The irish blessing, p.4
The Irish Blessing, page 4
I’m getting married to a man whose identity stays hidden from me in the dream. He’s a tall man, dressed in a gray suit, and I sense we love each other deeply. The officiant is male, his face also hidden, but I somehow know him. We’re under a tent decorated with pink, white, and purple flowers, and the two of us are facing the side of an old castle, a garden with beautiful red roses and hedges in front of us. In each occurrence, a tattoo is visible on the groom’s left inner wrist as he holds my hand in his palm. I always wake when he slips the wedding ring on my finger.
I shook my head in a useless attempt to clear the images from my mind. Rising from the bed, I wandered into the kitchen and made myself a cup of coffee. Then I strolled out to the balcony and sat in one of the chairs, a nutty aroma wafting from the steaming cup to my nose. The sun was starting to come up, the air outside warmer than the air-conditioned coolness of my room. I leaned back and took a sip of the dark liquid, relishing the solitude of the early morning.
*
Dylan was waving and yelling at me from the swimming pool. “Liz, we’re going to play a game of volleyball. We need you on our team.”
“Are you going to play?” Mel lifted her head from the lounge chair and peered at me over the top of her sunglasses.
“I am. I haven’t played in years, but it should be fun. We’ll see if I’m still any good at it.” I sat on the edge of my chair and took a drink of water. “So, how about you? Are you going to play?”
“Nah. My head is still splitting, and my stomach is nauseous from last night. I’m going to lie here and bake.” Mel rolled onto her back.
I got up and walked to the edge of the pool. I stood at the net, checking out the teams on each side. Dylan’s team was on my right, and they had him, Margaret, and six others. I looked around for Shane, spotting him getting up from a lounge chair on the other side of the pool. Anna was lying on her stomach on the chair next to him. I had a tough time turning away. Even from this distance, I could see Shane was gorgeous, with a superbly built chest and well-defined abdominal muscles and arms. He jumped into the pool, joining Dylan’s team. I scanned the other side of the net and counted players, finding that team was short one person.
“Get in here. We need you.” Shane was looking up at me from the swimming pool.
The blond man that had helped me with Mel last night stood in the water, staring across the net at Shane. “No way, man. You already have nine players. We get Liz.” He looked up at me and grinned. “Get in. You’ll be our ninth player.”
“It’s nice to see you again, Rick.” I quickly looked him over. He was a good-looking man, tall and nicely built with bright blue eyes. He also had a wedding ring on his finger. “All right, I’m coming in. I still owe you one for helping me out last night.” I jumped in the water and turned to face the net while Rick moved to the back row to serve. “Sorry, Shane. It looks like they need me more than you do.”
“You’re going to play. That’s cool.” Steve, the other man who’d helped me with Mel last night, gave me a high five from the spot on my left. “How’s your friend? Last night was a little crazy.”
“She wasn’t doing too well this morning and is still feeling nauseous. Thanks again for helping me. I couldn’t have managed without you two.”
“No problem. I hope we don’t have to do it again.”
Shane raised a brow at me while moving toward the net. “What happened last night? Why did you need those guys to help you?”
“Mel caused a scene at the poolside bar. Trust me, you don’t want to know the details. So, are you going to play against me at the net?”
“I am, so be prepared to get your butt kicked.”
“Ah, such big words. We’ll see how far they carry you.” I put my hands up as Rick got in position to start the game.
Rick served, and we volleyed back and forth several times. The ball came to Dylan in the back row, and he sent it to Margaret at the net next to Shane. Margaret tapped it across the net towards me. I jumped up and spiked the ball back to Dylan. He missed it, and our team got the point.
“You got lucky. It won’t happen again.” Shane had a hand on his hip as he taunted me.
“You go ahead and keep thinking that.” I grinned at Shane.
After a moment of yelling and fist pumps amongst our team, Rick served the ball again. It went to the opposite team’s server, and the lady managed to return it across the net. There were more volleys back and forth, and then Rick called my name, sending the ball my way to spike it. We gained another point.
