ఇ Marci breathes a deep sigh. She gives them that knowing look as she does. Everyone and their mother isn't lost on her. She has been coming to this beach in Merrock for ages and it does in fact happen the same every summer. This time she doesn't have to step into the role of babysitter which pleases her. One eye cracked open and she huffs. "Ugh. Listen making friends with the married hens when you're a single rooster is hard. I should know. I think there's gotta be some art to conversation but I sure haven't figured out the magic potion." No one was within earshot but when it comes to having a little bit of a kiki, that means keeping it between the kiki'ing parties. "And what if you don't like 'em or they're losers? I can drive you back to your place if our times match up Lennox, don't waste your money on an Uber." It's a sign of kindness and affection when Marci addresses you by your last name. To her it's always felt somehow personal but not in an overbearing way. She wouldn't mind if anybody called her Mulbah either. "I love complaints. I got them to last us all day, trust. I've been doing the same 'ol. Got a facial special about to run at the spa with mangoes." There was only so much time to make good on the tropical ideas.

“I mean…the mothers are nice, I suppose, but they’re a bit cliquey,” Nick remarked, then let their eyes dart towards their kids, who were happily content in the water. Both kids were thankfully strong swimmers, but it was necessary to constantly check up on them should they need anything. He knew they were okay for now though, happily doing whatever it was that middle schoolers did on a beach. “Oh, you really don’t have to…but honestly, I might take you up on that. I don’t know if I can bear sitting through more front-seat chatter about high school prom. I don’t know why some people still willingly talk about one night that happened over thirty years ago.” They certainly hadn’t peaked in high school and they were rather glad they didn’t. He’d been trying to forget high school more than anything else. “That sounds really nice,” they smiled. “I’ve made a few desserts with mangoes recently. It’s just too hot to turn on any ovens, so I’ve been really taking advantage of those popular ‘no-bake’ recipes. I made a mango cheesecake the other day that was pretty good.”

Nick really didn’t feel like explaining the fact that technically speaking, he was on uncle duties. Being a constant presence in Madelyn’s life was still something they weren’t super used to, plus it was a very long story that nobody really needed to know much about yet. “It’s been pretty long, yeah. I’m really only doing this so my kids can socialize, otherwise, I’d be elsewhere right now,” he laughed. “Apparently, loads of other people had the same idea as me. I’m just wondering why it seems half the parent population in this town all picked today to take their kids to the beach.”

Nathan was at the swimming beach with his kids. His oldest daughter surprisingly had no plan with her friends and agreed to go with her younger siblings when he brought it up. He should've guessed that she would get the younger kids to join her and ganged up on him, and pulled him into the water. He had just finally managed to get himself away, Micah now more busy splashing his two older sisters than trying to drag him back into the water. So he made his escape towards where they put their stuffs, with multiple glances towards the water so he was always aware of where they were.

"Well, I'm here with my kids, who just succeeded in getting me completely soaked when I didn't really plan to. I know, a surprise considering where we are." He grabbed his towel and started attempting to dry off his hair and face. "Why are you feeling out of place?" he then asked. "Being the only adult in the group?"

“Good point,” Nick replied. “I’m just not wanting to embarrass them in front of their friends, that’s my only main issue.” The two good things were that he could tan and his kids could have fun. That was it. Being on a crowded beach was the last place they really wanted to be right now, but it was too late to dwell on the past. He supposed he ought to make the most of it. “No,” they replied to the man’s question. “Two of the other kids’ mothers are over there…somewhere, but they’re kind of doing their own thing without me. I’m not really friends with them. Hell, I didn’t know I had to be. Is that some kind of rule they don’t discuss when it comes to parenting? ‘Cause I apparently did not get the memo.”

Nick smiled, “I get it. I was born and raised in an area of Arkansas where we got very little snow at the most infrequent times during the winter. As an adult, I moved to a city in the mountains where we got way too much snow. Of course, now I’m just way too accustomed to that kind of environment,” he chuckled. “Doesn’t mean I like it all that much, though. But yeah, southern heat is brutal.”

They nodded and moved to grab two more sample cups before glancing towards the pastry display. He opened it carefully and grabbed a brown butter sea salt cookie and a pastel yellow macaron, cutting both up as he had previously done and placing them into the cups before closing the display. They then glanced between the samples, the leftover cookie, and the woman before shrugging and taking a piece of the leftover cookie for themself. “It’s very hard to resist,” he added after he’d finished. “That’s a con about running this kind of business. I’m very easily tempted. I’m not sure whether to expect any more customers today, anyway, and there’s more in the display, so it’s not like I’m being selfish. I hope I’m not anyway.” They quickly moved to change their gloves (just to be safe) and approached the counter. “Maybe this is an opinion, but I really don’t like macaroons. I feel like Americans got inspired by the iconic French delicacy and wanted to replicate it, but it didn’t go well. I mean, it’s just a sad little lump of coconut. Macarons might be a pain in the ass to make, but they’re the way to go, in my opinion.”

