On the Rocks(88)

“Well, they say things happen when you least expect it, and I sincerely doubt you were expecting that!”

The truth was, with the craziness of the last two days, I had forgotten about meeting Tom, so no, I definitely wasn’t expecting that. But I was definitely happy it happened.

“Not at all, so we’ll see what happens. Anyway, are you going to be okay?” I asked, getting back to the conversation that had been interrupted when Tom came in.

“I think so, yeah. I owe Grace an apology, though. I’m so embarrassed at how I acted.”

“It was awkward for both of you. I’m sure she’ll understand.” Although I had no idea if Grace would understand. Grace could be brutally stubborn sometimes, especially where Johnny was concerned, but Lara didn’t need to know that right now. “We’re going to be at the beach later for happy hour. Why don’t you come meet us after you close the store? We’ll be there until 7:00 at least. It’s nice to be down there for the sunset.”

“I don’t know. I don’t even know what I’d say, and I don’t really feel like being social.”

“I’m going to say to you what Grace said to me when Ben left. You can’t sit home by yourself all the time. It’s not going to help you get over it.”

“Grace said that?”

“She did. See, she’s not the anti-Christ. Come on, it’ll be fun. Six o’clock okay?”

“Okay,” she sighed. “I’ll come.”

“Don’t worry,” I assured her. “It will get better.” I have no idea why I managed to be so upbeat about other people’s lives and yet could never muster the same positive thinking when it came to my own. I wanted Lara and Grace to make peace with each other because I had enough stress in my life to deal with and I really didn’t feel like playing referee to any more arguments between them. I decided not to tell Grace that Lara was going to come to the beach and meet us for two reasons: one, I wasn’t sure that Lara was actually going to show, and two, if Grace knew Lara was coming, I had no doubt that Grace wouldn’t.



AT AROUND 6:00 P.M., Grace and I dragged our things to our usual spot on the beach and set up our chairs on the sand. We unpacked the wine and cheese we had brought with us for happy hour as I filled her in on what happened when Tom entered the store and how badly Lara felt about the things she had said. Grace didn’t seem to want to talk about Lara at all. In fact, as far as she was concerned, she never wanted to see Lara again. I also think part of Grace felt badly about some of the things she said to Lara, but she would never admit it. I thought that one of the reasons Grace was so upset was that deep down she agreed with some of the things Lara had said.

I glanced toward the parking lot and caught sight of Lara walking toward us. Now was as good a time as any to let Grace know she was coming.

“Oh, by the way, I invited Lara to join us,” I said casually, bracing for her reaction.

“Are you f*cking kidding me, Abby? After what she said to me? Whose side are you on?”

“I’m not on a side. I’m trying to be impartial, but come on, Grace. From where she sits, it’s hard to be sympathetic toward your cause. Just hear her out, okay?”

Before Grace could answer, Lara approached us and waved shyly. “Hi, guys,” she said.

Grace pushed her large Chanel sunglasses up onto the top of her head and stared at Lara, letting her know without question that she was less than thrilled to see her. “This is the home-wrecking section of the beach,” Grace said as she dropped her shades back on her face. “The holy rollers sit to the right.”

Okay, so it was off to a rocky start.

“I’m sorry, Grace,” Lara said as she stood in front of her. “I shouldn’t have been so hard on you. I might not agree with everything you’re doing, but I basically blamed you for my husband cheating on me. It wasn’t fair.”

“No kidding it wasn’t fair. You don’t know what it’s been like for me either. I’m sorry about what happened to you, but that doesn’t mean that I have to listen to you insult me. I didn’t do anything to you, or your marriage, and so you should keep your opinions to yourself.”

“You’re right,” Lara said.

“I know I’m right,” Grace replied, a bit surprised by how easily Lara conceded. Today she was a very different person from the one screaming for married women’s rights everywhere yesterday.

“I shouldn’t have judged you the way I did. Your relationship is none of my business.”

“You’ve got that right,” Grace said, still miffed. She sat in her chair and wiggled her toes in the sand, not saying anything more. I sat quietly and tried in vain to untangle the cord on my headphones. I figured if I pretended to be busy, they wouldn’t mind having this conversation in front of me.

“I’m sorry. I really am,” Lara repeated.

“What do you want me to say?” Grace asked.

“I guess nothing really,” Lara said. “All I wanted to do is apologize. I’m not proud of myself for yelling at you like that. It’s kind of ironic, huh? You and I being on opposite sides of the same coin.”

“This coin sucks,” Grace sighed.

“Believe me, I know.”

“Does that make me the creamy filling in this bitter woman Oreo or what?” I asked from my seat between them.