Summer Rental (46 page)

“I can’t believe she’s just going to walk away and leave Ty,” Dorie said, keeping her voice low. “He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to her, and tomorrow she’s just going to get in her car and drive back to Philly—and then pick up and move across the country?”

Madison sat cross-legged on her blanket, sipping from a cold bottle of water. “Maybe she’s just not ready for a relationship. To commit.”

“Hah!” Julia chortled. “You don’t know Ellis. Nobody was ever more ready for a relationship than Ellis. Before Ty, she hadn’t been with a man in, like, dog years.”

“Ellis got married right out of college to this totally inappropriate guy,” Dorie said, filling Madison in.

“The marriage was over before she got the wedding dress back from the dry cleaner’s,” Julia added. “Literally. Right, Dorie?”

“She was devastated,” Dorie agreed. “It stunted her emotionally. For years.”

“She buried herself in work at that damned bank, never to
ok a vacation, and then, poof! They go and downsize her. She wakes up and realizes she’s thirty-five, single, with no prospects in sight. And then garage guy walks in, and sweeps her right out of those damned sensible shoes of hers. But because Ty doesn’t have a 401(k) and he doesn’t fit into her game plan, she refuses to consider how right they are for each other,” Julia said, glancing furtively at Ellis to make sure she couldn’t hear her life being dissected.

“Look at her, poor thing,” Dorie whispered, nodding towards Ellis, who had dozed off, facedown on her chair. “She was probably up all night crying after their big fight.”

“It’s sad,” Madison observed.

“Ellis never talks about it, but I know she’s always wanted a family,” Dorie said. “That’s what’s so heartbreaking. She could have that with Ty. I mean, he’s perfect for her.”

“And hot. Smokin’ hot,” Julia pointed out.

“They did seem pretty sweet together,” Madison said. “But she’s a grown-up, right? And she knows what will and won’t work for her.”

“Not this time,” Dorie said. She looked at Julia. “We’ve got to do something. And quick.”

Julia jumped to her feet, tiptoed over to the sleeping Ellis, grabbed her beach tote, and brought it over to her own chair. She rummaged around inside the bag, setting aside sunblock, lipblock, paperback novel, and a notepad containing Ellis’s to-do list. Finally, jubilantly, she held up Ellis’s cell phone. “Don’t worry,” she told the others. “I’m on it.”

*   *   *

The tiny print on the computer screen seemed to swim before his eyes. The agribusiness start-up he’d been following was announcing its IPO. He glanced over at the notes he’d made. The research was more than promising. The opening stock price was ridiculously low—four dollars a share? Two months ago, he’d have taken the plunge, gone all in. He had a little cushion now, with the cash from the movie people, so why couldn’t he make himself place the stock order?

Ty shook his head, got up from the wooden table he’d moved over to his new cottage, and walked out to the screened porch. The sky was crystal
blue, cloudless, a slight breeze coming off the beach. He stretched and rotated his shoulders. He’d been at the computer most of the morning, deliberately avoiding Ebbtide.

He hadn’t actually planned to move over to Pelican until later in the day, but after the breakup with Ellis the night before, he hadn’t seen any point in staying in the apartment another night. He’d sat at the kitchen table, drinking half the bottle of wine, then dumping the rest down the sink before he loaded his stuff in the Bronco and moved it over to Pelican Cottage sometime after midnight.

Instead of making him sleepy, the wine had made him annoyingly hyper. So he’d spent the early morning hours burying himself in the minutiae of day trading.

It was nearly eleven now, and he knew the garage was gone, because Joe had e-mailed him a photo taken at the precise moment the rotted wooden structure collapsed into the sand. Ty had glanced at the photo and deleted it. Not a moment he wanted to celebrate.

He should have been at the house by now. He’d hired the frame carpenters and laborers needed to start the barn raising, but somehow, he just couldn’t make himself take the half-mile trip down the road to Ebbtide. He wondered if Ellis had watched the garage being torn down. She’d probably applauded its demise. Why the hell had he told her about his idiotic teenage trysts there with Kendra?

Ty went back inside the cottage and began shutting down his computer. His cell phone dinged, signaling he had a text message.

DEAR MR. CULPEPPER: WE NEED 2 TALK. MEET ME @ BEACH, MIDNIGHT, 2NITE. YR. FRIEND, ELLIS SULLIVAN.

He stared down at the text block. She wanted to talk? About what? As far as he was concerned, she’d done all the talking that was necessary the night before.

