Sam snorts again. “Did you ever wonder how someone can go from being involved with you to being involved with her?”
“No, but I do wonder how one body can support that much weight in makeup and still carry those breasts around.”
“Nice. I still can’t picture them together.”
Watching Mandy, the new girlfriend, I shrug. “All Voldemort ever wanted was to drink and have fake, alcoholic fun with other people who want to drink and have fake alcoholic fun. I think she got exactly what she wanted this time.”
Sam hands some cash to the waitress and stands up. “Come on, I’ll drive you home.”
We walk out past the drinkers who call out to us as we pass. Mandy turns as I walk by and wiggles her fingers at me. “Oh, hi Dana,” she simpers.
I give her a fake smile and turn away. Sam puts her arm around me as we hit the door and leaves it there until we reach the parking lot.
At the car, I wriggle out from under her arm and cross my arms. “What the hell was that about?”
She grins. “Voldemort has told the whole island that you two broke up because you were having a fling with me. Might as well let her keep believing it.”
“Voldemort and I broke up because she’s a raging alcoholic who can’t do anything but drink and argue about how superior she is to everyone in every single way.”
“I know that. You know that. And probably most of the sane people on the island know that.”
“Are there any?”
“How anyone could believe that we’re lovers is beyond me anyway,” Sam says.
“Yeah, butch on butch–totally weird.”
“It’s your long hair. Throws ‘em all off.”
I toss my hair in an exaggerated hair model pose and bat my eyelashes. “Do I look feminine now?”
“Yeah, about as feminine as Chuck Norris.”
“Glad you didn’t say Chuck Heston.”
“Soylent Green is people,” she yells, shaking her fist in the air in a lovely Charlton Heston impersonation.
Sam sees me into her beat up pickup truck and drives me home. Most of the money from my royalties went into this house. It sits up on a hill, high above the village and the beach. The house itself is kind of small. It has two standard sized bedrooms and a decent kitchen. The living room area is rather large. The defining feature of the house is the wall of windows that looks out over the hanging deck and consequently, the ocean. When the weather is nice, I can sit in my favorite chair for hours, mesmerized by the waves. Sometimes, when they crash hard enough, I can hear them all the way up here. After Sam leaves, I plant myself in my chair, and stare out at the ocean. I’m trying to focus my thoughts on my latest novel, but for some reason, Esmé keeps popping into my head. Even if she knew Fran, the woman on whom Annabelle was based, how could she have known about me? As far as I know, Fran didn’t talk about me to anyone. Fran certainly never mentioned Esmé while we were together. Hell, she never mentioned anyone from her past. It was only after she died that I realized how little I had known about her while we were together.
I pop back inside to make myself some hot chocolate and retire back to the deck to watch the waves. Frank, my huge Maine Coon cat jumps onto my lap, nearly causing a muscle spasm in my thigh. I push him into a prone position and pet his massive head. He chirps at me and goes to sleep. Trying to clear my mind of thoughts of Esmé and Fran and Voldemort and Mandy, I have to laugh a little. How does a self-proclaimed loner find herself having to deal with so many women at one time? I take another sip of cocoa and force my thoughts back to my latest novel. Maybe I can just hibernate up here for the next couple of years. Sam can bring me groceries and cat food. Sighing, I give up trying to focus on my work and let my head fall back against my chair.
Chapter Two
I’m a hermit. It isn’t that I don’t like people; it’s just that I don’t like them a lot. So I had to set some boundaries when it came to my time. Mainly, don’t expect me to show up at every function, don’t be surprised if I don’t answer my phone, and don’t ever come to my house without calling first. With those rules firmly in place with everyone in my life, I am pretty much guaranteed privacy whenever I want it. Except now. My doorbell is ringing and I haven’t invited anyone over. That can only mean one thing. Susannah.
I moved to an island to become a full-fledged hermit. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. Not only did Sam follow me, my sister decided that she couldn’t live without me. After our mother died, she did her time trying to take care of our dad, but eventually she decided that she needed to be closer to me. Now, she’s leaning against the wall outside my front door. I give her a fake snarl before hugging her with one arm and relieving her of a bag of doughnuts with the other. Susannah doesn’t believe there should be boundaries between sisters. She thinks our blood relationship means she can show up at my house whenever she wants, eat the food out of my fridge, raid my closet for something new to wear, and hang out all day.