Hurricanes in Paradise (22 page)

Tamyra gave a weak smile. “I’m fine. Really.”

Winnie’s voice boomed from the other side of the room by the wet suits. “I’m telling you, there isn’t one of these things big enough to stuff all of this into.”

“We’ll find one that suits you perfectly,” the young Bahamian guide assured.

Laine and Riley suited up while Tamyra thumbed through the wet suits like she was sorting through garbage from a Dumpster.

“Here’s one just right for you,” the young woman said to Tamyra as she extended a suit from her dark hand.

“Thank you.” It came out more as a whisper.

“She’s scared to death,” Laine whispered to Riley.

“She said she was fine.”

“That doesn’t look like the face of fine. That looks like the face of scared sh—” Laine stopped herself. “I’m just saying she’s scared.”

“This is insane.” Winnie puffed as she tugged at the rubber. The suit was stuck at midthigh.

“Here, let me help you,” Laine said. She came over to Winnie and tugged on the right side of her suit. She pulled up one time as hard as she could and all but tipped Winnie over on her side. That got Laine tickled. “Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“What are you doing? Trying to make me a roly-poly?”

Laine motioned to the other side. “Riley, grab that side and pull.”

Riley walked over to Winnie and grabbed the other side of her wet suit. “On three,” Laine said. “One, two, three.”

On three, both of them tugged on the sides of Winnie’s wet suit so hard they picked her slap up off of the ground. She let out a squeal as she rose. But at least the rubber scooted up around her waist. “My Lord have mercy, I cannot believe my behind is squeezed in this thing.” She waddled over to a mirror, her legs inches apart. “I look ridiculous.”

Laine finally zipped up the front of her own suit and looked at Tamyra, who was still standing there with her suit in her hand. “Are you sure you’re okay, Tamyra?”

“She’s fine.” Winnie swatted the air. “She’s going to enjoy every minute of this. If I’m squeezing my tub of lard into this thing, you can bet Miss Beauty Queen of the South over there is going to put her skinny butt into hers. She was the one who wanted me out of my room, so she got me out.” Winnie pulled up the top of her wet suit and dug her arms inside. She pushed at each breast until it was safely stuffed inside; then she zipped up her suit. Both arms stuck out from her sides, and Riley would never tell her, but she looked a whole lot like the Michelin Man.

A college-age kid came to gather them up. “Okay, ladies, we’re going to watch a short instructional video. It will give you all of our safety instructions before entering the lagoon.”

“Safety instructions?” Tamyra asked.

His deep brown eyes caught the stunning beauty and it was clear that he was enamored. A brief swagger hit his step as he walked toward her. “And it tells you a little bit about our dolphins. You’ll love it. I promise. I’ll guide you personally.”

Tamyra zipped up her suit, his personal attention offering her no apparent comfort. The video introduced them to the dolphins, told them some of the history of Dolphin Cay, and then began to go over the dolphin experience. It told them when they would use their masks and snorkels and showed a tourist kissing the dolphins. Riley watched as Tamyra fidgeted oddly in her seat, sweat now dripping down the sides of her temples.

The back door opened, filling the room with sunshine. The instructor had them all stand and divided them into groups. About the time they headed into the aisle to walk out the back door and into the lagoon, Tamyra made her break. She ran straight out the front door and back toward the lockers.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Laine said, no longer trying to be Miss Personality for her other friends. Riley headed out the door after Tamyra, Laine and Winnie on her heels. “Not scared, huh?” Laine announced.

Tamyra ripped wildly at her wet suit. By the time they reached her, she had pulled it from her body. Tears fell rapidly down her cheeks. “I can’t do it, ladies. I’m sorry. I just can’t get in the water.”

Winnie waddled over to her, her arms still extended slightly from her sides. “Baby girl, you should have told us you were this scared. I wouldn’t torture you.”

“It’s just, years ago, I almost died white-water rafting. Ever since then I just haven’t been able to get in water.”