The hell with her, he told himself, typing rapidly.

NOTHING LEFT 2 SAY.

*   *   *

“Shit!” Julia exclaimed, staring down at Ty’s text. “He’s as stubborn as she is.”

“Now what?” Dorie asked, keeping an eye on the slumbering Ellis.

Julia flexed her fingers and looked towards the sky for inspiration, but found only a flock of seagulls circling overhead.

“We just have to get them together,” she muttered. “He’s crazy about her. She’s crazy about him. What’s so hard about this?”

“Talk about crazy, you two are insane if you think this is going to work,” Madison said. “We’re talking about two adults here, not a couple of sitcom characters.”

“Let’s analyze,” Dorie said. “What is it that’s keeping them apart?”

“Money,” Madison said quickly. “Lack of it.”

“Not really,” Dorie said.

“Ellis is the least materialistic person I know,” Julia agreed. “But she’s so friggin’ practical.”

“And rigid,” Dorie threw in. “If she can’t list it, chart it, or graph it, Ellis doesn’t get it. She craves security.”

“Security,” Madison with a snort. “I thought I was getting that when I married Don, and look where it got me.”

“If she knew Ty had some kind of a job, and if she had a job—one that would allow her to live here with him—I think Ellis would stay,” Julia said.

“Well, let’s get them jobs,” Dorie said, as though it were the simplest thing in the world.

“Doing what?” Madison asked, flopping back down to the sand. “This is hopeless.”

Julia scowled at Madison. “We can do this. I know we can. We just need to think outside the box.”

“You said she worked at a bank,” Madison said, trying to regain favor. “What kind of work did she do there?”

“Marketing,” Julia said.

“Couldn’t she do that down here?”

“If there were any really big banks here, sure, but Ellis
did corporate marketing,” Dorie said kindly. “And those jobs are in big cities, like Philly or Charlotte, where she worked before, or Seattle, where she’s going to move if we don’t stop her.”

“Couldn’t she telecommute?” Madison asked. “I mean, these days, if you have a computer, a BlackBerry, and a headset, you can do just about any kind of work, anywhere.”

“No,” Julia said peevishly. “It doesn’t work like that.”

Dorie looked quizzically at Julia. “Why couldn’t it work that way? One of our math teachers at school, her husband does IT work for a company out of Boston. He flies up there one week out of every month, but the rest of the time he works from home, right there in Savannah.”

“See?” Madison said smugly. “Telecommuting. That’s the answer.”

“It could be,” Julia said slowly. “But Ellis has a job offer. You heard her. It’s the total package: pay, promotion, benefits. You know how the economy is. There just aren’t that many jobs out there.”

“Because she’s really only applied for jobs in bank marketing and on the East Coast,” Dorie pointed out. “Maybe if she sorta branched out, you know, widened her target, with the idea of telecommuting, she’d have a better shot.”

“Maybe,” Julia said. “It’s worth thinking about. Ellis is terrific at what she does, nobody’s harder working, or more creative or talented, that’s for sure.”

“And what about Ty?” Dorie said. “That’s a tough one. Ellis told us Ty said he never wants another office job, never wants to have to put on a tie or sit in a cubicle again.”

“I don’t know, I don’t know,” Julia moaned. “This is hurting my head.”

Dorie was still watching Ellis, who’d stirred, just the slightest bit, throwing an arm over her eyes to block out the sun. “Let’s get back to business,” she whispered. “Before Ellis wakes up and catches us with her phone. What are we going to say to Ty to get him to meet her on the beach at midnight?”

“Even if you get
him
here, how are you going to get Ellis here?” Madison asked.

“First things first,” Julia said, typing again.

*   *   *

Ty read the text once, and then again, to make sure he’d read it right.

IF YOU LOVE ME, YOU’LL COME.

He typed rapidly, without thinking.

SEE YOU @ MIDNIGHT.

As soon as the “sent” icon lit up, he closed the phone and slipped it in the pocket of his shorts. He opened his computer, rebooted, and went to his account page. The IPO offer for the agribiz seemed to be going well. Share prices were up to $4.25. He hit the “buy” button, nodded, and shut the computer down again.

He went outside, unlocked his beach cruiser, and pedaled quickly up the road to Ebbtide. It was going to be an interesting day, no matter what.

*   *   *

“Oh my God!” Dorie squealed, when Julia handed her Ellis’s phone. “It worked. It totally worked. He’s coming.” She held her hand over her heart and sighed deeply. “This is so romantic, I could die.”

