“So, were you two good for Miss Williams?” Mrs. Swenson asked her children.
“Please, call me Rhees.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, but we’re trying to teach our children to show respect for their elders. I hope you don’t mind if we keep the formality.”
“Yes. That’s fine. My parents were the same way,” Rhees assured her.
“Thank you so much for babysitting. It was nice to get back in the water again,” Mrs. Swenson said.
“My pleasure. They were no trouble at all.” Rhees leaned down to talk to the kids. “We did our own night dive, didn’t we?”
“Yes!” the children agreed enthusiastically. “We saw lots of fish and some were this big!” Asher held his arms out wide to demonstrate.
“Tell your mom what else we saw,” Rhees encouraged.
“A otter puss,” Imogen said.
Rhees couldn’t help but laugh until she noticed the look on Paul’s face. The way he stared, she couldn’t tell whether he was angry with her, again, or something else.
“It was really just a night snorkel,” she continued, trying to assure Paul even more than Mrs. Swenson that she didn’t do anything to be concerned about. “We stayed right by the dock. I didn’t leave their side—I would never do that. I suited them up with flotation devices and flashlights from the gear room—I hope that’s okay?” She looked at Paul, wondering if she’d figured out his problem. Maybe he didn’t like that she’d been so bold as to use his gear.
He shrugged like he didn’t care, but she kept catching him watch her, and she grew more and more nervous.
“Well, at least I got one dive in. It’ll have to last me for another few years,” Mrs. Swenson said.
“Um . . . if it’s all right with Pau—I mean Mr. Weaver,” she watched him, trying to take a cue from him, “If it’s all right with him, tomorrow I could—”
“Of course. Danarya can watch the kids again tomorrow, that is, if she wants to, and if it’s okay with you,” Paul said.
“Who is Mr. Weaver? You said his name was Mr. Meanie-Head,” the little boy said looking innocently at Rhees.
“Mr. Weaver is Mr. Meanie-Head. He has two names,” Rhees said without missing a beat, then looked up sheepishly at getting caught.
Asher looked up at his mom. “They hate each other’s guts!” he said with emphasis on the word guts.
“Asher! That isn’t nice. I’m so sorry, I don’t know where he comes up with these things,” Mrs. Swenson apologized. The two teenagers laughed at their little half-brother. Dobbs and Claire stood waiting warily to see how Paul would react.
“It’s all right, Mrs. Swenson. It’s true. We do indeed hate each other’s guts.” Paul seemed perfectly serious.
After an awkward moment of silence, Mr. Swenson finally spoke up. “Where would you recommend we eat tonight? The kids have been asking for pizza.”
“Coconut Inn has good gourmet-style pizza, and Nana’s has a decent, more traditional pizza at a good price,” Paul answered knowledgeably.
“Well, I think we’d prefer to go traditional, with the kids and all,” Mr. Swenson said. “Words like gourmet and kids don’t really go together. I’m sure you’re all as hungry as we are. Please, eat with us tonight, my treat.”
“Oh, no!” Claire jumped in before there could be any argument. “Dobbs and I are ready for a nice quiet evening,” she said, looking at the little kids, a fake smile plastered on her face.
Her quick response left Paul and Rhees at a disadvantage. Mr. Swenson turned to them and said, “Looks like it’s just the two of you then.”
“No, really, we can’t,” Rhees tried to say.
“I’m not taking no for an answer,” Mr. Swenson said. “You can show us the way.”
oOo
They walked into Nana’s and found a table outside, a long, simple, plastic banquet table with picnic table benches along each side and mismatched patio chairs on each end. Paul and Mr. Swenson took the end chairs and Rhees started to climb into the bench on one side while Mrs. Swenson sat on the other. The two small children ran to Rhees and sat on each side of her.
“Come sit by mama,” Mrs. Swenson said. “I’m sure Miss Williams has had enough of you two for the evening.”
“It’s fine. I don’t mind.” Rhees helped them onto the bench next to her while Paul stared at her.
