With his back to them, Asher inspected the picture. Lindsay watched Miranda staring holes through him. That gave her another magnificent idea.
Lindsay made a come–hither motion to Miranda. “Just ignore my brother. He’s an investor, and he’s celebrating a house he recently turned for a three–hundred–thousand–dollar profit. Makes him all uppity.”
“Is he really your brother?” Miranda whispered lightheartedly, her grin spreading across her face.
“Yes. Isn’t he a cutie? Problem is … he’s wealthy. So wealthy in fact, that most girls are intimidated by him. He’s longed for love but can’t seem to find it, no matter how hard he tries.”
“Really,” Miranda said, stroking her chin.
“Uh huh.”
How gullible!
If Asher
were
my brother why would he lustfully gawk over a half–naked picture of his own sister?
“Excuse me,” Lindsay said, nudging past Asher. She leaned to pick up the picture, pretending to struggle. “This is really heavy. If I could get some help from you two, I’d really appreciate it.”
Asher grabbed one end and Miranda the other. Lindsay opened the walk–in hall closet. “Put it down in there.” As soon as they were in the closet, she slammed the door shut, closing the slide–lock on the outside.
“Hey! Let us out!” Miranda shouted.
“I will,” Lindsay said, “when I’m good and ready. Don’t have too much fun in there.”
Lindsay returned to the living room where Charlie was still chatting with Mr. Corbin.
“Where’s Miranda?” Charlie asked.
“I got rid of her,” Lindsay said, sliding one hand across the other in a dusting motion.
“Sorry to interrupt your conversation, Mr. Corbin,” Lindsay said. “I hope you don’t mind … I locked your son in a closet.”
Mr. Corbin laughed out loud. “You’ve got yourself a live one,” he said to Charlie.
“Finally, someone put my unruly son in his place. Well done, young lady. Well done, indeed,” Mr. Corbin said, patting Lindsay on the shoulder. He excused himself and sauntered off, still chuckling.
“You really
did
handle things,” Charlie said.
“I told you I would.”
“Do I dare ask what you did with Miranda?”
“I locked her in there with him. They’ll fall in love.”
“Brilliant! Remind me to never underestimate your knack for vengeance.” Charlie looked past Lindsay’s shoulder. “Who’s Ireland conversing with at the door?”
Lindsay spun around and her eyes bugged–out. “This can’t be happening.”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“It’s my mom and sister. How do they know about this? You didn’t have anything to do with it, did you?”
“Oh, no.” Charlie put his hands in front of him, palms facing out. “It wasn’t me. I have no clue who invited them.”
“Then it had to have been Ireland. I know she means well, but I told her I didn’t want them to come. I think now’s a good time for a bathroom break.”
Charlie caught Lindsay on the arm as she started to escape. “It’s not a good idea to run from your problems. Maybe you should be honest and tell them how you feel.”
“I will … one day, just not tonight,” Lindsay said, and kept walking, right back to the tiki hut.
As she waited for the bartender to mix her drink, Lindsay’s associates from the mall, Janice and Becky, showed up.
“Hey, girls,” Lindsay said, hugging them both at the same time. “Thank you so much for coming.”
“We wouldn’t miss it for anything,” Janice said.
“This may be one of our last memories together,” Becky added.
“Bartender,” Lindsay shouted, “split that shot three ways.”
“Here’s to the great times we’ve had together,” Lindsay said, lifting her glass. “I will always reflect on them with a smile, even in my darkest days.”
“Cheers,” the group said in unison, and clanked their glasses together.
After another shot, one of the girls pointed out the limbo stick that was set up near the pool. Fittingly, the song “Tequila” played on the radio. “What do you say, Linds,” Janice said. “Want to try it?”
“It would make for a great laugh.” Lindsay set her drink down on the bar. “Let’s do it.”
The girls cheered each other on as they limbo’d lower, unsteady as they were. When the pole got too low, the girls linked arms and skipped over it instead, laughing the whole way.
The frolicking came to an abrupt halt when Lindsay caught a glimpse of Charlie conversing with her mom and sister. Charlie’s gaze met with Lindsay’s interrogative stare, yet he stood there, still engaging them.
“You girls, continue on. You’ll have to excuse me.”
Lindsay marched over to the wooden deck where Charlie was consorting with the opposition. “Good afternoon, Mom, Sister.”
