18. Glory
Glory sat cross-legged on her bed, listening to the shower running in the attached bath and worrying about her big sister.
Glory’s own experience was weirdly awesome in Driftwood Key so far. She was actually surviving without her phone—living her best life, really.
It sounded silly to say it, but now that she wasn’t always looking down at the little screen in her hands, her eyes were free to enjoy everything else. She found herself looking up at the sky and losing herself in those blue and pink and golden hues. And somehow, lifting up her eyes made her heart feel lighter too.
Sure, she was still hurt and angry at her friends back home. Though the space and time away had made it clear that the person she was most angry with was Dad.
But she had other things in her life now, like big group dinners, and actually hanging out with Mom, who was cooler than Glory had ever suspected.
And her days at the resort were amazing.
Glory loved being a lifeguard, and she was even allowed to give private swim lessons to little kids for extra pay. All the young workers ate free meals in the staff cafeteria, where they all kept up an endless stream of jokes and patter.
She got razzed a bit at first for not having a phone, but it was all good-natured. Tristan, the owner’s son, seemed to think it was adorable that she was always asking people to look things up for her, or tell her what time it was.
“Come here, old-fashioned girl,” he would say to her in that light, teasing way of his. “You can use my phone.”
Tristan was super handsome and super nice too, even though he was a bit of a flirt. Glory had personally seen him slip a few dollars to a valet one time when a guest stiffed him. And he was as polite to the cafeteria workers as he was to the rest of the staff.
But he seemed to pay special attention to Glory.
Does he like me? Or is he just flirting a little because I’m new?
She shook her head to clear it. She shouldn’t be thinking about a boy when her sister was hurting.
Liberty and Chase were madly in love. Glory knew that. Everyone knew that. Even though her sister was quiet and precise and Chase was like a big, fierce teddy bear, their individual strengths made them a perfect couple. Glory could tell that her sister finally felt complete as soon as the two of them got together. Liberty’s usually stiff posture would relax and the furrow in her brow would go away every time Chase walked in the room.
And Chase’s love for Liberty was as obvious as the smile that lit up his eyes every time they landed on her. Glory could see how amazed and happy he was to be her sister’s husband.
But now Liberty looked like a shadow of herself. And Chase’s calls lit up her phone day and night, but she never took them.
The door swung open, and Liberty came out wearing her pretty silk pajamas. Honestly, Liberty always looked like a perfect version of a lady—like a woman in a TV commercial.
“Hey,” Liberty said, sweeping her still damp hair over her shoulder. “You’re still up?”
It was a fair question. Glory had been going in super early every day with Becca. She was normally nodding off by this time.
“Liberty, what happened with Chase?” she asked, deciding to get right to the point.
Liberty sighed and headed over to her bed, grabbing a sip of water from her reusable bottle on the way.
“You still love him,” Glory guessed.
Liberty’s hazel eyes flashed to Glory’s.
“I knew it,” Glory said triumphantly. “He loves you too, Liberty. He adores you. Can’t you just work it out, whatever it is?”
“It’s not that simple,” Liberty said softly.
“Explain it to me,” Glory said.
“It doesn’t matter,” Liberty said flatly. “It’s over. That’s the only thing anyone needs to know.”
Glory watched her sister slump down onto the sheets of her perfectly made bed and climb in, curling up with her back to Glory.
Although she might never admit it, Liberty had always been Glory’s hero. She was ten years older, and so glamorous and confident. Liberty always knew what she wanted, and exactly what she was going to do to get it. In Glory’s mind, her big sister was a larger-than-life figure. Seeing her curled in on herself, looking so small, broke Glory’s heart.
She slipped out of bed and crawled in with Liberty, wrapping herself impulsively around her sister. For a moment she held her breath and waited for Liberty to yell at her to get out. Glory hadn’t crawled into her sister’s bed since she had nightmares when she was really little.
She didn’t say anything, but after a moment, Liberty reached up and squeezed Glory’s hand.
“You don’t have to tell me what happened,” Glory whispered impulsively. “But you do have to talk to Chase. Please promise me you’ll talk to him?”
Liberty sighed.
“He loves you, Libby,” Glory said, feeling close to tears herself. “And I saw you crying earlier. I know you miss him.”
“I’ll talk to him,” Liberty whispered back so softly Glory almost wondered if she had only imagined it.
“Good,” Glory whispered back.
She wondered if she should go back to her own bed, but Liberty was still clutching her hand like it was a life jacket in a stormy sea, so Glory closed her eyes and breathed in the comforting scent of her big sister’s apple blossom shampoo as she drifted off.
* * *
The next morning,Glory woke up alone in her sister’s bed.
Glory had gotten used to being the first one up down here, but she knew that Liberty used to get up early in the city to run, and wondered if maybe that was what she was doing today. If so, that was probably a good sign.
In any case, Glory had to hustle. She had set her alarm for the last possible moment, so she needed to get herself together quickly. Back in Aynwick she had gotten up an hour early for school and spent most of that time on her hair and make-up. But here there was no point. She was going to be in and out of the water all day. And besides, she had a nice tan going now and she always looked low-key fabulous, no make-up needed.
