Hemingway's Girl (16 page)

Under the shade of a palm tree, Mariella watched Gavin pull a floppy hat out of her
bag and crouch down in front of Lulu to put it on her head. Lulu brushed her dark
curls out of her eyes and Gavin tied the hat under her chin, careful not to pinch
her. Gavin’s tenderness with her sister touched Mariella.

Gavin stood and looked at Estelle, who watched Mariella for a cue.

“Are we all going to stare at each other, or are we going to have fun?” Mariella asked.
She grabbed Lulu and tickled her, and
then ran down to the water with the girls, Gavin trailing behind them.

The Point was at the southernmost tip of the island where the Atlantic Ocean met the
Gulf of Mexico. The landscape was littered with driftwood, palms, and sea grapes,
and a pleasant breeze moved over them, taking the edge off the heat and rustling the
palm leaves in a whisper.

The water was rough, so Mariella and Gavin started Lulu on a sand castle. He asked
Estelle to join them, but she shook her head. They piled heaps of sand into a mound
that Lulu started to form into a drippy castle, complete with fringes of seaweed and
bits of shells. Estelle walked to the water and faced the horizon.

“Is it me?” asked Gavin.

“No. She’s been like this since Dad died.”

Gavin looked at Estelle and then back at Lulu.

“Her?” he asked, nodding toward the little one dripping sand over the peak of a large
mound.

“She’s already stopped asking about him.”

They watched Lulu, lost in her task. Mariella thought of how strange it was that a
father could become so insignificant to his child once he was gone. It depressed her.

“Dolphins!” Estelle called to them in a moment of childish abandon, and Mariella and
Gavin were quick to respond, eager to acknowledge her attempt at communication. Gavin
picked up Lulu and ran her down to the water’s edge. They watched the pod work its
way west into the gulf waters.

“Do they notice the change?” asked Mariella. “They go from wide-open waters to enclosed.”
She thought of the wild, unpredictable currents of the ocean, the warm, still flow
of the Gulf, and then of Hemingway and Gavin. She thought Gavin might be like the
Gulf. She turned toward him and saw him holding her girl and smiled. She shielded
her eyes to see them more clearly.

A sudden shouting called their attention to the water. A man
of about fifty waved from a few dozen yards offshore. He was trying to get their attention,
but kept disappearing behind high waves.

Mariella stepped toward him. “He needs help!” She started into the water, but Gavin
held her back.

“Mari, wait. It’s not going to do him any good for you to go out there and drown with
him.”

She knew he was right, but she couldn’t just stand there watching him die.

“We need a rope,” he said.

“We can’t throw it to him; he’s too far.”

“No. I’ll swim out; you hold the rope, and pull us in when I signal.”

Mariella told Estelle to watch Lulu and stay out of the water. She and Gavin ran around
the beach trying to find a line. Mariella spotted a fishing boat on the other side
of a rock formation, untied it, and pulled the boat onto the shore. She ran with the
rope to Gavin. He threw his shirt in the sand, grabbed the rope, and rushed into the
water.

Mariella could see how Gavin fought against the current. She held her breath, knowing
how rough the water must be for a young, healthy guy like Gavin to struggle. After
she saw him pass the fourth set of waves, Mariella lost sight of both Gavin and the
man and broke into a cold sweat. The rope hung limp in her hand.

“I can’t see them,” said Lulu.

“I can’t, either,” said Mariella.

The seconds felt like hours, and panic crept into her heart. Mariella stepped into
the surf up to her calves. She looked down at the water and silently implored it to
carry them back safely. Finally, just when she thought she’d burst, she felt the sharp
tug on the line.

“He’s on!” she said.

Mariella pulled with all her strength and felt the tide helping her. Estelle surprised
Mariella and grabbed the rope behind her.
She was strong and they made quick work of hauling them in. When the men were safely
onshore, they collapsed on the sand, panting hard.

“You saved my life,” said the man. “All of you. I wouldn’t have made it back.”

