4. Chapter Four
Chapter 4
Sorcha handed Linda the solid sunscreen stick used to put sunscreen on the scalp where their hair parted. Linda loved her large, floppy straw hat, but Sorcha insisted she needed the extra sunscreen on her head, even with the hat. Sorcha was fair-skinned, so she bathed in sunscreen to protect herself.
“All right. Now it’s time to spill the tea,” Sorcha said, adjusting herself on the beach blanket.
They were set up for tanning on the beach. Linda had brought a small speaker, an extra-large beach blanket that repelled sand, and a cooler. Sorcha had brought five bottles of sunscreen, thirteen magazines, and cooling towels. They had a reservation at two o’clock to go parasailing.
“What tea is that?” Linda asked, even though she knew this was going to be about Mason. Sorcha would never let a good story slide by her, and Linda had been tight-lipped the day before.
“The Mason tea. You know, like in a Mason jar.” Sorcha roared at her own joke and the couple lying ten feet in front of them turned around. Sorcha waved at them and then turned back to Linda.
“Right. We’re old family friends. My dad, his dad, and my Uncle Paul were all fraternity brothers in college. Uncle Paul, and Christopher, Mason’s dad, bought the condos at the same time.” Linda opened her book and pretended to read.
Sorcha paused a few moments before shaking her head. “No. No,” she drawled. “I don’t feel that’s it. You’re putting off a ‘please don’t ask about him because I’m secretly in love with him, and I want to tear off his clothes every time I see him’ vibe.”
“Now you’re being ridiculous.”
“Am I?” Sorcha pulled a margarita out of the cooler—margaritas they had made and packaged in reusable plastic pouches. The one she pulled out had “#MargLife” printed in a purple cursive font. She struggled to get a straw into the top.
“You are,” Linda insisted. She adjusted her hat and put her sunglasses back on. “Hand me one of those.”
“You’re making this harder than it needs to be. Can’t believe we’re going to play twenty questions. But fine. Number one. You said you two dated once upon a time. How serious was it?”
“We dated twice upon a couple times and the first time, not serious at all. The second time was more serious. We dated our junior and senior years of college, but we broke up right after graduation.”
Sorcha finally got the straw in the pouch, but a stream of liquid shot out and landed on her chest. She shrieked from the cold, and the couple turned again. “Do you want to join us back here?” she yelled at the couple. They turned back around. Sorcha dabbed at the liquid with her T-shirt. She then grabbed another pouch for Linda and handed it to her. “Ok. I need more details. Explain.”
Linda took the offered beverage. “Well, we dated for a minute when we were in high school. We were sixteen, and we’d both started driving. I think dating was an excuse to drive more.”
“That’s lame.”
“Yes,” Linda laughed. “Tell me about it.”
“I don’t think that’s all to this story. Go on.”
“Well, that didn’t last long. We lived about an hour apart and went to different high schools. We quickly became wrapped up in our own worlds again. Then we went to ISU together. We were close friends, study buddies for the first couple of years. But then his mom got sick, and things changed between us. We grew closer. I felt like he needed me, and I loved being the rock he relied on, you know?”
Linda paused and took a long drink of the margarita. Perfect. The fresh and sour taste flooded her taste buds. Hey, watch it there. It’s not even noon yet.
“Yeah, yeah.” Sorcha waved her hand in the air. “That sounds nice. What else? I bet he was fun in the sack. He’s very muscular-ly.”
Linda choked on the drink and her eyes watered. Of course, she’d jump there. “No, back then he wasn’t built like he is now. And I wouldn’t know about the other. It never happened between us.”
Sorcha made a show of sighing and dropping her shoulders. “You are so boring. Did you kiss him at least? How was that?”
There were two options here. Stall, which would turn into a big deal in Sorcha’s eyes, or give a brief answer and hope she would change the subject. “Yes, I’ve kissed him. No big deal.”
“He’s a good kisser?”
“Average. Guess we didn’t have a lot of passion.”
That wasn’t true, but how could she explain it? Mason had been everything Linda had ever wanted and more. He’d been her closest confidant for nearly fifteen years. And then he was gone. That was a wound that might never heal. There was no sense in thinking about the way her mouth fit his perfectly. Memories of those kisses took her breath away.
