The Shore (21 page)

She nodded in agreement, her head tilting back as she looked up at him.

“It's just made me remember,” he said.

“Remember what?” she asked.

“The last time.”

She was staring into his eyes, and he knew that he had her.

He moved in and kissed her. Her lips parted in response, and he slid his tongue inside her mouth. She made a little whimpering sound as his hands roamed up under her shirt.

Suddenly she stiffened, clamped her lips shut, and pushed him away. They were both red-faced and panting.

“What's wrong?” he asked.

“I can't,” she said, tucking her shirt back in. “This is so wrong.”

“Why?” he asked. “It wasn't so wrong last time.”

“You have to go,” she said.

He didn't move. She was so tempting. He started to reach for her again.

“No!” This time she slapped his hand away. “I didn't know Avery then, but I do now. She doesn't deserve this. Go before we're both sorry.”

Curt rose to his feet. He knew April was right. Despite all his suspicions about Avery, he knew she'd basically been faithful. Even with people like that jerk Anthony trying to tempt her. So yeah, hooking up with April would have been wrong. But he was pretty sure he wouldn't have been sorry.

• • •

It had been a strange day and it was shaping up to be a depressing night. Most everyone was out of the house, probably on dates or at parties. Polly curled up on the living room couch with a bowl of popcorn and a chick flick she had rented for the evening.
Sleepless in Seattle
was a classic and very romantic, but it was doing nothing for her mood.

She still couldn't believe Sabrina was the thief. Well, she believed it. What was truly amazing was that she'd gone to each of them and apologized, promising to pay them back as soon as she could.

The front door opened and Curt strolled in. Polly stiffened. He was so moody; she never knew what to expect from him. He headed straight for the couch as though he had been looking for her. She groaned inwardly and curled up into a little ball in the corner of the couch.

“Hey, Polly. How are you doing?”

“Fine. You?”

He sat down on the couch and gazed at the TV. “Can you believe Sabrina?”

“I know, amazing, huh?” Polly relaxed a little. Tonight Curt seemed pretty mellow.

“Guess you never know,” Curt said. “You think girls like her just feel so superior they think they can break the rules?”

It was funny, but the same thought had crossed Polly's mind. “I don't know.”

They both watched the movie for a while.

“Isn't it amazing how messed up relationships can be?” Curt asked.

“Are we talking about the movie, or everyone we know?” Polly asked, half joking.

“Actually, I'm talking about Avery and me.”

Polly frowned at him. This was utterly unexpected. He returned her gaze, and she saw that he was serious.

“I don't know if you know this, but Avery's mom died a few years ago,” he said.

“I heard.”

“It really tore her up,” Curt said. “She was vulnerable for a long time—still is, really. Because of it, she doesn't always think of things the same way other people do.”

He paused as though to get her reaction. Polly still had no clue what he wanted from her, so she just nodded.

Apparently that satisfied him, because he continued. “She's very pretty and very smart, but she's also very naive. I'm sure you've noticed that, especially where men are concerned?”

“She never knows when a guy's flirting with her,” Polly confirmed.

“Exactly!” Curt said, more enthusiastically. “You're exactly right. And that's part of the problem. When a girl as sweet and pretty as Avery is that naive, guys try to take advantage of her.” He paused and eyed Polly for a moment. “You do know what I mean when I say ‘take advantage' right?”

“Of course I do,” Polly said, her cheeks flaming.

“Good,” Curt said. “That's why I really need your help. I need you to help me watch out for her.”

Polly stiffened.
Oh, my gosh, he's going to ask me if she likes Lucas!

“You see, I'm worried—” Curt continued.

What am I going to do?

“about—”

I can't tell him about Lucas!

“Anthony.”

Polly blinked. She sat stunned for a second before she repeated, “Anthony?”

“Yes.”

“There's nothing going on between Avery and Anthony,” Polly said, bewildered.

“I know, I know,” Curt said, putting a hand up. “I'm just worried about the guy.” His tone and mannerisms were gentle and persuasive, but there was a look in his eye that confused her.

