And the thing was, Scarlett knew she would, but it didn’t mean she could just ignore the situation either.
“Look,” she began cautiously, “I’m bored too. It’s not like a whole lot of exciting stuff happens around here or that I’ve got all kinds of interesting things going on…”
“Now that’s not true. You could be doing so much more if you would just share your hobby with…”
“Lalalalala!” Scarlett cried out before stopping to glare at her friend. “I swore you to secrecy and you promised to never bring it up!”
Courtney looked around the room in confusion. “Who’s going to hear me? It’s just the two of us!”
There was a slight chance she was being paranoid, but there was no way she was going to tell anyone other than Courtney what she’d been doing in her spare time.
“Fine. Whatever,” she murmured. “Can we go grab something to eat now? I’m starving.”
And yeah, there was a little snap in her voice that she was regretting.
They walked out of the bedroom and Scarlett picked up her purse and keys and followed Courtney out the door.
“So not the fun night I was hoping for,” she said under her breath. At her car, she paused and apologized. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. That was wrong of me.”
Courtney–ever the drama queen–merely shrugged.
Awesome.
“You want to go to Café Magnolia or The Sand Bar for burgers?”
“Ugh…I know their burgers are legendary, but why won’t they change the name of the damn place! It’s not very appetizing to go and eat someplace that has the word sand in their title.”
“So you want to go to the café?”
“I didn’t say that,” Courtney was quick to amend. “I mean, we both know a girls night requires burgers.”
“And fries,” Scarlett said with a grin as they climbed into her car.
The Sand Bar was like most of the businesses in Magnolia Sound–an institution. It had been around for at least twenty years and was in need of a renovation, but business was too good to close down and get it done. When the hurricane hit a little more than six months ago, it seemed like the logical time to finally freshen the place up. Unfortunately, old Mr. Hawkins simply fixed the roof and replaced a couple of windows and declared The Sand Bar open once again for business a week after Hurricane Amelia blew through.
“I’m getting the bacon cheeseburger, fries, and possibly onion rings,” Courtney declared as they drove along Main Street. Turning her head, she grinned at Scarlett. “And I think you should share an order of fried pickles with me.”
Her stomach hurt just thinking about all the food, but she kept that to herself. Fried pickles definitely weren’t her thing, but she’d eat a couple and move on. “Sure. Why not?”
The parking lot was crowded, but that wasn’t anything new. The location was prime–on the beach side of the street–and there was indoor and outdoor seating, live entertainment, and a full bar. Honestly, Scarlett never cared much for coming here to drink, she was all about the food. Once she was parked and they were making their way toward the front entrance, the smell of food had her stomach growling.
Loudly.
“Totally not lady-like, Scar,” Courtney teased even as she worked her way through the crowd and managed to find them a small booth in the corner.
“How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Always find us a place to sit?”
“It’s my lone super-power,” she said dryly as she flagged a waiter over. Once their orders were placed, Courtney began scanning the room. “I swear, even the tourists are the same ones.”
Scarlett looked around and frowned. “Seriously? How can you tell?”
“Because we’ve been doing this for what feels like forever. Maybe they’ll be some different faces at the concert tomorrow. You’re still coming with me, right?”
Their server came back and placed their drinks down and Scarlett eagerly reached for hers. There was no way she could admit she wasn’t looking forward to the concert, but she still needed a little sweet tea to bide her time.
“Nice delay tactic.” Courtney knew her too well. With a weary sigh, she asked, “Tell me why you don’t want to go.”
“I don’t know, Court. The amphitheater is small and the crowds are going to be crazy! We’re going to be up in the nosebleed section and packed in like sardines! And on top of that, it’s going to be ninety degrees out! Call me crazy, but that is not my idea of a good time.”
“Why are you like this?” Courtney whined. “It’s like you just refuse to have fun!”
“That’s ridiculous! I have fun all the time! I just don’t find it enjoyable to stand around and sweat when I don’t have to!”
“You spend so much time working in your dad’s garage and it’s always hot in there! Every time I’ve ever seen you there, you’re sweating!”
“And that’s because I have to be there!” she cried with more than a little frustration. “When I’m there, I’m working. I work, because I need money! And sometimes that means working in a building with little to no air conditioning!”
“Scarlett…”
“I’m forced to do it for work so why would I opt to do it on a night out when I’m supposed to be having fun?”
“Look, we both know you don’t have to work at the garage, you choose to.”
“I need the income…”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah…I get it. You use the second job to feed your hobby supplies,” she said with a hint of sarcasm. “You work too much and you’re always saving and you live frugally. It’s admirable.”
“But…?”
“But…you are way too uptight! No one is thinking about it being hot out, Scarlett! We’re all like ‘Yay! Concert!’ Why can’t you do the same?”
Seriously? “When have I ever simply followed the herd, Court? That’s not me.”
“Okay, fine. It’s not, but…can’t you just do it this once? C’mon! It’s going to be so much fun! For one night can’t you forget about your jobs and be a little carefree? You might actually enjoy it.”
So many comments were on the tip of her tongue–most of them snarky–but Scarlett opted to keep them to herself. It was easy for people like Courtney to be carefree and not obsess about their finances. And while she didn’t begrudge her friend having a family who always was and probably always would be financially stable, there was also no way for her to fully understand the anxiety that plagued her daily.
Growing up poor–and knowing that everyone you knew wasn’t–wasn’t something you got over. From the time Scarlett first started school, she knew she was different. Besides never having anything new for herself, she was dressed more like a boy than a girl. Looking back now she could almost laugh about it, but back then, it had been beyond painful. Her father had done the best he could and she loved him for it. She just wished someone had stepped in and tried to explain to Dominic Jones that raising a daughter was very different from raising sons. Her brothers were all fine–in their own annoying way. All three of them. But they were boys who had been raised by a strong male role model.