by Tasha Black
Marshall waved back, but his wave turned into beckoning, so Remington headed over.
“Hey, man,” Marshall said, tossing his ponytail over his shoulder.
“Hello, Marshall,” Remington replied.
He gazed down at the graceful instrument in Marshall’s hands. Remington wished he could play it himself, but Marshall had never invited him to do so.
“Your cousin was here earlier,” Marshall told him. “She said you should go up to the staff commons cabin when you got done work.”
Honey.
“Is something wrong?” Remington tried not to panic.
“What? Oh. No, nothing’s wrong,” Marshall said. “She said you guys were making a plan for something?”
“Oh, yes,” Remington said. Honey probably wanted to talk about the Floatillion. “Thank you, Marshall. I will go immediately.”
“Right on.” Marshall nodded.
Remington headed for the cabin on the cliffside as Marshall played another example for his students. The sounds of the music faded as Remington passed the pavilion and the dance studio. By the time he was climbing the hill toward Addy’s cabin the sounds from the resort had all but vanished.
He wondered if Addy would be at this meeting. He hadn’t expected to see her until the swim lesson this evening. It would be both wonderful and terrible to see her again now.
When he reached the wooden steps to the staff commons cabin he could already hear the deep voices of his brothers and the higher voices of the women. He climbed the steps eagerly and entered the cabin.
It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dim shade of the screened room.
Then he saw her.
Addy wore a white bathing suit that revealed her elegant neck and supple arms. He might have seen more of her lovely form, except that she was seated at a picnic table with a laptop open in front of her. The glow of the screen made her eyes sparkle.
“Remington,” she said.
“Hello, brother,” Kitt said from his place by Honey’s side.
“Hello,” Remington said, feeling suddenly happy. He liked the idea that they were meeting, just the six of them, alone together.
“Have a seat,” Nikki said, patting the bench beside her.
He sat down where she indicated, across from Addy.
“We were just going over the plan,” Addy said. “I’ve got a spreadsheet with a running list of supplies, tasks and timing.”
“What is a spreadsheet?” Remington asked.
“Oh, boy,” Honey said, rolling her eyes.
“Come look,” Addy said, sliding over to make room for him.
A grid-work of entries spread across her entire screen.
She clicked buttons on the bottom to show other grids and graphs.
“I want to have a running picture of how much stuff we have and what we need,” she said. “And of course we need to track the timing of everything.”
Remington studied the page that was displayed. An empty graph showed negative $82,000.
She clicked again and he saw a list of tasks that began with designing posters, printing them in town, and distributing and hanging them.
The list went on and on.
“This is very detailed,” he noted.
“Thank you,” Addy smiled. She looked radiant.
“Addy loves spreadsheets,” Honey said with a wry smile.
“I’ve never seen this side of her,” Nikki said wonderingly.
Remington had been thinking the same. Although he was certain that he liked this new aspect of Addy. Her typical expression of indolence was gone, replaced with vivid excitement and determination.
“During the school year I live for this type of thing,” she admitted. “Breaking down my work load and organizing it into manageable chunks.”
“Yes, and doing the work, and analyzing it, and talking about it,” Honey teased.
Addy smiled ruefully and shrugged.
Remington studied the neat lines and color coding.
“I like this,” he said. “It is beautiful and sensible at the same time.”
Just like the woman who made it.
Addy blushed a little at his compliment.
“So far, we’ve decided that we want the float contest, a sand castle competition, and a swim performance by the kids,” she said.
“Is there sand on the beach?” Remington didn’t remember seeing any.
“No,” Nikki said. “But we were thinking if we could get the hardware store in town to help us arrange a couple truckloads to be brought in.”
“What about a swimming contest?” Kitt raised an eyebrow. “Like a race to the island and back?”
“Oh,” Honey said, glancing over at Addy, who rolled her eyes.
“What?” Kitt asked.
“I don’t know if anyone would want to swim to the island,” Honey said slowly.
“Why not?”
“It’s supposed to be haunted,” Addy scoffed.
“Like on Scooby Doo?” Indiana suddenly looked up from the piece of paper he had been doodling on since Remington had arrived.
“Yeah,” Addy said. “Except that it isn’t.”
“What about Meredith?” Honey’s voice was pitched higher than usual.
“Meredith is a total drama queen,” Addy said lightly.
“She really seemed freaked out,” Honey said.
“What happened to Meredith?” Indiana sounded fascinated. He was a fan of mysteries but Remington had not thought he was interested in the supernatural.
“Well,” Honey leaned forward, her eyes sparkling. “There’s a cabin on the island - they call it the honeymoon cabin. Back in the 1800s, this whole place belonged to a wealthy family who had a tradition for their newlywed family members to row across the lake and spend their honeymoon week in absolute privacy with their new spouses on the island.”
Remington smiled and pictured rowing Addy in a boat across the lake to spend a week nestled in a cabin together with no one else around.
“Honeymoons for socialites in the 1800s were for traveling to visit family members who couldn’t attend the wedding ceremony,” Addy put in without looking up from her computer. “The story makes no sense.”
