I copied and pasted it into my maps app and saw that it was a lot inside Live Oak.
Sitting up, I scanned the beach for Delly and waved her over. A gust of wind just about carried her ridiculous hat away, and she had to slam her hand on top of her head to keep it in place as she hurried back to me.
My renewed excitement stayed with me as I explained, and we packed up quickly and got back into the Jeep.
“Do you think it’s a rental?” Delly yelled from the passenger seat. The windows were down, and the wind from the Gulf made it pretty loud inside the cab.
“I dunno,” I yelled back, driving with one hand so my arm could hang partially out the window. “But I have a good feeling.”
She smiled broadly, then turned on the radio.
“Under Pressure” by Queen blasted through the Jeep’s speakers, and we wasted no time singing along.
Two more songs from the ’80s later, we were at the Live Oak gate and had to turn the radio off. The guard let us through after a quick explanation. Last night, Jillie said we’d have our employee badges to buzz us into most doors and gates at Live Oak, but we wouldn’t get them until after orientation in a couple of days.
I followed the GPS and slowed when I realized where it was taking us.
“Oh, Lordy,” I mumbled as we reached our destination.
“What?” Delly asked, looking out the window in confusion.
I pulled over onto the curb by the driveway and sat heavily back in my seat.
“Remember when I told you about getting lost here? When I thought I might’ve murdered a senior citizen?”
Delly snorted. “Yeah, but then you said it wasn’t. That the person who crashed out on their skateboard or whatever was actually, oh, how did you put it?” She turned toward me, dramatically pulled her tank top away from her body, and lowered her voice in mockery—or flattery, depending on how you looked at it—of mine. “Delly, Iswear, I found her the next day. I was so relieved when I saw her knees and that I hadn’t harmed some foxy-yet-sturdy older lady. And hereyes, Delly. Hereyes.”
Okay, I was taking offense. “I didn’t say any of that.”
She arched an eyebrow at me.
Dammit, she knew I didn’t like to lie.
“Except the part about the knees,” I mumbled.
She switched to her other eyebrow.
“And the eyes,” I conceded.
Her brows returned to factory setting. “So. You were saying?”
I groaned. “I’ve about forgotten now and kinda wish I had. Butthis,” I gestured to the street in front of the house Jillie had sent us to, “is where it happened. The incident.”
“Oooooooh,” Delly sang as she braced her arms beside her and rose up in her seat to see out my window, as if there would be a plaque commemorating my embarrassment that she could take a selfie with.
Jillie whirred by my door on a Live Oak golf cart, making us both jump.
“They need to put a bell on those things,” Delly said seriously.
I nodded in agreement, then checked both ways twice before opening my door and getting out. Jillie parked the cart in front of the Jeep and hopped out, and I raised my eyebrows at her outfit.
A Live Oak branded polo and… sweatpants that cinched at the ankles.
I couldn’t claim that I remembered what she’d been wearing when she left her house this morning, but I’m pretty sure I’d remember this.
She shrugged. “I spilled something on my slacks this morning and didn’t have time to change before getting to the Locc for casino day.”
Delly rounded the Jeep. “Wanna borrow one of my T-shirts and lean into the athleisure aesthetic?”
