Hurricanes in Paradise (34 page)

Laine leaned over. “You okay?”

“Just have this killer headache I can’t get rid of. But I’ll be fine. I’ll grab something when we leave.”

Riley took a long drink and rubbed the back of her head. When she lifted it, she caught Winnie’s smile. It shone as bright as the rhinestones on her outfit did when they caught the lights from the stage. She looked at Tamyra. The young woman who didn’t even want to look you in the eye five days ago now didn’t take her eyes off of the stage. Their deep blackness was lit with a brightness of one who was living. She turned toward Laine. She hadn’t mentioned if she had talked to Mitchell, but then again, Riley hadn’t stopped long enough to ask. But whether she had or not, the woman sitting next to her was not the beast who had arrived less than a week ago.

She smiled to herself and took another long drink from the bottle. Her friendship with these women made no sense. They had all wanted to kill each other at some point. Wanted to hug each other at times. Laughed during all the moments they weren’t crying or yelling. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, her heart had connected to these women with an intensity few of her friendships had ever produced. She had known she would enjoy her job, but she had never known she could enjoy it this much.

One of those “divine setups,” as Josalyn would say. Yes, she had been set up perfectly. She glanced at Christian. He caught her eye and winked at her. The kindness from that man overwhelmed her. She couldn’t perceive anything in him to contradict this deep, genuine kindness. He had admitted his faults in his marriage, was candid about his imperfections, and she was sure they were there. But there was also this sweetness that couldn’t be masked. Riley glanced over her shoulder; Mia gave her a quick wave and one of her bouncing smiles. This girl had saved her behind all week. She would be a friend long after the others were gone, and this was just another reason to be grateful for where life had her now. For more than a moment Riley had forgotten the pounding in her head. Maybe she was just thirsty.

The concert ended with two encores and three hundred satisfied guests. Max sidled up next to her. “They want to go to the nightclub for a little while before they head out.”

“Yeah?”

He touched her arm softly. “I’d like you to join us, just because it would be good for business, but if it would be too difficult, I don’t want you to put yourself—”

She patted his hand, stopping him in midsentence. “It’s okay. I can handle a nightclub. I still like to dance,” she said, giving him a reassuring wink.

Obviously his guests wanted more fun before they flew back to Miami. And it wasn’t the alcohol that would bother her. It would be the music that could possibly ramp up the pounding in her temples. Riley turned back to her ladies. “Would any of you like to go to the nightclub for a few minutes of dancing?”

Riley glanced at Winnie, whose hand had quickly flown to her chest. Tamyra pulled her hand away and looked at Max. “We’d love to. Winnie loves to dance.”

Winnie’s eyes darted to her.

Max clasped his hands together, still at Riley’s side. “Great. We’ll see you on the dance floor.”

“Tamyra Larsen, I do not dance.”

Tamyra wasn’t going to be deterred. “Have you ever tried it? And if you say, ‘I’m Baptist,’ I promise you I will scream. Have you ever once danced?”

Winnie tugged at the edges of her pink denim jacket. “Once. I danced. Well, okay, five times. Sam always wanted to take dance lessons, and so he finally talked me into five lessons at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio.”

“And you never danced again?” Tamyra pressed.

She dropped her head slightly. “No. We never danced again.”

Laine interrupted. “The question is, did you like it?”

Winnie gave her that Winnie eye and paused for a moment; then her nose turned up along with the edges of her smile. “I really did. I loved every minute of it.”

Tamyra’s face showed an almost pity for her new friend. “Then why didn’t you ever go back?”

“Sam got sick. We couldn’t.”

Tamyra wrapped her in her arms. “I’m so sorry, Winnie. I’m so sorry.” She let her go and stepped back.

Riley reached out a hand. “Tonight you will dance, Winnie.”

“Yes, Riley knows all about dancing,” Laine spouted. “She went to one of those Holy Roller churches when she lived in Charleston. She knows all about dancing. And no telling what else, from what I hear about them.”

