Jack that I’ll think about it and let him know in a couple of days. Even though Gavin is a new hire, he’s proven himself reliable. He has earned the respect of everyone else who docks their vessels at Kissme Bay. I’m confident he would jump at the chance to run the place for the summer.
“Don’t wait too long. This is a prime opportunity to get some deep-sea experience handling a real boat. Here,” he says, handing me the keys. “Try it out for a night. See if you think you’d be able to feel at home on it, and then let me know.”
I bound away from work feeling like I’ve just fallen ass-backward into the first real opportunity of my life in this small town.
I know exactly who I want with me while I try out Captain Jack’s boat for tonight, and I want to make it extra special.
I hit the Kissme Sweet Shop, saying hi to Lily Velasquez. She already knows what I want when I tell her I need a “Frenchie salad” — a variety of M&Ms to mix together in a bowl. I then hit the supermarket for something healthy—cucumbers and tomato salad with fresh basil from her own garden. She always needs to have her vegetables.
When I arrive at Frenchie’s trailer to pick some of her basil, I don’t get the chorus of barks from the neighbor’s pugs. They’re usually sitting vigil in the window and bark at anyone passing by.
Adalee’s RV is dark, and I don’t see anyone anywhere.
I don’t know if this is a good sign or a bad sign.
Then, I see Justin approaching from his lot next door.
“She walked my pugs and brought them home. Then I saw her leave and walk to the end of the park lot with another man, and they headed that way.”
I scratch my head and try not to panic. I sign back to him, “I’ll let Frenchie know.”
I text her right away because my hackles are raised. I tell her what Justin told me.
Frenchie thanks me and then says she’ll contact her mom. “Can you stay there in case something is fishy? In case we need to go looking for the cats or my mom?”
I answer yes as if that was ever a question. I would die for this woman and her spoiled little felines.
I resume picking some basil for the salad and let myself into her trailer to assemble the salad. The only cats that greet me at the door are Butter and Jelly, which really makes me sense something is wrong. If I’m not mistaken, Peanut is the diabetic one.
To my relief, Frenchie texts me back to say her mom and her friend took Peanut and a menagerie of animals to the beach, and all seems to be well. She brought Peanut in a carrier so she wouldn’t be late in giving him his injection.
Something about it doesn’t sit with me, but I don’t push. Who is her mom meeting with, and why does the worst-case scenario always pop up in my
