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He scratched at the label on his bottle of beer. “That’s trickier.
They had two other daughters who moved to Florida, and after
they sold me the store, they moved down there. They come up
once or twice a year to visit for a few days, but it’s still hard for
them. And they won’t stay at the house, either, because I think it
reminds them of Carly. Too many memories.”
“In other words, you’re pretty much on your own.”
“It’s just the opposite,” he said, nodding toward the kids. “I have
them, remember?”
“It has to be hard sometimes, though. Running the store, raising
your kids.”
“It’s not so bad. As long as I’m up by six in the morning and don’t
go to bed until midnight, it’s easy to keep up.”
She laughed easily. “Do you think the coals are getting close?”
“Let me check,” he said. After setting the bottle in the sand, he
stood up from his chair and walked over to the grill. The
briquettes were white and heat rose in shimmering waves. “Your
timing is impeccable,” he said. He threw the steaks and the
hamburger patty on the grill while Katie went to the cooler and
started bringing the endless array of items to the table:
Tupperware containers of potato salad, coleslaw, pickles, a green
bean salad, sliced fruit, two bags of chips, slices of cheese, and
assorted condiments.
She shook her head as she started arranging everything, thinking
that Alex somehow forgot that his kids were still little. There was
more food here than she’d kept in her house the entire time she’d
lived in Southport.
Alex flipped the steaks and the hamburger patty and then added
the hot dogs to the grill. As he did, he found his gaze drifting to
Katie’s legs as she moved around the table, noting again how
attractive she was.