Page 7 of You Know You Wanna

“Everyone has a phone at my age,” she said, following me into the simple bedroom. As James had said, it had bunk beds right in front of us and a small adjoining bathroom, but outside of a wardrobe and a dresser, that was it. The full extent of our amenities for the next couple days.

Laurene groaned. “Are we really going to sleep in here?”

“Yes, baby. We are.” I dragged our suitcases to the wardrobe and hoisted them in, not bothering with unpacking since we’d be moving out so soon. “Cheer up. It’ll be like summer camp.”

“Summer camp in a horror movie, maybe,” she muttered, flopping down on the bottom bunk and checking her phone again. “Seriously? There’s not even a bar. Not one. How is that possible? Did we drive to another country?”

“Sweetheart, if you wanted total freedom to sit around and stare at makeup tutorials on your phone all day, you should’ve gone on the yacht with your mom. Let’s go take a look around, shall we?”

She pouted, her eyebrows mashed in a little crease as she sat up and pulled her long red hair into a ponytail. “Is our AC broken?”

“I’m not sure,” I said, glancing at the remote on the bed and then up at the unit on the wall. “I don’t think so, though. It might just not be on yet.”

“What kind of resort is this?” she asked as she watched me hit the power button. “Letting guests stay in rooms that aren’t even cool in this heat.”

As she frowned at me like I’d done her a great disservice, I realized it was time to take action. “Come on. Let’s go outside. We’re going for a walk to take a look around, then maybe you can check out the swimming pools. That’ll cool you down.”

She sighed heavily but headed outside and I followed, sliding my hands into the pockets of my slacks. I looked at the view from our porch. Dark clouds were rolling in, the air so thick with moisture that I was convinced it was going to start raining any minute now, but somehow, that only added to the natural beauty of this place.

I even saw a squirrel running along one of the tree branches, but it was gone before I could point it out to my daughter. “This isn’t so bad. At least it’s beautiful here.”

She looked around too, but she didn’t seem to like what she was seeing as much. From my point of view, the greenery of the landscape, the gardens alongside the resort, and even the stone-built main building were gorgeous. Not to mention the mountains all around and sky that stretched for miles without being interrupted by a single skyscraper.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d heard such silence or breathed in such earthy air. I hadn’t really spent much time in the great outdoors for at least the last twenty years, but now that we were here, I found myself looking forward to the break.

Laurene would come around. She just wasn’t used to anything like this at all. I was about to ask her if she wanted to start our walk now when it was like the heavens opened. Rain began to come down and a group of kids emerged from the woodsy path to our right, laughing as they ran toward the resort with the blonde woman from the diner in tow.

“Who is that?” Laurene asked, leaning forward a little.

The kids squealed with laughter at something she shouted at them.

I hadn’t been able to make out the words, but it was clear that the kids were having a ball with her, even though they were getting soaked. I found myself asking the same thing. Who is the sexy blonde with the nice smile who keeps popping up today?

Her hair was drenched, and her T-shirt clung to those incredible curves as she ran. The woman’s loud, infectious laughter drifted over to us even above the sound of the rain sheeting down onto our roof. She should’ve looked like a clumsy, drowned rat right about then, but instead, she seemed happy and carefree, like there was nothing in the world that could touch her or bring her down.

What I wouldn’t give to feel like that for just one day.

For a long minute, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her, just watching quietly as she herded the children into a door at the side of the main building. Once she disappeared, I ran a hand through my own—dry—hair and shook my head at my errant thoughts.

Sure, it had been a while since I’d gotten laid, but this was ridiculous. She was just a pretty girl. A pretty girl with an exceptionally sexy figure and the kind of curves I’d always been partial to, but still.

Laurene turned to me with a slightly pained expression on her face, distracting me from my thoughts about the blonde. “What do we do now? There’s no service and it’s pouring, so we can’t even go for a stupid walk. How long are we staying again, and are you sure that we absolutely have to?”

4

BIRDIE

After I wrapped up my yoga class for the morning, I was rolling up my mat and saying goodbye to everyone as Jenna walked in. My friend looked slightly frazzled, her curly hair falling out of her messy bun and her eyes a little more wild than usual.

“Birdie, I’m so glad you’re here!” she called as she crossed the studio toward me. “Please tell me you can help out at the Kids Club again today? We’ve got a new kid who doesn’t really want to be there and I’ve got my hands full with the littles. Margie, the toddler with the pigtails from yesterday? She doesn’t want to leave me alone for a minute and she’s refusing to leave the waterpark. Gracie is with them now, but she has to leave in a few and Margie was wailing when I left.”

“Of course, I can help,” I said immediately, sliding my rolled-up mat into my cubby on the wall and grinning at her. “I love the kids. We’ll get them sorted out. Don’t worry.”

“Thank you.” She gave me a big hug before we jogged back to the Kids Camp together.

It was an entire section of the resort that had been fenced off to prevent our younger guests from escaping, and I glanced at Jenna when she opened the entry gate. “How many older kids have we got today?”

“Right now, only the new girl,” she said. “Mason and Jordan are on a fishing trip with their parents today and Aliyah is on a bike ride with hers.”