“I bet all the boys turn their heads when you walk into a room.”
“There’s only one boy I care about these days.”
“The mysterious Will. Oft-heard, but not yet seen.”
“He’ll be back soon. You’ll like him.”
“If he’s anything like Danny, then I’m sure I’ll like him. It’s very easy to be fond of your Danny. All the girls are smitten, and they’re heartbroken he’s already taken.”
“Carly will be happy to hear that,” Lara smiled.
“It’s fun, isn’t it?” Mae said, sounding giddy.
“What’s that?”
“To be able to talk about inconsequential things like this.”
Lara nodded. “It is, isn’t it?”
“What is?” a deep male voice said behind them.
They both looked back at West, coming out of the lobby. He had showered, slicked his hair back, and changed into a new pair of jeans and a long-sleeve shirt.
He smiled at them. “Am I interrupting something, ladies?”
“Girl talk,” Lara said.
“What about?”
She shook her head. “Nothing important.”
He walked to the railing and breathed in the air. “It’s a hell of a place you guys have here, Lara. When I heard the creatures — what do you guys call them, ghouls? — couldn’t get to it, I was skeptical. But it’s true. Look at us, standing out here in the dark, in the open, talking like we’re on someone’s porch. It’s amazing.”
“It certainly is,” Mae said. “I was just telling Lara that.”
“Aren’t you tired, Mae?” West said, looking over at the older woman. “You look tired. You should probably go get some rest.” Then to Lara, as if to explain, “We had to push it this afternoon to get down here. We were so close the ladies couldn’t wait. Heck, I think we almost ran out of gas. That right, Mae?”
Mae nodded. “That’s right, West.”
“You should go get some rest,” West said again.
Mae looked at Lara almost apologetically. “I should go get some rest. Thank you again, Lara. This island…it’s everything we dreamt it would be, and more.”
“You’re welcome, Mae. I’ll see you tomorrow for breakfast.”
Lara hugged her and was surprised by the strength in Mae’s embrace.
“God bless you, dear,” the older woman said, before pulling away and disappearing back into the lobby.
“I have to tell you,” West said, looking after Mae, “there were times when we didn’t think she’d make it. She’s not exactly a spring chicken anymore.”
“She looks pretty strong to me.”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, they’re a tough bunch. Brody and me didn’t think some of them would make it during the trip down here, to be honest with you. You know, we almost turned back after we couldn’t get your radio broadcast anymore.”
It wasn’t our radio broadcast, she thought, but said instead, “Mae says Bonnie wouldn’t let you guys give up.”
“Bonnie can be pretty persuasive.” He smiled to himself, like he was reliving a private joke. “She’s a tough one. But then, I guess you’d have to be to survive these days, right?”
“It doesn’t hurt.”
He looked around at the bright hotel grounds. “How many lights are on this island? I stopped counting after about twenty.”
“There’s a lot.”
“And they’re all solar-powered?”
“Yup,” she said.
He must have sensed the lack of enthusiasm in her voice. “I think we might have gotten off on the wrong foot,” he said, looking at her. He was so much taller, with broad shoulders, that she felt like a child staring back at him.
“What makes you say that?”
“I don’t know, it’s just a feeling that I got. Maybe I’m wrong.”
“What’s on your mind, West?”
“Brody and me, we’re not bad guys. We’ll earn our keep around here.”
“I don’t doubt that.”
“I can’t promise the same thing about the company we came with. But you’re not going to have to worry about us. We’re not afraid of hard work. Never were, and never will be.”
“I believe you.”
“So in case you have any doubts, don’t. I get it, we need to earn your trust. And we will. You just have to give us a chance, that’s all.”
“We’ll see,” she said.
Lara gave him a smile that she hoped (prayed) was at least semi-convincing.
She headed for Danny and Carly’s room, next to the one Vera shared with Elise. The conversation with West continued to gnaw at her, ten minutes after leaving him behind on the patio by himself. It wasn’t just what he had said, but what he didn’t say. There was a tone in his voice that she couldn’t quite figure out.
Was he warning me? Or maybe threatening me?
She knocked on Carly and Danny’s door. “You guys decent?”
“No, but come on in anyway,” Danny called from inside.
Lara entered. Carly was folding freshly laundered clothes on the bed, while Danny was brushing his teeth in the open bathroom door, with only a towel around his waist.
He winked at her. “Hey, Lara, like what you see?”
“Oh, gross, babe, go finish your shower,” Carly said.
“Shout if you want a piece of this,” Danny said, flexing his biceps before disappearing into the bathroom. She heard the shower turn on a few moments later.
Carly looked over at her. “The love of my life, Lara. Can you believe how charming he is?”
“Mae says all the new girls are swooning over him.”
“Of course they are. It’s the blue eyes and California good looks. Why did you think I jumped his bones in the first place?”
“Oh, so the secret’s out now.”
“Was it ever in?” Carly picked up a stack of shirts and walked to a dresser. “You’re worried about them.”
It wasn’t a question, and she didn’t even have to elaborate on who “them” was.
Lara sat down on the bed. “Yeah.”
“Did you decide what to do?”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you guys about.”
“I think it’s the right decision.”
“I didn’t tell you what I’ve decided.”
“You don’t think I can read you like an open book after all we’ve been through?”
“So you agree?”
“It’s the only decision. The other girls are terrified of them, especially the younger ones.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Bonnie told you she’s been able to keep the two of them away from the other girls and her sister Jo, right?”
“She did, but she didn’t say anything about the others.”
“She didn’t have to. It’s inferred, Lara.” She cocked her head. “Is ‘inferred’ the right word?”
Lara smiled. “Close enough. Tell me what you mean.”
“If you read between the lines, it means Brody and West have tried to do things with the other girls before. One of them is what, thirteen?”
Lara nodded. Lucy was fourteen, and Kylie thirteen. They were both pretty girls, and she saw how Bonnie, Jo, and Gwen protectively watched over them. She imagined it must have been the same with her and Carly, and the girls.
The shower turned off and a few seconds later Danny reappeared in the doorway, wearing the same towel around his waist, wet hair dripping onto the carpet underneath him.
“Lara and I were talking about that thing,” Carly said.
Danny grinned. “I get to be in the middle.”
“Don’t be an idiot, babe. The cowboys.”
“But we can still discuss the other thing, right?”
“Maybe later,” Lara said. “What do you think, Danny?”
He shrugged. “Just call it Brokeback Island.”