“Come on, Liz. Knock it off, or we’ll ban you from playing,” Dylan yelled at me from the back row, causing chuckles across the pool.
My team gained two more points before missing the ball. It was now the other team’s turn to serve. A man in our front row, next to Steve, tried to toss the ball to the opposing team’s server. It was a poor throw, and the ball flew past her and landed on the concrete. One of the players on Shane’s team climbed out of the pool to retrieve the ball. After pulling it from underneath a lounge chair, the man tossed the ball to their server. Then he cannonballed into the pool. A shriek pierced the air as a wave of water splashed the row of chairs.
“You idiot. You got my hair wet,” Anna yelled. She stood next to her chair, glaring at the man that had done the cannonball.
“Hang on a minute.” Shane held up his hand to stop the game from starting again. He climbed out of the pool and ran over to Anna. After an animated discussion, he jumped back in the water while Anna picked up her towel and beach bag and left the deck area.
We continued to play, with Shane’s team gaining a point now and then, although my team consistently maintained the lead. I was in the middle position when a contentious volley went back and forth for quite some time. The tension started to build in the pool, with players yelling and whooping it up each time the volley successfully crossed the net. The ball came flying across the pool, and I jumped in the air to hit it. A colossal body suddenly landed on me, submerging me under the water.
“Dammit, are you all right?” Shane had pulled me from under the water and was trying to stand me on my feet. “Talk to me. Can you breathe?”
My right arm draped over Shane’s left shoulder while my head rested on his chest. I coughed up water as I tried to catch my breath. After a minute or so, my coughing started to subside.
Shane tilted my head up and brushed my wet hair out of my face. “You’re already getting a black eye. Damn, that scared me.”
I looked into Shane’s eyes. “That was a hell of a typhoon. I didn’t expect such monstrous weather in the pool.”
Shane blinked at me, and then the corner of his mouth twitched. “I take it you’re all right?”
“Other than my head hurting? Yes.”
“Is she all right?” Dylan was standing behind Shane.
“For the most part. But Liz is going to have a nasty black eye. I need to get her out of the pool and put ice on it.”
“I can take her back to her lounge chair,” Rick said. He was standing next to Shane.
“No, I’ll take care of her.” Shane’s voice was terse as he responded to Rick. He escorted me from the pool and over to my chair.
“Dang. That guy nailed you.” Mel looked me up and down as I started to lie down.
“All I know is I jumped to hit the ball, and a second later, I was under the water.” I looked down at my right thigh. My skin was starting to turn black and blue.
“The big drunk guy playing in the back row behind you tried to take your ball and landed on top of you. He must have elbowed you in the face.” Shane touched my arm. “I’m going to get you some ice. I’ll be right back.” He took off in a hurry toward the bar.
“Dang, Liz. I’ve never seen anyone move so fast. Shane was at your side, trying to rescue you before you even went underwater.” Mel gave me a sly smile. “That man likes you.”
“Please don’t start. He has a partner. Entertaining the idea that he likes me will cause nothing but problems. I think at this point, I need to avoid him.”
“Why avoid him? Just go for it. Neither one of them wears a wedding ring, and I’ll bet you a million dollars that Anna is nothing but an arm decoration and he’s not serious about her. I see the way you look at him too. Whether you like it or not, your eyes devour him whenever he’s near you.”
“Stop it.” I turned on my side to face her. “I don’t want to cause any problems between them. Besides, you’re only guessing how Shane feels about Anna, and I don’t need the drama. My life is peaceful. Let’s leave it that way.”
“The bartender put some ice in a bag for me.” Shane kneeled next to me. “Turn over. I need to put the ice on your face.”
“Ow.” I rolled over, putting pressure on my bruised thigh. “The guy must have kneed me in the leg.”
“I can see the bruise. The guy got you pretty good. Here. I’m going to put the ice by your eye.” Shane leaned forward and gently placed the bag on my bruised face.
