a real sand beach, although not much of one. That was the area where Tracy usually looked for shells. But now, she was delighted to see, they were in a protected cove of sorts, and while people from the mainland with prettier beaches wouldn’t bother with this one, it was a perfect retreat for the neighbors.
“Can you imagine what a developer would do with this?” she asked, as they set up for the afternoon.
“Somebody’ll pay big-time for this view. You got any takers yet?” Wanda asked.
“I don’t think my land extends this far, but I’m beginning to think that when I’m ninety, I’ll be all alone out here, in the last cottage standing.”
“Picking off the folks from Wild Florida, one by one, with a slingshot filled with sandspurs.”
That made Tracy think of Marsh, something she had tried not to do all morning. Last night’s dinner had been spectacular. The fish had been so fresh, she could have sworn it jumped out of the bay into the pan. He’d done something with sweet potatoes and pineapple that still made her mouth water, and added a salad with tomatoes and herbs he grew himself—the last tomatoes of the season, too, which she hated to hear, although of course she wouldn’t be eating with him again. Bay had awakened in time to join them, and he hadn’t whined or argued. Not about anything.
Then Marsh brought her home, walked her up to her door and told her he was not fooled by this sweeter, earthier side, and as far as he was concerned, they were still at war.
At which point she’d kissed him. And although the kiss was meant to show she intended to win all battles, by the time it ended, she was pretty sure neither of them remembered which side they were on.
“Are you going to help or not?” Wanda asked.
Tracy came back to earth. “With what?”
“What exactly were you thinking about?”
“You wouldn’t believe it.” Tracy saw that Wanda was holding two sides of a blanket, so she grabbed the others to help lay it smoothly on the sand. The five of them worked together, and in a few minutes they had set up camp. Tracy set her iPod on the playlist she called Beach Music, put it in the speaker cradle and turned the setting to a comfortable volume.
They settled on the blankets, and Janya took out the sandwiches. They’d purchased Southern-style pimento cheese, crab salad, sharp cheddar and tomato, even hummus with sprouts—something Tracy had never expected to see at a general store and bait shop. They spread all the food in the middle, and everybody dug in, passing around chips and fruit, drinks and ice, until they were all contented. Chase got a rawhide bone to keep him busy.
“So, you promised a story,” Tracy said. “About your adventure.”
“Wanda will tell you that the fault was mine,” Janya said. “But it was really the other car.”
“See, I’m teaching Janya to drive,” Wanda said. “And today was our first lesson.”
Tracy thought how swiftly things had changed on Happiness Key.
“She was doing great,” Wanda continued. “Why, I think we’d made it all the way up to maybe ten miles an hour. Then another car came down the road and honked at her. You know where the road jogs, this side of the bridge?”
“I am used to honking,” Janya said. “Drivers where I come from steer with one hand on the horn. It is customary—”
“Oh, please, it scared the living whatever out of you! Janya here wrenched the wheel, and went off the road and right on down to the beach. I thought we were going into the water, maybe driving all the way to India.”
“Tell me you didn’t kill some poor sunbather,” Tracy said, not sure whether to laugh or act horrified.
“I did not!” Janya looked offended.
“She came to a stop where the tide always does,” Wanda said.
Now Alice laughed. “And how…did you get back up?”
“I just sat there and let her figure it out by herself,” Wanda said. “The sand was packed pretty hard, so we didn’t get stuck.”
“I turned, put the car in Reverse, turned some more and went back out to the road,” Janya said.
Tracy applauded. “Good for you.”
“Is driving hard?” Olivia asked.
“I think I will be good at driving,” Janya said. “I have good reactions. But you will be better. It will seem normal to you after all those hours on your bicycle.”
Olivia wandered off to look for shells, and Chase limped after her. Tracy noticed the girl