Wait for the Rain (15 page)

“Good call,” KC said.

Daphne snapped back to the present. “Are you referring to that scene in
Top Gun
?”

Skylar smiled and pushed her sunglasses on top of her head. “You bet I am.”

“Best scene ever,” KC said.

“There’s a surfeit of toned skin out here, I’ll give you that,” Daphne said.

KC looked at her sideways. “Does that have anything to do with surfing?”

Daphne laughed. “Just means there are a lot of fit bodies in front of us.”

“Should we go around them?” KC pointed to the water, then looped her finger up toward the houses. “I’d hate to interrupt their game.”

Skylar put a hand out to stop KC. “What’s the rush? I say we stay and enjoy the view for a while.”

KC laughed. “Okay then, stay and enjoy the view it is.”

“I’m not opposed to that,” Daphne said with a slight smile.
What’s the harm in looking?

“Nor
should
you be opposed to it,” Skylar said. “Let’s get a little closer.”

The three of them inched their way toward the group, not wanting to draw attention to themselves. Once they were in earshot of what the players were saying, it became apparent that the chatter had much more to do with heckling than discussing the score or rules of the game.

“Come on now, Bates! My grandmother could have caught that!”

“I’m sorry, Wilson, did you say something? I can’t hear such a high-pitched voice.”

“Eric, dude, could you be any slower? You’re like a dial-up Internet connection for chrissake.”

KC grinned and put her hands on her hips. “These guys are awesome. They remind me of my brothers. Josh and Jared would fit right in too.”

“Awesome and
cute
. I like the quarterback. I wonder what his story is.” Skylar gestured to a tall, dark-haired guy in hunter-green board shorts. From that distance Daphne couldn’t tell if he was wearing a wedding ring. Then again, given what she’d recently learned from Skylar about married men, that probably didn’t mean much.

“They could pass for a boy band shooting a video, although it would be a pretty large band,” KC said. Then she looked around the surrounding beach area. “I wonder why they’re all here? I don’t see any significant others cheering them on.”

“Bachelor party,” Daphne said.

Skylar and KC both looked at her.

“Is that a guess?” Skylar asked. “Or do you know something we don’t?”

Daphne pointed at Clay, then up toward the deck. “I met the tall guy in the blue shorts yesterday when I was taking a walk on the beach. A bunch of them are staying in that house.”

Skylar checked it out. “Nice place. I wonder which one is getting married?”

“I have no idea. Clay’s the only one I met. He was on the deck by himself.”

Skylar turned to watch the game again. “I hope it’s not the quarterback.”

“We could always just ask them,” KC said.

Daphne felt her cheeks turn red. “Oh, I don’t think we should.”

“Why not?”

“Because they’re so much, you know,
younger
than we are,” Daphne said.

“So? Who cares?” KC looked puzzled.

Skylar put a hand on KC’s shoulder. “I think what she’s trying to say is that if we approach a big group of younger guys and ask them which one of them is getting married, it will make us look like cougars.”

“Like what?” KC looked even more confused now.

“Cougars.” Skylar made a clawing motion with her fingernails. “You know, older women who prey on younger men.”

KC opened her eyes wide. “That’s really a word?”

“Where have you been?” Skylar asked. “That’s been a word for years.”

KC frowned. “Well, it doesn’t sound very nice.”

Daphne nodded. “I agree. I don’t like that term. I think it’s disrespectful to women.”

“I’m not particularly fond of it either, but I didn’t make it up,” Skylar said with a shrug.

“You date younger men,” KC said to Skylar. “So you’re a cougar?”

Skylar shook her head. “I date them, but only if they approach
me
. Big difference, at least in my opinion.”

“Is there a term for men who date younger women?” KC asked.

Skylar laughed and put her hand on top of KC’s head. “Yes, my tiny friend. It’s usually called
rich
.”

KC pushed Skylar’s hand away, but she was laughing. “
Hey now
, I think my husband would take offense to that.”

Skylar laughed too. “Then don’t tell him.”

