Dray by Tess Oliver Page B

loads of chairs and ice chests down to the water to stake a claim on the sand for the last Saturday of August. Voices and music hummed in the distance.
    Scotlyn had fallen back with me. She wrapped her arms around mine. “How are you doing, Sweetie?” she asked.
    I sighed. “I don’t know, Scottie.” I stared out at the beach. “If I had let her know how I really felt about her leaving then she might have stayed, and then she would always wonder if she’d missed out on something. I couldn’t be a part of that.”
    Scotlyn squeezed my arm. “If it makes you feel any better, I think you did the right thing. As much as I want to see you two back together again, she needed to go and at least see what the world has to offer.” She leaned over and kissed my cheek. “Cassie is crazy about you though. You should know that.”
    “It sounds crowded,” Clutch called back to us.
    “Last fair of summer,” Scotlyn said. “It’s always extra crowded.”
    “I think the twelve food trucks might have something to do with it,” Nix said.
    A small stage had been constructed in the center of the fair, and a semi-decent band was playing old rock and roll tunes. There were only a few people standing around listening to them. The girls parted from us almost immediately to check out the crafts. The three of us headed toward the smell of bacon and kettle corn and everything that was right about the world.
    “They insist we come with them,” Clutch commented, “and then they run off as soon as we get here.”
    Nix smiled up at him. “Worried she might really find a new and improved guy?”
    Clutch laughed. Taylor had been in crazy pursuit of Clutch since she was sixteen. And Clutch had used all his willpower to stay clear of her. Once she’d turned eighteen, the years of restraining himself had been too much. It didn’t take him long to realize that he was just as nuts about her. For Cassie and me, I’d never allowed myself to believe I was good enough for her. I’d known for a long time that she liked me, but I’d kept up my cool wall of indifference to keep her at a distance. And once I’d let down my guard, it had not taken long to prove that I should always listen to my gut.
    I scanned the line of food trucks. “Which end should we start from?”
    “You start wherever you want,” Nix said. “It’s too early for tacos and pork egg rolls. I’m trying the donut truck.”
    I looked over at him. “O.K. first of all, it is never too early for tacos and pork egg rolls. You’re a food wuss. And, secondly, if I don’t start from one end or the other I might miss something in between. Right Clutch?”
    Clutch patted his stomach. “You know, this time I’m with Nix. A couple of donuts sound pretty good right about now. The tacos can wait.”
    “Whatever. Rett would have gone for the tacos.”
    I followed them to the donut truck, and we got in line. The first band had ended their set, and the noise of the crowd seemed to grow to fill in the silent air space left behind by the lack of music. I squinted up to the sign. “Does that say basil and lemon? Who the hell would eat a basil and lemon donut?”
    Nix smiled back at me. “It says that it is one of their bestsellers, but I’m going for maple bacon.”
    “Now you’re talking,” I said.
    “Nana mentioned you came by,” Nix said.
    “Really? Did she remember my visit? Cool.”
    Nix’s face dropped like it usually did when he talked about his grandmother’s memory loss. “She wrote it down so she could remember to tell me.” He looked at me. “Was that the day your dad died?”
    “Yeah. Funny thing. The nurse at the hospital told me I’d feel better after I talked to my family. The first person I called was you. Then I went to visit Nana. My mom was sort of an afterthought. How fucked up is that?”
    “Doesn’t sound fucked up to me at all,” Nix said. “By the way, Cassie landed in New York last night. She texted me when she got there.”
    “I guess