Mariella helped him up and Gavin shook his hand. The man shuddered and walked over
to a nearby picnic table to gather his things. He picked up a towel and turned to
face the sea. Mariella watched him as he walked away. She thought about how quickly
disaster slipped into life, and didn’t know whether it made her want to wring the
energy out of every moment of every day, or curl up in her bed covered with a blanket.

“I’m hungry,” said Lulu. Mariella looked at her and shook her head while Gavin laughed.
She couldn’t help but smile.

“I guess that’s that,” said Mariella.

Gavin put his arm around her and squeezed her shoulder, then went to grab a towel
to dry off. Mariella watched him shake the sand out of his shirt, and admired his
broad shoulders and muscled chest as he put it back on. Then she forced herself to
turn her attention back to spreading out the blanket and setting it for lunch. Mariella
had packed cheese and bread, and Gavin had brought papaya and some lemonade. During
lunch, without a word, Lulu got up and walked over to the other side of the tree to
relieve herself in the sand. Even Estelle laughed as Mariella scolded her little sister
for her immodesty.

“And you said the vets have bad manners,” said Gavin.

Lulu clapped and danced around, enjoying the commotion she’d caused, and then ran
off to chase seagulls. Estelle trailed her. Soon they settled in the sand to add to
the castle, with their backs to Mariella and Gavin.

“I wish we could stay out here all day,” said Mariella, enjoying the way the day had
turned out. “I hate that I have to work that Hemingway party tonight.”

“I wish I could go with you,” he said.

“Maybe you could. They pay well for overtime. Maybe they’ll need an extra bartender.”

“Let me know. I planned on staying in Key West for the night.”

Mariella felt a sudden anxiety at having Gavin and Hemingway in the same room. She
thought they didn’t like each other and that had to do with her. She hoped she hadn’t
just created a world of trouble for herself.

She watched the water, and its rhythm calmed her. After a moment, she stretched and
lay on her back with her legs crossed at her ankles, drinking in the sun. Gavin started
to clean up lunch, so Mariella pushed up on her elbows and moved to stand.

“No, stay,” he said.

“And leave you to do all the work?” she asked.

“You deserve a rest,” he said. “And I like to watch you.”

Mariella looked at him, and he didn’t break her gaze. She gave him a sly smile.

“You just watch the mess, Murray, or I’ll report you to the proper authorities.”

She lowered herself to her back and closed her eyes, inching her dress a little higher
up her legs. She heard him whistle and she laughed from the blanket. Mariella could
tell that Gavin made slow work of lunch cleanup so he could watch her. She turned
over onto her stomach and leaned up on her elbows. She swung her feet up and grinned
at him. Her face was flushed from the sun.

“I like you,” she said.

He laughed. “That’s a start,” he said. “I might love you.”

“You don’t know me.”

“I know enough.”

“Like what?” she asked.

“I like that you have balls.”

She wrinkled her forehead in a question. He sat next to her on the blanket and leaned
back on his elbows.

“You showed up at a bordello for a boxing match in a rough neighborhood, dressed as
a guy.”

“What else?” she asked.

“You have a good heart,” he said. “You take care of your sisters. You’re comfortable
in a smelly fishing boat, a bar, or a church. You have religion.”

She laughed. “I don’t know about all that, but go on.”

He moved closer to her on the blanket, until their arms touched, but kept his eyes
straight ahead on the girls at work on the sand castle.

“You make me laugh,” he said, “and there aren’t many who can do that. Am I getting
sappy?”

“No, go on.”

He looked at her with his face deadly serious, and her smile left. She kept her eyes
on his and leaned closer to him. They stared at each other a moment longer. It took
everything she had in her not to kiss him.

“There’s one more thing,” he said.

“Yes,” she said, nearly breathless.

His eyes traveled down her back, and goose bumps rose on her legs in spite of the
heat of the sun. He moved his gaze back up her body to her eyes.

