Bare In Bermuda (20 page)

“I love my grandmother very much,” Romeo said. He turned to Henna. “Did you enjoy your day with my father? He is clearly very taken with you. I hoped our families would blend well together.”

“Fine,” she said. “It was fine. Fantastic. The aquarium was founded in 1926 and is one of the oldest in the world. There are more than 200 species of fish and the tank holds 140,000 gallons of water.” The brochures came in handy.

Everyone stared at her.

Eden tilted her head in wonder. “Did it ever occur to you to go sightseeing just to enjoy the sights? Seriously, Henna, you really need to loosen the grip just a little. Next time you go to an aquarium, just look at the fish.”

She nodded. “Right. Next time I spend the afternoon at the aquarium, I'm just going to look at the fish.”

“But you had a good time?” Romeo asked.

“Yes. Absolutely. Your father is the perfect gentleman. Very charming.”

Aunt Midge nodded to where Gloria, Eduardo, and Fatima stood. “Is Fatima his girlfriend or no? Because your sister didn't seem too happy with her this morning at brunch. Later, when I was having my nails done with Inez in the salon, I ran into Fatima and she told me they were an item. But I get the feeling Fatima might be misreading the situation. You can just tell me to MYOB, but I'm a nosey old woman.”

“MYOB,” Eden said for Romeo. “Honestly. If the man wants to move on with his life, I really don't think Gloria threatening his girlfriend is productive.”

Her ears twitched like a dogs. “Threatened his girlfriend? How and in what way?”

“Don't get me wrong,” Eden said. “I love Gloria. But she is a bit psycho when it comes to Eduardo dating.”

“Not everyone,” Romeo said.

“Who else has your father dated?” Eden asked Romeo.

“You have a point,” Romeo said. “Only Fatima so far. But you are single, aren't you?” He smiles at Henna. “I am biased, but I will tell you that my father is a man with much to offer.”

Aunt Midge claps her hands together. “You're a matchmaker like me! I agree. They look good together.”

“Nope. Wouldn't work out.” Eden flicked a wrist. “Forget it. Might not just be Fatima Gloria has a problem with. We'll know if he starts dating anyone else, and Gloria takes a shotgun after them.”

“What? What do you mean takes a shotgun after them? Explain now.”

“She shot the windows out of Fatima's swanky SUV when she came home from Portugal and found them together.”

“Really?” Henna looked at Gloria who embraced a young man with black hair in an equally black suit that fit him like he had a fine athlete's body under the fabric. He had to be her boyfriend. Had to be. He looked like a wealthy fencing prince who knew kung-Fu. Leo never stood a chance. No man, possibly with the exception of Eduardo, could compare to that.

Aunt Midge gasped. “Was anybody hurt?”

“No,” Eden said. “But I'm just going to say it was a really interesting way for me to meet the Salazars.”

“You were there during all of this?” Her mother, mouth open and eyes wide, stared at her baby.

“We showed up just after Eduardo disarmed Gloria.”

Romeo held up a hand. “In my sister's defense, Fatima wasn't in the car at the time.”

“But she was in your father's car, trying to make her getaway when Gloria slashed the tires with a machete.”

“A machete?”

“It was a small machete,” Romeo said. “Nobody was hurt. You have to understand, we Colombians are passionate people.”

“No kidding,” Aunt Midge said.

“Speaking of Fatima,” Eden said. “Has anyone told you about her and Don Juan Esperanza?”

“No,” Henna said along with her mother and Aunt Midge.

“No,” Romeo said firmly. “Please no. I cannot hear the story of Fatima and Don Juan Esperanza again.”

Eden gave Romeo's hand a squeeze. “Okay,” she said. “I'll tell them tomorrow at the spa.”

“You'll excuse us,” Romeo said. “Hector, Gloria's boyfriend and my best man, has arrived. I would like to greet him.”

“Prince Hector?” her mother asked.

“Yes,” Romeo said. “But for us, he is just Hector.”

The two left them and joined Gloria and Hector who were in the middle of a reunion that involved a great deal of kissing, touching, and reaffirming the other truly existed and was present.

“Seriously,” Aunt Midge said. “Am I the only one that thinks that Prince Hector glows a little bit?”

