Nell smiled. “If Sally isn’t otherwise busy…?” I’m not going to crash the writing session Eamonn’s been dreaming about for years.
“I’ll send her to find you,” Angel said. Blade nodded — agreement, farewell, or both — and they left, closing the door behind them.
“I can’t believe it,” Eamonn said. He dropped his towel, flashing her a glimpse of his perfect body, and skinned into the clothes she’d placed near him on the bed. “This isn’t a dream, right?” He seemed so full of excitement and happiness, an eager smile ready to break out like sunshine at any moment as he took a glance in the desk mirror and finger-combed his hair into place. Then he grabbed his instrument case. “You’re okay if I go do this, Nell?”
“I’m fine. Go!”
He planted a kiss on her lips, brief but sweet, and whisked out the door, humming to himself.
He doesn’t need me anymore, she thought. But that was a good thing, wasn’t it? She’d never wanted to be needed. She’d never wanted him to be tied to her. I can just enjoy my vacation now, then I’ll go back home and sort my real life out.
“Got a bathing suit?” Sally asked, leaning against the doorway.
“I do.” This time, Nell added in her mind with an inward grin, remembering the hot tub at Champagne Cascades. Not that the suit looked much different from her underwear, to be honest — a practical, athletic two-piece that wouldn’t come adrift if a person actually swam in it, almost solid black except for a tiny dash of scarlet trim. “But I’ve got a fresh tattoo on my shoulder, and I think swimming was on the list of things to avoid.”
Sally nodded. “How fresh? Do you still have Saniderm or Dermalize or something covering it?”
“Two days ago, and yes.”
“Right. So, you shouldn’t, like, completely submerge it, but the plastic film will keep any splashes out if you want to come sit in the shallow end and cool off with us. That’s all we’re doing, anyway — Crys is too pregnant for anything active, and the heat’s killing her, so we’re doing a fair bit of hanging out in the pool.”
Oh, the pregnant one who looks too young and sweet to be here. “That’s Blade’s girlfriend?”
“Yep, and you’ll want to meet the rest of the Smidgettes too — we have more female crew than most tours, which might be because I’ve been involved in the hiring part.” Sally laughed, a full-blown peal of someone enjoying life. “We have fun. Come on, put your suit on and let’s head down.”
The pool was every bit as beautiful up close as it had been on first impressions, very clean and well-maintained. One end had wide, shallow steps leading down into the water — perfect for sitting to cool off and chat — and three women were already there, enjoying the pool, deep in conversation. Nell wondered what their jobs were; one wore an athletic bathing suit a lot like hers and had a boyish haircut and more piercings than Blade, another had artful pink and purple streaks in her hair and a tiny lime-green bikini, and the third, in a British flag bikini, looked more like a secretary or something from the neck up but had a massive tattoo across most of her back. They looked over as she and Sally approached, and Nell clearly heard, “Is that her?” carry across the water, though she wasn’t sure which one had said it because they were all talking at once, and it was jumbled up with “Come on, Sal,” and “Hey, there.”
As they reached the edge of the pool, Sally said, “Everybody, this is Nell.” Then she waved a hand toward the women in the pool, pointing them out in turn. “Kimmy, with the piercings, is our drum tech. Ruby is our monitor engineer. I did her hair — isn’t it pretty? And Trish is the tour accountant.”
“Come on in,” said Trish, with a trace of an English accent in her voice. “The water’s lovely.” Nell stepped into the pool and sat down on one of the higher steps, keeping her freshly-inked shoulder well out of the water.
Sally wriggled out of her overall shorts and t-shirt, revealing a shimmering metallic Wonder Woman bikini that did an impressive job of lifting and supporting and enhancing her spectacular curves. A sparkling gem twinkled in her pierced belly button. “I love that this place has a pool!” She made her way to the deep end, where she dove in and swam the length of the pool to the shallow end to join the other women. Smidgettes?
“So, you’re dating Easy?” Ruby asked, almost at once. “Actually dating him, not just casual fucking?”
“Ruby!” Trish exclaimed, with a we don’t ask that kind of question look.
Nell shrugged. “I don’t mind. We are exclusively dating each other, but it’s just a fun time. I mean, I don’t have any illusions. I don’t expect it to last.”
“Why not?” Crys asked, from the deck of the pool. Nell hadn’t seen her approach. The others made space for her and she eased her way into a sitting position in the water, adjusting her maternity tankini — black with pink polka dots — over her belly.
Because nothing lasts, Nell thought. Got to grab life while it’s good. A shiver ran over her spine and she pushed away the thought of things ending with Eamonn. It wasn’t reasonable to feel tragic about the inevitable; he was there for a good time, nothing more, and so was she. “Our lives are too different,” she said. “There’s nothing practical keeping us together. Why would someone like him keep someone like me around?”
Sally laughed. “You’d make a fantastic bodyguard, for starters. I saw how you split up that fight. But I agree, not all relationships need to be one-way tickets
