“The last time I rode that stupid Jet Ski I was with Marquez, and we ran out of gas,” Summer said.
“Come on,” Diana said, ignoring her protest. “If you’re coming with me, I’ve got to go.” She checked her watch. “I’m going to go to the marina and borrow a car.”
Summer began folding her uniform neatly. She wrapped it in a plastic trash bag. “What is this place you have to go to?”
“None of your business,” Diana said, softening the harsh statement with a reluctant smile.
They descended through the trapdoor in the floor, and minutes later were skimming across the choppy little waves at what seemed like a hundred miles an hour. It was only her second time, but Summer felt like an old pro on the machine now, flexing her knees to absorb each new shock as the Jet Ski went airborne and crashed, sending up a white plume of warm salty spray. It meant arriving at work wearing a bathing suit, with her hair tangled and salty, but that was nothing very unusual at the Crab ’n’ Conch.
And there was such sheer pleasure in flying along under the bright yellow sun, her legs stinging from the force of the water, hot wind whipping her hair, that she wondered why she didn’t get to work this way every day.
Diana rode just ahead, her own hair a dark tornado, pushing the speed ever upward, past the point where Summer cared to keep up.
They arrived too soon at the marina, both slowing to meld with the busy to-ing and fro-ing of other craft: white-winged sailboats, colorful windsurfers, and needle-sharp cigarette boats.
Summer glanced over at Mr. Holland’s boat. Sean was not on deck, and she felt vaguely relieved. Diana had disappeared, going her own way in the small maze of floating docks.
Summer parked just below the Crab ’n’ Conch, tying up the little Jet Ski with what she hoped was professional-looking confidence.
She climbed the ladder, carrying her bag, and went in the back door of the restaurant, where she was promptly informed that she was not on the schedule to work that day. She protested that she was, but a check of the schedule showed that she was not.
Back outside, feeling a little lost since Marquez did have to work and Summer had no plans for the day, she felt a shadow fall over her, blocking the sun.
“Hi,” Sean said. “Going in to work?”
“Yes,” Summer said quickly. She was proud of herself. She was blowing him off. She was blowing off Sean Valletti.
“Cool, then you can wait on me,” he said.
“Well, actually…” she said, shifting gears, trying again to get rid of him, “I was going into work, but I got my schedule screwed up.”
“Better yet.” He grinned. “In fact, perfect. I have one of my uncle’s cars and I was thinking of driving down to Key West, maybe shop for something for my mom. Her birthday’s coming up, and it would be cool to have a girl’s advice on what to get.”
“I guess I could do that,” Summer said.
It sounded perfectly innocent, and she had tried twice to get rid of him. She was just going to help Sean shop for a present for his mom. No one could possibly imply that it meant anything. Some article of clothing, Summer thought, yes, that would be best. That way Mrs. Valletti would wear it when she went to PTA stuff, and Summer would be able to point it out to everyone as the thing she had helped Sean pick out when they were in Florida together.
Oh, come on, Summer, she told herself, angrily trying to suppress the guilt, it’s just a harmless little way to annoy whichever girl will probably be going with Sean by then, because you certainly won’t be.
Harmless. As in no problem. As in no big deal.
Unless they ran into Seth.
Diana tied her Jet Ski up in a far corner of the marina. She unpacked her skirt, watch, and purse from the little compartment under the seat, wrapped the skirt around her waist, and jumped two feet straight up when someone said, “Diana!”
But then she recognized the voice, and a wave of pleasure, a very unfamiliar feeling for her, swept over her. Diver. He was standing on the deck of a sailboat a few feet away, wearing his inevitable bathing suit. He jumped down to the dock, causing it to rock sluggishly back and forth.
“Hi, Diver,” she said, feeling a little shy.
“Hi, Diana,” he said, looking almost as uncomfortable as she felt.
She hadn’t seen him since the amazing moment they’d shared on her balcony. He had not grown less attractive. His eyes were no less deep. His lips were still…
“Did you come to see me?” he asked.
