Novel Hearts

by Rebecca Boucher

  “Good. What’re they doing?” I asked, taking a drink of my tea.

  “They’re playing hide and seek and we both know they’re having a blast. There’s so many places that they can hide in our house. It’s huge!” she said, giggling.

  Hide? Oh, my gosh … what if Lainey can’t find them? What if she doesn't find them all night? I know what it’s like playing hide and seek with twins. They won’t say one word the entire time you search for them. I refused to play the game with them anymore. The last time, I found Madeline almost instantly, as she hides in the same place every time, but Tane … it took me four and a half hours to find him. I freaked out after hearing what they were playing, then rose to my feet as if my seat was on fire. “I’ll be right back,” I said, walking quickly away from the table.

  “Lance, where are you going?” Tatum hollered from the table.

  “I’ll be right back!”

  After I was away from the restaurant, I ran as quickly as I could to our room. Out of breath, I reached under the bed and grabbed my laptop. Then, I flung it open and clicked on the teddy bear icon. Instantly, the split screen popped open. I could see that one of them left their teddy bear lying on the couch, as there was a sideways view of the flat screen—SpongeBob was in Jellyfish Fields swatting his jelly fishing net crazily. I looked at the other screen to see that one of the twins was hiding in one of the closets on the third floor. That had to be Tane. It’s not Madeline’s favorite spot.

  “I found you!” I heard Lainey say and Madeline’s laugh echoed throughout the house.

  “Tane … where are you?” I hear Lainey sing out.

  Come on Lainey, third floor, third floor.

  “Tane …” she sang out again. This time her voice was a little closer to him. Oh, thank you, God!

  “Gotcha’!” She says as she opened the door. Tane screamed and ran out of the closet. Lainey was laughing so hard that I couldn’t help but laugh, too. I took a deep breath and sighed, feeling a bit better … for now.

  Suddenly, the doorknob of the hotel door jiggled. Shit! I click out of the screens and threw the laptop back under the bed. I spun around in circles then stopped, wondering what I should do. The bathroom! I thought to myself as I quickly darted in.

  “Lance?” Tatum’s voice echoed into the room as I stood in the bathroom. “What are you doing?” she asked on the other side of the closed bathroom door. “Are you okay?”

  I looked around the bathroom quickly, then flushed the toilet. “Oh … uh … yeah,” I said, turning on the water to fake washing my hands. Then, I opened the door barely enough to slide out and closed it behind me. “The peppers I put in my eggs this morning made my stomach upset, that’s all,” I lied.

  “Aw,” she said, touching my cheek as she frowned. “Why didn’t you use the bathroom at the restaurant?”

  “I don’t know,” I shrugged. “I didn’t know how bad it was going to be.”

  She raised her brows. “Oh …” she replied, laughing, with a disgusted look on her face. “Okay, then.” That was close.

  ***

  I stood in my white terrycloth robe and slippers as the tall-lanky masseuse walked around the room preparing her table with warm oil, hot towels and hot rocks, as the serene sound of a waterfall resounded from the speakers. I really had no interest in this, but I was doing my best to make Tatum happy. She insisted that I needed to relax, and that was exactly what I intended to do.

  “Okay, Mr. Mitchell, hop up there, face down,” she ordered, smiling.

  Here goes nothing, I thought. Taking a deep breath, I hopped onto the table keeping a towel wrapped around my waist. Then, I placed my head on the headrest, looking through the giant hole, but I still felt tense.

  “Just close your eyes, Mr. Mitchell … relax,” she said soothingly, as she poured warm oil onto my back and started to massage my shoulders. My entire body melted into the padding as I closed my eyes. That’s what I’m talking about.

  Later in the day, I was sitting in the indoor pool at the spa with Tatum, enjoying a cocktail, when an employee from the front desk approached. “Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell?” he asked as he bowed.

  “Yes?” Tatum answered. Uncertainty colored her voice, making me uneasy.

  “You have a phone call at the front desk,” he replied, then turned and pointed to the pool bar. “I had it transferred here.”

