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Chapter 65: Open for Business
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Pelican Bay Security Chapter 66: Don't Let Tabitha Near the Oven
Tabitha, wearing one of the bakery's pink aprons with some form of melted brown goo — please let it be chocolate — all down the front of it, steps out of the kitchen carrying a plate of charcoal briquettes. Except she wasn't barbecuing back there. She was baking cookies."Your oven hates me." Her gaze never leaves the plate of her disfigured chocolate chip cookies.I cringe, not wanting to have this conversation...again. "I think it's scared of you. You intimidate it."It's a lie. A big one, but maybe it will help her kitchen confidence. Or let me kick her out permanently from the baking area. Either option works for me. "Me? How?""Well, yesterday you called it a fucking gutterslut."She taps her foot on the tile floor, annoyance obvious in her pinched features. "Well, if the name fits."There's nothing left for me to do but shake my head. "Try talking nicely to it. Maybe pet the side every once in a while.""Should I make a sacrifice, too?""No, I think those co
Pelican Bay Security Chapter 67: The Boys Will Not Be Happy About This
There's nothing else for me to do except turn around and face the bikers. The same overdone smile is plastered on my face when I do."It looks like a pink fairy took a shit in here," the tallest one says, his eyes scanning the room and his nose crinkling higher and higher with each sweep."So what brings you boys in?" Great, Anessa. When will I learn to not engage?"Dom said we should make sure and patronize local businesses," Spider says, his voice lifting on the word patronize. "Especially the new ones." He flicks a piece of his blond hair away from his face."Ahhh." Yup, not less awkward now. I wonder what they think of their boss telling them to buy something at a little pink bakery. From the way the taller one grimaces every time his eye hits a piece of the décor, he may not have known what to expect until he walked in.Tabitha passes over the white Styrofoam to-go cup with what better be the best tasting coffee she's ever poured. Next comes the tea.Everything is goin
Pelican Bay Security Chapter 68: Are We There Yet?
Another minute flicks past on the digital readout in Bennett's truck. We've been driving for well over two hours, and the conversation is light and easy. The two of us are swapping stories of different memories in our lifetimes. Bennett's mostly revolve around the foibles of learning to raise his son and mine more often than not include a baking mishap. It's perfectly us.It's a steady flow of chitchat back and forth, but now as Bennett's truck turns off the expressway and he peers out the window, obviously looking for our final destination, the cab goes silent. Dead bug carcasses dirty up his front window, but one particular gushy one is driving me insane. I want to lean over and turn on his windshield wipers to wash the green slime away."Are we there yet?" I ask in a totally annoying-child-on-a-long-car-trip voice, but it saves me the embarrassment of turning on his wipers when he isn't looking. Bennett is not ready to know how crazy I am about being clean. I'm doing both of us
Pelican Bay Security Chapter 69: Arrival
I twist around as slowly as possible so I don't move the boat too far to one side. A mile or so behind me — I've never been great with judging distance — looks to be a small island. Green trees or other shrubs mark out a small section in the horizon. "Yeah.""That's where we're going." Bennett resumes paddling with the oars he brought along."That's it?" He won't give me another hint. An island?He shakes his head laughing. "Fine, you made it this far. That tiny island is called Fort Gorges. Back in the 1800s the military built a fort on the lands. It boasted top-of-the-line technology, but then somebody went and designed a long-range gun and made the forts obsolete. It was never used.""Great example of government overspending," I murmur under my breath and twist back around to keep my eye on the green island as we get closer."Fort Gorges is a prime example of how our government works," Bennett laughs and splashes the paddle deep into the water. "Now, it's a park. I figured
Pelican Bay Security Chapter 70: Most Beautiful Places in the World
With a twist and turn Bennett positions the boat to his side, jumping out, and pulling us to shore before I even realize what's happening. When more than half the boat is on dry land, I scoot to the middle and step out. Bennett wraps the backpack around his shoulder and takes my hand before heading to the small doorway cut out of the large fortress.The overbearing stone doors open and Bennett walks through like he knows exactly where we're going. There is darkness as we walk through the sole enclosure, under an archway of smooth rock."Oh my Word," I whisper when we reach the other side and daylight falls on the space. The middle of the fort — and the island — is a lush green tropical expanse of land. A green carpet of forest floor surrounded by the walls of the fortress. And unlike Bennett's earlier statement, someone has definitely been here and mowed. The grass is cut short to the ground and smooth, making the area around us a symposium of straight lines — the intersection of m
Pelican Bay Security Chapter 71: It's Genetics
"If he grows up half as charming as you, then all the girls in Pelican Bay are in trouble. Do you want me to get the plates?" I ask in a half-assed attempt to do something to avoid a conversation I made way too personal too soon."Well..." He laughs the word, but I sense Bennett is frustrated. Not something I've ever seen with him. "I forgot the plates."The smile that hasn't left my face since the minute we stepped foot on the island grows. "You forgot the plates?""Hey, I remembered the fancy napkins." He flips his napkin around a few times.It's enough to lighten the mood. "Well then, pass me a fork."I grab the bowl of macaroni and cheese before he has a chance to stop me. We eat sitting on a black and white checkered blanket on a grassy section of a forgotten fort — Bennett and me together.It takes a while, but eventually we've each had a sandwich and taken a turn eating macaroni from the bowl. The conversation is easy, revolving mostly around my future plans for the
Pelican Bay Security Chapter 72: No Judgement
"You can tell us if you did. We won't judge you." Katy taps Tabitha on the shoulder and both girls nod their heads doing their best to look innocent."They're lying to you. Katy will ask one thousand embarrassing follow-up questions." The fourth person at our table shakes her head, giving me advice I already know.Katy scoffs, the main lights in the town's newest bar casting weird shadows on her face. "Winnie! I can't believe you say such lies about me.""I can't believe you'd deny it?" Winnie, not at all perturbed by Katy's comment, pulls a piece of her long blonde hair behind her ear. She slowly blinks, her green eyes telling Katy she's not buying any of it. "I'm not warning her of anything she didn't already know. Am I?" She looks to me with the question."No," I respond. Katy would probably ask me to draw a diagram of what Bennett and I did."See?" Winnie tips up a shoulder in a halfhearted shrug. One of Katy's high school friends who now lives in Vegas, she's back in Pel
Pelican Bay Security Chapter 73: A Crowded Bar
"Well, they've obviously improved." I've never been one to search out bands. The only concert I've ever attended was Justin Bieber with my niece during my failed attempt at college. And that's an experience I don't wish to repeat. I couldn't hear for two days after. But the band tonight sounded as good as the professionals. As loud too.I lose sight of Tabitha as she inches closer to the bar, the crowd circling around her blocking her path and my line of sight. My head tips back and forth as I search the crowd, hopeful her arms are loaded up with drinks. When she finally reaches the table my shoulders slump with release. With two arms wrapped around them Tabitha carries four tall glasses, each filled with ice and a light brown colored liquid. Considering earlier tonight she said everyone should get drunk on Long Islands, for once it's not hard to guess what she's holding.She sets the glasses on the table and I quickly grab one from the end. Liquid is liquid and I've always been a
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