“To tell you the truth, no,” she admitted. “I, um, I wasn’t sure if I was ready for that yet. The last time—” She lowered her eyes and stared at the boards, and, incidentally, at his legs. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted to see me,” she said.
“I thought about it,” he said solemnly.
Diana couldn’t help but smile. There was something irresistibly sweet about his sincerity. “And what did you decide, Diver?”
“I decided yes.”
Diana nodded, satisfied. “Hey, I guess you wouldn’t want to go with me, would you?”
“I wouldn’t?” He seemed confused.
“What I meant was, maybe you’re busy.”
“No. I’m not.”
“Okay. Then how do you feel about little kids? And dolphins?”
She picked up the car she’d arranged to borrow and drove calmly past yet another TV truck that seemed to be heading out toward the Merrick estate. She sped along the highway, island hopping, feeling wonderfully free at being off Crab Claw Key, and nervous and excited, and incredulous that Diver was sitting beside her.
On the way she told him a little about the Dolphin Interactive Therapy Institute and her work there over the past year.
Diana checked in with her supervisor and introduced Diver to the mostly female staff and volunteers, who, Diana noticed, had the usual response to Diver—overly long handshakes and sappy smiles.
When the introductions were over, Diana went to get her most special charge. “Diver, this is Lanessa,” she said as they walked out to the dolphin pool. It was a huge crystal-blue tank filled by the waters of the Gulf. There was a covered area, an awning that stretched out over the last few feet of the tank, but beyond it the sun beat down, and the very faint breeze did little to cool the air. “Lanessa, this is my friend Diver.”
Diana had expected something like instantaneous rapport between the little girl and Diver. But the first contact was disappointing.
“Hi,” Diver said.
Lanessa just looked up at him and sidled behind Diana.
Just then Jerry, Lanessa’s favorite dolphin, burst from the water in a high, flying jump with a midair turn.
“He learned that himself,” Diana said apologetically. “We don’t train them to do any dumb Sea World tricks.”
“You wouldn’t have to train Jerry,” Diver said.
“No, he’s always—” Diana stopped. Had she told Diver the dolphin’s name? She couldn’t remember telling him. But obviously she must have.
Jerry swam to them under the water, surfaced, and began chattering away, bobbing his head at Lanessa as he usually did. Lanessa smiled at the dolphin, as she had for the past couple of weeks. It had taken her more than a month to learn that smile.
“Shall we go in and swim with Jerry today?” Diana asked Lanessa. Sometimes the answer was yes, and then they would stay in the water for a few minutes while Jerry waited patiently for Lanessa to pat his head. Other times, for reasons Diana could not decipher, the answer was no, and they merely watched Jerry.
Today Lanessa just shook her head.
“I don’t understand why,” Diana said to Diver.
Then, to the little girl, “Should we just watch Jerry play today?”
Lanessa nodded.
It had been a mistake bringing Diver, Diana realized. His presence had upset the equilibrium, had made Lanessa withdraw again. Given her history, she had never been comfortable with any of the male staff or volunteers. Diver was male.
But the
n Diver leaned over to the little girl. He seemed to be whispering in her ear.
Lanessa nodded. She turned and looked straight at Diana. There was something in that look that sent chills up Diana’s spine.
Lanessa pointed at Jerry and tugged weakly at Diana’s hand.
“You do want to go in?” Diana asked.
“Yes,” Lanessa said.
“Should Diver come with us, do you think?”
Lanessa exhibited one of her rare smiles. “Yes.”
For an hour they played in the warm water—more real play than Lanessa had ever managed before. She even went for a brief ride on Jerry’s back, with Diver holding on to her.
By the time their hour was up, half the staff of the institute was standing by the edge of the pool, watching. They had all seen breakthroughs with the children, but no one had expected to see so rapid a change in Lanessa. Either that, Diana thought, just a bit annoyed, or they were ogling Diver.
