YOLO_You Only Live Once

by Sue Seabury

  * * * *

  Even if Hugo hadn’t heard Ramsey crooning his standard “Hey Baby” nonsense, Esmeralda’s giggle would have told him what was going on behind the kitchen.

  Hugo rounded the corner and slapped the towel he always carried at his waist to alert them to his presence. At least they were both dressed. Esme had the decency to look ashamed. Ramsey leaned against the wall and rolled his head back.

  “I was just taking out the trash,” Esmeralda said.

  More like wallowing in it. “There’s plenty of dinner set-up to do when you’re done with the trash.”

  Esme scurried off.

  “Hey, man—” Ramsey began.

  Hugo cut him off by holding up a hand. He waited until Esme was out of earshot, then said, “Keep it up and I’ll fire her.”

  Ramsey smiled and hitched his shorts. “No, you won’t. I get a vote, and I say she stays.”

  “You mean your father gets a vote.”

  “We each get one, and good ol’papá’s always on my side.” Ramsey buffed his fingernails against his bare chest, then blew on them. “Which means you’re outnumbered.”

  Hugo twisted the towel in lieu of Ramsey’s neck. “I doubt your father would condone your flirting with the staff, or the guests.”

  “Whatever keeps ’em spending, he’s cool with. And you know it.”

  Hugo twisted the towel tighter and did not reply.

  Ramsey whistled as he strolled off.

  The office contained only the computer desk and some shelves of supplies, so Ramsey almost never went there. It was a safe place for Hugo to go and cool down.

  Fighting with Ramsey wouldn’t do any good, so Hugo cleared this latest argument from his mind and attempted to fill out a produce order. For the life of him, he couldn’t remember how many pounds of oranges he usually bought. His eyes strayed to Miss Katherine’s paper work. Had he really told that gorgeous woman he looked up to an imaginary character as a role model?

  He shook his head. He could still see the charming smile on her heart-shaped lips, so unconscious of her beauty. If he had told her how pretty she was, those big doe eyes would have innocently asked,Who, me?

  He pushed his rolling chair away from the desk and paced the small space. Two steps one way, two the other. He had to get her out of his head but her citrusy scent was embedded in his nostrils. Worse, he could still feel her soft hands on his waist.

  He flung himself into his desk chair and took a slow breath. He’d lost control for a few minutes. Maybe more than a few. But he had it back now. Nothing serious had happened, just got a little more personal than it should have. Nothing that couldn’t be fixed by some careful professionalism. Professionalism was something he excelled at.

  Even if he hadn’t already sworn off women, to think about her as someone he would date was impossible: he was the owner of this resort. Fraternizing with guests went against his moral code.

  And if he would consider a woman, it would never be someone from the Land of Betrayal.

  Gianna.

  The picture of her in Miami with that . . .cabrónwas seared into his brain.

  The invoices jumped as his fists slammed down.

  “Boss, can I speak to you for a moment?” Esme batted the eyelashes on her big brown eyes. Hers were different than Katherine’s: darker, more opaque. Katherine’s had an openness that invited a person to talk.

  “You may.”

  Esme walked in, twirling her hair with one finger, gaze on her feet. “I’m sorry about earlier.”

  “You didn’t seem too sorry then.”

  She threw him a sideways glance. “I know you don’t approve, but what can I do? He’s my boss, too.”

  Hugo rested his forehead on his fists and shut his eyes. “I’ve told him to stop. I’ll tell him you insist he stop.”

  His desk creaked. When he opened his eyes, the bright green hem of Esme’s dress was mere inches away, pulled high and tight across her thigh. “I wouldn’t mind so much it if it wereyou.”

  Hugo pushed back so hard, his chair rolled into the shelves behind him.

  “I don’t date my staff.” His voice was a low rumble.

  “But Gianna—”

  The shelving shuddered as he stood. “Are you done setting up for dinner?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, then, go set up on the cliff.”

  “But you said the forecast was for rain.”

  Hugo blinked slowly. “I don’t care what you do so long as it doesn’t involve trash.”

  Esme bowed her head and hustled out.

