Wait for the Rain (13 page)

Skylar tapped KC’s arm. “Forget what I said earlier about refraining from gossip. That sounds juicy, so I’ll be following up on it later.”

KC smiled and looked at Daphne. “See? No one’s life goes exactly the way they think it will when they’re in college. We all have hiccups and detours along the way. That’s what makes it interesting.”

Skylar nodded. “Definitely. Anyone who tells you otherwise is probably hiding a dead body in the basement.”

Daphne laughed, softly but sincerely. “You guys are so great. I’m sorry for turning our first night here into a sob show.”

Skylar held up a hand. “Stop that. From now on, no apologizing for your feelings, okay? If you want to cry, then cry. If you want to laugh, then laugh. If you want to complain about your ex-husband, then complain about your ex-husband. This trip is about celebrating the fact that we’ve been alive for four decades, and I don’t want any of us to feel like we have to put on an act and make our lives look like something they’re not.”

“Well put,” KC said with a smile. “I can totally picture that on a greeting card.”

Daphne smiled. “I wish I shared your sunny take on the whole
turning forty
thing. Right now I just feel like a middle-aged woman with a broken past and nothing to look forward to.”

Skylar stood up and clapped some sand off her hands and backside. “Okay, I realize that ten seconds ago I said I wanted us to speak freely on this trip, but that might be the biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard.” She held up a finger again. “
First
of all, you’re not middle-aged. As you yourself pointed out over dinner, you’re still in your thirties; is that not correct?”

Daphne nodded.

“Good. Now, thirties is hardly middle-aged, and anyone who would suggest otherwise is an idiot.” She held up a second finger. “And
second
of all, as we also discovered during dinner, your eyes are still functioning like they did when you were a teenager, is that not also correct?”

Daphne nodded again.

“Good. More evidence that you’re not ready for a senior living community anytime soon. And for the record, only those whose eyes aren’t working
at all
couldn’t see how gorgeous you are for a woman of any age; is that not correct as well?” She looked at KC.

KC agreed. “I was shocked to hear you haven’t been dating. I figured you’d have men chasing you down the street, or the cul-de-sac, or wherever it is that you live.”

Skylar clasped her hands together. “Good, we’re all on the same page. Daphne, you are intelligent, genuine, and more beautiful than you’ve ever been, so for the love of God, let’s get you back on track to living the life you deserve, which is one filled with love, friendship, happiness, and—for this week at least—lots of mango sangrias, margaritas, and rum punches. Are you with me?” She held her hand down to Daphne.

Emotionally exhausted but no longer despondent, Daphne looked at her friends and felt an enormous wave of relief begin to wash over her. She’d been so scared of revealing her true feelings, yet now that she had, she wondered what she’d been so afraid of. They loved her then, and they loved her now.
I’m still the same person to them,
she realized.
Maybe I’m not as lost as I think I am.

Feeling drained yet hopeful, she held out her hand to Skylar. “All right, I’m with you. That sounded like another greeting card, by the way.”

“Maybe I should look into that as yet another side business,” Skylar said. “Apparently I’m full of creativity this week.”

KC jumped up. “You’re full of something, that’s for sure.”

“Watch it, pip-squeak,” Skylar said. “I could squash you like an ant just by sitting on you.”

Skylar and KC each took one of Daphne’s hands, then pulled her up to a standing position. As KC wiped the sand off her backside, Skylar stood in front of Daphne and put her hands on Daphne’s shoulders. “Are you feeling better now? Even a little?”

Daphne nodded, then smiled as she wiggled her feet back into her flip-flops. “I am.”
I really am.

“Good.” Skylar slipped an arm around her and gently nudged her back toward the beach house. “Now let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow night I’m not taking any excuses about how tired you two are.”

“Uh oh,” KC whispered from behind them.

“I heard that,” Skylar said without turning around.

“What happened to your selective hearing?” KC asked with a groan.

“What did you say?” Skylar put her hands behind her ears, then looked over at Daphne and winked.

Chapter Six

When Daphne woke up the next morning, she yawned and stretched her arms overhead. Slowly the deliciousness of her new surroundings washed over her.
I’m in an extravagant house on spectacular St. Mirika. With Skylar and KC.

That was quickly followed by another realization.
I broke down last night. They know now. But it’s all right.
The budding sense of hopefulness she’d felt on the beach last night was still there.
I’m going to be okay.

Then a third realization hit her, this one not as easy to swallow.
Tomorrow I turn forty. Forty! Wow.

She stretched her arms again, then froze. Perched high on the far side of the ceiling, over near the glass doors leading to the deck, was a small gecko.

“Hey little guy, what’s your name?” Daphne said softly. She held a hand to her ear, pretending to listen, then made up a name for her new friend.