Now Daphne was also laughing. She glanced up at the sky.
It feels so good to laugh like this.

Just then a stray football came flying their way. KC bent down to pick it up, then effortlessly tossed it back to the group in a perfect spiral.

“Wow,” yelled the blond guy who caught it. “Nice arm.” He looked genuinely impressed.

KC smiled and adjusted her baseball cap. “Thanks! I played a little as a kid!” she yelled back.

Skylar chuckled. “Of course you did.”

The majority of the players were now looking at Daphne and her friends from afar, Clay included. He clapped some sand off his hands and waved. “Hey, Daphne White, good to see you again!” he yelled.

She waved back and forced herself to yell loud enough for him to hear her, although she could feel her cheeks burning at the attention. “Hi, Clay Hanson!”

“You and he are on first-
and
last-name basis?” Skylar said. “Well done,
Daphne White
.”

“Please behave,” Daphne whispered back to her.

Skylar slipped her sunglasses back over her eyes. “Clay
Handsome
, is it?”

“Clay
Hanson
,” Daphne said, still in a whisper. “And please keep your voice down.”

Skylar smiled without looking at her. “You call him whatever you like, and I’ll do the same. All I’m saying is that he’s quite the eye candy, and it’s been a long time since you’ve visited the candy store.”

KC rubbed her hands together and grinned. “Can I just say I’m
loving
hanging out with you two again?”

“Halftime!” someone called out, and the game quickly broke up as nearly everyone headed up to the deck, where a large red cooler filled with ice-cold bottles of water—and beers—awaited.

Two players stayed behind. One was the blond who had caught KC’s throw. The other was Clay. They chatted with each other for a moment, then turned and began walking toward Daphne, Skylar, and KC. When Daphne realized what they were doing, she swallowed and hoped her friends wouldn’t say anything to embarrass her.
He’s coming over here!

As if reading her mind, Skylar patted Daphne’s arm. “Don’t worry,” she said under her breath.

“Thank you,” Daphne said, her voice hushed.

“Great game,” Skylar said in a normal decibel as Clay and the blond approached.

“Thanks,” Clay said with an easy smile. Then he looked at Daphne but pointed the Nerf ball at KC as he spoke again. “I gotta say, your friend here could show you a thing or two about throwing.”

“
Both
my friends here could show me a thing or two about a
lot
of things,” Daphne said with a smile of her own, one that didn’t feel as forced as she feared it would be. “This is KC, and this is Skylar.”

“Clay Hanson.” He shook both their hands, then gestured to his pal. “This is Doug Bates.”

“Ah,
Bates
, the one who runs slower than a grandmother,” KC said with a slow nod.

Doug pretended to stab himself in the heart. “Coming from someone with an arm like yours, that hurts.”

Skylar narrowed her eyes at Clay, but not in an unfriendly way. “Do you always speak to people using first and last names?”

Clay laughed and scratched the top of his head. “Sorry, force of habit. I meet a lot of people through work.”

“What do you do?” Skylar asked.

“I’m in finance. Nothing too exciting. Doug here’s the one with the cool job.” He patted his friend on the shoulder.

“Oh yeah? What would that be?” Skylar looked at Doug.

“I’m the host of a sports talk radio show.”

KC’s face lit up. “Did you just say sports talk radio? I
love
sports talk radio!”

“Doesn’t he have the perfect face for radio?” Clay said.

“Shut it, pretty boy,” Doug said, punching Clay’s arm.

“That’s my husband’s dream job,” KC said.

Clay punched Doug’s arm back. “It’s pretty much
every
guy’s dream job. Lucky bastard.”

“What can I say? Someone has to do it. So what brings you three to St. Mirika?” Doug asked them.

“Just a girls’ reunion,” Skylar said. “What about you?”

Daphne glanced at Skylar, amazed at how she was able to pose the question without giving any indication that she already knew the answer.

“Bachelor party.” Doug turned toward the deck and pointed at a sandy-blond-haired man standing next to the quarterback Skylar had been eyeing. “That’s the betrothed over there.”

