Chapter 14
MISSY
Apparently, Colton’s made the phrase “absence makes the heart grow fonder” his motto today.
Except this heart isn’t thinking fondly; it’s just annoyed.
I need to be flirting with him, batting my eyelashes like I was getting so good at yesterday, but instead, he’s off in the jungle kickin’ it with the boys.
So, I’ve decided that, for now, I’m going to kick it with the girls until my “crush” comes to his senses and gallops over like a white knight so I can play damsel.
“I just finished my lunch, and I’m already hungry,” Maria says as we lie on her bedsheet that’s splayed across the airplane floor like a picnic blanket, basking in the partial shade the half airplane provides us.
Silver sits atop Tyrone’s bed, waving her hand back and forth while blowing on her newly polished nails.
Between the five remaining teams, the three of us are the only women left.
Competitors in a show or not, we girls need to stick together.
Maybe we’ll even find some common ground, well, other than the fact that we’re all drinking Silver’s nail polish fumes.
The internal voice that wants to judge her for bringing nail polish as one of her personal items is instantly overridden by the fact that her taste in nail polish is fantastic. Chrome suits her.
I flap a fan of woven palm leaves over my face, realizing that I’m fanning myself to the beat of Dolly Parton’s “My Tennessee Mountain Home.” Next to me, Maria flutters a fan of her own, and we relish the breeze we create.
Weaving fans is one of the impromptu island crafts Maria and I have come to enjoy.
To my surprise, I’m actually quite skilled at making them now.
This fan is number twelve since being on the island.
I’ve started giving them away as little neighbor gifts to the other teams, hoping they’ll take pity on me and Colton if our showmance gig caves in.
Dolly’s chorus comes in strong, and my fanning picks up, doing a thorough job of waving away the blistering heat of high noon. If all else fails and I don’t win this competition, maybe I can make a living selling palm fans. Fan palms? Fans in the palm of your hand? Palm Poms?
Oh my. I rub my eyes. As it turns out, spending hours on this island with anxiety and heat as your constant companions tends to muddle your brain.
“Why does the time between challenges feel like eternity? What time is it even?” Maria asks.
I do a half crunch, bending forward to look at the massive clock on the plane wing farther down the beach. I sigh and collapse once more on my back. “Twenty minutes since the last time we checked.”
“Island time,” Maria and I say simultaneously. We both start laughing until we’re crying delusional tears while clutching cramping stomachs.
“You two have issues,” Silver says, unamused.
“Excuse me, ladies.” I nearly jump out of my skin when Tyrone seems to appear out of thin air, walking between me and Maria and heading straight for his bed.
I perk up when I spot Colton just behind him. There he is.
“Ack, warn a girl,” Silver hisses.
I turn to find Tyrone holding the flat sheet from his bed. He must have ripped the sheet from right underneath Silver.
“Sorry, for some crazy reason I thought this was my bed,” Tyrone says.
“Mee mee mee mee mee.” Silver mimics him like an annoyed five-year-old.
All of a sudden, Tyrone tears the sheet in half from one side to the other, doing a good job of silencing Silver’s attitude.
He takes one of the strips and tosses it over his shoulder, piquing all our curiosity.
“Here, Princess.” Tyrone balls up the second half of the sheet and throws it at Silver, who launches herself off the bed to avoid impact.
“Ugh. Nails,” she seethes.
Tyrone responds with his signature cheesy smile.
I turn my attention back to Colton, and when I do, I glimpse the bright-red markings of a sunburn peeking above his shirt collar.
If I remember correctly, the last time his upper body was exposed to the sun was yesterday morning.
Did he get burned while out fishing for me?
Colton must see me staring because he tugs his collar higher up his neck.
He clearly doesn’t want me noticing, so I do my best to act like I didn’t.
“What have you guys been up to?” I ask.
Colton crosses his arms casually over his chest. “Why don’t you come see, Missy Jean?”
Missy Jean? Not Miss Sandy. Not Miss Frizzle. Not even Miss. But Missy Jean.
A ball of light takes residence in my chest as I hear my full name for the first time in years.
I have always loved the name Missy Jean, but aside from select formal occasions, everyone calls me Missy for short, except for Mama, who affectionately refers to me as Missy Girl—at least, she used to.
Hearing my full name after so many years, it’s like finding my favorite sweater in the back of my closet after thinking I’d lost it for good.
