“Thank you, Ellie,” I say, embarrassed that he had to pull it out of me. The thing is, I’d been hoping to finally spend some real time with my dad. How is that going to happen if I’m not even staying with him?
Ellie smiles. “No need to thank me. It’s my pleasure. Once we get you settled in, we’ll show you the resort. There are pools and tennis courts and spas—anything you could ever need.”
Behind me, Caleb mutters something under his breath, not looking up from his iPad.
“What was that?” Ellie says. “Speak up, sweetheart! And get that hair out of your eyes.”
“I said,” Caleb mumbles, not touching his hair, “does ‘anything you could ever need’ include a sinkhole?”
I stop walking. “A sinkhole? As in, the ground disappears and stuff falls into it? Doesn’t that only happen in disaster movies?”
“Oh, Caleb is being dramatic,” Ellie says. “Yes, there was an incident at the resort last year, but it was only a tiny hole, and no one was hurt. They assure us it’s perfectly safe now.”
“Business has been a little slow to pick up since then,” Dad says. “Still, they hired me to do scuba-diving tours for them, so it can’t be that bad.”
I manage a weak smile as we start walking again. We’ve only been in Florida for a few minutes, and already this trip has been full of surprises.
“I’m so glad you’re here!” Ellie says suddenly, squeezing my arm. “Teddy has been buzzing about your visit all week!”
I blink. No one calls my dad Teddy. Most people call him Edward or Ted. But I guess if he doesn’t mind, then why should I?
Dad gives me a grin as Ellie drapes her arm around my shoulder. Normally, I’d be totally uncomfortable about a stranger—my dad’s girlfriend, no less!—being so touchy-feely with me, but Ellie seems so genuinely excited that I’m actually okay with it. Besides, how can I be unhappy when I’m finally with Dad again? Before he left, he and I shared everything. Now I only get to talk to him on the phone once a week, and I feel like all I’ve been doing is hiding the crazy stuff going on in my life. I can’t wait for us to go back to how we used to be.
“Dad,” I say as we pile into an elevator, “how do you do scuba diving when we’re so far from the ocean?”
He shakes his head. “You’d be surprised how many folks think this whole state is on the beach. That’s why we do half-day and all-day trips. We pack up passengers in a van and drive a couple hours to the coast, do some diving and snorkeling out there, and then drive back.”
“Sounds like a long day for you,” I say.
“It can be, but I promise I’ll make time for you.” Dad glances over at Ellie and smiles. “For all of you.”
The way he looks at her makes something shift inside me. Like a sinkhole opening up in my chest.
“So when are we going to Disney?” I ask. “I can’t wait to stand on top of the Epcot shiny golf-ball building! I know they probably don’t actually let you go up there, but maybe we could—”
“Whoa!” Dad says. “Let’s leave the planning for later. For now, let’s get you settled in.”
When we leave the airport and step outside, a wall of heat slaps me in the face. For a second, I can’t breathe. It’s not hot. It’s steamy. Like when I open the oven after it’s done preheating. My T-shirt instantly feels plastered to my skin.
I’m actually panting by the time we get to the other side of the parking lot. No one else seems to even notice the suffocating heat. I guess they’re used to it. Maybe my mom was right about Florida in the summertime.
We pile into Ellie’s gleaming SUV while my dad loads my bags in the back. Caleb winds up sitting next to me, which is beyond awkward since he doesn’t say a word the whole time. Every once in a while he glances up from his iPad and shoots a look in my direction, like he’s trying to decide if I’m friend or foe.
Meanwhile, Ellie tells me about her job at the resort. She certainly likes to talk. “I used to be a nurse, back in the day. But after the divorce, I needed a change of pace, so I moved to Orlando and got a job answering phones at the Four Palms Resort. That didn’t last long! I bounced around from job to job at the resort until they found one for me that was a good fit. Now, I’m the staffing manager. When we’re looking to hire someone, people come to me. That’s how I met your father, Rachel.”