“They are certainly an attractive couple,” Judith said. “Do you think we'll get invited to the wedding?”

Henna looked at her mother. “Whose wedding?”

“Prince Hector and Gloria. It's obvious that's the direction they're going. I wonder if I'd need a hat. You know, like women wore when William and Kate got married. I assume a prince would have a proper wedding and not just run off and get married on a whim, breaking his mother's heart and not giving her an opportunity to buy a hat.”

“Oh, I wonder!” Midge cooed. “I don't think people have enough opportunities to wear hats. Do you remember...”

Henna tuned her mother and her aunt out as she first watched Gloria, Hector, Romeo, and Eden converse with warm and friendly smiles and gestures. Then her attention turned to the dance floor, which was packed with salsa dancing Colombians. She had to give the Colombians credit. They knew how to have a good time. More than the Colombians needing some kudos, her father deserved a big one for getting out there and giving it a try.

As she looked around the room, two people were missing. Eduardo and Fatima were not to be seen. Her eyes swept back and forth until they spotted Eduardo returning to the party from wherever he'd been.

He walked over to their table and sat down. “Ladies. Are you having a fine time?” His smile was bright, but his eyes were burning.

“Wonderful,” her mother said. “You?”

“I am having a wonderful evening,” Eduardo said. “I have yet to ask my new friend Henna to dance.”

“I'm not much of a dancer,” she said. “Ask my mother or my aunt. They'll tell you.”

“Don't be such a stick in the mud,” her mother said. “What's the worst that can happen?”

“Go on,” Midge told her. “Don't be such a chicken.”

“Thanks.”

He offered her a hand which she accepted. “I'm really not much of a dancer,” she insisted. They approached the crowded dance floor, and she backed off. “I really can't dance. Maybe we could go for a walk, instead, and you can tell me where you disappeared with Fatima.”

“You noticed I was gone?”

“Yes. I do not trust that woman around you.”

“Probably wise. She did try to seduce me.”

“What?”

“You heard me. But here I am with you, telling you that she tried to seduce me. What does that tell you?”

“That either you have no discretion or you're pretty drunk.”

“Or I have no fear of being honest with you.” They stopped at the edge of the dance floor. “And I'm pretty drunk.”

“I really can't dance.”

“You can dance,” he said. “You just don't know it yet.”

“But you do?”

“Yes. I've experienced firsthand how your hips can move.”

“You did not just say that.”

“But I did.”

He gave her a nudge, and they walked onto the crowded dance floor as the band played a spicy salsa tune. Eduardo wrapped his arms around her as if he were giving her a hug, then took a step back. He placed her left hand on his right shoulder and loosely held her right hand in his left. He moved her around the floor, and she tried not to trip over his feet.

“Henna,” he whispered. “You must let me lead. Surrender to me as if I were making love to you, and let me move you. Give up that control you love so much and just let it happen.”

“I'll try.”

“Breathe deeply. Exhale and relax.”

She did as he instructed and allowed her body to be maneuvered. His hand on her back steered her around the floor.

“You're very good at this,” she said, getting into the rhythm and permitting herself to let go and have a good time.

“I like to dance,” he said. “You're getting it.” He smiled at her as he walked her into a spin.

After an hour of monopolizing Eduardo on the dance floor, she insisted they get some air. He walked her from the dance floor and out on to the terrace.

“That was so much fun,” she said.

“That was fun.” He kissed her cheek. There were people gathered nearby in their own groups, she didn't care. “Anytime you want to salsa, you just let me know.”

“I will.”

They were silent for a long moment without feeling awkward. He leaned over and kissed her. Just lips. No tongue. Pure perfection. “Before you object to a public display of affection, I want to point out the full moon, the stars in the sky, and the beauty of the night. How could you object to a kiss?”

“I can't,” she said.

“Besides,” he said. “Everybody is fairly drunk and nobody cares. I'm pretty sure your brother left with Fatima about a half hour ago.”

“No!”

“
Si.
Yes. We had a final conversation. At least, I hope a final conversation. I never really know with Fatima.”

“What happened?”

“I told you. She tried to seduce me.”

Fatima and Leo chose that moment to rejoin the party on the terrace from opposite directions at precisely the same moment. That could not possibly be a coincidence.

