Hot sand seeped between my toes. The waves gently rolled up my private beach.
I looked down to the left and to the right. About a quarter of a mile down the beach to my right was a couple that looked a bit red. The man had gray hair and the fit woman walking toward him from the beach looked about twenty years younger, maybe even thirty.
She crawled on him and gingerly placed a kiss on his lips. He didn’t care a single bit she was dripping water all over him.
I rolled out my beach towel. I turned on some music and dropped my phone. My eyes focused on the water and before I knew it, I was running toward the beautiful clear ocean like a carefree child running toward and ice cream truck.
I squealed and sucked in a breath as the water circled around my waist. My body fell back and I closed my eyes as I floated there, not caring if the waves pulled me away.
After I felt utterly relaxed, I swam back to the beach and dropped to my towel. My eyes were closed but the sunlight somewhat penetrated through my eyelids.
“That’s a bit loud,” a deep voice with a slight accent said as a shadow blocked out the sun.
I opened my eyes but with the sun behind him, I couldn’t see anything about him.
“Oh,” I said fumbling for my phone. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know anyone was around here. It didn’t seem like it was that loud though, my phone isn’t very loud.”
He took a step back. “You’re wrong. It’s loud. If you don’t mind.”
“Sorry,” I said watching him as he walked away from me.
He didn’t go far. The tall guy sat down on a chair on the porch of the cabin next door to mine.
His eyes were glued to a laptop next to a stack of papers. He had eyes darker than the night sky and curly, shaggy hair that matched.
The man was shirtless and wore long orange swim trunks. His smooth, light brown skin displayed his perfect build. Every rounded muscle showed that he liked to work out.
He glanced up in my direction and I pulled my sunglass down over my eyes and turned back toward the ocean. The guy might have been incredibly hot but was still a bit of a stick in the mud. My music hadn’t been that loud. I just wish he wouldn’t have seen me gawking at him.
Whatever. I’m sure he knew he was attractive. It didn’t matter that I was staring at him. I was just the loud person disturbing him in the middle of the day.
I got up and grabbed my things. It didn’t have anything to do with the jerk next door… I just wanted to soak in my tub.
4
Frankie
Shit.
I wanted to be doing anything other than sitting here under the hot sun staring at my laptop. If I wasn’t on the brink of losing my job, I would have slammed the computer shut and throw it into the ocean.
I wanted to run down the beach.
Lift weight.
Go fishing.
But no. I was stuck here with that noisy woman next door. They weren’t supposed to even rent out that cabin.
Hopefully, she wouldn’t be there long. I could try calling the main office in the morning but I already knew they wouldn’t do anything to help.
I just had to do my best to ignore her even though that black bikini she wore had made it nearly impossible. My life was falling apart.
I had to figure out how to make up with my father. And I had to figure out a way to convince my ex to let me see my kid.
I was down to my last dime. My dad was doing his best to make sure I had to depend on him for everything. He was controlling. He’d always been that way even when my mom was alive.
My mom had been gone for ten years. Ten years to the day. And I still missed her. Things would be a lot different if she were still alive because she wouldn’t let my dad pull the shit he was.
I knew it was because he was afraid of being alone. If I didn’t depend on him, he was afraid I’d leave and then he wouldn’t have anyone. Sadly, he was the one driving me away with his behavior.
My divorce had bankrupted me. Any extra dime I got I sent to my ex, Maria, to help take care of Ana.
I threw my pen across the patio. It wasn’t enough. I wasn’t doing enough for Ana and God dammit, I missed her. I missed her so much.
My phone vibrated. I didn’t even look at the screen before taking the call. Apparently, I wanted a distraction. Something different than loud music or a hot ass.
“Yes?” I said sharply.