  “Thank you,” I said, then quickly hopped out of the pool and grabbed a towel to dry myself off. Then, I rushed to the bar and leaned on the counter. “Hi, I’m Lance Mitchell. I have a phone call?”

  “Absolutely, Mr. Mitchell,” the young bartender said, handing me the phone. I held the phone up to my ear and nodded. He pushed the blinking red button on the base.

  “Hello?” I asked into the receiver.

  “Lance? It’s Lainey,” she said, crying.

  “Lainey, what’s wrong?” I asked, as my heart raced.

  “I don’t know what happened …” she yelled into the phone, sobbing. “… I put the twins to bed and lay down on the couch, then five minutes later I heard them screaming from upstairs.”

  Breathe, Lance, breathe. Tatum came up behind me, placing her hand on my shoulder.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked from behind me. I shook my head. “What?” Tatum asked as her voice shook.

  “Lainey …” I said frantically.

  “I ran to their room and they were gone. I don’t know where they went, Lance! I’m so sorry!” she said, sobbing into the phone. “The police are here and there was no sign of a break in or anything … they just vanished.”

  Vanished? Immediately, I thought of my brother. “Seth …” I whispered.

  My eyes flew open wide, staring at the ground through the hole in the table, as the masseuse’s hands kneaded away at my back. Thank God it was just a dream. My heart pounded within my chest. I got up so quickly that I knocked her table over, spilling the massage oil all over the stone tiles and the hot rocks were strewn into every corner of the tiny room.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said, running out of the room.

  In nothing but my towel, I ran to our hotel room. People pointed and stared as I ran through the Inn, but I didn’t care. After a dream like that, I had to make sure the twins were okay. I reach my room and realized that the key to the room was in my jeans back at the spa. Damn it! Then, I remembered that Tatum left the sliding door open to the private beach. Our room was on the first floor, so I ran down the hallway, out to the side door around to the back of the building. Sand flung up from the ground, sticking to the oil on my back. I stopped, spotting our little balcony, knowing I could clear it easily. So, I placed my hand on the railing and threw my legs over it as my towel went flying, landing in the sand. Behind me, I heard a few gasps and whistles. I turned around to see a few ladies standing there. One of them was in her sixties and her face was bright red. She smiled, then waved at me as I smirked.

  I quickly went inside and grabbed a pair of boxers out of my suitcase, threw them on and retrieved my laptop from under the bed. I open it up, clicked the teddy bear icon and finally relaxed when I saw on the split screen that the twins were lying on either side of Lainey. I had two views of their ceilings. Nap time, I thought to myself, smiling.

  “So, Goldilocks ate the Momma Bear’s porridge and it …”

  “Auntie Wainey, what is porridge?” Madeline asked. She always asked questions when you tell them stories. My curious Maddie.

  “Oh, I meant oatmeal … she ate Momma Bear’s oatmeal.”

  “Otay … what kind of oatmeaw?” Tane asked.

  “Oh, I don’t know. What kind is you’re favorite?” she asked them.

  I tried not to laugh as I awaited their answer, already knowing what they were going to say.

  “The dirty kind,” Tane said, laughing aloud.

  “With worms,” Madeline added and they both cracked up.

  I started laughing and my stomach muscles started burning. About a week ago, Tatum was shopping and we experimente
d with the nasty, plain oatmeal she wanted them to eat by adding crushed up Oreo’s and Gummy Worms. It’s our ‘dirty oatmeal.’ If Tatum found out about that she would kick my ass. All three of us were sworn to secrecy.

  “Dirt and worms! Gross!” Lainey said as the twins laughed.

  Outside the hotel room, someone sneezed as they walked by. It made me jump, catching my attention. Oh no … Tatum. Then, I remembered that she was still at the spa, but I closed the laptop and slid it back under the bed just in case. Next, I wrapped a white towel around myself again. I couldn’t put on another change of clothes, as Tatum would see that it wasn’t the same clothes I wore earlier to the spa. I was so tired and it wasn’t even evening yet. This was one of the longest Valentine’s Days I’d ever had.

