Aquarius Falling

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

May 28, 1964

Riding on a Little Honda

The ringing phone woke me from a sound sleep, and I stumbled over to pick it up.

“Hello.”

“Bon jour,Monsieur Delaney.”

“Wendy, you’re becoming my daily wake-up call.”

“What are you doing today?”

“Going surfing with you, my dear.”

“So presumptuous. Not today, anyway. The wind and tides aren’t right.”

 “Oh.…Well, what are you going to do?”

“Mmm, thought maybe I’d spend the day with you, just fool around Ocean City, not do anything special.”

“OK, I’ll tell you what. Come on up, and I’ll spend the day entertaining you. I’ll give you my grand tour of Ocean City.”

“Delaney, are you forgetting that I’ve lived in this area all my life and have spent more time in Ocean City than you ever will?”

“Just go with the flow, will you? Pick me up in an hour at the corner.”

“OK, see you in an hour. Au revoir.”

“Wait! Have you eaten breakfast yet?”

“No.”

“Good. Don’t. We’ll start the day with me taking you to breakfast.”

I could see the red Jeep two blocks away and Wendy’s blond hair blowing with the wind. No ponytail today. She parked and got out. I greeted her with a quick kiss on her lips and said, “Bonjour to you, my French-speaking cutie. The United Nations will be so happy to see you when you get there.”

 “Well, before I go to New York and the UN, you to need feed me and honor your promise to entertain me today. That surfing lesson was not free. Today is payback. What are we going to do? And it better be something more than laying on the beach.” Despite her protest of the idea of going to the beach, she was dressed for it with a blue one-piece covered with an unbuttoned white blouse and Levi’s cutoffs.

“What we’re going to do is a secret. First, though, we’ll have breakfast. Then we have to go to Pyramid Photos. I need to get my pay from last week. Then it’s on to the Delaney Ocean City Tour.”

We took my usual table near the back, and Harriet came our way with a pot of coffee in her hand.

“Mornin’, Delaney. Coffee? Who’s your friend?”

“Wendy, Harriet. Harriet, Wendy.”

“Where’s your buddy Jack?”

“Either sleeping or working. Not my day to watch him.”

Wendy ordered eggs Benedict, and I went for the pancakes. After Harriet left, Wendy leaned into the table with a stern look and asked in a low voice, “How does Harriet know so much about you and your friend?”

“We’ve eaten here a lot, that’s all. I swear.”

“Who is Jack?”

“Just a friend, someone I met after coming to Ocean City. He’s the bell captain at the Majestica Atlantica. Other than you, he’s the only friend I have in town.”

“Why haven’t I met him?”

“Just conflicting schedules. When you’ve been here, he’s been working or something. But hey, why would I want him around when I’m with you?” She smiled at my response.