With Love, from Cold World(25)
She wondered what Daniel would come up with. Maybe something that made Cold World classier, a destination for a wedding or a venue for corporate events. Briefly, Lauren thought about what that might look like, and she could almost picture it. It could be the type of place where Marj’s law firm would host its next holiday party. She could picture Daniel standing at the end of a renovated Wonderland Walk, handsome in his tux with boutonniere, hands clasped behind his back, smiling down the aisle . . .
Lauren clenched the dress she’d been holding, bringing it to her face to muffle her groan. The man spoke five sentences to her and suddenly she was envisioning him in full wedding cosplay. It was obscene.
And anyway, the more she thought about it, the more Cold World as a classy venue just didn’t work. A large part of its charm was in its kitsch. There had to be a way to retain that but make it . . . better. Right?
Her phone buzzed, and she withdrew it from her pocket to see a picture on the screen. Kiki was front and center, clearly in charge of the selfie, sticking her tongue out of the side of her mouth and crossing her eyes. Next to her was a woman Lauren recognized from other pictures as Kiki’s girlfriend Marj, smiling widely, leaning into a guy with dark curly hair who Lauren assumed to be one of the housemates she hadn’t met. On his other side was presumably another housemate, one with a goatee and a look of being over it. And then there was Asa in the back, his blue hair mostly out of frame, his smile half-covered by the curly guy’s head.
Weather’s perfect. You should come out!! Park at the dunes if there’s a spot—bit of a walk but ten bucks and you can stay all day.
Lauren bit her lip, considering. The drive didn’t bother her. She liked spending long stretches of time in the car, just her and her thoughts. And it might be nice to get out.
She rotated her phone until the photo filled the whole screen. Everyone looked happy, and comfortable with each other. And why not? They hung out all the time. She’d feel silly, going all that way only to feel like a sixth wheel.
Another text message from Kiki appeared at the top of her screen. Please? We’re going to be voting on lunch soon and I’m outnumbered by burger stans.
Lauren grinned. Personally, she had no issue with a good burger, but she knew that Kiki had some rant about how it was the most boring food choice in the world. Lauren didn’t understand what made burgers persona non grata while chicken sandwiches appeared to be okay, but she knew better than to bring it up.
Maybe tacos? she typed back. I can be there in about an hour.
* * *
? ? ?
In the end, it wasn’t hard to find the group at all. Lauren parked where Kiki told her to, and she was going to text that she’d arrived, except that as soon as she stepped foot on the sand she saw them stretched out near the water. Kiki was on her stomach, talking to Marj, who was sitting cross-legged next to her on the same towel. The curly-haired guy was on a towel next to them, a book in his hand.
She didn’t see the other housemate. Or Asa, for that matter. It was probably for the best, since the last thing she wanted to do was explain how she’d suddenly freed up her schedule after making such a big deal about how busy she was.
“Hey!” Kiki said, propping herself up on her elbows to smile up at Lauren. “So glad you made it. John, scooch over so Lauren can put her towel next to ours.”
“Oh, that’s—” Lauren started, not wanting to put anyone out. But John was already standing, sliding his towel over a few feet and plopping back down on it without looking up from his book.
“Thank you,” she said awkwardly, and he did glance up at that, giving her a brief smile.
“You must be Lauren,” Marj said, reaching over to offer her hand to shake. Only she was still holding her phone, and so she set it down in her lap with a little laugh before trying again. “Sorry. It’s like an extension of my limb at this point.”
“Makes our sex life very interesting,” Kiki muttered, and Marj poked her in the side.
“It’s the end of the year,” Marj said. “And I’m still a little short of my billable-hour target.”
Lauren didn’t quite know what to say to that. “Well, good luck.”
“If this conversation hits six minutes, she’ll bill you for it,” Kiki said. “Was the drive okay?”
“Not bad,” Lauren said, shielding her eyes to look out at the water. Now that she was here, she wondered why she’d put off coming to the beach for so long. There really was something restful about it—the heat of the sun on the back of your neck, the slow roll of the waves as they hit the shore. She’d slathered some sunscreen on in the parking lot, and hoped it would last.
She’d ended up wearing a black tank top and jean shorts, her green bikini underneath just in case. She doubted she’d actually want to get in the water, but she supposed it was better to be prepared.
“I was saying before you got here that I might pick up some gimmicky handcrafted Florida ornament at one of the local shops. Normally, you’d think no one who lives here would want one, but you know Dolores eats that kind of shit up.” Kiki seemed to register that Lauren needed to be brought more up to speed than that, and she gave a little laugh. “I got her for Secret Santa. Who’d you get?”
“I thought it was supposed to be secret,” Lauren said.