She was still a little annoyed on the drive back to Crab Claw Key. On the one hand, she’d had the feeling Diver might make some special contact with the little girl. In a lot of ways Diver was just a big child himself. On the other hand, she hadn’t expected it to work as well as it had. On the way out, everyone had made a point of suggesting she bring Diver with her next time she came. It was enough to make her feel a little inferior.
“Jerry is amazing with Lanessa,” she said to Diver. “It’s too bad, really. He’s due to be released in a couple of weeks. We don’t want to keep the dolphins prisoner, so we let them go after a while.”
Diver nodded. “Yeah, but he doesn’t want to go yet. He wants to make sure Lanessa is okay.”
Oka-a-a-a-y, Diana thought, glancing at Diver to see if he was joking. “What makes you think he wants to stay on?”
Diver shrugged. Then he smiled ruefully. “I don’t want you to think I’m crazy. Summer’s not totally sure I’m not crazy, and that Marquez girl, she is sure. That I’m crazy.”
“I won’t think you’re crazy,” Diana said.
“Well…Jerry told me.”
Deep breath. “Jerry told you?”
“Yes, he wants to make sure Lanessa is okay, but then he does have to go. He has things he wants to do.”
“What does he want to do?” Diana asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
Diver looked at her solemnly. “He wants to mate. You know, if he can meet the right female.”
Diana giggled, then stopped herself. “Sometimes I can’t always tell when you’re kidding,” she said.
Diver just looked at her. If he was kidding, he was keeping a very straight face.
“Just out of curiosity,” Diana said, “what did you tell Lanessa that got her into the pool?”
Now Diver looked uncomfortable. He stared out of the window, seemingly absorbed by the sight of a beautiful gold and blue windsurfer scooting beneath the causeway.
“What is it, a secret?” Diana asked. “One minute she didn’t want to play, the next minute she did. It would be nice to know what you told her. Did you tell her not to be afraid of Jerry? What?”
“She’s not afraid of Jerry,” Diver said. “She was afraid of you.”
Diana stared, dumbstruck. Then she was angry. “Afraid of me? What do you mean? She loves me.”
“She does. But sometimes you scare her. She can tell when you’re angry, even deep down. I don’t know what happened to her,” he said grimly, “but she knows all about anger. She can feel it, like knowing when a storm is coming. She learned to sense it.”
“I am not angry,” Diana said angrily. “At least, I wasn’t then.”
Diver shrugged. “I guess she thought you were. Deep down, maybe. I don’t know.”
“Yeah, right,” Diana snapped. “So what did you tell her? What did you whisper in her ear?”
“I told her not to be afraid, because you were hurt too, just like her.”
Diana felt her stomach lurch. Tears sprang to her eyes, blurring her vision. That was the look Lanessa had given her. Pity. Shared sadness.
“Oh, God,” Diana said, brushing furiously at her tears. “Don’t ever…That’s not right. I don’t deserve…” She took a deep, steadying breath. “Diver, I’ve read that girl’s file. Whatever I’ve gone through is nothing. It’s nothing. Not compared to her. Besides, look, I’ve hit back. I’ve gotten revenge, and that has…has cured me, made me strong again.”
They had arrived back on the key. Diana pulled the car to a stop in the marina parking lot.
“Lanessa can’t get revenge,” Diver said. “So how will she get strong again?”
“I don’t know,” Diana admitted. Then she put her hand on Diver’s arm. She and Lanessa weren’t the only ones with secrets. “Did you, Diver? Did you ever get revenge?”
“No,” he said simply.
He got out of the car, but then leaned down to look in the window. “By the way, Jerry says you’re the most beautiful human female he’s ever seen. He thinks it doesn’t matter if you disturb my wa. He says it’s worth it.”
“Jerry said that?”
Diver smiled. “Okay, maybe I made up that part.”
12
When Fantasies and Enemies Die
Summer’s day with Sean Valletti turned out not to be entirely innocent.