  I walked into the spa to see that Tatum wasn’t done yet, oh thank you, God. I rushed into the room I was in to see my masseuse mopping up the oil from the floor. She looked at me with wide eyes as I walked in.

  “I am so sorry,” I said quietly, grabbing my clothes. I threw the boxers I wore earlier in the trash, since I have a different pair on now. The lady just stared at me as if I was crazy, and I was beginning to feel like I was.

  “You didn’t see anything … nothing,” I said, looking at her sternly.

  She just shook her head with both hands up.

  “Thank you,” I said as I slid into my jeans. After I finished dressing, I walked into the lobby at the same time Tatum did. She had the biggest grin on her face.

  “Now, that was fabulous,” she said, smiling.

  “Yup, it sure was,” I replied, swinging my arms. “I feel great!” I am such a poor excuse for a husband … ugh! I groaned.

  ***

  Later that day, we are lying out in the sand. It was about a quarter after three in the afternoon. I tried to relax, knowing the children were taking a nap.

  Tatum sighed. “I wonder what the twins are doing?” she asked softly.

  “They should be down for a nap,” I said with my eyes closed, absorbing the sun.

  “Yeah, you’re right. It’s nap time,” she agreed. I could hear the smile in her voice.

  Nap time … wait … why didn’t I think of it earlier? During my dream the twins were asleep when they disappeared. Oh no … here I go again, I thought to myself as I rose to my feet.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, sitting up on her elbows.

  “I feel like I am burning, I need some sunscreen,” I said with a smile.

  She stared at me for a moment and I could only imagine her facial expression under those sunglasses. “Uh … okay … but we don’t have any.” We only buy it for the kids as Tatum and I never burn.

  “Oh … uh … babe, you just relax. I’ll run to the store a few miles down the road.” Yeah, that’s it. We’re only about thirty minutes away. I’ll rush home real quick and check on the kids. I felt elated at the thought ... screw the teddy bears and all of their fuzziness.

  “Ummmm,” she said, looking around. “Uh … okay … are you alright?”

  “I’m good! That massage worked great! Totally relaxed,” I said, giving her my famous half smile she loved so much, making her blush. It worked like a charm every time. “I want to layout and maybe even take a nap, I just don’t want to burn,” I said with a shrug.

  “Well, I love you, honey,” she said, lying back down.

  “I love you, too,” I said, then turned and ran toward the valet.

  “Last name?” a short black-haired man with a perfectly trimmed mustache asked.

  “Mitchell, Lance Mitchell,” I said quickly. Just come on already, I’m on a serious time crunch here. Within two minutes, they pulled my truck around and I hopped in and peeled out of the parking lot. Everyone stared as my tires smoked.

  ***

  I made record time, making it home in about twenty-two minutes. I parked down the street of our cul-de-sac, out of sight. As I ran around the yard and was nearly to the back of the house, I heard a growl. I turned around to see that the neighbor’s dog had gotten loose … again.

  “Hi, Buster … that’s a good doggy,” I said quietly, as the giant, fluffy, brown and white Saint Bernard barked.

  “Shh, Buster,” I said as he barked again and ran toward me.

  “No, Buster,” I said, holding my hands out. He picked up speed so I turned and ran as fast as I could into my back yard with Buster hot on my heels. His slimy slobber landed on my bare calves as I looked up at the second-story windows. I spotted the twins’ window and started scaling up the tree next to the side of the house as Buster barked below me.

  Jumping from a tree limb, my fingertips gripped the white trim of the twins’ bedroom window. With every ounce of strength I had, I pulled myself up onto the window sill and smiled. Lainey had fallen asleep with the children on either side of her with her arms wrapped around them. Madeline had her bear hugged tightly against her and Tane had his arm dangling off the bed, clinging onto his teddy bear for dear life. Suddenly, my hands grew sweaty and I started to slip. Oh shit …. I fell right into the bushes below.

  “Ouch,” I said in a monotone voice as I lay there, as Buster licked my face.

  ***

  Driving back to the Inn, my forehead was stinging, so I adjusted the rearview mirror to take a quick look at myself. “Of course,” I said with a sigh. I cut my forehead. How the hell was I going to hide this from Tatum?