“I like the story,” Indiana said. “Please proceed.”
Nikki wrapped her arms around herself. Remington wondered if she was frightened.
“The last time the honeymoon cabin was used,” Honey said, leaning in confidentially, “the family’s oldest daughter was marrying. In those days, the younger girls couldn’t marry until their older sister had married first, and this particular older sister was a stickler who insisted on holding out for the right match.”
Remington frowned. He didn’t want Addy getting any ideas.
“The older sister finally chose a man who had originally been interested in the younger sister, but has shifted his affection to her. Her parents were thrilled that at last she had found a fiancé. At any rate,” Honey said, “the afternoon of the wedding, the younger sister disappeared during the dancing. She was always high spirited so her parents sent a few servants to try and find her in her usual haunts - the strawberry patch, the pavilion…”
“The pavilion?” Nikki sounded astonished.
“Yes.” Honey nodded.
“The Maxwell’s pavilion was built in the ‘50s,” Addy said firmly, still studying her spreadsheet. “It’s not the original, if there even was one in the 1800s.”
“Whatever,” Honey said, with a flick of her wrist. “Anyway, at twilight the oldest daughter and her new husband rowed across the lake, as planned.
“They arrived at the cabin, and she was frightened to see a big rifle hung over the front door in the living room. Her new husband explained that it was in case of bears or wolves on the island, which was heavily wooded. He then offered her tea and biscuits, which he told her had been packed by the servants.
“She accepted the cup and plate, but was too nervous to eat or drink. Not wanting to hurt his feelings, she wait
ed until he left the room for a moment, and then placed the biscuit in the waste paper basket and dumped the contents of the mug out the window.
“He invited her to bed, and she went into the bedroom first, so that she could preserve her modesty while changing into her nightgown. Then she crawled into bed and waited for him.
“She waited a long time, but her husband still hadn’t come to her.
“At last, she crept out of the room and heard voices coming from just outside. She tiptoed to the window and looked out, and there on the front porch was her new husband, making love to her younger sister under the light of the moon.”
Honey looked around, her eyes wide, as if she expected a reaction to this terrible news.
Nikki frowned and shook her head.
Apparently that was enough.
“In disbelief, she spun around the room,” Addy continued. “And that was when she noticed a dead mouse, with biscuit crumbs all over it, in the wastepaper basket.
“She realized what had happened. Her husband had wanted to marry her younger sister all along. He had married her instead, but planned to murder her by poison, thereby leaving her younger sister eligible to marry.
“Furious, the older sister grabbed the rifle from over the front door, burst outside and shot the husband dead.
“Her younger sister screamed and then went silent. She was frozen in place before her sister, naked and shocked.
“The older sister didn’t have the heart to murder her sibling. Instead, she walked to the far side of the island and threw herself off the rock face. Ladies didn’t swim in those days and of course her nightgown was voluminous. She drowned almost immediately.
“The younger sister never married. Instead, she spent the rest of her life caring for her heartbroken parents, who were never the same.
“They say that if you go out to the island after dark you can hear the gunshot, the scream and the splash of the older daughter throwing herself into the lake,” Honey finished, then leaned back again, looking satisfied that she had told a tale of great significance.
“And that was Meredith?” Remington asked.
“No,” Honey said immediately. “No, Meredith worked for Maxwell’s last year, with Addy and me. She went out to the island on a dare and came back freaked out. She was in the cabin and she heard the gunshot and the splash.”
“She’s full of shit,” Addy said. “She went over there for attention, maybe spooked herself alone in the dark, maybe not. And then she came back and became an instant celebrity for saying she’d heard those things.”
“Maybe so, maybe not,” Honey said. “But either way, I don’t see anyone wanting to go to the island.”
“This is fantastic,” Indiana said. “We should go to the island, check it out.”
“No, I don’t think so,” Nikki said immediately.
“Are you frightened?” Indiana was delighted.
“No,” she said.
“Then why won’t you accompany me?” Indiana was teasing her. Remington could tell by the flash of his brother’s dark eyes.
But Nikki wasn’t amused.
“That stuff isn’t real,” Addy said. “It’s just stories. No one would ever actually believe it. Like Bigfoot, or the Loch Ness monster, or…”
“Aliens?” Honey asked.
The girls looked at each other for a long moment, then Addy began to laugh, and the other two joined her. Remington and his brothers found themselves enjoying the merriment as well. The good-spirited laughter was contagious, even if he wasn’t entirely sure why it was so funny.
“Anyway,” Addy said, wiping a tear from the corner of one eye. “We could have a swim contest. I’ll put it on the maybe list. The other thing we need to do is plan our free time to take advantage of everything that needs to be done in town. Which days do you guys have off?”
“We have days off?” Kitt sounded shocked.
“Of course you do,” Honey said. “You’re only human. Everyone gets a day off every week.”
Honey had called them human. That may have been true for Kitt, who had successfully clicked with her, but for Remington and Indiana, the dream of becoming human was still just that. A dream.
