by Sue Seabury
“I’m home.”
“I’m so glad.” Dominique paused. “This is terrible of me to try to take advantage of your bad luck, and I’m sure you don’t owe this place any favors now that they’re letting you go, but Patty’s sick. Would you be willing to pick up a shift today?”
She could use the money, and it was better than moping around her apartment, worrying about things she couldn’t control. There was only one thing shequiero-ed right now, something she couldn’t get ahold of. “Sure.”
Kat retold her story so many times, it was honed to a succinct anecdote. She got to the point of being able to talk about surfing and massages without tearing up too much. The guests’ vision wasn’t that clear anyway. She told them she was sniffling because of a cold she’d picked up on the plane. Having something to do, even refolding towels a hundred times, helped to pass the time.
That evening, after calling the resort (electronic rejection), and checking the news (island still devastated), she did two more Spanish lessons (moved on tonecesitar más ayuda,counting, and various fruits. She most certainly did ‘need more help’; but five oranges and two bananas weren’t providing it.). Kat froze in the middle of needing six apples. Why hadn’t Hugo calledher?
The CD, oblivious to her distress, demanded more fruit. Kat ignored it and lay down, her back dipping in odd places where the couch springs were broken. Surelysomeone had a phone he could use. Did he not care enough to think of calling her?
* * * *
Hugo yanked his hair again. Surprising he still had any on his head. How could he not have made a backup of his files?
Or at least hers.
He’d gone through everything twice, but the paperwork was a mass of pulp. His laptop was soaked. He’d called a friend to see about retrieving the data, but understandably, he was backed up with bigger projects. If anyone had ever told him he would be begging for a seat on a flight to Miamifor himself . . .
But there was no chance of running into Gianna. He’d just be passing through.
At least there was the one pinprick of hope with the possibility of Stan backing him to rebuild The Retreat. Still, he wasn’t going to count his chickens yet, any of them.
37
Patty had some kind of infection. Kat picked up her shift on Tuesday as well, then her regular hours started on Wednesday. Work seemed different since coming back. People appreciated her, looked forward to talking to her, smiled, and acted grateful for her help. Figured, just as she was about to get canned. Then Dominique said she might be able to convince Silvertime to keep Kat on in some other capacity.
“Guest interaction is worth something,” Dom said.
Kat agreed, but she wasn’t going to count on it. She already had a list of shops to call to see if they were hiring.
She kept up the Spanish lessons because learning a new language was great exercise for the brain, but she hadn’t tried to call the resort since Tuesday. Puerto Rico wasn’t in the news anymore. Hurricane Valerie had spent itself on the Gulf Coast and the TV had moved on to other tragedies.
Friday brought a successful interview at a department store with an offer of hours at least through Christmas. That night, she lay on the couch with the Penguins sweatshirt pillow under her head, learning how to buy a ticket to Barcelona (one way,ida; roundtrip,ida y vuelta), eating oatmeal and wishing it was mango salsa.
She’d take theida. It had been raining all day. Cold, dreary, everything was gray. She wasn’t looking forward to winter. Maybe she should google plane tickets to Spain and find out how much they cost. They didn’t have hurricanes over there, did they? Pete would know.
She dialed Josie and got voicemail. They’d spoken briefly, for Josie to ask Kat to stop by and water her plants and bring in her mail while she made an open-ended visit to Pete in Philadelphia. He knew an “amazing” ear doctor that Josie wanted to consult.
Kat tried Queenie next, but didn’t get through to her either. Embarrassed to have believed Queenie was serious about staying friends, she hung up without leaving a message. Anyway, it was Friday night. Chances were slim to none that Queenie was lying around alone on a couch wearing sweatpants like Kat.
A tentative knock. Probably her neighbor. In the few steps it took her to reach the door, Kat had already imagined a hollow-eyed Helen thrusting a surly cat into her arms for ravaging her porcelain doll collection. A joke was the best way to handle it. “The night’s not fit for man or—”
A damp Hugo wearing a sling on one arm and a backpack on the other filled the doorway.
“Beast.” Kat gripped the doorknob. A few tears sprung up. “This had better not be a hallucination.”
Raindrops sparkled like stars in his hair. Gap teeth showed. “I hope not. But I too feel as if I’m in a dream.”
Why didn’t he touch her? Kat didn’t trust her legs to hold her up and sank onto an uncomfortable IKEA chair. She indicated his arm. “What happened?”
“Just a sprain. I wore this to get better seating on the plane. I wanted to be the first one off.” He grimaced. “Also, I figured it could win me sympathy with you.”
“Why would you think you’d need that?”
He licked his lips. “You might have gotten fed up with all my ‘professional’ excuses. Anyway, I am no longer your host. Yours or anyone’s.”
“Oh, Hugo.” She rose and wrapped her arms around him.
“May I come in?”
“Of course!”
It seemed like Hugo took up half the room and all the air. His bag hit the floor with a dull “whump.”
The tears burst free. “I can’t believe you’re really here.” She could barely understand herself.
He responded by scooping her up one-armed and carrying her to the saggy sofa where he kissed her tears away.