Heather hurriedly slipped into a seat opposite her step-mother—to make sure she wouldn’t get stuck sitting so close to the enemy, Rhees assumed, but also because she wanted to sit next to Paul. It had become quite obvious she’d developed a crush.
Matthew reluctantly climbed in next to Mrs. Swenson but slid closer to Paul as well. Mrs. Swenson seemed embarrassed by the way her step-children behaved as if they hated her. Mr. Swenson seemed oblivious to it, but Rhees felt sad about the family dynamic.
They ordered, and Rhees played finger games with the small children. Paul and Mr. Swenson talked about diving, and Mrs. Swenson watched quietly and listened. The teens didn’t engage at all, so Rhees started trying to pull them in.
By the time dinner was over, Rhees had all the kids, even Heather, standing at the side of the table, ready to take the ‘Spastic Test’, a game of coordination that Rhees had learned years ago.
“Okay, take one arm. Move it up and then down, like this.” She showed them and they followed suit. “Now, with the other arm, you have to go up first, then out to the side, then down and back up again, all the while, the other arm has to still just go up and down.” She started doing it, making it look simple.
The kids tried and everyone laughed hysterically. Mrs. Swenson decided she had to give it a try. While Rhees ran through the instructions again, she realized Mrs. Swenson was about the same age as she was, and it caught her off-guard. The woman was married with two beautiful children, living the life Rhees had always dreamed of, with one exception. Rhees lost her train of thought for a moment, but she quickly shook it off.
“Where were we?” Rhees smiled but Paul noticed the sadness flicker across her expression.
“You were laughing . . . happy,” Paul said. She smiled, but it didn’t touch her eyes, as if she were trying a little too hard.
“Okay, like this.” Rhees ran through the drill again, and it didn’t take long before the light returned to her eyes, but Paul didn’t forget as fast.
“How do you do that?” Mrs. Swenson asked through the hilarity, giving up. Mr. Swenson’s and Paul’s eyes watered, they laughed so hard.
“You try it,” Mrs. Swenson said to her husband. He shook his head. “How about you, Mr. Weaver?”
“Oh, no.” Still laughing, Paul shook his head and grabbed for his glass of water, wincing at getting caught watching Rhees again.
“Are you going to marry Miss Williams?” Asher asked Paul. Paul choked on the drink of water he was in the middle of taking when the boy asked.
Everyone stopped laughing and turned to stare at Paul, putting him on the spot.
“No, we hate each other, remember?” Rhees jumped in to put everyone back at ease, but mostly, Paul. He didn’t understand why she did that—or why she felt the need to rescue his feelings. “You can’t marry someone you hate. You have to be in love.”
“My daddy married Heather and Matthew’s mommy, but he didn’t love her. He loved my mommy.”
“Asher,” Mrs. Swenson snapped. Mr. Swenson cleared his throat.
“Heather told me,” Asher said innocently. Heather guiltily covered her face with her hand.
“It’s rude to ask such personal questions,” Mrs. Swenson finally scolded and then glanced down.
Awkward silence ensued and only grew more uncomfortable when Imogen climbed onto Paul’s lap, put her little hand on his cheek, and stared into his eyes. Paul noticed how everyone worried how he’d react, e
xpecting that someone with his reputation would freeze and wait to be rescued from the horror.
He smiled back warmly at the little girl, and welcomed her with a kiss on the top of her head, but then he grabbed her and held her up as high as his arm could reach, jostling her in the air with a playful growl. Imogen squealed with delight.
“’Gain,” she said, bracing herself for a repeat and he obliged.
“I’m glad,” Asher continued. “Because I’m going to marry Miss Williams when I grow up. She’s pretty.”
Paul set Imogen back on his lap and reached over to mess up Asher’s hair.
“Yes, I guess she is, but no worries. I’m sure Miss Williams will still be available when you grow up. No one else will want to marry her difficult ass . . . sher.” Paul did his best to save his slip in front of the family.
