I freeze, and the room goes silent. Well, silent except for a lot of buzzing. It’s like a bunch of bees or something.
I know I’m not the only one to hear because everyone starts looking around, too. I try to concentrate because this is a big moment.
“Are they still alive?” I ask, attempting to ignore the buzzing sounds.
“Uh, yeah. Your grandmother lives like twenty minutes from here, and it looks like you have an aunt and two cousins that live a few blocks from her,” he says as he points to a map. Then he pulls up photos of my aunt and cousins, two girls, who look to be maybe high school or college age, a few years younger than Val and me.
“Wow,” I manage, still distracted by the buzzing. Everyone else is looking around, picking up things, and pressing buttons in the kitchen.
“What if we don’t go to the rainforest?” Hutch says. “What if you go meet them?”
My eyes widen. “And say what? Just roll up and say, ‘Hey, hi, I’m your long-lost relative’?”
“Yeah, basically exactly that,” he says.
“What the hell is that buzzing noise?” Kasen asks as he looks around.
All of a sudden, Carly’s hand flies to her mouth. We follow her gaze to find Ava, pulling multiple vibrators out of her bag and making them float like boats in the water while they are turned on.
“Mom, look, I found these massager missiles for my mermaids,” she says, proudly holding up a giant pink vibrator complete with rabbit ears.
“Oh. My. God,” Cam says as she puts a hand over her mouth. “That’s mine,” she squeaks.
“I have a pink one, a blue one, and a purple one,” Ava says as she holds up three vibrating toys that she should not have.
“Ava, where did you get those?” Carly asks, a horrified look forming on her face.
“Oh, well, Mommy, you had one in your suitcase, and then I figured I’d check everyone’s suitcases, and Miss Cam had one and Miss Piper too,” she says. “Are they massagers for girls? I haven’t checked Miss Margie’s or Miss Cornelia’s bags yet.”
Suddenly, the room is alight with activity. Half of us are dying laughing. The other half are trying to get the vibrators from Ava.
I turn to Hutch as I laugh. “Uh, I’m really glad you had me share the guesthouse with you.”
He chuckles. “Why? What’s in your bag?”
I blush. “Oh, nothing,” I say as I grab a donut and stuff it in my mouth. He doesn’t need to see my vibrator or my fancy underwear.
He raises an eyebrow.
I blush more.
“So, I guess we’re going to see my family?” I say as I finish chewing.
“Sure, I’ll drive you over there, and then we can talk about all the stuff we packed,” he says.
I roll my eyes. “OK, morning wood. I’m sure we’ll have plenty to discuss.”
And just like that, as our friends start grabbing vibrators from the child in the pool, we plan our day trip to visit the family I just found.
I squeeze Hutch’s hand as we pull onto a side street. The homes are small with gated front yards. It’s a pleasant street, nothing fancy, but it all seems familiar, like I’ve been here in a dream.
“Let’s turn around,” I whisper, fear taking over.
Hutch doesn’t stop until we’re parked in front of a little white house with a black front door. There are a few plants along the front of the house and a small fruit-bearing tree in the corner of the yard. Wind chimes make a melodic sound that takes the edge off my nerves but doesn’t eradicate my fear.
“Seriously, let’s go,” I whisper again.
Hutch turns off the engine and swivels a bit in his seat to face me, pulling my hands into his. He searches my eyes.