I swallowed hard. Shane’s muscular chest was only inches away from me. A stirring sensation began to spread through my lower body. Oh, God. Why was this happening? I found him so tantalizingly attractive I couldn’t seem to help myself. I needed him to go away.
“What else do you need? I can get more ice for your leg if you want.”
“I’m fine.” I mustered a small smile, determined not to let on how he affected me. “I appreciate your help, but you don’t need to stay. I’m sure your team needs you back in the pool.”
“You’re sure you’re okay?”
“I’m sure. I’ll be fine. I promise.”
Shane stood and gave me one last look before walking away.
I expelled a deep breath. Heaven help me. Shane was dangerous with the way he made my body react. I needed to be careful. No, I needed to do more than that. I needed to stay far away from him.
“I told you he likes you.”
I rolled onto my back, holding the bag of ice to keep it from falling. I looked at Mel, catching the smug expression on her face. “Believe me. Nothing is going to happen. I’ll make sure of it.” I adjusted the bag as the ice started to melt. “So, whatever happened to Anna? I saw her get up and leave while I was playing volleyball.”
“She moved behind the hedges that were next to her chair. I guess she didn’t want to get her hair wet again.”
I glanced across the pool at the hedge. Shane was standing on the other side of it, talking to someone. It had to be Anna, hidden by the wall of vegetation. I turned back toward Mel. “I’m going back to our room. I need to take something for this headache of mine. What do you think about going to Kiki’s for dinner? I can call and try to make a reservation for six o’clock.”
“That sounds cool. I’m going to stay here a little longer and try to detox. I’ll come up to the room in a while.”
“All right. I’ll see you in a bit.” I picked up my towel and other belongings and headed back to our room.
*
Cars, trucks, and scooters packed the parking lot at Kiki’s, the place bustling with activity and much busier than I’d expected. The restaurant looked welcoming, with twinkle lights wrapped around the surrounding palm trees and more of them hanging from the building’s eaves. The outside dining area seemed quiet and relaxing even though patrons filled every table. The inside dining area had a more energetic vibe, a din of voices carrying through the air as we entered. After the glowing review from our driver, Thomas, we hoped the place lived up to his comments.
“Hello.” A young woman in a white blouse and black pants stood at a small podium inside the door and greeted us as we approached her. She let out a small gasp when she saw my bruised face.
“You should see the other woman. She’s a mess.” Mel gave the woman a defiant look.
“Knock it off, Mel.”
“She was staring at you. I couldn’t help it.”
“What do you expect? My face doesn’t look pretty right now.” I addressed the host at the podium. “I’m sorry about that. It’s just the two of us. We have a reservation for six o’clock under the name Liz Whalen.”
“I see you on the list. It’ll be five to ten minutes. You’re welcome to wait here or sit at the bar.” The woman motioned toward a casual-looking bar stretched along the right wall of the establishment.
Spotting available seats, I turned back to the host. “Thank you. We’ll wait at the bar.”
“We’ll get you when your table is ready.”
I led the way toward the bar, stopping midway when I recognized our driver, Thomas, behind the counter. “I don’t believe it.”
Mel followed my gaze. “I’d say the transportation company fired him, or he’s a jack-of-all-trades. What a surprise.”
We took the two available seats at the far end of the bar. Thomas was waiting on a couple at the other end. When he finished, he meandered our direction, picking up glasses and wiping down the counter along the way.
“Hello, Thomas,” I said.
Thomas appeared startled when I said his name and snapped his head toward my voice. “Oh, man. Did you get in a fight? Your black eye is pretty bad.”
“It’s from a water volleyball game this afternoon. A drunk guy elbowed my face.”
“Wow. I’d say so.” Thomas winced. “Well, I’m glad you decided to check the place out.”
“You gave it such a good recommendation. We couldn’t resist. Now I know why.” I leaned back in my chair, waiting for Thomas to make a comment or two.