  5

  Kat used her fists to propel herself off the bed. Hiding out in her room amounted to giving up on her vacation. Unacceptable, particularly with such beautiful weather outside. The chattering exotic birds among the palm trees seemed to be saying, “Come out, come out!”

  She slipped on a flattering bias-cut linen sundress and heeded their advice.

  A row of cushioned lounge chairs just beyond the open-air dining room caught her eye. She scanned the area for brash women named Queenie. All clear. Kat nabbed a lounger in the shade and set to work on her next goal: relaxing under a palm tree.

  The seat back angle was perfect. She could fall asleep faster than Darren after a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am session. She’d just started to get that drifty feeling when a body whumped into the seat beside her.

  “That,” Queenie said, “was amazing.”

  Kat opened one eye. “What’s amazing is that you haven’t noticed your left boob is no longer inside your suit.”

  Queenie craned her neck as she readjusted, clearly on the lookout for Ramsey. “Oh, I’m sure plenty of women go topless here.”

  Kat should have let it go, but annoyed at having her nap interrupted, she replied, “You know, it might not be a bad thing to play just alittle hard to get.”

  Her not-so-subtle advice slid off Queenie like she was coated in Teflon. “I’ve only got nine and a half days left here and I intend to make the most of ’em.”

  That was the exact same length as Kat’s vacation. They must have signed up for the same package. What luck. If Josie didn’t get here soon, maybe she’d pack it in early. Kat didn’t want to be “lame-o” as Carver might say, but she didn’t think she could take ten days of this woman by herself.

  “It’s not so impossible to think he might go for me,” Queenie said in an aggrieved tone.

  Kat took a deep breath and gave up on the idea of the nap. She put on her pleasant “I’m listening” face she used at the senior center when one of the guests cornered her for a detailed description of their latest colonoscopy.

  “My BFF scored with a young thang like that.” Queenie used her chin to point toward the bar.

  Kat turned. Ramsey was doing some flirty, dance-y moves with the waitresses.

  “A movie star,” Queenie added.

  Probably more of a starlet. Or a glow-in-the-dark sticker that was invisible except when you shone a flashlight directly on it, like the ones Carver had put on his bedroom ceiling when he was twelve. Kat nodded politely.

  “Seriously. I’m not making this up,” Queenie said.

  Hugo came up from behind them. “What can I do for the most beautiful flowers in my garden?” He looked at Kat when he said that, then he turned to Queenie, “A pick-me-up?”

  A “put-me-away” was more like it. Queenie’s boob was one deep breath away from saying hello again. At least she’d tied a sarong around her lower half. Kat made a discreet tucking motion.

  Queenie readjusted ostentatiously and looked back over in Ramsey’s direction. “At leastsomeone’s paying attention to us. Rum punch for me. Make it a double. Maybe you should put those people to work serving it, too.”

  Kat glanced over at the bar again. Ramsey was getting handsy with the waitresses.

  Hugo’s jaw flexed. “Is my service unsatisfactory?”

  He was good. Kat knew a thing or two about dealing with difficult people, but hadn’t yet mastered that tone. No mat
ter how unreasonable a member got, she never challenged, and somehow always ended up apologizing.

  “Oh, no,” Queenie backpedaled. “It’s just, you’re working so hard, and they’re goofing around.”

  Keeping his eyes on Queenie, Hugo said smoothly, “They are discussing the evening’s menu and entertainment.”

  “So they’re gonna be coconuts juggling while dancing?” Queenie cocked a shrewd eyebrow.

  Kat laughed, but seeing Hugo’s compressed lips, she tried to smooth things over with, “Learning new things, like juggling, is a good way to keep your mind sharp. And dancing is great exercise. There’s actual research that shows it helps stave off dementia.”

  She looked up to see two sets of eyes on her. Hugo’s were inquiring, but Queenie’s said Kat was already well on her way to insanity.

  Thinking about dancing made her heart flutter. That was a real goal of hers, even before Queenie mentioned it. Partly for health reasons, but mainly because Darren never wanted to dance, not even at their wedding.

