Oh, bugger, I just called myself a man in love, didn’t I?
***
“Leo! We’ve got some customers for you,” Mario calls from the front steps.
I hurry out to meet the Jeep, my eyes adjusting to the dark as I reach the sidewalk. In the backseat sits an elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Briar, who got on the wrong shuttle bus at the airport and ended up on the northside of the island. They’ve come all the way from Ireland to celebrate Mrs. Briar’s eightieth birthday, so the last thing they needed after such a long journey was several hours on a bus. The driver returned them to the airport but wasn’t willing to make the extra few miles to the resort, so Emma’s brother, Harrison, picked them up in the Jeep and brought them here.
As soon as Harrison stops, I pull open the back door and give them a little nod. “Mr. and Mrs. Briar, welcome to Paradise Bay. We’ve been waiting for you.” Holding out my hand, I help Mrs. Briar out of the car.
“Well, I should imagine you would be after that fecking bus kidnapped us and took us all over the bloody Caribbean!”
“And I’m sure that’s the very last thing you needed after such an exhausting day of travel,” I say, taking her by the elbow with my right hand and wrapping my left arm around her back to help her to the bench. “You must be famished by now.”
“We ate at the airport, but I could use a good stiff drink.”
“Give me a quick minute, young lady, and I’ll have you sorted,” I say as she sits down. “The wonderful staff at the reception desk are already working their magic to get you checked in as fast as possible. If you like, I’ll take your passports up to them and ask them to print out the paperwork, then I’ll run it back here for you to sign and bring you your keys.”
She gives me a pat on the cheek. “My daughter-in-law said this was a nice place to stay, but I didn’t believe her. She’s quite the liar.”
Unable to stop myself from laughing, I say, “Is she, now?”
I turn back to the Jeep to fetch her husband, but he’s already making his way over to us on his own. Harrison walks right behind him, just in case. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot someone standing by one of the palm trees lining the front steps. Pierce is leaning against the tree, staring at me. My heart thumps a bit, the memory of our last conversation popping into my mind. I give him a quick nod, then get back to work.
I hurry around to the back of the vehicle and unload their things straight into a golf cart while Mrs. Briar regales us with stories about her daughter-in-law from hell.
Mr. Briar pipes up after the third horror story. “Christ, woman, she’s not that bad. You just hate her because she’s a master baker, and you can’t even get a pie crust to stay together.”
“Oh, is that so? If you don’t like my pie, you can just keep your face out of it from now on,” Mrs. Briar says.
Did she just meanher pie? Can’t have, right?
She turns to me with bedroom eyes behind her bifocals. “You look like the type to know a good pie when you see one.”
Oh, yes. Yes, she did meanthatkind of pie.
Reaching up, she pats my cheek. “Such a handsome young lad. If things don’t work out with this one, I’ll give you a call.”
I chuckle, then lower my voice. “How’s it going so far?”
“Eh, the first sixty years have been passable, but I’m still not entirely sure I’ll stick it out ’til the end.”
“You can have ’er,” Mr. Briar grumbles, waving his hand at me.
Chuckling, I say, “Let’s get you two love birds off to the honeymoon suite, shall we?”
Five minutes later, they’re snuggled in the backseat of a golf cart as one of the porters whisks them off to their room for a stiff drink and a big sleep. I walk over to Pierce, who is still standing under the tree out of the light.
“Hiding from the paparazzi?” I ask lightly.
“Why? Are you hoping to rat me out again?” he quips. After a small pause, he says, “I’m waiting for my wife, actually. She asked me to meet her in front of the lobby after her shift. I thought she must have needed to pop by here on her way out, but now I see she had other motives.”
“She wants us to kiss and make up,” I say.
“Make up, yes,” Emma’s voice cuts through the quiet evening air. I turn to see her walking toward us in her chef’s uniform that looks like it needs a good scrub. “I don’t expect you to kiss.”
Pierce and I both chuckle as she makes her way over to him and gives him a light peck on the lips. They are disgustingly happy, aren’t they?
She wraps her arms around his waist. “Sorry I’m late, darling. The twins got in a bit of a dust up and needed some intervention.”
