my hair at all.” With a beaming smile, she stops as suddenly as she started.
For a moment, I just stare in awe. No one—and I mean NO ONE—has ever been that excited to meet me.
Shelly laughs. “Tash, slow down,” she says.
Tasha’s cheeks turn beet red and she bites her lip. “Sorry, I get a little excited… about everything.”
You don’t say.
“It’s nice to meet you, Tasha. Um, I’m not a dancer.” I nod back toward the door. “I’ll be out there, waiting tables and doing whatever else needs to be done. But I’m really looking forward to it.”
She seems to calm slightly after that and turns her attention to Shelly instead. “Hey, Shell, do you still have the room for rent? My brother just got kicked out by his girlfriend…” She rolls her eyes dramatically. “Huge drama. Anyway, he’s looking for a place to stay, he’s a neat freak so you’ll never have to clean—”
Shelly raises her hand and cuts Tasha off with an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Tash, but I’m not renting to a guy at all. No offense to your brother, but I’m really only comfortable with a woman renting. You know Logan can be kinda wary around men.”
Tasha’s shoulders drop a little, but she smiles warmly. “I get it. Logan comes first. It’s not a problem at all.” She gives Shelly a hug and heads over to one of the stools and begins removing the hairpins from her messy updo.
“Oakley’s looking for a place to rent… she’s at Angel’s Cove right now,” Angel buts in and Shelly’s smile is damn near blinding.
“Well if you’re interested, it’s all yours. We can work out all the details with rent later.”
“That sounds great,” I say to Shelly, and without turning around, I see Angel smiling beside me—dimples and all.
CHAPTER 10
OAKLEY
A sniffle pulls my attention away from my small bag that I’m stuffing my few measly belongings into, to Clarise. She’s seated on Agnes’ bed, their wet eyes trained on me.
I roll my eyes. Dramatic. They look like they just watched Jack freeze to death in the frigid Atlantic Ocean while Rose’s bitch ass took up the entire door, sentencing him to an icy death.
“You both realize I’m not actually moving away, right?” I droll.
Agnes glares. “Excuse me if I’m a little emotional. My neighbor before you smelled of cheese and fed the roach family that lives in the corner—”
“We do not have roaches!” Clarise gasps with mock outrage and jumps to her feet to inspect said roach infested corner.
“Anyway, I’m not sad you’re leaving, more I’m already dreading my next neighbor,” Agnes finishes on a huff as if the very thought of her being sad over me leaving is enough to put her in a tiffy.
Clarise is still on the hunt for a roach condominium when I drop my things to my bed and walk the five steps separating my bunk area from Agnes’. She stiffens when I plop onto her bed with a bounce and wrap her tightly in my arms. “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had,” I tell her with all the honesty I possess. It takes three breaths for her tough exterior to crack.
“What am I gonna do without you?” She sniffles.
“First, you’re going to welcome the new girl that takes my place. You’re going to help her get through what brought her here and give her what she needs to heal and move on, Agnes.” I take her hands in mine and rub my thumbs over the back of them. “You’re going to give her all of that and more—and I know that—because it’s exactly what you gave and did for me.”
A choked sob sounds behind us a split second before the bed sinks further. I have a flash of fear the old metal frame is going to give way under the weight before Agnes and I are both enveloped in Clarise’s motherly arms. “We’re all going to miss you around here, Oakley. Don’t forget you always have a place here,” she reassures me for what must be the twentieth time. I nod into her embrace and pull them tighter against me before I stand and resume packing my bag.
I never went to college, but thirty minutes later, after saying goodbye to everyone at Angel’s Cove, I stand on the front steps wrapped in Agnes and Clarise’s arms and get the closest thing to a collegiate sendoff that I’ll ever get.
More tears are shed as we say our last goodbyes and I climb into the Uber