“You okay?” Dad asks with a gentle concern that never fails to get one of his kids talking about their problems.
I stare out at the rolling hills beyond my parents’ yard. “Oh, you know me.”
“I do, which is why I’m asking.” He pauses, his gaze studying the deck beneath his feet. “First loves are always the hardest to get over.”
I huff a laugh. “Damn straight.” I stand and loop an arm around my dad’s shoulders. “I’m okay, Dad.”
5
Laiyla
By the time I finish scrubbing the kitchen counter, I’m sweating, and my arms ache. “Done.” I straighten and wipe the back of my hand across my damp brow. “Manual labor has never been my thing.”
“No shit.” This from KT, who agreed to tackle the bathroom for an extra slice of pizza, which should be here any minute.
I turn a mock frown on her. “Why the hate?”
“Done.” This from Chloe, who’s been picking up dirt and dust on every horizontal surface. “I feel like I’ve just completed another piece of my Eat, Pray, Love journey.”
KT snorts a laugh. “I’m up for the eating part. Shouldn’t the pizza be here?” The sound of running water comes from the bathroom, then KT’s “God dammit.”
“What?” I ask, stepping into the bathroom to find black water coming out of the showerhead. “Ew, what the hell is that?” When my gaze continues to the shower floor, I see the water itself isn’t black, but filled with black dots. I lean in. “What in the—” I gasp and jump backward, reflexively standing on my toes. “Ew, ew, ew. Are those ants?”
KT starts laughing, then laughs harder, and harder, until she’s on hands and knees having a hard time breathing.
Chloe comes over to see what’s happening and chuckles. “Oh, yeah, I’ve had that happen more times than I care to count.”
“My skin is crawling.” I rub my hands over the gooseflesh on my arms. “No way. Game over. Where’s my phone? I’m booking us the most luxurious oceanfront suite in Santa Barbara I can find.”
Now Chloe’s laughing as hard as KT. “Relax. These kind don’t even bite.”
I make a choked sound, unable to even address that comment. “Ick, ick, ick. I can’t even.” I go outside, letting the door slam. From the dock, I stare at the boat. “How can you stay in there with them? Come out before they eat you alive or something.”
I’m shifting from foot to foot while I search my phone for beachfront hotels in Santa Barbara. “Found one,” I yell. “Are you two still alive in there? I just need to know so I can book the right size suite. It only costs my monthly paycheck per night. What a fuckin’ steal.”
KT pushes the screen door open, and she’s got the biggest smile on her face that I’ve ever seen. Damn, she turns magnetic when she really smiles, something she doesn’t do nearly often enough. “Chill, city girl. This is common in underused pipes.”
“I can’t take a shower in there now. What if there’s more? Oh my God, officially washing in the lake for the rest of this trip.”
“Once they’re gone, they’re gone,” Chloe says from behind KT. “I guess I’m desensitized by all the crazy bugs I’ve come across throughout the world. I’d take ants over just about any other crawly creature. Just to be completely transparent, I did find a number of mouse droppings throughout the boat.”
“Holy fuck. No. No, no, no.” I frantically tap the face of my phone as the webpage for luxury accommodations malfunctions. “No, no, no, no, no, no.”
“Look,” KT says. “Pizza.”
“Hello?” A male voice calls from the front of the main dock. “Anyone here? Pizza delivery.”
Chloe bolts past me on the dock, yelling, “Here.”
“Oh. Food.” My breathing slows. I know they think it’s funny, but I really am traumatized by the ants. “Yeah. Okay. That’ll help.”
The pizza kid is maybe seventeen, and the way he ogles the three of us as we pay him
and take the pizza is adorable. With his dark wild head of hair and light eyes, he reminds me a little of Levi at the same age. We really were just babies back then. Our decisions just momentary attempts to keep our shit together.
Chloe opens a bottle of wine while I pull out the paper plates, and KT sets the pizza boxes on a coffee table we made out of plastic crates connected with zip ties.
I stand, staring at the floor, expecting to see a mouse pop its beady little eyes up at me.