Sun Catcher

by Giselle Fox

  Cate smiled and took another sip of her drink as she eyed her. “Well?”

  Lexi sighed and shook her head. “I got the roof because I asked for it, simple as that.”

  “Simple as that,” Cate repeated. “Ambrose went on for twenty minutes yesterday about how he was robbed of the best view in the city. I would have played the violin for him if I’d had one.”

  “Is that so?” Lexi said as she peered over Cate’s shoulder. “What goes around comes around, I guess.”

  “Makes sense to me,” Cate said and held up her glass. “This No Regrets concoction of yours is mighty fine.”

  Lexi smiled. “Want another?”

  Cate held up her hand. “No, thank you. I’ll stop now before I do or say anything else embarrassing. Besides, I can feel Alice watching me.”

  “You have good instincts. She has been for the last five minutes.”

  “I’m not going to hear the end of it tonight,” Cate said quietly.

  “You’re a grown woman. You can make your own choices.”

  “Damn straight,” Cate said. “On that note, I’m going to skulk back to the expat table and hope for the silent treatment instead.” She pushed herself off her stool and held out her hand. Lexi looked down at it and then clasped it in hers.

  “Thank you, for the drink, for the day, and for tomorrow - whatever it may bring.”

  “Wear something you can move in but not a dress,” Lexi said. “And running shoes. Bring a jacket too, it can get cool at night.”

  “I will do exactly as you say,” Cate said. She let go of her hand and smiled again.

  Lexi smiled back. “Now she’s really giving you a look.”

  Cate rolled her eyes. “I know, I can feel it.” She steeled herself and picked up her glass from the counter. “Here goes.”

  “Good luck,” Lexi said behind her.

  CHAPTER NINE

  It didn’t take long for that round of drinks to disappear. Alice hadn’t said a word to Cate since she’d sat down. The only things she had said were snipping comments at Ambrose and Calvin. And her disdain for the levity of the Blooms had become more obvious with each sip of her double margarita. Calvin was unanimously nominated for the fourth round. Cate declined another drink but offered to make the trip again since she was feeling increasingly annoyed with her silent friend. But Calvin insisted he could handle it.

  She watched him walk up and make smalltalk with Lexi. When he slid his hands through his hair for the second time, Cate realized that he was flirting or at least attempting to. Lexi didn’t look the remotest bit interested and kept her answers brief and polite. Since Cate had left her place at the bar, Lexi’s eyes had pretty much been glued to her whenever she wasn’t busy making drinks. Cate had caught her watching more than a few times. It made her smile.

  Calvin waited at the bar while Lexi prepared their drinks. Cate’s ears pricked up when she heard Lexi say her name, asking whether she wanted a drink. Calvin glanced back at her and said no, that she was a lightweight but that it wouldn’t be long before she’d fit right in with the big dogs. Lexi shook her head after that comment. That made Cate smile too.

  Alice had seen the smile, obviously. “What’s your problem?” she demanded.

  Even Ambrose looked taken aback.

  “I - don’t have a problem, Alice,” Cate said quietly in an attempt to minimize the scene.

  “Then why do you keep staring at Lexi?! Didn’t you get enough of her today?”

  Sheila and the Blooms shifted in their seats - though, judging from their expectant faces, they seemed interested in hearing the answer.

  “I think the only problem here is that you’re upset that I went out on my own today while you were sleeping.”

  Alice looked around the table.

  “You can hardly blame her for wanting to get out, Alice. She’s on holiday after all,” Ambrose said.

  The Blooms nodded in unison.

  Alice sighed heavily. “Fine. It’s all me,” she said and played with her napkin. “I thought we’d just have a quiet day in and catch up.”

  Cate looked at her seriously. She knew, in fact, that having a quiet day in had been the furthest thing on her friend’s mind but at that point, in front of everyone at the table, there was no point in arguing it.

  “Tomorrow is another day, is it not?” Ambrose said.

  Cate immediately thought of the plans she’d made with Lexi to meet in the afternoon. “Let’s do something in the morning,” she suggested brightly.

