was silence on the other end of the line.
I looked at the room clock, Aunt Jackie should be on shift. Had she fallen? Heart attack? Was someone robbing the place? I tried to keep the panic out of my voice, “Hello? Aunt Jackie? Is anyone there?”
Greg muted the television. I saw concern on his face as he sat up, ready to spring into action if we needed to leave. My aunt might like to pretend she’s young, but in truth, the woman is getting up in years. I’m not sure how old she is exactly as she doesn’t celebrate birthdays anymore and she won’t let me see her driver’s license or her employee file at the shop. But she’s been in my life since I could remember. I repeated her name, “Aunt Jackie?”
“Sorry, dear, I dropped an earring.” My aunt’s voice came on the line and I felt my heart rate slow. She’d dropped an earring?
I bit my lip, not wanting to yell and making eye contact with Greg, I covered the phone and whispered, “Everything’s fine.”
“Jill, dear, are you there?” Aunt Jackie asked. She didn’t like being kept waiting.
I sank down on the chair by the bed. “Yes, I’m here. What’s going on?”
“I wanted to talk to you about the wedding reception. I’m thinking of having the florist put small bowls of roses on the tables. You know those little white ones that are so pretty? He says he’ll do a mock up for me, but I wanted your opinion before I told him to go ahead.”
“Aunt Jackie, the wedding’s six months away. You don’t think this conversation could have waited until I’m back on Tuesday?” I rolled my eyes and Greg chuckled, folding his arms under his head and getting comfortable. He was watching a show on alligators. Right now, I wanted to be cuddled up next to him, and not talking to my aunt about her upcoming nuptials.
“Pre-planning an event makes it run smooth. I thought I’d taught you that by now.” She sniffed, apparently put out by my lack of enthusiasm. “Oh, and Tina Baylor stopped by. She said Marvin wants you to invite our new business owner to the meeting on Tuesday. Personally.”
“The Russian doll shop guy? I didn’t think the shop had opened yet.” Actually, I’d gotten a fax from the mayor a week ago, but like most of his charming missives, I’d trashed it after I’d skimmed the message.
“Oh, yes, the grand opening began this morning. I didn’t realize there were so many people who liked those things.” I heard the pause in my aunt’s voice. “Don’t tell Harrold, because the dear man stopped and bought me one on his way here to have lunch, but I think they’re kind of creepy.”
I’d always wanted one of the stacking dolls as a child. It was like having a whole family of identical playmates. Of course, I’d never gotten one, mostly because we didn’t have the money to spend on an imported toy. “I’ll try to stop by on Monday when we get back from the party. You realize I’m away for the weekend, right?”
“You’re a few minutes from town. I don’t think that qualifies as away. Besides, you could come over tomorrow morning and take the owners a dozen cookies and the invite.” I heard my aunt greet a customer as they walked into the store.
“I’m not coming into town just to invite them to the Business-to-Business meeting. If Marvin’s that worried about it, he can do the honors.”
“Tina and Marvin are in the city for the weekend. She only stopped by for a book to read while they relax poolside.” I heard the bell over the door chime again and I knew the shop was getting busy. “Look, I’ve got to go. Just make sure you invite the man and his daughter. I have their names written down on a piece of paper in the cash register for you.”
“Aunt Jackie,” I started but realized I was talking to dead air. She had hung up on me.
I sat the phone down and lay on the bed next to Greg.
He put his arm around me and pulled me close. “So you going into town tomorrow?”
“No, I’m not.” I watched the alligators fight over some sort of deer that had gotten too close to the water. Probably just trying to get a drink, I thought. Wrong place, wrong time. Just like my mini vacation. “We should have flown to Hawaii for this weekend.”
“Probably true. But Levi didn’t want us to worry about being away from South Cove.” He rubbed my arm. “Besides, for him, this is a vacation spot.”
Levi and Jessica lived in Raleigh, North Carolina. Apparently, that was a hot spot for computer geeks.
The room phone rang and Greg answered it. “Hello?” He paused, listening. “Okay, see you in a few.”
When he replaced the handset into the cradle, he grinned at me. “We’re being summoned to the pool. Everyone is down there but us and from the sounds of it, the drinking has started.”
“In suits?” I closed my eyes. I wasn’t a prude, but a pool filled with thirty-somethings in their birthday suits didn’t make me want to jump up and join them.
“In suits.” He kissed me. “I’m sure Jessica was just teasing.”
I wasn’t so sure, but I changed into my swimsuit and slipped on a cute cover-up I’d bought just to match. I added my flower flip-flops and then we left the room. Greg had been ready in two and a half seconds. This weekend was for him and his friends. I was just along for the ride. I’d never been arm candy before and compared to Jessica, Greg wasn’t winning that competition. But I didn’t care. I was going to have fun this weekend, even if I had to turn my phone off to keep my aunt from calling.
First stop, pool party. I brought a bag with our room key, sunscreen, and a book I’d been wanting to read forever. In two weeks, classes would start up again, and my free reading time would be filled with text books about business stuff. I wasn’t sure that I was learning as much as my aunt thought I would, mostly it seemed like the curriculum was focused on big corporation, not small town stores like ours. I had no interest in franchising, and yet, that was one of the core classes I had to complete. And this semester, included a math class for business decisions. I was hoping I’d at least get a ‘C’ so I wouldn’t have to re-take the course. Math and my brain just didn’t mix.
“You don’t really think you’ll be reading, do you?”
Greg had seen me stash the book. “It could happen. Maybe the other women will be swimming or something else?”
“Then you could talk with me and my friends.” He held open the door. “I want them to get to know you, not just see you with your nose in a book.”
“Books are my business.” I reminded him.
He pulled me close. “But we are on vacation, dear. You can’t have it both ways.”
He was right, of course. I’d just told my aunt that I wasn’t working this weekend, and yet, I wanted to justify my reading by pulling in my store. Sometimes I was complicated, even in my own mind.
The pool area was beautiful with most of the tables and chairs stored away. There were just a few scattered around the patio area. The wisteria drooped over the wooden pergola, the blooms a deep purple and they filled the area with a floral scent. The men were all gathered around one table and the women were mostly on reclining chairs, sunbathing. One woman swam laps in the too blue pool.