“Do you bathe?” Laine asked.

Riley tossed a furrowed brow in her direction.

“I’m sorry, really. I’m sorry,” Tamyra said, her tears still falling.

“It’s okay, Tamyra,” Riley said, wrapping her arm around Tamyra’s shivering body. “Just come out here and sit and watch us. You’ll at least enjoy seeing the dolphins. I promise. We will not make you get in the water. But we want you to be with us.”

Riley felt her breathing steady, the panic attack lifting. In a few minutes the four of them were headed back out to the lagoon, where their instructors and the other guests waited. They placed Tamyra safely on the sandy beach and the rest of them headed into the water.

Riley, Winnie, and Laine followed the instructors and donned their snorkeling attire. In a few minutes, manned with electronic fins, they were diving underwater right next to some of creation’s most amazing creatures. Winnie giggled like a schoolgirl. Laine was enjoying herself, research or not. Riley had heard Tamyra laughing at them multiple times. And she had to admit she was going to miss this place when Laine finally did tell Max how she had spoken to her.

Back on shore the instructors gave them the how-tos of riding a bodyboard while two dolphins pushed them across the water by their feet. And when it came time to kiss the dolphins and get their pictures made, Riley watched as the cute instructor who had been smitten earlier walked over to Tamyra, who sat on the makeshift beach with her toes buried in the sand.

“They’d love to kiss you, you know.” His Bahamian accent was heavy.

“No thank you,” she said politely.

“I will hold your hand the whole way and you’ll stay in knee-deep water. I promise, you will love it.” He extended his black hand.

She tilted her head slightly. Riley could tell by her expression he almost had her. Tamyra caught Riley’s eye, and Riley lifted her leg to show her how shallow the water really was. “Only right there at the edge.” Tamyra pointed.

He dipped his hand again. “Only right at the edge, beautiful lady.”

She gave a wide smile and reached for his hand. He helped her from the sand and she brushed at the back of her cover-up. Her pace slowed as she neared the edge of the water.

“You’ll love it, sugar,” Winnie said, her wet suit wet and adhering relentlessly.

Tamyra dipped her toes in the water and jerked them back out. “Oh, it’s cold.”

The instructor took her by the elbow and led her farther in. “You’ll get used to it.” He blew his whistle. “What’s your name?”

“Tamyra.”

“Michelle, meet Tamyra.”

A gorgeous dolphin leaped from the water and extended her flipper toward Tamyra, flapping it wildly. Tamyra reached out and tapped her. Then she laughed with the excitement of a child.

He blew his whistle again and two dolphins rose in unison from the water and glided backward across it on their tails as if it were a sea of glass. The women couldn’t help but be amazed. Riley watched her guests as they stared in wonder at the animals. The young man finally got Tamyra to kneel down, and Michelle came right up to her and kissed her. By the time they were through, all four had held Michelle in their arms and had their picture taken. A picture of all four of them. Together.

* * *

As they exited the locker room, hair wet, smiles blaring, Mia rounded the corner. “Hey, I’ve been trying to call you.”

“Sorry, I had to be here with these ladies.” Riley tried not to lay the blame at Laine’s feet.

“Sure, yes. Hello,” Mia said, tossing up a wave.

“Mia, this is Laine Fulton, and I think you’ve met Winnie and Tamyra,” Riley said.

“Yes, a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Fulton,” she said, extending her hand to Laine and shaking it wildly. Her normal manner. “And nice to see you, ladies. Looks like you had a wonderful adventure.”

Winnie rubbed the towel against her short white hair. “Besides having the circulation of most of my body cut off for almost an hour and a half, it was a delightful time.”

“Well, if you’ll excuse me one minute. I need to grab Riley. We’ve had a guest with a slight situation.”

Laine looked at her watch. “How about we meet for dinner at six, ladies, at Casa D’Angelo.”