Heather laughed aloud and Matthew followed suit. Mr. and Mrs. Swenson smiled, but apparently still felt embarrassed by the personal information Asher had shared.
“I love kids,” Paul declared. He really did, but he knew everyone thought he was teasing because of the awkwardness of the moment. He tossed Imogen in the air again.
When the conversation finally moved on, Paul thought back to the moment Rhees looked so sad. He wanted to know why and wished he could read her mind. Maybe that’s why he winked—with his left eye, the one that meant it. She avoided eye contact the rest of the night, which gave him more opportunity to study her, and except for that one brief moment of sorrow and Asher’s awkward question, she seemed to be having such a good time with the children.
He almost forgot how much he was supposed to hate her.
oOo
The next morning, the Swensons, Paul, and Mitch headed out to dive again. Rhees stayed with the kids. During the surface interval, Mrs. Swenson pulled Paul aside.
“Am I making a mistake, leaving my kids with Miss Williams? She seems a little hostile. You know—her comments to the kids, calling you Mr. Meanie-Head, and telling them she hates your guts?”
Paul chuckled. “Mrs. Swenson, I think I am the only hostile bone in Danarya’s body.” He suddenly looked embarrassed. “Shit, that sounded dirty. I just meant that . . .” He paused for a second and sighed. “I guess I shouldn’t be saying shit around my guests either.” He frowned, thinking about what he was trying to say. He’d stopped trying to check his foul mouth in ninth grade so he wondered why he suddenly felt self-conscious about his word choices. He knew why—Rhees.
“I can’t think of anyone else on the entire island I could recommend to watch your kids. She’s only hostile to me. I seem to bring out the worst in her.” The liar in her, he thought, reminding himself why he shouldn’t be feeling so in awe of her.
“Why does she hate you so much?”
Paul smirked. He wasn’t about to tell her the truth. “It’s a mutual sentiment.”
“Why do you call her Danarya? I thought her name was Rhees.”
“Because she hates it.”
“What a strange relationship you two have.” She chuckled. “But you’re sure that, as a mother, I have nothing to fear?”
“Mrs. Swenson, there is no relationship between Rhees and I.” He turned to finish setting up the gear he was working on. Now distracted, he continued, “If there was, I might do something stupid like make that girl the mother of my chil—” He stopped dead, mid-word, wondering where that had come from. He turned to catch Mrs. Swenson staring expectantly, waiting for him to finish his sentence. Her expression changed and he realized it was because of the horrified look on his face.
“Your kids are in good hands. You have nothing to fear,” he rushed to cover his mistake.
Randy, Rhees’ new cousin and Paul’s friend, overheard the conversation and whistled between his teeth. Paul turned to see the shocked look on Randy’s face—the same one on his own, but Randy quickly acted like he hadn’t heard a thing.
Paul mumbled a long string of cuss words under his breath.
Chapter 9
Rhees had three more days left, but once again, the boat left without her. She walked into the office. “I’m going home without my C-card.”
“Oh, Rhees. I tried. I fought with him, Dobbs fought with him. I’m so sorry.” Claire sympathized, though she still had the feeling Rhees wasn’t really too broken up about it.
oOo
Rhees watched the boat headed in after the morning dives and readied herself to work when it docked. About fifty yards out, Mitch jumped ship and yelled. “Man over board!”
Several people on the boat scrambled, but Shanni made it into the water first to save him and dragged him back to the shop because the boat didn’t wait for them. It was a training exercise and Shanni needed the rescue to finish her dive master course. Rhees had seen them run the drill several times and felt secretly relieved to know she wouldn’t have to do it. When she first arrived, Paul had tried to convince her to become a dive master after getting certified. He had told her she would have time. She almost laughed out loud at the memory.
With the gear all rinsed and put away, everyone settled in for a typical afternoon of leisure. Rhees sat down on the edge of the dock and dangled her feet over the edge. The deck sat too high above the water for her to soak them but she didn’t mind. She wanted to enjoy every last second she had at the shop.