  “I’m so not a morning person,” said Alice.

  Sheila chuckled.

  Ambrose clapped his hands suddenly. “We haven’t talked about the party yet.”

  “Party?” Cate repeated. It was the perfect segue into another topic. “I love parties!”

  “You may want to take a trip into the city for some supplies. It’s a costume party. Heroes and villains is the theme.”

  “A theme party,” Cate said and patted her friend’s knee. “We used to love dressing up, didn’t we?”

  A thin smile spread slowly over Alice’s face. “We did.”

  “What are you going as?” Cate asked her.

  Alice turned to her. “I had a few ideas.”

  “Maybe we should go as a duo,” Cate said. She was encouraged by her friend’s sudden warmth.

  “Alright. Let’s go shopping tomorrow in David. We can find something.”

  “In the morning,” Cate added.

  Alice looked at her.

  “I have... plans in the afternoon. I think I might be going rock climbing.”

  “That sounds fun,” said Sheila. “There’s some beautiful climbing up in Boquete.”

  “We went up there when we first moved here, didn’t we?” said Esme to her husband.

  “We did. It’s well worth the drive,” he said.

  “There,” said Ambrose as if it had all been settled. He looked back at Alice and smiled gently.

  Alice sighed and shook her head. But just then, Calvin and Lexi returned to the table with another round of drinks.

  “Here you go,” Calvin said as he distributed the beers in his hands. Lexi placed a margarita in front of Alice and removed her empty glass.

  “Lexi,” Ambrose said suddenly. “I’m having a party on Friday night. You may have heard about it already but we’re doing a heroes and villains theme. Care to join us?”

  Alice shot him a glare but his eyes stayed on Lexi.

  “Sure,” Lexi said and focused on Cate. “Heroes and villains.”

  “We’re shopping in David tomorrow morning,” Cate said and flashed her eyes at Alice.

  Lexi nodded. “It sounds fun. I may have something I can throw together.”

  “Excellent. Eight o’clock at my place,” Ambrose said.

  “Okay,” Lexi said and smiled. “Thanks.”

  “My pleasure.”

  Lexi went back behind the bar as Cate watched.

  “What did you do that for?” Alice hissed at Ambrose.

  “Because everyone, and I really just mean you, needs to relax about a certain other woman. Besides, she’s been kind enough to show an interest in your guest. They seem to like one another. Isn’t that right, Cate?” Ambrose gave Cate a long, meaningful look.

  “She’s very nice,” Cate agreed, trying to contain the warmth that was rising to her cheeks.

  “She’s always been nice to us,” said Esme.

  Sheila nodded her approval as well.

  “She’s damn fine too,” muttered Calvin before he took a long pull from his beer. Everyone looked his way.

  “Well, she is. Isn’t she?” Calvin looked directly at Cate and then so did everyone else.

  CHAPTER TEN

  It was already after 2 pm when Cate and Alice got back from their shopping trip. Cate had done her best to keep her frustration to a minimum, though it had been obvious that Alice was doing everything in her power to make her late for her meeting with Lexi. Alice was now was sulking on the couch while she
tried to prepare herself and that just made it even more ridiculous.

  “I’m sure you probably have things you want to do,” Cate called as she flew around her room collecting the things that Lexi had told her to bring.

  “I don’t have anything to do. I was going to eat dinner - “

  “At Yolanda’s?” Cate interjected.

  “Yeah, at Yolanda’s,” her friend sniped back.

  “Are you meeting the rest of the gang there?”

  “I don’t know, they might be there,” Alice said quietly from the living room.

  Cate could practically hear the pout. She stuck her head out of her bedroom door and caught Alice’s eye. “You know they’ll be there. They’re there every single night.”

  “Not every night.”

  Cate stared at her friend. “I’m looking forward to this. I would ask if you could come along if you weren’t so dead set against her in the first place.”

  “I wouldn’t go even if I was invited,” grumbled Alice.