Riley saw Laine looking at her as if waiting to know she would be there. She clapped her hands together. “I’ll make our reservations and see you all there at six.”

“How did you get roped into that?” Mia asked as the women walked away.

“Long story,” Riley said, dabbing her own wet ringlets with a towel. “What’s up? Max hasn’t been looking for me, has he?”

“Actually he called and I told him I had just left you and you should be right around here. He said he had been trying your cell phone for an hour and hadn’t been able to reach you.”

“Of course he did. I should have known.” Riley dug for her phone in her bag as her pace quickened toward her office. “She calls him to get me fired and then traipses me off so I won’t get the call when he does call to fire me. She is such a control freak. I’ve never met anyone like her.” She checked her phone and saw that Max had called her four times. She stopped in the middle of the walkway and leaned her head back. “I can’t believe she can be so in control and I lost my control like that. It’s just been so long since I’ve done something like that.”

Mia wrapped an arm around her. “It’s okay. Honestly, it’s going to be okay. I’ll do anything I can for you.”

“Well, I need to go face the music. It is what it is at this point. I’ll be there in a few minutes to pack up my stuff. I’m just going to call him out here.”

Mia reached out and gave her a hug. “I’m so sorry, Riley.”

“It’s okay. Thank you. For today. For listening. I so appreciate it.”

Mia released her. “I’ll be in the office.”

Riley watched her as she walked away, then pressed Max’s number on her speed dial. He picked up on the second ring. “Riley, where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“Max, I know what this is about. And I just have to tell you how sorry I am. You have been so good to me and for me to lose control like that is just completely out of line. And I understand. I’m going to pack up my office now.”

“What are you talking about?”

She paused for a moment. “I thought you were calling about . . . What were you calling about?”

“I was calling to tell you that our three sets of VIPs have turned into six, so we’ll need three extra rooms and six more tickets for the concert. Also, I was thinking let’s make reservations at Mosaic for lunch and Nobu for dinner. Then we’ll take them to the nightclub for a little while after the concert. I’ll want you to be there waiting on us when we arrive. I want you to shine in all of this. Now, what in the world were you talking about a minute ago?”

She closed her eyes and bit the top of her lip. “I was talking about something so completely not important.” She laughed a ridiculous laugh. “So you don’t worry your head about a thing. What time do you think they’ll get in?”

“I’m meeting them at the airport at noon.”

“Well, you just have a great day and we’ll take care of everything. It will be perfect.”

“Honestly, I’m not worried about you as much as I am this crazy weather. Looks like there’s real potential for this storm to hit us. Might even end up having to fly them all back Thursday evening if it looks like this thing is definitely aiming for us. And by the looks of it, it could be ugly.”

“Well, I can’t change hurricanes, but I can make sure everything else comes off without a hitch.”

“I want you to e-mail me all of their reservation information as soon as you get it ready. And I wanted to send it to them by the end of the day. That’s why I was trying to find you. Where were you anyway without your phone?”

“Our author in residence, Ms. Fulton, wanted me to go with her to swim with the dolphins.”

“My word, she wants you everywhere. Is she incapable of being alone?”

“Max, she’s capable of just about anything, so I’m not sure why she wants me with her everywhere.”

“Well, thanks for taking such good care of her. She called me just this afternoon and told me what a wonderful job you were doing.”

Riley felt the breath go out of her. “She . . . she did?”

“Yeah, she said you were excellent at what you did and had taken superb care of her. I can’t ask for more than that, Riley. So thank you. You don’t want someone writing a fiction book about your place and trashing you in it. My wife reads fiction. Half the time she thinks those people are real.” He laughed.

She let out an odd, nervous laugh. “Thanks, Max. Thanks for telling me. I’ll make sure you have what you need within the hour. Call me if anything changes.”

“You too. Take care.”

Riley stuck her phone inside her pocket and shook her head. What in the world was Laine Fulton up to now?