Chapter Five
Five
Rooster stood by the van holding his granddaughter’s swim towel like a butler at the ready. Hugging Zoe to her for the umpteenth time, Lulu declared, “Mommy will call you every day, okay?” It was going to be harder to leave than she imagined, and as expected, there were tears.
Zoe wiped them off her mother’s cheek. “Don’t be sad, Mommy. Papu says you’re going on a venture.”
Lulu sniffled. “Ad-venture,” she corrected.
Zoe bit her bottom lip, stumped. “I don’t know how to add.”
Laughing, Lulu squeezed her daughter and kissed her on the forehead, the nose, and the lips. She lifted the hem of Zoe’s T-shirt and blew a raspberry onto her daughter’s belly. Shrieking with glee, Zoe bent over, giggling. When she recovered, Zoe’s face grew stern. “Mommy, have fun.”
Lulu nodded her solemn agreement. “Okay.” She combed her fingers through Zoe’s light-tipped curls just because she loved the feel of them springing back.
As Lulu stood, she sensed the heavy tingle of being watched.
When she spun, she spotted Tyler taking her in.
His eyes remained pegged on her as he tossed a box of paddles into the van.
The appraisal in his eyes paired with the subtle lift of his lip told her he had witnessed her private farewell with her daughter.
Irked by the simple fact that he was within her resort-encompassing bubble, she shot Tyler the stink eye.
He wasn’t looking anymore, but she hoped he could smell it.
A guy sporting stylish adventure wear in his fifties introduced himself, the crinkles around his eyes appearing as he smiled. “I’m Alejandro, your guide.” He reached out a hand to shake Lulu’s. “So glad you could join us on this tour.”
“I really appreciate that you could include me at the last minute.”
“Pura vida,” Alejandro replied breezily and stepped into the passenger seat.
As she climbed into the van, Lulu was greeted by the protracted crinkling sound of a cellophane wrapper. Gwendy, of That’s Me, Bitches fame, peered at Lulu from beneath a wide-brimmed sunhat. “Ginger candy?” the middle-aged pickleballing powerhouse offered. “Good for the tum-tum.”
Lulu shook her head.
“You sure? Twisty roads ahead. I should know. I married the driver.” At that, Invisi-Bill boarded the vehicle, sliding into the front seat beside Alejandro. Bill turned his head to them.
“He wants you to put on your seatbelt. Safety first, Loopy.”
“It’s Lulu.”
“I know,” Gwendy said.
Giving Lulu the once-over, Gwendy asked, “So how’d you get roped into this untested tour with the rest of us suckers?
I mean, I’m here with Bill. And did you meet my daughter, Ariana, yet?
” Not pausing for a response, Gwendy continued.
“She’s doing promotional video stuff. And that celebrity pro is coaching the pickleball parts.
Doing penance for some crap he mismanaged in the US.
Did ya hear he got himself kicked off the pro tour for pulling some dangerous publicity stunt?
Juggling flaming paddles. Reckless, but sexy!
” Lulu stifled an eye roll, but Gwendy had already steamrolled forward.
“I gotta tell ya, I don’t mind spending a week with that dessert platter in court shoes.
Sorry, Bill, but let’s be real here. Am I right, or am I right? ”
Lulu opened her lips to answer, but like with her killer shots, Gwendy never expected any return. The older woman appraised her. “You hit pretty good for a pickleball newbie. And you got one of those made-for-TV faces. Are you a model for the promos?”
Lulu laughed. “Nope. Not a model.” Over the years, she had always stayed baseline fit and taken care of her appearance, but motherhood had obliterated all impressions of herself as pretty.
Now she straightened her posture, self-conscious and flattered at the same time.
“I got added into this tour kind of by accident. I’m testing it out. ”
Right then, there was a bustle of motion at the front of the bus. Gwendy looked over at a stylish woman, late-ish twenties, approaching the van. “There she is. My little paparazzo.”