“How would we know which day we have off?” Human or not, Remington was fascinated with the happy concept of time for exploring this new world.
“It’s posted at the restaurant, most likely,” Addy told him. “Take a look at it in the morning. I have tomorrow off since that’s the only day of the week with no swim lessons, so anyone who’s off with me, we can go into town together and knock the first steps off this list.”
“Not me,” Honey said.
“Me neither,” Nikki shook her head.
“Well, I can go by myself if I need to,” Addy said. “But guys, if any of you can go I could use a hand.”
“We will check the schedule,” Remington promised her.
“Thanks,” she smiled. It was a warm and friendly smile.
Remington wished with every fiber of his being that tomorrow was his day off.
“Well, I’ve got to go do another lesson,” Addy said, getting up and packing her laptop into a rucksack. “See you later?”
“Yes,” Remington replied with a smile. “I’ll see you later.”
He admired the view of her as she headed to the door. But the moment the screen door banged shut behind her, Indiana leaned back past Nikki and slapped him on top of the head.
“See you later?” Indiana asked, giving him a lascivious wink.
“I’m learning to swim,” Remington said with as much dignity as he could muster. “Addy’s coaches quit, and I want to help her.”
“Her coaches quit?” Honey looked confused. “Why would they do that? They’ve been coming here for years.”
“Because of Wade Travers,” Remington said.
The stricken look on Honey’s face made him feel terrible.
“It’s not your fault,” Kitt told her immediately.
“I never thought my curse would affect Addy too,” she said softly.
“You are not cursed,” Kitt assured her.
“Honey,” Remington said. “The quitting of these cowardly men has been a great service to me. It has given me a chance to spend time with your enchanting friend.”
Honey smiled and reached across the table to pat Remington’s hands.
“I hope it works out for you two,” she said.
Remington hoped it did too.
Addy
Addy was glad she had a full schedule of lessons. It gave her no time to think about Remington, no time to worry about the way he’d made her feel this morning, or this afternoon.
The sun was setting by the time the D’Angelo twins finally finished their private lesson. She was toweling off when she heard someone open the gate. She expected it was their dad, but when one of the teen girls started giggling she looked up to see Remington’s massive form silhouetted by the overhead lighting.
“Hello, Addy,” he said.
“Oh, hey Remington,” she replied. “Have a seat and I’ll be with you in a moment.”
“Are you a competitive swimmer?” Lily D’Angelo asked.
“Oh no, I’m…” he began.
“He’s going to be coaching here,” Addy finished for him. No need to advertise to the world that he couldn’t swim yet, if she hoped to have him teaching by this time next week.
“Are you booking lessons?” Rose D’Angelo was practically swooning.
Remington looked confused.
“He’s got to do the training program first, girls,” Addy said. “Look, there’s your dad.”
Lily rolled her eyes.
“See you later,” Rose simpered.
“Good night,” Remington said politely.
Addy waved to Chris D’Angelo and watched the girls disappear over the ridge toward the main house. They were good kids, both swam on their high school team and they got along better than any other set of siblings she’d ever coached.
She turn
ed to Remington.
“Are you ready to get started?” she asked, trying to keep up her professional swim coach veneer.
“Yes, please,” he said.
“Do you have swim trunks?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “What are swim trunks?”
“They’re like shorts that men swim in,” she said.
“Ah, yes,” he replied. “I thought I had noticed that the men swam in shorts with strings in the front.”
“Yeah,” Addy laughed. “I guess that’s the only real difference when you look at them. But they feel better, more lightweight in the water.”
“Do I need them for lessons?”
“Not tonight,” she said. “But we’ll get you a pair tomorrow. What size are you?”
“I am not sure,” he said.
“Is there a number on the back of your jeans?”
“Yes,” he said, his eyes lighting up. “The number is 501.”
“Oh, no,” Addy said. “That’s the style. The size would be on the inside tag.”
He looked completely perplexed.
“You can’t swim in your clothes anyway,” she said, heading over to help him. “I can check for you.”
He smiled and peeled his shirt over his head. Letting the necklace that he always wore - the one with the stone that looked like a diamond, but was way too big to actually be one - fall between his chiseled pecs.
Addy had never been jealous of a stone before.
He began to unbutton his jeans.
She tried to drag her eyes away, and couldn’t.
Then something occurred to her.
“Um, you’re wearing underwear,” she said. “Right?”
“Yes,” he said. “Should I remove it as well?”
“No,” she said quickly.
“Okay.” He smiled down at her, as if he knew the reason for her discomfort.
She thought of the way he had kissed her earlier, and was reminded that these boys from outer space weren’t always as innocent as they seemed. Addy felt her cheeks grow warm. She looked away, and heard him slip off his jeans.
“This says, Machine wash on normal cycle,” Remington said.
“Here, I’ll take a look,” Addy said.
He handed over the jeans and she flipped the tag and made a mental note of his size. Remington was huge but there didn’t seem to be an ounce of fat on him - he was pure rippling muscle.