“I really don't think you have anything to worry about,” Polly said. “I mean, they talk to each other a lot at work, but not about anything important. And, if you're talking about what happened at that surprise dinner . . .”

“Surprise dinner?” Curt repeated solemnly. Avery hadn't said anything about that. “Thank you, Polly,” he said, his voice distant and his eyes far away. “Thank you.”

He got up and left, leaving Polly with the queasy feeling that somehow she had said the wrong thing.

The next morning, Polly tried to get Avery alone to tell her about Curt, but things were too crazy. Avery was running late, and Polly finally had to leave for work without her. Avery arrived at the restaurant about five minutes before the doors opened and the customers started streaming in. Before Polly knew it, they were halfway into the lunch rush. Every table was jammed and she was constantly running from table to kitchen and back again. The other waitresses were in a similar rush and narrowly missed a dozen collisions with customers and one another.

When the inevitable collision came, Polly was the one who ended up with chili all over the front of her shirt as the waitress, Terry, swung the kitchen door open and right into Polly's tray of half-empty plates. Polly ran to the bathroom and spent ten minutes trying to get the stain out before she realized that she would have to fix it later. She abandoned the shirt—thankful that she was wearing a plain white tank top underneath—and threw it into her employee locker before heading back into the restaurant. She got there just as Curt exploded through the front door. Polly knew at once that he had been drinking. He was unsteady on his feet, and the scent of alcohol wafted from him.

Avery was standing at the hostess podium talking with
Anthony, and Polly watched in horror as they both turned and saw Curt. Before anyone could say anything, Curt grabbed the front of Anthony's shirt.

“Stay away from my girlfriend!” he shouted, loud enough to get the attention of everyone inside the restaurant. All conversation ceased, and heads turned their way.

“Excuse me?” Anthony asked, keeping his voice low to avoid disrupting the customers.

“Curt! Let go of him.” Avery tried to pry Curt's hand from Anthony's shirt.

“I'm going to pound this guy,” Curt grumbled, pulling his fist back.

“Why? He hasn't done anything to you!”

“He's done plenty. What about the surprise dinner?” Curt grunted.

Polly groaned. She knew it! He'd only used her to get information the night before. And he'd gotten it all wrong.

“What are you talking about?” Anthony asked.

“The surprise dinner!” Curt said.

Avery stared at Curt, eyes wide. It was a telling look, as if she was thinking, “How did he know about that?” The entire restaurant seemed to be holding its breath, awaiting her response. Polly felt helpless, as though she was rooted to the ground, incapable of movement.

“I don't know what you heard,” Avery hissed. “But whatever it was, it was wrong.” She was clearly trying to keep her voice
down, but by this time everyone in the restaurant was hanging on to her every word.

“Don't lie,” Curt said. “I know all about it. Polly told me.”

And suddenly, all eyes were on Polly. She wished the floor would open up and swallow her. “It's not true,” she protested. Her voice was barely above a whisper, and yet it seemed to echo throughout the room. “He asked me if you talked to Anthony, that's all. I told him that of course you talk to him, you work together. That's all, I swear.” Polly felt her eyes filling with tears.

“You women all lie for each other,” Curt snarled. It looked like he was going to hit Anthony, but just then a big, muscular cook sprinted from the kitchen and grabbed Curt's raised arm, twisting it behind his back and forcing him down to his knees. During the scuffle, Curt managed to tear the front of Anthony's shirt open. “What about the surprise dinner?” Curt yelled.

“Anthony had nothing to do with it,” Avery said. “It was Sabrina, Owen, Lucas, and April.”

“What?” Curt asked from his knees. “But I thought—” Anthony turned on him. “Get out of here before I call the cops!”

“This isn't over,” Curt muttered. The cook let go of him, and he staggered to his feet. Avery hurried him out the door.

“It is for you,” Anthony said. “You and your lousy band can forget about playing here, ever, and if I catch you in here again, I'm calling the police and pressing charges.” Then
he rounded on Avery: “And you, you're done too. Get out of here—you're fired.”

