Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
At breakfast, Ivy ran into Jake, the boy from the next cottage down, on the sidewalk in front of the shops, and the two of them spent most of the meal chatting. After, they decided to walk around the village together.
“You have my credit card on your phone?” Blaze asked Ivy.
“Yeah.”
“Get yourself something special.”
“Okay,” she said. “Thanks.”
“I’m full as a beached whale,” Gram said, patting her belly. “Breakfast took it out of me. Think we could swing by the cottage and drop me off for a rest?”
Blaze peered down the sidewalk at Ivy, who’d tucked her baggy shirt into her shorts and checked herself out in the reflection of one of the shop windows. Jake said something to her. She turned toward him and laughed.
“I’d like to stay in town and shop,” Nora said. “I could be available for Ivy while you take Gram back to the cottage.” This would be the perfect opportunity to get Gram that new bookmark.
“All right,” Blaze said. “Be right back.” He offered an arm to Gram.
Gram took Blaze by the bicep, and they walked toward his car while Nora popped into a nearby shop.
The door bells of the beach boutique jingled when Nora entered. She perused the whitewashed wood tables full of cups, mugs, towels, and other souvenirs in pastels and bright pinks. She picked up a set of coasters with hand-painted sand dollars and set them back down. Then she flicked through the stack of coffee-table books about the villages along the Gulf Coast.
She browsed the many wares before stumbling upon a display of book-themed items and admired a quilted book-sized bag in the turquoise and deep blues of the water. It was so lovely that she decided the splurge was worth it to surprise Gram. She also found an array of bookmarks, so there was sure to be one that would be perfect. She thumbed through a few with landscapes of sea grass, the white sandy beaches, and the signature stripes of the Gulf before finding one with a watercolor of a pink beach umbrella and two white Adirondack chairs. She could almost imagine sitting there with Gram.
She plucked the bookmark from the others and went up to the cashier to pay. The woman slipped her items into a shopping bag and topped them with tissue paper that was almost too pretty not to keep. Buying a gift for Gram made her feel festive. What would her vacation have looked like so far if Ivy hadn’t shown up? Nora and Gram would have taken their walk on the beach and probably popped into a few shops before Gram got tired and wanted to return to the cottage. Funny, they’d still done the same things, just with more people along. She didn’t mind having them there. It was actually kind of nice. She just hoped Gram felt the same.
Feeling productive, Nora stepped out into the sunshine. Strolling tourists and others on brightly colored beach cruisers dotted the sidewalks. The scent of salt and savory dishes from the outdoor grills filled the air. The relaxed and happy atmosphere grabbed hold of Nora. She walked along the sidewalk, the gift bag swinging in her hand. Her breakup with Carson and her year at school seemed like a lifetime away. She couldn’t imagine a better way to start her summer.
A little while later, after lots of window-shopping, Nora’s phone pinged with a text from Blaze, telling her he was stopping by a beach shop at the end of the village to pick up Ivy and then he could come get Nora and drive her to her car if she told him where to meet her. She texted back with her location, and he said he’d be there as soon as he could.
It was a beautiful day, and she could easily walk to her car, but taking a ride with Blaze was something she might not ever get to do in her lifetime. How many famous producers asked to give her a ride in their Maserati?
While she waited, she walked across the street to the ice-cream shop with the pink-and-white-striped awnings and a line of color-coordinated Adirondack chairs under it, keeping one eye out for Blaze’s car. She popped inside to take a peek at the offerings. As she considered the flavor selection and wall of topping options, Blaze’s voice at her ear made her jump.
“Anything good?”
She turned around with a gasp.
“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“You were quick,” she said, trying to still her pattering heart. “Where’s Ivy?”
“She texted that Jake’s taking her back to the cottage.”
“Does she know Jake well enough to let him drive her back?”
“No, but I can see where she is on my app, and she’s already almost home. I’m going to talk to her about jumping in a car with someone without asking, but I doubt it’ll go over well, since she was willing to drive through multiple states on her own. I’m sure she thinks she can handle herself.” He peered down at his phone. “Looks like she made it.”
