The last lingering rain clouds lined the tops of the distant hills like pastel lace on softly sloping satin. The wind, blowing over the top of the western hills, was warm and humid as the decomposing granite dried. “I might have believed the first few that checked in, but there must have been two dozen of them, all going by the name Smith or Johnson, and every last one of them had the first name Scott or John.” Kelly laughed and shook her head as she pulled the cork from the bottle of rosé.
“And they’re claiming to be some sort of family reunion?” Nikki removed her orthotic nurse shoes and wiggled her toes.
“Every last one of them as big as the last.” She poured out two glasses. “Some cornfed midwestern types, all calling down to the front desk for room service like we might be running the kitchen at three in the morning!”
“Those poor boys.” Nikki took her glass of wine and leaned back. “I’m guessing they might be disappointed with the rest of the town, then.”
Kelly set the bottle on the edge of the patio table and raised her glass. “To the Smith and Johnson family reunion.”
If Nikki and Kelly had not been best friends back in high school, it was only that Kelly had been two years older and they had never had the opportunity to spend time together. Having lived two doors away from each other for nearly twenty years, however, they had made up for the lost time. Between the honeymoons and newborns, the first teeth and first steps, they celebrated each other’s milestones as their own, together. After the divorces, they both lost a little dead weight, and their children carried on with two mothers as attached as the kids themselves. That their children had been raised to be nearly inseparable helped, of course.
“I mean, who comes to Arroyo Grande for a family reunion?” Nikki asked.
“Who chooses the Playa Seca Motor Inn?” Kelly shook her head.
“They look more like a military training exercise than a family.” She watched Nikki kick off her sensible nurse shoes and wiggle her toes in her socks. “At least the exercise room will get used, for once.”
Nikki drank deeply from her glass, stifling a laugh. “You don’t think they picked the Playa Seca for the water slide?”
Kelly smiled. “Well, it’s the day crew’s problem now.”
Though they both worked erratic schedules, it occurred every few weeks that they both managed to finish a graveyard shift at just about the same time. Arriving home within minutes of each other, one or the other, upon noticing the lights on in the others, would appear at the front door with a bottle of wine, and they would enjoy what they called a “dawn patrol.” Most mornings, they sat on the back porch, enjoying a glass while watching the sun rise over the eastern hills.
Nikki pulled off her socks and neatly draped them over the arm of the chair. “I don’t know how much longer I want to do this,” she said, relaxing back into the patio chair cushions, watching the wispy tattered edges of the storm dissipating.
“Are you kidding?” Kelly took one of Nikki’s feet in her lap and pressed her thumbs into the balls of Nikki’s foot. “I wish I could get away with it.”
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“Oh, god,” Nikki moaned as Kelly worked between her metatarsals. “Don’t get me wrong, I like getting through the hours all at once, but is it worth it? I’ll sleep the day away, watch Amber eat something and try to avoid me, and then I’m straight back to work. I know more about the lab techs' lives than I do about my own daughter.”
“Tell me about it.” Kelly pressed her fist into Nikki’s heel, twisting that middle knuckle deep into the calcaneus and gently rocking until Nikki purred softly. I don’t know how it went from ‘Mama,’ to ‘Ma,’ to ‘Bruh,’ but if Austin so much as grunted at me in the kitchen, I would die a happy mother.”
Nikki cocked her head to the side and frowned sympathetically. “And next thing you know, they’ll be off to college, and we’ll take up knitting or quilting or something, just to pass the time between visits.”
Kelly rolled her eyes. “His father convinced him that it’s either books or work boots, and he’s not exactly eager to get away from that Jiménez boy.” She ran her fingers between Nikki’s toes, then rolled each toe individually. “He hasn’t even looked into trade schools, for god’s sake.”
“Too soon!” Nikki protested. “Amber is already applying to colleges, and with her grades and early test scores, I’m guessing she’ll get a full ride anywhere she likes.”
“And her dad is still sending blocks and coloring books.” Kelly shook her head slowly.
“He still thinks the neurodivergent diagnosis makes her special needs.”
“If I had her test scores, I wouldn’t be covering for the night auditor on a regular basis.” Kelly shifted the left foot out of her lap and motioned for the right. Starting into the same routine, she glanced off over the hills as the first rainbow sherbet colors frosted the horizon. “Who knows,” she shrugged, “maybe those two will follow after us, get knocked up young, and settle in right here.”
Nikki sipped her rosé and shook her head disapprovingly “I’m sure they’ll eventually get curious, but I doubt they’ll be together for very long.”
A petrichor perfumed breeze picked up, drying out the air and catching the few locks that had fallen loose from Kelly’s bun. The sky grew paler, and the clouds seemed to dissolve as the stars faded. Relaxing into the chair, she felt her own night fading away as well, content to be sitting quietly with her friend. Watching the sunrise reminded her of why she loved the town, had loved it for so many years, but just when it was quiet, and the first rays began to warm the clean, dry air. That Nikki had enjoyed the same exact thing, and for as many years, made it easier. Nikki seemed to be nodding off slightly. “Kelly, darling, I do believe you are putting me to sleep.”
“Yeah, I should get going,” Kelly said, rising and collecting her glass and the empty bottle. “The boy is generally up with the sunrise. If I want to see him, I better hustle home.”
“Yeah,” Nikki agreed, following Kelly into the house. She smelled her arms, a tincture of tiger balm, aloe vera lotion, and disinfecting soap. “I could use a shower before she crawls out of the ground.”
As if on cue, they watched as the hatch in the center of the lawn opened slowly and a head emerged, still a shadow in the early dawn, it peeked around haltingly.
“She is risen,” Nikki said.
“Hallelujah,” Kelly smirked softly.
But the figure emerging from the ground was not Amber. The silhouette was long and lanky, clad in a white T-shirt and blue jeans, with a book tucked under its arm. “No!” Kelly hissed, squatting down slightly. “It’s too soon!” she whispered, tugging at Nikki’s scrubs to pull her into the subterfuge.
Nikki chuckled and squatted in the darkened living room, watching the figure slink across the lawn, towards the side gate. “What was the bet? A spa day?”
Kelly shook her head. “That’s impossible.”
“I’m off next Friday,” Nikki clucked. “If you book us early, we can probably make it to happy hour afterwards.”
Kelly shook her head and backed towards the door, realizing that she would have to sneak into her own house. “I want confirmation, first.” She opened the front door, peeking out as her son strolled up their driveway.
“That’s fine,” Nikki said. She stood up, flipped on the porchlight and playfully swatted Kelly’s butt out the front door. “I want the hot mud package.”
Kelly hissed back at her as she scampered across the lawn.
Nikki laughed “And get me a big blonde masseuse!” she called, just a little too loud. “I’m craving something cornfed and meaty.” She giggled as she shut the door.