“You
will
die, because Ellis will probably kill you two when she finds out what you’ve been up to,” Madison said. “Now, tell me, geniuses, how are you going to get Ellis down to the beach at midnight?”

“We’ll get her there,” Julia said, “doing what we do best: lying and trickery. All we have to do now is keep Ellis away from Ty until their midnight meeting. Just in case he happens to mention getting those texts.”

“That won’t be hard,” Dorie predicted. “Ellis hates confrontation. If she even sees Ty, I bet she’ll run the other way.”

“Even so, I don’t want to take any chances,” Julia said. She took the cell phone back from Dorie, and carefully cleared the texts to Ty from the memory. Then she tucked it back in the beach bag, and tiptoed over to where Ellis was just beginning to stir.

Julia plopped down onto the sand beside Ellis, at the same time dropping the bag casually beside her chair.

“Hey,” Ellis said, shading her eyes from the sun’s glare. “What are you up to?”

“Nothing,” Julia said innocently. “Just wanted to tell you to turn over. Your face is getting too much sun.”

“Thanks,” Ellis said, yawning. “You’re the best.”

“You don’t even know,” Julia said, handing Ellis a bottle of sunblock. “Listen, Booker left this morning, and I still need to return all that stuff I bought to HomeGoods. Dorie’s got a farewell lunch date with Connor, and Madison … well, you know Madison. Anyway, I was wondering if you’d go with me to help load and unload the stuff. Dorie says we can take the van.”

Ellis frowned. “I was kinda thinking I’d start cleaning out the fridge and packing this afternoon.”

“Madison volunteered to clean the fridge,” Julia lied. “And you’ll have plenty of time to pack this afternoon, before we head out for karaoke tonight.”

“Yeah,” Ellis said slowly. “About karaoke. I know it’s your birthday and all, but I really don’t think I’m gonna be up for a lot of partying tonight. I’ll go to dinner, but after that, I think I’ll just have a last quiet night at Ebbtide. I want to get an early start in the morning.”

“Nuh-uh,” Julia said. “You’re not weaseling out of karaoke. It’s our last night together, not to mention my birthday. Don’t make me play the guilt card, Ellis. Either we all go, or nobody goes.” She crossed her arms and glared defiantly at her friend.

“Does it have to be karaoke at Caddie’s?”

“Yes, it does,” Julia said. “Anyway, it’s Friday. Even if Ty is working tonight, he’ll be too busy slinging margaritas to see what you’re up to.”

“This isn’t about Ty,” Ellis started.

“Sure it is,” Julia said. She stood up and offered a hand to Ellis. “Now let’s get moving. I’m pretty sure you’ve drawn up a new Kaper chart back at the house, telling all of us what we’ve got to do before checkout tomorrow.”

49

“Ty,” Angie said, “I’m at my wit’s end here. Patricia’s a no-show again. It’s our last college night of the summer, and the place is already packed to the rafters. I’m begging you. Just come in ’til midnight. I’ll get Nella to close, but if I don’t get somebody behind the bar, like, right now, I may have to kill myself.”

Ty pushed his chair away from the computer. He walked out of the cottage and stared out at the sky. It was past eight and the last orange streaks of sunset were barely visible over the dunes that separated Pelican Cottage from the beach. The view wasn’t nearly as good as his own view back at the garage apartment at Ebbtide had been. He was going to miss that view, but there would be other sunsets, and in ninety days, give or take a few, he would be back home at the old house, this time for good.

“Sorry, Angie, can’t do it,” Ty said. “I’ve got something else tonight.”

“What?” she demanded. “Look, I told you I’m desperate. Just tell me what it’ll take to get you here, right now, and I’ll pay it.”

He considered Angie’s offer. She was over a barrel, and he knew it.

“A hundred bucks an hour,” he said promptly. “Cash. Plus tip out.”

“Shit!” Angie groaned. “I could get five bartenders for that.”

“So get ’em.”

“No, damn it. I need you and you know it. Get over here now.”

“Sure,” he said. “But there’s just one more thing. I can’t stay ’til midnight. I gotta be out of there by eleven thirty. Sharp.”

“Okay, fine, whatever,” she said.

“I mean it, Angie. I don’t care if every damn college kid on the Outer Banks is in there tonight. I’m walking at eleven thirty. No matter what. Understand?”

“Just get here,” Angie snapped.

*   *   *

Julia sauntered into Ellis’s room just as she was zipping herself into the pink Lilly Pulitzer sundress.