“I’ll text Gram to let her know.” Nora fired off a quick message.
Nora’s phone pinged immediately with a return text. “Gram says Jake and Ivy are with her.” She “loved” the comment and slipped her phone into her back pocket.
“Wanna get some ice cream?” he asked. “It’s on me. Part of my promise if you let us stay.” He flashed that grin of his.
“All right.” She waved a hand at the wall of toppings. “The offerings are a little overwhelming, wouldn’t you say?”
“Definitely.” He held up a finger and walked over to the cashier, who’d already noticed him. Did she know who he was? “Excuse me. What’s your bestselling ice cream?”
The young girl looked around as if to make sure he was actually speaking to her. Then she responded with, “The Crashmasher.” She pointed to the word written in curly script on the menu. “It’s big enough for two.”
“Want to share it?” Blaze asked.
Sharing ice cream with the parent of a student wasn’t really in Nora’s job description, but Blaze’s charm was chipping away at her determination to keep things all business. Oh, what the heck. She was on vacation after all, and it was just ice cream.
“Okay.”
Blaze paid for the order, and they got a table. The girl behind the counter was typing madly on her phone. She definitely recognized him. When they called his name, the girl at the counter beckoned him over, showing him her phone. Then she offered him a napkin and a pen, and Blazed signed his name while the other worker with their order chattered on.
Nora gasped when he turned around with their treat.
“How are we going to eat that?” she asked, as he set down the fishbowl-sized ice-cream concoction.
“I have no idea.”
“Did the girl at the counter recognize you?” she asked, pulling a napkin from the small box-holder on the table.
“Yeah. She’s a fan of the new country singer Micky Lawson, and she saw me in his stories.”
He handed her a spoon and then waved over one of the staff. “Can you tell me what’s in this exactly?”
The girl hurried over excitedly. She pointed to the bottom filling. “That’s a layer of our toffee cake, a play on ‘coffee cake,’ but instead of the cinnamon topping, it has toffee bits.” Her bright pink nail moved to the second layer. “And this is our signature bourbon-vanilla ice cream with mini peanut-butter cups.”
Blaze playfully bit his knuckle in fear over the glass trough of a bowl, making Nora laugh.
“On top of that,” the girl continued, “you have three layers: crushed toffee, caramel, and chocolate crumble. It’s all crowned with butter-cream ice cream, whipped cream, and edible gold sprinkles.”
“Thank you,” Blaze said.
“No problem.” The girl went back to wiping down tables and snickering with her friend behind the counter.
He pulled out his phone. “Speaking of stories, I should take a video of this and put it on mine. I’m lacking content at the moment. People are going to wonder if I’ve been kidnapped.” He gave her a wink. Tipping the bowl toward him, he took a close-up of the giant sundae with the window behind it, blurred palm trees in the background. Then he held up the screen so Nora could see. He posted the clip with the caption: Currently out of office .
“This dessert is quite an unexpected adventure,” Nora said, digging her spoon into the sugary decadence and taking a bite.
He flashed a devious grin. “We all have to live out of our comfort zone every now and again, right? When I go to the gym, my trainer says, ‘Don’t lift weights for you. Lift weights for yourself in twenty years. He’ll thank you.’”
She savored the creamy chocolate flavor of the first bite, then said, “I will definitely have to test my limits, for the sake of my future self.” She scooped another bite.
“If you really want to test your limits, I saw something on the way to meet you that might be fun.”
She licked a drip of vanilla off the back of her spoon. “What was it?”
“I really want to do it while I’m here, but I don’t want to do it by myself.”
She stared at his handsome face, wondering what he was up to. “What is it?” she asked again.
“Trust me and face your fears?” he said.
“I should be fearful of whatever it is?” She dipped her spoon back into the bowl, careful to stay on her side of the ice cream.
“Nah. But I think you’re fearful of surprise.”
