For the Best (21 page)

“Sorry I need to go.” I ended the
session.

Tanner

I lost her and not just on Skype. I pissed
her off for some girl I’d been spending too much time with not
because I liked her but because she was my guide over here.

Her name was Skylar. She was a year older, a
high maintenance girl with unnaturally blonde hair, sharp features
and light blue eyes. Skylar was the complete opposite of Hanna way
beyond looks. She was controlling, materialistic and driven. If she
wanted something she went for it. After our fourth weekend of her
showing me sights I only got to see courtesy of her wallet we slept
together. That was why I told Hanna maybe we should see other
people while I was away. I wasn’t sure about it but like I always
did with Hanna I wasn’t going to admit I was already messing
around.

Hanna

Clay,
Della, and I filled three dumpsters with debris. The remainder
of lockers and school desks we shoved into the boiler
room.

Since Tanner’s admission, my
emotions had been overloaded so I
compensated with work,
unwilling to dwell on his inability to remain faithful long-term.
When I couldn’t lift another muscle yet sleep wouldn’t come I
sought out serenity, a desolate beach at sunrise or twilight on the
bay wall with my feet dangling over the water of the Matanzas River
and the ancient fort called Castillo de San Marco at my back.

I was a different girl than the one who’d
let loss and betrayals bring her down in high school. I had goals
and was on the path to accomplishing them for myself as well as my
friends.

Jace had been brought into the fold. Della
preferring not to sue her brother for her portion of the house
proceeds presented him with an offer. In exchange for free rent, he
would provide his construction skills.

We all were caught by surprise when Jace
approached us with an idea.

“I want to open a place called
Day
Trippers
.” He produced an airline magazine with an article on
if you only have one day, or a few hour layover in a city what you
could do. “This is my model and with St. Augustine being a tourist
haven I think there is potential. It is going to be website only so
I can still work construction. Here is the questionnaire I’ll put
online.” He handed them out.

I studied mine. The similarity it had to the
career aptitude test Tanner had made me take could not be
dismissed. The first question was while in St. Augustine would you
rather:

1)lay on the beach

2)take in the historic culture

3)go deep sea fishing

After you chose, based on which it opened
there were more questions delving into your interests.

“So you tailor their itinerary to a person’s
interests. How much?” Clay asked.

“$10 for the personalized itinerary which
comes with discount coupons and vouchers because if you choose an
activity that isn’t free you would book it through a link on the
Day Tripper
website.”

“You’d get a cut of any activity booked like
a recommendation fee?” I asked.

“Exactly and best of all I would get paid to
advertise on the website for all the area businesses.”

“What if all a person wants to do is lie on
the beach all day?” Della asked.

“A market for bike, kayak or surfboard
rentals and the person still has to eat,” Jace stated giving his
sister a look of irritation.

“That is a lot of finagling with the local
businesses dude. You sure you can pull it off while working
construction on the side?” Clay asked.

“If it works it works. It involves very
little investment on my part just a lot of time building the
website.” He grinned.

“What does Michelle think of it?” Della
questioned.

“She isn’t quite on board.” He frowned.

“Big surprise. The me, me, me girl isn’t on
board,” Della whispered.

Hanna

Only
the old kindergarten, first grade, and principal’s office had
bathrooms. The art room contained a sink. We were using the girl
and boy’s gym lockers for showers. Della chose the first grade
room. Clay claimed an apartment downstairs. With a lot of
reluctance over the lack of view Jace and Michelle took an
apartment on that floor as well.

Across the hall from Della,
I took the principal’s office with the request that I could also
have the art classroom next door hoping an inspector would tell me
a non-load bearing wall separated the two so I could tear it down.
The principal’s office was the smallest of the toileted apartments
but it overlooked the old fenced in playground. From the window
behind where one might have positioned a desk there was a flat
tarred roof jutting out.

The
interior walls were brick just like the outside. The floor was
commercial grade tile pinkish tan with flecks of metallic. I
disliked the floor, loved the brick. Everyone was modifying their
flooring, but I couldn’t decide what to do with mine. Clay was
painting his black. Jace ceramic tiled his. Della had gone to the
added expense of carpeting hers.

After walking aisle after
aisle in the hardware store in search of an idea I bought some
acidic compound. Throwing open the windows, I rolled it on quickly
backing myself up and out the door. Closing it off, I found fresh
air downstairs.

The
brewery was days from opening. Clay had contracted
a
part-time caterer to deliver pre-made appetizers daily. All the
limited serving staff had to do was heat them. He would only be
open during the evenings starting at 5p.m. Closed for business
Monday so there was a day of rest. The interior had the same brick
walls as the rest of the building, just accented by a stainless
steel bar, high seated tables and chairs.
Flat
screens were being mounted every few feet where the wall met the
ceiling. Public restrooms were accessible in the
hallway.

Un-utilized classrooms and a janitor’s
closet we made available to rent as climate controlled storage. The
Laundromat remained
Bubbles and Brews
located in the
electrically modified basement of the building. The brews now had
to be accessed above in the brewery. Della’s accounting office was
complete and conservatively yet tastefully decorated.

In
the back were my doggie spa and daycare. The backdoor led to
the enclosed playground, which was now a backyard dog park. I
stopped to get an update from the plumber I hired to install three
large stainless tubs at different levels. Then I made ready the
stations as the booths were all rented. Much like a human hair
salon the canine groomers booked their own clients, had their own
sets of keys, my only obligation was maintaining the space while
their rent served as part of my income and to meet my portion of
the construction loans.

Finished,
I skirted past Jace’s small storefront, seeing no one inside
as I returned to my apartment. The acid turned the pink to brown,
the metallic stayed metallic. I could live with it.

