“It was okay.” Blue stood and stretched and she only watched him out of the corner of her eye. Man, oh man it was a good thing they didn't have a lot of time together alone in this room. “It would have been better with you there.”
She could tell he wasn't just saying that. That he felt a little bit of what she felt about being apart. It made her feel a little bit giddy about their future. “Yeah, sorry to keep ditching you guys –”
“No,” he interrupted. “I knew all along what your plans were. And besides, Machu Picchu will be there for another thousand years. I doubt Abuelita will last that long.”
“She might just surprise you.”
“Actually I wouldn't be that surprised," Blue said with a smile. “She is one tough woman. Hey how about some room service this morning?”
Lucy's first impression was to refuse it. This world of living in a fancy hotel and having a car provided and all the amenities of an adventure trip versus spending time in a tiny two bedroom home with hand-rolled tortillas and people carpooling on a scooter because it was cheaper than driving the car—all of that made her have reservations.
He picked up on it and said, “It's included in the trip package. Certain number of in-hotel meals.”
Turning down free food, well, paid for food, wasn't smart or thrifty so she said, “That sounds awesome.”
They looked through the menu together and ordered a few items to share, then Blue jumped in the shower while Lucy put on some makeup and got herself ready for the day.
Room service arrived at the same time Blue came out of the bathroom with a white t-shirt on. It didn’t hide much of what was going on with all that muscle underneath, but at least she was able to concentrate a little on eating and catching up on what he’d been up to for the last couple of days. They had to rush a bit so they could meet up with his guys then with Abuelita and Tia Santa.
As Lucy went to the door to leave, Blue pulled out a jersey and put it on.
“Oh no. You can’t wear that.” She knew he’d been to see a soccer game but didn’t realize he was a fan of the Cienciano team. Even a girl from New Mexico knew that Deportivo Garcilaso was the only team in Cuzco to root for.
“Cienciano is my team,” said Blue. “You should have seen them yesterday.”
“If I wanted to puke maybe.” Were they destined to end up on the wrong side of rivalries their entire life? “I only hate those guys mildly, say 25% of how I feel about New Mexico State Aggies—present company excluded—but Abuelita is likely to stroke out if she sees you wearing that.”
“I’m sure you’re exaggerating,” said Blue, opening the door. “Without competition and rivalry, what good would sports be?”
Lucy stayed put. There had to be some way to convince him to change.
“We’re going to be late,” he said, “and I’m no Peru expert, but I’m pretty sure this is a free country.” He was smiling as he said it but Lucy was picking up a touch of that competitive wedge that had come between them back at Pineapple’s.
She didn’t want that. While she really did feel strongly about her university allegiance, the weeks that it had taken to get over that with Blue hadn’t been worth it. She could like him and love UNM at the same time. Abuelita, however, might feel differently.
As she walked past him she said, “Don’t be surprised if you see a 90-year-old woman take down a 250-pound fireman today.”
“Abuelita loves me.” Blue followed her into the hall and next door to the guys’ room. “She might tease me, but it’ll be all in fun.”
“Oh, poor, innocent little Blue. Compared to South American fútbol rivalries, college football is a playground spat.” She put one hand on his immense bicep and patted it in as patronizing a manner as possible. “It’s been nice knowing you.”
He laughed. “I seriously doubt Abuelita is going to forbid me from dating you just because I disagree with her choice of soccer team.”
“Forbid me from dating you? No. She’s more likely to rip your head off and plant it on a stake at the top of the Sacsayhuaman Ruins.”
That got Blue looking more serious and she hoped he was ready to abandon the hideous jersey. No such luck. His back straightened and he said, “She’ll have to reach my head before she can rip it off.”
That wouldn’t be a problem. “Do you remember Yoda, in the Star Wars prequels? He goes all Jedi on the bad guys and all of us just watched with our mouths hanging open? It’s gonna be like that.”
Nikola led the guys out of the room with Stone bringing up the rear. Lucy stared. Stone had a Deportivo Garcilaso jersey on!