“I hope you don’t mind us coming,” Mrs. Martin said to Lindsay. “I ran into Ireland earlier today, and she invited us. You look beautiful.”
“Thank you. If you’ll excuse us, I need to have a word with Charlie.” Lindsay opened the back door to the house and waited for Charlie to go first.
Once inside Lindsay led Charlie upstairs to his bedroom and they closed the door. “I can’t believe they showed up here without asking me. You’re lucky you’re not the one who invited them. Boy, would you have been in the dog house.”
“Your mother and sister seem very nice,” Charlie said.
“I thought you understood my relationship with them and how much pain it’s caused me. I guess you weren’t listening at all.”
“I assure you, I’ve heard every word, but I think you need to face them once and for all, and settle this. I, for my part, don’t believe it’s your mother’s intention to purposely hurt you. In our brief exchange, she revealed that she misses you very much.”
“Did she say why she prefers me unemployed, other than to spend all my time with her as my sister does. If it’s her need for company that causes her to shoot down my goals, then she’s selfish.”
“You’re right, but maybe she doesn’t know what she’s doing. If only you would bring it to her attention, you could unburden your heart.”
“Enough! Please!” Lindsay said, more harshly than she’d intended.
She put her hands on Charlie’s upper arms and lowered her voice. “In my own time, I will. Right now, I only want to be with you. I don’t want to focus on what is wrong with my life, when for the first time, so much is right.”
“Fine. But I encourage you to have that talk sooner, rather than later. You may not see the correlation, but the tension will inevitably not only burden the relationship with your family, but ours as well.”
Charlie was a wise man—this Lindsay was sure of. And he spoke the truth, but Lindsay was way too stubborn to broach the topic tonight. These were the last moments together with her closest friends, and she refused to allow her family to ruin them. “I understand. Would you mind giving me a few minutes to myself?”
True to form, Charlie leaned down and kissed her, before exiting without question.
Looking in the huge mirror above Charlie’s bathroom sink, Lindsay dabbed her eyes with a tissue. Planning for the humidity, she’d made the smart choice to wear her waterproof mascara. Her teary eyes hadn’t caused the slightest run in her makeup. She powdered her face, put the compact back in her purse, and rested the palms of both hands on the sink. “Curses,” she groaned to the reflection in the mirror.
She took a deep breath and walked over to the window overlooking the back yard. Her jaw dropped open, and she covered it with a hand, her eyes opened equally wide.
Charlie must have heard the struggle in the hallway closet as he passed by, and had shown mercy to Asher and Miranda. The two of them were in the limbo line, followed by: Mr. Corbin, Ireland, Jeffrey, Mrs. Martin and Kelly, Janice, and Becky.
Lindsay laughed out loud when the limbo line turned into a Conga line, each person holding onto the shoulders of the person in front of them, wiggling and gyrating in every direction as they waited their turn. It was the most unlikely gathering of personalities, yet somehow … tonight … it made perfect sense.
Once the group had tired of Conga’ing, the crowd started to disperse. Lindsay embraced her mother and kissed her goodnight, and sent her sister off with a cheerful farewell.
She would have that heart–felt conversation with her mother in due time. The strain on their relationship surely had to affect her mom as it had Lindsay, and there was no use prolonging unnecessary heartbreak.
Lindsay had just kissed her associates from the mall goodbye and promised to keep in touch, when Ireland took her aside. “Dad, Jeffrey, and I are going to head back to the apartment. I need to finish packaging up.” She lowered her head and took a deep breath. “I’m flying out tomorrow.”
Lindsay couldn’t believe her ears. “So soon?” She knew the time was coming, but didn’t know it was so close at hand. “And to think, I was about to give you a hard time for inviting my mom and sister tonight. I can’t send you off with a scolding, though.”
Ireland giggled.
“Sorry about that. I just wanted to help.”
Lindsay waved her hands. “Forget it. I have to be honest, I never dreamt you and I would become this close. It seems like just yesterday we had our infamous dance off.”
Ireland nodded, smiling. “I know. I thought you would be my biggest foe and look what happened—”
“We became best friends.”
“Yep. The best.” Tears formed in Ireland’s eyes.
“Two girls from completely different worlds,” Lindsay said. “When I saw you that day shaking your bon bon on the bar, I thought, ‘just another dumb blonde.’”
