Back on Solid Ground (20 page)

“How are you
feeling,” Eli asked.  He looked like he had slept on the couch all night. 

“Better,”
Stacy said.  “You slept here all night didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” he
said, yawning.   

“I hate
falling asleep on the couch,” Stacy said.  “Right after my mom died, I’d fall
asleep on the couch every night watching TV.  It was the only way I could
sleep.”  She got up and went to the window.  “Where’s the best place to watch
the sunrise?”

“I’ll show
you.  But we need to make some coffee first.” Eli sat up and stretched. “It’s
no good without coffee.”

They went to
the kitchen and Stacy was rummaging through cabinets looking for coffee
makings.

Eli moved her
out of the way.  “I’ll do it.  I like it strong,” he said.  He brewed the
coffee and fixed them each a cup, then poured what was left into a stainless
thermos.  He looked at Stacy and smiled.  “Follow me.”

Eli led Stacy
through the kitchen, down a hall, and out through a room she had never been
in.  There was a spiral staircase going up two levels, and Eli went up and
waited at the top of the stairs so he could see her reaction when she came
up.  

“Oh my God!”
Stacy exclaimed.  She looked around in awe.  It was a round room completely
encased in windows, with a 360
°
panoramic view of the island and the ocean, and a balcony that encircled the
entire room.  “It’s incredible!” she said, checking out the view from every
direction. 

Stacy laid
back on a chaise lounge while Eli walked around and opened all the windows. 
“This is the coolest room I’ve ever been in!” she said.  “I could live up
here.”

“I thought
you’d like it,” Eli said. He sat in a chair across from her and they drank
their coffee waiting for the sun to come up. 

“Have you
ever been married,” Stacy asked.

The question
took Eli by surprise. “No,” he said, then he answered her next question.  “My
lifestyle is not really conducive to marriage.  Have you?”

“No.  What
about your brother?”

“No.”

Stacy was
quiet for a minute, thinking.  “Why did you turn out to be bad guys, Eli?”  
She sounded sad and Eli couldn’t help but smile. 

“We’ve been
bad guys as long as I can remember.  We were the kids who stole out of the
collection plate at church,” he laughed.

Stacy
laughed, but only on the outside.  “Every one of you guys could have done so
much good, Eli.  You’re all smart; you’re all ambitious; you’re all good
looking.   You’re all capable of being kind and generous – well, maybe not you,
but the others are,” she added, smiling.  “You could have been husbands and
fathers but instead you’re thieves and kidnappers, and I really hate it that
it’s like that!”

“You hate it
that Niki’s like that,” he clarified.  Eli looked at Stacy and smiled.  “Do ya
love him Loretta?” he asked.

Stacy gave
him a feeble smile.  “
Moonstruck,
” she said.

“If it’s any
consolation,” Eli said, “you’re the only person we’ve ever kidnapped, and
you’ve been such a pain in the ass that I guarantee we’ll never do it again.”

The sun made
its appearance and Stacy and Eli went out on the balcony.  

“It’s
beautiful,” Stacy said.

Eli leaned
against the railing and suddenly the wood snapped under his weight, sending a
three-foot section down onto the roof of the second level. 

“Shit!” Eli
yelled, falling over the side.  He grabbed onto the next section of  railing,
but he was dangling off the edge of the balcony. 

Stacy
screamed and dropped down on her stomach, holding the railing with one hand and
reaching down for Eli with the other.  “Take my hand!” she yelled.

“No.  I’ll
pull you off.”

“No you
won’t.  Give me your hand,” she said frantically.  

Eli was
laughing at her.  “Get out of the way so I can swing my legs up.”

“It’s not
funny, Eli,” Stacy said.  She was close to panicking.  She moved over to the
other side and Eli swung a leg up onto the balcony and Stacy grabbed onto it
and pulled it up further, then she leaned over and helped pull the other one up. 
She grabbed onto his waist and pulled, while Eli twisted himself around and
maneuvered himself back onto the balcony.  He ended up on top of Stacy,
laughing hysterically. 

“That was
great!” he laughed.  He was trying to get up, but his legs were tangled in
hers.

“Get off of
me!” Stacy said, punching him in the side.

“Ouch!  I’m
trying to,” he laughed.  “Move your leg.”

Stacy shifted
around and got out from underneath him and Eli sat down and leaned his back up
against the wall, still laughing.

“What the
hell is so funny?” Stacy fumed.  “You could have been killed!”