Diverting to let the area
further dry
until I could seal the surface,
I stepped inside Della’s future unit. A plumber was busy completing
her bathroom, the only accommodations thus far with a bath/shower
combo. Jace was busy doing finish carpentry, baseboards and shoe
molding. Everyone had agreed because of Keb, Della’s apartment
needed completing first.

He
looked up.

“
Hi
,”
I said.

“Hi.”

“
You’re doing a great job,”
I complimented trying to lessen the tension that flowed between us.
“Really pretty colors.”

Della
had chosen all her colors and accessories. The charcoal walls,
the whitewashed cabinets, an antique red stove, stainless steel
refrigerator, dishwasher and microwave. The countertops were
polished concrete.

“
Yeah,
kind of funky.” He hammered a piece in place. I turned to go.
His voice stopped me. “Listen, I know you and my sister have some
issue with Michelle.”

I
replied, “That is putting it delicately.”

He shrugged. “She wants to
bury the hatchet.”

I wondered whose back she wanted
to bury it in. “Fair enough.”

He rubbed his neck uncertain
yet he still proceeded. “She would like some space?”

“
For what?” I
asked
.

“A staging company.”

“I thought she was a realtor.”

“She is but she wants to do other
things.”

“I’ll speak to Della and Clay on
it. If they agree we’ll get the lawyer to draw up a contract.”

He smiled.

“
She’ll need to read the
fine print. Just like your contract, there will be an opt-out
clause for the owners of the building.”

He sat back on his heels
understanding. “Meaning if she pisses Della, Clay or you off she
loses her lease?”

“Exactly.”

Hanna

When a tropical storm hit the first coast on
November 2nd, a sharp pain brought Della to her knees and all my
carefully planned scenarios of her child labor came crashing to an
end.

The hospital admitted her three weeks before
her due date. While she screamed and crushed my hand, I comforted
and cajoled her to breath. Twelve hours after her first
contraction, Della gave birth to a baby boy.

After what seemed an eternity of doubt Della
morphed right before my eyes into the most determined single mother
imaginable. She molded the baby’s untamed, curly brown locks off
his forehead and recapped his skull as she held him tight. “Who do
you think he looks like?”

“You,” I answered on automatic. Truthfully,
I didn’t see Benny in him.

“Keb you look like Mommy,” she cooed.

“And Jace…a little.”

“Maybe, where is he?”

I shrugged. I’d actually called Jace hours
before, but he never came. Clay on the other hand had arrived with
a teddy bear, a rattler, and flowers with a promise of a completed
and clean apartment waiting for her when she was discharged.

As I was walking out of the hospital my
phone rang. I did something I thought I would never do. I answered
Ansel’s call.

“Hanna?” he asked in disbelief.

“Ansel,” I tried not to smile as I said his
name.

“You answered. I can’t believe you answered.
Hanna, I’m sorry. God, I’m so sorry,” he rushed out of breath.

“Ansel, it’s been a year and a half. I’m
over it. You’re forgiven.”

He breathed easier. “Where are you?”

“St. Augustine, Florida. I’ve just had the
best moment of my life.”

“What happened?” he asked eagerly a touch of
worry in his voice.

“I just helped my best friend bring a
beautiful baby boy into the world.”

Hanna

Living on opposite coasts and cash poor, I
was the one who had extended the invite. I saw him approach from
Gate 3. His hair was longer…brown glinting with golds, his face
more mature, a shadow of beard growth surrounding his jaw, his skin
just a shade lighter than mine, and eyes more green than my
hazel.

Catching sight of me he rushed forward and
flung himself full body arms wrapped round me, knocking us off
balance but righting me before I fell.

“Hanna.” He released me.

“Ansel.” I laughed separating from him.

“God, I want to say I missed you but I guess
I blew that one long ago.”

“Want me to pretend we never had the miss
you conversation?” I teased falling in step beside him as we walked
from the concourse.

“You remember everything don’t you?”

“How could I forget those damning words?” I
lowered my voice in imitation. “I don’t understand words like miss
you, need you. Want you only makes sense.”

He groaned and looped our arms.
“Stop...we’ve got four days together no past douche quotes from the
ass I used to be.”

We walked on, making it to the airport
garage. “I think we need to celebrate your success,” I said
thinking about the link to an architectural magazine he’d e-mailed.
His shot graced the cover. Inside was a four page spread of a house
he’d photographed.

“That I owe all to you,” he said stowing his
bag in my open trunk.

“How so?”

“You made me ashamed of my old job.”

I flinched and met his eyes over the roof of
the car. “Oh, Ansel, I never meant to make you feel like that.”

He lowered into the passenger seat and I
followed on my side. “You never said out loud what I could read on
your face. Then came that awful night where I took my frustrations
out on you. When you left, I was so sick of what I’d been doing,
all the misery it caused. I quit working for the gossip shows and
magazines. I only took jobs that inspired me. An architectural
magazine noticed some shots I’d donated to a park interpretive
center. Out of the blue I got a call to do a shoot for them. Now I
get paid what I normally made in a month before, I can live
wherever I want and I am happy. Really happy.”

I smiled. “Love what you do, do what you
love.”

He froze, reached for my hand.
“Exactly.”

Together again, it felt like the time and
strain had never come between us. I gave him the tour of the
school, asked his opinion on every aspect of my plans. He was
curious, eager, encouraging – the complete opposite of Tanner.

After a moonlit stroll on the beach, I tried
to ignore the chemistry growing between us. I led him up to my
room. Pulling the Murphy bed down seemed to heighten what I knew
was becoming inevitable. Ansel grabbed a pillow and walked over to
the couch.