Going for the double!!!!
Granddad's catch hadn't yielded the kind of his he and Grandma had been hoping for, so we wound up calling for a pepperoni pizza and some garlic bread. And that was more than fine with me. As much as I loved the ocean, I was a lot less fond of eating what came out of it.
"Oh, Rosalie," Grandma piped up as we sat around the dinner table on the upstairs of my balcony, nothing left of our dinner but a grease stained pizza box. "It slipped my mind earlier, but I meant to tell you, we have new neighbors in the duplex."
When my grandparents had decided to knock down the tiny old shed that had occupied our lot for decades, they'd built a huge house in its place, turning half of it into a separate unit that the eventually sold. For years we'd lived next to a young couple, but I hadn't seen them in as long as I remember.
"Jim and Miranda are back?"
Grandma shook her head. "Jim and Miranda moved back to Georgia last November. Couldn't handle the weather down here, bless their hearts."
Granddad, shook his head vigorously on the other side of the table. While Grandma was a naturally happy-go-lucky person, my Granddad was cautious and subdued. And unfortunately, I saw more of myself in Granddad then I did in Grandma.
"I disagree, it was a wimpy move on their part, really. What's the point in buying the place if you can't handle the damn weather?" Granddad grunted.
"Hush, you," Grandma scolded before turning back to me. "Jim's older brother bought the property from them," she continued. "I believe they do plan to spend the summer here with their children."
I nodded but didn't say anything. No need to keep this line of conversation going. I had no plans of turning into Rose the babysitter this summer.
"I think Jim and Miranda mentioned her brother-in-law had a son of his own, maybe a girl if I remember correctly." Grandma ranted, glancing at her husband for conformation. Granddad only shrugged. "Well anyway, you should go on over there and say hello. It's the neighborly thing to do."
"Yeah," I said. "Okay."
As I tried to think of an excuse to leave the table and unpack, the doorbell chimed and my eyes widened.
It could only be Louis or Emma.
I darted inside, nearly catapulting myself down the stairs and into the front door, which I opened.
"Hi!" Emma Wesley stood on the front porch in front of me beaming. I jumped into her arms as we collapsed in a heap.
"Oh my God, hi!" I cried. "Emma! You look fantastic!" But that was always true. With her thick, long golden hair and shining blue eyes, Emma rarely looked like she belonged anywhere other than the front page of a magazine.
"No, look at you!" she exclaimed. "Can you believe it?" She pulled herself to her feat and offered me a hand. "Summer's back."
"We're back. Is Louis with you?"
"No, I thought he might be over here, but I guess not. It wont be much of a first night without him."
"What? Come on, it'll be great. We don't need him to have a good time."
Emma shrugged. "I know, but we've always been together on the first night back. It's like, tradition or something. It'll feel so weird without him."
"Well," I said, as I caught sight of a tall, somewhat muscular brown-haired boy making his way down the street. "I think you're about to get your wish."
Emma whirled around and her face, like mine, broke out into a huge grin. "Louis Tomlinson, get your butt over here!"
Louis looked up at us as he we jogged down the front steps to meet him by the curb.