Eli didn’t
hear her.  “What a rush!”

“You’re
nuts,” Stacy said.  She got up and went back inside. 

“Don’t
leave!” he called to her laughing. 

“Goodbye,
Eli.”

Stacy went
downstairs to the kitchen and put on another pot of coffee and stuck some toast
in the toaster.  She was antsy.  She was used to working five days a week and
other than raking the beach, she hadn’t done anything productive since she’d
been there.  She wanted to run but she was still too weak. 

“Good
morning,” Carlos said, coming into the kitchen.  “You’re up early.”

“Hi, Carlos,”
Stacy said.  “Can I get you some coffee?”

“I’ll get it,”
Carlos said.  “What’s the matter?  You look preoccupied.”

“Oh,
nothing,” she said, then she changed her mind.  “Eli almost fell off the
balcony outside that round room and it scared the shit out of me, and all he
could do was laugh.”

“What do you
mean he almost fell off?”

“I mean he
was dangling over the edge after a section of the railing broke away.  He
thought it was hilarious.” 

Carlos
laughed.  “He and Niki are both like that,” he said.  “You’ve heard the saying
that someone laughs in the face of danger?  Well, they really do.”

“
Great,
”
Stacy muttered under her breath.  She buttered a piece of toast and handed it
to Carlos.  “I need to do something, Carlos.”

“Like what?”

“Well, I
don’t know. 
Something
,” she said.  “I’m not used to having nothing to
do.  I’m going stir crazy.” 

“Why don’t
you act like you’re on vacation on a beautiful tropical island,” he suggested. 
“Lay on the beach, go snorkeling, drink a margarita.   How long has it been
since you took a vacation?”

“I can’t
remember,” she said.  “But I
like
work, Carlos.  My brain stagnates if I
don’t use it.”

“Somehow, I
don’t think your brain stagnating is something you need to worry about,” Carlos
laughed. “You haven’t given it a break since you’ve been here.” He put his arm
around Stacy and kissed the top of her head.

Stacy rested
her head against him.  “Thank goodness you’re here Carlos.  Imagine how loony
I’d be if I was stuck here with just Eli.”  Carlos laughed out loud. 

Eli walked in
and heard his name.  “My ears were burning.  What have you been saying about
me?”

“Nothing
good,” Stacy said dryly.  She kissed Carlos on the cheek.  “Thanks, Carlos.”

“Thanks for
what?” Eli asked.

“None of your
business,” Stacy said, picking up her mug and walking outside. 

“Did she tell
you what happened?” Eli asked.  “The damn railing fell off!”

Carlos
laughed.  “She told me.  I’m glad it was you and not her.”

Carlos and
Eli went outside and joined Stacy.  She was standing at the edge of the balcony
looking at the ocean.  Eli sat down and Carlos went over and stood beside
Stacy.   

“Why don’t we
take a walk on the beach,” Carlos suggested.

“Good idea,”
she said.  “Let me get a refill and I’ll be ready.”  She stopped behind  Eli
and pulled his head back by his hair so that she was looking down at his face. 
“You coming?”

He smiled at
her upside-down.  “Oh, you’re speaking to me again?”  She gave a quick yank on
his hair and let go.  “Ouch!” he said, rubbing the back of his head.

“I’ll be
right back.”

The three
walked all the way down to the boat dock and were on their way back to the
house.  Stacy was tired and she had stopped to rest on the pier. 

“What time
does the boat pick up Consuela?” Stacy asked. 

“It’s usually
around 9:30 or 10:00,” Carlos said.

“Can I go
with her?” she asked.

Carlos looked
at Eli, and Eli shook his head.  “It’s not a good idea, Stacy,” said Carlos. 
He could tell she was disappointed.  “We need to wait until Niki and Jason get
back and see what happened on their end.  It might be dangerous.”

Stacy didn’t
argue.  “Do you have a laptop I can use?” she asked Eli.

“For what?”
he asked skeptically. 

“To write an
article.”

“What kind of
article?”

She threw up
her hands.  “What difference does it make!” she said, irritated.  “Do you have
one or not!”

“Yes, I have
one,” he said, laughing at her.

“Well can I
use it or not?” she asked, then added, “I swear Eli, you just try to piss me
off!”

“I’m sorry,”
he said, laughing.  “You just make it so easy.”

Carlos came
to her defense.  “Leave the girl alone,” he told Eli.  He turned to Stacy,
“I’ll beat him up if you want me to.”

