At the picnic table waiting area sat six college-aged boys and two middle-aged couples. Ouch. Two of the boys wore what Liam learned in his years of teaching high school to be do-rags. These were covered in skulls and crossbones. Tricky mix. Such a contrast to Lily.
“Your specialty.” It was true. “How are wedding plans?” He expected her face to light up like the sun. That was what happened these days whenever he asked about her and Dane. Except, she didn’t.
Digging both hands in the pockets of her denim shorts, she lifted her shoulders. “Not as much fun as I had hoped. This country is so full of expected traditions. Bachelorette parties, which are now weekend getaways, participant gifts included. Fancy invitations, bridal showers with elegant food and tulle-covered bride chairs. The table centerpieces and wedding guest gifts and cake and dinner and band and playlist and the dress. Good grief, the dress.”
She’d lost him at tulle.
“This is going to cost as much as it would to provide clean water to dozens of third world villages for life.”
He put an arm around her shoulder. “Spoken like a true Clearwater.”
She sighed. “This is a happy time, supposed to be a happy time.”
Giving her a one-armed squeeze, he said, “You’re going to figure it—”
He gripped her shoulder and froze. On the other side of the picnic table was the new piece of land recently purchased by Richard Beckett, island real estate agent. It was going to be a remote parking lot for something. Liam’s mouth hung open.
“What is it?” Zoe asked as she turned toward where he stared. Her mouth hung open as her insides erupted.
A giant crawled right over the gravel. A goliath. The biggest sea turtle he’d ever laid eyes on. And, since only females came out of the water, she came out for one reason. Still hanging onto Zoe’s arm, he surveyed the gravel, the bulldozer, and the mess. “Layers of whoa.” He pulled out his cell and yelled at it. “Call Raine Clearwater.”
“What do we do?” Liam said as his cell rang, and he led the way toward the girl. “I’ve never seen one this big!”
“That’s ’cause you’ve never seen a Leatherback. It’s my first time too.” She shook her head and marched with him. “Gotta be close to a ton.”
“What do we do?” he repeated, knowing he was still yelling, but his heart beat so fast, he didn’t care.
“Ibis Island Turtle Watch, please leave a message.”
“Bah. Raine. Get your ass to Sun Trips! We’ve got a Leatherback!”
Each of the waiting ten in the sunset tour group rushed toward them. Zoe stuck her arms out. “We keep everyone clear of her and wait for Raine.”
Okay, okay, okay. He could do that. He took the front of the girl and Zoe took caboose. “But the parking lot,” he said, looking around at the destruction.
“I know,” Zoe said then turned to the tourists. “Come on over, friends. My name is Zoe Clearwater.” She waved her hands yet kept them outward and stood between them and the turtle.
Liam followed suit and held out his arms as well. Goose bumps as big as volcanos erupted over them. From the corner of his eye, he spotted Lily heading over. They were definitely going to need her.
The turtle made its way along the gravel like a behemoth swimming in slow motion; both flippers forward, dragging her body along the ground. Again and again, crunching over the gravel as if a dozen humans weren’t following her.
Zoe was incredible. “I am not only your sunset tour captain this evening, but a certified member of our own Ibis Island Turtle Watch.”
Both Skull and Crossbones boys maneuvered around the other side of Zoe, craning their heads at the turtle. “Back up, boys.” She pointed at them. “You’re welcome to watch, but you need to stay on this side of me.”
The two didn’t even pause and ducked right under her outstretched arm. “Mother fucker, man. Look at the size of it!” The taller one reared his head back and let out a rebel yell.
Liam charged them, his feet kicking up rocks. “Back off, boys,” he said with his arms out in front of him.
“Lighten up, dude,” the taller one said, dodging Liam’s outstretched arms.
Liam grabbed the back of the boy’s neck and squeezed.
“The fuck. Ow,” the kid cried. “You can’t touch me.”
“Sea turtles are both threatened and endangered species. One more step and I call the cops. I promise they won’t be as gentle.” He hoped the kid didn’t call his bluff and gave him a shove into his friend behind him. “As the lady said, you’re welcome to watch but from a distance.” He said the last three words nice and slow.
“Oh no,” Zoe said.
With alcohol on their breath, Liam wasn’t willing to turn around to see what was happening and, instead, glanced over his shoulder. The leatherback stopped and looked a lot like a cement mixer that anchored to the ground and outstretched its arms. “What’s she doing?”
“Digging.”
Stupid question. “Is that bad?”
“Very, very bad,” Zoe said through her teeth and fake smile.
Sweat dripped down the back of his neck and not from the afternoon Florida heat. The turtle had stopped on the far side of the construction area in the smallest of dunes and used her massive front flippers first, then back ones to dig. Sand and rock flew behind it.
Her enormous shell looked like leather, and Liam thought that, other than Willow Martinez, he’d never seen anything more beautiful in his life.
He glanced around. Two of the guests from his eco tour had spotted the commotion and headed toward them. “Come on over,” Liam said, then repeated what Zoe had said. “You’re welcome to watch, but you need to stay on this side of us.”
Zoe lifted her brows at him. He shrugged and grinned.