Blue saw her notice; he’d obviously been waiting for it. Lucy wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of a reaction so she walked down the hallway hoping he couldn’t tell she was shaking her head and clenching her jaw.
12
Blue was sitting behind Nikola when they pulled up to the alley where Lucy’s family lived. Abuelita, Tia Santa, and Chato climbed into a 90s-something Corolla and led out with the Americans following in the rental car. Blue had been hoping they could get the awkward moment with the jersey out of the way quickly, but he’d have to wait until they reached the ruins.
As they drove through the city, Lucy pointed out many of the sites and attractions and told them about the history of Cuzco. It was amazing how much she had picked up in four days, but what was really amazing was how gorgeous her accent was when she told them the names of the places. Plaza de Armas, Cathedral de Santo Domingo, and Cristo Blanco. The absolute best was Barrio de San Blas, and Blue got her to repeat it three times before she picked up on what he was doing and gave him a flirty grin and a soft elbow in the ribs.
Only loud enough for her to hear, he said, “Now I know how Gomez Addams felt when Morticia used to speak French.” The Addams Family had been one of his favorite daytime shows to watch when he would stay home from school as a kid.
Apparently Lucy was a fan too. She said, “Barrio de San Blas,” and held out her arm, like Morticia used to do. Blue didn’t miss the cue, taking her by the hand and planting kisses from her wrist to her shoulder, causing her to squeal in delight.
Stone, who was crammed in the back with them, scowled and said, “I’d tell you two to get a room but you already have one.”
Blue took Lucy’s hand in his. Hopefully she was over the whole Cienciano jersey. He probably should have changed it, just to make life easier for everyone, but since he’d shelled out the money for it the day before, he wanted to wear it in Peru where it actually meant something. If he had to guess, he’d say Abuelita would be a better sport about it than Lucy.
Boy was Blue wrong.
Abuelita was half-in, half-out of the little car, giving him a glare of death. Blue had stared down opposing linebackers that were less menacing. He’d seen ten-foot flames shooting out of the windows of a burning home with less heat than he felt coming from this shriveled 90-year-old woman.
The jersey had been a very bad idea.
Slowly, Abuelita finished climbing out of the car. Keeping her eyes firmly on Blue, she started muttering a string of words that didn’t sound very kind, and she went on for a while. Tia Santa and Chato took up positions on either side of her. The term evil henchmen came to mind, and Blue pictured himself buried in a shallow Peruvian grave.
When Abuelita finished her rant or curse or whatever it was, Blue turned to Lucy for a translation.
Lucy put her hands up. “I’m too much of a lady to repeat those words.”
Through his ignorance and stubbornness, Blue had gotten himself into a battle. He’d been in battles before in his life and there was always a way out of it. Putting on a relaxed smile, he came forward with one arm out to try to put it around the angry woman.
“Abuelita,” he said in an endearing tone. “Such words.” He gave her his most charming smile.
She stopped him with an even more intense glare and muttered more words.
Lucy interpreted, “She wonders why handsome men have to have heads full
of rocks.”
“Let's just agree to disagree,” said Blue.
Lucy interpreted but Abuelita was having none of it. Folding her arms and turning so that she was giving him a very cold shoulder, she let it be known by her body language that she wasn't going anywhere, and muttered more harsh words. Slowly, as if it would help Blue understand the words, she said, “Yo no boy named Gune Lado: essay Mark Rayado.”
"I have no idea what that means, but the rhyme was catchy. We should write a pop song." Nobody laughed. All eyes were on Blue and his jersey.
If it wasn't for Lucy, he would have told them all to forget themselves and gone on to see the ruins by himself. But this was their one day together, and was it really worth keeping his loyalty to a team he had only picked because Stone was rooting for the rival and he liked the red and white colors? There really was no winning in a standoff with the grandmother of a woman he was very interested in.
Then again, his whole reputation with his guys was making a good decision and having the confidence to stick with it. How would that look if he let someone push him around over something so inconsequential at its core? But how would it look if he did hold his ground when it was time to cut his losses? If he was on a fire scene and things were burning down around him this badly he wouldn't hesitate to pull his guys out and save what was really important.