  Cate rolled her eyes. “Give me strength,” she whispered to the ceiling. She didn’t say anything more about it. Once her bag was packed she went back into the living room to say goodbye.

  “Bye,” Alice said miserably.

  “Oh, come on. I’ll probably see you later. Have fun. Say hi to the gang.”

  “Okay,” Alice said as she curled herself up in the fetal position on the couch.

  Cate sighed as she shut the apartment door behind her. When she’d made it down the stairs, she set off down the street at a sprint.

  When she got to Yolanda’s, she saw Lexi coming out the back kitchen door.

  “There you are,” Lexi called.

  “Hey,” Cate said. I’m so sorry I’m late. I swear Alice was driving slow just to spite me.”

  “That’s okay, I had a few things I needed to grab anyway.”

  Now that she was standing in her presence again, Cate felt shy. Lexi looked her up and down and seemed to consciously assess her shoes.

  “Are these okay?” Cate asked, looking down at them.

  “Yeah, sorry, they’re perfect.” Lexi looked up at her again and smiled. “All set?”

  “I think so,” Cate said.

  They loaded themselves into the car and strapped themselves in. Within a few minutes, they were headed along the highway toward the interior mountains.

  “I read about this place,” Cate said as she leaned over the console.

  Lexi looked back at her and smiled. Her dark hair swirled around her head. “Oh yeah? What did you read?”

  “I read that it’s very temperate, almost springlike up there, that it produces some of the best coffee in the world, and it’s beautiful, at least the pictures I saw of it.”

  “You’re right on all counts,” Lexi said. She leaned over Cate’s lap suddenly and opened the glove box at her knee. “Excuse me,” she said as she pulled a baseball hat from inside.

  She flipped it backward and slid it on her head. “Keeps the hair out of my eyes,” she grinned. She leaned over again and flipped the box closed. “You smell nice,” Lexi said as she sat back in her seat.

  Cate didn’t know what to say since she hadn’t put anything on and it had been hours since she’d showered. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled. Her eyes fixed on the road ahead.

  They drove for an hour along a winding interior road. Up they climbed until Cate could feel the temperature begin to change.

  “It’s getting cooler,” she said with relief.

  It smelled different too. The scent of the ocean had given way to the vibrant scents of the forest and sweet flowers. They passed through farmland and village, past acres of dense forest and plains. The temperate climate supported different vegetation. The rolling hills that spread around them were lush and brilliant green. A few miles outside of a small village, they pulled into a rough cut trail off the side of the road.

  “This is private property, but the owners let me stow my truck here and walk through to the park.”

  “That’s nice of them,” Cate said.

  “I find that people are usually generous if you’re friendly,” Lexi said.

  “And it helps if you’re generous too,” Cate said thinking of everything Lexi did for Yolanda.

  “Well, I did help these people repair a section of their fence last year. That might have had something to do with it.”

  Cate grinned at her. “It might have.”

  They drove slowly down the path, through deep pits of muddy water and overgrown brush. Eventually, they came to a fallen tree that blocked the trail. Lexi pulled over.

  “I guess we’re walking from here,” she said.

  Cate got out and slung her pack onto her back. Lexi’s pack, she’d noticed, was much larger and heavier.

  “I can take something. I have room,” Cate offered.

  Lexi thought about it for a moment and then slung her pack down. “You can take the wine,” she said and dug into her pack for it.

  “I will definitely take the wine,” Cate said. She gave her a smile. “You are so thoughtful.”

  Lexi fastened her straps and slung the pack over her shoulders again.

  “What else do you have in there? It’s massive,” Cate asked.

  “Oh, lots of things,” Lexi said. “You’ll see.”

  “I can’t wait,” Cate said.