“Keep it up, Laine, and I’ll make you go with me,” Riley quipped from over her shoulder.

As they left their table, Riley spotted Albert about the same time he spotted Winnie. She looked behind her and saw that Winnie had seen him too. “Why don’t you ask him to join us?”

Winnie turned sharply to Riley. “Join us?”

“I bet he’d enjoy it.”

“You owe him far more than dancing after what you did to him last night,” Laine said.

Tamyra elbowed her.

“I don’t mean that. I just mean she owes him . . . coffee . . . shuffleboard . . . whatever people her age do.”

Winnie stepped away from all of them and made her way to Albert. None of them heard what she said to him, but as they walked out the door, Albert was walking with Winnie. Apparently he was joining them for some dancing.

Riley took a few steps and felt a strange heaviness wash over her. She grabbed a chair and looked around. Thankfully, no one saw her. This must be a migraine or something, though the throbbing had eased off a bit. She caught Christian’s eye. He walked toward her. “Max has asked us to come up to the nightclub for a minute,” she told him. “It’s not my first choice for how to spend an evening, but I think Winnie needs to dance, and he would like me to be able to say hello to his guests. I might even see if I can get them to play something more up Winnie’s alley.”

Christian laughed. “Blaming it on Winnie, huh?”

She smiled. “Yeah, that would sound much better than me being too old for nightclub music. But we won’t be there long.”

“I’d love to join you.”

She knew he meant it.

* * *

The music was felt from the stairwell as if it pulsated the very ground. Winnie turned when she got to the door. Tamyra pointed her back around.

“I really don’t think this is for me,” Winnie protested.

Riley wasn’t sure it was for her either. Not the music, but her body. She had to pull against the railing to even get herself up the stairs, as if her body was washed-out. She tried to act normal as she and Christian walked through the doors of the nightclub. Strobe lights moved to the beat of the music.

“This isn’t Arthur Murray,” Laine said in Riley’s ear.

“No, it sure isn’t.”

“You sure you need to come in here? I’m sure Max would understand if you didn’t think you should.”

“He asked me already. I’ll be fine. Thanks, though.”

Mia was already inside talking to Max and the other guests who surrounded his tables. Drinks were flowing all around, and Riley felt as if she were drowning. Her head was fuzzy and heavy, and the whole scene brought back a lot of memories. She hadn’t been to a nightclub in a long time, where drinks flowed freely, bodies collided, and where, when the lights finally came up at the end of the night and people got a look at what they were dancing with, most ran for cover.

She touched Christian’s arm. “I’ll be right back. I just need to go to the ladies’ room for a minute.”

“Sure, I’ll be right here.”

She walked into the ladies’ room and leaned against the sink; turning on the faucet, she dropped her hands beneath its rapid flow. The coolness of it jolted her slightly. She pulled her hands from the water and patted them softly against her face. She blinked her eyes rapidly, trying to get the blood flowing through the fog.

Mia came through the door and saw Riley standing there, hands pressed against her face. “Riley, are you okay? You don’t look that good.”

Riley shook her head and reached for a paper towel. “Just feel kind of strange. That headache got me, I guess,” she said as she wiped her hands.

“Here, I’ve got this extra-strength headache reliever.” She turned the pill in her fingers. “At least I think that’s what it is. Let’s go out and get you something to drink and you can take it.”

“You know, my head really isn’t hurting that badly anymore. I think I might just need caffeine or something. It’s been a long day. Maybe when I finally sat down, I realized how tired I was.”

“Well, come on, let’s go get you a Coke.”

They sidled up next to the bar, and Riley looked at the amber-colored liquids that lined the wall. She stared at them, remembering.

Mia nudged her, a martini already in front of her. “Riley, he’s asking you what you want to drink.”

Riley hadn’t even heard the bartender speak to her. “Oh, sorry. Could I have a Dr Pepper please? Just need some caffeine.”