A manager from the hotel approached Eduardo with the sort of thin folder that generally contained a bill. The two men spoke briefly as she pondered the potential Eduardo had for meeting and perhaps even surpassing the rigid list of qualifications she considered essential in choosing a father for her future children. He pretty well ticked every box.

“Henna,” Eduardo said. “I need to take care of this. Wait for me here?”

“I'll be here,” she said.

He kissed her cheek then departed.

She watched him walk away until he disappeared around a corner. The stars, the moon, the music, and the beauty of the night held her attention as she waited. The sound of the music was loud and nearly covered the noise made by two people arguing. Henna's ears filtered through the sound of the music, isolating the voices.

Her feet moved her without prompting in the direction of the argument. She was not the first person to be drawn in. Leo had beat her to the scuffle. At the center of the disturbance, Gloria and Fatima faced each other like a couple of pugilists sizing each other up.

Henna didn't need to know what they were saying. She knew trash talk when she heard it regardless of the language spoken.

“What are they saying?” she asked Leo.

“Okay,” Leo said. “Fatima just called Gloria a crazy psycho bitch. Gloria told Fatima that she was going to kick her ass if she didn't stay the hell away from her father.”

“Is that really what their saying, or are you being creative?”

“I'm abridging,” he said. “Basically they're tearing each other to shreds. Now shush, so I can listen and envision the two of them in bikinis while standing in a mud pit.”

“You are vile.”

Leo shushed her.

She shushed for a moment then tugged on Leo's arm. “What now?”

“Learn Spanish.”

“Just tell me.”

“Okay.” He points to Gloria who was yelling. “'You fucking whore! I hate you, you fucking whore!'” His finger swerved to point at Fatima. “'You're a spoiled little bitch who has been given everything and offers nothing! You can't stand the fact I've replaced your mother. I know you're the one driving a wedge between me and Eduardo. Back off before I make you regret it!'” His finger redirected to Gloria. “'The only thing I'm going to regret is that I missed when I threw that knife at you!'” Leo laughed a little. “They're fucking crazy.”

“Did you hook up with Fatima?”

“How do you know that?”

“Eduardo told me that the two of you disappeared.”

“We did. She is one frisky hot babe. I can truly say she rocked my world. She knocked me to the ground and had my trousers off me so fast I was worried she broke my zipper.”

“I don't want to know this.”

“It's possible I've been approaching casual sex in the wrong way for years.”

“And yet you are going to tell me.”

“I've been living under the assumption that young, nubile, co-ed's were the way to go. It is possible that I could have miscalculated the benefits of both experience and the need for an older woman to validate she still has it where it counts.”

“You are gross.”

“Don't think I haven't figured out the two of you didn't go to the aquarium today.”

“You don't know anything.”

“I know the aquarium was closed for a private function today.”

“How do you know that?”

“I took Aunt Midge and Inez this afternoon after they had their nails done. A word of advice. If you are going to create a cover story, make sure you confirm the validity of it in advance.”

“Did you learn that in the CIA?”

“Nope. Leaned that from being a dude who won't be tied down by one woman.”

“How are you single?”

“Aunt Midge and Inez are on to you, too, but the three of us took a vow of silence over gimlets and cheesecake.”

“This is why you’re telling me.”

“Please. After the way Eduardo wore you around the room like a scarf, I'm not the only one who thinks the two of you are either already sleeping together or will end up in bed tonight.”

“What does Fatima think?”

“Who knows? It’s not like she could talk with my dick in her mouth.”

“You are disgusting.”

The two women lunged for each other, fell to the ground, and began pummeling and hair pulling.

“Oh, shit.” Leo jumped in the middle of the women grabbing onto Fatima as Henna’s father appeared and got two arms around Gloria. Together the two Hirsch men pulled the fighting women apart as they continued to swing at each other.

Eduardo arrived with the crowd that had come too late to see the real show. Leo forced the belligerent Fatima to walk away with his arm around her waist. Henna imagined she would not see her brother again until morning.

Romeo and Hector emerged from the direction her father had come and immediately went to Gloria, Eduardo, and her father. Her father gave the crying and distraught Gloria a hug before leaving them and coming to Henna.