When they paused for air, she wiped her face and said, ”How bad is it? The resort, I mean.”
Hugo compressed his lips. “Pretty bad. Going to need to rebuild more or less from scratch. Ramsey’s father pulled the loan.”
“He didn’t.”
He shut his eyes. “He did. He wasn’t happy with my babysitting of his son. Or Coraly.”
“Is Ramsey okay?” Kat sniffed. “And Coraly? And your mom?”
“Always thinking about everyone but yourself.” He took her hand and kissed it. “Yes, Ramsey’s fine. His father got him off the hook and he is busy doing some very heavy lifting, cleaning up after the storm.
“Coraly’s injury was quite severe, but the surgery was successful and it should be fine, in time.
“My mother went to Samoa. She’s been meaning to go for a while, but she didn’t want to leave me.” He shook his head. “Mothers are never done mothering. But when I told her I was coming here, she was happy to get the chance.”
“You told her about . . . us?”
He blushed under his tan. “I did.”
“What . . .” Kat didn’t know how to finish her question.
He flung the sling aside and pulled her onto his lap. He was more comfortable than the couch. “She asked me to apologize for being rude to you.”
“She did?”
“When I told her that I met the woman of my dreams, there wasn’t much else for her to say.”
Tears threatened again. “Really?”
One corner of his lips crooked up. “She also said, ‘Why the hell did you let her go?’ Be warned, my mother can have a very salty tongue.”
Kat buried herself in his neck, his crazy curls formed a coconut-scented cave. She took some deep breaths and swallowed hard to keep her voice steady. “I already decided I’m going back to Puerto Rico.”
“It is chaos there now. Getting things back together will take some time.”
“Then you can stay here, for as long as you want.”
“Thank you, but I must rebuild as part of the condition of the insurance.”
“How will you do that without a backer?”
Hugo chewed his luscious lips. “I don’t want to jinx it, but I have spo
ken with Stan, and he might be willing to take on my debt.”
“What? Really?”
“No promises yet. He wants to meet in person to go over my plan.”
“When are you meeting?”
“Soon.”
“Hugo, you need to go right away.”
“I will. But I told him I had something more important to take care of first.”
Kat kissed him, but he pulled back. “And here it is.”
He rooted in his pocket, then held out his hand. “Found it in my office. The clasp is broken, I couldn’t repair it at home for obvious reasons, but I’ll be happy to take it to be fixed here.”
“My locket! Oh my gosh! Hugo, I love you!” She clapped her hand over her mouth. “I mean, thank you. I can’t thank you enough.” She kissed him lightly to show she wasn’t crazy.
Hugo sat up straight, his face serious.
Oh no. He did think she was crazy.
He cleared his throat. “I hope you meant it when you said you love me. Because I am deeply in love with you. I don’t mean to scare you by being so serious from the start, but it is something I know in my soul, just the way I know Puerto Rico is my physical home, my heart has found its home in you.”
Kat was speechless, but managed to nod.
“Ah, I lied,” he said.
Kat’s eyebrows knit together.
“About the locket being the only thing. I have one more.” He set her aside and went to his nylon bag, and pulled out the jeweled headband from the gift shop. He slid it into her hair. “Perfect.”
She grabbed his rain-damp shoulders and pulled his mouth down again.
When their sore lips demanded hydration, Kat got water from the tap without taking her eyes off him for a minute. HisI♥Newark zippered hoodie, stretched tight over his huge torso made her smirk. “You didn’t pick the best weather to arrive in, but it usually isn’t this bad.”
Hugo looked down and grimaced. “Do you have a Sharpie I can borrow? I need to fix this.”
Kat found one.
He crossed outNewarkand wroteKAT. The full water glasses sat on the table for a while longer.
When their lips demanded a break, Kat traced a finger over the letters on his sweatshirt.
“If I never see that place again, it will be too soon.” Hugo shivered. “I hope there is another airport I can use to get back to Puerto Rico.”
“I have no plans of letting you go back to any airport, unless it’s with me.”
Hugo chewed his lips. “I’m not sure why you’re placing your bets on me. If you read my balance chart, I am quite a failure.”
“Are you kidding? You’ve taken risks most people would only dream of.” She took his hand. It was limp. She gave it a shake. “I’m in awe of you. You’ve done more in . . . How old are you anyway?”
“Thirty-three since Monday.”
Ten years’ difference wasn’t too bad. “That’s right! Happy birthday!”
Hugo pulled a face. “I’ve had better.”
“Oh, yeah. Mine wasn’t so hot either.” Kat shrugged. “There’s always next year.”
“Here’s to future birthdays, spent together, free from hurricanes.”
“I’ll kiss to that.”
They did.
“Anyway,” Kat said when they came up for air. “You’ve done a lot for such a young person. I refuse to let you give up on yourself.”
Slowly, his grip grew firmer and his gap teeth showed. “Yolo, right?”
“YOLO!”
####
About the author: Sue enjoys writing, reading, dark chocolate and her kids, although not always in that order. For some reason she lives near Baltimore, where she divides her time between her desk and the kitchen.
Please take a moment to rate this book. Thank you for your support.
Read more of Sue Seabury’s stories here.
