Along for the Ride(51)

‘God, Maggie,’ Leah said, ‘I thought you’d let that Jake thing go, already.’

‘I have,’ Maggie told her.

‘Then why are you bugging Auden about it now?’ Leah shook her head.

‘That’s not what I was –’

This thought was interrupted, suddenly, by a crash from the front entrance. We all looked over just in time to see Adam bending back from the glass, rubbing his arm.

‘Pull open,’ Maggie called out. As Leah rolled her eyes, she said, ‘He never remembers. It’s so weird.’

‘Can’t say I don’t make an entrance,’ Adam said, hardly bothered by what some would consider a public humiliation of sorts as he walked toward us, carrying a plastic grocery bag in one hand. ‘So, ladies. An announcement.’

Leah shot a wary look at the bag. ‘Are you selling candy bars to raise money for math club again?’

Adam just looked at her. ‘That was eighth grade,’ he said. ‘And school’s over, remember?’

‘Ignore her,’ Maggie told him as Leah shrugged, going back behind the counter. ‘What’s the announcement?’

He grinned, reaching into the bag. ‘Hot-dog party,’ he said, pulling out a value pack of wieners. ‘The first of the summer. After work, at me and Wallace’s. Bring your own condiments.’

‘Count me out,’ Esther said, hopping up on the counter. ‘I’m a vegetarian.’

Adam reached back into the bag, pulling out another pack of dogs. ‘Bam!’ he said, shaking it at her. ‘Tofu Pups! Just for you!’

‘Is the bathroom going to be clean?’ Leah asked.

‘Isn’t it always?’

‘No,’ Leah, Maggie, and Esther said in unison.

‘Well, it will be tonight. I’ll bust out my Clorox Clean-Up and everything.’

Maggie smiled as he dropped the dogs back into the bag, twisting it shut. ‘It’s been a long time since the last hotdog party,’ she said. ‘What’s the occasion?’

‘The housewarming party we forgot to have two months ago when we moved in,’ he said. ‘Plus, it’s been a while, you know? It just seemed like maybe it was time.’

‘Is Eli coming?’ Esther asked.

‘He’s invited,’ Adam said. ‘So we’ll see.’

Maggie turned to me, saying, ‘The hot-dog party was one of Abe’s big traditions. He used to have them every Saturday at Eli’s and his place. Hot dogs, baked beans…’

‘… potato chips for the vegetable,’ Leah said.

‘And Popsicles for dessert. He called it the perfect summer meal.’ Maggie reached up, twisting one of her curls around her finger. ‘He and Eli always bought all the stuff in bulk at Park Mart, so they could have one at a moment’s notice.’

‘IHDP,’ Esther said. When I raised my eyebrows, she added, ‘Impromptu Hot-Dog Party.’

‘Right,’ I said. My knees were starting to hurt, so I stopped the elevator, shifting Thisbe across my right arm. Adam came closer, making a googly face at her.

‘You might be too young for an HDP,’ he said, poking her tummy before turning toward the door. ‘As for the rest of you, I expect to see you with condiments, at Wallace’s, after closing. No excuses.’

‘You know,’ Leah said, ‘I liked you better when you were selling candy bars.’

‘See you later!’ he replied. This time, he got the door right, disappearing out onto the boardwalk as the chime sounded overhead.

Leah looked at Maggie. ‘Great,’ she muttered. ‘He’s got the hots for you, and now we all have to eat wieners because of it.’

‘He does not have the hots for me,’ Maggie said, walking over to the earring display and adjusting a couple of pairs.

‘Well, I’m not going,’ Leah said, pushing a button on the register. The drawer slid open, and she picked up some bills, straightening them. ‘The summer is almost half over, and the only guys I’ve hung out with are the ones I’ve known since grade school. This is getting ridiculous.’

‘There might be new boys at the hot-dog party,’ Esther suggested.

‘Oh, please,’ Leah said.

‘Hey, they have tofu dogs. Anything is possible.’

But it wasn’t new boys I was interested in as I sat in the office for the next hour, my foot locked around the back wheels of Thisbe’s stroller, pushing her back and forth as I paged through the day’s receipts. It was just one boy, that same boy I always started to think about more and more as the hours passed.

Despite my best efforts, it was hard, as the hour got later, not to look ahead, wondering what the night might hold for me and Eli. This was something I’d missed out on thus far, the sense of expectation when it came to someone else. So while a hot-dog party sounded fun and all – and might even have qualified for part of my quest, actually – if Eli wasn’t going to be there, I was pretty sure I didn’t want to be, either. Even if there were tofu dogs.

At around eight thirty, my dad and Heidi showed up to pick up the baby. Their arrival was heralded by a burst of squealing from the sales floor.

‘Oh, my God, you look so good!’ Maggie said. ‘You’re super skinny already!’