ఇ Now the beach has always been Marci's second home. It never fails to rejuvenate her nor provide her with some good ideas, and with summer winding to its middle ground, she found herself in need of some fresh ones. The sand feels great between her toes, white sandals dangling in one hand and a heavy beach bag draped across her other arm, humming a tune by Journey as she glances along the shoreline for a place to lay down her towel. After a trek up the small hill, the familiar voice of Nick reaches them, and they tsk at them and shake their head. "Hecks to the no. I am chaperoning nobody except myself." A point toward her kerchief and the floral mumu over her bathing suit. "Unless you do need a hand. Then give me a holler. I think they still call them play-dates for sure. I know I would. Embarrass the heck out of your kids while you still can, they won't be in that non-argue stage for forever." Marci smiles to herself, setting down her towel. She fans it out with a great flourish, AZURE SPA written in cursive in the corner, white font on a pink cotton terry. "Now you can socialize with me. I'm here for rays and inspo. I feel like Azure's 'gram is stagnant. Especially for July." Marci had posted the typical, somewhat expected holiday posts with the red white and blue products and the potential for sales on cucumber facials. But to her it does not feel like enough. (Rarely does it.) She lets her bag flop onto the towel first. It's so overloaded with items it falls right over. "You need some rays Lennox, sit down and relax a spell. That beach chair is half in the shade of somebody else's parasol." Marci squats down to retrieve some sunscreen and begins to reapply it to her arms. She is in the business of making sure relaxation is achieved. No worried frowns on a towel at the beach on her watch, not even with babysitting kids. She has two eyes and one of them can easily be used for their safety.

Nick chuckled before standing briefly to move his beach chair towards where the sun would hit him. “Well, it’s not my fault that everyone and their mothers decided today would be a good beach day.” Of course, they were kind of being hypocritical, but they hadn’t come here for themself. He was just glad his kids were being active and having a good time.

“I think I’m okay, but thank you. Two of the other kids’ mothers are right over there, but…they’re kind of doing their own thing. The carpool over here was hell, they have their own inside jokes and whatever. I kind of regret coming with them in a giant minivan, I might just call an Uber when we’re done here.” They glanced over to make sure the women weren’t in earshot before turning back to Marci. “Apparently, one unspoken rule of parenting is that you’re meant to befriend your kids’ friends’ parents, but they all know each other, and it’s awkward. I swear half of them didn’t know that I’m unmarried until a few days ago,” he grimaced. “Enough about me, though. I doubt you want to listen to me complain. What have you been up to lately?”

“I know, things seemed a lot easier when I was growing up. Now there’s so much competition, it feels so rough,” Nick grimaced. If he had a time machine, he’d never willingly go back to high school. It was fine then, but they were much happier now. He quickly nodded and moved towards the pastry display. “Do you want anything specific or do you maybe want samples to make things easier?”

“Oh, yeah, the snowstorm was rough,” Nick nodded. “It was mayhem. My kids were happy when the schools closed, but apart from that…I don’t want to imagine what next winter will bring. But at least the warmer seasons are nice, they don’t bring much displeasure. Besides people who despise the heat, that is. I know tons of people who get sunburnt easily. I’m…not one of them, though I do tan a bit.” They moved to grab a pastry box and loaded in a few of the actual pastries before setting it off to the side. “I like to make them look presentable, so I might end up rearranging the contents before I hand the box off to you. Presentation matters to me,” he laughed. “Alright, shall we continue with a few more samples, then?”

“Horses are cool,” Nick smiled. “I imagine you enjoy running the program, then? Especially since the weather’s nice now and all. I feel like there might not be many exciting things to do with that in the winter. I know for me, I try to avoid going out in the winter as much as possible, which sounds dramatic, but…” he stifled a laugh. “I don’t know, I’d hate to get frostbite or something.” That wasn’t one of their biggest fears, but it was certainly high on a potential list. “I think it’s best the locals try to handle the resort stuff. As a…semi-newbie, it’s still quite complicated. Honestly, as someone who grew up in cities where a fast food place was on practically every corner, it’s not for me. But I respect it.” He never liked to ‘yuck anyone’s yum’ as the saying went, but fast food was something he was particularly stubborn about. “Yeah, I agree. I like how close people are with one another. You don’t really get much of that in big cities.”

