There were people out on the beach, of course, but the patio had a couple of dividing walls separating it from the unit next door and the tiki-lit sidewalk was on the other side of the pool, which was now quiet. She could hear revelers, perhaps celebrating the race, perhaps vacationers. Apparently she was the only one in the house still abuzz with excitement from the astonishing experience of the day. At nine, everyone quiet in the condo, sliding doors ajar so she could hear if Winnie called for her, she fixed herself a rare glass of wine and sat on the chaise, feet up.
Her cell phone rang in the pocket of her capris and it startled her, then shocked her. She was always obsessive about charging it, but it had been in her pocket all day with no worry about that. Other than taking a few pictures of Blake at the finish, she had virtually ignored it. No one ever called her but Winnie or Charlie, on the rare occasion Grace. She pulled it out and looked at the screen. Blake?
“Hi,” she said, expecting to find no one there, a butt dial.
“Hi,” he said. “I’m just getting to bed but I wanted to call.”
“Oh, Blake, did you try Charlie’s phone and get no answer? For someone who didn’t compete in the race, he sure passed out early.”
“I didn’t try his phone,” Blake said with a slight laugh. “I’m calling you. It was so nice you were there, Lin Su.”
“We were all there,” she said.
“Yes, and you were there. I think I’m growing on you.”
“Oh, Blake, you can’t still think I don’t like you! Not now!”
“I think you’re coming around. But you’re a hard sell. I’ve had to pull out and dust off all my old guy skills and charm you to pieces. Before I fell asleep, I wanted to thank you. You were there, you were excited, you were proud. It meant a lot to me.”
“Stop,” she said, laughing at him. “You were completely mobbed by people! A lot of people were there, excited and proud!”
“I’m not ungrateful,” he said. He yawned. “I’m lucky to have sponsors, friends and acquaintances. But I want us to be better friends. To get to know each other.”
Her heart started to pound. What was he saying? That he liked her as more than a friend? The way a man likes a girlfriend, someone he has deeper feelings for? What a frightening idea! What if she took that chance and it went badly? Everyone would suffer!
In the end, the only response she could come up with was, “Why?”
Blake laughed. “You are so out of practice,” he said. “Worse than I am and I haven’t had a woman in my life in quite a while. But at least I remember. Why? Because I think, once we know more about each other, we’re going to understand each other. We’re going to see we’re a lot alike. And I bet we want many of the same things.”
“Wait,” she said. “You haven’t had a woman in your life? What about your trainer? Coach?”
“No,” he said. “And I’ve asked her to stop that proprietary touching and behavior. It gives entirely the wrong impression. I have to sleep, Lin Su. I ate, I had a beer and I’m only awake now because I was too wired to slow down. I have about thirty seconds of consciousness left. That should be enough time for you to tell me you’d like a chance to know me better, too.”
“I, ah...”
“Twenty-five seconds. Please, don’t jump to negative conclusions. I’m a very polite and considerate guy.”
“Well, of course, getting to know you better would be good,” she said. “I think. Forgive me, I’m surprised.”
“You shouldn’t be. And it’ll be good.” He yawned deeply. “Talk to you later.”
“Later,” she said. The phone went blank as he signed off and she added, “Sweet dreams...”
* * *
Seth said he dreaded his parents’ return from their Alaskan cruise, but Iris was more excited than a little kid. She was planning a nice dinner for the whole family for Saturday night so that Seth’s two brothers and their wives could help welcome Norm and Gwen home from their first real vacation ever.
“It’ll be fun,” Iris said. “Your folks get home Friday afternoon and I bet they have pictures and tall tales.”
“You do realize Gwen may come home alone,” Seth said. “I bet she threw him overboard.”
“He seemed to have a very good attitude about the cruise before they left. Gwen said he even packed a couple of the new things she bought for him.”
“I can’t think of anything that could make him more of a grump than that,” Seth said.
“But your mom will be so happy! I’m sure even if Norm was a pain in the butt, she probably had a wonderful time.”
“I wouldn’t count on that. They push each other’s buttons pretty well.”
When Iris got home from work on Friday afternoon, her in-laws’ car was in the drive. She ran into her house, dropped off her briefcase and some files she brought home and rushed over to the Sileski house. And to her thrilled surprise, Norm answered the door wearing one of his handsome new sweaters and a big smile.
“Welcome home!” Iris said.
“Come in, come in. Gwen is lying down but come in!”
“I hope she’s not too tired for a welcome-home dinner at our house tomorrow night,” Iris said. “I invited the boys. Your sons may not be interested but your daughters-in-law definitely are.”
“She’s not too tired,” he said. “It was a great cruise. Look at this boat,” he said, pulling out his phone. “There’s everything on it. Restaurants, movie theaters, everything. They even have a nursery or something for younger people with smaller kids. They never had anything like that when we were young. Not that we ever went anywhere. We took the boys to Yellowstone, you know. And Mount Rushmore. But no one gave us a hand babysitting so we could go out dancing...”
“You went out dancing?”
“I’m not that much of a dancer. That shouldn’t surprise you.”