  They walked for a long time, keeping to the path whenever they could. Cate could tell by the load on Lexi’s back that she had something special planned. The feeling that they were heading for more than just a friendly dinner lingered in Cate’s mind again. It was hard to be certain, but things had felt different since they’d met up at the restaurant. Something about the way Lexi had been watching her, the way she’d been smiling - knowing, mischievous, interested. It wasn’t the first time Cate felt that a woman might be interested in her, nor was it the first time she felt interested back. It was less about what Lexi had said than how she’d been acting. It was the energy around her, around them both, subtle but entirely obvious. Cate liked the feeling and decided she would let whatever happened, happen.

  She watched Lexi walk with her heavy pack on her back as if it was nothing, with the sure-footed grace of someone who knew where they were going because they’d been there a hundred times. Every time Lexi looked back and their eyes met, her eyes sparkled in the dappled sunlight. She was beautiful, Cate realized. The kind of beauty that was magnified by the strength she possessed. There they were, in the middle of the mountains in a far away country, on an adventure.

  Cate tried to imagine what it would be like to see Lexi walking down any of the busy streets back home, what it would be like to see her in the mall or at the office. Someone so extraordinary in such an ordinary place would surely stand out. Or perhaps, Cate thought, she would blend in perfectly. She thought about how rough and sexy she’d looked in her jeans and blouse, with a modest silver chain around her neck and silver rings on her fingers. Her cocky, confident smile, and those eyes - deep, dark and wild as if a whole other story was going on behind them. Cate thought of all that as she focused on the trail and Lexi’s body walking ahead of her.

  “You’re very quiet,” Lexi said softly. The meditative march of their feet on the dirt path had lulled Cate into a sort of calm and sensual reverie. Wherever they were going was almost inconsequential. Cate was happy to be exactly where she was.

  “I was just enjoying all the sounds. It’s very nice up here. The air is so … ripe.”

  “Yes, it is. I come up here a lot,” Lexi said as she swept her eyes around the trees ahead of them. “How did your day go with Alice? Any better?”

  Cate thought about it before answering. “It’s tricky because we’ve been friends for so long but we haven’t actually spent any time together in the last ten years. It’s like we’ve dropped right back into the same familiarity we had in college. But we’re nothing alike anymore, I’ve realized.”

  Lexi nodded.

  “And that’s not
to say that we have to be alike to enjoy each other’s company. I guess I had a certain expectation of what things would be like and so did she. We’re both dealing with our disappointment in our own ways. But I think it will pass and we’ll find our groove. I’m grateful that she agreed to let me stay with her, even if it seems like she’s upset with me for wanting to actually do things. She’s as stuck in a rut as I was.”

  “I haven’t really gotten to know her,” Lexi said.

  Cate laughed. “I think that might be virtually impossible at this point.”

  “I think so too,” Lexi agreed. “She’ll dislike me even more now that I’ve stolen you away.” She looked at Cate and smiled.

  “Well, I’m glad you did,” Cate said. The more she thought about it, the more natural it felt to be walking together. It was as if they’d been old friends, as if they’d had the history. Cate felt more of a kinship with a woman she hardly knew than the woman she’d spent the better part of the last fifteen years calling one of her closest friends.

  “This has been so much fun and I -” Cate let her words trail off. “You know.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Lexi sighed and looked ahead at the trees.

  They walked for a distance saying nothing but the air around them felt different again as if they were marching toward something together, whatever together meant. Cate couldn’t be sure whether it was more adventure or dinner or a date or something else entirely. All she knew, was that the distance between them and whatever was behind them - the known, the familiar, the predictable - was growing. And she couldn’t have felt safer walking with anyone else at that moment.

  “Let me carry the pack for awhile,” she said suddenly.

  Lexi looked back at her and laughed. “It’s nice of you to offer, but I’m okay.”

  “I know you’re okay, but we’ve been walking a long way. It’s only fair that I take a turn.”

  Lexi grinned at her and slowed her pace. “It’s not light.”

  “I can tell, but I would at least like to give it a try. Even if it’s only for a little while. It’ll help you rest.”

  “I’m okay,” Lexi said softly. “But thank you. I don’t want you spraining your ankle in here. This ground is uneven. It would be a long way to carry you out. Not that I would mind.”