“I get it,” Nick smiled. “I was the same way as a kid. I just feel like things might’ve gotten harder for kids nowadays, you know? All this unneeded pressure and whatnot.” At the question, he glanced down at the pastry display before nodding. “Well, not specifically just lemon, but we did get in a bunch of lemon and blueberry things, if that might interest you?”

“It’s…I don’t even know. It’s also May, which means they shouldn’t be learning anything new anymore,” Nick shrugged. If it was stuff the kids had already learned and it was just a refresh, he could understand, but learning something new so late in the year just felt absurd. “Hm, well, there are some new summery pastries in, if you’d want to take a look at that.” He gestured to them in the display case. “Or I can just recommend my favorites.”

“Horses?” Nick echoed, a slight smile broadening on his face. “Hey, that’s fun. How long have you been doing that?” They nodded along at the mention of the Benefactor. “I’ll admit, I’m not super in the loop about what’s been going on. The locals are probably losing their shit, I imagine. I’d just hate for any small businesses to potentially shut their doors because of a resort. I mean, corporations in a small town can’t be promising at all. If people really want McDonald’s or something, there’s probably one a few miles away from here. I suppose I wouldn’t exactly know, though, because I’m not really one for fast food. Why should I spend money on greasy, overpriced junk when I can just cook something up that’s far healthier? My kids kind of hate it though,” he chuckled. “It seems like some of their friends’ families eat out once or twice a week. I mean, we also eat out, but not like…fast food. You’d never catch me at Domino’s or something,” they let out a slight laugh. “Maybe that makes me slightly boring compared to most parents nowadays, but…I don’t know, I suppose I’m a bit old-school.” He nodded once again, “Yeah, my team’s great. It’s always nice to just have a supportive environment. We’re all good to each other around here; we’re kind of like a family.”

where: aquatic conservatory

when: feat. world oceans day

" i know it's good to learn, i just ... " stares at the nearest aquarium, suspicious of what's swimming around in it. nothing truly offensive: angel fish, the lone puffer fish, a handful of colorful ones she's never seen before, but the whole thing gives her the creeps. she rubs her arms, standing closer to the door than someone on one of the guided tours should, trying not to sound rude but — ugh. how'd she get roped into this? " i just think some things should stay outta sight, outta mind. " taps fingers to temples, a ward. " like that thing. what even is that fish? " all this learning makes her thirsty.

Nick chuckled, glancing towards his kids who were preoccupied looking at a bunch of clownfish in a tank a few feet away. They knew their kids didn’t want to be there and would probably rather do anything else (but it was educational), but they promised the kids ice cream afterwards, so it was a solid bribe in Nick’s eyes. Of course, that meant he had to actually follow through with it when the time came, but for now, he could at least look at the fish. Fish didn’t interest them much either, so they couldn’t blame their kids’ lack of interest. Perhaps the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. “I’m just as lost as you are,” he replied. “It’s a little…repulsing though, isn’t it? Whatever it is, anyway.”

Watching as they moved about to gather the samples, she looked around, smiling to herself and at their kids once more, watching them for a moment before turning attention back to the mission at hand. "I can already tell you from the smell that they're going to be delicious," she said with a grin, stepping closer to take them with a laugh, "and don't worry, I trust you. I get the feeling you really love this place and take a lot of pride in it." As she began to test the samples she was given, she chewed thoughtfully, trying to keep an air of mystery about herself as she let the lemon, blueberry taste win her over. "So, how long have you been running this place?"

Nick nodded, “It definitely does get busy in the morning, but I can’t say it’s necessarily a bad thing. Not everyone wants eggs or bacon for breakfast. Some people want donuts, and that’s okay.” He stopped, realizing his statement, and let out a nervous chuckle. “But I’m definitely biased, though. Although, I don’t typically come in until a bit later in the morning. I usually need to get the kids to school, the cat fed, the house cleaned up a little, and a bit of time to myself, in no particular order. Sometimes I miss the breakfast rush entirely, other times it’s dying down by the time I get here. My employees understand, though. It is just me today because I figured I’d give them a break for no other reason besides the fact that they deserve it. I mean, I like to think I’m a good boss,” they laughed. “I’ve been running this place since 2019, when I moved here. It’s been around long before I came here, though. I’ll admit that I felt weird at first. I mean, I can only imagine what locals initially thought about some random big-city Arkansas guy coming into their small town and buying the bakery. But I like it here, it’s peaceful. It’s a nice change of pace from where I grew up. But enough about me, what do you do for a living?”