They drove to Key West, listening to loud music on the way. This was the most innocent part of the day, since conversation was pretty much impossible as long as Sean had the stereo cranked.
But when they reached Key West and got out to wander the streets in a search for the perfect birthday gift for Mrs. Valletti, conversation became almost unavoidable.
“What kind of things does she like?” Summer asked. She had stashed her uniform back on the Jet Ski and had borrowed a T-shirt from Sean to go over her bathing suit. It turned out to be one of his football jerseys. She was walking around with Valletti on her back, above the number twenty-two.
“She likes the usual kind of stuff, I guess,” he answered, sounding puzzled by the question. “You know, mom stuff.”
“Does she have any hobbies or anything? Does she like to cook? Does she garden? Does she read books?”
He shrugged. “How about some kind of clothing?
“Do you know what size she is?” Summer asked.
“About like this.” He held his hand up beside Summer, indicating his mother’s height. “Somewhere around there.”
They shopped without much direction, wandering from shop to shop as Summer became increasingly desperate to get some clue as to what would make Mrs. Valletti happy. The wrong choice could make Summer a laughingstock. She could become the girl who had bought a pair of sandals for Mrs. Valletti, only to discover that she was an amputee.
It wouldn’t be that bad, she reassured herself. Surely Sean would mention it if his mother was missing a leg.
But just as bad, from Summer’s point of view, was the way Sean insisted on touching her—a little pressure in the small of her back when she went in front of him through a door, a little shoulder-to-shoulder hug, a chin chuck when she said something dumb about football. All of this while she was walking around wearing his shirt, his number and name plastered on her as if she were his private property.
They stopped for lunch at a waterfront restaurant where they ordered fried conch and grouper fingers and ate them on paper plates out in the sun. It could not have been a more conspicuous place.
“How’s yours?” he asked.
“Good,” she said, her mouth full of food. She was trying to keep her face lowered, avoiding eye contact with passersby while at the same time trying to check each face.
“I like you,” Sean said suddenly. “You’re different.”
“I am?” Summer said, hating herself for the giddy little-girl tone that crept into her voice.
“Yeah. I mean, you’re, like, normal and all.”
Summer felt a little deflated.
“What I mean is, you’re easy to hang out with,” he clarified. “You know, like
I don’t have to be…whatever. There’s all this pressure sometimes. Being the big football player and driving a cool car and so on. Girls always expect so much out of me.”
“I guess that would be true,” Summer said.
“Totally. I mean, Liz? Liz Block? She told me she was surprised when I didn’t try to do her on the first date. Like she just assumed I was this animal.”
Summer choked violently on a piece of fried grouper. She ran to a nearby trash can and hacked it up with a seriously disgusting noise. When she returned to the table, between the gagging and the humiliation, she could tell her face was a brilliant shade of red.
“Sorry,” she said.
“No prob,” he said. “You didn’t get anything on my shirt, right?”
Summer checked. “No, I don’t think so.”
“It would be okay even if you did,” Sean said generously. “I’ve had blood all over it, anyway. Football gets kind of violent.”
Summer tried out a nonchalant smile. Nonchalant, as if she weren’t replaying every second of her gagging-and-choking routine. As if she weren’t replaying what Sean had said that had led to her gagging and choking. She had the definite feeling that she was out of her usual milieu, that Sean Valletti, while he might be no older than she, was moving in a completely different circle.
“See? That’s what I mean by your being cool,” Sean said. “You didn’t get all grossed out when I was talking about blood.”
“I guess we’re even, then,” Summer said. “You didn’t get all grossed out when I blew fish out of my nose.”
He stared at her, and the furious blush that had just begun to recede came back like a flood tide.
Blew fish out of my nose? Blew fish out of my nose?
Then he smiled. “Yep, I like you. I can’t wait till we get back to school in the fall. It’ll be like, ‘What? You’re going with Summer Smith?’ And then you’ll come in, only you’ll look totally different. You know, the way you look now.”
Beach Blondes: June Dreams / July's Promise / August Magic Page 40