  Kat cleared her throat and looked back at Ramsey. There was a lot of hip action going on over there. She didn’t know if she could dance with someone as carnal as him, but maybe Hugo . . .?

  “And for you, ma’am?” he asked.

  Ma’am? Scratch that idea. She’d go solo. “I’d like to try the punch too. Can I get it minus the rum?”

  “Certainly.” Hugo padded off silently on his bare feet. He was wearing a new sarong, red with white flowers this time. The back view was quite pleasant.

  He soon returned with their drinks. Queenie’s was in a regular glass, but he had a whole coconut for Kat.

  “I mixed up a new blend, just for you,” he said. “I hope you like passionfruit.”

  “She’spassionate about it, Huge,” Queenie replied.

  Kat needed both hands to accept the drink Hugo held with three fingers. “Thank you.” She sipped. “It’s delicious.”

  “It might be my passion too, if you’d punch it up a notch.” Queenie slugged down a good portion of her own.

  “It is my passion to provide you with what you wish.” Hugo smirked.

  Oh, gawd. First goals, now passions. The only thing passion made Kat think of was soap operas and she steered clear of those. All those improbable situations, and people finding their soulmate in the most unlikely ways. Honestly.

  But if she were being honest with herself, what really bothered her about those stories was that she had settled and those people hadn’t.

  “Perhaps a glass of water in between?” Hugo said. “In this sun, you need to take care not to get dehydrated.”

  Queenie waved off his concern. “I’m a pro.”

  Hugo bowed his acquiescence to that statement.

  “I’ll take some.” Kat pressed knuckles to the corners of her eyes. “I’m feeling . . .”Like I wasted my whole life. “A little dry.”

  Hugo turned to her, his gaze filled with concern.

  She sniffed and looked down. “Allergies, I think.”

  Another beat passed. She could feel his warm brown eyes still on her. Finally, mercifully, he headed back to the bar.

  Kat took another sip of her drink. It calmed her nerves, as did the empty space Hugo had been occupying. She refused to turn into a basket case over an imaginary lover.

  “Virgin’s good too,” she said to Queenie. “You should try it.”

  Queenie laughed so hard, she choked on her drink.

  “Sorry,” Kat said.

  “No one’s used that word around me for a long time.”

  Kat could believe it.

  “It’s just, what’s the point?” Queenie said. “Waste of calories, if you ask me. I like my drinks to get me where I’m goin’, ya follow?”

  “I guess, but if I start drinking now, I’ll pass out before dinner.”

  “Why? You an alcoholic?” Queenie pushed her straw around the bottom of her glass to get the final drops.

  “No, just a lightweight.”

  “Then we’re going to have to toughen you up, aren’t we?” Queenie slapped her ample hip with one hand and held up her empty glass with the other. Despite her assertion that she could hold her liquor, her crooked grin made her look half in the bag already. “Yolo!”

  Kat tilted her head.

  “Yeah, that’s right,” Queenie said. “I heard you down on the beach. I was just playing with ya.”

  Kat smiled nervously and tapped her coconut against Queenie’s glass. “Yolo.”

  Queenie took one final, loud slurp, then banged her glass down on the table. “The service around here ain’t what it’s cracked up to be. I’m gonna give them a piece of my mind.”

  She tottered off on platform espadrilles and barged her way into an impromptu cha-cha lesson.

  Half incredulous, half wishing she had that kind of gusto, Kat turned back to the water. The lullaby of the waves worked like weights on her eyelids.

  *

  “The sun is quite strong. How about some shade?”

  A shadow crossed Kat’s face. She blinked. How long had she been asleep?

  Hugo adjusted the umbrella next to her so she was all shaded. “Excuse me, I did not mean to disturb your rest.”

  “No, not at all. I didn’t realize I nodded off. It’s just so peaceful here. So perfect.”

  Hugo’s smile was warm, but professional. A wave of relief rolled through her. That talk down on the beach had gotten a bit intense. She was always doing that, encouraging people to talk. Why? Must be a habit from the senior center where people told her everything whether she wanted to know it or not.