“Typical airhead, right?”
Lindsay wrapped her arms around Ireland. “No. You’re so much more than that … so very much.” Lindsay held on to Ireland and added, “You’ve been a shoulder to cry on, a giver of great advice, and my biggest champion.” She backed away a few inches to meet Ireland’s eyes. “Thank you, my sister.”
Both girls held onto each other and quietly sobbed. “You know I can’t tell you goodbye,” Lindsay said.
“You don’t have to because this isn’t goodbye. I’ll be back. And when I return, you won’t believe the new me. I’m going to clean up my act, get a real career, and maybe even get married.”
“I wish you all the luck in the world. As for that new career, maybe you should take up photography. You did a heck of a job on that photo of me. Charlie absolutely adored it.”
Looking up, Ireland put her index finger to her chin. “You have a point. And it’s something I loved doing. I’m seriously going to consider it.”
“You should.”
A horn blew outside. “I better not keep Dad and Jeffrey waiting. Listen, if you ever need anything, I’m just a phone call away. Don’t ever hesitate.”
“I won’t. I think I’ll stay here tonight. You won’t be mad if I don’t see you off tomorrow, will you? I don’t think I can bear it.”
“I understand.” Ireland opened the front door and stepped onto the porch, before looking back one last time. “Don’t forget me.”
Lindsay stood in the doorway. “How could I?”
Ireland smiled, waved with her fingertips, and strode off to the limo.
Charlie approached from … Lindsay wasn’t sure where, and rubbed her shoulders as she watched the limousine pull away. After it turned the corner, Lindsay let her head rest against Charlie’s chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held tight.
Looking toward the sky, Lindsay thanked her lucky stars once more, for the surprise … the
gift,
of her faithful friend Ireland.
It was obvious that Lindsay was going to need some consoling. Charlie had tipped the hired bartender, then walked inside where he’d spotted Lindsay and Ireland embracing. To offer them privacy, he’d quietly stepped away.
His heart ached for the pain Lindsay was feeling, and he wanted to comfort her. He’d waited until Ireland had left to let his presence become known.
“I can’t believe she’s gone,” Lindsay said to him. “She came into my life without warning and left it just as fast.”
Charlie rubbed her shoulders. “I know you’re sad, doll, but you’ll see her again.”
Lindsay took a deep breath and blinked away tears. “I know,” she said softly, turning to face him, “I know. But, let’s talk about something else now. This is too depressing.”
Charlie smiled. “Wanna hear something funny?”
“I’d love to.”
“I think I caused Miranda to get arrested.”
“You’re kidding? How?”
“She and Asher were in the back seat of his car, parked in my driveway. When I knocked on the window to ask them to leave, she shot me an obscene gesture. So, I got on the phone with my buddy down at the Sullivan’s Island P.D. When he knocked on the window, she opened the door in all her naked glory, and stepped out of the car.”
Lindsay gasped, covering her mouth. “She must’ve thought it was you again.”
“Yep. She’s probably getting booked right about now for indecent exposure.”
“And Asher?”
“Apparently he had an outstanding warrant, because the officer put handcuffs on him too. They were both taken away. Look,” Charlie said, pointing over her shoulder. “That must be the tow truck coming to get his car. It will be impounded, I’m sure.”
Lindsay shrugged. “I guess what goes around comes around, just like they say. Wow, what a crazy night.”
“Did you have fun at least?”
Lindsay arched her brow and formed a sly smile. “A little.”
“Just a little?”
“The real fun hasn’t begun yet.”
Charlie recognized that look and indulged her in a drawn–out kiss.
“Wait,” Lindsay said, pressing her hand against his chest. “Your kitchen is a mess. First let me tidy up the place; it’s the least I can do.”
“Sssh,” Charlie said, pressing his finger against her lips. “The dishes can wait. Right now, all I care about is you.”
Charlie picked Lindsay up, cradling her as he stepped up the dimly–lit stairs. His gaze locked with hers, his mouth salivated as he thought about what he wanted to do to her.
All evening long he’d patiently bided his time, waiting for this exact moment. No woman had ever done what she did to him—made him feel so alive, fulfilled, perfectly content.
So content in fact, he’d misjudged the location of the next step. Stumbling, he grabbed the rail with one hand and held on to Lindsay with the other, protecting her back from crashing against the wooden steps.