“I’d get more
pleasure out of it if I did it myself.  But thanks for offering.”  She looked
over at Eli.  “If you
must
know,” she said, “I write a monthly article
for a marketing and advertising publication, and I’d like to get started on
it.”

“You can’t be
publishing articles, Stacy.  The world thinks you’re dead,” Eli said, and Stacy
lost it.

“Well I hate
to disappoint you, Eli, but I’m
not
dead.  And sooner or later the world
will find that out.  And in the meantime, I’m going to work on my fucking
article!  Do you have a problem with that?” she said, glaring at him.

“Not at all,”
he said, attempting to defuse her before she exploded.

“Good!” 
Stacy threw up her hands.  “My life is a fucking mess!” she yelled.  She got up
and stormed off toward the house and Eli ran to catch up with her.

“Hey, come
on, Stacy.”  He grabbed onto her elbow to get her to stop, but she pulled it
away from him. 

“Just leave
me alone, Eli.”

“Stacy,
stop.”  He put his arm around her shoulder and turned her around.  

Stacy stopped
and looked up at him.  “What?” she said wearily.

“I’m sorry.” 

“
Great,
here
it comes . . . my fucking daily cry!” she said, as the tears built up in her
eyes. 

“Please don’t
cry,” Eli said, horrified.  Eli looked back over his shoulder at Carlos and
mouthed, “
Shit
!”

Carlos
smiled. 
It serves you right
, he thought. 

“You’re
right, Stacy,” Eli said.  “You need to keep up with what you would  be doing if
we hadn’t screwed your life all up.”  He looked down at her and lifted her
chin.  “Or should I say your
fucking
life?” he said, and he made her
smile.

They started
back to the house.  “So what’s your article on?” Eli asked.

“I don’t know
yet,” she said.  “Y’all must think I’m the biggest cry baby,” Stacy said
embarrassed.

Eli stopped
and looked at her.  “I can think of a lot of other words we would use to
describe you before we’d use that one.”

“Well, it’s
freaking me out,” she said.  “I’m crying at the drop of a hat.  I’ve never been
like this.”

“Yeah, well
you’ve never been shot and kidnapped before, have you?  I think you’re
entitled.”

Consuela was
in the kitchen when they got back.  She took one look at Stacy and turned on
Eli, speaking to him in Spanish.  “Why are you making her cry?” she asked.

“Why do you
automatically assume it’s me?” Eli said, defensively. 

“Because I
know you, Eli,” she said, shaking her finger at him.  “You love to torment
her!  But she’s been through too much.  More than anyone should ever have to go
through.  You men should be ashamed of yourselves for what you’ve done to this
beautiful child.”

Eli was
speechless.  He looked at Carlos. “She’s an impostor!” Eli said.

“No,” Carlos
laughed. “She’s under the influence of Stacy Trent.”

They were
speaking Spanish, talking too fast and Stacy couldn’t catch what they were
saying, but she could tell that Consuela was really pissed about something and
that it had to do with her.

Carlos
continued in Spanish, “Don’t worry Consuela, we’re going to take care of
Stacy,” he assured her. 

Consuela
couldn’t be mad at Carlos, but she looked at Eli and narrowed her eyes.  “You
be nice to her, Eli,” she said, and it was meant as a warning. 

Eli picked
Consuela up and squeezed her.  “Okay, Consuela, or whoever you are.”   He
switched back to English.  “Stacy, I have to give it to you.  In six days,
you’ve managed to turn this entire household upside down,” he laughed.

“What was
that about?” Stacy asked.

“She doesn’t
like the way I treat you,” Eli said. 

Stacy turned
to Consuela and hugged her.  “Thank you, Consuela,” Stacy said.  She whispered
in Consuela’s ear, “He’s really not that bad,” then she smiled and winked at
her. 

Consuela
laughed and patted Stacy on the cheek, then gave Eli another dirty look and
left the kitchen. 

“I can’t
believe it!” Eli said.  “You turned Consuela against me! What did I do?”

“Let’s see,
how does it go?” Stacy said, “
It’s nothing you do on purpose.  It’s just the
way you are
?” she mimicked.

Eli pointed
at her. “Oh, you’re good.”

Between
working on her article and cleaning the beach, Stacy passed another day on the
island.   By the end of the day she was exhausted, both mentally and
physically, but at least she felt like she had accomplished something.  She and
Eli had spent the last two hours working on the beach and all but a small
section between the house and the pier had been cleaned.  Stacy sat down on the
ice chest to rest.