“I told you.”
Just then a parasail glided up above their heads. She lay back in his arms, putting her head all the way back.
“Fa… lie… uff… bur.”
So that’s what she had wanted ever since they got there.
She folded back in his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Peas… fa… lie… uff… bur.”
“Gini, it’s so dangerous.”
“No… be… ah… frey. Rob… ber… no… be… ah… frey.”
“Sweetheart, I’m not afraid for me. I’m afraid for you.”
“Guiney… no… be… ah… frey.”
He set her down in the water, and they walked farther in until a bigger wave slapped up against her face. She immediately turned to leave. He grabbed her by the waist and they ran to shallower water.
When they got back to the cabana, they showered and changed their clothes. He stepped outside to put the flag up for wait service.
“Robert,” Jennifer called out, walking from the gift shops on the beach.
“Jennifer, come on in.”
“Wow, I’ve never been in a cabana before.”
Gini walked up to her side.
“No! A shower, really?”
“Oh… yes… sour.” She moved closer to Jennifer and looked up at her, opening her eyes.
Jennifer was stunned by the light blueness. She took hold of Gini’s hand. The night before, after Gini told her her full name, Jennifer looked up Catherine White and immediately recognized Gini from the pictures and video. There was nothing about Gini being in an accident, rather some mention of her being in Florida with her twins. It was pretty clear that wasn’t a true story. It had saddened her to see such a vital woman’s career had been destroyed, not to mention her life. But was her life destroyed? She had a wonderful husband who cared deeply for her, and it was hard not to be taken by the interesting young lady who seemed to be drawing everything good she possibly could into her altered life.
“Fa… lie… uff… bur.”
“Jennifer, do you want something to eat or drink?” Robert called into the tent.
“Just a Mexican beer, thanks.”
She had heard the broken speech a lot in her therapy sessions and was pretty good at figuring out what the patient was trying to say, but this time it was hard to make sense of Gini’s words. She hesitated to say anything until Robert came back in.
“So, what’s that about the birds?”
Robert gave a short laugh. “She wants to parasail.”
“Gini! Really, parasail? Way up there in the air? Ooh, scary.”
“No… be… uff… scare.”
“Are you going to do it, Robert?”
“I’ll check it out. We’ll see how safe it is.”
Jennifer just shook her head and sat down on one of the beds, still holding Gini’s hand.
Suddenly, Gini started signing.
“Oh, dear, sign language,” Jennifer said under her breath.
Gini told her all about them going to the spa for a day of treatment. She wanted Robert to paint his nails.
Jennifer looked at Robert.
He smiled a pleasant smile. “She has big plans for me.”
“I guess so.” Jennifer took another couple swigs of her beer and put the bottle on the table. “Time for Zumba in the crazy pool. Let me know how it is to fly.”
Gini shook her head, lowering it. “Caze… e… poo.”
The hut for the parasailing wasn’t too far from their cabana. Robert checked out the brochure when they walked to the ad stand.
“Mister, can I help you?”
“My wife is handicapped. She would need to be strapped to me.”
“Sí señor, you go tandem. She tie to you front.”
“And we’ll need helmets and safety glasses.”
The young Mexican man ran into the hut and came out with several helmet sizes and two pairs of glasses.
“I have good price. Just for you, special, forty dallar.”
Robert examined the helmets and put one on Gini’s head. Then he stretched both elastic bands on the glasses.
“Okay, since I like, you get super special, thirty dallar. No can go lower.”
Robert took a deep breath and agreed to the ride. He filled out the paperwork and looked at the last inspection report just issued a few days earlier. Everything looked in order.
They strapped Gini to his front, and both were put in safety harnesses attached to the sail. Gini was instructed to lift her legs at takeoff and when they landed. Two men would run alongside Robert until they were up in the air and until his feet were on the ground at landing.
“Okay, missus, lift feet.”
Gini tucked her legs close to her body. Robert only took about five steps, and they were lifted into the air. They flew down the coastline and over the village that they could see from the distance in their condo. Then over mangroves, the banana plantation, and jungle. Robert was in such awe of the exhilaration he felt. He leaned down to Gini’s ear. “Sweetheart, open your eyes. This is beautiful, open your eyes.”
After about a twenty-minute flight, the man on the ground called out, “Missus, lift feet.”
They flew in near the pool, and as if Robert were a feather, he was gently lowered to the sand. Three steps and they were done.
Gini was so excited she could hardly breathe. She tried to talk but couldn’t. Robert picked her up and carried her back to the cabana.
“Rob… ber… fa… lie,” she kept saying over and over on the way.
He laid her on the bed and then lay down next to her. “Gini, please, keep talking me into things, that was… that was the most wonderful thing I have ever done.”
She rolled over closer to him. “Oh… yes… be… uff… fa… lie.” Her voice lifted at the end of the statement.
After they rested, he gathered their things and they walk to the resort market. In a small basket, he collected a carton of orange