Iris took the phone and began scrolling through the pictures while Norm talked. There was Norm practicing with his life vest, sitting around a fancy dinner table, on the deck of the boat in front of a huge glacier. There was Norm with Gwen and a bunch of other women of a certain age. “Aw, she made friends,” Iris said.
“Nice ladies,” Norm said. “Have you ever seen food like that in your life?”
Indeed, Norm was infatuated with the food, both the lavish buffets and those formal meals served in the dining room. He also took pictures of the group at their table for ten—he was the only man. He sat in the center of nine women, many dressed to the nines in their formal and semiformal attire. The women, their new friends, looked to be having a wonderful, raucous time.
Gwen looked miserable.
“Gwen doesn’t look very happy,” Iris observed.
“I think she mighta had a little seasickness. That boat’s so big, hardly anybody got seasick. Or maybe she just don’t like food made by someone else. Gwen’s a good cook, you know.”
“I know,” Iris said. “Did it ever occur to you to ask her if she was having a good time?”
“I asked her. She said yes. Look at this, Iris—look at this picture. We went on this salmon dinner thing, great place—set up like an outdoor picnic place with picnic tables and fresh-caught salmon cooked on grills right outside. More my speed than the whole fancy dining room part. But there were bears right there, right at the river! I think you have to fight ’em for the fish.”
“You had fun,” she said, scrolling through picture after picture. There was Norm, grinning like a boy, surrounded by smiling women, frowning wife, picture after picture.
“It was better than I give it credit,” he said. “I’m ready to sign up for another one. Maybe Mexico. There’s one to Greece, but it might be more than we should spend. I’ll have to see. Gwen’s not sure. She wants to think about it.”
And then Gwen appeared in the doorway, a sour look on her
face, pulling her sweater tighter around her.
“Oh, good, you and Iris can talk about the cruise,” Norm said. “I want to run over to the station and make sure they’re getting by all right. I’ll, um, need to take that phone, Iris. But I’ll give it back to you next time I see you and you can look at the rest of the pictures. I have to get us a decent camera, a real camera.” He pocketed the phone. “You probably don’t want to cook after all we ate,” he said to Gwen. “Want me to pick up something from the diner? A couple of good old-fashioned hamburgers?”
“I’ll cook,” she said evenly, arms crossed over her ample chest.
“I’ll be back then,” he said. “You just about over that little seasickness?”
“I’m over it.”
Norm was out the door and Iris sank onto the couch, bewildered.
“You’re upset about something,” she said. “Wasn’t it a nice cruise?”
Gwen went to the chair, Norm’s favorite chair. She took a deep breath. “The scenery was very nice. Colder than you think.”
“Gwen, what’s wrong? You’re angry.”
“Did you see the pictures?” she asked.
“I saw a lot of his pictures. He was pretty taken with the food.”
“The food? He was taken with the widows!”
“The widows?”
“That boat was full of widows! They loved Norm! They couldn’t shut up, comparing him to their dead husbands, asking him questions about his company. It wasn’t a company—it was a gas station! Helping him fill his plate. I thought one of ’em was going to cut his meat! It was disgusting!”
“Those women?” Iris asked.
“Widows,” she said.
“You didn’t like them?”
“What’s to like? They hardly gave me any notice. It was like he was in a damn kissing booth!”
“He kissed them?” Iris asked, aghast.
“Of course he didn’t kiss them, but he sure didn’t mind all the attention. I’d’ve been better off if he’d worn his gas station shirt and stood at the rail, pouting. Maybe he coulda slipped and gone...”
“Gwen!”
“It was supposed to be a trip for us, not a trip for Norm to play escort to a wife and eight widows. Who never shut up. And thought he was the sweetest man they ever knew.”
“Norm? Sweet?”
“That’s what I’m telling you,” Gwen said. “I never saw him so sweet before. He’s been a grumpy pain in my ass for almost fifty years, and all of a sudden with eight widows he’s sweet.” She grunted. “I never.”
Fourteen
When Lin Su was a senior in high school, a very upscale and expensive Catholic girl’s academy, she met Jake at a dance. A mixer. Once every couple of months the boys from Camphill Hall, a prestigious boy’s academy, got together with the girls from Sisters of Mercy. Jacob Westermann was a rugby player, handsome and smart. They danced every dance. He called her and said, “We need to get together for a real date. Tell your parents we’re going to double, but it’ll be just you and me. We need time together to talk. You know?”
She knew what she might be getting herself into. But that was fine with her. She’d only had a couple of brief, boring boyfriends so far and she was ready for a little excitement and romance.
It wasn’t yet Christmas when Jake said, “We’re going to a party at Todd’s and his parents are out of town. Small party. Private party. Wear a skirt.” And she had. She went home without her virginity and her panties in her purse.
When she was around Blake, all the lust and irresistible passion of her first, her only, love affair came back to her. All those feelings at least. Given her experience, she had decided that if there was any getting to know each other better with Blake, it would happen in the cool light of day in a place where they weren’t too alone. She learned from her mistakes, after all.