  Tatum … I looked down at the clock on my stereo. I’d been gone for over an hour. I started to panic at the vision of her alone on the beach, wondering where in the world I was. I frantically looked around at all of the small businesses as I drove slowly back and spotted a little jewelry store ... a present. You, Lance Mitchell, are an absolute mastermind.

  I parked in the nearest spot, hopped out of the truck and ran inside.

  “Hello, sir, how can we … ummm …” the proper woman dressed in a suit gave me a look of fear, noticing that I was bleeding. “… help you?”

  “Oh,” I touched my forehead. “It’s nothing. I just tripped over the curb.”

  “Oh,” She said, smiling. “Well, what can I do for you?”

  “Give me the most expensive item of jewelry you think my wife would love,” I smirked. She nodded, then walked around for a moment before pulling a diamond tennis bracelet out of a special case behind the counter. She held it up. It glistened under the florescent lights. “Will this be cash or charge?”

  So, $4,500.00 and a bouquet of red roses later, I pulled into the parking lot of the Inn and hopped out of the truck. I walked around the building to the private beach and Tatum was still lying where I left her. It was dinner time now, a little after five in the evening. Here goes nothing …

  I stood above her and saw that her chest was rising and falling; she had fallen asleep. Then, I had another idea. Taking my tank top off, I lay down next to her, faking sleep as I heard her groan. Everything was falling perfectly into place.

  “Lance?” she mumbled.

  “Yeah, babe?” I asked groggily.

  “I fell asleep,” she said with a giggle, putting her arm around my waist. “I must have been tired. I didn’t hear you come back.”

  I turned toward her and she gasped. “What?” I asked frantically.

  “You’re forehead! What happened to you?” she asked as she took her bottled water, poured some on a towel and wiped the blood away from my scratches.

  “That … oh … I … uh …” I thought for a second. “It was so lame. I tripped over the sidewalk in the parking lot.”

  “Oh, my gosh. They didn’t even offer you something to clean up with? I should complain, Lance. That’s seriously not cool,” she said angrily.

  “No, no … they did,” I replied, smiling at her. “It must have just bled more, it’s been a while,”

  “Oh, yeah … we fell asleep. Did you get your sunscreen, honey?” she asked as she sat up, stretching. “And is that … slobber?” she stuttered, staring at my hair. She reached up and wiped it away, making a disgusted
face as she studied it on her fingers.

  “Nope, didn’t get the sunscreen,” I said, smiling, avoiding her question.

  “Well, why were you gone so long?” she asked sullenly.

  “Because of this,” I said as I reached under our blanket. Then, I pulled out the bouquet of red roses with a white velvet box that contained her bracelet nestled within them. Did I mention it was $4,500.00? “Happy Valentine’s Day, Tatum. I love you.”

  “Oh, wow,” she said, starting to cry. “You are so sweet! Flowers!” She pulled her sunglasses off and set them on top of her head. Then, she put her nose to the roses and inhaled deeply. I watched her face as she noticed something else. I smiled as she hesitantly reached in and pulled out the box.

  “I hope you like it,” I said as she opened the box. Like it? She loved it, I could tell because she pretty much screamed when the sun hit the diamonds.

  “Ah, Lance! It is beautiful!” she gasped in a shrill voice.

  I couldn’t help but laugh. It was one of those moments that I should have recorded. It would have gotten millions of hits on You Tube. I laughed.

  She jumped on me, kissing me passionately.

  That was close … and all thoughts of the slobber were gone.

  ***

  After going back to the room, I hopped into the shower quickly, hoping to get out before Tatum got in with me. I wanted to check on the twins just once more before we went down for dinner, drinks, and dancing. As I hopped out of the shower, Tatum was standing there, disappointed, with her robe half off.

  “Aw, you were going to get in with me,” I said sadly as I dried off and threw on my boxers.

  “Well, yeah, this is our time to be alone, Lance. I want to take every advantage of it that I can,” she said, taking her robe off to hang it upon the back of the bathroom door.