“A guy like that screams passion to me.” Sorcha finished her margarita and grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler. “So, I can’t jump his bones?” Sorcha gave her a pouty smile with a mischievous look in her eyes.
“Absolutely not.” Linda laughed at her roommate’s antics, knowing she was teasing.
“Fine. I feel that you’re holding something back. But I’ll wait until you get liquored up, then I’ll get you to spill.”
Sorcha pulled a magazine out of her tote bag, and Linda relaxed. She opened her book and tried to read. But the image of Mason on the balcony this morning kept replacing the words on the page.
Their parasailing excursion would involve a boat ride. They had taken their tote bags and cooler to the car and only carried a single waterproof bag between them. They walked to the wharf where the boat was docked and met the newlywed couple who would be on the trip with them.
Once the crew members signaled it was time to go, Linda followed Sorcha onboard. She was thankful she’d pulled on the acupressure wristband that combated motion sickness before they took off. She was also thankful they’d each only had one margarita before getting on the boat.
Twenty minutes into the ride, the newly married man eagerly got into the harness and was released behind the boat. He whooped and hollered all the way up. His wife started out excited, but soon she was retching over the side of the boat. Linda had to turn away and kept her eyes on the captain of the boat while Sorcha helped the bride hold her hair back as she got sick.
Once they brought the man in, Linda was ready to go next. She figured it was now or never, and better to get off the boat, even if they would hike her two hundred feet into the sky, rather than stay on and listen to someone upchuck overboard.
She said a brief prayer as they pushed her off the back of the boat and picked up speed.
“You’re never had a rope break, right?” she called as the boat accelerated and she floated into the air.
“Hardly ever!” the kid in a yellow T-shirt yelled.
Not comforting. She took a deep breath and tried not to think about the worst things that could happen.
“Serenity now!” she shouted, knowing no one could hear her. Reaching “cruising altitude”, she couldn’t hear the motor. It was uncannily quiet. High in the air, she looked around. There were several other ships this far from shore, and she counted those she could see. She quickly tired of that and put her heels together to form a “V”, laughing to see that at this distance the boat fit between her feet. She held up the phone tethered to her wrist and clicked a couple of pictures. Then she surveyed everything around her, the blue water and blue sky. Here she was, flying like a bird. It was exhilarating! From now on, she would parasail every chance she got.
Far too soon, she realized they were pulling her down, and the boat steadily grew bigger the closer she got.
Sorcha was watching her come in and taking pictures. She jumped up and down as Linda’s feet hit the small platform at the back of the boat.
“Linda, you looked amazing up there!” Sorcha said, rushing forward to give a high five.
“Thanks. It was amazing being up there. You are going to flip your lid!”
“Can’t wait.” Sorcha shimmied and winked at the guy in the yellow shirt as he held the harness out to her. “Take lots of pictures.”
“I will!” Linda promised. “Enjoy!”
They buckled Sorcha in, gave her quick instructions, and tossed her off the boat. The young bride got sick again, which distracted the driver, and Sorcha’s feet dipped into the water.
Oh, thank goodness that didn’t happen to me! Linda quickly snapped a picture, even as she fretted at Sorcha’s safety. Sorcha’s eyes were double their normal size and Linda laughed as her friend was hoisted into the air as the boat hit another gear.
As they were hooking Sorcha up, the kid told her to look for large sea turtles in the water. He said that the colors of the parachute attracted them.
Linda groaned. Why didn’t he tell me that? I would have loved to see turtles.
Thinking of turtles made her think about Mason and his family’s condo. She’d been with his mom when she bought the turtle painting that hung in their living room. They’d been at a local farmer’s market and met the artist selling her work. It had just been the two of them shopping, and Crystal had asked Linda which painting she should get. Linda had loved the colors in the turtle painting and had told Crystal so. When Crystal had bought it, it made Linda feel special to be listened to like that. She’d told Mr. Hauser if he ever thought about getting rid of the painting, she wanted to buy it from him. So far, he was unwilling to let it go.