But Charlie was fourteen and aching for independence; he had wearied of being her constant companion. She had not had a man in her life since high school. She couldn’t deny a certain hunger. This time, however, she wasn’t as daring because she was more familiar with the possible consequences.
When Blake got back from Hawaii there was a lot of activity around Winnie’s, Cooper’s, even Blake’s. Everyone wanted to know about the race, about what was next for Blake, how he felt about his win. Their neighbors had learned a lot about triathlons in the past few weeks because of Blake and Charlie; they knew Kona was the big one, the legendary Ironman contest. Just because of circumstances, she saw him often and learned quite a bit, though they weren’t alone.
“I can see by the way he looks at you, there’s serious interest there,” Grace whispered to Lin Su.
“I’m sure you’re mistaken about that. He has a vested interest in helping Charlie, that’s all. He seems to be a good man.”
“Yes to the good man helping Charlie with a training program, but that’s not what I see in his eyes when he looks at you. Take a chance, Lin Su. I bet you haven’t dated in a while.”
Hah! A while?
Just by keeping her ears sharp, she began to learn things about Blake. He apparently had a poor childhood, raised by a single mother, and even signing up for school-or park-sponsored sports like Little League or soccer were out of the question. “We couldn’t have afforded uniforms, much less registration fees. I played a little sandlot soccer and there was a basketball hoop, if we could catch it when the big guys weren’t on the court. It was old—a hoop, no net, late at night, outside, only in summer, of course. So a friend of mine, a lawyer who had a similar childhood, and I have been working on a foundation to sponsor underprivileged kids in athletic programs. We have our own corporate sponsors lined up, donors, other foundations and a board of directors setting up the mission statement and governing body. It takes time and will start small. In another five years it will probably be my primary job.”
“Because you will have made enough money racing?” Charlie asked.
Blake laughed. “Charlie, I don’t make much money racing. Just about enough to pay the expenses. But now that I’ve won some big ones, I have sponsors and I’m asked to speak. Motivational speaking. It pays the bills and, I admit, it really gets my motor running.”
“Speeches encouraging other athletes?” Troy asked.
Blake shook his head. “More generic than that. It’s more about being human and survival.”
“Of the fittest!” Charlie said.
Again he shook his head. “Survival of the weakest,” he said. “It’s complicated—but something I’m very familiar with is what it feels like to think you don’t stand a chance. It could be poverty, emotional problems, family dysfunction, illness, you name it. It could be asthma,” he said, winking at Charlie. “Turning that around isn’t easy, but it’s possible. You don’t have to be in first place to feel like a winner, you just have to beat the thing, whatever it is, that makes you feel failure is inevitable.”
“So what kinds of audiences do you have?” Winnie asked.
“All kinds. Schoolkids to executives. Corporate leadership, a group I don’t really understand except to know they’re competitive in a way only they get. I spoke to a writers’ group, a police department, a library district.” He looked pointedly at Lin Su. “I did a TED Talk. It hasn’t been released yet.”
That’s when she knew she didn’t know enough about him and wanted to understand that mysterious gleam he had in his eyes. Was it for her?
Soon after that, on a rainy afternoon, her phone bleeped with a text.
I lit the fire and made a pot of tea. Want to make a house call while Winnie naps?
She felt panic rise within her. Could this be that moment that would define the next decade of her life? Throw the dice and see if he comes up as honorable and decent as he seems, or find out, in the end, he’s got an agenda about getting what
he wants?
He helps poor kids, she told herself. He chased thugs with a tire iron to get her swatch back.
“Winnie, while you nap, I’d like to walk next door to Blake’s to visit with him for a while. Will you be all right?”
“Of course. You’ll have your phone. I can ring you if I need you.”
“I am here, of course, not that any of you appreciate me,” Mikhail said. “There is no walking in this weather, so I am here.”
Lin Su smiled at Winnie. “Don’t bother poor Mikhail. Call me. I’ll be right next door.”
When she settled Winnie for her nap after lunch, Winnie was smiling slyly. “You like him, I think.”
Lin Su laughed. “I haven’t met a person who doesn’t like Blake Smiley. He might be the most popular man in the world. Seriously, the world.”
“I think you like him,” Winnie repeated.
“Of course I do, as I just said. I think you’ll have a good nap in the rain.”
“And I think you’ll have a good time in the rain, too.”
She threw her jacket over her head and took the front walk that joined all the houses to Cooper’s bar straight to Blake’s front door. He opened the door with a smile.
“The girl next door has arrived. Come in.” He took the rain-drizzled jacket from her and hung it on a peg by the door. “This is a great afternoon. The rain. The fire.”
“It’s good you like it,” she said, slipping out of her clogs and leaving them by the door. “You’re going to see a lot of it. Rain, sometimes ice, slush, more rain. And the occasional sunny day. How will that affect your training?”
“Not very much. I have everything I need downstairs—treadmill, bike, weights. Wet suit,” he added with a laugh. “I bet that water gets damn cold. But there’s a pool at the high school and I have an in with the athletic director.”