  But getting close to some flighty fly-by-night hotel employee who’d be off to a new resort next week was not part of her vacation plans. It would be too easy to fall for such a handsome young man, and that was the last thing she needed. Nice they both seemed to agree to back it down a notch.

  A screech from Queenie ripped through the air.

  “Miss Queen, you a trouble-maker!” Ramsey poked at Queenie’s bare mid-section. She twisted and squealed some more.

  “Is he really the owner?” Kat asked.

  Hugo’s face hardened. “Is that what he told you?”

  Kat licked her lips. “Not him. Her. Queenie.” She picked up her water glass and sipped.

  Hugo loaded her coconut and Queenie’s empty glass onto his tray. A puddle of water lay where her water glass had been. He pulled a neatly-folded towel from the waist of his sarong and wiped up the condensation. His hand moved in slow, deliberate circles. The table was dry, but still he rubbed. He stopped suddenly; the tendons in his forearm stood out. After a moment, his hand relaxed and he went back to his circles. “Forgive me, I should not have spoken in that manner. We own it together. Or rather, I should say, his father — ach, but these details do not interest you.”

  “Please. Finish what you were going to say.” She just did it again, opened her big mouth when she should have kept it shut.

  He shook his head. Kat exhaled, glad to not have forced a confidence, but then he said, “One day, I hope to have my own resort, by myself. No partners.”

  So he wasn’t fly-by-night. For someone so young, he was quite serious. Still. She wasn’t interested.

  He continued, “Or if I did have a partner, we would truly share the work.” Their eyes met. “Have you ever had to deal with a partner?”

  Despite the twenty-year shift she’d spent caring for their child and home, Kat suspected Darren always considered her role subordinate to his. “Limited, but I don’t know how often it works out fifty-fifty. I think you’re lucky if the two people compliment each other. Fill in for each others’ weaknesses, as it were.”

  Hugo’s lips pursed thoughtfully as his gaze remained steady on her. Heat flared through her again. She couldn’t blame it on the sun this time.

  He traced a few more circles on the table with his towel. “How did you enjoy the surf lesson?”

  “Fine, but I think I’m going to be sore tomorrow.” Kat pressed on her ribs
. “Scratch that. I’m sore already.”

  Hugo nodded sympathetically. He looked around, then leaned in. The hairs on the back of Kat’s neck stood up.

  “Perhaps a massage would be a good idea?” he suggested.

  “Oh, that sounds lovely.”

  “Let me think.” His eyes went unfocused for a moment, as if visualizing a planner. “I believe we have an opening tomorrow morning. I’ll double check and get back to you.”

  “Sounds great.”

  Ramsey called Hugo over to the bar. Queenie’s dance lesson looked like it was coming to an end. To escape a recap, Kat hustled down a nearby path. She needed the exercise anyway. She was starting to get that drifty-sleepy feeling again.

  *

  The path grew progressively narrower. Unseen critters flapped and slithered their way through the dense vegetation. The thought that this would make a great hiding place for a human trafficker almost made her turn back, but a glimpse of blue sea drew her along.

  It was worth the trouble. She found herself on a low cliff with a magnificent view of the coastline. Thick vegetation grew right to the edge of craggy rock walls. At the base of the steep drop-off lay a ribbon of white sand kissed by that bright turquoise water, the whole of it under a perfect blue sky. The area where she stood had been cleared and some chairs and a table were stacked neatly under a tree. Maybe they threw parties up here. She’d ask when she got back. It’d be the perfect place to celebrate her birthday. She said another prayer Josie’s ear would heal soon.

  In the distance, she could just make out the irregular shape of more land. Jamaica maybe? The extent of her geographical ignorance was embarrassing.

  The path down the side of the cliff led her to a rocky outcropping that jutted into the sea. She stepped carefully on the wet rocks. They had the porous appearance of volcanic rock (Carver had demonstrated a brief fascination with geology), but must date from long ago. There were no active volcanoes in Puerto Rico.That she had checked up on before agreeing to come here.

  She was almost at the end of the natural jetty when a loud whoosh and suck startled her. She slipped, scraping her shin. She crouched low in case Jaws surged out of the sea, but the only sound that followed was the normal crash of waves.