It appeared the Coitus Club had called a meeting, without Shelli. Rhees definitely wouldn’t miss the ongoing, flagrant details of Paul’s sex life, and all the drama between the girls with whom he played. She wished she hadn’t chosen to sit so close to where they called their meeting, but she was too comfortable to move.
“I don’t know what happened, but Shelli is really pissed.”
“She said she’d tell us when she got here, but that she’s going to be late on purpose. She wants him to know how pissed she is.”
“What do you think he did?”
“I wish she would get here. Do you think he’s even noticed she isn’t here yet?”
“She thinks she has more power over him than she really does. Paul could replace her in a second.”
“Maybe he should.” They all giggled, surely thinking they would be in the running for the open position.
That was enough for Rhees. She rolled her eyes and finally got up to move to the other side of the deck. Just as she stood, she noticed Shelli, Ulla right behind, marching down the Plank toward the group of girls who claimed to be her friends. As she walked past the office, an arm reached out the door and grabbed Shelli by the elbow. She turned and slapped whoever had a hold of her. They had words—fierce words if Rhees read Shelli’s body language correctly.
It was all so theatrical, Rhees couldn’t help but watch. Shelli’s free arm flailed about and pushed at whoever had a hold of her. Her face burned red with anger and her anger only escalated, instead of getting better. Shelli glanced down the length of the deck and saw the other girls watching. It seemed to fuel her acting abilities and she became even more animated. She looked again, but this time, she saw Rhees, and she froze.
The rage in Shelli’s expression was palpable. She pulled herself from the hand holding her and marched directly toward Rhees. The hand followed her, tried to regain its grasp, but when it missed, it floated out of the office and happened to be attached to Paul. He saw Rhees too and stood unmoving, dreading what he could only assume Shelli planned to do.
Rhees moved away from the edge of the deck as the thought crossed her mind that Shelli planned to push her off. She prepared to defend herself.
“You’re going home soon, right?” Shelli screamed like a woman scorned. “Good riddance. You should have never come here—if you’re so high and mighty, you don’t belong on this island. There are other islands better suited to snobs like you. You think you’re so much better than the rest of us.”
Rhees stood stunned,
not knowing what Shelli meant. “I don’t. I’m sorry, for whatever you think I’ve done. I don’t know what I’ve done.”
“You’re trying to show all of us.” Shelli waved her hands at her friends, the Coitus Club girls. “You’ve been rubbing it in our faces. ‘Look at me. I’ve got Paul wrapped around my little finger. I’m driving him wild with all my look-but-don’t-touch moves—bet he’s never worked this hard for any of you’. He can’t think about anything but you, and it’s ruining it for the rest of us. Everything was fine until you got here.”
Heat radiated from Rhees’ face.
Everyone at the shop gathered around to watch, listening to the dramatic episode. Even Claire poked her head from the office because of all the shouting.
“Shelli, that’s enough!” Paul boomed. Shelli turned and looked like she would murder him with her eyes if that were possible, but Paul persisted. “Leave her alone. This is between us.”
“Us?” Shelli shrieked. “Is that why you cried out her name last night while you were losing yourself inside of me? ‘Oooh, Danarya’!” She changed her voice to imitate him in the throes of passion.
Rhees’ gaze shot to him in disbelief. His mouth dropped open, and he went as pale as she was red.
“Shell, I’m sorry.” He ran his hand around to the back of his neck. “I’m sorry.” He seemed bewildered, unbelieving he could have made such a mistake. He’d been doing that too often lately.
Shelli wasn’t having any of it. She turned back to Rhees. “Were you planning to ever let him get you out of his system? You’re leaving in a few more days. Why don’t you just stop playing hard to get and just sleep with him already, so we can all get on with our lives!” she screeched.
Tracy jumped in, about to cry. She couldn’t stand conflict and this was as bad as it could be. “Shelli,” she screamed. “You’ve got it all wrong. Rhees isn’t playing hard to get.”
Wet: Part 1 Page 11
