1 Sunshine Hunter (10 page)

My heart was racing again.

I had just returned from playing racquetball, Darby wasn’t in his room yet, and everything was quiet. I took advantage of the extra time to dial Mick’s number.

He answered on the second ring. “Susan,” he said softly, almost breathlessly, with tenderness and concern. “Where are you?”

“Mick.” I couldn’t say anything more. I didn’t want to cry, and I had to take a few seconds to get my emotions in check. His voice made my knees weak, and I
sat down on the bed.

“I’ve been worried sick about you,” he said. “Your car is in your carport, but you haven’t been in your apartment
or at work, and no one knows where you are.”

Oops. I had forgotten about that. I swore Samantha and Angela to secrecy about my whereabouts. I
didn’t want anyone to know I had left the state, and I hadn’t wanted anyone to tell Mick where I was.

“I’m in Florida,” I said sheepishly. “With Darby,” I said in an even smaller voice.

“What! You’re in Florida!” he practically yelled it. “Why on earth would you be in Florida? And why are you with Darby?” The tenderness was gone, and I could hear exasperation in his voice.

His tone set me on edge, and I was defensive now, “I’m on vacation. And don’t fo
rget, you lied to me. I was so confused, and I wanted to get away.”

I could hear him sigh. “Why did Darby go with you?”

Was he jealous? If so, that was a good sign.

“Darby already had the trip planned,” I told him. “I crashed his vacation. It’s not like we’re staying in the same room, and besides he’s gay.”

“Well, I know that,” he said.

“Mick!” I
spouted. “You did NOT know Darby was gay!” I practically screeched it at him.

“I did, too. I thought everybody knew that,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Well, I just found out,” I said, my voice still raised. “And it seems that’s the way things are going for me now. I’m always the last one to find out about everything – including your family.”

“Susan,” he sighed, “
come home. We can talk about everything when you get here.”

I hesitated before saying, “Could we please just talk now? I’ve had some time to think, and I’m ready to listen.”

“Ok,” he said, “but there really isn’t much to tell.” He paused as if to gather his thoughts. I was quiet and waited. A few seconds later, he started, “Jenny and I were married right out of high school, and she got pregnant right away. Our parents helped to support us while I went to college, but I also worked part-time. It didn’t take us long to realize we had made a mistake. I was never home, and Jenny resented having a baby so young. She never resented our son, Alex, and she’s a good mother, but she never had a chance to follow any of her dreams. The more success I had, the more unhappy she was. Even when I tried to get her to go back to school or open a business, she no longer had any interest.” He paused again. I remained silent and waited.

“About two years ago, she finally got involved in the community theater over in Marshall, and she loved it. Acting was one of her dreams, and she was finally following one. She would never admit to it, and I never asked her about it, but I’ve been told that for the past year she’s been pretty tight with some guy there.
She
actually approached
me
with the idea of getting a divorce. Now that Alex is 14, and has his own activities and circle of friends, it seemed like the right time. We’ve all been going our own separate way for years.” He paused again. Was he done?

“And that’s all of it, Susan
,” he said. “We filed for the divorce, and I moved out. I didn’t plan on meeting anyone for a long time. When I first saw you on the court that day, I was so taken by everything about you. You were so feminine, yet you played so hard. Your gym clothes were different from every other woman I saw in the club, right down to your pink laces. Everything about you seemed like fun, and it had been such a long time since I’d had any fun at all. I couldn’t stop smiling at you. You were – you are – beautiful.”

I couldn’t talk. I was on the verge of melting into the phone to be with him, and
I didn’t want him to know I had tears streaming down my face.

It must have seemed like an awkward pause to him, because he went on, “Susan, really, this should have been over before I ever met you. If Jenny didn’t have the rental properties from her parents in New York, it would have been. I’m so sorry
I hurt you. I can only hope you’ll forgive me.”

I wasn’t yet ready to put my feelings into words, “Why didn’t you return my calls?” I asked him. I wasn’t accusing him, I was just asking while I choked back my tears.

“I was on a job site over in Carnegie on Tuesday. Somehow my phone was left behind, and a courier just dropped it off for me about an hour ago. I saw you had called, so I knew you were alive, and I was relieved. I wanted to try to call you again this evening.”

My anger was gone, and
I finally gave in. “Mick, I’m sorry I reacted like I did. I thought you were just another snake-in-the-grass cheater. When you first started to explain, I think deep down I believed you, but it was too much to process, and I needed to get away from you, so I ran off with Darby.” I paused for a second to grab a tissue and wipe my nose. “We’re flying out Saturday morning and should be home sometime in the afternoon.”

“Alex has a school dance on Satu
rday night, and I’m chaperoning,” he said. “And I’m taking him to a baseball game on Sunday afternoon, so let’s get together Monday after work, and we can talk some more, but I promise there are no more secrets.”

“I’d like that,” I told him. “Mick …
?”

“Hmm?”

“I miss you,” I said softly.

“Susan,” his voice was tender again, “you have no idea how much I miss you.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was now 7:00. Darby had called earlier to ask me to meet him in the lobby at 7:30.

After sprucing up my makeup and brushing out my hair, I chose to wear a pair of white pintuck Capri pants with a teal racerback tank top. I finished the look with my new peacock peep-toe shoes. The shoes were super comfortable, but I was walking on air anyway after talking with Mick. How was I going to get through two more days of Florida before heading for home?

I left my room and took the elevator to the lobby. I was right on time, and Darby was chatting with the desk clerk. I walked over to join them.

“Well, well, well,” Darby said to me. “Imagine my surprise when I
come here to the front desk, and I find there are keys waiting for me for a Taurus. What, pray tell, happened to the Fusion?”

