Chapter 15
Three months later
The whole thing felt weird and kind of, well, wrong. Daryl wiped his nose, pulled at his cuticles, and rubbed his beard over and over. Then turned and addressed May. "You sure? This is OK?"
"Yes baby, its fine. I'm positive. Just pull it already, you're killing me."
He sat up slowly, gently grasping the tasseled cord, pulling it ever so softly. Then he laid back down, arms crossed and face stony. She turned to him from the side she lay on. "Quit worrying about it so much. You're not forcing anyone here to do anything they don't want to do, OK?"
"Don't make me feel much better."
She rolled over, holding a bottle of lotion out to him. "You'll feel even worse if you don't put on some of this."
"I ain't some kid, I told you I don' need it."
She giggled a little, enjoying his mortification. "It'll burn like the dickens..." she began, but was interrupted by a woman in a uniform appearing at the cabana opening.
"Mr. Dixon, Ms. Atwell. How may I be of service?"
May poked her elbow into Daryl's arm and whispered at him; "Go on."
He cleared his throat, still sounding a little angry. "I wanna sixer of beer and cheese burger."
May piped up, still grinning a little. "Budweiser and rare burger. Lots of fries on the side please."
"Of course Ma'm right away." The woman left, revealing the expanse of white sand and blue sea again, the boys playing on the water's edge.
"Don't care what ya say, it's weird haven' servants."
"Sugar, we are only at this resort for a week, then we will be back in the safe arms of the Georgia mountains. Try and enjoy it."
"Just lay here and get waited on?"
"You should go fishing with that guy we met on the plane, he seemed nice."
"He's a doctor."
"He's a dentist with a Cabelas cap and four daughters under twelve years old. I'm pretty sure he would claw his own eyes out for a chance to go fishing for a whole day with..." Her phone chimed, and she looked down at the text message. "It's Detective Allen. They're finally going to trial against Alderwood."
"Took em' fuckin' long enough."
"I know. But they had to get through all those bikers, flipping on each other left and right. Lloyd's just lucky he flipped on Alderwood before he got flipped on himself. That asshole would have been prime for the death penalty otherwise."
Daryl's hand reached out to her thigh, squeezing it gently. "At least he ain't ever gettin' out. I doubt Alderwood will see the light of day again either."
"Probably not. Not after giving those two guys a heads up on the raid, conspiring with them to kidnap me, then murder you. Not to mention probably trying to sell my kids on the internet." His fingers dug a little deeper into her muscle at the thought, and she scooted closer to him, wrapping her arm around his shoulder. His eyes closed and his posture softened and he relaxed for a few minutes in her arms.
"Mr. Dixon, I have your order." He shot up like a bolt, pulling his hands away from her body. "Shall I leave it here on the edge of the lounge?"
"Yes, that will be fine, thank you." May interjected for him. The woman laid out a large trey, then placed a cooler on the floor with in arms reach.
"Will that be all?"
"Yes."
"And your room number?"
"14."
"Thank you, have a pleasant day."
Daryl's arms had crossed again and he sounded completely put out. "What else they gunna do, wipe my ass for me?"
"I'm sure that can be arranged, but it's gunna cost extra." She tickled him a little under one arm until he smiled. "Now eat your food and drink too much beer. Enjoy yourself. That's an order."
He started poking at the little jars of ketchup and mayonnaise on the trey. "Yes Ma'm."
He chucked to himself, looking out over the ocean. The children were playing, there was a soft breeze blowing into the tent, and May was rubbing his lower back, just below his t-shirt. He closed his eyes and said a prayer, like he hadn't done since he was a child, that if this was the dream, that he would never, ever, wake up.