She gives me a sparkling smile in the rearview mirror. “Our scuba instructor had just quit after all the bad press from the sinkhole incident, and I was looking for someone to take his place. I signed up for one of your dad’s trips, and the minute I met him, I knew he’d be perfect for the resort. It took a little while to convince my boss to hire him—”
“He was worried about my lack of experience,” Dad explains.
“But Mark finally saw what I see in your father, that he’s amazing!”
I can’t decide if I should be happy or embarrassed to hear her saying things like that about my dad. It doesn’t help that I have her son glaring at me from mere inches away. How can someone as bubbly as Ellie have a son as grumpy as Caleb? I try to focus on the scenery zipping past—hotel, hotel, Waffle House, hotel—but it’s not much to look at.
I send Evan a message telling him I’ve arrived in one piece. I blush as I think about the ear kiss again. Hopefully next time he tries to kiss me, I’ll be able to keep ears, elbows, knees, and other nonessential body parts where they’re supposed to be. That is, if he even tries to kiss me again.
I shake the thought out of my head as the car slows down and Ellie announces: “There’s the resort. Isn’t it a beauty?”
My first glimpse of Four Palms Resort and Spa actually makes me gasp. It’s like something out of a movie. Clusters of palm trees, sparkling white buildings, and cascading fountains.
Who cares about extreme humidity, sinkholes, and unfriendly boys? I have officially arrived in heaven.
Chapter 3
Ellie’s apartment is as nice as her clothes and her car. It’s sleek and bright and museum-like. I can only imagine that Caleb’s room is a dark cave compared to the rest of the place.
“This is amazing!” I say when Ellie shows me the guest room where I’ll be staying. It has a giant bed, its own bathroom, and—the kicker—a balcony that overlooks the Four Palms Resort next door. I have a feeling I’ll be hanging out there for hours (with a very cold lemonade in my hand so I don’t pass out from the heat). Even though it’s early evening, the air is still hot and sticky.
“You’ll be sharing this balcony with Caleb,” Ellie says as we go to check it out. “His room is right next door.”
“Most of the other apartments here have balconies way bigger than this,” Caleb mutters. “They should have designed it so that all of them were the same size.”
Ellie pats him on the shoulder. “Caleb is interested in architecture, just like his father. Aren’t you? Tuck in your shirt, dear. It looks sloppy.”
Caleb just grunts and keeps tapping away on his iPad. These two certainly have a weird relationship.
I glance at my dad to see how he’s dealing with Caleb’s “cheery” mood, but he’s grinning at us like everything is perfect.
“What are those tents for?” I ask, spotting a couple of brightly colored canopies set up inside the resort.
Ellie smiles. “They’re for a little event we’re putting together next week, a mini Renaissance festival. We thought it might help to bring in some business.”
“Wow, does that mean you’ll have jousting and stuff?” I ask, remembering a festival my dad took me to when I was little.
“Jousters, musicians, jugglers—you name it!”
“And catapults,” Caleb chimes in. For once he actually looks up from his tablet. I realize that his eyes are the exact same shade of gray as Ellie’s. “There’s a design-your-own-catapult competition for kids,” he goes on, his face suddenly full of excitement. “I’m going to win i
t.”
“Now, let’s not brag, dear,” Ellie says.
But Caleb is already back to tapping on the screen.
“Ellie, why don’t we let Rachel settle in and then we can go get some dinner at the resort,” Dad says.
“Oh,” I say. “I was hoping we could go to one of the restaurants at Downtown Disney tonight. Remember, Dad? We always talked about checking it out. It’s free to get in.”
Dad opens his mouth to answer, but Ellie jumps in. “But it’s Sunday. We always eat at the resort on Sundays. Don’t we, Teddy?”
My dad nods and gives me an apologetic smile. “Ellie’s big on traditions.”
“They make families strong!” she chirps.
I can’t help feeling disappointed, but I have to remind myself that it’s only my first night here. It won’t kill me to wait a day to dive into all the stuff on my list.
