“Does it have to be karaoke at Caddie’s?”

“Yes, it does,” Julia said. “Anyway, it’s Friday. Even if Ty is working tonight, he’ll be too busy slinging margaritas to see what you’re up to.”

“This isn’t about Ty,” Ellis started.

“Sure it is,” Julia said. She stood up and offered a hand to Ellis. “Now let’s get moving. I’m pretty sure you’ve drawn up a new Kaper chart back at the house, telling all of us what we’ve got to do before checkout tomorrow.”

49

“Ty,” Angie said, “I’m at my wit’s end here. Patricia’s a no-show again. It’s our last college night of the summer, and the place is already packed to the rafters. I’m begging you. Just come in ’til midnight. I’ll get Nella to close, but if I don’t get somebody behind the bar, like, right now, I may have to kill myself.”

Ty pushed his chair away from the computer. He walked out of the cottage and stared out at the sky. It was past eight and the last orange streaks of sunset were barely visible over the dunes that separated Pelican Cottage from the beach. The view wasn’t nearly as good as his own view back at the garage apartment at Ebbtide had been. He was going to miss that view, but there would be other sunsets, and in ninety days, give or take a few, he would be back home at the old house, this time for good.

“Sorry, Angie, can’t do it,” Ty said. “I’ve got something else tonight.”

“What?” she demanded. “Look, I told you I’m desperate. Just tell me what it’ll take to get you here, right now, and I’ll pay it.”

He considered Angie’s offer. She was over a barrel, and he knew it.

“A hundred bucks an hour,” he said promptly. “Cash. Plus tip out.”

“Shit!” Angie groaned. “I could get five bartenders for that.”

“So get ’em.”

“No, damn it. I need you and you know it. Get over here now.”

“Sure,” he said. “But there’s just one more thing. I can’t stay ’til midnight. I gotta be out of there by eleven thirty. Sharp.”

“Okay, fine, whatever,” she said.

“I mean it, Angie. I don’t care if every damn college kid on the Outer Banks is in there tonight. I’m walking at eleven thirty. No matter what. Understand?”

“Just get here,” Angie snapped.

*   *   *

Julia sauntered into Ellis’s room just as she was zipping herself into the pink Lilly Pulitzer sundress.

“Don’t start,” Ellis warned, when she saw Julia’s disapproving frown. “I’ve already packed everything else except what I’m wearing in the morning. And I am not borrowing any more of your clothes tonight. This is who I am. I’m not Julia Capelli. I don’t wear spike heels or black lace bras as tops. I am Ellis Sullivan. Boring, predictable, safe Ellis Sullivan. So deal with it!”

“I was just gonna ask if I could borrow your silver hoop earrings,” Julia said, seating herself on the edge of the bed. “But if you’re gonna go all postal on me, never mind.”

“Earrings? That’s all you want?”

“Yeah. What did you think I wanted?”

Ellis reached into the pink satin jewelry roll that sat on top of her dresser and fished out the silver hoops. “You didn’t come in here to try and get me all skanked up tonight before we go to Caddie’s?”

“Nope,” Julia said.

“And you’re not gonna try and talk me out of leaving tomorrow? Instead of staying here, with Ty?”

“Nope,” Julia said. She held out her hand. “Just a pair of earrings. That’s all I need. Oh yeah, Dorie asked me to come up here and tell you she needs you down in the laundry room. She can’t figure out which towels are yours and which ones stay in the house.”

“The fugly gray and maroon towels stay here,” Ellis said, turning back to the mirror.

“Yeah, but she said there’s some other laundry, she can’t figure out who it belongs to. Extra sheets and pillowcases. You know Dorie, she gets flustered by the least little thing.”

“Oh all right,” Ellis said, running a brush through her dark hair. “I’ll go.”

“Great.”

Julia followed Ellis to the stairway. She waited until Ellis was halfway down the stairs before she darted back to her room. She picked up Ellis’s purse, fished out her cell phone and car keys and pocketed them quickly, before heading back to her own bedroom.

*   *   *

He had his back to the bar while he poured tequila into the blender, but Ellis knew that muscled back. She knew those wide shoulders, the narrow hips. She caught her breath and took a step backwards, but Dorie grabbed her arm.

“Come on, Ellis,” Dorie said. “You don’t even have to talk to him. We’ll find a table in the far corner.”

“You guys,” Ellis pleaded. “Don’t make me do this.”

“Do what?” Madison said, hooking her hand through Ellis’s elbow. “Come on, Ellis. It’s ladies’ night. Our last night. You don’t want to spoil Julia’s birthday, do you?”

“Anyway, this place is jammed,” Julia pointed out as they maneuvered through the crowd. “He’ll never even know you’re here.”

“I’ll know,” Ellis said darkly, but she allowed herself to be towed to a table near the tiny stage, and then, reluctantly, to be talked into a lemontini. And then another. The music got louder, and then the karaoke mistress stood up and began taking requests.

First up were a pair of leather-clad biker dudes, one short and round, the other a foot taller, with an impressive beer belly and an even more impressive handlebar mustache.

“‘Hotel California,’” Julia predicted. “I guarantee.” And when the two launched into the Eagles classic, the women shared high-fives all around.

A pudgy brunette in too-tight white jeans, her breasts spilling out of a white tube top, clambered to the stage next, and shocked the crowd by singing a rendition of “Crazy” so pitch perfect, the women all swore she was Patsy Cline come back to life.

While they all stood, giving the Patsy wannabe a standing ovation, Ellis glanced over at the bar. Ty was clapping, whistling. In a split second, his eyes caught hers. He nodded, smiled, as though nothing had happened. Ellis felt her face flush, and she looked away.

Two songs later, Dorie stood and announced, “I’m taking a potty break. Anybody need anything?”

“Potty break and a Connor break, right?” Julia teased. “You think we didn’t see you watching the door to see if he was working tonight?”

“I have to pee every thirty minutes,” Dorie said. “Can I help it if the ladies’ room is right by the bouncer’s booth?”

Twenty minutes later, she was back, a tray of drinks in hand, with the karaoke catalog tucked under her arm.

“Ty sent these over,” she announced, distributing the cups. “He saw me talking to Connor, and insisted that he wanted to buy us all a round of drinks since tomorrow’s our last day. He says we’re the best tenants he’s ever had. Isn’t that so sweet?”

“Adorable!” Julia said, staring at Ellis, who nodded mutely, and then knocked her drink back in one long guzzle.

Dorie and Julia exchanged a worried glance.

“Hey, slow it down,” Julia said. “You don’t wanna be driving with a hangover tomorrow, do you?”

Ellis tossed her hair. “I think I know what I’m doing.”

“So. What are we gonna sing?” Dorie asked, flipping the catalog open.

“We? There is no we,” Madison said.

“I thought we’d do a group number,” Dorie said, looking around at the others. “What’ll it be?”

“How ’bout ‘It’s Raining Men’?” Julia asked.

“Or what about ‘Love Shack,’ you know, since the B-52s are from Georgia, like us,” Dorie suggested. “What do you think, Madison?”

Madison glanced down at the book, turned the page. “I don’t do karaoke, as I think I mentioned previously,” she said. “But if I did, I’d have to say we should do ‘I Will Survive.’”

“Oooh, good one,” Ellis had to admit. “I think that could be the theme song for all of us, right?”

Dorie nodded absentmindedly, still turning the pages of the book. “No. I got it. This is it. The one.” She pointed at Julia, Ellis, and Madison. “And we are all gonna sing it. Together. Every single one of us. Because it’s Julia’s birthday. Right, Julia?”