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Instantly, the warm floral scent of a thousand flowers and the gentle gurgling of water hit my senses.
Whereas The West Flamingo naturally had a flamingo statue in the center of the lobby, The Tower had a walk-through botanical garden called The Helena Silvestre Garden.
“Wow,” Ciaran whispered as his head whipped from side to side. “It’s beautiful here.”
The garden was complete with lush trees, exotic flowers, a fountain, and an artificial soundtrack of rainforest birds. There were multiple spots perfect for selfies and group shots to make it a social media influencer’s wet dream. While it was Dante’s idea to install a botanical garden in honor of our mother, Helena, Dad and I were completely on board with the idea.
Earlier, when we parked the car, we’d exited the garage through another entry point. We hadn’t come through the lobby.
A feeling of pride swelled in my chest as Ciaran took it all in. It wasn’t the Bellagio, of course, but it was still a nice Vegas landmark.
An unusual wave of sadness hit me then. It wasn’t so much that Mom was gone. I mean, yes, I missed my mom insanely. As I looked at Ciaran, as he appreciated something that was designed in memory of my mother, I desperately wished I could tell her about him.
About how he made me feel.
About his crooked smile and his sarcastic jokes and the way he challenged me to become a better person. I still wasn’t sure how I’d resolve the situation with Coach Anderson, but with Ciaran at my side, I knew everything would come out all right.
Mom would have loved Ciaran.
Lost in thought, I almost ran right into Ciaran.
He’d stopped walking. We were steps away from being in full view of the front desk crew of The Tower.
In a worried voice, he asked me, “Um, do you think the security guard is going to question us? No offense, Matty, but you look like you’ve been hit by a truck. They’d naturally want to ensure that the owner’s son is okay.”
“How bad do I look?” I’d been typing out a text to Joan and Filipe but stopped mid-sentence.
He studied my face. His eyes landed on all the spots that stung. “Pretty bad.”
“If we go the long way around the garden, we won’t be fully visible by the front desk. And if we switch places, they’ll see you first and not me.”
“Okay,” Ciaran said as I moved to his other side.
“And hoist the statue,” I continued, “so that it covers a good portion of our faces.”
Ciaran gave me a look that said, Seriously?
“This fertility lady is heavy, Matty,” Ciaran grumbled as he adjusted his hold on the statue. “I’ve been holding it for so long that I’m probably already pregnant. Congratulations, we’re having a stone gargoyle baby.”
I laughed louder than I had intended and all of a sudden I was happy.
Like, deliriously happy. My laughter mixed with the joyous bird cacophony, which echoed around the lobby.
“I love your imagination, Ciaran.”
That got his attention. His cheeks turned pink. “Thank you.”
Instead of typing out my message to Joan, I called her. This allowed me to cover part of my face with my hand and the phone. Plus, it would be bad manners for someone to try to get my attention while I was on the phone.
Our steps were confident as we walked across the lobby just as Joan answered the phone.
“Joan!” I boomed loudly while simultaneously offering a small wave in the direction of the night receptionist. I didn’t actually look at them for the short window of time we were visible. By the time they noticed us, the tall botanical trees and the large planters of camellias would provide cover. Still, for good measure, in my faux booming voice, I added, “I need you to fax me the quarterly report again.”
“That was billionaire smooth,” Ciaran teased. I could literally feel his eye roll.
In my ear, Joan complained, “Forchristsake, Matty, warn me first before you scream my name like that. Is that code for, ‘Ciaran and I are being held captive, please send help’?”
We rounded the fragrant garden and entered the hallway with several bays of elevators.