I blow out a slow breath, trying to act unaffected by the way he said that name—my name—with no ire or sarcasm. But then I remember his long absence this morning and my frustration resurfaces. I find myself reluctant to let him charm me, at least not just yet.
Colton quirks an eyebrow, and I realize I never responded to his invitation. I take this moment to relax back on Maria’s sheet, casually fanning myself before playing a game of hard-to-get. “Is it worth it? Because right now, this shade is feeling real nice.”
“Time in the shade or a memory of a lifetime? It’s up to you.” He puts up both hands as if he’s literally weighing out the decision.
I scrunch my nose. “That’s too vague. You’ll have to try harder.”
“It involves a diamond,” Colton says.
My brows scrunch together. “Colton Downing, are you trying to propose?” I say in jest.
Colton scratches his scruff, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. “No, a beach proposal isn’t your thing.”
Curiosity suddenly piqued, I sit up. “Oh yeah? And what, may I ask, is my thing?”
Colton tilts his head, and the levity in his face disappears as he looks out, seeing something the rest of us are not. “Stars,” he says.
“What?”
“Stars. If I were to propose to you, it would be under the stars.”
The blood in my veins halts. Stars.
I can feel the others staring at me, gauging my reaction to see if Colton’s hit his mark, but Colton is not done.
“And while the stars on the island are nice, you’d want to be by the mountains, not on the beach … because when you’re by the mountains, it reminds you of your Tennessee roots.”
I am stunned. Speechless. How does he know that?
His eyes weld to mine, and I feel like I’m standing in a room with just him. There’s no island. No game show. Just us. My body feels warm as I remember the way I fit into his embrace just days ago.
“Did I miss anything?” His cocky response is just enough to kick me from my trance.
“Lucky guess,” I say, a little breathless.
“Well.” Colton looks up and nods, bringing everyone back into the conversation. “If you find that you ladies are up for some fun … I promise it’ll be a good time.”
“Is Bill over there?” Maria asks.
“Yep.” Tyrone nods.
With that, Maria and I both stand and shake the sand off her sheet before returning it to her bed. While I’m at it, I toss my weak attempt at playing hard-to-get aside. My curiosity has the better of me, and now I have to know what the boys are up to.
Well played, Colton. Well played.
“You coming, Silver?” I ask before leaving.
Her bored gaze flicks to me, giving me her answer.
But then her eyes move skeptically from me to Colton.
After Colton spouted off my ideal proposal for all and sundry to hear, there’s no doubt she’s on to us.
Great, just when I thought we’d gotten the target off our backs.
But then again, it doesn’t matter how Silver perceives us; what matters is how America votes.
I shrug. “All right, see ya later.”
Not taking any chances, I scoop my backpack up and loop it over my shoulder just in case Silver has any intention of going into revenge mode like she did on night one.
Once I’ve secured my backpack, I follow Tyrone, Maria, and Colton around the front of the plane, taking this moment to remind myself of what is most important right now: Colton and our “relationship.”
When we reach the opposite side of the plane, I find that the activity Tyrone and Colton have roped us into does indeed have to do with a diamond.
Along the beach, I notice a DIY baseball field set up in the sand, except, instead of bases, there are banana leaves, and instead of a bat, Tyrone ties the strip of his cotton sheet around the base of a sturdy and slender piece of driftwood before handing it to Bill.
“You brought new recruits,” Joseph says, tossing an actual baseball in the air. Trust in the former MLB player to bring his own baseball to the island.
“You brought the MVP,” Bill corrects as he embraces Maria with one arm and plants a kiss on her forehead.
“You two are the sappiest couple I’ve ever seen, you know that, right?” Tyrone teases.
“And you’re the most nino latoso I’ve ever met,” Maria says.
“Why, thank you.” Tyrone struts.
“I’m pretty sure she just called you annoying,” Heartbreaker says, walking over from second base, or really second banana leaf.
“C’mon, Maria, don’t do me like that,” Tyrone pleads with a smile in his eyes.
Maria laughs before spouting off a stream of Spanish without offering any translation.
“I’m going to take that as a compliment. No need to hide that you think I’m the most ripped man you’ve ever seen, Maria.” Tyrone flexes his biceps. “Yep, take it in.”
Maria pats him on the shoulder. “You have the best pequenitos muscles I’ve ever seen,” she says as if it’s the deepest, most heartfelt comment she could ever give.
“Thanks.” Tyrone puffs out his chest, but his face swiftly falls upon realization. “Wait, I know what that word means,” he says, trailing after her.