10:Craving

August 8

“Caleb, would you take Nana out?”

“Again?” her youngest legal adult groaned.  Turning eighteen yesterday had made him an intolerant pain in the neck.  “That dog is a nuisance.  We stopped three times during a two hour drive out here.  You should’ve left her in a kennel so we can enjoy this vacation.”

Glancing over her shoulder from the cabinet where she was putting away groceries, she dryly remarked, “Good thing I didn’t adopt that attitude with you, or you probably still wouldn’t have seen the beach.”

“Ha ha.  Very funny.  I still think you have an unhealthy obsession with the dog,” he contended while clipping the leash on Nana’s collar.  “I’m surprised you don’t take her to work with you.”

Charlie closed the cabinet doors and turned to remove the cereal from another bag.  She actually had taken Nana to the office a couple of times, but only when there was a vet appointment scheduled during the day.  Taking good care of her little dog didn’t make her any more obsessed than all the other dog owners out there. 

But since her son was obviously convinced…

“Don’t be insulting to your sister.”

“Oh for God’s sake!”  He flicked the screen door handle harder than was necessary and called behind him, “After you pay my tuition, I’m disowning you.”

“Love you, too!” 

Chuckling to herself, she folded the reusable bags and tucked them into a bottom cabinet.  The kitchen here was a nice, family-style one with lots of counter-space and seating.  It almost made her wish she’d invited Dom instead of Luke.  Her oldest brother would’ve made good use of the space and let them eat restaurant quality meals without paying the exorbitant Hamptons prices to do so.  The house had been expensive enough, and she was feeling every penny of the rental price piled on top of renovation costs, tuition and her other suffocating monthly expenses. 

Overall, this trip probably wasn’t the best financial decision she’d ever made, but both of her boys were going to the other side of the country in two weeks and Charlie wouldn’t see them until Christmas.  She could always make more money, but there wouldn’t always be the chance to create these kinds of memories.

“Mom.  When’s Uncle Luke coming?”

Not bothering to look toward the doorway from where her eldest son’s voice came, Charlie stayed inside the refrigerator where she was stowing water and speculated, “Soon, I suppose.  He was driving into Manhattan to pick up Sydney at nine, then they were supposed to come straight here.”

“It’s twelve-thirty now.  It’s not even a three hour drive from Manhattan."

After closing the fridge door, a look at the wall clock confirmed his ability to tell time.  This was why she and the boys had left at eight this morning and stopped at a grocery store only once they were through the most traffic-congested part of the trip.  Luke was convinced that nine on a Saturday morning wouldn’t present any travel difficulties and wouldn’t listen to anybody who said differently.

“They must’ve run into traffic,” she suggested, noting that Noah had changed into a tank and swim trunks.  “Why?  What’s the hurry?”

“I wanna hit the beach.  Do we have to wait?”

She was looking forward to the beach almost as much as her son, but it was too hot in the middle of the day to suit her.  Charlie would rather go before noon or after four to avoid some of the more intense sunrays and subsequent heat stroke.  Teenagers didn’t seem to be affected by those things, though, and since they were here to have fun…

“Go ahead and leave whenever you like, just take your phone in case Syd wants to come over and find you.  Which beach?”

This rental was specifically chosen for its close proximity to two of the five East Hampton beaches.  Main Beach was less than a mile away while Georgica Beach was only slightly further, making both equally accessible except for parking.

“The closest one,” was his grinning response.  “You said there were bikes in the garage?”

“There’s supposed to be.  Is Caleb going with you?”

“Where’s he going?” Caleb himself countered while reentering the house and releasing Nana.

“Beach.”

“You better believe it,” he told his brother.  “Gimme five minutes to change clothes.”

It wasn’t much longer than that before they were both pedaling off in the direction of Main Beach, and Charlie was left alone with a diet soda on the back deck.  The heat was noticeable, but not unbearable there.  The umbrella in the center of the patio table kept she and Nana shaded, and a slight breeze ruffled the fine hairs that weren’t long enough to capture in her hair clip. 

“How’s my girl?” she crooned to the little dog lying across her bare feet.  “You like having a yard so we can sit outside?”

Charlie took the happy lick of her big toe as a sign of Nana’s approval and, inhaling deeply, she leaned forward to rest her elbows on the table and willed herself to relax. 