Why would she be fearful of surprise? What about her outward persona had made him think that? Did she appear on the outside as predictable as she felt on the inside? That, in itself, was terrifying.
“Fine. I’m cool with surprises.”
“Great.” He sat back with a satisfied look.
“How long will we be? I’ll let my grandmother know.”
He got back on his phone. “Let me check…” He typed a few things, scrolled, and typed some more.
She leaned over to see what he was doing, and he pulled the phone out of her view. “No, no. It’s a surprise, right?” He worked on the phone a bit more. “There. Got us tickets, and we need to be there by noon. It’ll take about two hours. I’ll text Ivy to ask if she wants to go with us,” he said, typing again on his phone.
He got a response right away. “She said she’d rather stay with Jake.” He pursed his lips. “I’m going to need to spend some time with this kid. He’s becoming a regular fixture. I’m asking if Jake wants to go too. The more the merrier.”
Nora dipped her spoon into the ice cream and lifted another sweet bite. What was Blaze up to?
His phone pinged again. “Ivy said they don’t want to go, so it’s just you and me.”
Nora’s curiosity was definitely piqued. She texted Gram that she and Blaze would be out until a little after two, and to let her know if she needed anything.
Gram texted back:
I couldn’t be happier. Enjoy yourself. Ivy, Jake, and I are on the beach.
Blaze offered to drive to their mysterious location, so after they ate as much ice cream as they could manage, they walked to his Maserati. She’d never been in a car that nice before. The headrests of the leather seats were embroidered with the car’s logo, for goodness’ sake. He revved the engine and pulled out of the parking spot. She couldn’t feel a single bump on the smooth ride to their destination.
He pulled to a stop at a brightly painted hut about fifteen minutes down the road.
“Bike rentals? Are we taking a bike ride?”
Blaze threw his head back and hooted. “A two-hour bike rental is not my idea of getting us out of our comfort zone. Give me a little credit.”
“But we’re going in there?” She pointed to the yellow-and-orange bike-rental office.
“Yep.”
She tucked Gram’s gift into the floorboards, got out of the car, and they strode up to the bike shop. Blaze opened the door, and they went inside.
The man behind the desk greeted Blaze. “You must be Mr. Ryman, here for your twelve o’clock adventure for two.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Excellent. I’ll get the captain, and we’ll have you on your way in just a second.” The man disappeared into a back room.
“Adventure?” Nora asked, a little nervous suddenly. “Adventure” could be underwater shark diving or something similar.
“Don’t worry. You’re safe with me.” He produced an evil laugh, his humor breaking her slight apprehension.
What could be the worst that would happen at a bike-rental place? There weren’t any cliffs around or anything. He’d said they weren’t biking. Was he kidding? If they were biking, it would be down the beach and back, most likely. But the clerk had said “captain.” Maybe they were taking a boat ride. Given that the Gulf was incredibly calm, that might be nice.
“All right, Mr. Ryman,” the man said, walking through the small room. “If you two could follow me.”
They walked out the back of the building where a boat bobbed against the dock. A portly man with tanned skin and a younger man with sunglasses and bare feet headed toward them, carrying two life vests.
Yes. A boat ride! How wonderful.
“My name is Captain Jimmy, and this is my assistant, Randall. We’ll be driving your boat.”
“Blaze.” He reached out and shook Captain Jimmy’s hand and then Randall’s. “And this is Nora.”
“Hello,” Nora said.
“Ladies first.” Randall handed Nora a life vest. “You’ll want to tighten it so it’s snug. I don’t anticipate you getting in the water today, but in case of emergency, we want your vest fitting well.”
As she clipped the buckles, Captain Jimmy reached over and tugged the straps, tightening them before handing the other vest to Blaze. Randall left them and took a seat at the wheel of the boat.
“Hop aboard, and I’ll get you fitted.”
Fitted?
Blaze stepped onto the boat deck and reached out his hand to Nora. She took it to steady herself as she climbed on. He peered down at her and smiled as he let go.
