Her Summer Crush

Sylvie grasped her purse, lifted it and plunked it down on her lap again. “I’d better shut up, before I give away too many secrets of the sisterhood.”

Cody shut up, too, and they rode on in silence.

They reached her house, which was enclosed by a rickety fence strung with fishnets, colorful buoys and pieces of driftwood. The yard was a mixture of sand and crushed seashells, with tufts of grass sprouting here and there.

She opened the gate and led them up the path to the front door. A wind chime made of seashells hanging next to the door clacked in the light breeze.

“Thanks, Cody.” Sylvie stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek.

“You’re welcome—I think.”

She turned to slip her key in the lock but then stopped and faced him again. “Oh, I almost forgot. Can I have one of those pictures you took of Ben and me tonight? I want to put it on my Facebook page, to let Eddie know I’ve moved on.”

“Sure, but you just said Ben didn’t ask to see you again.”

“He will,” she said and smiled. “He will.”

* * *

“WHAT CAN I help you with, Mom?” Luci asked. After a stressful week at work and the so-called date with Ben Shapiro last night, she looked forward to a relaxing Sunday with her family.

Anna stood at the island in the spacious kitchen, slicing a head of lettuce on the chopping board. She pushed a lock of hair from her forehead with the back of one hand. “Hello, honey. You can work on this salad while I baste the roast.”

Luci sniffed the air. “It smells wonderful.” Picking up the knife where her mother had laid it, she sliced the lettuce while Anna crossed the room to the stove.

The children’s voices drifted in from the screened-in porch adjacent to the dining room. “Sounds like the kids are having a good time,” Luci began, but just then a scream rent the air. “Uh-oh, somebody’s not happy.”

Anna closed the oven door and straightened. “That sounds like Megan. She has trouble getting along with the older kids, sometimes.”

Arliss entered the kitchen, holding a tearful Megan by the hand. “Maybe Grandma can find something you can help with,” Arliss was saying. “Oh, hi, Luci. How was your date last night?”

Luci’s mouth dropped open. “How’d you know about that?”

“You forget Don and Cody are buddies?”

Anna handed Megan a stack of paper napkins. “Here, darlin’, put one of these at each place at the table. Okay?”

Megan pouted, but she nodded, took the napkins and trotted off to the dining room.

“Buddies, humph,” Luci said. “More like gossips.”

“So how was it?” Arliss lifted a pot of potatoes from the stove and moved to the sink to pour off the water.

“It was...okay.”

“You like Ben?”

“He was nice.” She looked around. “Where’s Fran?” Usually the four of them worked together in the kitchen.

Arliss set down the pot and gave a dismissive wave. “Oh, she’s on her phone. Big open house today in Oceanside.”