The last couple of weeks had been busy at work.  She picked up two new clients, one of which had a complex settlement to negotiate in a short amount of time.  The paperwork kept Charlie up late after already long evenings filled with renovations, and even caused her to miss the weekly kickboxing class that helped her blow off steam.  She had dutifully slogged through it all, though, and the paperwork went out yesterday, allowing her to mentally shift gears and proceed with a vacation that she direly needed.

The sparkling water of the pool across the yard lapped gently at the edges, enticing her to explore its cool depths, but sitting here on her exhausted butt was a much more attractive proposition at the moment.  Not only had she been staying up late working, but when she’d finally given herself permission to go to bed, it was to close her eyes and find an angry gray-haired musician lurking behind her eyelids. 

One would think she had a photographic memory with how clearly she could visualize the coldness in his eyes and the flat set of his mouth.  Her tactile recollection wasn’t so bad either because even ice blue irises couldn’t offset the heat that flared to life every time she thought of his scalding hands around her waist.  It was enough to make her angry and horny all at the same time, which had screwed over the possibility of actually sleeping. 

“Screwed.  Ugh.” 

Screwed was exactly what she needed if that man was taunting her hormones, she thought wryly when rising and relocating herself to the cushy padded sofa where she might stretch out and close her eyes with Nana.  Due to one circumstance and then another, it had been well over a year since she last had sex with another person.  God only knew when she last had an encounter that truly satisfied her sexual hunger.  Owen had ceased to satisfy her –in any way – in about 1997.

You haven't seen him since Caleb's graduation.  Don't bring him on vacation with you.

Even without him, finding a good vacation screw wasn’t in the cards with a house full of family members, most of whom were still impressionable young adults.  At least she’d had the foresight to choose the only upstairs bedroom and pack a vibrator along with one of those extra-trashy romance books.  It wasn’t the same as a hard, sweaty bump and grind, but it would take the edge off and keep her from being a total bitch.

Possibly.

Damn kids, she swore groggily to herself, enjoying the cradling comfort of the puffy cushions.

Charlie didn’t realize that the patio sofa was comfortable enough to sleep on until the ringing and vibrating phone in her shorts pocket awakened her some time later.  Groaning with a stiff back, she rolled over and crammed a hand in her pocket to fish out the noisy thing.  A glance at the screen revealed that Noah was calling.

“Hey,” she mumbled thickly, wiping the corner of her mouth. 

Nap drool is disgusting. 

“Where are you?” her eldest contrarily challenged.  “Sydney’s calling me freaking out because you’re not answering your phone.”

She pushed herself up with another, quieter, groan and surveyed the long shadows in the back yard.  She must have slept away a good part of the afternoon, she speculated as her feet hit the deck floor.  In full support of that theory, Nana immediately materialized to soulfully look up at her with a “where’s my dinner?” look in her eyes.

“I fell asleep on the deck,” was her muzzy explanation.  “What time is it?  What did Syd want?”

“It’s almost five and her dad had a disaster on one of his projects.  They won’t be here until tomorrow or Monday.”

The extra time with just her kids would be nice.  They spent every evening in the same house, but by the time she got home, the boys were ready to retreat to their rooms with phones, tablets and video games.  Tonight they could pretend to be an all-American family and gather around the table for a meal.  Maybe the boys would fix one of their garlic lover specials. 

“Okay.  In that case, how does pizza sound for dinner?”

“Actually, it sounds really good.”  His level of enthusiasm was more than she could’ve hoped for.  “We met some guys on the beach.  They’re gonna grab some for dinner and invited us to go.”

And that explains why.

Dinner by herself would be fine, and that unopened box of cereal would be just as good as pizza.

No, it wouldn’t, but she could pretend.

“Okay.  Are you alright on bikes, or are you coming to get the car?”

“I think they’re going to give us a ride.  Their house is pretty close to the beach, so we’ll leave the bikes there until later.  Hold on, Mom.”  There was a quiet rumble of conversation in the background before he came back on the line with, “They say their dad’s going, too, so you can come.  Want to meet us there?”

Now that she’d slept all afternoon, Charlie was feeling a little more sociable.  While the idea of dining with strangers isn’t what she would’ve hand-picked, it didn’t seem as repulsive as it would’ve earlier in the day. 

Besides, it sounded like there would be at least four lively teenage boys in attendance.  There would be little reason for her to make more than the occasional comment after greeting their father, and she could also satisfy the pizza craving she’d talked herself into.

Pizza sounded so much better than cereal.

“Sure, I’ll go.  Text me the address along with what time to meet you.”

Daily treats are over!  :(

Today we move to Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday posting.  

Next post: Sunday, Sept. 10