Keeping Her Love by Tiger Hill Page B

offers from businesses in the area, but I’m not inclined to leave the program or sidetrack my studies.”
    “Good. I can tell you have good decision-making skills already.”
    “I do my best.”
    Visibly bored by the turn of conversation, Layla excused herself to go searching along the shore for starfish and other items that may have washed up from the sea. Rhett watched her go, shaking his head.
    I don’t know how any man could stand a woman like that, let alone Max. I can’t imagine he’s interested in anything long-term, especially after he spoke over her as he did.  
    “Crap,” mentioned Rhett. “Has anyone seen the bread and water? I don’t see any here.”
    Tula and Max looked at him blankly, sipping from their Mexican beers.  
    “I’ll have to go,” said Rhett. “We might be able to go without buns for our hot dogs, but we can’t miss out on water, especially with all the booze. I’ll go into town and then come back with it.”
    “Are you sure, Rhett? I could go with you,” said Tula.
    He waved her off. “Don’t even worry about it. It’s your party—you shouldn’t be worrying about runs into town. I’ll be back in a half hour, tops. Just keep an eye on the chicken, will ya?”
    “Sure,” said Max.
    Rhett walked off, his feet buried in the sand for every step he took. The ride into town wasn’t a long one, only a few miles up the road once he’d passed the dirt road. He was a little frightened that he might pop one of the tires on the dirt, being a city boy who was unaccustomed to rough roads. While Rhett shopped, he was amused to see that there was actually a section for video rentals. It was a small and shabby old town, so he supposed that he could see how there would be a demand. He assumed that there must have been a substantial number of old people, since Netflix didn’t require any driving around at all.  
    Buying a few gallons of water and the bread, he drove back down to the beach. As he was walking to the camp site, managing to keep everything he had bought in his arms, the scene before seemed unusual from the start. He could smell something burning before he got close enough to say anything, and Layla was still gone. Max was to the side setting up the two large tents while Tula poked at the burnt chicken, looking despondent.  
    “What happened, baby?” Rhett asked, setting down all the stuff.  
    “Nothing,” she said simply, her head down. She didn’t appear like she wanted to cry, but she also didn’t look happy. With Max around, Rhett didn’t want to go into too many details about the situation.  
    “It’s just a little burnt,” he said, taking one of them off of the grate and plopping it on a paper plate. He peeled the skin, revealing white flesh underneath. “The inside is still good. See?”
    She looked over, acknowledging it. Something was wrong, Rhett knew, and he had a feeling that it didn’t have anything to do with the chicken.  
    “Want to go for a walk?” He asked. “It’ll make you feel better.”
    “No, I’m fine.”
    “Please, will you walk with me?” He took her hand, looking into her pale-blue eyes.  
    She looked to him, forcing a smile before standing up. Rhett steered them in the opposite direction of where Layla was, wanting to avoid mixing any more salt in whatever wounds were festering. He didn’t say much at first, just holding her hand and looking at the beach. He stopped to take his shoes off, laying them to the side for when they rounded back to camp. Tula sighed a few times, a good sign as far as Rhett was concerned.
    She must be mulling over in her head whatever had just happened while I was gone. I know for a fact that it couldn’t have been burning the chicken. I’m thinking that some confrontation caused her to be distracted, and as a result, the chicken burned. Did Layla come back to give her a hard time about the wedding stuff? If so, she might have a punch to the nose coming right at her.  
    “Beautiful, don’t