She was just heading downstairs when Mom called up to her.
“You coming, Glory?” she yelled. “Your toast is getting cold.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Glory said, jogging into the kitchen and grabbing a piece of lightly buttered toast off the platter and eating it while she went to find her flip-flops.
“They’re by the door,” her mom called to her. “You have to start putting them away, honey. I found them out on the beach last night.”
“Sorry,” Glory called back, sliding them on as she finished her toast.
Mom came out with a mug of coffee and smiled at her.
“I like seeing you like this,” she said.
“Like what?” Glory asked.
“Happy,” her mom said shrugging. “And ready to start your day.”
“Yeah,” Glory said, returning her smile. “I really like it here. Too bad it’s just for the summer.”
A funny expression flitted across her mom’s face for an instant and then it was gone. Before Glory had a chance to ask about it, a car pulled up in the driveway.
“There’s Becca,” Mom said needlessly.
“Yep,” Glory said. “Love you, Mom. See you later.”
“Love you, too, pumpkin,” Mom said.
Glory headed out, smiling when she saw Becca was driving the red convertible.
“Blondes really do have more fun,” she said as she hopped in.
“Except I’m not a real blonde,” Becca confided, her eyes twinkling with merriment.
“I feel like that makes you even more of a real blonde,” Glory decided.
That only made Becca laugh even more.
They pulled out of the driveway and Glory twisted her hair into a bun and put a clip on it so she could enjoy the breeze without getting too much of it in her mouth.
Having the top down kept their conversation to a minimum, but Glory was fine with that. She’d have plenty of people to talk with throughout the day. The breeze felt fantastic and it really seemed unbelievable that she was going to work feeling like this.
In just a few minutes, Becca pulled into her management spot and they both got out and headed up to the main entrance of the resort.
Massive and white, with stacked porches and columns, the resort managed to look both like a relic of the past and like it was brand spanking new. Though it was basically new construction, it was built to look like one of those old school Florida Keys manor houses she’d seen around the islands.
One of the valets held the door for them, and they stepped into the marble floored reception area.
“Have a great day,” Becca told her as she headed for the front desk.
“You too,” Glory told her, turning down the hallway that led to the bulletin board where the daily schedule was posted.
The other staff members just checked their hours online, but Glory sort of liked this old school method of finding out which of the pools she would be working each day. It was like checking the list for cheerleading each year.
I would have been head cheerleader next year…
But she shut down that line of thinking immediately. There was no way she was going to waste even one day here getting bummed out about something she couldn’t change.
She scanned the sheet and saw it was her top choice, the outdoor infinity pool that overlooked the ocean. And she was on with Allie, one of her favorite fellow lifeguards. Humming to herself, Glory headed to the cafeteria to grab a glass of juice before her shift started.
The cafeteria was pretty empty since she was so early, and all the tables and benches looked so clean and lonely. But by Glory’s lunch break, this place would be packed with other staff members.
She had just poured herself a glass of pear juice and was about to take a sip when Tristan stepped in and waved to her.
He was so handsome that it almost hurt to look at him sometimes. His dark hair brushed the collar of a snowy white polo shirt that seemed to have been designed specially to show off his glorious tan.
She waved back, wondering if he could read her thoughts and feeling like an idiot.
“Hey, Glory,” he said, jogging over. “How’s it going?”
“Great,” she said. “How are you?”
“Listen, I’m glad I caught you,” he said. “I was wondering if you were busy Friday night. A couple of us are going out, and I thought you might want to join us.”
“Oh wow,” she said, feeling excited and disappointed all at once. “My sister is coming down, and we’re probably doing something special with her.”
“I thought your sister was already living with you,” Tristan noted.
“No, that’s my oldest sister, Liberty,” Glory said. “Anthem’s coming, the one in the middle.”
“Liberty, Anthem, and Glory?” Tristan asked.
He arched a brow, but he was grinning.
“My dad owned a flag company,” Glory said. “What can I say? My parents are patriotic.”
“I think it’s awesome,” Tristan said. “At least you weren’t named after a medieval tragedy.”
“You were named after a tragedy?” she asked.
“Nah,” he said. “They like to say so, but I think my mom really named me after Brad Pitt in some old movie about war veterans.”
Glory giggled, and he smiled back at her with a warmth that sent a little tingle down her spine.
“Well, I’ve gotta get to the courts,” he said. “Maybe we’ll hang another time.”
“Definitely,” Glory told him.
She watched him leave, willing herself to slowly finish her juice. When he was gone and the glass was drained, she headed to the changing rooms and put on her suit, then headed out to the pool.
She was early enough that there was no one waiting, and even Allie wasn’t there yet. The pool was a perfect, unmoving blue that seemed to merge into the ocean beyond. It looked to Glory as if she were standing on the edge of heaven.
This is really my life, Glory thought incredulously, breathing it in.
For now.