“Fred, did you say? It’s nice to meet you, Fred. I’m Daphne, and I’m going to be forty years old tomorrow. What do you think of that?”

She chuckled to herself.
What is wrong with me?

Whatever the impetus, it felt good to laugh. She pulled the duvet to one side and gently swung her legs to the tile floor. She wiggled her feet into a pair of disposable slippers she’d found the night before in the closet—they looked just like the ones she’d seen in hotel rooms and were wrapped in a tidy band made of thick white card stock—then shuffled into the bathroom to get ready to face the day.

As she brushed her teeth and looked at her reflection, she realized how much better she felt than she had just twenty-four hours ago. Something was missing
now: a weight she’d been carrying around for so long that she’d forgotten what it felt like not to have it dragging her down. She hadn’t planned to confess her struggle to come to terms with her failed marriage, but breaking down and opening up to her friends had lifted an enormous burden off her psyche. It was liberating.

She set the toothbrush down on the sink and spoke silently to the woman in the mirror.
This is your last day in your thirties. You’re on a beautiful tropical island with your two best friends. You’d better make the most of it!

There was no use fighting it. Like it or not, at this time tomorrow, she’d be forty. She was still dreading it, but not nearly as much as she’d been just yesterday. She was smart enough to recognize that for the mental victory it was.
At least I don’t need reading glasses yet.

After finishing up in the bathroom, she returned to the bedroom to check her phone. Her face lit up at the notice of a text message from Emma, the first she’d received since before she left for the airport. With the message was a photo of Emma and Brian on a chairlift, waving at the camera through snowflakes, silly grins on their pink faces.

Hi Mom, having a great time! Hope you are too. Happy early birthday if this reaches you!

She smiled at the message and briefly held the phone close to her heart. It had been a long time since Emma had sent her a friendly text like that. She typed a quick reply, then set the phone down on the desk, trying not to think about who had taken the photo.

She looked up at the ceiling. “Hey, Fred, my daughter’s on vacation with my ex-husband and his new fiancée. Isn’t that
great
?”

She chuckled again to herself.
I think I’m losing it. But at least I’m laughing and not crying, right?

She finished dressing, then glanced up at the gecko one last time and waved good-bye before shutting her bedroom door and making her way down the hall.

“Good morning, sunshine, did you sleep okay?” KC said in a hushed voice from the kitchen, then put a finger to her lips and jutted her chin toward the living room. Daphne turned her head and saw Skylar hunched over her laptop, headset on, her dexterous fingers once again flying over the keyboard.

“Ye
s . . .
got i
t . . .
ye
s . . .
got that too. Wait a minute, Jason, could you please repeat that last number? Hm
m . . .
okay, yes this time around, but that can’t happen again. No really, it can’t, trust me.”

Daphne glanced at KC, who responded with an “I have no idea” gesture.

Skylar kept talking. “You’ve
got
to get me a meeting with Alfonso next week, okay? Yes, yes. Got it. And what about Germany? We have an analyst call in two weeks. Without that report, they’re going to be at our throats. Julie, did you hear that?”

“She never stops, does she?” Daphne whispered.

“I guess not,” KC whispered back. “Want some coffee?” She held up her mug. “They’ve got one of those superdeluxe machines that brew one delicious cup at a time. I was about to go enjoy this on the deck and admire the view. Come join me!”

Daphne smiled. “Sounds heavenly. You go ahead, I’ll make myself a cup and meet you out there.”

KC pointed to the half-and-half and sugar she’d left out on the counter, then carefully made her way past Skylar. She quietly opened the French doors leading outside as Daphne tiptoed into the kitchen. She pulled a white ceramic mug from one of the cabinets and set it under the nozzle of the coffeemaker, then pressed the button. As she watched it brew, she listened to bits and pieces of Skylar’s side of the conversation and wondered what the discussion was about. It had been ages since Daphne had been in an office environment, so much of the jargon sounded like a foreign language to her.

“Have they finished the RFP yet? If not, they’re going to drag down the entire CRM implementatio
n . . .
The data for that IBU is in the cloud. Yes, check the content management system for Asia Pa
c . . .
How’s the pipeline visibility for Germany?”

Daphne stirred sugar into the mug, then picked it up and watched her friend. Skylar’s brow was furrowed in concentration, her mouth tense. In Daphne’s mind, Skylar’s corporate life had always seemed so glamorous, especially when compared to her own suburban existence, but right now it didn’t look all that appealing.

She took a sip of her coffee.
Is that what my life would be like if I’d gone down that route? Would I be working right now too? On my vacation?

She tiptoed toward the glass doors leading to the deck, which KC had left slightly ajar. Skylar looked up and gave her a weary smile as she passed. Daphne thought she looked tired. And a little stressed.