Oh my gosh! That was hours ago, and I had completely forgotten about it. “Four flat tires. That’s what happened to it.” I told him.

“Were you speeding again? Were the police chasing you? Did you run over a spike strip they put down to stop you?” I knew he was teasing me.

“No,
to all of the above,” I said laughing. I pulled him by his arm off to the side of the desk, out of hearing of the clerk. “Someone flattened the tires when I was shopping. It had to be Skinny Guy. Maybe he thought you had the car. I didn’t feel threatened at the time. It was more like someone was being a jerk and wanting to make life miserable.” I pressed the issue with him again. “This really seems like a jilted lover. Or maybe he read one of your articles and you hit a nerve with him.” I was suddenly excited. “Darby! That has to be it! What have you been writing about lately? What have you written that would make someone mad enough to want to hurt you?”

He thought for a moment
and said, “Nothing. I really can’t think of anything. I’ve mostly been doing marketing writing and web writing for Brendan’s Wholesale. They’re expanding west of the Mississippi, and they’ve kept me busy for the last six months. I’m sorry, Susan, I honestly don’t know what he would want with me.”

Still puzzled, we left the hotel and
made the short drive to Pizza Pete’s. The Taurus was roomier and more comfortable than the Fusion. The windows were up and the air conditioner was on.

“What did you do today?” I asked him.

“Actually,” he said hesitating for a moment before plunging ahead, “I met purpleflamingo a day early.”

“Oh my
gosh!” I squealed as I shoved him on his arm. “Tell me all about him! Is he good looking? Did you hit it off? Was it love at first sight? Are we still going to watch him dance tomorrow?”

Darby was laughing, “Susan, stop! I’ll fill you in on all the details over pizza. Let’s just say it was interesting.”

“Interesting is never good,” I told him.

“Well, it might be. We’ll see
,” he said. “Did you have fun shopping?”

“I did. I’ll show you everything later. My shoes are new, do you like them?” I asked.

“I do,” he said with a bright smile. “They’re so cute.”

Yeah, $290 cute
, I thought.

“Anyway,” I continued with my story. “After the flat tires, I had to take a cab back to the hotel, and then another cab to the racquet club, and a green Sonic was there, but no Skinny Guy, and I played a Neanderthal
who drilled me in my leg with the ball, and by tomorrow it’s going to be a really ugly bruise.” I took a deep breath and said, “And that was my day.”

“Well, it certainly wasn’t boring,” he said laughing as we pulled into the parking lot of Pizza Pete’s. The style of the building and the layout of
the parking lot indicated this had been a soda stand at one time, probably complete with girls on roller skates to take your order. The building had been painted in Italian red, white, and green stripes.

We went inside and chose a table by the window. The décor was diner Italian. Faux grapes, wine bottles, and pictures of Old Italy adorned the walls. It was charming in a cheesy kind of way. A bulletin board featured news articles and photographs from when the F
ood Network crew had been filming. We decided to order the pizza that was highlighted on the show, the Molto Bene, made with pesto, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, spinach and mozzarella. A glass of Chianti for each of us rounded out our order.

Our wine arrived within minutes, and we both sa
t back and relaxed. “Ok, Darby, let’s have it” I told him. “Tell me all about him. Did you guys share your real names?”

“Yes, we did,” he chuckled. “It was f
un. We talked earlier today to confirm our restaurant reservations for tomorrow night, and he was free this afternoon, so I invited him over to hang out at the pool.” He chuckled again and shook his head. “He’s quite a character. More flamboyant than I’m used to, but he was fun. His real name is John Loudermilk. His friends call him Johnny.”

“Wha
t did you guys do?” I asked with a big smile. I was enjoying Darby’s obvious happiness.

“Well, it’s always kind of awkward getting to know
someone new, but it helped we’ve talked online so much. We lounged at the pool, drank mai tais, and talked for a while. He’s really an intelligent and very interesting person. I enjoyed talking with him about his culinary school experience, and we have a lot of the same interests.” He hung his head, shook it again, and then laughed. “But when a group of Vegas showgirls came out to the pool, he was all
purpleflamingo
.”

“Vegas showgirls?” I
asked perplexed. “What are a group of Vegas showgirls doing in Florida?”

“Well, the
y’re not really from Vegas,” he explained. “They’re six girls hired to be Vegas showgirl types for a convention in the hotel this weekend. They’re here early for a couple of days of vacation. And Johnny is all about putting on the show. He can turn on the drama queen with the snap of a finger.” He laughed again before continuing with his story. “Johnny corralled those girls into sitting down next to us, and then they all talked show business - costumes, headdresses, routines, even makeup. The next thing I know, he’s got all six girls in the pool, and they want me to be the judge and choose the best Esther Williams. When they ended up with about 15 more people in the pool trying to do synchronized swimming, it was too much. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. I wish you could have seen it, Susan. He’s crazy, but I think you’ll like him.”

“That sounds like it was a blast,” I told him enviously. “I’m sorry I missed it.” I was looking forward to tomorrow night. I loved colorful people, and it sounded like Johnny was going to fit the bill nicely.

Our pizza arrived, and it was delicious. Over dinner, I filled Darby in on my conversation with Mick. He looked at me affectionately, covered my hand with his, and said, “Susan, honey, I’m glad you two finally talked. I’ve always liked Mick, and it sounds like he needs a good person in his life, too. I just know things are going to work out for you two.”

“Two more days,” I said. It sounded good to say it aloud. Two more days, and we would be on an airplane headed for home.

After a late morning brunch, we were lounging by the pool. Most of the chaise lounges were occupied, but there were no Vegas showgirls in sight today.