Chapter Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Eight
“I feel like this might be taking ‘keeping eyes on Grand’?”—yes, I actually use air quotes—“a step too far,” I say as I walk across a patch of sandy white beach where a large group of women stand at easels trying to reproduce Luke’s form on paper. “Tell me about it,” Luke replies, careful to move only his mouth and not his body, which has been posed so that his bare chest and legs are angled just so and the gym shorts that ride low on his hips show off his physique.
“When your grandmother talked me into posing for her figure drawing class, I assumed we’d be inside the store, and I’d be wearing more clothing.”
“Honestly, I’m surprised she didn’t try to talk you into posing nude.”
“Yeah, well, when she brought it up, I reminded her that that would be indecent exposure and I would have to arrest myself.”
I try not to laugh, but when I notice how carefully the class members study him and the looks of longing on their faces as they study each patch of skin and the sinew of muscles, I come pretty close to losing it.
“This is not funny.”
“It’s kind of funny,” I tease, throwing his words to me at the shooting range back at him.
He rolls his eyes, which I guess are the only things he’s allowed to move. “What time is it?”
“It’s three thirty.”
One bare shoulder droops before he catches himself. “The class isn’t over until four fifteen.” He eyes me. “I’m going to need someone to unbend me and buy me alcohol when this is over.”
“You poor thing,” I say. “Do you want me to bring you a margarita from Paradise Grille now? I’ll hold the drink right in front of you and lead the straw to your mouth so that you can take a sip without moving any body parts except your lips. Or you could have the women in the class take turns holding the cup and helping you sip.”
I glance over toward Paradise Grille and fumble to a stop when I notice the man sitting in the shade of an umbrella at the concession stand. His face is shadowed but not obscured. “Do you see who’s over under that umbrella? It’s Brian Boyer.”
“Yeah.” Luke speaks quietly with as little lip movement as possible. “He’s been watching your grandmother the entire time we’ve been here.”
“She hasn’t mentioned him recently,” I say. “I wasn’t sure if they were still seeing each other.”
“Based on what little I’ve been able to observe without moving my head or shoulders, she’s definitely aware that he’s here and doesn’t seem unhappy to see him.”
The faint sound of a ringtone reaches us on the breeze and I’m careful not to turn around. I do, however, watch out of the corner of my eye as Boyer answers, nods, and speaks to whoever called him. Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to really read lips with only that small corner of my eye.
He ends the call, puts his phone back in his pocket, and I tell myself there’s no reason to believe that the call had anything to do with Grand or is in any way nefarious. Nonetheless, I cross the patch of sand that separates us and take a seat beside him.
“Hi, Brian. I haven’t seen you around for a while. Have you been out of town?” I ask pleasantly.
“No. Just tied up taking care of some family business.” His reply is also pleasant, and his smile is relaxed and friendly. What I don’t know is whether he’s telling the truth or is a better actor than I realized. But then, I can’t think what reason he’d have for lying. “Lillian mentioned she’d be out here teaching, and I thought I’d come watch her at work. She’s quite a dynamo.”
“Yes, she is,” I agree. “Do you two have plans for after the class?”
“Not yet. But I thought I’d wait and see whether she’s available for a cocktail or an early dinner.”
“Ah, okay. I guess I’ll see you around.”
“You can bet on it.” His smile remains pleasant, but there’s something in his eyes that isn’t as relaxed as his smile.
I turn to leave, and as I walk back to Luke, I tell myself that I’m imagining things.
“I’m going to run over to the bookstore for a few minutes. But I’ll be back in time to have a table waiting so that we can have that drink and watch the sunset.”
Luke’s answer is a smile and the slightest of winks.
I wave goodbye to Grand then take the steps up to the sidewalk, where I look up and down Gulf Way. I step off the curb and am halfway across the street when I hear the revving of an engine followed by the screeching of tires. A dirty white cargo van rounds a corner barely a block away and comes right at me.
“Watch out!” people shout behind me. The engine revs again. The van pulls up beside me. A side door slides open, and a man reaches out and attempts to grab me.
I jerk away. His fingers rake my skin as I turn back toward the beach, take two long strides, and dive over the sidewalk.
“Sydney!” Luke’s voice cuts through the noise as I slam into the sand, tuck myself into a ball, and roll down a slight incline.
I feel people scatter around me. I get a mouthful of sand and then another. Things blur around me. My cheek slams into something hard. My arm bounces off something I can’t identify.
“Watch out for the—”
I roll through a patch of beach grass, then come to a full stop when my head plows into what feels like the base of a sand dune.
My head is throbbing.
When I pry open my grit-filled eyes, Luke is kneeling over me. Grand is kneeling beside me. Brian stands a few steps behind her.
“Oh, thank God,” Grand whispers as she takes my hand and kisses it despite the sand that clings to it. “I was afraid we’d lost you.”
“You definitely gave us a scare, squirt.” Luke’s hand touches my shoulder. Even through my gritty eyes and his teasing tone, I can see how worried he was.
“Don’t move yet,” Luke says as he gently runs his hands over me, checking for broken bones, then makes sure my eyes can track the finger he moves back and forth.
Everything hurts. But Luke confirms that while I’m definitely scraped up and bruised, I’m apparently intact. He helps me up and places me in a beach chair. “Can you remember what happened?”
I squinch my eyes shut and see the white van barreling toward me. “Van. White. Thought it was trying to hit me but then someone tried to—”
“Yes, we saw someone try to kidnap you. Did you see his face? Or the driver’s face? Was it anyone you’d seen before?” he asks gently.
“No. I don’t think…no.” I close my eyes and try to rerun the scene again, but all I can think about is how much I want to get off this beach. “Wanna go home…to Grand’s. Hungry.”
“Well, that sounds like good news,” Grand says.
“I’d be glad to pick up dinner and bring it over,” Brian offers.
“No,” Luke says without the least hesitation. “Sydney needs to take it easy. And I want to make sure to be there to keep an eye out.”
“Yes, that’s probably what we should do tonight, but thank you so much for offering, Brian. It was a nice surprise to see you here this afternoon,” Grand says.
“No problem,” Brian says with a polite smile.
“Why don’t you come with me,” Grand says to Brian. “I need to let my students into the store so that they can put their easels away. Since Luke is taking Sydney home, we can catch up while I close up the store.
“I won’t be long,” Grand says to Luke and me. “When I get home, I’ll warm up some chicken noodle soup for Sydney and prepare us a light dinner.”
· · ·
Back at Grand’s, Luke gives me Tylenol for my pounding headache and aching body, helps me take a bath, cleans my cuts, and dresses my wounds. Then he zips me into my fuzziest robe, settles me on the couch, and tucks an afghan around me.
I doze for a while, opening my eyes only when Grand gets back. Minutes later, Luke helps me to the table, where I sip soup and they eat salad and a casserole that Grand whips together.
As the meal comes to an end, Grand looks at both of us and says, “I am beyond relieved and grateful that Sydney’s okay and I agree completely that this evening Sydney should have peace and quiet. I know you were as upset as I was, Luke. But I don’t think you needed to be quite so rude to Brian.”
There’s a brief silence before Luke speaks. “So you don’t see anything odd in the fact that a break-in occurred when you were spending the night at Brian’s place and your home was vandalized while he was unavailable taking care of family business? Or that today when he showed up, someone tried to kidnap Sydney?”
“Certainly you can’t be suggesting that Brian’s behind what’s been happening,” Grand replies.
“I can and I am. There’s something about him that just doesn’t add up.”