Daphne smiled back, then gently shut the doors behind her.

“Maybe it’s because I’ve had a good night’s sleep, but I think it’s even prettier here today than it was yesterday,” Daphne said as she settled into a deck chair next to KC.

KC propped her legs up on a bench. “Probably because you had a good cry too. Remember what Eleanor said yesterday about how rain makes you see things in a new way? Tears are a form of rain, in my opinion.”

Daphne flinched. “Can we maybe not talk about my meltdown? Or at least not yet? It’s eight o’clock in the morning.”

KC grinned. “Meltdown, that’s cute. Spoken like a true mom.”

Daphne smiled weakly, then gazed out at the clear water. “
Anyhow
, I think the water has a little blue in it today. Yesterday it was more green. The sand looks just as white, though. Stunning, isn’t it?”

KC reached over and clinked her mug against Daphne’s. “Here’s to another day in paradise, and yes, I realize I kind of just plagiarized a Phil Collins song. Who knows what other adventures await?”

“In all seriousness, thanks for being there last night,” Daphne said as she sipped her coffee. “I know that wasn’t one of my finer moments.”

“Nonsense. It was one of your
finest
moments.”

Daphne gave her an incredulous look. “How so, exactly?”

KC set her mug down and sat up straight. “Do you know how many people go through their entire lives pretending everything is okay when it’s not, burying their feelings, never being able to confide in anyone? It’s toxic to keep all that bottled up inside, but people do it because they’re terrified to admit that their life isn’t perfect.”

Daphne frowned. “I never thought about it that way. I guess I knew
I
was doing it, but it never occurred to me that other people were doing it too.”

“I’m proud of you for having the guts to pull the curtain back a little bit.” KC pointed to the cloudless sky. “And it’s only rained once. Remember what Eleanor said? Think how enlightened we’re going to be by the end of the week. Geniuses, probably.”

Daphne laughed. “I guess we’ll see.”

“So are you still up for a workout on the beach? We should go before it gets too hot.”

Daphne grimaced. “I want to, but I’m kind of scared.”

KC waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t be scared. It will be fun, I promise. I’m not out to kill anyone. And afterward we can walk to that hut with the banana on top and get a smoothie.”

Daphne glanced down the beach and had an unsettling thought. If they did their session on the stretch between here and the smoothie shop, there was a decent chance Clay from yesterday and his bachelor-party friends would see them at some point. She wasn’t thrilled at the idea of
anyone
seeing her suffer through a sweaty exercise session, much less a group of men in their twenties.

She blinked.
Why am I thinking about this? What is the big deal? Although, it was kind of fun talking to him.

She swallowed and casually pointed in the other direction. “I’ll do it, but I’m thinking it would be cool to check out a new part of the beach. Maybe we could do the boot camp down that way?”

“Sure, I’m easy.” KC took another sip of her coffee, then kissed the mug. “Have you noticed that even the
coffee
tastes better here than at home?”

Daphne smiled. “I think that’s because the machine that brewed it probably cost more than my car did.”

“Perhaps, but part of me thinks tiny fairies sprinkled St. Mirika with magic dust that makes everything here beautiful and yummy.” She used her fingertips to make pretend droplets fall from the sky.

“Good morning, ladies, sorry for having to begin our first full day here with another work call, but it is what it is.” Skylar’s voice suddenly boomed from inside the house, then returned to a normal decibel as she stepped out on the deck. “Wow, it’s already getting warm out here.”

“Everything okay at the office?” KC asked. “That call sounded a little tense.”

Skylar shrugged. “A minor crisis, but nothing I haven’t been through before.”

“You were right about your work demeanor,” Daphne said. “You sound so professional on the phone. It’s impressive.”

Skylar did a little curtsy. “Well, thank you, my love. I do my best.”

“We were just talking about doing a beach workout, then heading over to check out that smoothie place,” KC said. “You in?”

Skylar shook her head. “I was
planning
to, bu
t . . .
”

KC raised her eyebrows.

Skylar laughed. “Okay, I’m totally lying, I wasn’t planning to, and yes, I know I shook your hand, but in court I would swear that was under duress. Plus, I’ve been doing supported squats all morning.”

“Supported squats?” Daphne said with a cough. “As i
n . . .
sitting down?”

Skylar winked at her. “Indeed. I might be able to join you for the smoothie part, though.”

“If you’re breaking our deal, does that mean I’m off the hook for shopping?” KC said.

Skylar gestured toward the glass door. “Anyone want some more coffee while I’m in the kitchen?”

Daphne and KC both raised their hands. “I assume you didn’t hear my question about the shopping?” KC asked.

“You assume correctly,” Skylar said. “Two coffees, coming right up.”