“Fired?” Avery and Polly gasped at the same time. Avery was trembling from head to toe. Polly couldn't believe it. Avery'd done nothing to deserve being fired. She surged to her friend's defense.

“It wasn't her fault,” Polly pleaded. “You can't fire her. She didn't do anything wrong.”

Anthony pointed at Curt. “Just knowing that idiot is wrong enough.”

No, it was too unfair, Polly thought. “If she goes, I go,” she said defiantly.

“Fine, you're both out of here,” Anthony answered.

The restaurant went still.

“You fire Red, I'll never eat here again,” a man suddenly shouted from the back of the dining room.

“Yeah, leave the girls alone,” another man shouted.

“It's disgraceful how you're behaving, young man,” an older lady reproached Anthony.

“Red stays, she's the only reason I eat here,” another guy piped up.

Polly was stunned. She lifted her hand slowly to touch her red hair. Red, that was her. They didn't want her to go. Tears sprung to her eyes. It was the first time in her life that she had actually felt appreciated.

Anthony was staring slack-jawed at his customers. This
was definitely the kind of bad publicity he could not afford.

“Okay, okay, maybe I was a little hasty,” he grumbled. “You can both stay, but I never want to see that jerk around here again.” He turned and disappeared into the back room.

Amidst the cheers of the patrons, Polly felt Avery put her arms around her and give her a hug. “Thanks,” Avery whispered. “You saved me.”

The blazing sun was hot on Avery's skin and even by the ocean the air was still and steamy. She tried her best to relax and enjoy it while she watched Lucas surf. Closer to the boardwalk the beach was so packed that she'd practically had to sit at the water's edge.

It had been a couple of days since she and Curt had had the fight in the restaurant and things still weren't completely smooth between them. Somehow the fact that she hadn't gotten fired only seemed to make him angrier.

She glanced back at her companions sitting just behind her on the beach. Owen was drinking as he sunned himself, his face and chest glistening with sweat. Avery felt bad. Clearly the scare with the little boys had not been enough to get him off drinking for good. Near him, Polly was building a sand castle.

“You should put a moat around it,” Avery said.

“What?” Polly asked, wiping a dainty drop of sweat off her nose.

“A moat, so when the tide comes in, it fills the moat instead of washing away the castle,” Avery explained.

“It doesn't matter,” Polly said. “Some castles aren't worth saving.”

“Mine are never worth saving,” muttered Owen.

That was when Avery began to suspect that she was the only one actually talking about sand castles. Owen seemed even more despondent than Polly.

“Owen, what's the problem?” Avery asked.

“Problem?” Owen repeated. “You mean, besides the fact that I'm a total screwup. I couldn't even keep an eye on those kids for Sabrina for, what, ten minutes?”

“Owen, that was weeks ago. The kids are okay,” Avery said. “Stop beating yourself up over it. And look at Sabrina. She's made some pretty serious mistakes herself.”

“Yeah, right, so we're both screwups.” Owen said. He stood up unsteadily. “It's too frickin' hot. I'm going for a swim.”

“Is that wise?” Avery asked, looking at the collection of empty beer bottles around his chair.

“Who are you, my mother?” he asked, and started into the waves.

Avery followed him for a moment with her eyes. The waves seemed kind of big and rough. Well, you never knew. Maybe the water would sober him up. She glanced out at Lucas. He looked good out there, cutting up and down the faces of the waves. Next, she turned her attention to Polly. “I owe you an apology,” she said.

“What for?” Polly asked, sitting up. “Remember I promised to find you a guy?”

“Oh, no thanks,” Polly said. “Not after what happened. Besides, that wasn't your job. It was a sweet thought, that's all. I'm the one who should be apologizing, after what happened at the restaurant. I really feel like it's my fault that you and Curt are fighting.”

Avery sighed. “We've already been through this, Polly. You were right in the restaurant. It's
not
your fault. You couldn't have known that Curt was going to do that. You didn't tell him anything you shouldn't have. And at the end of the day, you were the hero. You saved my job.”