“You’ve got the best ass I’ve ever seen.”

She gasped and punched him in the side. He laughed and shielded himself from her until
he was able to grab her arms and pin her down on the blanket. He looked quickly over
at the girls and saw that they weren’t facing them. When he turned back, Mariella
leaned up and kissed him.

She felt everything around them fall away while they kissed. She tasted the salt still
on his lips from the seawater, and felt the warmth of his weight and the sun on her.
He took his hands from her arms and ran them down her sides. Chills rose on her skin.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over them.

Eva.

Gavin jumped to a standing position and Mariella joined him, brushing sand off her
dress. The girls ran over to the blanket.

“Mrs. Bennet,” said Gavin.

“Mama!” said Lulu. “Come swimming.”

Eva glared at Mariella until the girls reached her.

“Put on your shoes,” hissed Eva.

“I don’t want to,” yelled Lulu.

“Ahora!”

“Mama,” said Mariella. “The girls are having fun; please don’t. I’m sorry.”

“No,” said Eva. “You’ll have more fun if they’re gone,
¿sí?
”

“It’s not like that,” said Mariella.

She could see the rage building in her mother and knew it would be best if they left,
so she turned and helped Gavin, who had leaned down to help Lulu with her shoes.

Lulu cried, “I don’t want to leave.”

Gavin held her face in his hands. “We had a good day. Maybe we can do it again.”

“Ha!” said Eva as she grabbed Lulu by the hand and started dragging the child down
the street. Lulu wailed. Estelle followed with her head down.

“I’m so sorry,” said Gavin.

“I’m not,” said Mariella. She picked up her beach bag and started after her mother.
Then she stopped, turned back, and kissed Gavin on the mouth. After a moment he gently
pushed her away.

“You should go after her,” he said. “Do you think it will help if I go with you?”

“No,” said Mariella. “But I will come to you later.”

“It’s okay,” he said.

“Later,” said Mariella. She stole one more kiss and then hurried down the street in
her mother’s wake.

Mariella had almost caught up by the time they reached the house. Eva was several
paces ahead of Mariella, and let the door slam in her face. Mariella threw open the
door and slammed it shut behind her. Eva put Lulu down and turned on Mariella.

“Is
he
why you’re always running off at night? He’s a soldier! Do you have any idea how
dangerous they are?”

“How dare you!” shouted Mariella. Estelle crept back to her room, pulling Lulu behind
her. “I’m an adult. You can’t decide to parent me now that I’m grown.”

“
No me importa
how old you are. It’s my job to protect you. He’s probably
treinta
, with one thing on his mind.”

“He’s thirty-three, and that’s never even come up. I’m safer with him than I am hanging
around the dock, or Duval, or even Hemingway’s.”

“You shouldn’t be doing all that, either.”

“That’s my life. Like it or not. You didn’t object when Dad was alive—you can’t just
wake up and decide to take charge of something you’ve never paid attention to until
now.”

“It was different then. Now you’ve got to watch out. There are a lot of poor, desperate
people around here.”

“We
are
the poor and desperate.”

“Then you should stick to your own kind,” said Eva.

Mariella thought Eva must be mad. Had she forgotten her marriage to Hal—an American-born
man as white as she was dark?

“What—like you?” said Mariella. “My God, you left your entire family in Cuba for Dad.
I’m just going down the street, and Gavin and I aren’t so different.”

“You are to them!” said Eva, pointing out the door. “Your father and I suffered for
it—the nasty looks, the stares, the comments.”

“Christ, you know I don’t care what people say about me,” said Mariella.

Eva gasped at Mariella’s language, but she didn’t care. She was enraged that Eva would
choose to interject her opinion now—after all that had happened, now that she was
finally finding joy. And it hit her that she
was
finding joy. She loved being around Gavin. She loved being around Papa. She didn’t
know which she loved more, but she wanted to find out. And she wasn’t going to take
any parenting now that it was too late.