“You win, Abuelita,” said Blue, pulling the jersey off.
The nasty look did not leave Abuelita’s face. She was not appeased, but at least she turned the other direction and moved slowly toward the ruins. Lucy caught up with her and Blue threw his jersey back in the car then caught up with them both. Waving over her shoulder in the general direction of the other guys, Abuelita said something to Lucy.
It was tempting to just ignore it, but Blue was curious how bad it was now that he’d relented so he looked over at Lucy.
“She wants to know why I’m not dating that steel-eyed handsome one who is not a goat-loving brat with muscles for brains.”
“Who, Stone?” Blue glanced over his shoulder and saw Stone holding back a laugh. “Just because he said eeny-meeny-miny-moe and picked a pretty blue shirt?” The idea of Lucy dating someone else stung. She’d never looked so lovely as she did now with her thin, sleeveless native-style blouse and small Peruvian poncho tied off at the front of her neck. With her big dark eyes, she looked like a painting of an exemplary model of South American beauty.
Lucy shrugged. “I tried to warn you.”
Blue was tempted to run back to the car and get his jersey, since taking it off hadn’t accomplished anything. But he knew it was pure stubbornness so he rejected the idea.
“Wow,” said Lucy, looking up.
Without Blue realizing it, the group had arrived at the ruins and stood at the base of a stone wall constructed of stone blocks twice as tall as Blue himself. Pictures he’d seen didn’t do it justice, and even the day trip they’d taken to the more famous Machu Picchu hadn’t taken away any of the thrill of being here.
“Una foto,” said Abuelita, and everyone started lining up. Blue purposefully positioned himself between her and Lucy, but Abuelita muttered something under her breath and went to stand next to Stone.
And of course, living up to his nickname, Stone Cold gave Blue an evil grin as he put an arm around Abuelita’s shoulders. As Chato collected phones and cameras from everyone, Blue put his arm around Lucy. As if it set off some alarm, Abuelita craned her neck toward them and gave him the evil eye. Before he knew what he was doing, Blue had slid his arm back behind Lucy’s waist where it was less visible.
Chato took the pictures and returned the cameras and phones then Abuelita stepped forward in tour guide mode and faced them. “Sacsayhuaman was built for military fortress by the Incas. Repeat after me—Sacsayhuaman.”
Abuelita spoke English? Abuelita spoke English! Of course she did; she’d been a tour guide here for decades. Yeah her accent wasn’t perfect, but it was easy to understand.
Everyone except for Blue repeated what she’d said. None of his guys had spent any time with her so they must not be as surprised as he was.
“You,” said Abuelita, leveling a crooked finger at him. “Say it.”
Blue attempted it but he was afraid it sounded more like Sacagawea than Sacsayhuaman.
“No, horrible,” she told him, dismissing him with a wave of her hand. “You must say Sexy Woman. The rest say Sacsayhuaman.”
They all chuckled, even Blue, and he got the impression that was a joke she’d used as a tour guide. Firemen did the same thing, using a joke over and over with every new tour group that came through. But he also picked up on her enjoying it more than she probably usually did. Well he could have fun back.
“Sexy woman? That’s easy. I’ll just think of Lucy.” He pulled her close to his side and earned a scowl from Abuelita.
Lucy said something to her in Spanish that made him want to wrap her up and kiss those lovely Latin lips. Whatever she said convinced Abuelita to give up on mad-dogging him and go back to tour guide mode. In her slow, heavily accented English, she said, “Sacsayhuaman was completed around the thirteenth century.” She stepped up to the wall, holding a note card out of nowhere in her hand. “They used no mortar, but the walls fit together too tight to fit a piece of paper in.” Sure enough, the note card wouldn’t fit into the crack. The group spread out along the wall, each inspecting the cracks between the huge stones.