“ ’Scuse me. Hot coffee coming through.” Sporting a colorful scarf over an auburn ponytail but no hot coffee, a whirlwind of energy poured through the van door.
The young woman’s oversized, hot pink backpack had to be twice the size of her petite frame, and she tossed it onto the seat behind Lulu.
With a bump of the butt, she scrunched in beside Lulu and lifted her sunglasses.
“Oh. Sorry. Didn’t see you there.” The young woman removed a strap from around her neck and set her camera on her lap. “Hey, Ma,” she flicked her chin to Gwendy, then turned back to Lulu and held out her hand. “Ariana Mora.” Gesturing at her camera, she added, “I’ll be shooting the tour.”
Gwendy leaned over into Lulu’s space. “Ariana’s under the influence.”
“No, Mom. I’m an influencer.”
“Right. An influencer.”
So that’s where she’d heard the name. Her students were obsessed with anything promoted by the stylish, sassy Ariana Mora.
Her What the Fit? posts highlighted celebrity gossip and trendy fashion.
But here she was on tour with Lulu on a family vacation!
“That’s so cool that your whole family is all traveling together. ”
“Oh, Bill’s not my dad.”
Lulu stammered, “Sorry, I-I thought—”
“But we like Bill,” Ariana clarified, easing Lulu’s reaction.
The younger woman eyed Lulu up and down.
“Yeah. You’re exactly right for the promos I’ll be shooting.
Sporty, edgy, sexy, but not too trampy. Perfect.
” At Lulu’s shocked expression, Ariana added, “Sorry. Sometimes I just…” She mock-puked into her hand.
“Let it all out, right? Censor missing!” she added with a brassy laugh that reminded Lulu of Gwendy’s throaty chuckle. “You are the model, right?”
“I’m…” But just then Lulu caught sight of the scene unfolding outside the van door.
Tyler Demming was tugged into a hug by Carmen, the Blue Seas program director.
The stunning woman pulled back to gaze at him adoringly, brushed a lock of black waves from his forehead, and tucked it behind his ear.
Carmen cooed at him in Spanish, which, Lulu remembered, had been one of Tyler’s best subjects in high school.
Lulu’s understanding of the Spanish conversation, however, was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle where too many pieces had been eaten by the cat.
But as far as she could tell, Carmen was desolate, because they had such a short time together, and now he was going away and she couldn’t wait until his return.
Surely, even Carmen would know that Tyler was married.
As in, to Sapphire Roe—the world’s sexiest sports commentator—whose career must have kept her too busy to join her hubby on his work tour.
Her mind flew to a photo she had seen of the two of them at some charity event run by Sapphire, famous for her green eyes, rich coffee skin, and referring to her husband in a live interview as, “Top-notch crotch.”
And by the way, did every female sports commentator have to be so hot?
Male sports commentators were notably not as hot.
Seemed pretty genderist now that she thought about it.
She chided herself for caring. Not so much about the sports commentator attractiveness gap.
Although that was annoying, too. But more about the weird, envious reaction she felt noticing Carmen and Tyler’s farewell.
Just then, Tyler flicked a glance at Lulu, probably hoping she was observing what a stud muffin he was.
But when he noticed her watching the scene, he blinked and stepped back from Carmen, clearing his throat.
Could it be that even Tyler Demming could occasionally step out of the limelight for the sake of decorum?
“Tyler!” Ariana called, leaning over Lulu. Her shutter was already clicking. “Let me get a shot of the two of you together!”
“Chao, guapo.” Carmen planted a kiss on each of his cheeks.
At last, Tyler detached himself from Carmen’s caresses and climbed in beside Gwendy.
“Hey, Lulu.” His gaze executed a slow skate over her.
“You still got a little guacamole right here,” he joked, patting the corner of his mouth.
She wasn’t falling for it. Lulu pictured her guacamole- and jamaica juice–splattered self and smiled tightly.
