On the Rocks(43)

“Hey there!” I said as I stopped and gave her shoulder a quick squeeze hello. She wore a loose white tunic and sunglasses and was rubbing a stone I assumed she had picked up on the beach somewhere along the way. I turned to Grace and Bobby to introduce her and caught Bobby glancing at her left hand to see if she was someone he could hit on. He was visibly disappointed to discover she wasn’t. “Guys, this is Lara, my new boss. Lara, these are my friends Grace and Bobby.”

“Nice to meet you,” Lara said. She was trying to be polite, but I got the feeling that she wasn’t much interested in making small talk. Sometimes there’s nothing worse than running into people when you had planned on being alone. I once ran into a friend of my mother’s in the ice cream aisle, and I would have climbed inside one of the frozen food cases to get away from her.

“Hi!” Bobby and Grace said in unison.

“Did you have a nice weekend?” I asked.

“Kind of. I had to go to bridal shower just outside Providence last night, and I had to drive back here after it was over. I was so exhausted that I called my mom and begged her to work for me today so I could take the day off. One late night and I need about fifteen hours of sleep to make up for it. I feel like I’m getting old,” she said as she glanced at the sand, at the parking lot, anywhere except at me, as if I might be able to read her mind or something.

“You’re not old, you’re tired! They’re not the same thing. Besides, you deserve a day off, you can’t work seven days a week, I’m pretty sure that’s against labor laws.”

“If it’s not, it should be,” Bobby added. “I should look into that.”

“We’re going to lie out for a while if you’d like to join us,” I offered, even though I suspected she’d have rather drowned herself.

“Thanks, but I just came down here for a nice long walk. I’m going to head home, take a shower, and read for a bit. It was good to see you, though. Enjoy the beach and I’ll see you later,” she said as she walked away quickly.

“Okay, bye!” I called after her, unsure if she even heard me.

The three of us walked a few feet farther before we dropped our bags and set our towels down.

“Abby, what happened with Paul last night?” Bobby asked. “Was it as good as I think it was?”

“What’s that supposed to mean? And no, it wasn’t. He had blisters or something all over his mouth. He never even mentioned them, but I think it was herpes. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. We have nothing in common. He’s a beekeeper, and I have no interest in getting to know him or his bees—who have names, by the way—any better. We had two drinks, and then I left. I don’t mean to sound like a bitch, but mouth sores and bees? Really? That’s Wolf’s idea of a good setup?”

“Well, someone didn’t mind the sores or the bees. Wolf said he saw him on the Walk of Shame site this morning wearing a wrinkled button-down shirt and a big smile. No one wears long-sleeve dress shirts during the day at the beach, so clearly the guy never went home.”

“Are you telling me that after our date he met someone else and went home with her?” I asked, horrified not only that he went out with another girl after me but that, whoever she was, she was willing to risk getting a sexually transmitted disease rather than go home alone.

“It seems that way. I guess the guy’s got game.”

“Guy’s got the herp, Bobby!” I said, shocked that there were girls out there who didn’t seem to think that was a problem.

“They were probably sun blisters from fishing, not herpes. Are you always this judgmental?” Bobby asked, as if I were being overly picky by passing on a guy with open sores on his mouth.

“You’ve got to be kidding me! I’m not being judgmental, I’m being hygienic!”

“Can we talk about something else, please?” Grace asked. “This conversation is grossing me out, and I’m tired of listening to you two bicker.”

“Sure, what do you want to talk about?” I asked, relieved to change the topic.

“How about the fact that I am so over bridal showers it’s a joke,” Grace said. “It’s like, yeah I get it, you’re getting married, congrats. The world does not stop spinning for the rest of us who have better things to do than watch you sit in a pink tulle–covered chair and open toaster ovens.” To anyone passing by, Grace might have sounded a little bitter, but the reality was, no one particularly enjoys going to showers of any kind unless they’re the one receiving the gifts, and even then, showers can still be pretty painful. The two of us had probably attended about three hundred bridal showers—or more accurately, the same exact bridal shower three hundred times. Eventually, they get old for everyone. Then again, so does dating.

Bobby was used to getting stuck in the middle of girlie conversations, but I was pretty sure he didn’t mind at all. He might have tried to hide it, but the truth was, Bobby was more in touch with his feminine side than he liked to admit. “I’m sorry,” he said as he rubbed sunblock on his nose. “I think the whole concept is just stupid. Registries and all that stuff. Why should anyone have to buy you supplies for the life choice you made? I became a lawyer; I didn’t ask anyone to buy me crystal beer mugs. Though now that I think about it, maybe I should have.”