Abuelita moved on, talking more about the Inca culture and history as the group meandered slowly after her. These ruins weren’t giant pyramids like some ruins he’d seen online, but multiple walls of patterned stone that would be quite an accomplishment in modern days much less half a millennium ago. Some of the walls had perfectly spaced openings where arrows could be shot from. Abuelita was a wonderful guide, painting vivid pictures of life as an Inca and she had even started to ignore the fact that Lucy and Blue were holding hands. The feeling of stepping back 600 years was amazing—exactly what he’d been hoping he’d feel coming here.
Yet, as Blue, Lucy, and the rest of them wandered through the ruins and across large open fields, the real marvel was the beauty at his side and the depths of his feelings for her. He and his guys had a good thing going as Blue’s Bachelors. Before running into Lucy at Questival, there had been no holes or lack in his life whatsoever. His job was perfect, he was healthy, had awesome friends who were always available to hang out or go on an adventure on their days off.
Then a spotlight from heaven itself had showed him something even better.
All of the good Blue’s Bachelor times were nothing compared to what he felt with Lucy, and this was only their second or third date, depending on how you counted. He couldn’t imagine doing this without her. Going back to his “perfect” life in Park City while she went back to New Mexico just felt … broken. Like something was wrong with that life.
How was that possible when they’d spent so little time together? He’d dated plenty of other women and spent more than a couple days with them and had never been so connected, or had a hard time visualizing his life without them.
What was worse, he wanted to take her aside and tell her all this and make plans about how they could make things work. It was too early in the relationship. Far too early. And she had a job working for the university she loved and he was eight years into his dream career. He could start over anywhere in the state of Utah and keep his pension going, but if he left Utah, it would be starting from scratch; he’d basically lose the eight years he’d put into the retirement system. If starting over with a new department and new crew was the only issue, Blue would do it for her. He’d go through another training camp and back to being the boot and taking everyone’s crap instead of taking charge. But eight years into a pension was a lot harder to walk away from. In just twelve more years he could retire and have freedom to go where he wanted in his early-40s. If he pulled up stakes and resettled in a new state, it would push that number back a lot closer to 50.
Wait, what was he doing? Just a few minutes ago he was telling himself his mind had been moving too fast.
Under his breath, he muttered, “Slow down there, fella.”
Lucy startled, even though he hadn’t spoken loud enough to be heard. Her mind had been somewhere else for a minute there as well. For some reason he thought it might have gone the same place his own mind had gone.
“I wish we could stay right here for another five days,” she said quietly as she looked up into his eyes.
The world came to a complete standstill for just a fraction of a minute. It was as if Blue and Lucy had been standing there looking into each other’s eyes since the day the fortress of Sexy Woman was completed. And as if they could stand there for another half millennium lost in this connection.
He had to kiss her. The impulse was impossible to resist and he started toward her lips.
Abuelita’s voice broke in. “Show him the slide.”
Again, as she had seconds ago, Lucy jolted slightly. She shook off the trance and asked, “Do you know about the rocks behind the ruins? There's a massive slide back there.”
It felt to Blue like it was taking him longer to get back into the world than it had taken her. She still seemed like a vision of the past, and also a promise of the future. “Huh? Slide? Sounds fun, I'm in.”
At a pace similar to old, worn out Yoda, abuelita let them out of the ruins and around the way they hadn't come from. The pace didn’t bother Blue since there was so much to see and he had Lucy’s hand in his. As promised, a giant, slick slab of rock led up towards the top of the ruins from this side of the hill.
Blue didn't know if this was a natural rock formation, or if it had been formed by the Incas as well. It was maybe 50 yards from where he stood to the top of the slick part of the rock. The rock had three grooves in it, as if designed so a trio could slide down side by side.
Lucy dropped his hand, took off running, and shouted, “Race ya!”
She was ten paces ahead of him by the time he started but he pushed hard to catch her. She didn't seem to be giving it everything she had, and Blue started to close ground. When she peeked over her shoulder to check his progress he really closed the gap and was close enough to reach up and touch if he wanted. The desire to pinch her perfect bottom was tempting, but he could feel Abuelita’s eyes on them.
Sparks Will Fly Page 8