We all start to go back into the room, but suddenly Ellie reaches out and grabs my arm. “Stay out here with me a minute,” she whispers.
I stare at her in confusion. Do I have something in my teeth and she’s too embarrassed to tell me in front of the others?
When Dad and Caleb are inside, she pulls me over to the corner of the balcony and says in a loud whisper, “I wanted to tell you how much your father means to me, Rachel. He’s the best thing to happen to me in a long time.”
“Oh. Good,” I say. My cheeks are already flushed from the heat, but they’re suddenly even hotter.
“I can’t wait to marry him,” she says, her eyes shining.
My jaw drops. Marry him? Is she saying that she and my dad are engaged?
“But shhh,” she adds. “Don’t say anything to your dad, okay? I want it to be a huge surprise when I pop the question.”
Before I can stammer out an answer, my dad calls from inside: “Rachel? Ellie? What are you two doing out there?”
“Just some girl talk!” Ellie calls back, giving me a big wink. Then she squeezes my shoulder and hurries indoors.
I’m in a daze as I stumble back into the frostily air-conditioned room. Caleb’s already disappeared and Dad is lugging my bags into the corner.
“Roo? Are you all right?” he asks when he sees what must be a stony look on my face.
Am I all right? I have no idea what to make of what Ellie told me. Part of me hopes I hallucinated the whole thing. Heat makes people do that sometimes, doesn’t it?
“Yeah,” I say, forcing myself to smile. “Just tired.”
He pulls me into a quick hug. “I’m so glad you’re here, Roo. You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.” A pained expression flashes across his face, like having me here actually makes him sad for some reason.
“I’ve missed you too,” I say.
“We’ll let you relax for a little while, and then we’ll get some dinner. Okay?”
I nod as he leaves the room. Then I stand there, still dazed, replaying what Ellie said. My parents aren’t even divorced yet. How could my dad get engaged again? And when Ellie said she’s going to “pop the question,” did she mean sometime in the far-off future or did she mean tomorrow? Oh my goldfish. What if she does it while I’m here? Even if she seems nice, how am I supposed to be okay with that? It’s totally bizarre!
But I guess if they’re happy…
Are they happy? Ellie certainly seems that way, but Dad? He was smiling a lot, but now that I think about it, he hasn’t laughed once since I got here. That doesn’t seem like the dad I know at all.
Chapter 4
When I finish unpacking, I venture out of my room to find Ellie sitting on the couch reading some kind of medical textbook. It’s not exactly the type of light reading I’d picture her doing. In fact, most of her shelves are full of books on nursing and medicine. It’s strange to think Ellie had a totally different life before she started working at the resort.
“Are you hungry?” she asks.
“I guess so.” The truth is, my stomach is in knots from everything that’s happened today. I’m not sure I could get it to unclamp for anything, not even a slice of chocolate peanut butter pie.
“Great, let’s go meet your dad.” She gets to her feet and grabs her purse. “Caleb, we’re going!”
A minute later, his door creaks open. “Do I have to?” he asks.
“Families that eat together stay together,” she says. Wow, Ellie really likes all those cheesy family sayings. Weirdly, it sounds like she believes they’re true.
Caleb lets out a long sigh, tucks his iPad under his arm, and comes to join us.
The instant we leave Ellie’s apartment and start walking over to the resort, I’m sweating like crazy. How does no one else notice that it’s a bajillion degrees here? If I don’t get used to it soon, I might have to start keeping ice packs in my pockets.
My dad is waiting for us outside one of the dozen restaurants in the resort. He gives Ellie a kiss on the cheek as if he didn’t just see her an hour ago and then we head inside.
I’m excited to catch up with my dad over dinner, but Ellie keeps chattering the whole time. Dad smiles as he nods along, but he never laughs. I don’t get it. Does he actually like Ellie, or is he just humoring her?
Finally, when Ellie gets up to use the bathroom, I see my chance to talk to my dad. But when I open my mouth to say something, only air comes out. What is going on? My dad and I always have tons to talk about. I guess so much has happened since he left home that I don’t even know where to start.