“All right,” Captain Jimmy said, grabbing a wide set of straps all woven together. “Nora, we’ll get your harness on first.”
She turned to Blaze who gave her an encouraging nod.
Captain Jimmy patted the cushioned bench. “Have a seat right here, and I’ll have you step into it.”
Nora complied, wondering what she was stepping into, both figuratively and literally.
Captain Jimmy laid the strap on the floor of the boat and asked her to put her feet in the openings. Then he slipped it up to her calves. “Now you can stand up and shimmy it into place.”
He helped her slip the harness up to her hips and then asked her to sit back down. “I’ll thread this strap through your life vest to get you all secured. Then we’ll work on your hubby.”
“Oh, he’s?—”
Captain Jimmy yanked the harness, tightening it and causing her to lose her breath, although she wasn’t sure if she’d already stopped breathing when he’d said Blaze was her husband. Couldn’t the man tell they weren’t together? She peered over at Blaze, who was grinning at her, clearly amused. His chiseled jaw and straight, white, perfect teeth, those gray eyes—she swallowed and focused on the belts around her body.
Captain Jimmy held a belt from her harness. “Once you’re up in the air, this strap will be like this.” He lifted it. “Feel free to relax and hang on to this if you want to.”
“We’re going in the air?”
Captain Jimmy’s bushy brows pulled together. “That’s usually how parasailing works.”
Parasailing?
“How high are we going?” she asked as the captain assisted Blaze with his harness.
“About 300 feet in the air. It doesn’t sound like much, but with the right wind, you can see the curvature of the earth.”
He said it as if seeing the roundness of the planet was a good thing. Other than in the safe confines of an airplane, Nora’s feet had never left the ground. Her mouth dried out. She was about to dangle from a few straps hundreds of feet in the air?
Blaze’s sudden warm grip on her hand yanked her attention away from her fear of heights. Now she was worried about that invisible personal-work line she’d been trying so hard to keep drawn between them. She’d shared an ice cream and now she was clasping the hand of her student’s father.
His breath at her ear, he said, “Don’t worry. We’ll do it together.”
Get fired?
“Let’s get you two in the chute and ready to fly,” Captain Jimmy said.
Nora’s knees wobbled as she walked to the back of the boat, and Blaze tightened his hold on her hand.
“Have you ever done this before?” she asked, unable to let go of him.
“Nope.”
Captain Jimmy yanked on a tether at the back of the boat, and a multicolored parachute plumed out over the water. “Come on up and I’ll clip you in.”
They stepped up on the platform at the back of the boat, and the captain helped them get into position. Then he asked them to lean back, and he adjusted their seat. Nora’s fingers trembled slightly, and her heart pounded as she held on to the straps. Captain Jimmy directed them to sit and stretch their legs out straight just as Randall fired up the boat engines.
As the boat moved, the parachute filled with air. Nora and Blaze lifted slightly off the platform as if they were in two backyard swings. Then, when the boat gained speed, whoosh , her stomach dropped, and they sailed into the air. Nora laughed at the feeling despite her trepidation.
“This is incredible,” Blaze said, while they floated higher and higher.
Nora’s whole body shook, their feet dangling high above the earth, the boat getting smaller under them, but a wave of exhilaration also filled her, and she couldn’t stop smiling. It was terrifying and thrilling in equal measure.
She had a view of the entire horizon from up there. She could see all the way down to the high-rises of Panama City Beach, miles away. The wind whipped around them. Was this how birds felt?
“Look!” Blaze pointed down to the deep-blue water beneath them.
Two dolphins arced in unison above the water.
Nora gasped and then reached over him to point out two more.
He turned his head toward her, uniting with her in the excitement, and locked into her gaze. They shared a moment of solidarity, both experiencing this magnificent feeling together. He wrinkled his nose playfully as if he’d guessed they were thinking the same thing.
Never, in a million years, had she thought she’d have this much fun on her vacation. And, as crazy as it sounded, she owed it all to Blaze and Ivy.