How was it that when she finally managed to squeak out a tiny piece of the world for herself, this guy managed to butt his way into it? Maybe she could ignore him. She would focus on the scenery.
Gwendy dug her phone from her commodious purse.
“Selfie time! Wait ’til my friends back in Philly see this!
” she called. “Come here,” and she tugged a willing Tyler to her and clicked away.
Then, studying her screen, Gwendy flicked through the shots.
“My eyes were closed. That one’s too much nostril.
Yes. That’s the one. You’re nearly as gorgeous as I am. ”
When Gwendy was done, she leaned forward and squeezed Bill’s shoulder. “You know you’re the only man for me, hot stuff,” she said, and licked her lips salaciously in his rearview mirror.
“Shoot me now,” Ariana said.
They drove down the long driveway of the neat grounds. Behind them, Blue Seas Resort glimmered with manicured perfection, but as soon as the van pulled onto the curvy country road, Lulu was dazzled by the explosive Costa Rican landscape.
The trees were bushy and blooming, the greenery jewellike, the sky a shade of blue that defied reality.
Back home in the Pacific Northwest, the light had a muted quality; but here, the sun splashed its brilliance over the landscape like a painter’s brush dipped in gold.
A distant bird trilled but otherwise only the whoosh of the air through the open van window punctuated the quiet of the countryside.
Suddenly a thrumming sound broke the peace. An airplane passing overhead on its way to Liberia Airport buzzed above the van. Her eyes flicked toward Tyler. Had he made the connection, too?
Tyler turned in his seat to face her. He matched eyes with hers. “Coming in hot,” Tyler said, the spark in his voice on par with the glint in his gaze.
The blood in Lulu’s veins fizzed, and her heart drummed with nostalgia. Of course he remembered, too.
And just like that, Lulu was thrown back to the winter of her senior year. The cold evening when they had bundled up in down jackets at seven at night and driven along the dark highway in his old Corolla toward Boeing Airfield.
With little convincing—Tyler had a way of getting her to willingly throw her younger self toward mischief—they shimmied underneath the bend in the barbed wire, careful to hold the sharp, rusty points away from their jackets and jeans.
It was a long trudge to the far runway’s end, but in the quiet of the darkness, they were not spotted.
They lay there on the edge of the world, facing the sky and curling into each other for warmth.
She liked to point her toes toward the cargo jets so she could see their approach before they landed.
And when the plane flew low enough that she could read the numbers on its underbelly, she felt like she was lying at the bottom of the sea below a great white shark.
Whenever they spotted a plane zooming toward them, Tyler would murmur near her ear, “Coming in hot.” The thrill and the danger and the illicitness of those moments were almost too much to bear, and she remembered she would close her eyes at the last instant, even though she knew the plane was high overhead.
Only once that night did he convince her to try doing it his way: facing away from the landing planes. The waiting, the powerful sensation of lying perfectly still beside him on that cold, clear night heightened her anticipation.
Because of the sound delay, she didn’t hear the plane’s approach.
And suddenly, an enormous cargo jet swooped overhead. Her heart had stuttered with surprise. And charged with the intensity of adolescence and the thrill of being so near to Tyler, she remembered her body quaking, exploding when the booming roar followed the plane’s startling appearance.
“I gotch-you,” Tyler had whispered in her ear as she trembled in his arms right there on the tarmac. “I gotch-you.”
His presence had always affected her in that visceral way that ignited the sensitive fibers of her being like tinder.
Now, from the row behind him she steadied her breathing and stared, drawn to the sight of his breeze-blown black waves.
Tyler stretched his triceps, pointing an elbow toward the roof of the van and bending his hand back between his shoulder blades.
With his movement, his muscles danced and his tattoos undulated like living hieroglyphics.
One week with this guy?
Gently, she touched Gwendy on the shoulder. “Can I still take you up on that ginger candy?” she asked.
And Lulu knew full well her queasiness had nothing to do with the winding road.