Ali sighed. “Okay, but are you all right with us doing this? I promise, I’ll try to make it so you’re not bothered. She—or he, you know, it could be a guy—can stay down here in Grandma’s room.” And then she pulled out the big guns, her lips curving into that huge winning smile that had been twisting me around her finger all our lives. “Think of what a great opportunity it’ll be for Bridget.”
“Okay, okay.” I held out my hands, palms toward her. “Fine. I surrender. Pierre Le Pew can stay here all summer and enlighten the young minds of Burton.” I stood up and flicked her nose. “Just don’t expect me to wear a beret.”
I’M A MUTTERER.
Ever since I was a little kid, I muttered. According to my mom, when other toddlers were throwing temper tantrums, I was sitting in the corner, my arms folded over my chest, talking low to myself about the injustices of life. She swore it came from spending too much time with Sadie, the gray-haired dynamo who, along with her husband Mack, had worked in our family restaurant for generations. Sadie had a tendency to walk around wiping down tables, talking to herself. Since I’d hung out with her at the Rip Tide since I was a baby, it wasn’t surprising I’d picked up some of her bad habits.
I muttered all the way from Boomer’s garage in the middle of Burton, down the empty country roads and into the rush-hour traffic of Savannah. And I was still at it when I stalked into our apartment and slammed the door behind me.
“Hey.” Laura glanced over her shoulder from the stove, where she was stir-frying something that smelled delicious. “You get the car back okay?”
“Hmph.” I threw my handbag onto the sofa and flopped down next to it. “Yeah, I got it.”
“What’s the matter?” She leaned her elbows on the counter and frowned at me. “Was Boomer a creep? Did he over-charge you?”
“No, and no. The price was more than reasonable, and he seemed like a good guy.” I scowled and jiggled my leg up and down, all my pent-up frustration waiting to burst out. “I ran into your hero while I was there.”
“My hero? Who ... oh, Sam? That’s funny, that you ran into him. Isn’t he nice?”
“No, nice is not the word I’d use for him. He was a jerk.”
Laura’s eyes widened. “What do you mean? What did he do?”
“He called me immature and irresponsible. He said I wasn’t a good friend to you. What did you tell him about me? I felt like he was ready to string me up and brand me with a scarlet D.”
“D?” Her forehead wrinkled.
“Yeah, for drunkard. He said I was an idiot and that I put you in danger and ... I don’t know, there was more.” I sniffed. Now that my mad was subsiding, the hurt feelings were making themselves known.
“Megs, I promise, I never said anything. I mean, he knew you were wasted because you were passed out in the front seat. But I never said anything else. Just that maybe you’d had a little too much rum. I wasn’t upset about it.” She rounded the breakfast bar and sat down next to me on the sofa. “C’mon, you know I’d never complain about being your designated driver. You’ve done it for me enough.”
“That’s what I said. God, Lo, he was so mean. I’ve never had anyone who I just met hate me like that.”
“Yeah, it usually takes at least a month.” Laura elbowed me in the ribs, and I couldn’t help a tiny smile.
“Whatever, bitch.” I closed my eyes, drew in a long, deep breath and then let it out in a whoosh. “Okay. I am officially letting it go, forgetting about him. Tell me what you’re making over there. It smells yummy.”
“Veggie stir-fry. You sit still, I’ll bring it over.”
I didn’t have to be told twice not to move. My temper was legendary among friends and family, but after the worst hit me, I was drained.
“I’d offer you a glass of wine, but we all know what a lush you are. If I give you something to drink, you might go off and be irresponsible and immature again.”
“That’s me. Don’t forget thoughtless. And idiotic.”
Laura set down our food on the coffee table, and we ate in silence for a few minutes.
“You’re brooding.” Laura laid her chopsticks across the plate. “He really got to you, didn’t he?”
I lifted one shoulder. “It just took me by surprise, I think. I was kind of happy to see him when he walked in, you know? To say thank you for his help, and then he just jumped all over me.”
“Or maybe you wish he had. Jumped you, I mean.”
I screwed up my face. “What are you talking about? I don’t even know him.”