“What’s the matter?”
“I’ve just had a lot of experience with caves lately, none of it good.”
“Suck it up. We’ll get some ropes and flashlights in the morning in case Nana’s right.”
Their main course of Chilean sea bass arrived along with another round of drinks.
Tyler took a bite and then saw that Jess was only staring at her food.
“What’s wrong?” he said.
“I was just thinking how odd it is to be here — on Easter Island of all places — having dinner with you like this after all these years.” She picked up her fork and began eating. “It seems so normal.”
“Especially after the last few days.”
“Do you remember that time during that snowstorm right before Christmas when I dared you to run across the quad naked with me?”
Tyler laughed. He hadn’t thought about that night in more than a decade. “I remember thinking that you were crazy.”
“Why wouldn’t you do it?”
He shrugged. “I was a ROTC cadet. I couldn’t afford to get caught doing something like that.”
“Are you still that uptight?”
“Uptight? Just because I wouldn’t freeze my ass off running around campus in my skin?”
“Nobody would have seen us.”
“I just didn’t want to do it.”
“That’s what I mean. You were — are — charming, smart, competent, stable. You’re also logical to a fault. You measure the pros and cons of everything you do. Every action is an equation with you. I just wanted you to be more impulsive sometimes. Like when you saved Fay in Queenstown.”
“That wasn’t impulsive. That was necessity. Two men were shooting at us.”
“What about coming to Australia with us?”
Tyler focused on his food before looking at Jess again. “You and Fay needed help.”
Jess smiled. “You always were a sucker for the damsel in distress.” She picked at her food. “Nana told me the details about your wife’s car accident. That must have been rough.”
“Thanks. It’s not something that’s included in my Gordian Engineering website profile.”
“Did you ever wade back into the dating pool?”
Just like the Jess he recalled. Never one to beat around the bush. Tyler downed the rest of his drink.
“Since Karen died I’ve met a couple women I got close to,” he said, “but unfortunately we couldn’t make it work. My job takes me all over the world. Makes it difficult to maintain a relationship.”
“Is that on purpose?”
“A consequence.”
“Huh.”
“What does that mean?”
“You were so adamant about settling down right away,” Jess said. “I just never figured you for the love-’em-and-leave-’em type.”
“A lot’s changed since college,” Tyler said.
“I see that.”
“But not with you.”
“I tried marriage once. Not a good match.”
“Was he too logical?”
“The opposite. He was a pretty surfer boy. Mooched off me for two years before I called it quits.”
“And now?”
She shrugged. “I used one of those online matchmaking services, but after the fourth drooling weirdo showed up to meet me at some coffee house, I gave up trying to find a soul mate. Now I just use it for sex.”
Tyler gaped at her, dumbfounded, until she let out a huge belly laugh.
“Kidding! Boy, maybe you really haven’t changed.”
Tyler shook his head and smiled. Then he ordered another drink.
They lost track of time and didn’t stumble out of the restaurant until eleven p.m. Reminiscing about college days had resulted in lots of laughs and an extended period at the bar.
Tyler had realized too late that his five drinks were more pisco than sour. He downed a couple of waters before they left, but the walk back to the hotel only accelerated the absorption of alcohol into his system.
Not that Jess was any better. She’d had the same number of cocktails that he did and weighed about half as much. They leaned on each other as they veered down the hall toward their rooms.
Jess stumbled and Tyler barely caught her, causing them both to stifle guffaws.
“This is what I should’ve done,” she said.
“What? Gotten me drunk? I still wouldn’t have run around naked in the quad.”
“How about now?”
“No way.”
“You’re no fun.”
They reached their doors, which were right across from each other — Fay and Jess’s room on one side and Tyler’s on the other.
Jess patted her pockets, then said, “Dammit.”
“What?”
“I left my key in the room.”
Tyler’s head cleared for a moment. He didn’t think Jess would try such a transparent ploy. “You did not.”
“If you don’t believe me, search my pockets.”
“I believe you.” He raised his fist, but Jess grabbed it before he could knock on the door.
“If Nana’s sleeping, I don’t want to wake her.”
In some distant part of Tyler’s brain, a little voice screamed that what he was about to say was a terrible idea, but his alcohol-lubricated id put the cautionary alarm on mute.
“Sleep on my bed,” he said with more confidence than he felt. “I’ll take the couch.”
Jess went motionless. “I … I can’t.”
He took out his key and raised one hand like he was swearing on oath of office. “I promise I’ll be a gentleman.”
She grinned. “Impulsive.”
“Practical.”
“Right.” Jess took a long look at him, but her eyes eventually flicked back the way they’d come. “I think I’ll go get another key from the front desk.”
Tyler nodded and tried to laugh his way out of the situation. “That would also work.”
Jess gave him a hug. “I had a great time tonight.”
“Me too.”
She let him go and headed to the lobby. Tyler waited until she was out of sight. She never once looked back.
Tyler opened his door and went inside, where he planned to bang his head against the wall until his id was in a coma.
THIRTY
With Easter Island sixteen hours behind Sydney, Grant thought Tyler was probably asleep by now. Too bad he was missing the view.
The steel arch of Sydney Harbour Bridge, its spine dotted with tourists partaking in the BridgeClimb experience, provided the backdrop for the three-way intersection below. The sunny afternoon meant that the street