“I couldn’t help it.” Thomas chuckled. “The food here is excellent, and the bartenders are cool. Marie, I’m pretty cool, huh?” he called out to one of the servers as she walked by the bar.
“Of course you are. You’re the best.” Marie laughed as she rounded one of the partitions and disappeared from our view.
“See? You came to the right place.”
Mel started giggling.
“All right, I can see you’re a comedian too.” I shook my head. Thomas was more personable and humorous than I’d expected. “Now tell me, what’s with the two jobs. Are you a driver during the day and a bartender at night?”
“I’m not a driver.”
“Excuse me? You did pick us up.” I eyed Thomas suspiciously.
“I was helping my uncle out. It’s his company. Something happened to your booking, and he couldn’t afford a negative review. He hasn’t been in business that long.”
“What do you mean, something happened to our booking?” I shot a glance at Mel. “See? We did have another reservation mishap. Only we didn’t know about it. So far, this vacation has been like none of our others.”
The host appeared behind me before Thomas could answer. Our table was ready, and she waited to escort us to it.
I got up and turned back toward Thomas. “We’ll be back. I want to finish our conversation and hear what happened.”
“No problem. I’ll see you after you have dinner.”
Mel and I followed the host to our table. She took us to a dining section at the back of the restaurant with a beautiful view of the marina.
“Here you go. I hope you don’t mind a booth. I thought you’d enjoy the view.” The host handed us menus. “Your server will be with you shortly.”
“I swear I heard someone call your name.” Mel scanned the dining room. She fixed her attention on a table behind me and started laughing.
I turned to look and spotted Caitlin and her group sitting at a table against the adjacent wall. “Well, isn’t that a surprise? And it looks like Caitlin is motioning for us to come and talk to her. Come on. We better go.”
“So much for avoiding Shane.” Mel sounded amused. She gave me a little nudge when we got up and walked across the dining room to Caitlin’s table.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Shane told me one of the volleyball players collided with you in the pool, but it looks worse than I thought.” Caitlin was staring at me with a mixture of shock and concern.
“Your face looks brutal. What happened?” Patrick said.
“Our water volleyball game this afternoon was a bit vicious. It was going okay until I tried to pretend I was Captain Ahab, and Moby Dick submerged me.” I winced as I brushed my hair from my cheek.
There was a round of chuckles at the table from my comment.
“A big guy playing behind Liz tried to steal her ball. He came crashing down on top of her, submerging her under the water.” Shane was studying my face as he explained what had happened.
“Liz was the best player in the pool too. She racked up most of her team’s points before leaving the game.” Dylan looked at Mel. “I can see why Liz was your high school’s star player.” He pushed his glasses back up his nose as he grinned at me.
“I told you she was good.” Mel glanced over her shoulder at our table. “Oops. Our server is waiting for us.”
“We better go before our server leaves. Enjoy your dinner.” I caught the frown on Shane’s face when I turned to walk away. I couldn’t tell if it was because of the condition of my face or because I was leaving. Hopefully it was because of my black eye.
“Enjoy yours too. I’m sure we’ll bump into each other around the hotel,” Caitlin said.
Mel and I went back to our booth, catching our server before she walked away.
“Hi. My name is Darla. I’ll be your server this evening. What can I get for you?” A young woman was looking at Mel.
Mel opened the menu and quickly scanned it. “I’d like the shrimp scampi and garlic mashed potatoes. Could I get a glass of the house chardonnay to go with it? Oh, and a glass of water.”
“No problem.” Darla jotted down Mel’s order and then turned her attention to me. She flinched when she noticed the bruises on my face. “What can I get you?”
“I’d like the herb-crusted snapper. A glass of the house chardonnay is fine for me as well. No water.” I closed my menu and reached over for Mel’s. I stacked them together and handed them to Darla.
“I’ll be right back with your water and wine.” Darla tucked the menus under her arm and scribbled something down on her pad. Then she hurried off toward the kitchen.