“Dr Pepper it is.”

“You sure you don’t want this?” Mia asked, pushing a nondescript white pill in front of her.

Riley’s head throbbed slightly behind her eyes. “Yeah, sure. I still have a little nagger.” When the bartender set the drink down in front of her, she took the pain reliever capsule and chugged her drink, hoping it would give her the boost of energy she needed.

“Thank you. You’ve been there every time I’ve needed you this week.”

Mia patted her on the back. “It’s been a pleasure, Riley. Really, I’m sorry Laine has stressed you out so much this week. That woman is a handful.”

Riley rubbed her head again and laughed softly. “She’s really a great woman. You just have to get her to let her guard down. I’ve become quite fond of her and you, too. You haven’t really told me any of your story, Mia. How did you get here?”

Mia shifted on her stool. Her smile tensed. “My mother . . . well, she felt like I should get out and explore the world. She has really high ambitions for me, you know.”

“Sounds like most mothers.”

Mia’s laugh sounded forced. “Yeah, sure. Most moms are that way. But I was working in the hospitality industry in Sydney and heard about this opening and thought it might be nice to get away from home for a while. Just couldn’t get away from . . .”

Either her words trailed off or Riley just couldn’t focus. She blinked her eyes hard.

“How are you able to come in here tonight with the bar and everything?”

Riley blinked hard again. Her body was beginning to feel even more out of control. She shook her head. “Man, I just feel weird. You sure that was a headache pill?”

“Yeah, it has to be. That’s all I carry in my purse.”

Riley blinked again and looked at Mia. Her vision doubled. She heard her laugh coming as if from across the club. “I feel like I’m drunk and I haven’t had a thing. That will teach me to get more sleep and to not let myself get so stressed out.” She took another drink of her soda and that was when she heard the music change.

The DJ’s voice broke through the intense chatter of the club. “And a special request goes out for some of the ladies in the house. We bring you an old classic, not our typical music flavor, but it is from the icon himself, Frank Sinatra.” The first melodic line of “All the Way” began to take over the nightclub. A brief cheer went up. Obviously she wasn’t the only one who enjoyed a change of pace every now and then.

She looked up and Christian was beside her, hand extended. “Would you dance with me?”

She looked at Mia. Her face registered something. Something she hadn’t seen on her before. Mia was jealous and in that moment she knew it. But it was just a moment. Mia turned quickly to Riley, flashed her engaging smile, and said, “Go. Go dance.”

She turned back to Christian. She spoke, but it felt as if her words were slower. Slurred, even. “I’d love to.”

As they made their way to the dance floor, Riley stumbled slightly.

“You okay?” Christian asked.

“Yeah. Fine.” Even as she spoke, it felt as if she were exiting her body. She could see Winnie and Albert already on the dance floor; Tamyra was dancing with Christian’s friend Lance. Max and his wife were on the other side of them, and a few more of the guests and their spouses had taken to the dance floor as well. But Riley knew something was terribly wrong. With all of her might she wanted to pull Christian toward her and tell him something was seriously wrong, that she needed to get home. As they got to the dance floor and he took her in his arms, her body disconnected from her mind. Her hands began to slide their way up his neck and around his back. Every part of her being desired him.

She wanted to push away from him and run, but she didn’t. She couldn’t. Her mind was crazed, but her body was alive. She began to move seductively.

Christian took her arms from around his neck and let out an uncomfortable laugh. “Riley, what’s up with you?”

She pushed her body toward him again, her words now slurred as her hands moved up and down his back. “I just want to be close to you. I just want to dance with you. Can’t I dance with you?” Even as the words came out of her, she felt no ability to stop them.

He pulled her hands from his back. “Riley, come on. This isn’t like you. What are you doing?”

She felt a heat rise up inside of her, and this one wasn’t from passion. Her words came out loud. She could tell. Though they didn’t feel like hers. It was as if her mind and her body had been taken over and everything was happening outside of her control.