“Hey, kiddo, can’t sleep?” My mom stifles a yawn with a tightly closed fist as she pads her way into the kitchen.
“Guess you could say that.” I grab two mugs from the cabinet, pour the coffee, then dress them with cream.
“It will eventually get better, Sloane, I promise. Maybe it doesn’t seem that way now, but it will.” She tucks a strand of hair behind my ear and takes one of the mugs from my outstretched hand. “So, what’s on the docket today?”
I shrug. “Not much. Hanging out with Mia at the beach. Oh, I might take up a few hours lifeguarding at the pool, you know, maybe teach a few lessons and make some extra cash.” The coffee is good this morning. Only took me three tries to finally get it right.
“I hope you know you don’t need to do that. You’re supposed to be on summer break.” She eyes me over the rim of her coffee mug. This is her “I’m being your mother right now” look. It’s a look that’s been a little out of practice since she moved away from Seattle. Not that I took it seriously when she was there.
“It’s only a few hours a week, Mom. No big deal. And besides, everyone else is working this summer—including you. I’m so bored by myself.” I have her there, and she knows it.
“I’m sorry, Sloane, I promised we’d spend more time together, and I haven’t exactly stuck to that.”
“It’s okay, Mom, I know how slammed you’ve been, really. And at least this job will give me something to do, something to keep me busy.”
She takes another sip of coffee then nods her understanding. “Well, I guess a couple hours a week might be a good thing, but please remember this is your summer, okay?” She brushes a kiss across my forehead and leaves to get ready for work, and I head back to my own room, gripping my coffee cup in my one good hand.
My other hand doesn’t look nearly as bad as it did last week. Most of the swelling has gone down—at least what I can see from my fingers that poke out from the cast. But the skin is still this lovely shade of a purple swirl, mixed with a tinge of green. What’s worse is undoubtedly what will be found underneath the cast when it finally comes off. I was already a pasty shade of white, but after several weeks in the Hawaiian sun, it will take forever for my arm to catch up to the rest of me.
“Mornin’.” Penn is sleepy-eyed with hair all askew as he emerges from his room. Seems I’m not the only one having issues with the time difference.
Wearing a pair of loose-fitting basketball shorts, he leans up against the doorjamb and crosses his arms over a chest that’s already a much darker shade than it was a few days before. He yawns, takes my mug of coffee, and settles it under his nose.
“Get any sleep?” he asks.
“Dude, get your own coffee.” I snag the mug back right as he’s about to take a sip.
“I guess I’ll take that as a no?” He rubs at his face, then takes a deep breath. “He called again last night.”
By “him,” I know he means Tyler. “Yeah, well, he called me, too. And e-mailed. And texted. Join the club.”
“All I’m saying is, you know at some point I’m gonna have to talk to him.”
I wave a hand nonchalantly in his direction, like I don’t care. I think I’m the only one that’s fooled. “Feel free to talk to him, Penn, whatever. But you know the rules. I have zero intentions of hearing one word from that asshole. Not one.”
“And I have no intentions of playing counselor or messenger to the unhappy couple…I mean, the two of you.” He frowns. Clearly he’s not quite used to Tyler and me no longer being a couple. He’s not the only one.
But who am I kidding? Of course I want Penn to tell me all about their conversation when it actually happens and Penn knows that, too. How much Tyler misses me, how big a mistake he made, how much he loves me and wants me back, how he could’ve done this to me. Because having Penn hear it in person might seem more real than the voice mails, e-mails, and text messages Tyler’s been leaving for me. Because Penn would be able to tell if his best friend were lying. And my brother wouldn’t stand for that.
“So in other news…I’m headed down to that new hotel in Waikiki in a few hours to interview for a guard position—you know, the one next to the Hilton? Care to join me?” I know he’ll say yes, but I also know he’ll make me work for it. “They’re looking for more than one guard if you’re interested.”
My brother has been around a pool as long as I have. He practically breathes through gills. So it’s a good thing I already sent over both of our résumés yesterday and almost immediately got a call from their HR department that they wanted to meet the two of us this morning.
“Are you kidding me? A job? Did someone not tell you we’re on summer vacation?”
“Oh, come on, Penn. Think of all those hot girls in bikinis, fresh ones rotating in every week. And all of them will be at the mercy of you, your fine muscles, and your aquatic supremacy.” I really hope my innocent look is working. Penn only rolls his eyes.
“We haven’t even been here a week and you’re already bored?” By the way I blow out my breath, he knows he’s on the right track. “Sure, I’ll go with you. But I’m only doing it for the hot girls and their right to experience a proper breaststroke.”
I spit out my coffee as Penn flicks at pretend dust on his flexed bicep without missing a beat.
Taking a cue from him, I roll my eyes and leave him standing there, saunter into my room, and grab a gossip mag off my coffee table. Think I’ll sit out on the lanai until the world wakes up.
My phone beeps with another incoming text and I’m relieved to see that it’s Mia:
Have to work in an hour, off @ 2. We still on to meet up at the beach?
U bet! I’ve got a swim lesson with Luce until 2:30. I’ll head over right after. Cool?
C U then!
A few hours later, Penn and I swing our shiny new convertible around the loop to the front entrance of the hotel. Two guys dressed in all white open both of our doors.
“Welcome to the Echelon,” the valet that’s holding my door says with a polite nod. “Checking in?”
“Oh, no, just visiting, thanks.”
My brother hands the keys over, then heads around the front of the car to join me. The lobby is impressive. Small rivers with koi fish are recessed into the floor and weave various paths toward the front desk, concierge, and elevators, and on to the shops and pool beyond. The expansive wall behind the check-in counter is embedded with thousands of rocks. Water cascades over them, with a tranquil hum that’s mesmerizing. And the smell. It’s lavender with a hint of vanilla, and with one sniff, I feel like I’ve entered a spa.
It smells expensive but relaxing all at the same time. And it’s exactly what I need.
After two hours, two interviews, and more paperwork than I would have guessed was needed for a summer job, both Penn and I are newly employed at the Echelon Hotel. Ms. Evans, head of HR, motions toward a lifeguard on duty as we walk out to the pool area.
“This is Logan Wolfe, our head lifeguard here at the Echelon. Logan, this is Penn and Sloane McIntyre.”