“This is a Leatherback sea turtle,” Zoe began. “You are in for a special, special treat this evening as Leatherbacks are the largest of all living turtles and is the fourth-heaviest modern reptile. Other than its size, Leatherbacks differ from other turtles by their lack of a bony shell, thus the name.”
The rest of the eco tour emerged from the Sun Trips Touring bathroom and changing area. Since they were probably going to come anyway, Liam waved them over.
The hole deepened. The girl maneuvered her butt like a pro. “Damnedest thing I ever have seen,” he muttered.
“This is quite rare as Leatherbacks almost exclusively make their nests on the eastern side of Florida.”
The group seemed to calm down and kept their distance, taking a plethora of pictures and videos.
Gravel crumpled beneath tires. Liam turned to see Raine’s truck as it entered the parking lot. She skidded her tires to a stop, flew out of the driver’s side, and stormed toward them.
She didn’t speak and ignored Zoe’s impromptu presentation. Instead, she walked around the turtle. She wore a shoulder bag with a sea turtle sewn on the flap. With both hands, she rubbed her face and the top of her head, then marched back to her truck.
Her hands were full when she returned and tossed the items on the ground about five yards from the Leatherback. A handful of wooden stakes, some orange electrical tape, a huge magic marker, and a rubber mallet.
“Hello, Raine,” Liam said gently.
“Oh, hello, Liam,” she said and pulled out a tablet from her bag. “Thank you for helping with this. I know you need to get to Willow’s thing.”
His eyes grew big. Luciana’s. Checking his watch, he decided what he was wearing was just right. “What can I do to help?”
She nodded toward the six boys. “Keep frick and frack from getting too close.”
He nodded and stepped closer to them.
“Are you Raine Clearwater?” one of the middle-aged women asked.
Raine rubbed a hand over her face. “Yes, I am. Hello. What a treat you have this evening.”
“You have the best job in the world,” she said to Raine.
Rained closed her eyes. It took her some time, but she finally said, “Thank you.”
Obviously, word got out. It wasn’t as if the soft opening was meant to be private or closed. The growing crowd and roar of voices was a good thing, Willow convinced herself through self-talk and deep breathing.
Not wanting to get in Paula’s way, she mostly worked as bar back, which made her understand that managing and waitressing were more her cup of tea.
Paula was one of her favorite people. A red-headed bean pole with breasts the size of honeydew melons, which wouldn’t normally mean a thing if not for the way she twisted, turned, and bounced back and forth from one end of the bar to the other, keeping the two newbies busy and tidying up in between.
Friends and family clustered around two kissing wooden spool tables. They sat adjacent to the beautiful, yet empty, dance floor. The brand new, extremely expensive beautiful, yet empty, dance floor.
She thought the area for dancing turned out perfectly. Picturesque. Early that morning, Liam had removed the temporary plywood walls that had hidden the construction. The plastic, the mess. Washed out planks lined the floor and roofing. The thick ropes that hung from it swayed in the steady Gulf breeze, almost keeping tempo to a song coming from the single-man band about cheeseburgers and paradise.
The transition between tucked away cabin-style booths and tables to the breezy, open dance floor couldn’t be better.
“Stop worrying,” Paula said.
“What?” Willow thought she hid her worry so well.
“It’s written all over you.” Paula popped the lids from two bottles of domestics, set them in front of Glory, the receptionist at city hall, and her date, and then turned to say, “The people will come. You carry way too much on those shoulders.”
Willow skipped the obvious opening to a boob joke. “But, what if no one dances?” There. She said it.
Paula wiped down the counter with one hand and took Glory’s date’s credit card with the other. “It’s not even dark yet. Simmer down, girl.”
She could always make Willow smile. “You can’t tell the yoga and Pilates instructor who also happens to be your boss to simmer down.”
Paula tapped Willow’s butt as she moved down the bar, then called over her shoulder, “Boss lady, we have a blown keg.”
On her way to the backroom, Willow passed the group of almost everyone she loved in the world. Her mom and dad. Raine, Liam, and Dane. Greg and Lily from Sun Trips and several from her parents’ restaurant, the Beachfront.
All eyes were on Liam, who stood, gesturing wildly with his long arms. “That mother was this big,” he said, enunciating the last two words and spreading his arms wide enough that he could’ve been describing a whale.
She couldn’t help but to stop and listen.
“She lumbered over the parking lot,” he said, moving his arms and legs like a dinosaur.
A smile spread over her face as she crossed her arms and leaned in.
“Sand flew everywhere and on everyone. The drunk assholes—sorry, Harmony—were getting closer, and Raine hadn’t arrived yet.”
And, she was completely lost. His brown hair, cut tight around the sides. The way he ran his fingers through the longer part in front when that tiny curl fell on his forehead. The eyes that matched the hair and lit up any room he was in.
Liam had the most comfortable, attentive, and honestly truthful way about every part of him. And, he had no idea to any of it. One of his pretend flippers hit her as he spoke.
Jerking his arm back, he turned to see her. “Oh, hey, Willow.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her in, continuing his story without missing a beat. “And the taller drunk guy stepped around Zoe, and I reached out my hand.” He held out his dinner plate-sized finger span in the shape of a giant a claw. “I came down on the back of the dude’s neck and clamped down. I said, ‘Take one more step and I’m calling the cops.’”