“Which one?” Skylar asked casually.

She’s so smooth,
Daphne thought. No wonder she was so good at her job.

“See Scott, the tall, dark-haired guy who was playing quarterback? It’s the one standing next to him. His name’s Perry,” Doug said.

“
Perry?
That’s fancy,” Skylar said. With the guys’ backs briefly turned to them, she discreetly gave Daphne’s arm a little squeeze, then leaned toward her and whispered. “I’m calling him
Hot Scott
.”

Daphne smiled. For now at least, the quarterback was still in the game.
This is fun.

Clay turned around. “It’s a family name. We rib him about it all the time.” Then he gestured toward their makeshift football field. So you three want to join us for the second half? We could use some fresh legs out there.”

“Fresh legs?” Skylar gave him a skeptical look. “I don’t mean to sound rude, but from what I saw, it didn’t look like anyone was running all that hard.”

“They were running harder than you were,” Daphne said to her.

“I’ll take that,” Skylar said with a shrug.

Doug laughed. “Wanting fresh legs is code for
some of the guys want to stop playing and start drinking
.”

“I think ‘some’ is probably an understatement,” Clay said.

“They want to start drinking already? But it’s not even lunchtime.” KC looked a little horrified.

Skylar patted her shoulder. “We’re on island time, Missy Franklin. Relax. No one here’s training for the Olympics.”

“So what do you say?” Clay asked KC. “We all saw that arm, so you can’t pretend you don’t know how to play.”

KC grinned and raised her hand. “Okay, I’m in! Can I play quarterback?”

Doug snatched the Nerf ball from Clay, kneeled down, and handed it to her. “You took the words right out of my mouth—well, not exactly—but you know what I mean. It would be an honor.” Then he looked up at Skylar and Daphne. “What about you two? Up for a scrimmage?”

Daphne swallowed. She was decently coordinated but hadn’t played touch football sinc
e . . .
how long had it bee
n . . .
elementary schoo
l
? “U
m . . .
”

“Come on, Daphne,” Clay said. “It will be fun. You can be on my team.”

“Go ahead.” Skylar gave her a nudge. “I’ll watch. That will keep the numbers even.”

KC pinched Skylar’s waist. “Way to weasel out of it.”

Skylar laughed. “I’m just being helpful. No one likes to play with odd numbers, and besides, I’m not dressed for it. Now go, scat.” She gave Daphne another push.

“Okay, why not?” Daphne smiled weakly.
I hope I don’t regret this.
She was proud of herself for trying something new—while simultaneously terrified that she’d make a fool of herself.

“Come on up to the deck, we’ll introduce you to the crew.” Clay waved the three of them toward the house. A few of the guys were already drinking beers, but most were drinking bottled water. Clay raised his voice. “Everyone, this is KC, Daphne, and Skylar.”

An assortment of greetings filled the air as the guys waved back.

“Where’d you learn to throw like that?” Perry called to KC.

“I have brothers.” She held up three fingers.

Skylar put her arm around KC. “Don’t underestimate this one. She’s tiny, but she’s also not human. It’s only a matter of time before some government scientist shows up and hauls her away for research.”

KC leaned her head against Skylar’s shoulder. “Aw, thanks.”

Doug pointed to KC and Daphne, then to Skylar. “These two are going to join the game in the second half, and this one wants a beer.” He looked at Skylar. “That was an assumption about your wanting a beer, but a correct one I hope?”

“Very correct,” she said with a strong nod. “You’re good. If you ever want to get out of the radio business and explore the world of sales, give me a call. I’m always looking for talented people.”

Doug laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good. Now beer me, please,” she said.

Scott quickly leaned over the railing and handed Skylar a frosty bottle. “I gotcha. Skylar, was it?”

“Yes, and you ar
e . . . 
?” She looked up and took the bottle with a casual smile and a subtle bat of the eyelashes, again providing no hint that she was already well aware of his name. Daphne watched her friend in action and felt like she was taking a clinic in how to remain calm, cool, and collected in any social situation.
I need to learn from her.