“Hey, Dad, I have joke for you,” I finally say. If there’s one thing he and I have in common, it’s our sense of humor. “Why can’t a bicycle stand on its own?”
He blinks at me for a second. “Why?”
“Because it’s two tired!” I say, erupting into giggles.
Caleb lets out a “wah-wah” sound like a trombone, but I expect Dad to laugh. Instead, he looks distracted, like he barely even heard what I said. My laughter fades as I focus on buttering my roll.
“So, Rachel,” Dad says after a long silence, “are you excited about starting high school?” It’s the kind of question a stranger would ask.
I shrug. “Marisol is. She keeps talking about wanting to start a fashion club. I’m hoping they’ll have a baking club or something.”
“Will you girls be in the same classes?” he asks.
“We won’t know until orientation in a couple of weeks.”
Dad sighs. “I’m sorry I won’t be there.”
I realize, suddenly, that for the first time ever, Dad will miss my first day of school. Normally, he puts a funny limerick or a puzzle in my lunch. But this year…nothing. Is that why he’s acting so weird? Because he’s realizing how much stuff he’s missed since he’s been gone?
Before I can figure out a way to ask him, Ellie scampers back from the bathroom. As she spreads her napkin on her lap, she turns to me and says, “Rachel, I wanted to talk to you.”
I put down my roll. Oh no. Is she going to announce something even bigger than the getting married thing? I don’t even know what that would be. That she and my dad are going to be on the first manned mission to Mars?
“I have a bit of a problem on my hands,” she continues. “An employee at the café here was let go this week, and I’ve been desperately trying to find a replacement. Another girl, Ava, was supposed to start working tomorrow, but she changed her mind at the last minute. That means the café is sorely understaffed. So I was thinking that you might be able to help out in the café until I find a replacement.”
I stare at her. At least she’s not talking about marriage or interplanetary travel, but I have no idea how to react to this news, either.
“I know it’s not exactly the vacation you had in mind,” Dad jumps in, flashing me an apologetic smile. “But it would probably only be for a couple of days. After that, you’ll be free to enjoy yourself however you want. And I
should be able to get a few days off to spend with you.”
“But what about the fun stuff we had planned?” A huge part of the reason I came down here was so that Dad and I could finally do our dream trip together. And now I’m supposed to spend part of it working?
“We’ll still do lots of things together,” Dad says. “I promise. But remember that I’ll be at work too.”
I play with my napkin for a minute. It’s definitely not the way I saw my trip going. “Can’t you find someone else?” I ask Ellie.
The hope on her face evaporates. “I suppose I’ll have to.” She sighs. “Oh well. It was worth a try!”
She goes back to studying her menu like the discussion is over, but when I glance over at Dad, I see how disappointed he is. Suddenly, I feel terrible. The last thing I want during this vacation is to let him down.
“Wait,” I say softly. “Are you sure it’ll only be a couple of days? Because if it is, then…I guess I’ll do it.”
Dad’s whole face breaks out into a smile. “That’s my girl!”
“This means so much to me,” Ellie says, beaming. “The tips at the café are great, so you’ll have some extra spending money right away.”
I do like the sound of that, but I can’t help returning their big smiles with one that feels painfully fake. When I glance at Caleb, he has a smug look on his face like he thinks I’ve just gotten suckered into something. Maybe he’s right. All I know is that, so far, nothing about this trip has gone the way I planned.
Chapter 5
Ellie knocks on my door ridiculously early the next morning, waking me from nightmares about sinkholes opening up under my bed.
“Rise and shine, sleepy bear!” she says. “Since it’s your first day, I want to introduce you to everyone at the café.”
I try not to let out a bearlike growl as I stumble into the shower. I was up late last night talking to Marisol, telling her about all the disastrous stuff that happened yesterday, from the almost-kiss to the almost-stepmom to the almost-job. Marisol clucked at all the right places and reminded me that I only have to survive here for two weeks. Right now it feels more like two million.
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