Trapped in Tourist Town Read Free

seriously.”
    “Tell me about it. Do you remember when he was just a summer rent-a-cop and he slapped us with citations for jaywalking? I tried to get Mom to talk him out of it, but she insisted he was just doing his job. She always took his side.” Cady knew she sounded petulant but she didn’t care.
    “It hurts him, you know ... that you want to leave town so badly. He takes it a little personally.” Amanda pushed the laundry basket aside and leaned closer to her childhood pal.
    “Would it be so awful to stay in Scallop Shores? What are you looking for that you can’t find here?” She covered Cady’s hand with her own. “We used to talk about living next door to each other, raising our kids together.” As one they turned to focus their gazes on Amanda’s swollen belly.
    “I’ve explained this before, Amanda. What I need ... it just isn’t here. I want to have adventures. I want to experience culture. I want to live!” She squeezed her shoulder blades together and tried again.
    “It’s not like I’m going to fall off the map. I’ll be back for holidays, birthdays—any time you need me. I’m just a few hours away. Call me and I’ll come home.”
    Cady stood up, rounding the table to kneel in front of Amanda. She wrapped her friend in a warm hug, then sat back on her haunches, a sad smile on her face.
    “I know it’s hard for you to understand. You’ve always loved it here. It’s enough for you. I get that. Try to put yourself in my shoes for just a moment. There is so much world out there that we’ll never experience just living our lives in Scallop Shores.” She stood up and began to pace.
    “No one ever does anything exciting or out of the ordinary here. Everyone has routines. Lives are patterned after the generation before, and the one before that. That’s great for some people, but not for me.”
    “But if you fell in love? That could change your outlook, right?” Hope shined in Amanda’s eyes.
    “You were lucky. You’ve got a good guy there. I know he drives me up the wall sometimes, but Chase is a really decent person. You’ll be very happy here. I want that for you. It makes me happy.”
    Cady had been circling the kitchen island. Now she hopped onto the countertop, drawing her legs beneath her.
    “At this point in my life, it’s too hard to imagine falling for a man who I’d give up everything to be with. No way. I need to get out of Scallop Shores, see what I’m missing. There is so much I want to experience before I even think about settling down.”
    “Promise me you won’t get so caught up in your new life that you forget us?”
    “Bite your tongue, sister dear. That would never happen.”
    • • •
    A twangy guitar riff coming from her ear buds muted the screeching of the seagulls and the crash of the surf to her right. Cady’s sneakers pounded the packed surface of the beach as she felt the slow burn building in her muscles. At nearly six o’clock in the morning, she had this stretch of sand to herself. She did her best thinking out here.
    She’d miss her morning runs along the beach. Regret tried to worm its way past the euphoria of her runner’s high and Cady banished it by pushing her body to new limits. She would be sore later, but it would be worth it.
    The short drive to the shore had only reinforced what Chase had told her the day before. Lucille, the old Civic she’d bought the summer she’d graduated high school, was dying. Cranking the car stereo up to mask its worrisome noises was not going to make them go away. She was putting off the inevitable, and it was to her own benefit to look for a replacement now, while she had the chance to negotiate for a lower asking price. Used-car salesmen could smell desperation on a person and that could take even more of her precious savings away.
    She needed money. That tip jar at the bakery wasn’t going to bring in the kind of cash that would help her move to the city. No, she needed a second job. Tourist