Sea Horse Lodge by Natalie Keller Reinert

Author:Natalie Keller Reinert
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Natalie Keller Reinert
Published: 2022-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

A CLOUD WAS pushing over Cutlass Key when I pulled into the lot outside the Slutty Mermaid, rumbling to itself and sending out gusts of wind that scattered sand in tiny whirlwinds around me. I’d left earlier than I’d expected and I was hoping there might be some of this morning’s gooey, soft cinnamon rolls left in the Mermaid fridge. A little taste of home for my exile in Key West. And even if they didn’t begin the hard work of luring him home, at least I’d get to enjoy them, too.

Inside, not much was going on. Even in the Keys, it was a little early for the session drinkers to be in their places. Still, the constant game of pool was in motion at the far end of the building, lit by a dusty glow from high windows which hadn’t been cleaned of salt in years. Two men in sandals and NASCAR hats leaned over the game, muttering to one another. Closer to the bar, a gray-haired woman sat in a booth and played Candy Crush on her phone, occasionally sipping from a highball glass. Johnny Cash was singing from the fuzzy speakers hanging from the ceiling, adding an extra and interesting layer of doom to the dark bar.

Monica was sitting on the customer’s side of the bar, reading a magazine and slowly sipping from a bottle of Corona. She glanced around as I came in and her face lit up. She exclaimed, “Girl, I didn’t expect to see you today! What’s up?”

“Heading to Key West,” I explained, slipping onto the stool next to her. “And I’m here hoping for some sweet treats to charm my chronically depressed boyfriend into cheering up.”

“Oh, I have a couple left! You’re lucky; I was saving them for—I was saving them,” she amended, “but you can have them.”

I cocked my head; that wasn’t a very smooth cover. “Who were you saving them for?”

“No one,” Monica lied, turning her head so that her gorgeous curls covered her face.

“Monica! Do you have a little island crush?” I was delighted. “Because cinnamon rolls are the key to everyone’s heart, I don’t care who you are. Man, woman, non-binary—”

“No,” she said again, laughing now. “Oh, heavens no. They’re for Arnie, silly.”

“Arnie?” My head swiveled, looking for some strange man lurking in a dark corner of the bar. “He’s here? I thought he was coming over the weekend.”

“He’s back in the area already, and he’s coming here later,” she said. “Relax, you don’t have to meet him. He said he’d be here around six.”

“And then what?” I asked, feeling panicky. What if he decided to visit the island early? I wasn’t ready for this guy to really show up. I didn’t have a plan. Everyone on Hell and Dammit Cay was going to react differently to Arnie, and it would be up to me to figure out how to keep feathers unruffled, temperatures from rising—

“And then he’s taking me to get some food at Conch Mama’s,” Monica said patiently, naming a popular locals’ restaurant two islands up U.

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